Price No Object Ch. 01

Penny Scott: "After graduating, they were both hired by BigCommunicationsCorp, colloquially called 'BigCommo'. Julie left the company just under a year ago, and State Labor Department records indicate that she resigned. Dwayne left last July, also listed as a resignation."

Penny: "But here's the thing: papers for an LLC corporation were filed on June 1st of last year, called 'JDJ Security Software, LLC'. Julie Matheson is listed as President, and Dwayne and someone named Jeff Cawthorne are listed as the Vice Presidents, with all three listed as Members of the Board. Their headquarters is listed as the same address as the Matheson home."

Penny: "So I looked up Jeff Cawthorne. He graduated from Eastern State at the same time the Mathesons did, also with a degree in Computer Technology. He also was hired by BigCommo, but left there two years ago this month. He then did freelance or contract work for small companies until this last summer, when he became part of JDJ Security Software."

Penny: "His official residence, per his driver's license, is here in Town in a condo in the same complex that the condo that Captain Michaels just bought from Commander Ross is in... and by the way, what is Commander Ross's new title?"

I said "It's 'Chief of Staff', but they're calling her 'Chief Deputy' right now. But keep going with your report."

"Yes sir." Penny said. "Jeff Cawthorne also owns a townhouse in Palmyra County, the State's center for technology companies, but his finances show no rental money coming in from it, so he may just stay there when he's on business down there."

I said "Why don't you get to the personal finances, and we can circle back to the business."

Penny Scott: "Yes sir, but the finances are intertwined with the business. For example, the Matheson's bought their house outright, cash on the barrelhead, but they took out a mortgage on it when they started up their business... just before Dwayne quit BigCommo. They, meaning the husband and wife as well as Jeff Cawthorne, also took out a Small Business Administration loan when they started up."

Penny: "They had amassed about $3000 in credit card debt, but had paid off about half of that in chunks over the last three months. They've paid nothing in taxes so far, as the New Year just began, and their quarterly filings for second and third quarters of last year showed debt related to their startup. I haven't yet been able to get a grasp on how their business was doing."

"If they were paying off credit cards," suggested Theo Washington, "then they must've had money coming in."

"Good point." I said. "What about the cars?"

"Two cars, an Audi registered to him, and a Subaru registered to her." said Penny Scott. "The Audi is six years old, paid off three years ago. She owned the Subaru, which was also either bought in a private transaction or paid in cash; she never had a loan for it."

"Bought while they were in college." I said. "And speaking of that, they're young. Do they have next-of-kin? Parents? Siblings?"

"Yes sir." said Penny Scott. "Her family lives in Acropolis City in the State east of us. His family lives southwest of there, due east of Rocktown in our State, in a small town called Senoia, about 1500 people."

"We'll have to notify next-of-kin." I said.

"I'll handle that, Mister Crowbarrr." said Chief Moynahan. "I'll call their local Police Departments tonight."

Captain Claire Michaels said "Chief, should we wait until morning, and have Intel get more data on them before telling them?"

Chief Moynahan said "Mizzz Milton? Mizzz Scott? What do you have on them, so far?"

Mary Milton stepped up and said "We haven't gotten much of anything on the families, sir. I take responsibility for that; I had Corporal Scott concentrate on the victims and their business partner."

"Under-stand-ablllle." said the Chief. "Mister Crowbarrrr?"

I said: "Mary, run a 'quick and dirty' on the relatives, and let the Chief know an hour from now if anything significant pops up. If so, then yes, we should hold off until the morning and go question them, or get the FBI to. If not, then you can do what you need to do, Chief."

As Mary began typing at unbelievable speed on her laptop, I continued: "In the meantime, I apologize for getting Corporal Scott's report off track. Let's circle back to Mr. Cawthorne as well as their business."

"Yes sir." said Penny Scott. "Jeff Cawthorne's condo has no mortgage nor liens against it; it's totally his. His townhouse in Palmyra County has a 15-year mortgage on it. He's part of the business, and so has part responsibility for the Small Business Administration loan, though they may have reciprocal insurance that will effectively pay that off. And speaking of that, sir, there's a flag on that loan, but I haven't yet found out what it's about."

"Hmmm." I said. "Okay, keep digging. So what exactly was their business?"

