2 comments/ 90156 views/ 4 favorites Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 01 By: WifeWatchman The order of my stories to read is: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. Part 1 - Prologue The only light in the room were the candles he had lit, punctuated at times with flashes of lightning in the distance. The room was dark and quiet, except for the couple's heavy breathing, the squeaks of the bed, and the delicious staccato slaps of flesh on flesh as they mated with lust-filled abandoned. Todd held the woman's hips as he pumped his huge meat in and out of her hot, sopping wet twat. They were fucking dogstyle. He looked down at the woman beneath him. Her body was incredibly fine, he thought as he admired her shapely back, her body tapering to a smaller waist before her hips expanded back into her marvelous, mouth-watering asscheeks. What a wonderfully magnificent hourglass shape... and what a fantastic, truly great ass! Todd thought as he vigorously buried his cockmeat to the hilt in eagerly receptive cunt, withdrew quickly and slammed forward again. He'd rarely felt asscheeks as sweet as this woman's against his taut, muscular groin. And she was an incredibly hot fuck, too... she was pushing back to meet each deep thrust of his huge cock as he shoved it into her, her cunt greedily swallowing his thick, throbbing inches of hard male meat. No wonder Jack was tapping her for a year, Todd thought as he steadily and powerfully pumped her, fucking her tight wet cunt into a creamy lather. The thought of Jack, who he now knew was his brother, saddened the young stud. We could've been a great team, Jack! Todd thought to the spirit of his brother in the Universe. I would've been your wingman any day, Jack. God, think of all the women we would've fucked! And to think I never knew... and grew up with that piece of dog shit Ned. God! what a waste! he thought as he began fucking the lovely woman beneath him harder. God, what an ass this babe has. I'll bet Uncle Don would love to fuck this ass, but she's giving it to me instead. Damn, Jack, you were tapping this every night... She was taking every stroke of Todd's huge meat, pushing those magnificent asscheeks back to meet each of the teen stud's powerful thrusts, enjoying the feel of every inch of that huge cock invading her womanly depths to the hilt. She was comparing Todd, his cock, and his fucking, to her memories of the boy's brother Jack. Oh, those wonderful memories... The woman was Police Detective Teresa Croyle, a.k.a. "Teresa Cunt". As she took Todd's thrusts from behind, her head in the pillows on the bed, she was having her own conversation with Jack in her head. Oh Jack, why didn't you let me know you were in town? Why didn't you come to me instead of those other women? Jack, I would've loved you, loved you like I did when you were living with me and my husband... oh Jack, now you're gone and I can't even try to have your baby anymore, oh oh oh.... "I'm close, baby." Todd warned. "Do you want me to come inside you?" "Oh yesss..... come inside me, stud! Shoot it up into me, all of it!" Teresa ordered. It only took a few strokes for Todd to comply. "Oh yeah, oh YEAH!!! Unh, I'm coming baby." Todd gasped. "Oh.... OH GOD! UNNH! UUUUH!!!!" the young stud gasped as sank balls-deep into Teresa and his big load of hot, sticky semen jetted from his cock and into her deep, spasming cunt. She moaned as her orgasm overtook her, one of a wave of climaxes that Todd's huge cock and her memories of Jack had provided during this intense coupling with this young stud.. with Jack's younger brother... As they collapsed to the bed, Todd took Teresa into his arms. She snuggled into him, her ass gently pressing into his groin, but beginning to return to the cold, aloof, unfeeling bitch she had been for so long. "How was it, babe?" Todd asked. Teresa turned around to face him, trying to make the uncaring attitude go away. She caressed Todd's youngish, handsome face. "It was good, babe... but I've got to be honest with you... you're not him. You're a great fuck and I really enjoy being with you, but you're not him and never will be." "That's okay," Todd said, understanding, and feeling compassion for her. He could feel Teresa's loneliness, wondering what had caused it. "But I'm here when you need me. He'd want me to take care of you." "And you do take care of me, in bed anyway." Teresa said, attempting a smile. Todd kissed her mouth, deeply and slid his body onto hers, hungry for another deeply passionate fuck, but he was remembering those shocking, life-changing moments from such a short time ago... unaware that his uncle was having the same thoughts of the same events at the same time in the middle of the night... -------------------------------- Earlier that evening... as if denoting the time, at exactly 11:30pm a crack of lightning exploded nearby, followed by the sound of a transformer blowing echoing in the air. The power to the neighborhood went out, throwing the street into near-total darkness. The rain poured down in sheets, heavy and unrelenting. Waves of rain and water moved sideways, pushed by the winds. Bursts of lightning lit up the sky with an eerie bluish light for the briefest of instants, followed by the loud claps of thunder. The rain did not let up at all as the four men took advantage of the darkness to scurry to out of the apartment and to their cars. As three drove off, one man sat alone in his car, watching the apartment... and waiting. Inside the apartment, candles illuminated the room, throwing eerie light and shadows across the two people still present. "Yes, we have an agreement on that." said Kurchikov, his English good but his accent thick. He was a hard young Russian with black hair, sitting on the sofa. Already a promising chess master in Russia, he was also representing his Russian drug mob masters at this meeting. "Mr. Sergei Molotov wants revenge on him as much as you do. He will be well taken care of, I assure you." "I'm glad to hear that." said the woman, standing on the other side of the coffee table in front of the sofa. Kurchikov admired the woman's legs, made more shapely by her high heel pumps. He felt the first stirrings of desire in his loins. "It's very wet outside." Kurchikov said. "Why don't you stay here with me until the rain passes. Vodka?" He poured a shot from the bottle into one of two shot glasses on the table. Next to the glasses was Kurchikov's chess set, the pieces and board made of elegant, expensive woods. "No thank you. And I'll just have to endure the rain. It's getting late and I must go." said the woman, tightening the belt of her raincoat. "I'll leave by the back door." With that, she turned and disappeared into the kitchen as Kurchikov downed a shot of premium Grey Goose vodka. French, not the Russian swill that he hated. He poured and drank another shot, looking at the chessboard and thinking of a sequence of moves from a recent game. Suddenly, his head went up; he'd heard a sound in the kitchen of the door being opened and shut. Thinking that his recently departed guest had returned, he called out. There was no reply, but was that the faint sound of a drawer being opened? "Who is there?" Kurchikov demanded as he got up and strode to the kitchen. "Why it's you-- UHHH!... AAAUGH!" The knife flashed out and took Kurchikov in the abdomen. It was quickly withdrawn and stabbed at him again, this time striking him in the chest, penetrating his lung. A third blow, savagely delivered, sliced into his aorta. Kurchikov was a dead man walking. "AAAUGH! Ughglglgl" the Russian mobster gurgled, blood seeping out of his mouth as he turned and ran back into the living room. He had only seconds to act. His back shielded his movements from his attacker as he moved two chess pawns on the chess set. That final act drained the last of his strength and he collapsed face down onto the floor next to the table and the chess set. He did not feel the killer grab his hair, lift his head, and slice his throat. Part 2 - The Crime Scene 12:30am. "Ohhhh, God." I gasped, sliding my hands under Tanya Perlman's shoulder blades and deeply kissing her. "That was incredible, babe." My cock was still pulsing, pumping the last vestiges of my full climax deep inside Tanya's wet, clutching cunt. I felt the aching tiredness and the pleasing lassitude as my body relaxed and wound down after our deep, hard fuck, which culminated our date for the evening. We were in my bed in The Cabin. Laura had said she had to go to a meeting that was called on very short notice. She gave no details, but I saw the airline ticket she printed off the computer screen; she was flying to Washington, DC. Meanwhile, Melina had told me that she would be having a visitor at her house on the hill. I no longer lived there, so I wondered why she felt the need to tell me, but I didn't dwell on it. Melina and I were divorcing, she could do what she wanted -- and see whoever she wanted. But it was all good for me, as Tanya Perlman had been aggressively flirting with me and coming on to me. So I told her my evening was free and asked (more like told) her to have dinner and drinks with me. She accepted, with both of us knowing full well where our evening would end up: in bed, fucking each others brains out. "Mmm, that was great." Tanya said dreamily, her voice and eyes filled with pure lust as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Not bad for a younger woman, eh?" "Damn good for a woman of any age." I replied, kissing her again. Our tongues twined for a long moment. She tasted so good. "I'm glad I was able to get your attention." Tanya said, her eyes gleaming with flirtatious, playful amusement. "From what I'm hearing, you've been showing a preference for tapping those older trophy wives out there. Not to mention your beautiful future wife." "Well, you're the luscious exception, babe." I said, and to shut her up I began kissing her again. For some time I lay on top of her, cuddling with her and sharing deep kisses with her, my cock softening but still buried inside her sloppy, sperm-filled slot. "I'm just glad I could get you away from Dr. Wellman for an evening." Tanya giggled. "It's nice to get some fresh... meat.. every once in a while." she said, her eyes flashing brilliant merriment. I shut her up with another deep kiss, feeling my loins beginning to stir for a second round, which would be a long, slow, luxurious fu-- Brrrrrrinnnggg!!!!! Damn. The cellphone on the bedside rang loudly a second time. "Oh well," Tanya said, grinning, "At least they let you get your rocks off this time." I laughed, knowing what she meant: on a few occasions the call had come during sex or during the foreplay as I was with a woman. Still lying fully on Tanya, I reached for the phone and answered it. "It's murder, sir. Looks like someone butchered this guy." said the voice on the other end of the line, and somewhat unprofessionally. It was Officer Pete Feeley, giving the address of an apartment in the industrial sector of the city. Lower middle class, some students. "Don't let CSI move anything until we get there." I said. Feeley didn't catch the "we", as he didn't know I had Tanya Perlman in my bed and was fucking her. Feeley had something of a crush on Perlman since she'd given him a couple of blowjobs in past weeks. "Er, I haven't called them yet, sir." Feeley reported. "I wanted to give you the first look at the scene." "You need to call them right away." I said, trying to keep my patience. Feeley was a good kid, but just trying too hard to please. As I hung up, I told Tanya what was going on. "Looks like I get to investigate a scene with your cum dripping out of me." Tanya said obscenely, her face a big smile of malicious playfulness. I was long since used to her, so there was no longer any shock effect. Keeping my weight on her and not letting her up, I deeply kissed her mouth again, feeling her hotly return it and twine her tongue with mine... -------------------------- We got there right at the same time the CSI people did, and Tanya took charge of them, holding them back so I could look at the scene. "Patrolman Hicks, have you touched anything?" I asked. "No sir, other than checking the body to make sure he was dead." Hicks replied. He had light brown hair, looked good in a police uniform, and was a competent but unimaginative officer. "Feeley?" "No sir, except for clearing the apartment and then checking the body. We couldn't see his slit throat until we lifted his head." Feeley replied as I put on latex gloves. I examined the body. I understood what the officers were saying as I gently lifted the head. Only by lifting the head could I see the huge wound. A wallet was quickly found in the dead man's back pocket. "Kurchikov." I said. "Vladimir Kurchikov. This is an international visitor's drivers license. We need to look for a passport, gentlemen." "Did you wear gloves when you cleared the place?" I said. Clearing the place meant making sure someone, possibly armed, wasn't hiding inside the place the police officers had entered. "Yes sir." "Officer Feeley, evidence collection is time-sensitive. Never delay calling in a Crime Lab unit, even with the best of intentions, is that clear?" "Yes sir." "Okay, let me look around very quickly so we can let you CSI guys in." I said. I examined the room, noting that large splashes of blood were on the floor between the kitchen door and the body. It was lying next to the sofa and table in front of that sofa, feet facing the kitchen, head towards the front window. I got down on my knees and lowered my head to carpet level in several places, but saw no small objects and could discern no footprints. The dining room table was to the left of the kitchen. I observed that a game of cards had been in progress, and the game and scorekeeping suggested it had been contract bridge. Several people had been smoking: the ashtray was full of cigarette butts. "Perlman!" I said. "Make sure the CSI guys thoroughly check out these cigarettes. Brands, number of each brand, then bag 'em for DNA testing. There should be prints all over this table and the cards. Okay, I'm done here, the CSI can work with the body and in here. I'll look at the kitchen and bathroom now. And bring the dog in." The dog was a drug sniffing dog. CSI teams had recently been bringing them to scenes to quickly check for drugs or bombs. I always liked meeting the K-9 Corps sergeants. "Who is this?" I asked as the dog came into the living room. "Sergeant Stonewall, sir." his handler said. "Named after Stonewall Jackson?" I asked. "Yes sir. General Jackson was an ancestor of mine." the man replied. Why was everyone calling me "sir", I suddenly wondered to myself. "I see. Hi Stonewall! Ready to help us out?" I said, petting the dog, a handsome German Shepherd. He panted happily, looking eager to please and to get started. The trainer gave a command and the dog started sniffing. During his search of the house, Sergeant Stonewall found one small bag of cocaine in the heater outlet of the bedroom, a small stash of marijuana between the mattresses of the bed, probably for personal use. The dog really got excited in the kitchen, sniffing all around the table, though there were no drugs on it. "Traces, sir." the handler said. "I'd suggest that there were drugs in appreciable quantity on this table in the recent past." "Thanks." I said, continuing my own examination. The kitchen had yielded some items of interest. The backdoor was locked. A drawer under the countertop was half open, it was a drawer full of knives. The kitchen table's ashtray was also full of cigarettes and also a cigar butt. Entering the bathroom, I saw only toilet items that made the deduction obvious that a man lived in this apartment. I saw nothing else, but inhaled-- and detected a distinct odor of perfume. I sniffed around, and the odor was a bit stronger, though faint, on the far wall. "Perlman!" I yelled out. She hurried in. "Do you smell perfume?" "Yes." she said, sniffing. I pointed at the far wall and she smelled it there, also. She immediately yelled for a Crime Scene team member to bring a dry cloth kit, and had the man wipe down the walls and bag the samples, hoping to get something. "Okay, we have a woman's presence, and recently." I said. Just then the CSI team leader, a guy I called "Labcoat", called for us. We returned to the main room. "We're about to turn over the body." he said. As he knelt near the head, I stopped him. "Hold on." I said. "Let me look at this table more closely. Did you touch anything on it?" "Not yet. I'm going to have a man dust those glasses and the bottle for fingerprints, so don't touch them." Labcoat said. "What about the chess set? Did you touch it?" I asked, excitement growing inside me. "No sir." "Anyone in here touch this chess set? I really need to know!" I said loudly. Everyone looked at me funny, but all of them said they hadn't touched it. "Feeley! Hicks!" the two officers came up from the front door. "Did either of you touch this chess set?" Both of them said no. I called the CSI photographer over and instructed her to take pictures of that chess set being sure the photos clearly showed where every piece was. Then I told Labcoat and Perlman to note the square each piece was on, then dust the set for fingerprints. "What do you see here, Feeley?" I asked the young officer. He wanted to be a Detective; it was time to see if he had what it took. "Uh, a chess set, sir." Feeley replied. "Is there something in particular?" "Look at it man, look at it!" I replied. Feeley looked, and Tanya also peered at it, knowing that my attention to it meant something. There was blood on a couple of the pieces and drops on the board. Spatters of blood from wounds were on the edge of the board. The pieces were arranged as at the start of the game, but with one white pawn moved to the square "c4" and one black pawn moved to the square "b6", as so: Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 01 "There were multiple people here, of several nationalities." I said. "At least four, maybe five, besides the dead man. One of them was a woman. They played contract bridge, and whoever was in dummy during a hand would come and talk to one person not playing, usually in the kitchen, but sometimes at the sofa. I suspect the dead man was the one not playing. "There have been quantities of drugs here, and I suspect that drug deals have gone down here in the past. The dead man was stabbed somewhere around this door to the kitchen, stumbled back into the main room, leaned over the chessboard, and then fell down and died where he lay when we found him. I once again commend your attention to the chessboard, Feeley. The victim tried to leave us a message on it!" As Feeley stared at the chess set, puzzled, I continued. "The killer very likely entered through the back door, got a knife from a kitchen drawer and stabbed our unfortunate chessplayer here. The killer then either exited through the back door, locking it on the way, or through the front door. Feeley, when you got here, was the front door locked or unlocked?" "Uhhh..." Feeley said. "Unlocked sir." said Patrolman Hicks, who had been listening to me (as had everyone in the room). "In fact, it was cracked, and I looked inside and saw the body lying there. That gave us probable cause to enter without a warrant." "Indeed, yes. Thank you, Patrolman Hicks." "Sir," said Officer Feeley, "how do you know all that?" I noticed Tanya behind Feeley, suppressing a laugh. "Feeley, you have disappointed me." I said, perhaps a bit brutally. "You may have missed a chance at a Detective badge tonight. You have seen everything I have seen. You were even here before I was and saw the scene in pristine condition! So you tell me how I've come to those conclusions." I actually didn't wait for Feeley to try. "Perlman," I said, "wrap things up here and see me at Headquarters in the morning." "Yes sir." Perlman said, turning back to her work as I exited the scene. She looked over at Feeley; he looked stunned, and as if he was about to cry. "Come on, Pete." she said, trying to distract him, feeling a bit sorry for him. "Help me get this finished." Like a lost puppy, Feeley complied. Part 3 - Legacy And Consequences Getting home to The Cabin, I showered and lay down to get a little sleep before morning. As I lay in bed, the memories came to me, suddenly and without reason... It was a week after I had solved the Arruzio-Burke murders. Laura and I sat on the patio of The Cabin in the early evening. The view over the town and University was breathtaking. Laura sighed. "The tests came back. Jeanine is carrying Jack's child." "What are you going to do?" I asked. "I thought about lying and telling them it was Tim's baby. But then I realized that he's gone. He just wouldn't believe it, and he's obsessed with Jeanine giving it up. She's just as obsessed with keeping it." Another sigh. "I think he's going to file for divorce." "That's too bad." I said. "Has he no idea of the treasure he has?" "He's blinded by some serious emotional pain." Laura said. "By the way, I saw the results of two of the three tests you added to mine. But what was the third one?" As I looked at her in shock, she said "Don't blame Nurse Jones. One of the lab guys at the Hospital, a real idiot, sent me the results of two of the tests and a bill for three beyond the ones I'd asked for. Nurse Jones is very loyal to you; she wouldn't tell me what the third test was at all, and I think she enjoyed being defiant about it." "So now you know about Todd and Ned?" "Yes." the beautiful woman said, shifting her legs slightly. I was aching to fuck her. "So what do you want to do about it. Tell Todd?" "Yes." I said, "I think we should... don't you?" "Yes." Laura said, nodding. "And I'll handle it if you'd like me to." She then peered at me for a moment. I met her eyes, locking into them, letting her search for what she was seeking. She finally conceded. "You're just not going to tell me