American Mole
Hi. Welcome to my fourth novel, in progress. I invite you to come back often as I write this. Please feel free to email me and tell me what you think can improve it. Most of all, if you like it, consider posting a review of it for me.
Chapter
27
The Bloody End
The Bloody End
Chapter 28
Aftermath
The Vespers
Chief Blake called the FBI as he watched Amos' taillights disappear in the swirling snow.
A lovely woman's voice answered. "This is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. How may I help you?"
"This is Chief Charles Blake of the Milladore Police Department in Wisconsin. I have just been informed that Pius One, leader of the Vespers Monastery has been murdered. I've also been informed that his murder may involve serial murders, sex crimes against children, and slavery."
There was an audible gasp at the other end of the line, even at that wee hour when the most heinous crimes were often reported. Finally, after a moment, the young lady composed herself and responded. "I've never heard of Milladore, but I'm looking it up right now to see if you are legitimate. Ah, there it is. I see. Just north of the Vespers property. You are calling on a secure Homeland Security line that only police departments have access to. What's your department number?"
"65-493807"
"I'm looking that up right now. Yes, there it is. Milladore Wisconsin Police Department, Charles Blake, Chief. Two officers, one dispatcher and two volunteer deputies. Okay, if what you say is true, then I'm going to have to wake some people up. Have you got the crime scene secure?"
"Not yet, but I'm about to call the Wisconsin State Police, the Wood County Sheriff, and all the surrounding police departments to assist in cordoning off the Vespers and securing the crime scene. As far as I know, no one at the Vespers knows of the murder yet. Once we've secured the Vespers, we'll wait for your investigators. I'm not about to destroy any evidence or have anyone else do it, either."
"That's a good attitude. Our agents will appreciate that. Based on what you said, this doesn't look like a local matter. I promise that agents will be on the scene by first light. Take care and good luck."
Blake woke his dispatcher and asked her to call all the local Police Departments and have them come to the gates of the Vespers to prevent anyone from leaving, allow only police to enter, help direct traffic and guard the gates from the riffraff and paparazzi that he knew would come out of the woodwork as soon as they heard. At least he had a couple of hours to get them in place before dawn.
"Hello, this is the Wood County Sheriff's Department. May I help you?"
"This is Chief Blake of Milladore. We've got a serious situation at the Vespers. I just learned that Pius One had been murdered. I'm at the North Gate and going on in. Have Sheriff Randolph meet me at the Vespers police station. I'll keep my phone and radio open in case she needs to contact me. I've turned this over to the FBI, so we will just be securing the scene and not doing the investigation."
Next, Blake called the Wisconsin State Police in Tomah. They promised state troopers and a helicopter within the hour. He e-mailed them GPS map locations as he drove through the open gate, knowing that he was now under surveillance by the Vespers. He gave the Vespers Police Department a call.
"Hello, this is Chief Chuck Blake. I've just entered the North Gate and am heading towards Pius One's compound. Who's on-duty?"
"It's me, Elias Four. Chief Amos told me something important was happening and for me to stand by and wait for his callback. I saw him leave the North Gate a while ago. I guess he left the gate open, because I saw you come on through a moment ago. What's up? Where's Chief Amos?"
"He's gone. I want you to wake Ralph up and have him meet me when I get to your station. I'm about 15 minutes out. Can you do that?"
"I can, but... but..."
"No buts about it. This is a serious matter, like Chief Amos said. Just do as I say and stand by for further instructions. Get him up!" Chuck Blake found himself getting shrill. He had a lot of weight on his shoulders right now and no time for any crap from some young pup.
The phone went silent while Elias Four went to wake Ralph up. Chief Blake drove on through the night until he came to the gate for Pius One's compound. The gate was closed. He heard scuffling in the background and Ralph came to the phone. "Chief Blake, what in the hell are you getting me up at this time of the night for? Don't you have better things to do than to come charging on in to the Vespers at this time of the night?"
Blake was more than antsy as he sat idling by the gate. He thought about turning on his siren and loudspeaker but, just as quickly, thought better. Right now, the fewer people that knew about it, the better. "It's okay, Ralph, Amos left you in charge. Open the gate so that I can meet you at the station. It's real important, I assure you."
The gate opened slowly, allowing Blake in. In a minute, he was pulling up to the station. Ralph and Elias Four came out to meet him. "Hi, Ralph. Hop in. And you, young man (referring to Elias Four), please go back and man the dispatch station, because we are about to get a lot of radio traffic and I need you to be in position to relay it to us, if necessary. Okay? Oh, and by the way, Sheriff Randolph is coming. Make sure that she gets through the gates all right and have her wait here until Ralph and I get back."