Penny Scott: "Security software, sir. High level security, and customized, per their website. And maybe other software solutions, branching out from their core business. I don't have much yet, and I don't know who their clients are because they haven't yet filed tax records, and we don't have any other records because all their papers were taken from their house, it appears."

I nodded. "No office address on their website?"

"No sir." said Penny. "Just a phone number and an email address."

"That's weird." said Captain Claire Michaels.

"Maybe not, ma'am." said Lt. Jerome Davis. "They're still essentially a start-up, so they may just go to their clients when they're called. Office space is expensive, especially in technology parks like those in Palmyra County."

Mary Milton said "But they would need some kind of base, a server farm or the like, where they can test, implement, and troubleshoot their solutions. They can't do big things from just laptops."

"If big projects are what they're doing, ma'am." said Corporal Scott. "If they're brought in as consultants, they could work from the clients's location on the clients's servers."

"If I may." said Joanne Warner. Everyone looked at her and she said "Sir, Penny mentioned that the Mathesons had worked at BigCommo in the past. BigCommo is one of the biggest technology corporations in the World. If they are doing anything related to what they knew while at BigCommo, they may be finding that discretion is the better part of valor. They may have an office space for a server farm, but they're just not saying where it is to the General Public."

I said "Good thought, and that's my line of thinking, also." Then I said a bit more loudly and with emphasis: "Okay, guys, you've done well to this point, but the crimes just happened and you are going to need some time to get good data. So, let's do this."

Your Iron Crowbar: "First of all and speaking of tax records, this Jeff Cawthorne apparently did some consulting work before joining JDJ Security Software. To that end, he should have some 1099s or other tax records, and we have probable cause to get warrants for those records. So get what you can from there."

Your Iron Crowbar: "And to that end, Mr. Jeff Cawthorne appears to be a central character to this investigation, and we really need to talk to him. So I'm going to egregiously go over your heads, Captain Michaels and Lieutenant Davis, and make some direct assignments." Everyone nodded.

I said: "Theo, you and Julia swing by the local address we have for Cawthorne. If he's there, ask him to come to the Station for an on-camera interview. If he's not there, put out an APB for him, then call the Palmyra County Police and have them go to his address down there and pick him up based on that APB. If he's not there, re-issue the APB as a priority, and say he's a person of interest in a homicide, which is true. Y'all can go do that now."

"Before you go," said Mary Milton, "you might want to hear this. Chief, I'm looking at records of the parents. Julie's maiden name is Davalos. Her father is a high-powered lawyer in Acropolis City, and is registered as a lobbyist for several 'big boy' companies, including BigCommo, BigWirelessCorp, and MegaTech Industries. Her mother works at their State Capitol, as the Clerk of their House of Representatives. Dwayne Matheson's father is the Principal of Senoia Middle School, and his mother is a teacher at Senoia Elementary School."

"Another BigCommo connection." said Cpt. Michaels. "Chief, they can't do anything, and it's a long trip for them to get here. Maybe you should hold off notifying them until the morning while we dig deeper into her parents?"

"Nooooo, I need to make those calls now." said the Chief. "Her father is a big name, and if and when the Press finds out about this, they're ruthless enough to call and ask Mrs. Davalos how she feels about her daughter being murdered. Y'all remain seated." He said that as he got up, knowing that otherwise we'd stand up also. He exited the room.

"He's right." I said. "The Press is definitely that heartless and dirty. Okay, guys, move out. Let's find Jeff Cawthorne and get him in front of us for an interview."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

9:30pm, Monday, January 4th. I was sitting in my office doing paperwork on the case when the Chief knocked on the door and came on in and sat down in the 'hot chair' nearest the door. "Have you heard from Martha yet?" he asked.

"That's what I'm waiting for, sir." I said. "Care for a medicinal libation while we wait?"

"Sure." the Chief said. I took out two glasses from the 'medicinal libation' drawer, and chose Jameson's Black Barrel Irish whiskey as the libation. We clinked out glasses and sipped.

"That's good, especially for the Jameson brand." said the Chief.

"Yes sir, it is." I said. "They char the barrels before storing the whiskey in them, hence the name 'Black Barrel'. And I've come to learn that I like 'double oaked', 'toasted', and 'charred' barrel whiskeys a lot."

