Chapter :25 the "conflict" case
We go on patrol the next morning, but our minds were on the case we just closed. Ralph was his usual fun self, and like dad, was cracking some bad jokes. I had heard most of them from dad, but I laughed in all the right places.
Susan and I fire up our computers in the afternoon and we go on the hunt. We set the search engine for the database to look for missing paw murders. We eliminate all the accidental severing's, and auto accident victims, and victims with right paws cut off, we are looking strictly at murders this time. We find a lot of them, one every one to two years going back thirty years. We have twenty-two murders. We go and with some help, bring all the files up to the office. We lay them out on the table, and start to work. Some were gruesome, but most weren't. We started to see a pattern, they all appeared to be crimes of passion, and the MO's were very similar. All the victims had the same general build and look. Genie's mom was part of this group. We have the name Genie gave us, and we search for him.
He was not a nice mammal, he had been arrested many times, assault, assault with a weapon, domestic violence, resisting arrest, and drug possession. Out of all this, he had only done one year in jail, most of the charges were dropped by the victims. Over the next few days, we talked to some of the victims, most would slam the door in our faces when his name was mentioned, but a few would talk. We then had him come in for questioning on the latest murder that happened a year ago, he was a mammal of interest in that case.
As we watch him from the observation room of interrogation room-two, we can see he is cocky and very self-assured. We both don't like how his mind works, it feels very twisted to us. We walk in and lay ten files on the table. "So, this time it's a fox and a bunny, still trying to pin that murder on me I see. I do have an alibi for the night in question, so why are you still bothering me"? "Well sir, we are new to the division and were told to talk to you. Would you like to tell us about this individual"? Susan asks as I just stand back, she shows him the latest victim. He looks at it and shrugs, "not much to tell, we dated for a bit, and she left me, said she found someone better". "So, you know nothing of her murder"? "No, why should I? I was drinking that night away at Kelly's bar, many witnesses saw me there, and I even bought a few rounds for some friends". We felt the lie and what happened that night. "Right, how about this mammal? Asks Susan as she opens another file. He shrugs, "don't know her, never seen her before". Again, he lies, but if we hooked him up to a lie detector, we know it would show him telling the truth. The only hesitation he had was when we showed him Genie's mom. But he still denies knowing her. "Why are you showing me all these files"? "We are showing you these files because they are all very similar to each other, and because the last one you were a person of interest on, we thought we would ask you". "Well sorry I can't help you, can I go now"? Both of us sigh, "Yes, you are free to go, thank you for your time". "No problem officers, I hope you catch the guy". With that, he walks out.
We head back upstairs and put the files down on the table. We get mom and dad and lieutenant Lister into our office for a talk. "Well we have a new one for you guys, he is a serial killer, and it's going to take a lot of effort to catch him, he's that good". The lieutenant gives us a stranger look, "How do you know he is a serial killer"? "Sir, Susan and I have special abilities, and we know he is, but there is no concrete proof to convict him". "So how are you going to prove it"? "Sir, this is going to take a very elaborate sting, and my mom needs to be involved. Mom, do you remember an old black and white movie by Humphrey Bourgault titled "Conflict"? She thinks for a minute and Susan and I see the light bulb go on in her head. "Wow, that is quite the elaborate sting, but why am I involved"? "Mom you look exactly like your mother, and she was one of his victims". "Thanks for that, I think". "For those of us less informed individuals, would you like to explain this sting". We spend the rest of the day explaining it to the lieutenant. By the end of the day, we get the green light.
