What's Left is Right: Book two of The Detective Bill Ross Crime Series (18 page)

Julien Boudreaux was at the sheriff’s office bright and early.

“We’re going to have to give you an employee badge if you keep this up, Julien! How come all of your clients are suddenly getting into so much trouble? The good thing, of course, is that based on your hourly rate your kids should get some expensive Christmas gifts this year!” said Bill Dunwoody, laughing.

“I want to see my client!” demanded the Cajun attorney.

“Let me see now, which one would that be, Julien?”

“Chief, take me to Garrison McMullen immediately, please!” said the lawyer now irritated by the chief’s lack of respect.

~

Tommy arrived in the office at the same time as Marie.

“Good work yesterday, Marie! I see that Latisha was on the ball. She had a full page in the
Statesman
this morning with the report on Garrison McMullen’s arrest. There’s also a nice group photo of all of us as we get him loaded into the car. She was obviously right on the ball was Latisha. I wonder how that happened,” said Tommy, grinning from ear to ear.

When Tommy reached his desk there was a note waiting for him that Jimmy Rodriguez wanted to see him the minute he got in.

“Marie, we need to go take Jimmy Rodriguez his morning coffee!” yelled Tommy before Marie had a chance to check her own messages.

“Good morning, Jimmy, don’t tell me you missed me and couldn’t wait to say hi the minute I got in. That’s so sweet of you. I brought you a latte, well, actually it’s just a white out of the vending machine with two sugars, but we can call it a latte this morning just to give our meeting a little more ambience.”

Jimmy was not amused at Tommy’s little joke.

“I need to talk to you without my lawyer present. Can we do it now, please? I have something very important to share,” said Jimmy.

“Sure thing. Let’s you, Marie and I take the lattes to the small conference room over there and let’s hear what you have to say.”

The holding cell deputy led Jimmy across the hallway to the conference room and secured him to the chair.

“Your show, Jimmy, fire away.”

“I understand that Garrison McMullen was arrested last night; is this true?”

“Yes, it’s true, Jimmy.”

“I will give you information that will help you put him away if you take the death penalty off the table.”

“You and Pepe are always negotiating,” said Tommy, knowing that the comment about his boyfriend would not be lost on Jimmy. “What evidence do you have, Jimmy? I can’t go to the DA without a solid understanding of what’s on offer.”

“You think Garrison McMullen ordered the hit on the Raul Hernandez dude and told me to put it about that it was because he was muscling in on our business. That wasn’t the reason. It was because the dude was asking too many questions about Garrison’s dead wife, and I will testify to that. I will also testify that McMullen asked me to clean up the mess at the ranch after he killed his wife and Achak Muguara. I can also tell you where the bodies are as I was asked to get rid of them.”

“Okay, Jimmy, I appreciate your fine offer. I’ll take it to the DA and see what he says. I’ll get back to you on it. This fine deputy will take you back to your cell now and you can enjoy your morning coffee in peace.”

~

Tommy got back to his desk where Bill Dunwoody and Bobby Brown were waiting on him.

“Good work last night, Tommy. Julien Boudreaux wants to meet us with his client Garrison McMullen. Want to sit in? You can just stand in the corner with the chief; I think you’ve earned it. If they ask you to leave then you have to get out of there.”

They arrived at the interview room that had become very familiar to them over the past couple of weeks. Julien spoke first, of course.

“I have gone over the charges with my client and he denies any knowledge of any murder. There was no murder! His wife and Mr. Muguara were both killed in a road traffic accident in Mexico. My client flew down there and identified the body of his wife, brought her home, and she is now buried in the family plot in Lago Vista.

“These charges are a complete fabrication and the accusers must be persons looking to take political advantage from my client’s demise. I request a hearing with the judge immediately. I will request complete dismissal of all charges.”

Julien sat back, pretty satisfied with his opening salvo.

“Were you ever on
Saturday Night Live
, Julien? You’re hilarious! We plan to exhume your client’s wife’s body and check it with his son’s DNA for a match., My guess is that will not work in your client’s favor. We have an eyewitness who saw the killing of both people take place. Oh, in addition, there are likely to be further charges brought. Certain individuals currently in our custody claim that your client ordered the killing of Mike Muguara, Achak Muguara’s son. That was the body found out at Whispering Hollow earlier this year, the murder that two of your other clients have been charged with. It sounds to me, Julien, that you might have been drinking too much holiday cheer!”

