Chapter 15: The aftermath and it hits the fan
By the time the medical examiners had begun the process of recovering the bodies from the basement of the cabin, the area had became both a media and law enforcement encampment.
The Werewolf was already handcuffed and completely muzzled and restrained to a dolly as it was taken into a van destined for the Helen Karmah Asylum for the Criminally Insane, following preliminary identification of the creature as an escapee from the asylum.
Sam had his hands in his pockets as he oversaw several officers in the process of bringing up more of the bodies while Chan, Claphammer and Neville directed efforts, and his attention turned towards the gang.
The gang were all visibly shaken up by what they've seen in the basement, and the lieutenant could see that Fred felt like he had his insides ripped out.
He couldn't blame them for their reactions, and the officers assigned to crowd control duty were sure lucky that they didn't have to witness the gruesome scene at the basement.
As the medical examiners began the process of loading the recovered bodies onto the van, to be transported to the morgue for proper identification, Sam could tell that his men were bracing themselves for the next of kin notifications.
Regardless of how long they've been on the job for, the next of kin notifications would always be the worst aspect of homicide work.
Not even witnessing gruesome sights could, at times, overtake the notifications portion of the job, especially when that portion is the part where the personal aspects of the case comes into play.
Deciding to take a break from his thoughts, the lieutenant stood up from his car trunk and walked over to the trio.
As he walked towards the trio, he could see several of the officers taking part in the body removal duties were also visibly shaken.
It didn't help the fact that many of the officers were recent war veterans, and you'd think everything they've seen in combat would've been enough to prepare for what was in the basement of death.
With a sigh, Sam approached his three investigators, who promptly finished whatever they were discussing about and turned towards him.
"So how are we on the bodies?" Sam asked.
"We've just finished removing the last of the bodies, Lieutenant." Neville reported. "Officers are combing through the basement to make sure there's no one else left behind down there as we speak."
Sam nodded. "How many were down there?"
"Hard to say, sir." Claphammer shrugged. "Many of the vics were slashed and torn apart, and the fact that there's a colony of flies inhabiting the basement means that several of them have been here for at least weeks, if not, months or even years."
Neville nodded as he said, "For all we know, we could be dealing with at least 45 of 'em down there, because bear in mind that the victims from the Werewolf's original rampage from '48 to '57 were never found, so what are the chances that this basement is where the Werewolf dumped all the bodies?"
Sam didn't hide the disgust on his face as he replied, "Dear G**..."
"Indeed, sir." Claphammer agreed. "You and Charlie were lucky to have been able to rescue your daughter from that h*llhole in the nick of time. If you were a minute late-"
Sam immediately held his hand up. "Say no more."
Claphammer nodded as the lieutenant turned towards the front door to the cabin, during which several more officers emerged and the uniformed sergeant approached them.
"All clear, sir." The sergeant reported.
"No more human remains?" Sam asked.
"That's right, sir." The sergeant nodded.
"Alright." Sam sighed as he turned towards the officers that had finished up, then he turned back to the sergeant and said, "In that case, you can cut most of the crew loose. Pretty sure most of them has seen enough for the night."
"I'm sure they've all seen enough for the night, sir." The sergeant agreed.
As the sergeant proceeded to leave, Sam stopped him as he added, "My men and I would resume the investigative work first thing tomorrow morning, Sergeant, so be sure that the cabin is completely taped off and that you keep at least three men posted here to secure the scene for the night."
"Right away, sir." The sergeant nodded.
In that same time, Maggie was starting to get a very good idea on what exactly was in the basement, judging from the dozens of filled body bags emerged from the cabin and the horror-stricken looks on each of the gang's faces, especially that of her brothers.
For a while, neither of them said a word, though Maggie was staring mostly at Daphne during the tense silence.
Eventually, Maggie broke the silence as she said, "Well...I suppose you were right to cover my eyes...like that, Daphne."
Daphne turned towards her and sighed. "Maybe, though there's no telling just how dangerously close you were to..."
The redhead nodded towards the medical examiner's van as she continued, "...getting a one-way trip to the morgue with those they've found in the basement."
