Chapter 32: Surprises

Chicago Police Memorial
One Hour Later

The Chicago Police Memorial was a large, lush 5-acre monument honoring fallen CPD officers. This honorary memorial was a part of the Gold Star Families Park and Memorial along the waterfront of Lake Michigan. Detectives Harrison and Tran arrived there, as promised, almost exactly one hour after Harrison's cryptically vague phone conversation with Aiden Pearce.

They didn't see Pearce there right away, so the detectives took a few minutes to look around and examine the names of the fallen officers that were engraved on the memorial's large stone walls more closely. It was then that one individual name caught Harrison's eye: Richard Voight, Detective Hank Voight's late father who had been killed in the line of duty sometime in the early 1980's.

"Hey Sunny?" Harrison asked.

"Yeah?" Tran replied.

"How long have you known Hank Voight?" Harrison asked.

"As long as I've been a cop", Tran candidly replied, "So almost seven years now, I guess."

"I've heard some of our older district patrolmen mention both Hank and his dad in passing", Harrison said, "I was just curious. Do you know anything about how his dad died?"

Tran shrugged her shoulders. "Hank hasn't ever mentioned that much about it", she replied, "At least to me. All I do know is that Richard Voight was killed during a traffic stop while on patrol in the Twenty-First District's territory. Captain Broussard was a fairly new patrolman back then and he was part of the CPD honor guard detail at his funeral."

"That's how he and Hank first met?" a surprised Harrison asked, "Damn, that's a hell of a way to meet somebody."

"No kidding", Tran said with a smirk before her expression abruptly changed. "Mind if I ask you something now?" she asked.

"Sure", Harrison replied.

"When you noticed that Peruvian bank card in Crispin's wallet", Tran said, "I noticed that pretty much all the color had drained from your face like you'd just seen a ghost. What exactly is 'Lasef Enterprises' anyway?"

Harrison sighed and sat down on a carved stone bench in front of one of the memorial walls and turned to face Tran as she sat down beside him. "While you were recuperating from your gunshot wound", he began to explain, "Voight, Olinsky, the Narcotics squad, and I worked with some people from my CtOS task force. We discovered some very intriguing connections between a murder case that Hank and I worked on, the undercover drug operation that Abby and Ernie handled, and a shell company based in Peru that's apparently a front used to launder money made from various illicit dealings here in Chicago."

"I take it that's this 'Lasef Enterprises'", Tran said.

"Bingo", Harrison replied, "It appears now that this secretive bank in Peru is where all this illegitimate money is being kept. Not only that, but I now believe that the late Nicholas Crispin may have been a player in whatever the hell this is."

"Holy shit", Tran said.

"I know", Harrison said, "The really messed up part about all this is, though, is that there may be some dirty CPD cops involved, too."

A now stunned Tran momentarily looked away as she tried, somewhat in vain, to stomach what her partner had just said. "Do we have idea who they are?" She finally asked.

Harrison nodded quite apprehensively. "Unfortunately, yes", he replied, "We strongly believe that this corrupt crew is being run by First Deputy Superintendent Barron, with Lieutenant Forsberg and Officer Milne working underneath him. We think that Sergeant Goodwin from the Marine Unit is involved as well. They used shoddy aliases to start up a shell company in Peru to launder the hush money they'd been receiving from Iraq Wade's drug ops, as well as the proceeds from whatever other messed up shit that they're into."

Tran sighed. "The top three tiers of the Ivory Tower below Superintendent Daniels", she said, "That's why all of those guys were there during the murders and the blackout at May Stadium that night. That begs the question, though, what does a douchebag artist like Joseph DeMarco have to do with all this?"

Harrison scoffed and gave his partner a cunning smirk in retort. "Come on, Sunny", he said, "We both know that DeMarco couldn't afford to buy that big ass theater he owns by hocking his stupid art. He's laundering money, too. At least that's what the Organized Crime Section thinks, I mean, the man does have ties to Lucky Quinn and the Chicago South Club, after all."

"You think our cops were members of the South Club, too?" Tran asked.

Just then, Harrison saw Aiden Pearce's dark silhouette appear from behind one of the memorial walls. "Well", Harrison said, "Looks like our buddy Pearce will hopefully have some information that could answer that question for us."