what that third test was, are you?" "Not yet." I said, wrapping my arms around her. "That will come in its due time. You'll just have to trust me on that one." "Oooh, a man of mystery." Laura said. "I'll just have to find new ways to... motivate you to tell me." She kissed my mouth and fire spread throughout my body, all the way to my toes. "Let's go inside... I want you to make love with me." she whispered. Taking me by the hand, she led me inside and to bed. ------------------------------------ "Thank you for coming." Laura said, sitting next to me on one of the sofas in her office. Michael and Eleanor Burke were sitting on the other couch, facing us. The two sofas faced each other, with Laura's desk at one end of them and a nice fireplace at the other. I was remembering the time that Melina and I had sat where the Burkes were sitting now... sitting on that sofa seems to be a place that changes peoples lives, I mused. I took a moment to admire Eleanor Burke. She was a very attractive woman in my eyes. Her salt and pepper hair was styled combed sideways in a 1980s hairdo, but her saucy body was in good shape and she had a very nice pair of legs. She was very, very fuckable, I thought to myself. "What did you want to see us about?" Mr. Burke asked. "Is this about Jimmy and Jeanine?" "Part of it is, yes." she said. "I have been working with Tim and Jeanine, and we have run some medical tests. The findings caused me to run some more extended tests, the results which we felt we must share with you." "What are those?" Eleanor Burke asked, her voice low, husky and sultry despite the concern in her voice. Laura looked at me. I asked "First, I must ask you some questions, and I apologize in advance that they will be very personal. Please understand that the answers to your questions will not leave this room unless you want them to." They nodded as I continued, "I must ask you, were your sons artificially conceived?" The Burkes looked uncomfortable, but Mr. Burke finally answered. "Yes, they were." he admitted. "We had procedures done for both of them. My sperm was plenty healthy but there was a problem in the way Eleanor absorbed..." he blushed as he stopped. "I understand." Laura said, her voice comforting. "It is not uncommon at all. Don?" "I have another personal question that I have to ask." I said. "Mr. Burke, about 20 years ago... did you know a young woman named Elizabeth--" I asked, naming my sister by her maiden name, hoping he wouldn't yet realize it was also my last name. Mr. Burke's eyes widened in shock. "Er... yes, I did. Why?" he said. "You lived in Apple Grove at the time?" "No, I worked for a service company that had a client there, and I visited frequently, often staying weeks at a time. How do you know this?" Burke demanded. "Mr. Burke, did you have a sexual relationship with Elizabeth?" "What is the meaning of this? I can't answer that." he almost roared, his face red. "I understand." I said, raising my hand to arrest his attention. "She was, shall we say, 'a bit young' at the time, but I'm really not worried about that. What you need to know is that we did several tests on her son Todd. Mr. Burke, Todd is Jack's brother... and your son." "Oh my.... oh my God." Burke said. Mrs. Burke seemed shocked as well, and was peering hard at her husband. "We... we always thought that... that high school quarterback knocked her up." Mr. Burke said. Mrs. Burke had taken her eyes off her husband and began peering at me, her eyes smart and cunning. "Come now, Detective. How would you know all this?" Laura and I exchanged a glance and she nodded. "I am Elizabeth's younger brother, and Todd is my nephew. You have another son, Mr. Burke." "Jesus Christ... so that is who you are..." Burke said, his soft voice betraying his total shock at the events happening to him at this moment. "I thought your name was familiar, but I thought it was just from reading the papers. So you're Douglass's boy? How's he doing?" "Yes sir, I am his son. I'm sorry to say that he died some months ago." The Burkes expressed their sympathies, but I didn't have time for all that. I wanted to move on before Mr. Burke also remembered my name from college days. "There's more." I said. "the reason we asked about the pregnancy procedures... Mr. Burke, Tim Olivet, or Jimmy as you knew him, is not your biological son, but he is Mrs. Burke's son." This was almost too much for them, I realized. "How... how did that happen?" Mrs. Burke asked. Laura said "We believe they may have injected the wrong semen sample, or that they used contaminated... er, previously used equipment. I am sorry to say that such carelessness is not at all uncommon." "And there's even more." I said. "Elizabeth's younger son, Ned, is Tim's biological brother. Apparently Elizabeth's husband of that time was a sperm donor, and his sperm impregnated you, Mrs. Burke." "How did you know to run those tests?" Mr. Burke asked. It was Laura who answered him, a weird smile on her lovely face. "This man just solved your son's murder, so how easy was it for him to observe similarities between Tim and Ned as well as Todd and yourself and Todd and Jack... er, on the videotapes Jack made." Nice going, Laura, you almost slipped there, I thought. But a deft recovery. ----------------------------- Todd was in shock. "Jack Burke was my brother? Mr. Burke is my father?" he asked, his voice trailing. He looked out the window of The Cabin overlooking the Town. "Yes." I said. "And the Burkes want to meet you. I know it's awkward, Todd." "Yeah, sure as hell is." he replied. "But yeah, I guess I'll meet them." -------------------------------- Back in the present moment, I drifted to sleep, totally unaware of the life-changing events that were happening across Town... The weather just would not relent. More sheets of rain continued to fall as the second wave of the storm passed through. Tim Olivet sat in his office at his plant, the only light coming from the lights in the parking lot outside and the lightning. A half empty bottle of Scotch and an empty glass were on his desk in front of him. And also a gun, a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver, fully loaded. Though I only need one bullet, Olivet thought to himself. Dr. Fredricson had tried to delay telling him the results of the pregnancy tests, but he had insisted, making an ugly scene in her office in front of Jeanine. If it had not been for that Police Detective there also, Tim might have lost control. And the news almost made him lose control again. The baby was his hated big brother Jack's. Jeanine had refused to abort the evil progeny growing inside her. They had argued violently, several times, nearly coming to physical blows... but Olivet couldn't bring himself to harm his lovely wife, as much as she had betrayed him with the big brother that he hated even more now in death than in life. To add to his pain, his parents had now found him after so many years; they would not leave him alone. And worse, they wanted him to "join" their "new" family... his father Michael, the bastard... had fathered a child with some slut girl nearly 20 years before. This new brother was embracing the Burke family, even taking their last name as his own, the father filing the papers adopting this new son. Jack's "successor". Tim sat silently, long past the point of crying, of wailing, of the intense pain. It was a dull ache now. The Scotch had failed to make him drunk, had failed to ease the pain. He was sitting in the office of his business, the business he had put up for sale, the business he had built for the sake of his wife, to give her everything she could possibly want. But that was all over now. The one thing she had wanted, and that his reviled big brother had given her that he, Timmy, had not, was a baby. He was preparing to leave town again, take yet another name, hide away again... and this time without his wife. He had filed for divorce. Dr. Fredricson had tried to talk him out of it, Jeanine had tried to persuade him not to, and she was contesting the divorce as fiercely as she could. Sitting in his dark office, drinking the Scotch, he realized that there was only one way to truly get away, to truly be free, and to truly assuage his pain. He felt a joyous lassitude, almost sexual in its pleasure, as he nodded in acknowledgement that he was doing the right thing. He picked up the gun, looking at it a moment, then began raising it. "Are you so eager to die?" The sound of the voice calling out stopped Tim in his tracks. The light of the hallway outside left the figure in shadow in the doorway. "Who in the fuck are you?" Tim said, suddenly feeling exhaustion, something that often happened to people attempting to commit suicide but suddenly being stopped. The stranger walked into the room. He was slender and looked very young. A real nerd. Tim was somewhat athletic, though not nearly as much as his big brother Jack, and this kid was not athletic at all. But Tim realized that there was some kind of similarity between himself and this man, and their hair was very much alike: wispy and light brown. "You'll know everything before I leave here tonight." the stranger said. Tim pointed the gun straight at the young intruder's face. "Tell me now, or you won't leave this place... alive." Tim responded darkly. "Here, look at this." The man tossed a file of papers onto the desk. Tim slowly pulled it to him and opened the file. The man leaned forward and snapped the desk lamp on, lighting the papers, but leaving his face still in shadow. Tim read the contents. "Where the hell did you get this?" "I have a friend that works at the University Hospital. My uncle actually had the test run along with the ones that confirmed that my brother Todd is Michael Burke's son. My friend managed to get me an extra copy before it was sent back to the bitch Fredricson. "And this test?" Tim said, holding the top piece of paper. "I don't know the 'how' or 'why' of it, but it shows that you and I have the same father, and it is not Michael Burke. Somehow, my father inseminated your mother, and here you are. You and I are brothers, through your mother." Tim reeled in shock. "Am I Todd's brother, too?" "No. You are not Michael Burke's biological son, and he is not Eleanor Burke's son." "Who are you?" The young man leaned down so that his face was visible in the light of the lamp desk. "My name is Ned--" the young man introduced himself, then continued. "And I'm here to help you take revenge on these people who have caused you so much pain... so much pain. They have caused me great pain, also, especially Todd... and my God-damned uncle. Your brother beat you down mentally and physically, and your parents have pursued you relentlessly; my brother has beaten me down, though for the last time ever, and my uncle has pursued me just as relentlessly. I understand your pain, Tim. I can help you get the revenge you need." "Why do you think I want revenge?" Tim said. "Why don't I just end it all here?" He put the gun to his temple. "If that is what you want to do, do it." Ned replied. "But revenge first would be so much sweeter, and you'll get your wife back... if you want." Tim slowly eased the gun down but did not set it on the desk. Lightning cracked outside, lighting up the room with an eerie glow. "What do you have in mind... brother?" To be continued... Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 02 The Case of the Murdered Chessplayer, Chapter 2 by The WifeWatchman The order of my stories to read is: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series. Case of the Murdered Lovers series Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 4 - Police Auxiliary At 6:00am the next morning I entered the MCD office in my dress uniform: dark blue jacket with a thin light blue stripe, called "piping", on the sleeve near the wrist; light blue shirt and black tie, dark blue pants with a thick light blue "piping" stripe down the sides. My gold badge was pinned over the left breast pocket on my chest, ribbons over the right breast pocket. My Supervisor bars, which looked like an Army Warrant Officer's bar with three black squares, adorned the epaulets on the shoulders of the jacket. The Medal of Valor hung by its red ribbon around my neck, and as always I felt guiltily uncomfortable while wearing it. "You look good, Detective." the Chief said, coming up to me. He was wearing his dress uniform, same as mine but he had gold eagle "bird colonel" wings denoting his rank as Police Chief, and yellow piping on the jacket and pants. He also wore a Medal of Valor, the only other police officer that I knew of who had been awarded the highest honour of the Town & County Public Safety Department. The chief had specifically ordered me to dress properly for today's ceremony, which I normally had nothing to do with, but he had not told me why. "One day we're going to get those black squares out of that bar." the chief said, meaning making me a Lieutenant. "The Town & County Council has agreed to a re-write of the requirements, and we're working hard to get an exception for you immediately." The current requirements to be a Lieutenant included being at least 30 years old, and I was months away from that. "We're close to being there, but a couple of Council members are opposed to what they say is promoting you 'too quickly'. That's B.S., of course. Just Malinda Adams and Captain Malone making trouble." "Ah, politics." I sighed. "I understand..." Today we were inaugurating several new members of the Police Auxiliary. These were volunteers who in times of need were called up to perform functions such as driving, traffic, sometimes foot- or bicycle patrols, and often helped on search-and-rescue missions. Police Auxiliary volunteers who had been officers in the past, had completed the Police Academy, or had completed the Police Auxiliary Academy (a scaled down version of the Police Academy) were given the gold badge of a police officer with "Police Auxiliary" inscribed at the top. They could begin investigations and were authorized to carry weapons. Auxiliary who had not had the experience or training received badges, but they were silver instead of gold, they could not carry arms unless they had a concealed carry permit obtained separately, and their duties were more limited, though useful. Non-trained PA wore a metal circle as their "rank", similar to ROTC officer ranks (and I suspect copied from ROTC) should they choose to wear a uniform. Trained PA wore two metal circles; and the Auxiliary Commander, who was required to be a former officer and whose command was mostly ceremonial and acted as an advisor to the Chief, wore a metal diamond. "What do you have on that murder last night?" the chief asked. "Perlman is going to give me a rundown when she gets here." I said. At 7:00am, Detective Tanya Perlman arrived.... wearing her formal attire. Her rank bar had two black boxes, noting the second Detective rank and informally called Senior Detective, and light blue piping like mine on the coat. She wore a dark blue skirt and black patent leather high heel pumps. "Let me get a prelim report for you." she said as she sat down and made a phone call while looking at her computer screen. Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt, Cindy Ross and Myron Milton arrived... all of them also in formal attire. Cindy wore pants instead of a skirt, her piping thinner than men's pants piping. Milton looked a bit gawky in his uniform. All three had bars with one black square; Hewitt and Ross as Detectives, and Milton as a ranking Senior Technician in the I.T. Department. "Everyone in formal attire?" I asked. "C'mon Chief, whassup?" I asked. "I want to support the Police Auxiliary today, and your team is helping me do it." the chief replied. But I could tell that everyone else knew something that I didn't. "You've already said I'm not getting promoted, but it's me you're keeping something from." "That's right." the chief said, smiling, almost wickedly. You'll find out soon, and I think you'll like the reason." "Okay, here is what we have so far." Tanya Perlman said as she came up to the rest of us. "Oooh, Myron, you look hot in dress uniform! Trying to get all the women today?" Myron blushed but smiled at the compliment. Tanya gave her report: "Our dead man is named Vladimir Kurchikov. Found his passport in a bedroom drawer. Russian Federation. Traveled frequently. Plays-- er, played high level chess, was an International Master and had 'norms' for his Grandmaster title, whatever that means." "That means he's a damn good chessplayer." I said. "What else?" "More interestingly: FBI files show very limited information, and it appears he is not a part of the Sergei Molotov mob. The FBI does think he might be running drugs as part of a European Cartel, but it's really small-time compared to other operations, and is active mostly in Europe." "Which countries?" I asked. "France, Russia, and recently England. Unconfirmed reports of activity in Spain and Italy. They may be trying to grow into something bigger and more important." I thought for several seconds. "Tanya, is the Crime Lab running the tests on the perfume?" "Yes, and they think they'll be able to identify the brand, but it might be a while." Tanya said. "I'll help them: the perfume was--" I named the brand within the hearing of everyone present. "And I know this because it's my dear sister Elizabeth's favorite brand, and she's recently been suspected of making money involving herself in the drug trade. She might be this little gang's entry into America." "Therefore, it was your sister at the apartment?" Cindy Ross asked. "And therefore she is not dead from that warehouse explosion, but is still around making trouble for us." "Dunno." I said. "But it's possible. And I never thought she was dead." "Crap." said the chief, muttering to himself, drawing all of us to look at him. He looked at us, then realized what he'd said. He pointed at me and said "That means this guy is going to be distracted by this." The chief might have forgotten that pursuing my socially unacceptable family members was one huge reason I took my job with the Police Force. Chief Griswold looked at his watch. "Okay, be in the hallway in front of my office at 8:35 sharp, and we'll walk outside to the Police Auxiliary ceremony." He left, unable to suppress a grin. Just at that moment, we were joined by Lt. Brittany Maxwell of the University Campus Police. She was wearing her police uniform, also. Cindy Ross began filling her in on the details of our case, and I noticed the nature of the eye contact between them. Something was up, and this one was apparently beyond my powers of deduction to solve. I'd just have to wait until they decided to spring the surprise upon me. ----------------------------------- We were assembled in the hallway, chatting about various things, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a lovely older woman walking up the hall towards us. She was wearing a Police Auxiliary uniform, which was generally just like ours but had no "piping". She wasn't yet wearing her badge, which would be presented today. The woman had light brown and gray hair in an simple, short, attractive style, straight down and curling slightly inward at the shoulders. She was shapely and very attractive, and she was also in good shape, especially for a woman her age. And then I did a double-take and gasped as it hit me. It had taken me five full seconds to recognize my own mother. My mom Phyllis grinned as she walked up to us. "Hi, Son." she said. "How do I look?" "Mom... uh, you look great!" I said. I hugged her. "Police Auxiliary?" I asked. Everyone was watching us with suppressed, and sometimes not-so-suppressed grins. Then it dawned on me... the chief had me dress up to be here knowing that my mother was going to be here... and all of my team came in dress uniform also, and were here in the hall mostly to see my response to my mother's appearance. "Yes, son, I decided to make myself useful and join the Auxiliary." my mom said. I noticed the two-circles insignia on her uniform, and my fingers went to them. "Yep." Cindy said, noticing what had my attention. "She went through the Police Auxiliary Academy and passed everything. Passed the physical tests, passed the shooting tests... and darn well I might add... and even passed the defensive and combat driving courses." "Wow!" I said. "I had no idea. Congratulations, Mom! But... you don't live here." "We'll talk about that at lunch. Why, thanks for inviting me." my mother said. Just then Chief Griswold joined us from his office. "Good morning, Phyllis. Nice to see you again." "Good morning, Chief." my mother said. "I hope my son is not causing you too much trouble around here." she added, glancing sideways at me. I had never before seen such a playful side to my mom. Some good changes had happened to her. "Quite the opposite." the chief said, his mustache quivering merrily as his eyes twinkled. "Quite the opposite. It's time to go to the ceremony, shall we go?" ----------------------------- The induction ceremony was over, with many pictures taken. Todd had come, wearing a suit and tie no less, and he was the sensation of every female member of the Town and County Police Force that was present... except Cindy Ross. Meanwhile, my team put me and my mother, and occasionally Todd, through a ringer of poses, since we were a mother-son duo wearing our dress police uniforms. I endured it, then we went inside for the reception and refreshments in the main auditorium. I caught myself several times looking at my mother in her tight clingy skirt. Her ass looked great. I noticed a lot of other men throwing a few glances her way, also. Even at 58, my mom was a hottie. I showed my mother around the police headquarters. Captain Charles, the captain of patrolmen, was as charming as I'd ever seen him before when I introduced him to my mom, and I suspected I might not see him that charming again without her around. 