From his body language, it was obvious that Elias Four was not about to take orders from some two bit, small-town police chief, but Ralph turned to Four and told him to go back to the dispatch room and do his job, before turning to join Chief Blake on Betsy's front seat. Still bleary-eyed, he managed through a yawn, "What's up, Chief?"
"Please direct me to Pius One's workshop. Amos told me that there's a bad situation there."
Ralph pointed the way. A short time later they were pulling into the parking area by the workshop. Under the outdoor light by the door, they could see what looked like a small, black plastic, Darth Vader lying in the snow. The door beside the large overhead door was open. That was strange. Pius One would never leave that door open. They saw the tracks another vehicle had left sometime earlier. The cart that had been assigned to Hector that evening was parked there collecting the light wispy snow that was now falling from the trees. At Blake's admonition, they stepped out of Betsy carefully, not wishing to disturb any tracks it came from that door. With his remote, Ralph opened the large, overhead door, instead. The lights came on as the door opened, and they could see two bodies lying on the shiny floor inside. "Hold it," Chief Chuck Blake cautioned. We've got a major crime scene here. As much as I'd like to, we can't go in there. Let's get back in Betsy and make sure that no one disturbs this place until the FBI get here."
"Jesus!" Shaken to his very boots, Ralph closed the overhead door and they got back into Betsy, making as few tracks as possible. They cordoned off the drive to the parking area with yellow crime scene tape by stringing it to two young trees. Once back at the station, they called Thomas Five off patrol and had Elias Four wake up the rest of the squad. Sheriff Leonora Randolph and two of her deputies, also yawning, arrived. Over coffee in the kitchen, Blake briefed her in confidence while they waited for everyone to get up and get dressed. She agreed to let Blake take the lead until the FBI arrived. And then they took a look at the monitors. When they got to the cameras for the workshop, all they got was a picture of an empty parking area and the light over the closed doors. It had remained the same normal night scene for the previous few hours. But there was no wispy snow. Apparently, Pius One had a way of freezing the camera image of the front door of the workshop so that it appeared that nothing was happening. This would enable him and others to come and go without being seen by security at the monitors. Later, they learned that he had that capability throughout Vespers and could move about without being detected by his own security by simply freezing cameras until he left the area. As was his style, he had a remote for everything.
The sleepy crew slowly assembled in the kitchen area, grumbling and drinking coffee, wondering why they had been awakened at such an ungodly hour. Blake warned Ralph to keep tightlipped about what was happening until reinforcements arrived. Before long, they heard the whooping sound of a helicopter overhead. It landed in the drive right behind Betsy, kicking up snow. Everyone came out of the station to greet it. The door opened and a tired looking, gray-haired Captain Maynard Johnson of the Wisconsin State Patrol stepped out to greet them. Three troopers accompanied him. Others had already arrived at the gates by car, awaiting further orders. Unable to talk under the noise of the rotors, they rushed inside.
Shaking the Captain's hand as they entered the building, Chief Blake introduced himself and the others and told Johnson that he was the one that called everyone out.
To the surprise of the Vespers police, Blake, in the same breath, announced,"Captain Johnson and Sheriff Randolph, I want you to help me place all of these Vespers officers under arrest as accessories to the act of capital murder that occurred earlier tonight on the grounds of this compound in the Vespers." By that time, the three state troopers had joined them in the room and heard what he had to say.
The Vespers crew were no longer sleepy, they started to protest as the state troopers and deputies came around with handcuffs and started to handcuff them, one by one. But then, like the compliant lot they were, they quickly gave in to the arrest order made by Blake.
The Captain took charge. "All right. All right. Everybody, calm down. I'm going to hold you as witnesses until Chief Blake, here, can tell me what in the hell is going on. I don't like getting up in the middle of the night and having to roust my men for a simple murder in a private compound. Somebody had better start explaining pretty quick or I'm going to get angry."
The moment that Chuck Blake had been waiting for had finally arrived. "With Chief Ralph here, as my witness. We saw two bodies, one of which we believe, is Pius One." There was a collective gasp as everyone in the room heard what the Blake was saying. Ralph, now in handcuffs, was shaking his head solemnly in agreement. Blake continued. "Based on the information I have, they were killed by some kind of robot that Pius One was making in his workshop. Chief Ralph and I (once again, Ralph was nodding in agreement) saw it and I shot it with a shotgun that he had. It wasn't moving. But I figured that I had better put it out of commission rather than let it sit there and maybe come alive again and kill somebody else. I was told that the robot was some kind of terrorist machine that Pius One was developing for the military. I have charted 78 or 79 pions that have gone missing from anxious relatives and friends that came looking for them at the local police authorities (Sheriff Randolph nodded in agreement). I was also told that some of these pions were under age and subjected to sexual abuse. Finally, there may be evidence of slavery being practiced here. That's why I called in the FBI. Captain Johnson, this is a lot more than a simple murder on private property. That's why I'm not going to tell you where the bodies are until the FBI arrives. This whole place is a crime scene. What we need to do is secure it."
