Chapter 34: How the Mighty Shall Fall
The plan that Voight and Olinsky had come up with to finally handle the enigmatic corruption that hid itself within the higher echelons of the Chicago Police Department was indeed a very creative and levelheaded one. The two of them had successfully convinced Commander Darren Brooks to send copies of a private "eyes-only" memo to not only First Deputy Superintendent Walter Barron, but also members of his immediate circle: Lieutenant Alan Forsberg, Sergeant Mickey Goodwin, and Barron's official driver, Officer Frank Milne.
The commander had drafted this memo saying that he had heard through the Chicago city grapevine that Raul Lionzo had extensive knowledge that Barron and the others were siphoning money from the Delford "Iraq" Wade's narcotics operation and laundered it through the private bank in Peru that financed their phony "Lasef Enterprises" shell company. Voight and Olinsky hoped that the content of this memo would cause Barron and his cohorts to become panicked and tip their hand, thus implicating themselves in their dishonest dealings.
Furthermore, with the help of CtOS Task Force member Agent Dean McCain, Voight and Olinsky were able to bring in FBI Special Agent Julia Mastell to help. In addition to being an FBI agent, Mastell was also an experienced attorney. A conference had been scheduled at the Ivory Tower between Detective Harrison, Superintendent Daniels, First Deputy Superintendent Barron, and Lieutenant Forsberg to discuss the Raul Lionzo murder case and the investigation surrounding it. Mastell would accompany Harrison to the meeting and pose as his police union attorney and try to act in the detective's best interests, all the while covertly gathering intelligence on Barron, Forsberg, and the others. Voight, Olinsky, Commander Brooks, and Agent Mastell had already looped the Superintendent in on their covert plan, and thankfully, he was on board.
Chicago Police Headquarters
9:30 AM
Dressed in his official Chicago PD black dress uniform, complete with a large black suit coat with brass buttons down its front, formal white cotton gloves, and his black and white checkered police hat, Harrison made his way down the upstairs corridor of the Ivory Tower. The tall, short-haired blonde, green-eyed Agent Mastell was at his side dressed in a form-fitting plum pant suit and matching suede high heels. The two reached a set of glass double doors that had "OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT" etched across the front.
"Remember", Mastell explained, "Just answer their questions honestly. Try not to steer the conversation yourself. We want these guys to make themselves choke on their own BS."
"Understood, Counselor", Harrison replied as he donned his police hat and entered the Superintendent's Conference Room.
Chicago Police Superintendent Arthur Daniels sat in the center seat of a large conference table that faced the center seat of the wrap-around conference table that enveloped the center part of the large conference room. Seated on to his left was his executive officer, Lieutenant Alan Forsberg. Forsberg was a white man in his mid-fifties with short salt and pepper hair, clad in his white CPD uniform. Seated to Daniels' right was First Deputy Superintendent Walter Barron, also clad in his white CPD uniform.
"Good morning Detective!" Superintendent Daniels greeted.
"Good morning gentlemen", Harrison greeted as he sat down in a seat on the far end of the wrap-around table, at which point Mastell sat in the seat immediately beside him.
"Who's this?" First Deputy Barron asked, obviously referring to Mastell.
"I'm Julia Mastell, sir" Mastell replied, "I'm the detective's attorney from the Chicago Police Union. Detective Harrison has invoked his right to have me present for this hearing."
Barron nodded. "Noted", he said, "The purpose of this hearing this morning is a formal audit of the Raul Lionzo murder investigation. I'm hereby advising you that you do have the right to defer answers to any questions posed in this hearing to your attorney should you have the desire. However, outright failure to answer questions will result in your being immediately stripped of your police powers."
"Yes", Harrison replied, "I've already been made aware of my administrative rights, First Deputy. I understand them just fine."
"All right then", Lieutenant Forsberg chimed in, "When did you first come in contact with the late Mister Lionzo?"
"At the Palin Correctional Center", Harrison began to explain, "Just after my partner, Detective Sunny Tran, was shot and badly wounded in the line of duty. Raul Lionzo assisted me in giving her first aid and was not hostile toward either of us in any way."
"If you would refresh our memories, please, Detective", Superintendent Daniels said, "This was the incident during which you shot and killed a Palin Correctional guard in self-defense, correct?"
"Yes sir", Harrison replied, "that particular guard was the person who had just shot my partner. I had no choice but to return fire until the threat was neutralized. I believe my actions will fully in line with proper CPD protocols."
"That they were, Detective", Daniels replied as he skimmed through the case file on the shooting, "You were subsequently cleared by Internal Affairs and our shooting board. And I also see here that Detective Tran eventually healed well and has since returned to duty."
Harrison nodded. "Yes, she has, sir" he said, "If I may say so, she hasn't missed a beat since coming back."
"When was the next time you saw Raul Lionzo after that incident?" Lieutenant Forsberg asked in a deadpan tone.
"Unfortunately," Harrison explained, "The next time I saw Raul, he had been found dead on North Avenue Beach after being pulled from the waters of Lake Michigan. He received a fatal gunshot wound after having been bound for a time and was later dumped in the lake."
"I'm sorry", Forsberg said, "What led you to conclude that he was bound before he was killed?"