We went into the MCD room, where Tanya was talking to Cindy and looking at a report that had just come over from the Crime Lab. "What do we need a Crime Lab for, when we have Don?" Tanya asked. Then she saw me and my mom standing there. "You were right about the perfume. It was--" she named the brand. My mom looked up at me immediately. "Son, that's--" My glance at her in reply arrested her thought. "Yes, Mom, it is. Elizabeth's perfume." I said. The others were looking at us, wondering if my mother needed to be hearing this. "And before you ask, I still don't know if it was her or not, but it could've been." I said. By now my mother's face had hardened. "What else do you have, Tanya?"
 "Uh, we can talk about it later." she said, not being sure of my mom's presence. 
 "You can say anything in front of our Police Auxiliary detective that you can say to me." I told her. Tanya smiled, relieved, and everyone else got less tense. "Have a seat, Mom." I said. I was acting as if my mother being here was nothing but a Police Auxiliary volunteer being here, but inwardly I was totally conscious of her presence. My mom sat her lovely ass down in one of the chairs as Perlman began her report. "Time of death: indeterminate. The M.E. says it was before midnight, but he's curiously vague about it. Said it could have been minutes to hours before we found it." She switched papers and continued, "Okay, here's the autopsy report: the third stab wound cut the aorta and was the cause of death, so says the M.E. Not the decapitation." Tanya said. My mother showed no squeamishness at all, but curious interest as Tanya continued "The M.E. thinks Kurchikov saw his attacker, was stabbed, and fell backwards into the living room. The perp then turned him over and slit his throat." "No, he didn't fall back, he deliberately went to the chess set. He then fell flat on his face and died." I said. "I have really got to talk to the M.E. about that one." "Go for it. He hates being argued with." Tanya warned. "Meanwhile, no fingerprints on the murder weapon, which we found in the kitchen trash can. You never looked there, Don, what distracted you?" "Gotta leave you guys something to do." I said, but Tanya was right, I had missed that... and I suspected thoughts of the perfume had distracted me. "Did find other fingerprints around the place, especially at the card table, on the ash trays, some DNA on the cigarettes, but that'll take time to process. As in days to weeks. One thing, though.... neighbors said that there had been an argument in that apartment earlier that night, around 8:15, and two patrolmen came by to calm it down. No arrests made." "Who were the officers?" "Don't know."
 "Hugh, check the logs." -------------------------------- At noon, the chief told me to take a long lunch with my mom. We went to the Soup and Sandwich place to the north of Town with the back patio on the lake, which was Laura's favorite lunch spot. Mom liked it, too. "Okay, Mom." I said after we had ordered. "Tell me about joining the Auxiliary and your moving here, since you obviously are moving here." "Obviously... if I'm going to be in the Auxiliary, it would be best if I did move here." Mom said, not the least fazed at my observation and deduction. I nodded. She continued "I also want to be here with my family. Speaking of family, how is Todd doing with his new family?" "Good." I said. "How much do you know about Michael Burke and Elizabeth?" 

 "I didn't know, but I wasn't surprised." Mom said. "Michael Burke did a lot of business in Apple Grove during those years. I never really knew him, but Elizabeth was so wild that I'm sure it wasn't hard for them to meet. "And if my observations are correct, he was just the type of man that would've bedded your sister. He's not a moral man at all... but now he's Todd's father, I guess. We always thought that quarterback boy that you saw her with knocked her up, but I guess that wasn't the case. How did YOU know to look for that, by the way?" "Mannerisms." I replied. "They not only had a physical resemblance in their faces and bodies, but I realized when I saw Mr. Burke at a reception that his movements and mannerisms were a lot like Todd's." "I see." Mom said. "And how is Melina doing? Is the baby coming along well? "Yes... uh Mom, there's something I need to tell you." I said. The food came, and we waited until we were served and eating a few bites before I continued. "Mom, Melina and I are getting a divorce." "Yes, I know." Mom said. "What you don't know, because I insisted that you not be told until I could tell you in person today, is that Laura and I have bought Melina's house from her. I'm going to live there, and Laura believes you and she may have to live there eventually, especially after she has your second child." It was obvious that Mom's vision was steps ahead of everyone else's, but I wondered if I could surprise her with one thing: "Do you also know about Melina's baby?" I asked. "That I'm not the father?" This time, my mother looked blank. "Todd is the father of Melina's baby, Mom. It'll be your great-grandchild, not grandchild. Laura's baby is mine, of course." "Ohhh..." Mom said, her voice trailing off. "That I did not know..." It was a few minutes later and I had eaten half my meal when she asked, somewhat incredulously, "Are Todd and Melina going to get married?" "I don't know, but I don't think so." I said. "I have no idea what Melina is going to do. Do you know where she's going to live?" "For now, in Laura's condo." Mom said. "She's still working for Laura. I enjoyed a nice day with them a few days ago when I got into town. They told me everything... except about the father of Melina's baby..." She recovered, then added, "They also told me of the excellent police work you have been doing, and of course..." her eyes turned to me, mischievous, "they told me all about the 'Iron Crowbar'. I never knew you could be so... violent. Sounds like you have been making friends and influencing people, son." My mom's eyes twinkled mischievously as she said it. "Heh. So when are you moving down?" I asked. "That's in progress now." Part 6 - Leads and Misdeeds I returned from lunch feeling very good. Mom had gone to meet Melina at her gym. Words cannot express how pleased I was to see Tanya Perlman in the MCD room. Not because of her lovely figure, though that brought back a recent and very pleasant memory, but due to the book she was examining: it was a book of chess openings. "Good lunch with your mom?" Tanya asked as I came up. "When is she moving down?" "Great lunch." I said. "And she's already bought a house. Melina's, of all places. And how did you know she's moving down?" Tanya grinned evilly at me. "You're not the only detective around here, mister. Anyone with bigger brains than a Betta fish or Steven Ikea can figure out that your mother would only join the Police Auxiliary, and go through the Academy course to boot, if she was moving down. "Besides that," Tanya continued, "observant people realize that Laura is having her first baby, which is yours, and Melina will be having her baby, so your mom is coming down to help." Tanya then whispered conspiratorially "That's what grandmothers do." "You're right. Okay, did Hugh get anything in the logs about the earlier police call to that location?" "He looked, but ran into something. Myron is downstairs working on it. It looks like the logs were tampered with. I.A. is on it, too, and agreed to let Myron try to recover the data for us in exchange for helping them find whoever messed with the logs." 
"Myron is becoming a negotiator. That's good." I said. "I'd sure love to promote him to I.T. Supervisor." "When you get promoted?" Tanya asked, her sideways glance at me maliciously teasing. "Yep. It's a done deal." I said. "If not to Lieutenant, then to MCD Supervisor." "Ooooh, you'll be my boss." Tanya said. "And that means I'll be fucking the boss. That gets me hot!" "And who said that I would be your boss?" I asked, my smile firm and set. "Don't go there." Tanya said shortly, and more seriously. "You deserve it. They need you." "I'd rather be here, working with you and the team." "You will be, more than you realize." I said. -------------------------- "This is what I have, so far." Myron said, sitting at my desk in my IT office. Daniel Allgood sat next to him. "The logs are backed up every hour at the top of the hour. These logs were scrubbed before the backup could take place. Someone was right on top of it. The call came in at 8:10pm, and the contents scrubbed around 8:40pm. A police car was sent to respond to the call, but there is no police report. It wasn't scrubbed; it was never filed." Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 02 "Darn." I said. "Were there any police reports submitted last night?" "Just the murder, for that location." Myron said. "There is one traffic ticket in that area, which was issued about 11:40pm. I've got a number, but not the details of it." Myron gave the ticket number and I called Hugh Hewitt and had him go to the Courthouse and look up that ticket. "Any idea where the scrubbing came from?" Daniel Allgood asked. Myron turned the monitor so that Allgood could see it. "Vice." I heard Allgood say. "One of the terminals in their office." Myron nodded, "Yes... or a device was used to re-route the IPs through that terminal to mask the real location." Allgood questioned Myron at length on how something like that would be done, learning that it took a physical device attached to the wires or a program that ran through a browser if it were an Internet connection. "Yes, but actually scrubbing the records takes knowledge and ability beyond scrambling the signal, right?" Allgood asked. "It's apples-and-oranges, but scrubbing requires computer or database programming knowledge." Myron replied. Allgood continued, his voice sounding solemn and very official, "Myron, who is capable of doing that?" Myron looked at me, concerned. "Go ahead." I said, knowing what Myron was thinking. "Detective Allgood," Myron said, "The only people I know for sure who have the know-how to do it are sitting in this room right now. Lainie may know also, but I'm not sure." Allgood gave a visible start. "Myron," I said, "the backups cannot be scrubbed, is that correct?" I asked. Myron confirmed that was the case. I continued, "So whoever scrubbed the data knew it had to be done before the backup, right?" Myron and Allgood were staring at me. "Give me one second." I said, then went into a long thought. When I finally had marshaled my thoughts, both men were still staring at me. "Okay, here's what I'm thinking, Daniel, and I.A. needs to understand fully what's happening here." I said. "First, anyone with knowledge of our computer systems and admin authorization to access them could scrub the records. Second, things get complicated here, and it's an 'either-or' scenario. Either one is bad." "The first scenario, and IMHO the more likely one, is that a scrambling device was not used. Whoever scrubbed the records did so routinely, never dreaming that someone would be looking for that one specific log. That means they've been doing this before and are used to doing it... but the larger inference is that they had no idea that a murder was going to take place at that same location three hours later." "Wow." Allgood asked. "What's the second scenario?" "That they did know someone was going to be murdered there, and erased the logs for that reason." I said. Allgood blinked again as it hit him, as I continued "And that means that this murder was committed by dirty police officers or someone connected to dirty police officers." "Jesus Christ.... I've got to talk to the Chief." Daniel Allgood said as he got up and left. Once he was gone, Myron looked at me. "There is another way to find out which car was sent to the scene." I smiled. "The GPS recorders?" "Yep." Myron said. "I'm thinking that our scrubbers might not have remembered that our police cars have GPS devices, and that thatdata is stored as well, especially if they did not expect the murder to happen." "Why are you wasting time telling me when you could be doing it?" I asked, smiling. Myron smiled in return. "Way ahead of you. I'm not a dumb shit like Ikea." he said, handing me several pages stapled together. It showed a police car at the address of the murder, and right at 8:15pm until about 8:30pm. It had the Car number and the officers assigned to that car, and Myron had further ascertained that this car and these officers had visited that place several times in the past. One was a sergeant, the other a senior patrolman... and they were loyal to Malone and Ikea. I sat back, and began to think. I don't remember how long it was, but it was a long time. When I finally came back to the real world, Myron was still typing at the computer and watching me. "Playing chess in your mind?" he asked. "In a manner of speaking." I replied. "Call Allgood on his cell, even if it interrupts his meeting with the Chief. Give him this info but don't give away that you got it from the GPS systems; let him think of that himself. --------------------- "There you are. We were about to put out an APB on you!" Tanya said jovially when I returned to the MCD room around 6:30pm. "Hugh left a message. The ticket that was issued was actually a warning, but it was issued to a Jean-Paul Baptiste. He's a French national, here on a visa allegedly at some exchange program with the University. He gave a room number at the University Hotel as his address." "He's one of our suspects at the scene. Let's pick him up and bring him in." "Warrant is already issued and some of our guys are going to get him now." Cindy said. Tanya hung up the phone. "That was the Crime Lab. We've got fingerprint IDs on four people from the crime scene. First is one of Her Majesty's subjects: name is Keith Dill-Worthing. He happens to be staying at one of the Weekly Economy Lodges on the South Highway. Second, is a Spaniard, Juan Gomez. He's got a criminal record, too. No local address for him. Third is an Italian, Vince Rossoliano, also no local address, and fourth is the aforementioned Baptiste." "Let's make like cereal box prizes and collect the whole set." I said. "Let's get APBs out. They may be trying to flee. Get word to the airports, especially." Ross and Perlman hit the phones. "And ladies, once you're done, go home and get some sleep. Once we have them, there are going to be long hours." Part 7 - Night Moods "It's a lovely place, son." my mother said. I had been showing Mom around The Cabin after taking her to dinner. The sun had set and the last light of the evening glowed in the western sky as we watched from lattice of windows in the greatroom. "Do you like the views, Mom?" meaning the beautiful panorama over the University and the Town. "Yes... and I like the view in here, also. You look very handsome." my mother said, turning to me. "You've always looked good in a uniform." We were both still wearing our police dress uniforms. 
"You look good in one, too." I said. We soon found ourselves wrapped in each other's arms, our lips meeting in a deepening kiss. 
 "Let's go to the sofa." Mom said. I began taking off my jacket, but she stopped me. "Wait, Don." She led me to the sofa but did not sit down, turning around to face me. "All I've thought about, all day," Mom said, "is wearing these uniforms while you fuck me." She opened my pants, fishing out my cock. I had just taken my Viagra, knowing what was coming. My cock hardened as my mother jacked it in her hand. Wordlessly, she took my organ into her warm, wet mouth. "Mmmmmm," Mom moaned around my cock as she sucked me vigorously. "That's so good. To my shock, she extended her left arm sideways. There was a camera in her hand! 

