And Therein Lies the Truth
Chapter 4
Lonnie and Sweet were in Virgil's office. They were in the middle of filling him in on their conversation with Jimmy.
"Say that again?" Virgil asked.
"'Ruffies'. What's that?" Sweet asked.
"Hold on!" Virgil exclaimed. He jumped up and hurriedly grabbed his phone. "This is Detective Tibbs, I need Dr. Day. I don't care who she's meeting with! This is an emergency!"
After a few moments, Virgil was speaking with Dr. Day. He instructed her to perform another urine test on Rhonda Arrington, but was giving her very specific instructions on how the test should be conducted and exactly what drug to look for. He hung up and wiped the sweat that had formed from his brow. Lonnie and Sweet were confused.
"Virgil, what just happened here? And what in the hell is a 'Ruffie'?" Sweet asked.
"Rophypnol. It's a prescription medication normally given to patients with sleep disorders, mainly narcolepsy. It's also a very common date rape drug and almost impossible to detect after about 72 hours. And even if you catch it in time, you need to run a certain type of test in order to identify it."
"But when we talked to Rhonda, she said the guy hadn't done anything to her at all, expect force margaritas on her." Lonnie said.
"Margaritas? With salt?"
Lonnie thought the question was silly. "I don't know Virgil, I forgot to ask her."
"Sorry… Lieutenant. Of course, you're not aware of what I'm referring to." Virgil had stopped calling Lonnie by his name since the incident a last weekend, and he had started making what appeared to be concentrated efforts to point out Lonnie's shortcomings whenever he could. "Rophypnol comes in pill form. Guys will normally slip it into a girl's drink because is dissolves clear and…."
Sweet finally got it. "Has a salty taste to it."
"Exactly. That's why there was no sign of a struggle. There was no need for one. The girl was out cold the whole time. This drug can also causes amnesia."
Sweet continued. "Which is why she doesn't remember anything."
Everyone remained quiet. Finally Virgil spoke. "Well, we finally have our motive."
"We do?" Lonnie asked.
"Yes. This guy is obsessed with virgins. He kidnaps these girls for himself. If they've never been with anyone, he has his way with them and then releases them. If they have had intercourse, he kills them for being unfit."
"Works for me." Sweet said. "Sick, but makes perfect sense."
"I'm not so sure." Lonnie said.
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
Lonnie was really getting tired of Virgil's attitude, but he had a hunch. "There's just a lot of information we're ignoring here. Both the dead girls had boyfriends that the daddies didn't know nothing about. And Rhonda mentioned that the guy was reading Bible verses to her. I think we need to do some more digging before we go jumping to conclusions about the motive."
"Lieutenant, I appreciate all of your help while I've been going to school. But the last time I checked, I was still Chief Investigator here."
"Yes sir." Lonnie responded. Then, he walked out.
Sweet just stared at Virgil in utter disbelief. "Is there a problem, Sgt. Sweet?"
"Yes sir, there is. But I'd rather not say what, not just yet anyway."
The two men glared at each other and then Virgil spoke. "Then if you have nothing to say, go get your friend and see about getting the names of every white male in Sparta with a prescription for Rophypnol."
Sweet left the station and, just as he suspected, Lonnie was waiting for him in the car.
"I'm telling you now, Willson. I DON'T want to talk about it."
"Okay, okay. Look, we're supposed to get the names of all the white guys on this Rophypnol stuff. I guess we should go do that now."
"We will." Lonnie responded. "After we make a pit stop at the trailer park."
XXX
Monica left Ms. Delong's office 30 minutes ago, and stopped by the store to get a CD for Lonnie and to clear her head. She didn't have anymore more help for him than she did before she left the house that morning. But somehow, talking with Darnelle and Ms. Delong had made her feel better. And if things did get out of control, at least Lonnie would have some emotional support, even though both Darnelle and Ms. Delong would still have to do their jobs. Monica looked at her watch and hurried to her car. She had told Althea that she'd be home within the hour.
As she was walking to her car, she heard a somewhat familiar voice.
"Hi Monica."
Monica turned around and saw Aaron Pitman. "Hi, there Aaron. I see you finally got your nose from underneath those books."
Aaron smiled, but Monica thought something was missing from it. The smile seemed empty. "I need you to come with me. It's important."
Monica's senses were up. 'This boy is not right' she thought. "Why don't you follow me back to the Tibbs'?" She suggested.