Kevin Mason growled to himself as he left the precinct, damn cops why won't they leave me alone? (because thereafter us and they won't stop). Shut up, you're not real, he says to himself as he stops walking. (are you sure about that? I feel real). Just shut up and leave me in peace. (who helps you to do these things, and then helps you to forget afterward? ME! You weak worthless worm). Just shut up, I'm not doing that anymore. (or any less, you know you want to do it). Maybe, but I'm not listening to you anymore, just go, leave me alone. (I can't, we are the same, so what about your latest love? It will be time for her shortly). It will not, she's not going to leave me, she loves me. (yeah, just like all the rest). Get out of my head, she won't leave me. (you have their left paws forever, we help with that, we do what you can not). Just shut up for now, and let me think on this for a while, it's not her time yet. (we'll see, the only good love, is one that won't leave you forever. Hahahaha). There is blessed silence in his head as he knuckles his eyes. He drops his paws, lifts his head, and continues on his way.
The next morning as he is sitting in the café having breakfast, he looks up and sees her. It's her, (it can't be, you have her paw already). IT is! Kevin Jumps up almost upsetting the table he was at; he pays his bill and rushes out. He looks both ways, and spots her down the street, he runs down the street after her, she goes around the corner. He runs around the corner, but she is gone. There is a cop car down the street but nothing else. He slowly walks down the street looking all around, "Can we help you find something sir"? Asks the cop behind the wheel of the squad car. Kevin looks and sees a wolf and a tiger in the squad car. "Did you see a bunny in a yellow dress come down the street"? "Sorry bud, you are the only one to come down the street in the last five minutes". "Ok thanks officer". "Can I ask why a predator is chasing a bunny"? "Not chasing her, though she was someone I use to know, and I wanted to catch up". "Well, sorry we couldn't help you". With that Wolford throws the car in gear and drives away.
It was her I'm sure of that, maybe you are playing tricks on me. (HA HA me playing tricks on you, you don't know your own mind). I do so, just shut up and let me think. (careful, that's a very dangerous sport). We both saw her, didn't we? (sigh, yes, we did she was real). How can that be, we do have her paw? (yes, we do, maybe it was her daughter?) Could have been, if it was, she hasn't aged well. (let's leave it alone, for now, if we see her again, we'll look into it more). Right, I need to get to work. (you don't need to work, why do it?). Because it stops me from thinking of you, now leave me alone for the day. (your wish is my command, master, HAHAHA).
Kevin heads for his day job as a laborer on the construction site. He logs in, and putting on his PPE, goes to work. He works tell lunch, when the horn goes off, he heads for the lunch truck. He grabs a coffee, sandwich, and a fudge bar. He sits down on the bench by the site. As he's eating his lunch, he looks up and sees them across the street. They are an exact copy of each other, one just much older. They are laughing and giggling as they walk down the street, just then the older one gestures with her left paw. She still has her left paw, and it has a gold ring on it. He is so stunned; he just sits there as they walk out of sight around the corner. He gets up to chase after them, but the horn goes off again, signaling the end of lunch. He finishes his lunch and goes back into work. He thinks most of the rest of the day, he's mind is not on his job, and he nearly hurts himself many times. The foreman notices and chews him out at the end of the day.
Kevin goes home in a huff; he takes it out on his girlfriend. She just quietly takes it from him. She wants to leave but feels if she did, she wouldn't live very long after that. she just sits there and listens to his rant. She has learned not to interrupt him. He hits her a few times, not enough to cause bruising, just enough to hurt. She firms up her resolve to leave him. He later sits down and gets drunk; she just feeds him beers, until he passes out. She packs up some clothes, and leaving all her other stuff, pulls all the money out of his wallet, drops her keys and ring on the floor, and walks out the door.
Kevin wakes up much later and searches for her around the apartment. He sees the keys and ring on the floor, and looks in his wallet, to find all his money is gone. He flies into a rage and breaks everything that belonged to her. (HA HA HA told you she would leave you, we'll just have to find her, and make her permanently yours). Sigh, yes, we will, none of my wives ever leave me. (no, they don't, but one did, we saw her today). Yes, we did, but can we be sure about it? (she was the one, we are sure. She was wearing a neck choker, was that to cover up the fact she had a scar on her throat?) But she still had her left paw. (yes, she did, are we sure it was her?) I'm sure it was her, older, but it was her. How did she escape? (not sure, we were sure she was "Yours") Yes, she was, so what happened? (she escaped for now, but we will get her back). Yes, we will, she will be mine again.