"Heh. That Sheriff of ours is corrupting your morals, young man." the Chief said.

I chuckled, then said "It's amazing how good he is at tasting a whiskey 'blind', then being able to tell if it's bourbon, rye, Irish, Scotch, etc.; what brand it is or distillery it's from; what proof it is and all that. They're going to have the World Whiskey Tasting Championships here next month, at the Hyatt Hotel, and he's going to compete in it."

"Knowing him, he may win, tooooo." drawled the Chief. Then he said: "I contacted the local Police Departments. They phoned back and said the notifications were made. I stayed around expecting to get a call back from at least one set of parents, but so far I haven't heard anything. So... any ideas about this?"

I said "Yes sir, but I'm waiting for data. Theo called and said Jeff Cawthorne was not at his address in this County. I've alerted the Officers we stationed at the Matheson home that he might just show up there, as he might've been staying at that garage apartment and might come back to it."

The Chief said "Wouldn't that be one of those what you call 'strangenesses', if he was staying there while he has a condo not far away?"

"Not really, sir." I said. "Well, it's something we can ask about. I'm much more interested in------"

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

"... the autopsy. And here's Martha to give it to us." I said that as Martha opened the door and I waved for her to come on in. "Martha, you didn't have to come over in person."

"Oh, that's no problem." said Martha as she sat down at my hand-gesture invitation. "I just got in my car and drove to the other side of the parking lot, and I'm going home after I give you this preliminary report."

Martha began: "I'm comfortable saying that Dwayne Matheson died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, using the 9mmP Glock found at the scene, though Ballistics will have to confirm it. He died right at the time the neighbor said she heard the loud sound and called 9-1-1, just before 4:00pm."

Martha: "Mrs. Matheson is a different story entirely. First, she was shot in the face, just under the left eye, and I recovered the bullet from the back of her skull. It's a small-caliber expanding bullet, likely a.22 Long Rifle or.22 WMR. Again, Ballistics will have to tell us more."

Martha: "She died much earlier than her husband, between 9:00am and 11:00am. She has bruising around her eyes, on her face, on her upper chest, and on her wrists, which occurred just before death, meaning she was likely pushed in the chest, then grabbed and hit hard. And yes, Commander, it appears that the perp at least attempted to rape her."

Martha: "In addition to a good quantity of skin recovered from under her fingernails, which I've sent to the State Crime Lab for DNA analysis, I recovered a hair in her pubic bush that wasn't hers. But her anus was not penetrated, and there's no semen in her vagina, though the perp's penis either roughly dryhumped her labes or slightly penetrated her. I would guess that he was trying to penetrate her and she scratched his face, maybe got his eye, and he hauled off on her and hit her on the side of the head, then went ahead and shot her."

"Maybe a second perp shot her because she was resisting so hard?" I asked. "They had a lot of work to do, cleaning out the house of all the papers, and he may have just ended the waste of time."

"I can't rule that out, Commander." Martha said. "The blows to her face don't appear to be systematic, so I don't think they were beating her trying to get information out of her."

"Soooo," the Chief said, "it is a murder-suicide, but not in the traditional sense of the husband shooting the wife and then himselllllf."

"We can't rule it out that he was one of the perps, sir." I said. "But I suspect we'll get the data to prove you right pretty soon."

"Truuuuuue, Mister Crowbarrrr." the Chief said.

"Anything else, Martha?" I asked.

"No sir." said Martha. "Toxicology is not back yet, but their blood alcohol levels were zero, and I saw no signs of alcohol nor drug abuse, nor anything unusual like old bruising or scarring. Mrs. Matheson had coffee and toast in her stomach, and Mr. Matheson had nothing; he had not eaten for hours, as in not since the night before..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I arrived home at the Mountain Nest at 11:00pm. Two outstanding dogs were lying down next to the backdoor, waiting to be taken out. Laura was on the far-side sofa, pretending to read the latest edition of that renowned periodical 'Sexual Psychology'. She looked up at me from under her eyelids as I came into the greatroom, my second clue that something was wrong.

"Looks like all is not well in the Troy Household." I said. "Shall I take the dogs out first, or hear the story now?"