"No, Mom." I said. "I'll make sure not to get your face." Mom said, "But I want a picture of me sucking you like this." She took a couple of pictures, one of her looking at the camera with my cock in her mouth, the other with her eyes closed, deeply sucking me. I took the camera out of her hands and took a couple more shots as she lovingly fellated me, looking up into my eyes. Then I put the camera down on the table, out of the way. "Sit down, son." Mom said as she got up. I did, lowering my pants and underwear to my knees. My cock was standing straight up. I loosened my jacket and unbuttoned the lower part of my uniform shirt. Mom slid her panties down and off, then straddled me, positioning herself over me sitting on her knees. Grabbing my cock, she lowered herself down onto me, letting my cockhead penetrate her labes then pushing her cunt down onto my member until I she was fully impaled and I was fully sheathed. "Oh yes..." Mom moaned as she rode me, fucking me slowly. She was looking down at me as I opened her uniform shirt and unhinged her bra from the front, releasing her breasts. I sucked her large melons, enjoying the firmness of her rubbery teats as my tongue lashed them. I drove my hips up to meet her downward thrusts, feeling my cock sink deep into the warm wetness of her motherly womanhood. I looked up into pretty face, seeing the intensity of her lust on her features. "Oh GOD!" Mom gasped suddenly as her climax hit her without warning, her cunt clamping down hard on my cock. She rode me through her spasms of ecstasy, gasping, her face scrunched up. "Oh...uh... GEEZ!!!" then just as suddenly her body released her from its orgasmic grip and she almost collapsed onto me, still impaled on my hard male meat. --------------------------------- I was lying on my bed, upstairs in the bedroom, naked. My mother was still in the bathroom. We had just spent long minutes in the hot tub. I had indulged myself in my favorite fetish and licked, kissed and sucked my mother's pretty feet. They were very shapely, and she had not failed to exercise them with the rest of her body. I was pleasantly impressed with my mother's body, she had worked hard to keep it in excellent shape. She looked at least 15 years younger than her age, which was 58 years old. My reverie was interrupted as she came out of the bathroom and turned off the light. The room was in total darkness, except for the moonlight streaming through the lattice of windows. Mom stepped over to the window, her body glowing in the moonlight. Her hair fell gently to her shoulders, curling slightly inward at the tips. Her breasts stood out, large and proud, her teats hard and standing out like spikes. As my eyes traced down her body, I looked at her ass. It was perfect, firm but not too hard, luscious and inviting. Her thighs were firm and her calves curved, both made more shapely by the high heel mules she was wearing. God, she looks gorgeous! I thought to myself. She glanced over at me, a knowing, inviting glance. My mother was showing off for me, seducing me, enticing me. I felt a lump in my throat as my cock throbbed. I got of the bed to go to her. For the first time, I wanted her, not as my mother, but as a woman, as Phyllis. Yes, for the first time I desired my mother as a woman. I desired her and I wanted her. I wanted to make love with my mother, to mate with her. I wanted to be with this woman, I wanted to fuck this woman's luscious body. I wanted to be with her. I was iron hard, my cock painfully throbbing as I stepped up behind her, and it nestled into the crack of her ass and the small of her back as I slid my arms around her waist. My hands wandered up her body and cupping her breasts, my mouth kissing her shoulder, her neck and her ear. "I love you Mom." I breathed, continuing to kiss her as I gently massaged her breasts. Her right hand reached up, caressed my cheek, then pulled my head into her neck and ear. She turned her head and looked up at me. "The way I want you to love me?" she asked, anticipation in her eyes, her mouth slightly open, inviting. "Yes." I said. Our mouths met, our tongues twining and sparring as we deeply, passionately kissed, my chest and abs pressing into her back, my cock sliding along her lower spine as I gently thrust at her. Soon we were lowering ourselves to the floor, slowly, until Mom was on her hands and knees with me behind her. I sat down on my knees and grabbed her hips just where they began to flare out into the cheeks of her lovely ass. My cock unerringly found her cunt hole without help, and as soon as the head slipped into her she pushed back on it. "Uhhhh!" we gasped together as I felt myself being sheathed in my mother's vagina until I was balls-deep inside her, her cheeks grinding into my groin as our pelvises met. Gripping her hips, I began to fuck her, rocking her body back and forth, thrusting forward as I pulled her back with her helping. Soon we established a steady, deeply sensuous rhythm. "Oh my god, Don, that feels so good. Fuck me, baby, fuck your mother with that big hard cock!" Mom mewled. I just pumped into her, the pleasure, the ecstasy racing through me, up my spine. It just felt so good, fucking this beautiful woman! "Unnh, I love you baby." I said, calling her a womanly name instead of "mom". I felt the heat rising in my body, the heat of passionate loving. I began to fuck her deeper, harder, with more power and lust. "I love you too, honey!" Mom groaned, letting her own deep pleasure fill her body. A part of me could sense her pleasure as well as my own, and I'm sure she could feel my ecstasy as well. We were beginning to connect on a level much deeper than just a physical mating or as mother and son. We mated hotly, our rutting lustily. I took my mother into my arms, partially holding her up as my hands grasped and mauled her big breasts. "Ohhhhh Mom, I love you so much, baby... God I love you..." I was fucking her harder, deeper, kissing her neck as my hands kneaded her breasts, pushing my cock into her, trying to get it deeper, deeper into her, getting more of myself deeper deeper into her... *Chock!* *Chock!* *Chock* The room filled with the wet slaps of my mother's asscheeks into my groin and thighs as she slammed her pussy back onto my cock, sounds matched only by our groans and heavy breathing. The intensity of our coupling echoed from the walls as our passion mounted. I constantly reminded myself that I was mating with my mother, that I was making love with my own mother, letting the deeply wrong sinfulness of our act add to the tremendous physical pleasure of copulating with this lovely woman. It couldn't last forever, and after long moments of hard, deep, incredibly sensuous mating, I felt the beginnings of that painful ecstasy, of my balls tightening, all the tensions and pleasures and heat concentrating in my loins, becoming more intense with each deep thrust into my mother, growing hotter and hotter until it exploded in ecstatic release. "Oh Mom... I'm coming! Oh GOD!! UNNHH!!!" I gasped out as the first huge spurt of semen fired down the length of my cock and blasted into my mother's vagina. Red and gray streaks of light flashed in my eyes as several more jolts of hot man-cream shot into the clutching wet heat of my mother's sodden cunt. I suddenly realized that I was gasping for breath. I was clutching my mother to me, her sweat-soaked back pressed into my sweat-soaked chest, my hands grasping her breasts and her hands on mine, caressing them. I heard her own gasps for air; she had come when I had. I kissed my mom on the neck, then at the base of her jaw. "Oh, thank you Mom. I love you, I love you so much..."
 "Oh baby..." was all she was able to say for several moments. I looked over her shoulder, through the window at the twinkling lights of the city far below... -------------------------- "Mmmm, so nice..." Tanya purred as she licked Pete Feeley's cock. "I love sucking your cock, Pete." To emphasize her point, she engulfed Feeley's hard rod in her mouth. It did not matter to her that he was a very average five inches; she orally worshipped the young man's cock as if it were the last and best cock she would ever have. She was sitting on her knees between his spread legs. They were in his bedroom in his small apartment. Pete had been leaving the station at the same time as Tanya, and he was surprised but thrilled when the lovely Detective turned her seductive eyes onto him and asked him if he wanted to go get something to eat with her. He felt nervous but excited as they talked about their jobs and what he needed to do to become a detective. He tried to hide the raging hard-on in his pants, unable to control his desires for her, and he definitely felt it in his loins every time her eyes looked knowingly at his crotch. Pete almost came in his pants when Tanya essentially invited herself to his apartment. While having a glass of wine (he had not screwed that up!), Tanya's hand was caressing Pete's leg, finding its way to his loins very quickly. Soon her mouth was engulfing his in a deep kiss. He felt like his whole body was on fire and his heart pounded in his chest as he made out with the beautiful young woman that he had so longed for for these many months. "Let's go to bed and make love." Tanya had whispered to him. And now he was naked on his bed, with this naked goddess on her knees sucking his cock. He couldn't handle it. "Oh no, I'm gonna-- uhk!... come!" Pete warned. Semen jetted out of his shaft in thick, violent spurts. Tanya had sucked his meat into her mouth to receive every drop of his jism into her throat, greedily swallowing his entire load. "Mmm, that was sooooo good." Tanya said, her cheeks rosy and her eyes as seductive as Pete had ever seen them. She took a long swig of wine from the glass on the bedside table. "Now that we've taken the edge off your poor blue balls, we can take our time and fuck properly. Are you ready to eat my cunt, Pete?" Eating Tanya's pussy was a dream for Pete as he licked the lovely woman's swollen labes. She was lying on her back, her legs spread wide, still wearing her black high heel pumps but nothing else. He was lying on his stomach between her legs, his tongue exploring her quim with licks and kisses. Tanya guided him to do what she wanted, making sure his tongue scraped over her clit regularly. It was the first time Officer Pete Feeley had ever eaten pussy. He had had sexual intercourse with a few girls in high school and the junior college he attended, but they had not gone down on him or allowed him to tongue their slits. They were skanks compared to the goddess who's sweet, tasty vagina he was hungrily feasting upon now. "Oh, that's so good, Pete... oh yeah, right there... oh yes, oh YES!" Tanya said, her sweet voice becoming louder and more shrill. She shook for a second and her cuntwalls clamped down on the two fingers Pete had pushed to the knuckles inside her. "Oh, that was good, Pete." Tanya said as she caught her breath. "You made me come so good, baby." Pete was thrilled: he'd actually made Tanya come! His cock raged with hardness again. "Okay, Pete, climb on and fuck me." Tanya invited him. Pete scrambled to mount the lovely policewoman. His first stabs at her cunt missed the mark, and Tanya suppressed her desire to laugh at his youthful overeagerness as she gripped his penis and fit it into her labes. Pete shoved forward and gasped as Tanya's heavenly heat enveloped his manhood. He was in! He was fucking her! Even with one cum under his belt, Pete did not last long as he strongly and awkwardly fucked Tanya. Just as he began getting a smooth steady rhythm, she realized that his nut was rising and that he would come soon. She didn't mind; she was still feeling the pleasure of her climax around Pete's tongue and fingers, and she knew there would be other matings with Pete. She knew she could teach him and make him into a pussy-pleasing stud. "I'm coming--- oh God!" Pete burst out just as his cock burst and his sperm jetted into Tanya's steaming wet cunt. Though it was his second load, his balls still delivered plenty of man-cream, filling Tanya's twat with his seed. Later, as they cuddled in the afterglow of their sex, Tanya began to get up. "I've got to go home." she said. "No..." Pete said. "Stay here with me." He tried to gently ease her back onto the bed with him. Tanya turned to face him and looked him straight in the eyes. "Pete, you're a great guy, and I really enjoyed fucking you tonight." she said. "But don't fall in love with me. I'm dating other guys, too, and I'm not ready to settle down with just one man. If you can handle that, we'll do this again. Are you okay with it?" Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 02 "I... I guess so." Pete said, his emotions falling several notches. "Good." Tanya said. She gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. "And I definitely enjoyed it. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" She got up and began putting her clothes on, Pete's semen beginning to seep out and soak her panties... -------------------------- I woke up at 4:00am. I was lying flat on my back. Mom was nestled next to me, her warm ass pressing into my left hip. I had been having a dream, and it had awakened me. I began thinking, knowing that the events of the previous day had exposed something, something wrong in the police department. "Are you okay, Don?" my mother asked as she turned over to face me. Her breasts pressed into the side of my chest, her hard nipples poking at me, the warmth of her warming my loins. "What is it?" I sighed. "There's something there, Mom. I'm seeing bits and pieces of it... but I just can't see the whole picture. It's like it's hanging above me but won't take shape, just scattered pieces... teasing me..." "Just relax, honey. It'll come to you." Mom said. "And I'm here to help you find it." "Is that why you joined the Police Auxiliary?" I asked. "Of course, dear." Mom said, somewhat sleepily. I felt her left hand slide along my hip and over my cock. She grasped my half-hard meat in her small hand. It felt dry, but warm and pleasant. She began to gently pull and stroke my cock. "Just relax and think about it, Son." Mom said, raising up, her nipples trailing over my abs. Then I felt the weight of her breasts on my upper groin and lower abs. "Think about it while I suck this big, hard cock of yours." She began licking my cock, then soon was engulfing it in her mouth. Heat and pleasure spread over my loins as my mother fellated me. I took her advice, and as my body enjoyed the pleasures of my mother's mouth, I tried to let the answers come to me. There was organization in this, something corrupt, something sinister, but organized and able to hide in the shadows. Was this why I was here? Was I hired to expose and root out this corruption? It could wait. "Mmmm." I moaned. "That feels so good, Mom"..... to be continued... Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 03 The Case of the Murdered Chessplayer by The WifeWatchman The order of my stories to read is: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series. Case of the Murdered Lovers series. Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series. Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. There are several sex scenes; the big ones are towards the end. Part 8 - Identification and Interrogation At 5:00am I walked into Police Headquarters. I was freshly shaved and felt happy to be free of the formal uniform. I was wearing gray slacks, matching gray sport coat, and a black pullover mock turtleneck. My badge in it's leather holder was clipped to my belt. I knew my mom liked me in a uniform, but this felt better and allowed much more freedom of movement. To my surprise, the Chief was in his office, and wasted no time calling me in. "We have all four of your suspects in custody." the chief growled. "Baptiste has been arrested and booked. The other three were arrested at City International Airport, all of them trying to leave the country. Federal marshals are bringing them to us, and they should be here by nine o'clock." "Great!" I said. "But that's not why you called me in here. And how long have you been here, by the way?" Only a couple of lamps lit the room; the overhead fluorescent light was turned off. It was not yet light outside. "All night." the chief said. Sitting back in his chair, he started in. "I've had three meetings with Internal Affairs. Daniel Allgood interviewed the desk sergeant yesterday afternoon. The sergeant told us that Sergeant Carroll and Senior Patrolman Delmar had been sent to the location last night." Sergeant Carroll was short and stocky, with auburn hair. He relentlessly worked his body into peak physical condition. He was a mean-spirited man who was driven to become a Vice Detective, and word was that he was Ikea's successor not only as a Detective but as the biggest asshole in the "clubhouse." Patrolman Delmar had always seemed like a competent officer, but there was always this undercurrent that he couldn't be trusted, and that certainly he would throw anyone else under the bus to advance his own position. "And why didn't they file a police report?" I asked. "I'm getting there." said the Chief, and I felt his unspoken admonition for me to have patience. "Allgood thinks the desk sergeant is fine; he made the report, the one that got scrubbed, and he readily spoke what he knew. He didn't seem to realize there was a problem until we told him." "The problem came with Sergeant Carroll. Allgood interviewed him with me, Captain Malone, and Captain Charles present. Carroll only gave the most minimal of answers, would never expand on them even when asked to. Delmar looked scared shitless, but wouldn't say anything when Carroll was in the room glaring at him. "We separated them, and Delmar spoke a little bit. He admitted they'd gone to that location, that he'd talked to the guy who had lived there, finally remembered the name 'Kurchitov', which is close enough, and said there were several others in the apartment, but he couldn't see any of them. "When we asked them about not filing the police report, Delmar said that Carroll told him that he, Carroll, would handle it. When we asked Carroll, he wouldn't answer. When I threatened to suspend him, do you know what he did?" I shook my head, then the Chief answered with exasperation: "He invoked the Fifth! He asked for a lawyer!" "Wow, just for that?" I asked, then a thought struck me. "Who was in the room interviewing him?" "Allgood, Charles, Malone and me." "And the Delmar interview?" "Just Allgood and me. Malone and Charles stayed with Carroll during that time." the chief said, then continued the story. "So Carroll is suspended without pay pending an investigation, and Delmar suspended on half-pay." "Where are they?" "Released on their own recognizance." the Chief replied. "we can't hold them in protective custody just for not filing a police report. By the way, Allgood insisted that Myron no longer pursue the logs issue; I.A. will handle that themselves. Allgood was not really happy that Myron gave him the names of the officers before he had even interviewed the desk sergeant, and then Myron wouldn't say how he got the names other than vague and evasive answers. Allgood is pissed with you about that, also." I smiled. "Hasn't Allgood figured out that we magicians don't tell our magic tricks?" The Chief smiled back, but it was not a cheerful smile. "That man has no sense of humor. He needs to get laid. Even better, he needs to find a good woman and marry her." I guess my look of near-shock at the chief saying that was too clear, as he laughed sardonically. "So, Crowbar... tell me what you think of all this." "I woke up an hour and a half ago thinking about it." I said. "What's clear is that Sergeant Carroll and perhaps Patrolman Delmar have been visiting that location for some time. That location has been a place where large quantities of drugs have passed through, so it's not hard to figure out that connection. What we don't know yet is if these cops