Sheriff Randolph couldn't hold her tongue. "We'll need search warrants. I'll call Judge Buckholtz right away."
Captain Johnson couldn’t hold his authority, either. "That's good work, Chief Blake. Men, get these Vespers guys out of here! And make sure we've got them all. Blake, that is your name, isn't it? Is any of this security force missing?" The Captain was clearly angry that witnesses, and possibly, perpetrators were listening to them. "Let's not botch this one. Everything by the book."
Ralph volunteered. "Only Longray, Sir. He was here earlier this evening before I went to bed. But he's not here now." The others remained deathly silent, shocked at what they’d heard.
"Blake, you had better get on the horn and alert your troops at the gates. We don't want this Longray to get away. Okay, let's close this place down until the FBI gets here."
Ralph was placed in the Chief's office under guard by one of the Sheriff's deputies. The rest of the security force was placed in the small holding cell that was part of the station. As a precaution, all of the computer technicians were rounded up without commotion and taken to one of the dining halls so that the computer network or computers would not be compromised. One of the search orders that Sheriff Randolph requested was the search, and seizure, if necessary, of all computer equipment.
As the men were herded into the jail they began whispering among themselves. "Where's Amos? How come nothing was said about Chief Amos? Did he have a part in this? Did he kill Pius One? Finally, after quietly discussing among themselves, they decided not to reveal his name since Ralph hadn't. None of them wanted to be the one to turn Amos in. They had grown to like him in the short while he had been Chief. They all agreed, that if anyone would tell them about Amos, it would be Ralph.
Two hours later... dawn at the Vespers
The Captain's helicopter was gone when the red white and blue helicopter emblazoned with FBI in large letters on the side arrived. Chief Blake and Sheriff Randolph went out to meet it. A well-dressed, gray-haired man in a black suit with a stylish camel coat emerged from the helicopter and shook their hands. He was accompanied by two, much younger agents, a buff looking man with a shaved head, and a striking brunette, also well dressed against the cold January air. Once again they had to go inside to be heard.
"Hello, I am Senior Agent Carlos Cruz. I am regional director out of the Chicago FBI Office. I have been at this business over 35 years, and, based on the briefing I got coming here this morning, this is the most important assignment I've had since the big one. This is Special Agent Joseph Whipple and Special Agent Marie Gardner. They will be assisting me this morning until our truck arrives from Chicago with our forensic people. We’ve been watching Pius One for some time and were hoping to get enough evidence to go after him. As tragic as his death is, we've got some information that is very incriminating and what happened here last night bears that out."
Blake shook his hand first. "Hi, I'm Chief Chuck Blake of the Milladore Police Department. I'm the one who called you out of bed because I was sure this was a federal case. I'm glad you're here. My force and all the local police forces are guarding the perimeter and ready to assist you with the difficult work ahead. I'll brief you with what I know as soon as you are ready." The lines on Blake's face showed the stress and lack of sleep he was suffering.
Still cheerful but also looking tired, Sheriff Randolph introduced herself and showed Agent Cruz the search warrants she had obtained from Judge Buckholtz. "This should be my jurisdiction, but based on what I've heard, I'm turning it over to you because I know you have the resources to gather the best evidence. The people of Wood County are pleased to work with you and help you in any way we can."
Cruz wasted no time. "Okay, Chief Blake, while we are waiting for my crew to arrive, take me to the crime scene."
Officers and deputies had been sent to every corner of the Vespers asking the occupants to stay in place and wait questioning. By the time it was all over, all of the pions, brothers, and masters, where questioned by a team of over 50 FBI specialists sent from all over the country. A few pions ran, but they didn't get far. There was just too much police presence and no place to hide in the dead of winter.
Cruz and his investigators found the crime scene just as Blake had described it. They quickly determined that the two bodies were Hector and Pius One. They also determined that the primary cause of death was loss of blood through lacerated juggler vein. There was so much blood, now frozen, that it was difficult to get close to the bodies. The robot was as described, full of blood from the two victims with razor-sharp saws extended from its fingers and toes. There was a bloody trail from the victims following its path out the door to the place it fell over and began making circular scratches in the snow, ice and pavement beneath. The slug that blew most of the robot's head off was lying near the building, reduced to a malformed lump. A scratch on the monster’s armored chest had deflected another slug into the building, lodged in the aluminum skin and pink insulation. The slugs matched the ones in a box of slugs provided by Chief Blake with the shotgun he turned over. The trajectory of the slugs came from the parking area from the direction that Blake said he shot the robot. Rapidly melting tracks of packed snow signaled a vehicle more heavy than an electric cart was the source of the shooting. The only concern Cruz had was why, if the robot had stalled outside the workshop, did it still have power enough to dig those circular grooves around it in the pavement? It was only a fleeting thought in the task before him.