Kevin doesn't see her for the rest of the week, and he goes out drinking on Friday. He's half snockered when she walks into the bar. She is walking up to the bar when she sees him. She gets a scared look on her face and runs out of the bar. (still doubt it's her?). No, I don't, I will have to find her, and rectify my mistake. (yes, you will, we will need to start the hunt tomorrow). Yes, I will, won't I. (ha, you can't do anything without me). I'll show you; I can do this. (right, maybe I believe you, we'll see).
Kevin gets on the hunt for her, Saturday after his hangover subsides. He's walking down the street when she comes out of a pawn shop. He follows her to a very familiar apartment block. She uses a key and enters, he quickly runs up to the door, but it has already locked. But just then an older Vixen comes out leading a pup. She opens the door, and he holds it for her as she exits. He rushes in just as he sees her getting in the elevator. He watches the floor counter as it stops on floor-five. He runs up the stairs to floor five. As he comes out the stairs, he sees a yellow dress go into apartment five-c. he goes over and knocks on the door, but no one answers. He's about to bust in the door when he hears the elevator ping. He looks, and the landlady comes out, leading a couple down the hall.
"Kevin"? She asks, are you here to see the apartment as well? I haven't seen you in years, how have you been"? "I've been well, is this the apartment you are showing"? "Yes, it is, it's your old apartment isn't it"? "Yes, Darla it is, can I see it"? "Why sure you can, if you don't mind this nice couple looking as well". "No, I have no problem, as long as they don't". the couple looking at the apartment just shake their heads no. Darla opens the door, and Kevin rushes into the empty apartment. He does a quick search but doesn't find her. "You haven't rented this to someone recently? Have you? "Why no dear, it's been empty for months". "Well, thank you for your time, this is not for me, sorry to waste your time". "It's ok, thank you for coming by". Kevin runs out of the apartment block and searches the street for her.
Damn, how did she get out of that apartment, there's no fire escape for that apartment, it's down the hall. He thinks for a bit and remembers the pawnshop. He heads for the pawnshop and goes in. "Good afternoon sir, what can I help you with today". "A rabbit with a yellow dress came in, what did she want here"? "Why she pawned me this beautiful engagement ring, would you like to see it"? "Yes, I would". The proprietor reaches under the counter and comes back up with a ring. "it's a beauty isn't it"? He hands the ring to Kevin. Kevin's eyes get big, it's the ring that was on her left paw. "How much do you want for it"? "Well I can't sell it right now; I have to have it checked out by the cops. But if you give me say two-hundred dollars, I'll pretend I didn't receive it at all". He says this with a grin on his face. Kevin doesn't even haggle, he gives him the two-hundred, and leaves the pawnshop with the ring.
He looks at it as he walks down the street. It's her ring, I know it is, it has the right number on it. (yes, it is her ring, but how is that possible? It should still be on her paw which we have). Do we still have her paw, we haven't checked in a while? (well we will just have to check). yes, let's check, right after lunch. Kevin has lunch at the same diner, then heads out.
Kevin rides the train to his destination in the meadowlands. He is heading for the family farm, well the homestead that is. He had sold the family farm shortly after his parents disappeared but had kept the five acres the house had stood on. He put the money in the bank and had touched very little of it since then. It was a half-hour walk from the train station to the homestead. As he steps on to the homestead, a flood of memories hit him. The beatings and accusations from his father, and the visions of his mother trying to defend him, and getting beaten for her troubles. He is glad the old mammal is dead. He grabs his head, he not dead, he just left with his wife. They left me.
(HaHaHa you know they didn't leave they are still here, just over by the oak tree. And they are waiting for you). No, they left. (have you forgotten how it felt to stick the knife in him and to slice that bitch's throat. She failed you, just like all the rest). NO, I loved her, she was my mother. (what about your sister, She, was your first wife). No, she took her own life. (did she? You fought her after she refused your advances, and you killed her for it). It was an accident, she rushed me, and the knife entered her as I held it. (is that how you remember it? Funny, I remember it a little different. You killed all three, and the oak tree is their headstone). Shut up, let me think. (why, so you can deny it? Come on we both know different). Just shut up, that's not why we are here today. We're here to find out if her paw is still here. (right, go check).