are on the take and taking bribes, or if they're extorting from the drug-runners, or if there's a much deeper involvement. What we also don't know is if this is just Carroll and Delmar, or if they're part of something larger." The chief had been watching me very carefully as I was talking. "That last part... do you think there might be more going on? Something involving other cops?" "That's what woke me up this morning." I said. After a pause, I said, "I *do* think that there is... something... in this police department, but I can't define it. I thought it might be the racial issues, and there's no doubt Malone is the leader of that faction. But that's not illegal... well, it may be a civil rights issue, but it's not illegal... but beyond that, I'm just trying to see... it's like... it's as if I'm seeing pieces of a puzzle, but they're not connecting together..." I paused. "I just can't see it, not yet." The chief just smiled, this one more encouraging. "You're doing fine. Meanwhile, you solve the chessplayer's murder and I.A. will handle the Carroll case. And Don... keep up the good work." he said. I knew he meant more than just the murder case and my work. And, for the first time... I began to get a glimmer of understanding of why he wanted to hire me into this Police Force. ------------------------------ At 6:45, I was in I.T., reading the information on our four arrested suspects. There wasn't much, but I did note that each had a chess rating in his own country, though none were particularly high. That was important, I thought to myself. At 7:00 am, I went upstairs to MCD and turned on the TV. How could I not start my day without Bettina? "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the pretty redheaded reporter. I was actually happy to see Bettina back on the job after her brutal ordeal at the hands of my nephew Ned and his hired perps. I was not as happy to hear what she was saying. "Channel Two News has learned that there have been arrests in the murder of Russian chess master Vladimir Kurchikov." Wurtzburg reported. "A French national, Jean-Paul Baptiste, was arrested late last night and is being questioned by police. There has been no official comment from the Police Department at this time. "In another story, Channel Two News has learned that a Town & County police officer has been suspended without pay." As she named Sergeant Carroll, I gasped in shock. "Sergeant Carroll was suspended without pay for allegedly not filing a proper police report after a domestic disturbance the night before last. The Police Department has not confirmed nor had any comment on the investigation of Sergeant Carroll, which is being handled by the Internal Affairs Department." My mind was in total turmoil. This was hugely instructive, but I struggled to see the context of it. I was interrupted from my reverie as Tanya Perlman, looking sweet in her blouse and skirt, came up to me with the chess book. "That's the white pawn's move on Kurchikov's board." she said, pointing to the diagram. "But I haven't found the black pawn's position yet." "Do you know chess notation?" I asked. "Not really." "Well, you are spot-on about the diagram and the picture. So..." I added, "based on this, which suspect do you want to interview today?" Tanya looked at the page, puzzled for a moment, then she broke into a smile. ------------------------- We began our interviews with the Frenchman Jean-Paul Baptiste. He had demanded a lawyer and representation of the French Consulate from the City when Hugh Hewitt tried to interview him upon his arrest the night before. He was left overnight in a holding cell to think about things. Then I learned that as the Federal marshals brought the three prisoners from the airport, unfortunately in the same vehicle, they were followed by officials of the various consuls of their native nations. We were a local police department trying to solve a local murder, but now there were not only national but international implications. I just loooove my job... Cindy Ross and I walked into the interrogation room. Baptiste was there with a representative of the French Consulate in the City. He was a slight, slender man with a very French goatee. His clothes were dirty and he absolutely could have used a hot shower and some deodorant. "I will not tell you anything. You are cretins, you police!" "Monsieur Baptiste," I said, "Let me explain the picture to you. We have established proof that you were at the apartment of a man within minutes of the time that man was murdered. We also have others, and when one of them cuts a deal, you might well be getting the death penalty for the murder." I looked hard at him. "Now I suspect that you are not the guilty party, but I cannot prove that without some help." Baptiste only would say "I will say nothing more." That story was repeated with the other three. Keith Dill-Worthing was a stereotypical Englishman, with a square face, brown hair and light skin, wearing a three-piece suit and expensive shoes. He also refused to say anything to me and Tanya Perlman, and haughtily demanded to be immediately released. His consular representative also protested Dill-Worthing's arrest, but said nothing more when ADA Paulina Patterson, who had just arrived, told him that she was going to expedite a grand jury to bring formal charges against Dill-Worthing. I gave my speech urging Dill-Worthing to cooperate before someone else cut a deal. The Spaniard Juan Gomez was just sleazy. His black hair was greasy, his clothes unkempt, and his eyes shifty. He first tried to pretend he knew no English, and his consul representative stated he would not agree to accurately translate, but that got shot down when Patrolman Diana Torres, who I had asked to accompany myself and Tanya to the interview, began speaking directly to him in Spanish. With his attempt to use language as a barrier defeated, Gomez refused to speak further, and I had Patrolman Torres translate my little speech that I had given to Baptiste. Finally we talked to Vince Rossoliano, a Sicilian and the perfect example of the stereotypical young mobster. He talked tough, but his consul representative quickly told him not to answer any questions. He actually seemed the most willing to talk after I gave my little speech. Back in MCD, I told everyone "Let them stew awhile. One of them will see the light shortly." ------------------------ After going through security to get downstairs, I was just heading down the hall to the I.T. room when I saw Daniel Allgood come out of I.A. clutching a sheaf of papers, opened the I.T. door and yell "Not funny, Milton! I'll have your badge for this!" He could not retreat because I came up behind him. "Bring it on, Allgood!" I heard Myron yell back. "If you're going to spy on me, expect more of that!" "My office, Daniel." I said to the I.A. Detective, gently but firmly guiding him on into the I.T. room. "Myron, you stay put." Once in my I.T. office, Daniel showed me some messages on his computer that had come from Myron...on the trace line I.A. was using to watch what Myron was doing. One said "Good morning, Danny!", another said "What do you want for breakfast?" and a third said "How do you like your coffee?" I could not hold back, I began to laugh. Allgood got redder in the face. "Come on, Daniel. This is what we nerds call 'humor' around here." I said. Then I got serious. "I told Myron not to search further into the logs and to let your people handle it, as you requested. Did he disobey my orders?" "Not that I can tell." Allgood admitted. I bore down: "Then if you're going to spy on my man, expect things like this to happen to you. I might even suggest a couple of phrases myself for him to send. So how DO you like your coffee?" I was grinning. Allgood did not smile, but he calmed down as I changed the subject. "Speaking of that, did you find any more log erasures?" Allgood looked at me for a moment, considering something, then said, "Yeah, we think so. Some might be anomalies, but some look like the real thing." "There is nobody in the State outside the FBI that would be better at helping you with that than that guy right out there." I said. "And you should use that resource instead of pissing him off and spying on him." "I'll consider it." Allgood left the office and did not speak to Myron on the way out of the IT room. I came out and broke down laughing again, joined by Myron and Lainie... Part 9 - Information By Degrees "My client is prepared to assist you with your inquiries," the English lawyer for Keith Dill-Worthing said, "in exchange for full immunity from any prosecution." "Tell us what you know, and then we'll see." Perlman said. I looked at Dill-Worthing, trying not to laugh as I remembered Tanya calling him "Dill Pickle" in the MCD room. "Not good enough." the lawyer said. "We must have written immunity first." "No deal, then." I said, getting up. As Tanya and I headed for the door, I said "Let us know when you're ready to talk. Time is growing short, and I'm talking to the others. And Dill-Worthing..." I said, my voice menacing, "since you've just wasted my time, I'm more likely to take one of their deals than anything with you. Think about it, buddy." Tanya and I walked out of the room. As we exited through the door into the Department side (the other door went to the jail side, and perps were brought in through it), Cindy Ross came out of the second interrogation room. Seeing us, she motioned for us to come in. Inside was the Sicilian, Vince Rossolimo, his consul rep with him. I refused his offer of a deal, but when I suggested he talk first and we'd consider immunity later, he agreed. "Okay, here's what happened" he said, which I summarize here, cleaning up the vernacular. There had been six people there, five men and one woman. Vince said he did not know the name of the woman, but she was an American, and it was the first time he'd seen her. The group was playing cards, contract bridge. Sometimes the person in dummy would play or talk chess with Kurchikov, as they all were amateur chess players. Sometimes they got loud, and yes the police had come, as someone not minding their own business must have called the cops. The police had come that night somewhere in the 8:00pm timeframe. No, there had been no drugs at the party, nor any talk of drugs, they were just a group of friends that got together at times. They had all left around 11:00pm, maybe later, but at the same time. When he had left, Vince said, Vlad Kurchikov was alive and well. "Vince," I said, "so far you've spoken the general truth... but I can't give you immunity with you leaving out so many details." I said. "We know there were drugs there, we have some of it in our evidence room." "That's the story, Officer." Vince said. I laughed. "Vince, if you really expect me to believe that there are six people of six different nationalities that just get together at times to play contract bridge, when we've found drugs, when we know drugs are dealt... and one of your group ends up dead... I was born at night, Vince, but not last night." The others, except Dill-Worthing, also tried the same tactics with the same story: just friends playing cards, no talk of drugs, played bridge, got loud, cops came, and no one had seen the woman until that night. The Frenchman Baptiste did say that he remembered the woman's name as "Elizabeth", so I had one confirmed clue. Back in the MCD, I said to Paulina and the detectives, "They're going to keep playing this game with us, giving us as little as they can until someone gets immunity." "Who would you give immunity to, if we only give it to one person?" Paulina asked.

 "Vince Rossoliano." I said. "I think he is not the murderer, and would be the most convincing to a jury on the stand."

 "Oh, not the Englishman Dill-Worthing?" Paulina asked. I just looked at her, meaningfully. Tanya piped in. "He's been the most arrogant and demanding, but also recalcitrant, of the group." she said. "I wouldn't give him a damn thing if he doesn't do a one-eighty." "I'm tired of his attitude, also." I said. "But to be clear: Paulina, do NOT offer Keith Dill-Worthing immunity under any circumstances, for now." "By the way," Paulina said, "How do we know they weren't all in the room when the murder happened, or that they all didn't participate in it?" "I don't, not for sure." I said, "but I strongly believe that they did leave, then one of them came back and killed Kurchikov."
 "Why?" Paulina asked. "First, I think they'd all be trying to finger each other if they knew who to finger. But all of them, except the murderer of course, weren't there... so they don't know what happened and they don't know what we know. "Second, because of the most important clue that was left in the room: Kurchikov's dying message, telling us who his killer was. Isn't that right, Tanya?" I said, smiling at my best detective. "Yes sir." she said, beaming. Paulina looked at both of us, totally confused. Part 10 - Into Heaven's Passion: Ceremony of Acceptance "Disrobe the Candidate!" As The Leader's commanding voice echoed in the room precisely at midnight, two beautiful women, clad only in filmy dark blue negligees, came forward and eased the bathrobe off of Todd's muscular young shoulders. The room he was in was filled by eleven other young men, all dressed only in bathrobes or gym shorts. The fifteen women, all beautiful, all of various ages from 20 to 40, were dressed in Grecian tunics, Roman togas, or clothing fit for a BDSM party; every woman was wearing high heeled shoes or boots. No one in the darkened room was allowed to wear any underwear. Only candles lit the room, which had a small raised stage at one end. The atmosphere was that of a ritual ceremony of a Secret Society, like the Freemasons... but vastly different as Todd stood naked before the assemblage, his huge penis hanging heavily in front of his large balls. "Prepare the Candidate." The Leader ordered. A gorgeous woman, perhaps in her late twenties, with a long mane of strawberry blonde hair, came forward and knelt beside Todd. He turned so that he was in profile to the assemblage, and they watched with relish as the woman kissed the head of Todd's big cock and then opened her mouth to devour his massive man-snake. Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 03 Another woman started a stopwatch as the crowd murmured. The candidate had to withstand three minutes of the incredibly intense fellatio the woman was giving Todd's cock, but he only had those three minutes to become fully engorged to his longest possible length. The group watched as the redhead hungrily sucked Todd's cock, beginning to "ooh" and "ahh" as he lengthened considerably. Soon the woman's head was slowly bobbing along the full length of Todd's huge penis. Only once did she release his organ and slide her tongue along the shaft, kissing his balls; she quickly absorbed his meaty inches back into her throat, fellating him as deeply and intensely as she could. "Time." the woman with the stopwatch called out. The redhead slid her mouth off Todd's enormous cock, now shiny and wet with her saliva, standing out hard and proud. The audience applauded. "Bring out the Instrument of Measurement." the Leader ordered. He was a young man in his early twenties, just a couple of years out of college. His own massive cock was half-hard from watching the obscene act of fellatio, but his knowledge of things to come added to his slowly growing excitement. A beautiful woman at least in her late 30s, came into the room. Her hair was raven black and pulled back, held in place by a net. Her boots were soft black leather with block heels, the leather clinging to her shapely calves. Her thighs were encased in the black mesh of fishnet stockings, which were crotchless. She wore crisscross leather straps over her chest and torso, her large breasts totally exposed and sitting proudly on her chest, and at the collarbone a black cape was attached to the crisscross straps, which could wrap completely around her but at this time was hanging down off her back. The Diva brought with her a long, flat metal rod, dull metallic silver in color, with black lines along one edge. It was a ruler, ordered and made to be meticulously exact to the tightest tolerances in measurement capacity. "Measure the Candidate." The Leader ordered, the seeming quietness of his voice underlying and adding to the solemness and intense anticipation of the moment. The Diva took Todd's cock in her left hand and eased the ruler along the bottom edge of his shaft until it was firmly against his groin but not pressing into his flesh. She then measured Todd's cock from the top of his cock. Each time, the tip of Todd's huge organ exceeded the only line denoted with a number, which was marked "10". "He passes." the Diva stated flatly. The crowd erupted into a huge cheer and prolonged applause. Todd stood before the crowd, his huge cock bobbing gently, accepting the well-deserved accolades. "By affirmation of the tests given today," the Leader intoned as he read a script, "Todd Burke is awarded the 'Order of the Ten Inch Team' of the Sigma Epsilon Chi secret fraternity, together with all rights and privileges pertaining thereto." The rights and privileges were considerable, as Todd was going to find out in time. One of the other men came up behind Todd and fastened a necklace around his neck. It was a simple chain with a small pendant, with wreaths around the number "10" and a barely legible inscription. Outsiders would have no idea of its meaning, but every man in the room now wore such a pendant... and every man in the room was blessed with a penis measuring at least ten full inches in length. The applause and talk ebbed as the Leader made one final command. "Todd, it is time to begin your initiation. Whom do you choose as your consort?" The initiation was that as Todd was now acknowledged to have a ten inch cock, he would now use it for the viewing pleasure of the members and their honored female guests... and use it to have sexual intercourse with a woman of his choosing. He could choose any woman in the room to copulate with, but as was the norm he had already brought his chosen mate. Wordlessly, Todd pointed at a beautiful black-haired woman in a Grecian tunic at one side of the room. By tradition, two male members came and roughly grabbed the woman's arms. She pretended to resist, as was part of the ritual explained to her, as she was half-walked, half-dragged onto the stage, which was now illuminated by strong lights. Her tunic was roughly torn off her body and she stood naked by the bed on the stage next to Todd, facing him. The woman was Melina. Todd had asked Melina to accompany him to the ceremony and participate with him in this portion of it, and Melina had been honored to be chosen to be Todd's consort and mate in this important moment of her young lover's life. Although every woman in the room would've been glad to accommodate Todd's massive weapon of lust inside her womanly depths, they joined with the members in applauding Todd's excellent choice. Melina looked gorgeous. She was wearing very high stiletto heeled sandals with gold lame' straps crisscrossing her shapely feet and wrapping up her luscious, curvy calves, tied off just below her knees. Her black hair hung down her back, long, loose and straight. With the cloth of her tunic gone, she only wore the gold wristbands and a gold chain wrapping around her torso just over her hips, all giving her that most feminine of aspects: the look of being chained. She lay back onto the soft bed, relaxing her head on the pillow as Todd eased onto the bed. The muscular young stud slid his strong hands under her sleek thighs and pushed them up and back, spreading them wide. Melina's fur-fringed cunt was glistening and plenty wet, but Todd performed the extremely pleasant ritual of preparation upon her, lowering his face to her slit. Melina moaned and the crowd cheered as Todd began hungrily and expertly eating her pussy, delving his tongue deep into her sodden hole, preparing