Julien was so red in the face that Bobby thought he might self-combust at any moment. Garrison McMullen stared at his attorney like he wanted to tear his head off right in front of them.

~

After the meeting with Garrison McMullen and his attorney, Tommy was back at his desk with Bill bringing him up to speed on latest developments.

“When there is blood in the water, predators come from miles around!” said Bill. “Tell the DA to wait and not to force the pace too quickly. It’s Christmas and Julien knows that everything slows down to a snail’s pace at Christmas; that’s why he’s trying to move it along,” he continued.

“Why don’t you tell him yourself, Dad? He wanted to meet you, and here he comes right now."

Bill turned around and saw Tom Morton striding purposefully in his direction.

“Bill Ross, the Scottish genius! I can’t tell you how much I have been looking forward to meeting you. I wanted to officially thank you for the great work on the Luther Fisher case and also for the insight and support you continue to provide your son and his team every day. I don’t mean to embarrass you, but since you are not compensated for your incredible service, I wanted to wish you the joys of the season.”

Bill hadn’t seen the guy at the back of the room arrive with the DA, and he now stepped forward with a box and placed it on the desk in front of Bill. Tommy had never seen such a look on his father’s face; he stared at the box and then he held on to the side of Tommy’s desk for support.

“
The Pride ’78
!” he seemed to whisper the words under his breath.

Lying on the table was a box of two bottles of Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch, with a current retail value of $5,800 per bottle.

Gaining his composure, Bill explained why he was so overcome.

“Glenmorangie Pride 1978 is a limited edition. Only 700 bottles of the single malt were made available worldwide. Only five casks were laid down, making it extremely rare, and only 180 bottles of the limited edition whisky was made available for purchase in the U.S. Two bottles are now resting in front of me. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say nothing, Bill!” bellowed the DA. “You deserve this for your continued service to the good people of Travis County - Enjoy!”

~

“In the conference room now, please!” The DA had now moved on and was barking instructions at the Chief, Bobby and Tommy.

A group of about a dozen suits sat in the conference room awaiting their arrival. They were PR people from the county, city and state administrations. Seated at the head of the table was Governor Shaw and to his right Gavin McMullen.

The DA took the floor.

“This afternoon at three o’clock we have our first formal statement on this. My team advises me that the nation’s press is descending on Austin. I am also advised that there are state and national politicians already giving interviews on national TV, spinning this story every which way. The left is having a field day and licking their lips at the potential demise of a major Republican contributor, second only to the Koch brothers. The right is claiming a conspiracy by liberals to try to tarnish the good name of a business leader committed to the creation of thousands of new jobs.

With all due respect to the governor and the governor-elect, we must try to stay out of the politics of the moment and focus on clear and concise communication with the media on the facts of the case. Before any statements are made by anyone in this room, or by the staff of anyone in this room, it must be first cleared and approved by the communications team I have assembled, led by Jane Brewster. Any questions?”

There were many questions, but the meeting ended and everyone was clear on who was in control. The DA was going to ensure that no one was going to damage his opportunity for his moment in the sun.

Bill and Tommy were both incredibly impressed by Gavin McMullen. The possibility existed for him to be destroyed by all of this, but he was resolute that justice should prevail and that his father should be held to account for his actions.

~

“Julien Boudreaux is on TV!” It was one of the PR team yelling as she ran toward Bobby Brown, who was helping himself to his fourth black coffee of the morning.

Everyone then huddled around the TV in the break room to listen to what Garrison McMullen’s attorney had to say.

“This morning I met with my client, who is innocent of these scurrilous charges. Due to the impending holiday season, we will be requesting that an initial hearing with a judge be expedited, at which time I will be requesting a dismissal of all charges.”

A barrage of questions followed as Julien Boudreaux made an attempt to leave. He deliberately stopped in mid-step and in a very planned maneuver turned again to the cameras.

“This entire charade is politically motivated. There is not one shred of truth in any of this. Thank you.”

He then disappeared into the sea of humanity as the on-scene news teams fired up the lights for their reporters, who were making last minute adjustments to their makeup and coiffures. The circus was in town and the clowns were first up!

At Lake Travis, no one paid particular attention to the inflatable with three men aboard heading across the lake in the direction of Whispering Hollow. On any given day there are many boats of every shape and size on the lake, so nothing looked particularly out of the ordinary.