What they found inside collabhorated the story about Pius One making remotely operated devices in his workshop. It took the FBI some time to figure out all of those remote toys were operated without a joystick. After they interrogated Joseph at Cutaway Key, he confessed to them how the devices operated. But he knew nothing of Oscar and could provide no information about the little monster. When question about guests Pius One brought, he said that there were many, some famous. He couldn’t recall them all. Just doing his job and didn’t keep records. Jacob was equally uncommunicative.
There was no video record of what happened that night in the workshop, thanks to Pius One's personal censorship. And, as far as the FBI knew, no witnesses. But the evidence was clear that the robot had gone berserk and killed its maker. The only fingerprints on the killer were those of Pius One. Latex gloves found at the scene contained fingerprints of a woman. A check of them on the International Identity Database came up with nothing. Beached blonde hair found in the shop also came up negative on the IID. This was strange and almost unheard of. Joseph confirmed that a beautiful blonde had seemed to have intimate knowledge of Pius’s toys. When asked if he could describe her, he said, “I don’t know, women aren’t my style. There were so many blondes—Marilyn Monroe? After the criminal investigation of the device had ended, it was turned over to DOD to see if any of its components were useful in fighting terrorism or war.
However, when the FBI had Ralph open the vault door that even he didn't know existed, they found something far more sinister. Swabs of some of the equipment in that diabolical room came back positive for DNA from several individuals. Using the national IID bank that most Americans' DNA had been registered either willingly or unwillingly; they came up with matches to six young men that had been missing. Most damning was the fact that most of the DNA gathered was from blood that had not been completely washed off the leather and wood of the equipment.
Pius's house hosted ten young ladies who described their occupations as models or starlets. They were all released after questioning because they didn't seem to know anything about the One's activities outside of his gracious treatment of them in his house.
A computer found in Pius's palatial bedroom contained evidence of many brutal sex acts committed by him over several years. Most videos showed him alone with a single pion that he drugged, tortured, raped, and killed. Some of the videos showed Hector and Longray assisting. When they were shown to relatives of the missing for identification, even the hardened FBI investigators were shaken. Some of the films still circulated on the Internet.
Tests done on the crushing machine in the animal parts biomass facility revealed DNA from three of the victims. Although the biomass generator was drained and many samples were taken from the layers of sediment, no DNA was found matching any of the victims shown in the videos.
Tracks of an electric vehicle in the snow indicated that at some time after the murders, someone had arrived at the warehouse and turned around. When the electric cart that had that tire was found, it was found next to the shed where the police kept their snowmobiles. One snowmobile was missing from the inventory. About 2 miles from the compound, snowmobile tracks were found cutting cross-country to a far corner of the Vespers. About two o'clock in the afternoon the day after the murders, a hole was found cut in the fence where the snowmobile exited the Vespers property. After that, it was on the road and disappeared in car tracks. The snowmobile had a range of about 50 miles, and, once on the road, could go about 50 miles an hour. Everything put together led to it being Longray and that he had made a clean getaway. The FBI and America's Most Wanted posted clear videos of him taken from the HD collection of Pius One, but he was never caught.
The FBI located fifty-four illegal immigrants working under slave-like conditions at the Vespers under the protection and cruelty of Pius One. After being questioned, they were all deported to their respective countries of origin. Some confessed to helping him clean up from his murders or fear of their own lives.
The pions were given the option of going home (some had no home to go home to) or stay on as paid workers on the property. The brothers were all questioned and only one or two were found to be involved in Pius One's activities. Most believed that they were doing well by serving the Roman Catholic faith and him. Most of the masters turned out to be hired on contract. Except for one or two of the IT guys, most were just doing their jobs and not involved in any illegal activity.
After some negotiation between the Catholic Church and Wisconsin officials, it was decided to turn the property over to the Catholic Church for stewardship with the promise that they would maintain the property and complete the Cathedral. Several entertainment companies, most notably, Wisconsin Dells Inc., Disney , MGM Resorts, Las Vegas and Trump Enterprises made bids for the property to be used as a tourist attraction. Strapped for cash, the Catholic Church decided to sell the infamous property to MGM. With the help of the Chippewa Indian Tribe of Pittsville, the Vespers became the largest Conference/Resort/Casino in the state of Wisconsin, dwarfing Wisconsin Dells.
In spite of the HD videos and a worldwide manhunt, Longray was never found. Some surmised that he had committed suicide, knowing that he knew too much. No evidence that a Chief Amos ever existed at the Vespers, in spite of the rumors spread by local townspeople who wondered what happened to him. There was no evidence of him in the office or the security quarters. Ralph saw to that. Ralph became head of security for the resort complex with a considerable pay increase.