her to receive his huge ten inch cock. The assemblage watched with increasing excitement, admiring how great Todd and Melina looked together, a really beautiful couple looking as if they were longtime lovers and meant to be together. Melina looked so hot, and the assemblage admired her legs and feet in the air with Todd's head buried in her snatch. Men and women were beginning to pair off... the beautiful redhead that had sucked Todd was gently stroking her husband's cock, while the Diva and a gorgeous blonde were vying for the attentions of the handsome Leader. They watched as Todd mounted Melina, hooking her legs under his powerful arms, totally exposing her to his lust-fueled desires. As Melina helped, pulling her own legs back and wider apart, her pretty feet high in the air and straining against the gold lame' straps of her high heels, Todd fit the huge head of his enormous cock into her swollen labes and pushed it in, then drove his hard ass forward and sank inch after thick, meaty inch into Melina's sopping wet snatch, burying his prick balls-deep into the beautiful woman with one long thrust! Amazed, the audience broke out into a loud, lusty cheer, and began egging Todd on, encouraging him as he began plunging into Melina with repeated hard, driving thrusts. Soon the bed was ringed by the audience members, watching intently and cheering as the hot rutting couple humped lustily before their eyes. Their coupling was deep and wet; Melina was moaning as her body responded hotly to every powerful thrust of Todd's huge young cock. They were oblivious to the assemblage as their mouths met in a deep kiss, totally focused on each other and the intense pleasure they were giving to and receiving from each other. The wet smacks of flesh slapping flesh could easily be heard despite the cheers and noise of the others as they watched the passionate mating on the bed. It did not take Todd long to reach his climax, driven by the stimulation of the evening as well as the protocols of the ritual. He did not try to hold back. As he neared the crest, he remembered that the ritual called for him to pull out and ejaculate into the air so that the assemblage could see his climax. With a final grunt, he jerked his ass back and up, freeing his cock from the warm wet confines of Melina's tight cunt. His first spurt of jism shot straight up into the air a good four feet, making a glittering arc that landed on Melina's shoulder and cheek. The crowd made a loud "oooh!" noise, totally impressed by the volume and power of Todd's tremendous discharge. A second huge spurt flew up then splattered across Melina's breasts. Several spurts followed, thick and creamy but not as forcefully ejected, coating Melina's quivering, firm abs. As the crowd again erupted into loud, prolonged applause, several woman were not able to contain themselves and dove to the bed, licking up Todd's semen off of Melina's luscious body. "Congratulations, Todd!" The Leader exclaimed. "You may now drink. Everyone else, get out of your fucking clothes and get this party started!" More cheers and acclaim as a champagne bottle was popped open. Drinks were poured for Todd and Melina, who toasted and drank. It was part of the ritual that they could not drink, though the others could, until after the consummation. As another bottle of cheap champagne was poured over Todd's sweat-soaked body, other couples began kissing and engaging in hotly lewd, lascivious acts of pleasure... Part 11 - Into Hell's Heart Timothy Olivet looked around the dank room. What the hell have I gotten myself into? he wondered to himself. They were in a back office in the old factory building at the farthest end of his business property, near the railroad spur track. The gate had been unlocked, and people were furtively coming down the dark track and inside. In the room in front of this one, which led to the factory proper, several young men and women had set up a couple of tables. The leader of the group, a handsome young white man with blondish curly hair, was selling drugs in small packets to the people of various ages coming in. Two brutally large, muscular black men, both looking like black panthers in their garb, were the guards and couriers. Several girls were hanging around, most dressed up in some kind of punk garb or leather, and Tim had watched Ned and the other men fuck these women the past couple of nights. Ned had told Tim that in order to gain revenge on his family, they must first lure in his mother Elizabeth, who had been Michael Burke's lover two decades before. She was making connections selling drugs, so Ned wanted to set up a fake drug ring to lure her around, then he'd cut a deal with her, and they'd move on to Tim's non-father, Michael Burke. In exchange, Tim would provide this back factory location as a safe place to conduct the sting operation. It sure doesn't look like a fake operation, Tim thought. He was no longer scared, and there was a certain thrill of excitement in all of this, but the newness was wearing off and Tim didn't really like the criminal, dark elements. He was also becoming aware that Ned was genius-level brilliant, but was mentally deranged at times. "Hey baby," the girl said walking up to him and sitting down in Tim's lap, grinding her asscheeks into his groin just a bit. "You feelin' okay? You wanna hit?" Her name was Kathy, she was pretty but dressed up as a Goth girl, which led to her nickname "Goth Girl Kathy". She was Ned's main girlfriend, as far as Tim could tell, but Ned hadn't minded when she flirted around with him... and had sucked his cock the night before and swallowed every drop of his load. "No, I don't want a hit." Tim said. "Smart man. Don't ever get into that stuff." she said. "Kathy," Ned said, his voice unnervingly quiet as he watched the sales, "shut the fuck up." "Why don't you come over here and fuck me, and I'll shut up then." Kathy said invitingly. "I need your cock." 

 "Fuck my brother Tim there, Kathy. He hasn't been serviced properly, yet." Ned said. "See, Timmy?" Kathy said, "I have to fuck you now. He told me to." She opened Tim's pants, bringing out his six inch penis. She didn't seem to think it was too small as she knelt down and began sucking it. Tim just sat there, letting her fellate him. It felt good, but he felt very detached from it; he desperately wished it was his wife Jeanine he was with, who would be sucking his cock... He looked up and saw Ned taking off his shirt and saying "This should be good." Since taking the severe, nearly fatal beating at the hands of his hated big brother Todd, Ned had begun working out and bulking up. He was still very slender but much less scrawny than before. "You look great, baby." Kathy said as she saw Ned shirtless. "I didn't ask." Ned replied, still watching outside. He was watching a woman coming up to the front of the line. She was older, in her late thirties or early forties. She was gorgeous, with blonde hair, a magnificent, saucy body, and she was dressed in a hot dress and heels as if she were going out to dinner and a club for the evening. Ned also knew what was going to happen. When she got to the front of the line with a few dollars to pay for her hit, one of the black men watching came forward and took her arm. 

"You need to come this way." he said, his voice a deep baritone. "The man wants to talk to you." The woman looked shocked, though not particularly frightened. The man led her to the back room. She saw a Goth girl sucking some young man's cock in the far corner. But to the left, coming into view as the door closed, was "the man." It was Ned. "Hey baby." Ned said. "So you couldn't stay clean, could you? So where's my money?" "Look, Ned," she began, "I can't get it right now, I told you... my husband won't give it to me. He says that if I get back on drugs he'll divorce me! It's gonna take some time, Ned, please..." "Take it easy, Margo." Ned said. "Come on over to the couch." He put out a line of coke. "I'll tell you what, this is a freebie. And I'll take 10% off your overall debt... if you can think of a way to pay in... trade." The woman was like a doe in the headlights of an oncoming semi. She reached for the straw. As she snorted the coke, Tim thought she was taking too much, too fast. But what did he know? --------------------- "Hey Ned, I want to eat your cum out of her pussy." Kathy called out. She was riding Tim's cock, sliding her wet pussy up and down his six inch meat. Tim looked over at the other side of the room. Ned and the blonde Margo were naked except for her wearing her high heels, and he was on top of her, vigorously fucking her. Margo was moaning loudly as Ned fucked her with his big, thick eight inch cock. "Oh that looks so fucking hot, doesn't it Tim?" Kathy said. Tim realized that Kathy really was into Ned, that she literally worshipped the guy even though he was a slimy slug.... and a very, very bad man. Ned steadily fucked Margo, enjoying the feel of a trophy wife's tight married pussy. She was the wife of a fairly wealthy man in Town and she'd been hooked on cocaine for a while now. Ned didn't mind offering drugs for sex with these women; he'd get his money... eventually. He was really enjoying plunging into the woman's tight, wet snatch. This was "prime pussy", a woman who would not have given him the time of day before she was ensnared by his drugs. The woman's pussy wasn't quite as fantastic as his mother's had been, though maybe it was his mother struggling as he raped her that added to his excitement. Ned thought again about Elizabeth and her wonderful cunt, his rising lust fueling his deeper, harder thrusts into the cocaine-drugged rich bitch beneath him. Tim watched the coupling on the sofa, and he had to admit he was enjoying what he saw. He admired the woman's luscious legs in the air as Ned thrust deep and hard into her. She had a great body and a lovely face. The sight of Ned's big cock pumping in and out of that sweet cunt looked good, also. Tim felt a surge of lust coursing through him as he watched his slender brother fucking the woman with deep long strokes. The guy had cock that Tim envied, too. "Oooh, that feels good." Kathy whispered as Tim thrust hard into her. "You like watching them, dontcha? Don't they look so hot, so beautiful, fucking together like that?" "Yeah, baby, they do." Tim admitted. "I like fucking you while watching Ned fuck other women." Kathy said. "You're hot, too." She kissed Tim hard on the mouth, then they both turned their heads to watch Ned pumping the beautiful trophy wife. Kathy squeezed her cunt on Tim's dick as hard as she could as she whispered in his ear. They watched Ned fuck the gorgeous trophy wife for long minutes, noticing over time that the young thug was speeding up his thrusts, driving into the woman harder and harder. He was close. After several final violent strokes into Margo's well-fucked quim, Ned gasped and climaxed, emptying his balls deep into the married woman's steaming snatch. As he finished, he noticed that she was falling asleep, virtually unconscious. He really didn't give a shit; he had used the slut's cunt for his personal pleasure. She was no more than a warm vagina for him to masturbate within and come inside of. "Want some of this, Tim?" Ned offered as he dismounted, his long cock smeared with Margo's juices and his semen. "Uhhh, I'm good here." Tim said as Kathy pumped her ass vigorously on his meat. "Come get some of this." Ned said, more as an order this time. "That skank can't compare to this prime ass." "Like hell I can't!" Kathy complained, but she was already getting off Tim, letting his cock slip out of her sopping wet slit. Tim dutifully went over to Margo and mounted her. The woman moaned slightly as he eased his weight onto her and fit the head of his cock into the wetness between her swollen labes. He sank his hard cock balls-deep into her wet, messy cunthole, feeling the heat and that wetness of her-- and his brother's large deposit of semen. "That's it, brother." Ned said as Tim began to fuck the woman vigorously. "Fuck the shit out of that whore." Tim admitted to himself that he was enjoying this sloppy wet fuck, admiring the sight of Margo's beauty and the feel of her sloppy cunt. "Good shit, huh?" Ned said as Tim relentlessly pounded Margo's cunt into a creamy, frothy lather. Tim noted that Goth Girl Kathy was kneeling in front of Ned, licking and sucking the teen's cock and balls clean of the older woman's juices. The sight, along with the feel of the woman's used cunt and the wet smacking sounds from their coupled loins as he drove hard into her again and again were just too much. "Uhhh!" Tim gasped as he felt his nut rise, then the painful pulses of his seed being ejaculated deep into Margo, joining Ned's load of semen. As he filled her with his potent load, he was thinking how Margo was high class... like his own wife Jeanine had been, until she'd whored herself with his hated big brother Jack. And now he had a new younger brother, ordering him around... Dismounting the sleeping, unconscious woman, Tim barely got out of the way in time as Kathy dove between Margo's legs and started lapping Ned's cum out of the woman's dripping wet, slimy cunt. Ned was dressed and once again looking at the business. Tim went and sat in the corner again, his cock flaccid and wet. Ned shook his head, thinking to himself, thinking of how he was going to fleece Tim of his business, and then kill Tim's wife... the wife was carrying his hated big brother Todd's big brother's baby. Did Tim want Jeanine to have an abortion? Ned thought to himself, silently laughing sardonically. Yeah, I'll kill off that bastard child for you, Tim. Just as soon as I get my hands on your fucking money. "Hey, what's going on?" he heard Kathy say, panic in her voice. "Hey, Lady... wake up!" Ned went over. Margo was shaking, beginning to go into convulsions. 
"Shit!" Ned exclaimed, disgusted. "CLETE! Get in here!" One of the big black guards came in." Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 03 "Clete, get someone and take this bitch to the hospital. Leave her on the emergency room steps. Make sure you leave her purse with her." Ned ordered. Clete and a young man quickly had the convulsing, puking woman out the door. Tim heard a car drive off a moment later. He began to feel fear in the pit of his stomach, knowing now that he was in way over his head... to be continued... Dear Readers, you now have all the clues. Do you know who the killer of Vladimir Kurchikov is? Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 04 The order of my stories to read is: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series. Case of the Murdered Lovers series. Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series. Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. The sex is near the middle of the story. The puzzle solution and the shocking twists are worth reading through to the end, though... Part 11 - The Final Break 6:45am. There had been no deals during the night. After dinner I had ordered that we cease and desist from any more talks with any of the perps or their lawyers, and made sure the four men were not in the same holding cells. Then I had gone home to The Cabin, but my mom wasn't there. She'd left for Apple Grove earlier in the day, to finish packing and take care of all the little details up there. It was strange being alone in bed, but it did have one benefit: I got some much needed sleep. I could not say that about others at the headquarters: Teresa Croyle came into the MCD room, looking exhausted. She reported what had happened the night before. A woman had been brought to the Emergency Room entrance of University Hospital by a large black man. After laying the woman on the gurney, the man disappeared. The E.R. Nurse, a pretty young Asian woman, had instructed the orderlies to rush the woman into a trauma room, then looked back to ask the man questions, but he was gone. Meanwhile, the woman had heavily overdosed on cocaine, and she didn't make it. Her name was Margo Bailey, wife of Sean Bailey, who was the best sales agent for a pharmaceutical company. Teresa had had the sad duty of calling her husband, then later informing him of his wife's death. "What's really ugly about this," Teresa said, her face an angry scowl, "is that Margo had a history of drug problems, and her husband had said he'd divorce her if she didn't clean up. Well, she DID finally get clean, and she had stayed clean for several months... but last night two of her 'girlfriends', and I use that term very loosely, took her out on the town... and they took her straight to the clubs where the drugs are sold. They said they left her talking to a young man, and the description of the guy is of someone well-known in Vice for bringing people to locations that have been set up to buy fixes." "Those women," I said, "they just left her? They didn't try to help her at all, or look after her? Just threw her to the drug recruiter?" I asked, as Teresa handed me a small sheet of paper with those women's names. "Yeah," Teresa replied, staring into space, her face dead to anything but Justice as she spoke. "Those fucking bitches just left her... maybe even took her there on purpose to set her up to get drugged, but of course they'll never admit to that..." Looking at Teresa "Cunt" Croyle, I knew it would be a bad day for those women if they ever ran afoul of the Law with Teresa anywhere nearby... Waking up from her reverie, Teresa continued "That's not all. There was semen in the woman's vagina, pretty fresh, when she was brought in. They used a full rape kit, just in case. The Crime Lab's rape division has gotten into a habit of making an immediate comparison of raped and drugged women to a certain rapist, and the result will interest you." She handed me the preliminary report, completed half an hour earlier. While it looked like two men had ejaculated inside the woman, one of those men who had deposited his semen into the her was pretty much without doubt my nephew Ned. "The bastard's in town. Put out an APB in case he left town in the night." I said. Teresa replied that she had already done so. It was 7:00am, and we knew what that meant: Bettina! "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" the reporterette began somberly reporting. "Margo Bailey, wife of wealthy BigPharmaCorp sales rep Sean Bailey, died last night at University Hospital of a severe cocaine overdose. Mrs. Bailey was out with friends last night, who lost track of her and had believed she had gone home. A few hours later she was brought to the hospital by an unknown Good Samaritan, but doctors were unable to save her. Mrs. Bailey is survived by--" "Good Samaritan?" Teresa scowled. "In other news," Bettina Wurtzburg reported through our TV, "the police department is interviewing four men in connection to the murder of Russian chess master Vladimir Kurchikov. Channel Two News has also confirmed that two police officers were called to that location earlier in the evening, where reports of shouting and fighting in that apartment were lodged by the neighbors. One of those police officers is reported to be Sergeant Carroll, who was suspended without pay for a violation of police policies. The Police Union representative has demanded Sergeant Carroll's immediate reinstatement--" "They're throwing him to the wolves, you know." Teresa said. I whirled to look at her, realizing that I was receiving the answer to an earlier vague question. "Is he dirty?" I asked. "I don't know." Teresa said, "but that's the way things work around here. Giving the Press a story about a procedural issue is telling the world that he's finished." I just nodded. So that was how "things" worked. This put an interesting new light on things. At 8:00am sharp, ADA Paulina Patterson came into the MCD room. "This may be it-- Vince Rossoliano wants to talk to you.... without his lawyer." --------------------------- "Go." Vince told his lawyer once we were in the interrogation room. "Get out." "But... but.." the lawyer sputtered. 