Kevin goes to the hidden entrance to the old storm shelter. He opens the pad lock it's a little hard as it's kind of rusty. He finally gets it open, and pulling the door open goes in. he turns on his flashlight and opens the second padlock on the door at the bottom of the stairs. He opens the second door, to find the room empty. There are no paws in jars on any of the shelves. NO, NO, NO, where are they all? (RUN, we have been found out). Kevin turns and rushes out the door, and stops dead in his tracks. There are over twenty police officers, around him, and they all have their guns drawn. Including the one female, he thought was dead. "Thelma"? "No Judy Wilde, get down on your knees with your paws behind your back". Kevin just stares at her; he then runs at her. Four tranq darts hit him, and he goes down hard. He wakes up later in a cell.
"Well come on sleeping beauty, you have a date in interrogation". McHorn cuffs him and takes him to interrogation-one. Susan and I walk in, "good afternoon sir, before we begin, I have to read you your rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to a lawyer for advice before we ask you questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. Do you understand your rights as they have been explained to you"? "Yes, I understand".
"Do you wish for a lawyer"? "No, what good are they, they're just a waste of good money". "So, I assume you know what we found in that shelter"? "Yes, you found all my wives, how are they, are they being takin good care of"? "Yes, Mr. Mason they are being well taken care of". "That's good, I do worry about them". "Would you like to tell us about the bodies we found on the property as well"? "We did find seven bodies on the property". "Yes, that sounds about right, three of them were my family, the rest pissed me off at one time or another, and they just disappeared". (Shut up, you are giving us away, I won't allow this). Kevin grabs his head and Screams. "(hello coppers, nice day for a walk in the park isn't it. In fact, why don't you go take one now)". "Kevin"? "(no, you dumb cop, I'm George I help Kevin)". "Well hello their George, what can we do for you"? "(Nothing you flat paw, just leave us alone, we don't want to speak anymore)". That's fine we're done here anyway". Susan and I get up and head out the door. We go into observation to talk to the detectives.
"What just happened in there"? asks mom. "He just lawyered up is all. George is his alter ego; he is the one to do the bad things to other mammals". "How could you tell"? "Mom it was like a light switch being flicked in his head. George is another total person, and he has no morals, I think he controls Kevin some of the time. We have to respect his wishes; he has now lawyered up". "Damn I wanted some answers". "We all do mom, we have some answers, but we need him to tell us". "When he switches back, Susan and I will see if we can get some more answers". Susan speaks, "Mom he is a very confused individual, and Daniel and I believe George is not responsible for Kevin's actions. We fell that Kevin wanted to do some of these bad things, because of his father. What we get is snippets and pieces of his life, and they weren't very nice". "All right, do you think we can get the names of his other victims"? "We will try but don't hold your breath".
Over several days, we manage to get the names of the other mammals that he had killed. We also get the names of all his wives. He was very straight forward about them. George made several appearances with the lawyer present; he went through five lawyers before a lawyer would defend him. We found thirty left-paws in the shelter; bobby in the lab, had his paws full trying to identify them all even with their names and DNA. He eventually did, and we then closed thirty-seven missing and murdered mammal cases.
Sting setup…
We are at the house starting the first part of the sting. "Daniel do I have to do this"? "Yes, mom you do, we can't ask your sister to do this". "Right, I am the cop". "Ready mom"? asks Elisabeth. "As ready as I ever will be". Elisabeth goes to work on mom aging her appearance and adding scars from the file. When she's done, mom looks at herself in the mirror. "Wow is this what I'm going to look like when I'm older"? "Probably mom, I'm just having your cells break down, simulating age, I can reverse this later". "Right this is better than makeup for undercover operations".