"No need to remind us all about that, Daph." Fred interjected. "We're just lucky that we all got there when we did."
Everyone else nodded in agreement, during which Sam walked towards them.
"You kids all right?" Sam asked in concern.
"Well, besides the close-call about Maggie and our tangling with a dangerous serial killer, we're all okay, I think, Lieutenant Rogers." Fred turned towards the lieutenant before nodding at the three investigators and added, "I suppose you're cutting your men loose for the night after what we've all seen in that basement?"
"Yeah, I don't suppose any of us are going to get any sleep tonight after what we saw in that h*llhole." Sam nodded in agreement. "But I digress, prior to the takedown, you said that you have something that I would like to know."
"Indeed we do, sir." Fred said as he and Velma produced the files they managed to acquire from the safe at Benson's apartment. "This was Benson's insurance policy, which would explain why he decided to spill the beans out after doing all the dirty work on behalf of the mastermind behind this whole mess. Also in these files are the detailed notes Benson has took regarding the dirty dealings the mayor and his donors have partook in over the years."
Sam frowned as Fred handed him the file, and he asked, "I suppose there's a long story regarding how you managed to ontain the files, isn't it?"
Fred and Velma both winced, and the former replied sheepishly, "I don't think you would want to know, Lieutenant, but let's just say we got to the files before Benson's bosses could get to it."
Sam merely grunted in reply as he opened the file and scanned its contents, then he paused as he narrowed his eyes further before looking up.
"What do you know, this is the nexus that would most certainly turn the city upside down." The lieutenant said. "Where was it at?"
"In a safe hidden behind a painting in the living room of Benson's apartment." Velma explained as she exchanged glances with Fred. "What you would not want to know is how Fred and I got in."
"I don't suppose I would want to know that, either." Sam shook his head. "Now, I don't wanna take the wind out of your sails, kids, but when all of this is settled, we really ought to sit down together with your parents and have a talk about what you've been doing the past while."
"With all due respect, Lieutenant Rogers, do you really think the case would have gone anywhere if we haven't jumped in to push the needle?" Daphne pointed out. "I know that you have your issues with my Dad, chief among them what you would consider to be him enabling those that have arranged the crash that killed your wife when she tried to blow the whistle on the pharmaceutical fraud, but think about it, how would the case have progressed if we never 'meddled'?"
Sam only stared at the redhead while Shaggy and Maggie turned towards her, then he exhaled.
"Point taken." Sam conceded. "Nevertheless, we are having that talk together with your parents once the dust settles from all of this."
Then, turning towards Fred, the lieutenant added, "But until then, we've got to keep moving. How late does your father usually work?"
"It's not often that he gets home from work before seven." Fred explained. "And he did mention that he has an important meeting at his office this evening, hence the reason why he didn't went to pick me up at the hospital earlier this afternoon."
"Hope we can catch him in his office before he heads home for the day, because all of this you just provided, it cannot wait." Sam said as he held up the files.
A short while later, over at the Office of the District Attorney of Crystal Cove County, Assistant DA Skip Jones was twirling a pencil as he scanned a file on his desk when someone knocked on his office door.
Without looking up from his desk, the ADA called, "Come in."
The door opened, and the ADA looked up and arched his eyebrows when he saw Sam, Chan, Claphammer, Neville and the gang at the other side of the door.
"Ah, Lieutenant Rogers." Skip greeted as he stood up from his seat. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever planning to join us."
"Good evening to you too, Lieutenant." Sam greeted back, referring Skip to his wartime rank from his time in the Navy JAG, as he stepped into the ADA's office. "And of course, after everything that has happened, I suppose it's a matter of-"
Sam stopped himself when he saw that the ADA wasn't alone in his office, which occurred as the three men accompanying the ADA turned towards them.
And much to Sam's surprise, one of the three men was none other than George Robert Nedley Blake.
Daphne was likewise surprised when she saw her father in the ADA's office, and she paused. "Dad?"
"Daphne, dear." George replied as his eyes settled onto Sam, Shaggy and Maggie.