 "GO!" Vince roared. "OUT!" 
 Once the lawyer is was gone, Vince said "If I tell you everything I know, is the immunity still on the table?" "Here's the deal." Paulina stated, bringing out a document. "You tell us everything, sign it in writing, testify when we ask you to, for the Grand Jury or at the killer's trial, and you'll be given full immunity. You'll be deported after the trial, and if you enter the United States again the immunity will be voided. " "Good enough." Vince said. "And I am only going to talk about this night and this murder, yes?" Paulina and I looked at each other, then agreed. "You are right," Vince started, "we would meet from time to time to arrange our drug deals. This Town was convenient because Baptiste was a foreign exchange student here, Dill-Worthing's company has a branch here, Kurchikov could easily come from the City, where he teaches chess, and he leased this apartment where he could prepare for big chess matches, and Gomez... well, he likes the college girls and the prostitutes in your Tenderloin District." "The woman?" I asked. "I do not know much about her." Vince said. "Baptiste knew her in France; I believe they had a drug operation in Paris, and he wanted to bring her into our cartel as our American representative. Each of us has a country to grow our own businesses in, and Kurchikov would arrange drug shipments to each of us from time to time, using the chess tournaments he participated in as cover for his travels and deliveries. I had no problem with bringing in this woman, as it would mean less travel to America and I would still get a cut. Of course, my people would have to check her out." "Did anyone oppose her inclusion?" I asked. "Gomez was not sold on her, but I think he just wanted to fuck her first. Dill-Worthing had objections, and discussed them with Kurchikov. Let me explain: we would play bridge, and whoever was in dummy would talk in the kitchen with Kurchikov. He was our supplier of drugs; we each placed our orders with him. Kurchikov would balance the numbers, arrange shipments from one of us to another whenever we needed it. He was very good with numbers, very smooth. "Sometimes we would get into arguments, we would get passionate. The redhead cop, the Sergeant, he would always respond if there was a problem. I do not know for sure, but I believe Kurchikov paid him to keep the Police Vice squad from coming after us. I say this because sometimes that cop would come around, and would talk to Kurchikov alone. "What about the night of the murder." I asked. "What happened?"
 "It was a very typical night. We drank, we smoked, we played cards, Gomez cheated like hell at the cards, we argue, police come, we quiet down and start making our deals with Kurchikov, we talk about adding the woman as our partner. Then we all left, sometime after 11:00." "And only one person opposed the inclusion of the woman." I said, to confirm what I was hearing. "Ehh, we were all cautious, of course... but yes, Dill-Worthing was the only one strongly opposed. Kurchikov even suggested to me in private that she could be his replacement, if Dill-Worthing didn't like it." "So you all left after eleven o'clock." I said. "Did you see everyone leave?" I asked. "Except for the woman, we all left and went to our cars. Baptiste was in front of me, I followed him to the main road. He went to a strip club, I went to my hotel." "So you didn't see Dill-Worthing leave?" "He left with us, and his car was behind me, but I don't remember seeing his car follow me. I was not really paying attention." After several more questions for clarification, I nodded to ADA Paulina Patterson, who signed the immunity agreement and gave it to Vince as his seething lawyer returned to the room. Part 12 - The Party Never Stops... Nor Does The Sex! As the sun was setting in the evening, Melina walked down the path by the lake with her date, her hand on his arm as he escorted her, the restaurant they had eaten at in the distance behind them. She was wearing a lemon-yellow dress with a white pattern imprinted on it, and very high heel white pumps. The young man she was with was in a suit and tie, looking very handsome to her as they walked and chatted lightly. He was "The Leader", the young man she'd met at Todd's celebration not long ago. Sitting down on a bench and enjoying the lake view in the fading light, they chatted lightly for a while, mostly about some of his adventures with the Ten Inch Team and some of her work on sexual subjects with Dr. Laura Fredricson. The discussion of sex already had her loins melted, warm and wet, and she had noted the considerable bulge in her young date's pants. The talk ebbed as the couple began sharing kisses, light at first, then deeper and more passionate. "So what's that saying? 'Your place or mine?'" the young man asked Melina as he kissed her neck and openly groped her breast. 
"Mine." she said. "I want you to take me in my own bed." They walked back to his car and drove toward the Tower Condos, a building next to the University Hotel and externally the twin of it, but with condo apartments. This one had been Laura's, and Melina had swapped Laura this condo for the house on the hill that Don's mother was going to live in. Nearly an hour later, Melina was lying naked on her bed, enjoying the soft light of the room and the sight of the young man at the foot of the bed stripping naked. She admired his muscular, slender body as his eyes hungrily devoured her luscious nude beauty. He was more broad-shouldered than Todd but not taller (few men were), and he exuded a sense of male power and confidence that really turned Melina on and made her wet with desire. 
 His cock sprang into view, hard and long and thick, ten full inches of throbbing power, ready to fuck her into a frothy puddle of pure pleasure. As he eased onto the bed, he confidently, almost arrogantly spread her legs apart and settled between them. Not asking permission, he began kissing his way up her thighs to her sopping wet quim. "Ohhhhhhh...." Melina moaned quietly as The Leader's tongue slid up her swollen labes and lashed at her clit. As the young stud began eating her pussy more deeply and in earnest, she let her memory float to that previously heavenly night... ... She remembered Todd's initiation. After he had come and several women had used their tongues to clean her body and pussy of his semen, a full-blown orgy had begun. She remembered The Leader having his penis sucked to rock-hardness by a gorgeous natural redhead who was wearing wedding rings. Then Todd had called the Leader over to the bed that she, Melina, was still lying on. Todd introduced her to him, then they began rudely talking in rather crude terms about her. 
 "She's a really hot fuck." Todd told The Leader. "Her cunt will suck the cum right out of your balls before you can stop yourself from coming." "Sounds like a challenge." The Leader said. "She's definitely got the best legs and hottest ass in the room." Letting his eyes bore into Melina's, he asked, "Hey baby, how would you like to try a real cock instead of this kid's little thing?" His overwhelming sexual power reached out to her as, without waiting for her answer, The Leader eased down and mounted her. "Oh God!" Melina gasped as The Leader began driving his huge cock into her already-fucked cunt. Pleasure rocketed through her body as she was stretched and filled with his hard male meat. "Damn, gorgeous, you buried it." The Leader said. "You took me with just one thrust." He began pumping in and out of her with a slow steady rhythm, letting her get used to his size and begin matching his thrusts. He began speeding up, noting with pleasure that she was meeting and matching his strokes perfectly, speeding up right along with him, their loins smashing together as they began to fuck hotly. As he relentlessly fucked her, Melina noted out of the corner of her eye that the gorgeous redhead was now sucking Todd's cock to hardness with lust-filled abandon. The Leader noticed Melina watching the other couple. "That's Audrey Nethers." he whispered, his voice low so that only Melina could hear him. "She's married, and she is the best cocksucker I've ever encountered. Her husband is one of our members, but he couldn't be here tonight. She's a Libertine, also." "What's a 'Libertine'?" Melina asked as she wrapped her legs tightly around The Leader to urge him to keep fucking her hard and steady. "It's a Swinger group. There's two of them in the county, the Libertines and the Hedonists. Ask your boss Dr. Fredricson about it." "How-- how did you know that I worked for her?" Melina asked, her eyes snapping onto The Leader's and boring into him. "Todd told me when he said he was going to invite you to this initiation." The Leader said. "We had to be sure you weren't one of those people that want to fuck us over." "I see." Melina answered shortly. "Well, I do want to fuck you over, until your balls are drained and screaming for mercy." Her wicked smile and the intensity of her eyes gave The Leader a sexual jolt. He quickly pulled out and straddled her chest, shoving his cock head into Melina's luscious mouth. "Todd was right, you've made me come. I'm going to come, baby." he grunted. "I'm going to come in your mouth. UHH!!! Take it babe-- UHK!!! AHH!!!" He shoved his cockhead practically into Melina's throat as she felt his huge organ throb and pulse. She gulped down the thick, relentless squirts of his hot jism as he ejaculated them into her mouth, struggling to stay ahead as he tried to fill her throat to overflowing. Pleasure rocked through her loins as she fingered her clit, the joy of having a virile man come in her mouth adding to her tremendous pleasure... Later, once hard again, Todd had been slowly and deeply fucking Melina dogstyle. Several other men, many of whom she never got a name for, came up to her and fucked her face with their huge cocks. As she sucked their manhoods, she noted that some were thicker than others, but every cock was blessed with that long, ten inch length. Melina reveled in the feelings overwhelming her, being fucked by a handsome young man while sucking other huge cocks. Each man was near the crest when he approached her, and she remembered swallowing several large loads, enjoying her meals of pure male protein. She also remembered being kissed by several women, feeling their tongues exploring her mouth and trying to lick out some of that cream. She was exhausted after endless orgasms as the night's party neared its end. Most of the men and women were spent; they were lying around, watching Melina being fucked slowly and deeply by The Leader one last time. He was gentle with her, having really lubed up his cock and made sure she could handle one more fuck, and she knew he was doing this to show his stamina, his endurance that outlasted all of his male teammates. She knew that every man and woman in the room was admiring him for being the very best, sexually, and she was proud that it was her vagina servicing and pleasuring the young stud's cock in front of all these hot, sexual people. It was after he came inside her, his load feeble compared to earlier ones, that he surprised her by quietly asking her for a date. She accepted on the spot, and made sure to give him her phone number while Todd was not watching... ... The Leader was nuzzling her neck and grinding his meat into her well-filled cunt in the condo bedroom. He had come once, and this time they were simply enjoying a slow, deep fuck. The Leader still fucked her with raw, hard power. Melina realized that she was deeply enjoying this fuck, and that she was deeply enjoying being with this much younger man. Her thoughts drifted to Todd. She thought of Todd's baby that she was carrying now, joy filling her whole being. But she also realized that while she loved Todd, she was not "in love" with him, not like she had been with Don... and with Jack... and she also knew that while she physically loved The Leader, she was not truly in love with him either... As she felt The Leader ejaculate into the depths of her womanhood to end the consummation of their date, Melina wondered to the Universe who her true soulmate was, and where was he now.... Part 13 - The Solution It was about 9:00pm and we had just returned from dinner. I had forbidden any talk about the case during dinner, which suited most of my team. But that had the lovely Paulina Patterson chafing, as she wanted to ask questions. And she hit me with the barrage as soon as we walked into the MCD room. "So it's either the woman, who you think is your sister Elizabeth, or it's Keith Dill-Worthing." Paulina said. "Which one?" Before I could answer, Paulina's cellphone rang. "Dill-Worthing. His lawyer is asking to see us." Paulina said. I asked her to come with me and Tanya. In the interrogation room, the lawyer for Dill-Worthing said in a smooth and oily voice "My client has reconsidered, and wants to make a deal with you." His English client sat next to him. "Oh really?" I said, my voice neither smooth nor oily, but very sarcastic in tone. "Full immunity in exchange for his truthful statement and testimony." the lawyer offered, his voice intentionally toned to suggest he was doing us a huge favor. I knew otherwise. "Let's hear it, then we'll consider it." I said. "And it damn well better be truthful." Dill-Worthing looked at the lawyer as if he did not want to do it, but the lawyer nodded. "Okay," Dill-Worthing said. "this is what happened." His story was nearly identical to Vince's earlier in the day, but with two important exceptions: he did not mention the woman, and he said he had left and followed Vince down the road, but had turned off to go to his hotel. Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 04 "Okay, that's all I'm prepared to give you now unless you confirm the immunity." Dill-Worthing said. "Tell me about the woman." I said. "I don't know anything about her. Never saw her before that night." "Why was she there?" I asked. "I think she wanted to join our cartel." Dill-Worthing stated. "How did you feel about that?" I said, staring at him. He looked at us, then his lawyer. "Do I have the immunity?" he asked. "No." I said, my voice controlled, but showing harshness at the edges. "You're not playing it straight with me. You know who she is, now tell me what you know." Dill-Worthing remained silent, looking at the table. I looked at Paulina and Tanya, and we all began getting up as if to leave. "All right, all right." Dill-Worthing said. "Her name is Elizabeth--" he said, giving my sister's name, "and yes, she wanted to be our American contact. Baptiste had worked with her in France and was vouching for her. That's all I really know about her."

 "How did you feel about her being part of the group?" I asked. "I wanted to be... cautious... before admitting a new member." Dill-Worthing stated. "Now do I get the immunity, or not?" "Are you kidding me?" I asked sarcastically, then regained control. "No, Mr. Dill-Worthing, you do not get immunity at this time. You're holding back the truth, and I'm getting tired of it... and you." I said. His lawyer started all but screaming at me with insults, threats, accusations of broken promises. "Okay here's the deal I will offer you, Dill-Worthing." I said, relishing every word. "You will make a statement of confession, which will then be put into writing. You will sign the confession and hand it to ADA Patterson here. In exchange, the DA's office will not seek the death penalty, and you will go to prison for the rest of your life." "What?" Dill-Worthing said with pure, simple disbelief, involuntarily leaning forward as if to stand up. "You think I killed Kurchikov?" Then, as my words hit him, he leaned back, trying to recover his arrogance, and said "Prove it." "I can and I will." I said. "Shall I tell you what happened, Mr. Dill-Worthing, and you'll please fill in any blank spots I might have left out." Paulina was looking at me as if I'd lost my mind, and Tanya Perlman was trying very hard not to break down laughing. I began. "I know that you opposed the admission of the woman into your group; in fact, you became so vehement arguing about it that the police were called to the apartment. You argued with Kurchikov over it every time you were in dummy during the card games. The rest of them wanted to admit her, by the way. So Kurchikov tabled the discussion, but you overheard him telling the others during their private time that they could cut YOU out of the cartel and replace you with Elizabeth." Dill-Worthing was staring at me. His eyes showed fear, and I knew that so far I was not missing the mark. "You left with everyone else, but circled around back, putting on your gloves if you didn't already have them on. You saw the woman leave by the back way, so you decided to try the back door. You climbed the back stairs to the kitchen door, found it unlocked, and quietly re-entered the apartment. "You snuck over to the drawer to get a big knife, but Kurchikov heard you opening the drawer, came to investigate the noise... and you met him right at the door and stabbed him. You got in three good shots at him before he stumbled backwards. He turned and fell face down near the table in front of the sofa and, not knowing he was already dead, you slit his throat. "You then threw the knife in the kitchen trash, locked the back door, then went to the front door, being very careful not to step in the blood and create a more obvious crime scene. Once outside you hurried to your car and left. "That is what happened, Mister Keith Dill-Worthing." I stated. "And if you don't confess to it by the time I leave this room, I will provide the District Attorney here with an ironclad case that will result in you being put to death by the State for the murder of Vladimir Kurchikov." Dill-Worthing was still staring at me, the look of shock and fear on his face priceless. "You'll never prove one word of that," the lawyer was gasping, "and I am going to have your badge for harassing my client like this!" But I wasn't listening. Dill-Worthing and I were having a staredown, and he knew that I was telling the truth. I decided to deliver the coup de grace. "Mr. Dill-Worthing, I know that you also play tournament chess. You have a rating with the British Chess Federation. Nowhere near Kurchikov, of course, but you will recognize this." I said, throwing the photograph down as if it were a trump card. Dill-Worthing looked at it and his face sank. I had him. 
"No death penalty?" he asked when he looked back up. He silenced the protestations of his lawyer, who was trying hard to keep him from confessing. "In exchange for a full confession and cooperation." Paulina said. Dill-Worthing agreed. He wrote his confession, which was almost verbatim what I had told him, and signed it. "Out of curiosity, why didn't you want Elizabeth in the cartel?" I asked him. "Because the man I work with wanted her excluded." Dill-Worthing replied. "They had a falling out." "Is this the man?" I asked. Dill-Worthing looked at the picture. It was Ned. Dill-Worthing looked up at me, his eyes wide and staring before hardening. "If you know who that man is, Detective, you know that I will say nothing about him. Your State's method of executing me would preferable to what would happen to me if I answered your question. I suggest that you never speak his name or even think of him again, if you value your own life." "He's already had his shot at me." I said as I got up to leave. "He won't get another." Part 14 - Explanation and Loose Ends "What was that photograph you showed him?" Tanya asked some minutes later. A rather large assemblage was in the MCD room and I was holding court, explaining the solution to the case. "The chessboard, of course." I said. As everyone looked blank, I said "Of course that was the key to the whole case. Kurchikov had seconds to live and moved two pawns on his board. Fortunately, his killer did not see what he did." "What was the significance of that?" Hugh Hewitt asked. "It was a message from the grave. Kurchikov was trying to tell us who his killer was." I said. "Tanya, you got most of it."