Genie had given us the look of the ring that Kevin had made for Thelma, we had Charles copy it after I drew it. He worked fast and had it to us in two days. Mom put it on and we found a yellow dress that was similar to the one Thelma was last seen in. We didn't need the ring for the first time, mom just stopped and looked in the diner's window. (go, mom, he's seen you) we radio to her. She walks calmly down the street, and once around the corner sprints for the open trunk of the cruiser. She dives in as Wolford slams it closed and gets back in the driver's seat. He does this just in the nick of time.
The next time was in front of the worksite. He looks up and sees Genie and mom. They are having a fun conversation about the antics of Nick; they are also gesturing wildly. (all right he has seen you two, time to move). The amble down the street and around the corner.
The next encounter is the bar. He's half snockered when mom walks in. She walks half away across the room, (go mom, he's seen you). She looks up at him and gets a scared look on her face as she pretends to see him. She turns and runs out. (It's ok mom, he's not following). We say as she gets in the cruiser further down the block.
The next morning when he leaves his apartment, we slip the next one into place. Lieutenant Lister takes the place of the pawnshop owner. Mom leaves the shop and walks calmly the two blocks to the apartment block. She opens the door and walks in. she tags Vivian and Scott just waiting for her. They leave the building, and Kevin holds the door open for them. He rushes in, and up the stairs. Mom waits at the door, tell she can hear him on the stairs, and calmly walks into the apartment, locking the door. She sprints for the open window and dives out. Onto William's new bike. William had liked the old "repulson field" bike and had built his own "graviton bike". William closes the window and bounces the bike to the roof. They look down and wait for Kevin to exit the building, heading for the pawnshop. Lieutenant Lister played his part perfectly. William flies mom and himself home so mom can change, he then flies her to the meadow lands where we will meet them.
The precinct jumps into action with precinct-sixteen in the meadow lands. Judge Harrison had been standing by to sign the warrant for the property in the meadowlands. The judge believed us when we told him what we were doing. And agreed to help us. They moved in as Susan and I watched and followed him. They found the old shelter, and ten minutes before we showed up, they had it cleaned out. The whole case hinged on the fact that Kevin needed to know where all the paws were. When he went straight for the shelter, we had him. His paw pads were all over the jars when they were dusted. The bodies on the property were just a bonus, and if nothing else we had him on them.
When it went to court a few months later, he was found guilty of murder on the bodies found on the property, but his lawyer successfully argued that he was not criminally responsible for the paw murders. He is now doing life in a high-security mental institute for the criminally insane, with no chance for parole even if he did get better.
From the Star-News
By Chris Beaverton
Today in our great city of Zootopia A scientific breakthrough was announced by Wilde Industries. They have just announced a new form of a power plant. Some of you will scoff and label this as "science fiction", But their R&D department has built a "cold fusion reactor". I was there for the demonstration of this power plant. This little plant and I do mean little, is no bigger than a pickup. If you noticed a slight flicker in your lights at eleven-am yesterday, that was when it was switched on and took over supplying power to the grid. This small box is producing as much power as the old coal-fired power plant, which takes up twenty acres of land. If it proves to be as reliable as they say, we now have a clean power source for the city. An eighty-percent reduction in smog emissions, wow, we will all be able to breathe a little easier in the future. The power plant runs on mammal waste or any organic material. So was placed just outside the sewage plant. All the workers of the power plant will be offered retraining in any job of their choice, or jobs with Wilde industries. On a related note, they also unveiled a flying bike like contraption. Yes, we have all dreamed about a flying car, and they have proved it was possible. The bike runs on what is called a "Graviton Field", and has a small fusion reactor as it's power source. This reporter got to ride on the bike with one of the creators of the bike. It was quite the experience, the bike made no sound as it bounced us to one-thousand meters, I had quite the view of the city. They have no firm date for the production of the bike, but I can't wait for mine. You can find more on the story on page nine, and a short video on our paper's web site.