The inflatable slowed and then stopped below the cliffs by Venture Point. They could see above them a very impressive home with a cantilever deck protruding out over the lake. The two divers slipped silently into the water, leaving the third man to control the location of the boat.

~

Back at the Sheriff’s office the receptionist was being inundated with calls from the press wanting to speak with Detective Tommy Ross - the arresting officer. There were reporters camped outside the building trying to ambush him and get in his face for a comment or two. Tommy felt like a rock star, but not in a good way. “Now I understand what it must be like to be hounded by paparazzi,” he said.

“There’s a call for you, Tommy.”

“Well, tell them to go screw themselves!” said Tommy.

“Doesn’t sound like a reporter.”

“Okay, put it through”

“Is this Detective Tommy Ross?”

“Yes, who’s this? And if you’re with the press I have nothing to say.”

“I am not with the press, Detective Ross, my name is Enrique Rodriguez. I am the owner of the Colinas Verde Ranch and I understand that you have my brother in custody.”

Tommy motioned Bill and Marie to hook into Line 3.

“Oh, yes, Mr. Rodriguez, how may I help you?”

“I would like to fly up to Austin and meet with you, Detective. I believe that I may have information that could be helpful to you regarding your case against Garrison McMullen. Garrison is a good friend and a business partner, but it would be wrong of me not to come forward in the interest of justice being served. I have specific knowledge of events surrounding the death of Garrison’s wife and her lover.”

“Very interesting, Mr. Rodriguez. When would you like to make the trip?”

“I can fly up now, I have my Cessna Citation always fueled and ready to go. Perhaps I could buy you dinner tonight?”

“No dinner, Mr. Rodriguez, but if you wish to make the trip, be my guest. I take it that you will be flying into the Austin Executive Airport in Pflugerville; I can meet you there. There are conference room facilities at the airport that we can use. Let me know your ETA and I will be there with my colleagues to meet with you.”

“I’m on my way. I will call you in flight and give you my estimated arrival time. I look forward to meeting you, Detective Ross!”

He hung up the call.

“As I said, there’s blood in the water and the sharks are now circling. One of them with a veracious appetite is now headed in our direction,” laughed Bill Ross as he slapped his son on the back.

~

They met at the airport as planned. Enrique Rodriguez, flanked by two Antonio Banderas lookalikes, walked into the conference room. He didn’t look anything like Tommy had imagined. He looked like an older version of the guy from the Dos Equis beer commercial, the difference being that this guy probably
was
The Most Interesting Man in the World
.
At least in his own mind, that is.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me, Detective.”

Tommy, Marie and Bill shook hands with the man who was probably responsible for the trafficking of the majority of cocaine coming into the U.S.

“So what is so important that you would make the trip up here to meet with us?” asked Tommy.

“What I have knowledge of, Detective, needed to be shared at the earliest opportunity,” replied the drug lord.

“But before I share what I know, I must first have assurances that my brother’s fate will not result in him being put to death. He has told me that he was involved in the unfortunate death out by the lake, but that it was Garrison McMullen who had coerced him into the crime by threatening to tell me about my brother’s proclivity for male bed companions, something that has been known to me for many years now.”

“So you’re telling me that you flew all the way up here to tell me that Garrison McMullen ordered the killing and had Jimmy do it? If that’s the case you’ve had a wasted trip; we already knew that,” said Tommy.

“No, Detective Ross, I have much more information than that, and I’m willing to share provided that there is a bargain to be made regarding my brother’s fate. You can be assured that the information I possess will guarantee that you get a solid conviction of Garrison McMullen for the killing of his wife and her lover.”

“Oh, I see. Well, in that case you’re going to have to give me more detail so I can convince the DA that it’s worth trading for your brother’s reduced sentence.”

“Don’t try to play me, Detective, I am not a person you want to make an enemy of.”

The two thugs shifted a little in their seat to reinforce the drama of the moment.

“Don’t try to threaten or intimidate me either, Mr. Rodriguez. My selling abilities with the DA might be adversely affected, and that wouldn’t be in the best interests of your brother’s fate.”

“Okay, let’s not get too agitated, Detective. I can share this—and this is not all that I know, it’s just a part of what I know. Garrison McMullen’s wife did not die in a road traffic accident. The body that lies in the family plot is not that of his wife. I know this because I facilitated the provision of a body for him at his request. The dead woman was someone who had died of natural causes and was about to be buried by her family in Mexico. I simply gave them some monetary compensation in return for the body.”

“And you would testify to that effect, Mr. Rodriguez?”