 "The white pawn move was the first move of the 'English Opening' in chess.", Tanya replied. "I didn't get what the black pawn move was."
 "No, that's not as common as 1.c4, which is indeed the English Opening. The black move 1... b6 is called the 'English Defense' in some lines, though I'm not sure about that name as a response to 1.c4 on the white side. But Kurchikov wasn't worried about that. He just did what he could in his supreme moment of death." "Wow. Your whole case was built on just that?" the Chief asked. "No sir, but it made it easier for me." I replied, deciding not to admit the full truth. "It's much easier to find the solution once given an answer like that. But there was still plenty of evidence to show Dill-Worthing was the killer. And one of the others would've broken over time rather than face the death penalty." "Of course, Dill-Worthing was an Englishman." I continued. "There are other chess openings, also: a French Defense, a Spanish Game, a Sicilian Defense as well as an Italian Game. There's no 'American' opening, if Elizabeth had done it, but I surmised as evidence came along that it was much more likely one of the men there, and it didn't really fit that Elizabeth would kill the man." "Why is that?" asked Paulina Patterson. "No offense to the women here, but it would take one hell of a strong woman, like Cindy Ross, to inflict those kind of knife wounds. Elizabeth would've shot the man with a gun, or tried to poison him. And the slit throat didn't fit Elizabeth, either. She hasn't shown extreme violent tendencies like that, at least not that I've seen. "Last but not least," I added, "Elizabeth did not have any motive whatsoever to kill Kurchikov. In fact, she was about to be admitted into their cartel. For her to kill him at that time made no sense at all, so I was comfortable in looking elsewhere." "And as I said," I continued, "I did have a chessboard screaming 'English' to me, so I zeroed in on Dill Pickle-- er Dill-Worthing rather quickly." Tanya couldn't hold it back; she began giggling. "Seems to me like you guessed a lot." Vice Detective Timothy Geiger said. Geiger was Steven Ikea's dingleberry in the Vice Department. Ikea knew better than to show his face in this room at this or any time. "Oh really?" I said, my voice cold and withering. "Everything was there in plain sight... except the smell of the perfume, and our noses led us to that. Detective Perlman caught on to that immediately. Sergeant Stonewall is an excellent drug dog and showed us that drugs had been in the apartment. "It wasn't hard to see from the scoresheets that they were playing contract bridge, which meant that someone always was in dummy and not playing the hand, a perfect screen for rounds of drug negotiations. It took only the merest bit of research to discover the chess opening that Kurchikov put on his board, and that the other perps were also chessplayers." "But yes, Mr. Geiger... I did use some imagination to connect the dots. That's just good police work. The key is to imagine correctly, of course... and your department's lack of imagination is why this drug operation has been going on under your noses in Vice for so long-- oh, leaving so soon?" Geiger was exiting the room as swiftly as he could get out. "Enough of that, Crowbar." the Chief said. "Vice is a good outfit with some good people. You need to work with them rather than showing them up." "Yes, sir." I said, chastised. "Just one more question, speaking of some not-so-good people." Tanya said, rescuing me. "Where does Sergeant Carroll fit into this?" I did not get the chance to answer the question. Cindy Ross came flying into the room, out of breath. Teresa Croyle was right behind her. "I just had a contact from a source." she said as she regained her breath. "There's some activity in the back of one of Timothy Olivet's warehouses. A young man fitting the description of Ned was seen, and the source said that a drug sale was going down there last night, and they might be setting up for another one tonight." "Move, people, move! Don, you're in command of the raid." the Chief ordered, but unnecessarily. We were scrambling rapidly to get our vest protection already... ...and everyone not named "Ikea" knew damn well that I was in charge. Part 15 - Sacrifice and Final Peace "Here, put this on." Ned said to his brother, Timothy Olivet. It was a crudely stamped out piece of metal with straps on it, meant to be bulletproof chest protection. Ned also was wearing one, but it was a better fit. "Put your shirt on over it." "Why?" Olivet said. "Because the police are coming, and you don't want to get shot dead when you demand to see their warrant if they try to come in." Real fear welled up inside Tim. This was just too much. "Let's just get out of here, then." Olivet said. "It's too late." Ned replied, not revealing the real reason. "My scouts have spotted them coming this way. They'll be encircling us soon." The real reason for Ned was that he intended to leave Olivet to confront the police, followed by a shot being fired that would draw a police fusillade killing Olivet, and only Olivet's will leaving everything to his wife stood in Ned's way. Let the police do the job for me, Ned thought. Of course, his wife will then be found dead also, and her will leaves the money to him... so the money will then come to his dear brother, me. The police coming so quickly had changed Ned's plans and he had to speed them up. The metal vest would not stop the armor-piercing bullets the police would be firing into Olivet. But Timothy was showing weakness. "No," Tim said. "We should go now, and hide before they get here. You can slip past them while they're searching the warehouse." "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" Ned yelled, losing his patience, the sudden intensity of his scream shocking Tim. Regaining his composure, Ned said more quietly, his voice very measured and controlling, "We are not running away. You are going to stop the police from entering the premises, and my people will be setting up the traps for them. I want my dear uncle dead before this night is over. Do you fucking understand?" "No... no." Tim said. "This is crazy. No one has to die, here." "You fucking wimp." Ned said. "Definitely not a man like your brother Jack was, were you?" "You're one to talk, asshole! After the way your brother beat the shit out of you--" Tim replied hotly as Ned nodded to Clete. "I guess... I will have to convince you." Ned said with studied quietness. "Clete, bring her in." Clete was gone a moment, then appeared from around a corner, prodding Jeanine Olivet in front of him. "Jeanine!" Tim said, running over to her. "Are you okay?" Clete came forward and shoved Tim back, hard, sending him sprawling several feet. "You will now go outside and stop the police." Ned said. "They're already here. Jeanine will be safe as long as you do what I say." "You... you bastard." Tim said. "You're one to talk about 'bastards'... asshole." Ned replied. -------------------------------- I had caught the last of the conversation between Ned and Tim Olivet as my team crept up to a side door to the large, empty room. Ned had observed some of our cars going to the gates, I surmised, but had not realized that a few of us had driven up in unmarked cars and already penetrated the property by a back gate. The Enemy had Jeanine Olivet as a hostage. This was not going to be easy. A voice came in on the radio. "Thermal imaging shows no one else in the building. Just you four and four perps in the main room." "All right, guys, we're going in." I said. "Don't shoot unless they raise a gun. Let's get 'em. Hugh, go!" Unfortunately, the distance was enough that Ned saw us spring into the room, and he was able to pull out a gun. "Your bitch dies, brother!" Ned yelled, pointing the gun at Jeanine. "NO!" Timothy Olivet screamed and lunged for his wife. He was in time to cover her body with his, his back to Ned as the gun fired twice. The bullets penetrated his back and ripped through his chest... and, ironically, were stopped by the underside of the metal armor before they could harm Jeanine. 

"TIM!" Jeanine screamed as Tim fell, slumping against her. As they both went down in a heap, we were raising our guns and firing at Ned, but the shots that hit him were stopped as his armor held. He jumped through the door as more bullets struck the wall. Clete tried to run around the corner from where he'd brought Jeanine, and Hugh and a patrolman tore off after him. I threw open the door Ned had gone through and rushed through it. To my right, the hall dead-ended in another hallway, and I just saw Ned turning the corner to the left. I sprinted after him, rounding the corner... ... and I knew I had fucked up. Time slowed down. I was able to clearly see that Ned was several yards away, his legs set apart in a firm stance, with his gun raised in a two-handed grip. I knew that he was drawing a bead and would fire, and that I would not have time to move out of the way. I was dead. I felt something hit me in the hip, driving me sideways just as the gun fired. Ned missed! I realized that I was being tackled by Cindy Ross, and even as I was striking the floor, I extended my arm and fired my gun. The bullet struck Ned's chest to the right of center, but his armor again saved his worthless life. The impact was enough to knock him back, preventing him from getting off another shot himself. As I aimed again, Ned took off running and my next shot also missed the mark. Ned bolted through a door and Cindy and I went after him, but by the time we got to the door it was locked, and we knew that there was no way we'd get through it in time to find the young killer. "All units. Ned may be leaving the building. Search every building! Cover the entire fence line!" I ordered into the radio. We began running back to the room where the Olivets were. "Thank you, Cindy." I said as we hurried back down the hallway. "I fucked up, and you saved my butt that time." "You know what this means, don't you?" she replied. "RANGE TIME, buddy!" I smiled bitterly, knowing how many times I'd said that to her. She was not all that amused as she said it, though. "You got that right." I said as we entered the room. It was a tragic sight that greeted us. -------------------- "Tim! Oh my god, Tim, I love you Tim, please don't die. " Jeanine cried as she cradled her husband, who was on his back looking up at her. "HELP! Somebody help!" Teresa Croyle came up to them just as Tim looked up at Jeanine. "I... I love you... so much..." he said, managing to caress her cheek with his hand. Then the hand dropped and his head fell back. His eyes opaqued. The EMT's arrived just as Cindy and I did. It was too late to do anything for Timothy Olivet. For him, the final peace of Death had come, ending all of his torment. The EMTs tried to draw Jeanine away, but she would not move. "No, leave him alone!" Jeanine cried out, still cradling her husband in her arms. "Don't touch him! Don't touch him!" She just held him, sobbing. Teresa Croyle looked like she wanted to cry herself, as she tried to comfort Jeanine. "What happened here?" the Chief asked as he came up with several uniformed patrolmen. I made sure that my voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "Ned tried to shoot Mrs. Olivet. Mr. Olivet took the bullets. He gave his life for hers." And I wished that I could trade my life for his right now. ---------------------------- Some minutes later, I stood outside, watching the EMTs load the body of Tim Olivet into the ambulance. Teresa and Cindy were leading Mrs. Olivet away to another car. Hugh Hewitt came up to me and the Chief, who was standing next to me. "We got the other guy." Hewitt said. "He gave up quickly enough, he wasn't armed. They're taking him to headquarters now." I just nodded. "Any sign of Ned?" I asked, my mind a million miles away, the pain in my heart overwhelming me. "Not yet." Hewitt said. "We're looking in all the buildings and around the fences." They would not find him. -------------------- 3:00am. I was sitting in the Commander's office, an empty room next to Paulina Patterson's office that was next to the Chief's office suite. I had been sitting there ever since we returned from the botched raid, sitting in the dark. Something about this office felt right to me, and I often used it for composing reports or just hiding when I didn't want to be found. Right now, I didn't want to be found. I was feeling the pain of failure. And death on my hands. I felt more than saw someone else in the darkness, seated in the chair by mine in front of the desk. I realized that the Chief had slipped in and was sitting next to me. I had no idea how long he'd been there, sitting with me. "I fucked up." I said quietly. "I should've shot that son of a bitch before we charged into the room. I should've just blown his fucking ass away right then and there." "You did the right thing." the Chief said. "A man is dead because I fucked up." I said. "You don't know that, kid. Knowing your nephew, the Olivets were going to be dead eventually, anyway. But you just don't know. You made all the right calls, except for chasing that bastard around the corner too fast." Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 04 "Might've been better if he'd gotten me, useless as I was tonight." "Nonsense. Listen, kid, you learned something tonight. And you've learned that shit like this happens in police work. People who aren't supposed to die do, and people who should be exterminated somehow get away. We just have to deal with it, every day." The chief shifted in his chair. "I've been dealing with this, and more, for too many years now." I knew this man wanted to retire, but only if he could leave his police department clean and in good hands. I knew why I had been brought in, and I had begun to get an idea of what we were facing to clean out the Augean Stables that faced us. "Chief... am I on the right track? Or am I fucking up again?" I asked. The chief knew what I was asking, and that it wasn't about this night. "You're doing fine, Don. Just fine. Better than I could've possibly hoped. Now go home and get some sleep. I don't want to see you in this building until noon tomorrow at the earliest." He got up and left the total darkness of the office. I did not move, but sat in that darkness until the light of dawn began showing up through the window. Part 16 - Epilogue We all raised our glasses in toast as we sat at the table on the patio of the Cop Bar, and saluted our newly promoted officer. "Congratulations, Tanya!" I said. That morning, the chief and asked me to help him pin Supervisor bars on Tanya's uniform, naming her to the position of Supervisor of the Crime Lab Division and giving her the full rank and authority pertaining thereto. She had looked stoic throughout. Now, at the bar, her eyes bore into me. "This is your fault." she said. "Yes it is." I said, not backing down at all. "I pushed as hard as I could to get you into the post. And you absolutely deserve it. You've already been making the Crime Lab into the best in the State; now you're getting the title and pay to go along with it." "Yes, you absolutely deserve it, so let me tell you to shut up one last time, since you outrank me now." Cindy Ross added. Everyone laughed. "I know, and I'm sorta happy about it." Tanya said, then looked at Cindy with a mischievous smile. "Especially about outranking all of you." "But I'm just going to miss you guys and miss solving cases." she added, her face turning sad. "Girl, please." I said. "You're going to be first on the scenes, and you'll have have these cases solved before the rest of us can even drive to them. And then while your people do the tests, you'll be in the MCD with us solving those cases. I'll personally make sure of that. Remember, you're technically still a Detective, just with a Supervisor rank in another department. Like me." Tanya brightened up considerably upon hearing it explained that way. She said "As long as you get your Lieutenant bar and can back up your words..." "Yeah, when IS that going to happen?" asked Cindy. Hugh Hewitt nodded his agreement with the question. "Soon, I guess." I said. "I think the Chief is trying to find a way to surprise me when he does it." I grinned. "And I'm trying not to let him get anything past me." "Ha! He scored big on you with your mom." Hugh said, grinning himself. "You had absolutely no idea, did you?" I had to laugh. "Yeah, you all got me good on that, and so did my mom. But she and I were sparring on things like that for years while I was growing up..." ------------------------- The funeral of Timothy Olivet had been a somber, quiet service. Jeanine Olivet was there, dressed in a widow's black veils. Mrs. Eleanor Burke had come, though her husband had refused to. I made myself go; I wanted to be made totally aware of what the cost of making a mistake would be, if only to make sure I never fucked up and caused an innocent life to end again. To my surprise, Todd showed up and hung around with me, not letting his presence be felt by the others. Jeanine had already told me that she was selling the company and putting most of the money into a charitable trust, to help people get off drug addiction. She'd made the first installment to a drug addiction center at the University Hospital in the name of Margo Bailey. Now, a couple of hours later, three women were sitting on a bench at a nearby park, watching the ducks on the water. Jeanine Olivet sat in the middle, with Teresa Croyle on her right side. Teresa was in a black dress with her brown high-heel slides that made her legs look so fantastic. Jeanine had on nude/tan Louboutin pumps. Melina had walked up to them and sat on Jeanine's left side, wearing a matching black dress and black pumps. Their talk soon turned to the one thing they all had in common: Jack Burke. They each shared their stories of their liaisons with Jack, and lamented his passing. Teresa even rubbed Jeanine's belly, telling her to take care of Jack's child... for herself and the other two women, also. Melina agreed heartily. "I'm going to name him for Jack when he's born." Jeanine said. "And I'm glad I have two soul-sisters here to help me with him." "You'll be married again soon." Melina said. "Yeah, I have this feeling that my true soulmate is here, somewhere. I even thought I felt his presence at the funeral, though I didn't see anyone that I could think of in those terms." "That's funny...." Melina said. "Just the other night I was thinking of my soulmate, whoever he is, thinking that he's about to come into my life." Teresa looked kind of sad as the other two looked towards her. Noticing their looks, she said simply "I'm not feeling a soulmate right now. Maybe I never will." "Oh, you will." Jeanine said, putting her arm around Teresa. "And in the meantime, you've got an upcoming baby to be godmother to, if you'll do it." Teresa looked blank, stunned for a moment, then gave a brief smile and agreed. "Okay, ladies." Jeanine said. "Let's go to my new law office and have a drink. Just one for us pregnant ladies, of course. We'll toast to Jack, and to our new soulmates, whoever and wherever they may be..." Finis... for now.