At that moment, Aaron reached the left side of shirt, pulled out his shirttail just far enough to show Monica the gun he had on him. "I don't think so. We don't have time for that."
XXX
It was going on six o'clock and Althea was getting frustrated. Dinner was on the table, but no one was home except for her, Etta, and the twins.
"I thought Monica was supposed to be here by 3pm?" Etta asked.
"That's what she said when she called. I'm worried." Althea responded.
"Lord, I hope she and Lt. Jamison ain't off at my trailer. I've had about all of Virgil I can stand. He find them there again and Lord only knows what that man likely to do."
"Well, I know they're not there. Lonnie's on duty until 7pm. Besides…." At that moment a car pulled up in the driveway. Althea looked out of the kitchen window and she saw it was Virgil.
"Hello." He greeted when he came into the house.
"Hi." Althea responded. Etta noticed the tension and decided to go check on the babies so that the two of them could talk She fixed three quick plates, and headed upstairs.
Virgil washed his hands and sat down at the table to eat. After about five full minutes of silence, Althea finally spoke.
"Virgil, we can't go on like this. The whole house is filled with tension. We need to talk about it."
"Fine. What do you have to say?" Virgil asked.
"I'd like to know why you're so angry about this. I know why you're angry with me. I kept something from you. And for that, I apologize. But what is it about Lonnie and Monica seeing each other that bothers you so much?"
Virgil looked at her with disbelief. "No, honey. Really." Althea continued. "I truly apologize. It's taken me a while, but I do understand that I hurt you. Can you possibly find a way to understand why I did it?"
Virgil thought for a moment before he spoke. "I understand that you felt the need to keep Monica and Lonnie's relationship hidden from me. I don't understand why you're in such support of it."
"You didn't see them together like I did, Virgil. The way they respond to each other, sometimes without even having to say one word. It's like they were made just for each other. Like you and I used to be."
"Used to be?"
Althea looked Virgil straight in the eyes. "You haven't noticed the changes in us?"
Virgil sighed. "Yes, I have. But between my work, school, your career, the kids….I just chalked it up to both of us being fatigued."
"I suppose that could be it, if we really wanted it to be. Anyway, I wish you would speak to Monica. She's scared to death of you right now."
"And say what, Althea? 'Can I walk you down the aisle at your wedding'?"
"Virgil…."
"No. No Althea. Look, I will speak to Monica. I promise you that. She's family as far as I'm concerned and I want her to be comfortable in our home. But my feelings about her involvement with Jamison have not changed. Can you and I just agree to disagree on that?"
"Sure. As soon as you explain to me exactly how Monica is supposed to be comfortable here knowing that you're trying to destroy the man she loves!"
XXX
It was close to 7pm; quitting time for both Jamison and Sweet. But Lonnie's hunch appeared to be correct and neither of the two men wanted to leave until they had everything in place for Virgil.
After speaking with the missing girls' parents again, the men discovered a lot. Both families attended the same church, First Assembly of Sparta. It was a pretty decent sized congregation for a new church, about 100 people, and the first racially diverse church in Sparta. Most of the families that attended were young, and Sparta transplants. The church had some strange by-laws though, including one that said a girl could not date unless it was approved by her father and the head of the church. What was throwing Lonnie off was the dead girls. They didn't attend First Assembly, but he was sure that the church fit in there somewhere.
"This is weird." Sweet said as he read a copy of the bylaws the Arringtons' had given them. "It's like a cult, but without the bunkers and guns."
"Yeah." Lonnie replied. "Gimme the phone. I need a judge and two warrants…quick Wish me luck. We really ain't got much of nothing."
"Wait a minute. You REALLY think the church is involved?"
"Yep. And I have since about 4pm. That's why I've got Luann out snooping."
Just then Luann entered the office. "I got it, Lieutenant." She said.
"And?"
"You were right. Reverend Elijah Pitman just had a prescription for Rohypnol filled at the beginning of the month. Oh, and Rhonda Arrington's test results came in, too. Positve for Rohypnol."
"Willson…" Lonnie started.
"I know. Call Virgil."
XXX
Monica and Aaron arrived at Brewer's Pond. Somehow, Aaron seemed to know exactly where he was going. He pulled right into the driveway of Etta's trailer.
"How did you know about this place?" She asked.
"I followed you here. Now get out."
"Please don't hurt me. Just tell me what you want!"
"Hush now. It'll all be over soon. I hope. Just get out and go open the trailer for us. And bring your phone with you."