Harrison gave a look to Mastell, at which point she produced enlarged copies of the crime scene photos depicting the rail-like bruises on Lionzo's hands and handed them over to Lieutenant Forsberg. "Both Detectives Harrison and Voight, as well as the crime scene techs", Mastell said, "Noted and documented the presence of thin, rail-like bruises across the back of both Raul Lionzo's hands."
Forsberg took the photo and looked at it for a very brief time. "I see", he said before turning back to Harrison, "And did you come to any sort of conclusion as to what sort of implement or device had made those bruises, Detective?"
"Well Lieutenant", Harrison said, "I didn't put this theory to paper in my report, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I believe that Raul had been restrained with handcuffs."
"Why didn't you write this notion down in your report?" First Deputy Barron asked.
"I was quite apprehensive about floating the theory that Raul was killed by cops", Harrison said in a very forthright manner.
Barron let out a very nervous, if not arrogant, chuckle. "Cops", he parroted, "As if cops are the only people who carry handcuffs in the city of Chicago."
Mastell then produced an additional photo from inside her brown leather attaché case and put it on the table. The photo was an even more enlarged print of Lionzo's hand bruises, with a zoomed-in comparison photo of the inner metal rails of a handcuff ring directly beside it. "Actually, sir" Mastell chimed in, "The detective's theory appears to be quite sound. The cuffs we're using for comparison aren't just any cuffs, they belong to a very well-known Chicago police officer."
"I beg your pardon, Counselor?" Barron barked.
"These cuffs belong to your driver", Mastell continued, "Officer Frank Milne. We apprehended him at his home in Oak Lawn early this morning."
"Who's 'we'?" Barron asked.
Mastell smirked before grabbing her FBI wallet credentials from her pocket and setting them in an open position on the table. "I guess I should clarify", she said, "I'm not only an attorney. I'm Special Agent Julia Mastell, Public Corruption Division, FBI Chicago. My unit has been investigating you for the past few months. Not just you, but Lieutenant Forsberg, Officer Milne, and Sergeant Mickey Goodwin as well."
Forsberg stood straight up from his seat. "That's absurd!" he bellowed, "On what cause?"
"Public corruption, official misconduct, racketeering, and money laundering", Mastell continued, "We have it on good authority that the four of you gentlemen created a shell company in Peru to launder money that you siphoned from a drug operation."
Harrison then reached into Mastell's attaché case and removed three pieces of paper, setting them on the table. "Furthermore", he chimed in, "My informant provided Agent Mastell and myself with e-mails detailing supposed business correspondence to set up this phony 'Lasef Enterprises' company."
"Our Computer Crimes people were able to determine that each of these fake e-mail accounts were created and regularly accessed on your office computers in this very building", Mastell added.
"My thinking is", Harrison said, "You guys wanted to take on Raul Lionzo as a silent partner in your shell company, but you soon realized how bad of a drug addict he was. That made him a liability, so you had him locked up at Palin Correctional to try and keep him quiet. However, when Peter Malich got word to you that he was going to squeal, you had him sprung from custody and whacked him."
Barron gave the detective a very arrogant grin. "Nice story, Harrison", he said, "But a smart homicide cop like you should know more than anybody that you need proof in order to make an arrest."
"Oh", Harrison said, "Like perhaps, the gun Milne used to cap Raul? No problem. Agent Mastell's colleagues found it hidden in a private compartment on his boat. The numb-nuts didn't even have the foresight to clean it first before he stashed it, so we have bits of Raul's hair, blood, and skull fragments clinging to the gun sight."
"Not only that", Mastell commented, "But a State Police dive team was able to retrieve the pair of handcuffs from the bottom of Lake Michigan. You remember those, don't you, First Deputy Barron? The ones you reported lost and had replaced?"
Superintendent Daniels stood up from his seat and turned to his two now shamed colleagues. "Alan Forsberg and Walter Barron", he began, "I'm officially stripping you of your ranks and official police powers, effective immediately. I'm also placing you both under arrest for being accessories to the murder of Raul Lionzo."
Two uniformed officers then came into the room and placed them both under arrest, promptly removing and collecting their gun belts and firearms. "Wait!" Barron yelled over the sound of the officer reading him his Miranda rights, "What about Milne and Goodwin?"
"They're already in custody down at the federal building", Mastell said before looking to the two uniformed officers, "Take them away, please."
As Barron and Forsberg were escorted out of the room, Harrison shook the Superintendent's hand. "I'm sorry it had to work out this way, sir", he said.
"I'm sorry too", a very discouraged Superintendent Daniels replied, "I can't believe my four best men did all this shady stuff on my watch."
"This has no reflection on you, sir", Mastell said in a reassuring tone, "Those guys chose to abuse their titles and abuse their power. They made quite the effort to hide it from you, so there's really no way you could have known had we not done all this investigating."
Taking in what Mastell had said, Daniels nodded. "I hear you, ma'am", he said, "In any event, that was some exceptional work from both of you."
"Thank you, sir", Harrison said. He was interrupted by his ringing cell phone. It was Aiden Pearce.
"Hey Aiden", he said as he answered, "You've caught me at an inopportune time again, I'm afraid."
"Sorry about that", Pearce said from his end of the line, "But I think I have a lead on the Rose Washington case. Can you meet me in The Loop tonight? Say around nine?"
Harrison sighed. "You got it", he said, "I'll meet you at the newsstand that's there. Nine o' clock."