Seeing the other two men accompanying the ADA, Sam kept his eyes on George as he said, "I hope I'm not interrupting, ADA Jones."
"Ah, no worries, Rogers." Skip replied before he motioned the two men accompanying him to step forward. "In fact, perfect timing on your part."
"Perfect timing for what?" Sam arched his eyebrows. "What's going on?"
"Rogers, allow me to introduce Special Agents Charlie Gorgan and his partner Jordan Shmidlap of the FBI." Skip explained as he gestured towards the two agents. "These two agents are the lead agents in the federal case that brought down Judge Stevens and several more others in the DA's office, a case which I'm sure you've gathered had deeper implications when the Werewolf case enters the picture."
(Note: Special Agent Charlie Gorgan is a retconned version of Gnarly Charlie from the APNSD episode Scooby Dude, where like the source material, he's depicted as an agent of the FBI.
Likewise, Special Agent Jordan Scmidlap is a retconned version of Agent Scmidlap from the 2014 DTV film Frankencreepy.)
Sam arched his eyebrows briefly before Gorgan stepped forward and extended his hand.
"Colonel, it's been a while." Gorgan said.
Everyone else all arched their eyebrows as Sam nodded and shook Gorgan's hand. "Indeed it has been, Special Agent. I see you've made the transfer to the bureau after our last assignment together."
In surprise, Skip asked, "You guys know each other?"
Both Sam and Gorgan nodded as the former explained, "I was briefly seconded to ONI and served with Gorgan before he joined the bureau."
"Understood." Skip nodded. "Anyways, moving forward, for weeks, almost months, the bureau has been keeping my office in the loop regarding developments to their investigations into Dixon Chemicals, though considering the fact that witnesses kept on disappearing, their efforts had failed to yield results."
"Until Mr. Blake here made the decision to finally blow the whistle." Shmidlap said as he nodded towards George.
"Dad?" Daphne asked as she rushed over to her father. "What prompted you to do so?"
George sighed. "I knew that you were too stubborn to put a stop to this little thing you've been doing since you've starting hanging out with them, not that I should be surprised, since we both know where you got that from."
Sam and the others all arched their eyebrows as George continued, "So after our little discussion, when I saw that you've decided to pay that Rogers boy a visit, especially after reading the note you've left in your room, I knew that it was a matter of time before I had to do the right thing and blow the whistle, even if this could potentially mean that you, your sisters or even your mother paying the price ultimately."
As Daphne stared at her father speechlessly, Skip continued, "Anyways, Mr. Blake eventually decided to come forward with evidence that would detail his suspicions on what State Senator Daggett and many officials at City Hall were all up to."
"Which included schemes of fraud, embezzlement, illegal sales of chemical weapons to the Viet Cong, money laundering, corruption and the most heinous of all, the employment of a serial killer to carry out their dirty work as enforcement muscle." Gorgan explained.
"Hence the trail of disappeared witnesses." Fred spoke up.
Skip pointed at his son approvingly and said, "Exactly."
Sam exhaled, then he said, "Well, then you gentlemen would be pleased to know that in the last couple of hours, the serial killer was apprehended and the remains of his previous victims were recovered."
"Oh, is that right?" Shmidlap raised an eyebrow.
Claphammer nodded. "Let's just say that we arrived at the nick of time to rescue the killer's next victim."
Skip whistled lowly, and Gorgan said, "Well, that sure changes things."
"Change, like how?" Velma asked.
"It now allows us to dig deeper into the activities of killer's employers without them having the means to keep us occupied with more and more of these senseless kidnappings and killings." Shimdlap explained.
"Which should allow us to the paint the picture on just how long this racket has been going on and how deep the corruption goes." Sam interjected.
"Exactly." Gorgan nodded. "Our main issue would be pinning the murders to the conspirators, given the lack of evidence that would support the accusations there is against the conspirators for hiring the serial killer to do the dirty work of enforcement muscle."
"Weren't the accounting numbers I've provided enough to secure a conviction of conspiracy to commit corruption?" George frowned.
"No, we need more than that." Shimdlap shook his head. "Like actual figures that would be solid evidence that the embezzled funds were used for the hiring of that serial killer as enforcement muscle."