The two detectives stood up from the bench and walked over to Pearce. "Hey Aiden", Harrison greeted before gesturing to Tran, "Have you met my regular partner, Detective Tran?"

"I don't think that we've formally met, no", Pearce sardonically replied, "I'm sorry we're meeting under these awkward circumstances, but I'm very glad you're back on your feet, Detective. I'd like to apologize for the circumstances I put you two in that lead up to you getting shot that day."

Tran put both hands up. "Don't sweat it, Mister Pearce", she replied, "There was no way you could've known that guard would shoot me. I'll tell you what, we'll be squared away if you just cut to the chase. What's so important that you felt you had to call us out here?"

"It's like I said to Detective Harrison on the phone earlier", Pearce began, "I have information on what happened to Nicholas Crispin tonight. He was the patron of an illegal underground sex club that uses trafficked women and young girls. It's called 'Infinite Ninety-Two'."

Recognizing the name, Tran nodded. "'Infinite Ninety-Two'", she parroted, "I've heard rumors about that place from some friends on the Vice squad. Funny, I thought it was just some sort of mythical place until now."

"I can assure you, Detective", Pearce replied, "it's very real. I used Crispin's membership invitation to gain access to the club earlier tonight. I met a young woman named 'Poppy' who had apparently been Crispin's regular girl."

"Then I guess my question is", Harrison said to Pearce, "Would you happen to know how Mister Crispin ended up with a bullet in the back of his head tonight?"

The shadowy hacker said nothing, seeing the obstinate silence as an opportunity for the two bright detectives to put the necessary pieces of the situation together in their own minds.

Tran's mouth dropped when she came to a dreadful, if not somewhat expected insight. "It was you, wasn't it?" she said, "You were the one who killed him!" She started to reach for the handcuffs she had secured in a small black leather pouch clipped to her right hip pocket.

Harrison held up a hand in response, giving Tran a stoic "wait-a-minute" sort of look, before turning his gaze back to Pearce. "Where's the gun?" he asked, "Do you still have it on you?"

Pearce sighed before reaching inside his trench coat and produced a P911 handgun with a black steel silencer attached to its barrel. He nonchalantly set the weapon on the ground and backed away slightly.

"Hold up", Tran said softly to Harrison, "The man just basically confessed to murdering someone, and we are the two homicide cops assigned to work that murder. He just set the goddamn murder weapon on the ground in front of us! We've gotta read him his Miranda rights and run him in."

Harrison peered over his shoulder at his partner. "By all accounts", he began in just as low a tone, "This Crispin dude was a damn money launderer who got his rocks off committing unspeakable acts with trafficked women and underage girls. You've been a Chicago cop a lot longer than I have, Sunny. Do you honestly think the State Attorney's going to care all that much when all the shit comes out about Crispin's secret life?"

Tran pondered Harrison's thoughts for an extended beat before letting out a sigh of submission. "No", she said as she produced a pair of blue nitrile exam gloves from her pocket and put them on her hands. She imperturbably reached down, scooping the surrendered handgun off the ground, and gave it a cursory visual inspection.

"I've got a friend who's one of our lab techs", she continued, "I'll bring the gun to her and have her log it in and analyze it personally. If I tell her that I found it dumped in a storm drain across the street from the scene, I doubt she'd ask me too many questions."

Harrison nodded affirmatively, at which point Tran brought the weapon back to their car to place it in a proper evidence container. "Where does that leave me?" Pearce asked Harrison.

Harrison cleared his throat before replying. "I hope you realize that Detective Tran and I are going out on one hell of a limb for you by doing this", he said, "Whether this Crispin guy was a piece of shit or not, that doesn't absolve you of the fact that you killed someone tonight, Aiden. If this were to reach a jury, I highly doubt they'd care what your motivations were."

"I know this can't just wash away, Detective" Pearce replied, "However, the way I tend to see things is, if one evil bastard had to die in order for God-knows-how many people to be able to live somewhat of a better life, so be it. The information I got from both what I took off Crispin and the information that Poppy gave me is going to help save a lot of people from similar deviants."

"Fine", Harrison said as he started to really see Pearce's point of view despite his own moral objections, "Then, in exchange for the very big favor we're doing for you, I'd like your help with something."