“I would, Detective. In addition, my brother and I have further evidence of the actual killing of his wife and lover, a crime that was perpetrated by Garrison McMullen at his ranch in Leander.”

“Very interesting, Mr. Rodriguez, and thank you for flying up here. Sorry for the little bit of confusion earlier. I
will
take your offer forward to the DA and I will be in touch regarding his decision.”

They shook hands and
The Most Interesting Man in the World
and his henchmen flew back to the Colinas Verde Ranch.

~

Meanwhile at Lake Travis progress was being made. It was the second day of searching for the Chevy truck with its two occupants, and they had located what looked like a vehicle semi-submerged in the silt at the bottom of the lake. The lead diver, with his powerful underwater searchlight, cleared the silt away from the passenger side door and window. As he did so the outline of a human skull began to appear. The skull of Alyana Reyes lay sideways across the dashboard of the truck.

The divers sent up the marker to the surface indicating that they had found what they were looking for. The other diver in the inflatable threw out the buoy as the other two divers broke the surface and climbed into the boat. They got on their cell phone and reported that the search had been successful. They were instructed to retrieve a piece of bone from each skeleton and bring both back to HQ for forensic examination.

They did as instructed and returned to the Sheriff’s office with the bone samples, each one in its own separate plastic evidence bag. The medical examiner took that samples and headed off to the lab that had been put on standby ready to run DNA tests.

When the news of the find in Lake Travis been reported earlier in the day, the medical examiner had dispatched one of his assistants to the office of Gavin McMullen to retrieve samples of blood, saliva and hair to be used for DNA matching. As he had been all along, Gavin McMullen was fully compliant with the request and he provided that lab technician with what she needed.

~

The following morning the phone rang on Tommy’s desk; it was the medical examiner.

“I suggest that you get everyone together. I have the preliminary DNA results,” said Sven Stevenson, the Travis County medical examiner.

Tommy had worked with Sven on many cases, including the Luther Fisher case, and he was known for his almost stoic personality. On this call Sven Stevenson sounded like a kid on Christmas morning having just opened a present from Santa.

Twenty minutes later they were all in the conference room awaiting the arrival of Sven: Tommy, Bill, Marie, Bill Dunwoody and Bobby Brown. A breathless Sven Stevenson burst into the room after his drive up from central Austin.

“A glass of water, Sven, or would you like something stronger?” joked Tommy as the medical examiner began assembling his props on the conference room table.

“Water will be fine, thank you, Tommy,” said the ME, now getting his breath back.

Sven had a couple of mouthfuls of water and then began his report.

“First, I have to say that these are preliminary findings, but I would speculate with a fair degree of certainty that these findings will finally prove out to be indeed correct.

“The specimens used for the matching were:

1. Blood and hair samples retrieved from Gavin McMullen.

2. Bone sample #1 retrieved from the submersed truck in Lake Travis.

3. Bone Sample #2 retrieved from the same submersed truck.

4. Blood, tissue, hair and bone samples taken from the deceased found at Whispering Hollow, assumed at this time to be Mike Muguara.

“We ran only nuclear DNA tests at this time. Mitochondrial tests typically take longer and may not even be necessary given the results of the nuclear DNA.”

Test One Results
- Gavin McMullen samples were a match for Bone Sample #1

Test Two Results
- Mike Muguara samples were a match for Bone Sample #1.

“We can therefore reach the preliminary conclusion that Bone Sample #1 is Alyana Reyes, the mother of Mike Muguara and Gavin McMullen.”

“
Yes!
” The call was almost on unison as it echoed around the room.

“May I continue?” said Sven Stevenson, back in his normal stoic character.

Test Three Results
- Mike Muguara samples were a match for Sample #2.

Test Four Results
- Gavin McMullen samples were a match for Sample #2.”

There was now a collective gasp around the room and the medical examiner verbalized the reason for the gasp.

“We can therefore reach the preliminary conclusion that Bone Sample #2 is Achak Muguara, the father of Mike Muguara
and
Gavin McMullen.”

“Holy crap!” said Bobby Brown. “This means that Gavin McMullen is not the son of a megalomaniacal killer. He’s going to be happy about that!”

“Yes, that’s correct, Bobby,” said Marie, “but it also means that the new governor-elect of Texas is a full blown
Comanche
! He’s a direct descendent of Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche chief. It will be celebrated in the Comanche Nation as the rebirth of Comancheria!”