"Your daughter has been a holy terror tonight." Laura said. "She was already pouting about having to come home while you were working on your new case. Then at dinner she was bragging about finding some important clues, and Jim told her to stop bragging, that he didn't want to hear it, and he'd make her eat stringbeans if she kept it up. Carole said he wasn't good enough to be a Detective, and then inquired as to which army Jim was going to have to call to help him make her eat stringbeans. And then Tasha said she'd help Carole against Jim's army, which didn't go over well with Jim."

"And that's when the fight started." I said.

"No, not really." Laura said. "Jim and Tasha made up the point that they were building a fort with Lincoln Logs and watching television until Paulina came and got Tasha. Carole just sat on the other sofa there, waiting for you. Paulina gave me the rundown of the case, and Carole was listening intently to it, then she asked to get on the computer to look up the case, and I said she'd have to wait for you in order to access it. That got her to pouting, and Jim started telling Carole she wasn't a good Detective anyway, which earned him fifteen minutes in timeout on the stairs, followed by being sent up to bed."

Laura: "Then I told Carole to go up and get ready for bed, and that is when the fight started. Carole said she wanted to wait for you, and I said she had to go to bed because it was a school night and there was no telling when you'd be home. So I told her she was in timeout... in her bedroom. I thought I was going to have to physically pick her up and carry her up there, but she finally went... yelling and screaming."

I nodded. "Yeah, we cannot have that kind of behavior from her. I'll nip it in the bud by telling her she doesn't get to do any more Police work and that her badge will be confiscated by the Police Commander if she does not treat the Police Psychologist with more respect."

"And for her temper tantrum tonight?" Laura said.

"I'll tell her that my disappointment with her behavior cannot be overstated, and she'll feel bad about disappointing me." I said. "But the threat of taking her badge away is what will work... like in chess, the threat is stronger than the execution."

"Speaking of that... oh, that can wait until you take the dogs out." Laura said, noticing that Buddy and Bowser had sat up on their haunches, indicating that their patience and their bladders were tiring out.

I took the dogs out and sat on the patio, concentrating on my breathing to clear my mind. When the dogs came back, we went back inside.

"You wanted to tell me something?" I asked.

Laura said "As I said, Paulina gave me the Cliff Notes of your new case when she came and got Tasha. She said that a van with the name 'Morrison Plumbing & Electric' on the side pulled up?"

"So the next door neighbor told my Detectives," I said, "and I watched the interview on video. But there's no 'Morrison Plumbing & Electric' in our State nor the ones next door to us."

"True." said Laura, causing me to look over at her. She said "I happen to know that 'Morrison Plumbing & Electric' is a Nevada corporation with offices across the country... but those offices are Federal Buildings. 'Morrison Plumbing & Electric' is a Government front, used by Federal Agencies. It's used by the DEA, FBI, and even the CIA at times, mostly for surveillance..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As Laura and I headed up to bed, Bowser and Buddy came upstairs with us. As usual, I cracked open the door of Carole's room to let Bowser take up his station in his basket at the foot of Carole's bed. Instead of the darkened room I expected, I saw that the bedside lamp was on... and Carole was sitting up in bed. And pouting.

"Fussbudget," I said as I went in behind Bowser, "why are you still awake?"

"I was waiting for you to come home and tell me about the case, Daddy." Carole replied. "Mommy wouldn't let me stay up, but I stayed awake anyway."

"And I'm going to tell you all about it, like I promised." I said. "But not tonight. It's late. You need to sleep so you'l feel good at school tomorrow. And besides... I heard you were disrespectful to your mother tonight, and arguing with your brother. You know better than that, and if you keep up the disrespectful behavior, I'm going to have to suspend you and take away your badge."

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Carole said immediately. "I'll do better."

"Good." I said. "And ignore Jim when he talks about stringbeans. He's just trying to get under your skin. Besides... when was the last time you actually had to eat stringbeans?"

That got Carole to thinking furiously. "It's been a long time, Daddy." she conceded.

"Yes it has." I said. "Okay, all we found out tonight was Mr. Matheson shot himself, but he didn't shoot his wife, and we don't know who did. And you should not talk to anyone at school about that. And don't even talk about being there. No one else really cares, even if they pretend they do."

"Okay, Daddy." Carole said. "So the guys in the van with the fake name killed Mrs. Mathe... er, the wife?"