"Anything", Pearce said.

"I'm going to need everything you can get on a shell company called 'Lasef Enterprises'.

CPD District 34
30 Minutes Later

Tran and Harrison sat in the two chairs in front of Captain Broussard's desk as the captain reviewed their preliminary reports on the Crispin homicide, which the two detectives had typed up and submitted in record time because of the abnormal circumstances in which they'd found themselves.

"So", Captain Broussard said to Tran as he glanced over her report, "You found the alleged murder weapon in a sewer drain a few blocks over from the crime scene. Is that right, Detective?"

"Yes sir", Tran replied, "That's correct."

"And how did you happen to stumble upon such an important and useful find?" Captain Broussard asked in a sharp-tongued tone.

Tran swallowed hard and came up with the best story she could. "I was doing a routine canvas of the immediately surrounding area when I reached the particular area to which I referred in my report. I momentarily slipped in the snow and as I was catching myself, I happened to look down into the sewer drain and saw the metal of the gun's silencer glinting in the light reflecting off an adjacent streetlight. The gun was partially buried under a small mound of snow."

The captain's attention then turned to Harrison. "And were exactly were you when your partner made this lucky catch, Detective Harrison?" Broussard asked him.

"After Sunny and I finished working the crime scene at Prestige Motorsports", Harrison began to explain, "I received a call from one of my confidential informants from the CtOS Task Force asking for a meet-up. Sunny and I agreed to split up for the moment, and I went to meet up with my informant while she canvassed the area." He then took his cell phone from the case on his belt loop, placed it on the desk, and slid it toward the captain. "Just as I was finishing up with my informant, Sunny sent me a text telling me that she had found the gun. You can look at my phone to confirm everything if you feel you need to. My informant's call and Sunny's text message are both logged."

A hesitant Captain Broussard put a hand up. "No need", he said, "Do we know whether or not the gun you found is the murder weapon?"

Tran nodded. "Yes sir", she began to explain, "I personally delivered the gun to my friend Sarah Macy at the CPD Ballistics Lab and she processed it herself. A test-fired round from the gun matches the lands and grooves from the bullet removed from Nicholas Crispin's head during his autopsy. Her report was sitting on the fax machine tray when Troy and I got back here, and I included it on the bottom page of my paperwork."

Broussard took a second to flip to the last page of Tran's paperwork, looking over the above-mentioned ballistics report. "Your friend Miss Macy is very thorough", he said to Tran, "And it appears that the gun you found is indeed our murder weapon. Where are we on viable suspects?"

"At this time, sir", Harrison began, "As much as I hate to admit it, we haven't made a whole lot of progress. My professional opinion based on my experience with murder cases is that we're dealing with some sort of professional. I mean, he was able to get close enough to Crispin to cap him in the back of the head at close range. And in the dark, too, mind you."

Broussard set the case file back down on his desktop and sighed before sliding the file back in his detectives' direction. "Alright then", he said, "Put the file in the 'open case' drawer and you guys can pick up where you left off in the morning. It's late, so you guys are dismissed for tonight. Get some rest."

Tran picked up the case file as both she and Harrison stood up from their seats. As Harrison walked back out into the squad room, his cell phone suddenly rang. He took it off his belt loop and answered.

"Harrison", he answered.

"Detective Harrison", a female voice said from the other end of the line, "This is Sergeant Trudy Platt calling from CPD District Twenty-One."

"Oh yes", Harrison replied, "Sergeant Platt. I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting in person, but Sergeant Mahoney speaks highly of you."

Sergeant Platt could be heard chuckling on her end of the line. "Deb's a nice gal", she said, "But somehow I doubt that's entirely true. Seriously though, I'm sorry to be calling you with such bad news, especially at this hour. We have Detective Abigail Asher in custody here at our district. She asked that you be the first person notified."

Harrison went pale white at the staggering news. "Okay", he mustered after briefly trying to process everything, "On what charges?"

"It appears that two of our patrolmen found her snorting crushed up painkillers in her unmarked CPD car", Platt explained, "They booked her on a DUI and misdemeanor drug possession, but out of professional courtesy, they haven't sent her off to Cook County yet. We're keeping her in one of our cells downstairs until tomorrow morning."

"Understood", Harrison said, "I'm on my way."