"Unless that serial killer has a paystub, there's no way your accounting numbers would be enough to secure that conviction against the conspirators." Gorgan added.
The two agents then turned towards Sam, who then took out the files Fred had handed him and said, "Then, I believe I may have just the thing."
As Gorgan and Shimdlap arched their eyebrows, Sam added, "This here is an insurance policy of former Coolsville PD Detective Steven Benson who worked security for Mayor Francis Jones, and he has quite the long list of allegations facing him regarding the dirty work he did for the mayor before he decided to spill things all out about the conspiracy."
It was then that Velma remembered something and took out her tape recorder and added, "And this contains a recording of our interview with Benson at the hospital before he was killed, in which he detailed the allegations against Daggett, and by extension, Blake Enterprises."
Gorgan narrowed his eyes as he took the files and the tape recorder from Sam and Velma respectively, while George only inhaled.
Over at Coolsville City Hall, Mayor Francis Jones, State Senator Barty Daggett and Chief of Police Lou Strickland were in the process of scouring through the former's office for files.
"You sure that your guys are gonna be more than enough to hold off whatever s**tstorm that's heading our way, Francis?" Daggett asked.
"They have to be." Jones growled. "After losing the Werewolf, it's only a matter of time before s**t hits the fan and our plans comes to light."
"Should we all end up with prison sentences, it's gonna be your d*mn fault, Strickland." Daggett snarled as he turned towards the police chief. "If you had done your job properly in disciplining that squirt-"
"Me?!" Strickland retorted. "That Rogers kid has nothing! Wasn't the 'accident' that killed his wife more than enough to teach him?"
"I don't know?!" Daggett raised his arms up in frustration. "Whatever the h*ll happened out there, it must've triggered him into teaming up with Jones and leaping into this."
"Didn't you instruct the Werewolf to grab his daughter next as a reminder?" Jones asked.
"Yeah, and f**king figured that the Werewolf should've been finished with her by then." Daggett replied.
"Well, what the h*ll happened that lead to us scrambling right now?" Jones grumbled.
"I'll tell you all what the h*ll happened that lead to this, Mister Mayor." A voice suddenly said through the opened door, and the trio immediately turned around.
Standing at the doorway were Lieutenant Sam Rogers, Assistant District Attorney Skip Jones and the gang.
Certain that they've got the trio's attention, Sam took a step forward into the mayor's office.
"Your hired muscle picked the wrong hornet's nest to stir up." Sam stated. "Isn't that why you all are in a scramble right now?"
Immediately, Strickland stepped towards Sam and said, "Oh, whatever it is that we're doing here is none of your concern, Lieutenant, and besides, shouldn't you be-"
"Finishing up the paper work, is that what you're suggesting?" Sam snorted as he cut in. "Perhaps you've been sitting on your a** for so long up there that you've forgotten what proper police work is like."
"Now who's the one that has forgotten what proper police work is like?" Strickland retorted as he glared right at Sam.
"What makes you think that not interrupting a superior officer in the middle of a sentence is considered proper police work, especially when said superior officer is about to be indicted on a long list of serious charges?" Sam challenged, not intimidated one bit by Strickland's glare.
"You watch it, Lieutenant." Strickland warned. "If you continue to let your lack of discipline become a habit and should said habit spread to-"
"In other words, you don't like it when I refuse to kiss your a**. Is that right, Chief?" Sam cut in again as he made the last word sound like it was synonymous with jacka**. "Well, guess what? After all these years, I've decided that I've had enough of being complicit in letting the likes of you getting away with breaking the law we've all sworn to uphold."
Without missing a beat, Sam then added, "If you want to have me disciplined for insubordination, by all means, go ahead. Whatever the consequences that I face is gonna be a slap in the wrist, compared to the consequences you and your pals are facing for your illegal activities."
Before Strickland could retort, Daggett stepped forward.
"Is this about your allegations about the 'car accident' that killed your wife, Lieutenant Rogers?" Daggett demanded. "Because all you've got are merely speculations, and nothing you've raised is gonna change the fact that your wife's death was an accident."
"I'm not asking, State Senator." Sam responded. "And even if I were to be asking you, point blank, on your role in arranging that phony accident, that isn't exactly the reason why we're here."
"Lieutenant Rogers is right." Skip agreed as he stepped forward. "My office has reason to believe that you three were the main masterminds behind a conspiracy to defraud investors out of their investments in a scam venture to get restricted weapons sold to our enemies, not to mention the employment of a convicted serial killer in your payroll as an enforcement muscle used for silencing those trying to blow the whistle."
"Your office?" Jones scoffed and laughed humourlessly. "You're not even the District Attorney, Jones, and what makes you think that District Attorney Knight would okay those charges, considering the fact that you're running against him?"
"Okay, let me get a few things straight, Mister Mayor." Skip responded. "First off, Knight is currently incapacitated as a result of some developments stemming from a business matter."
Then, without missing a beat, the ADA continued, "And second of all, even if I were to win this race and become DA, who said that I was gonna be the one filing the charges against you all?"
At that last question, the trio blinked, just in time for the gang to move out of the way.
Before the trio knew it, a squad of FBI agents marched their way into the mayor's office.
Immediately, Strickland turned towards Sam as he asked, "What the h*ll did you do, Lieutenant?"
"Me?" Sam asked. "I didn't need to do anything, not when the bureau managed to get Knight talking and completed the search at each of your places and find the evidence they need to have you three indicted for federal charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, corruption, murder and treason."
"Knight?" Daggett demanded. "That f**ker knew nothing about our operations. How-?"
"I believe I can explain everything, Barty." Another voice called out, and everyone turned just as George Blake walked into the office, accompanied by Gorgan and Shmidlap.
Immediately, Daggett narrowed his eyes. "I should've known that you would snitch on us, Blake."
"Yeah, that I would." George snorted as he stepped forward. "After everything you've done to my company, using its resources to enrich yourself and your fellow fat cats in your schemes while I continue to work my a** off? And all for what?"
"Bite your tongue, Blake." Daggett scoffed. "You do realize who I am, right?"
"Maybe I do, but not for long." George replied.
"What the h*ll are you talking about?" Daggett narrowed his eyes.
"Well, word has it that your party's State Senate caucus leader is moving to file a motion to have you censured, which in turn would lead to you getting disqualified in your race for the House on Capitol Hill." George replied.
Almost immediately, Dagget exploded.
"What the h*ll happened to you, Blake?" Daggett asked. "I thought you were above every vicious filth spread about me!"
"Oh, I don't know." George shrugged casually. "Perhaps my daughter Daphne happened, guess that's what to be expected when you've raised your children to be abide by a high sense of ethics and morality."
"You g***mn son of a b*tch." Daggett hissed. "I should've had the Werewolf-"
"Shut your pie hole, Daggett." Strickland slapped the state senator. "Don't you realize that we're as good as dead if you talk like that?"
"Does it really matter, Strickland?" Daggett retorted. "Thanks to Blake's selfish decision to throw me under the bus as he always does, we're already dead, talk or not talk."
"Alright, I think I've heard enough." Gorgan said as the agents proceeded to handcuff the trio. "Louis Strickland, Francis Jones and Bartemius Daggett, you all are under arrest for conspiracy to commit fraud, corruption, murder and treason."
"You all have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, everything you said would be used against you all in the court of law." Shmidlap added. "Is that understood?"
The now-handcuffed trio didn't say a word, and the agents wordlessly proceeded to escort them out of the mayor's office.
As Daggett was escorted out, he was stopped in front of Daphne, who looked up at him.
"Daphne." The state senator sputtered like a parent being taken away by secret police as a result of the child reporting them for being anti-regime.
Daphne only exhaled, and she looked on as the state senator was brought before her father.
"This isn't over, Blake." Daggett hissed. "I've got friends out there."
"As do I, Daggett." George replied evenly. "Much better friends, in fact."
Then, as Daggett was escorted out of the office, George turned towards Daphne and sighed while she, Shaggy, Maggie and Sam looked on.
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