No Mercy (18 page)

Paul shook his head as Ashley said, “Ha ha, very funny, Detective. I'll see you guys in Room 1, and let's work our way down.” He was out of the office before Powers and Johnson even got out of their chairs.

Bud looked over at Paul with a puzzled look on his face and said,

“Linguistic anthropologist?”

Paul got up to leave as he replied, “Yeah, well, you have to admit we all wonder at times what culture you came from.”

Bud just shook his head as he said, “Linguistic anthropologist? Where is Lindsey when you need her?”

The mention of the young girl they all shared a bond with put a smile on Paul's face as they walked into Interrogation Room 1, where Brian Branca and Edward Larson were sitting. Detective Powers sat down next to ADA Ashley. Bud decided to stand in the corner so he could get a better view of everyone's responses to the conversation. As usual during interrogations, Paul was accepted as taking the lead during the questioning. He looked down at his notes and started speaking while keeping his eyes on his paper.

“Mr. Brian Branca, we have the murders of Kate Summers, Detective Hansen, Detective Cronin, Officer Dugan that all seem to be connected to your club. I'm sorry I forgot to mention the murders of Alicia Hudson and Michelle Cartwright in Skyline and the Pajama Club and, oh yes, your employee Bruce Roberts being blown to bits as well as Rodrigo Hernandez being killed.”

Edward Larson spoke up. “Is this a news update, or is there a question coming soon?”

Powers answered quickly, “Yes, are you sure, Mr. Larson, that you don't want an attorney for yourself since you are a person of interest as well?”

The attorney shook his head and said, “No. I will be representing both Mr. Branca and myself.”

“OK,” Paul replied as he began his line of questioning. Detective O'Malley walked into the control room, pumpkin seeds in hand, at the request of Paul to witness and suggest anything. Detective Powers remembered it was O'Malley that had first contact at the club with Brian Branca the night of the murder.

“Mr. Branca,” Paul spoke. “Take a look at the video.”

Edward Larson spoke. “Again, is there a question anywhere?”

John Ashley felt it was time to speak. “Mr. Larson, one of our detectives was badly beaten at your client's club. Or should I say your boss's club? Be patient with the question part of this interview, or we can end this and hold both of you for twenty-four hours as possible suspects.” He looked at Paul to continue as O'Malley popped pumpkin seeds in his mouth on the other side of the glass. Normally, he would eat the seed without the seed shell, but at this moment he was not concerned about the extra sodium content.

“Mr. Branca, take a look at this man coming out of Private Room 4 with the baseball hat and mask. Do you recognize this man?”

Branca answered, “No.” The questions continued with videos of Kate Summers going into the private room after talking to Bruce Roberts. A video was played showing someone paying the DJ to play a specific song. Still Brian Branca had nothing to add as he looked at his attorney before every “yes,” “no,” or “I don't know” answer. Paul asked over thirty questions, and not one answer was helpful.

The detective looked over at his papers and said,

“Mr. Branca, you are free to go for now, and take your cronies with you, except we are holding Kevin Sysco for attempted murder of a police officer. He has implicated your involvement so I look forward to seeing you and your attorney again. Oh, one more question. Since Kevin Sysco beat the shit out of one of our fellow cops and Sean Martin and Holly Moore attempted to kill Officers Lynagh and Healey, is this just a strange coincidence that they both worked at your club, or you just simply don't want to acknowledge the bounties?”

“No,” Branca answered.

Powers came back strong. “No what? No you don't want to acknowledge the bounties or no you don't think it's a coincidence.” Larson tried to interrupt, “Don't answer!”

Branca fought to answer anyway, saying, “He's confusing me!”

Paul slammed his hand on the table. “Tell me why!” he pushed harder. “What is going on in your club?” O'Malley was now enjoying this as he leaned against the glass to get a close look. Branca leaned forward as Larson pushed him back. “No! No I don't know why!”

Paul got in his face. “You don't know why what!”

Larson stood up and said, “Don't answer that!” He looked over at Ashley and added, “Charge us with something now or we are leaving.”

Ashley replied, “You can leave, but don't go anywhere. We know your client and you are up to no good. Once we can prove it, you will see us again.”

As they approached the door Larson turned around and said, “By the way, we will be suing your department for Detective Nut Ball over there destroying our business. We will have to close for a month and reopen under another name just to get going.” Bud stayed in the corner and started singing “Don't Worry, Be Happy.” Larson rolled his eyes as O'Malley used the PA to speak to the room.

“ADA Ashley, I need to see you in the control room, please, with Detective Powers.” Paul looked at Bud and asked him to sit in Sysco's room with Lynagh in the room till he got there. When Powers and ADA Ashley walked into the control room, O'Malley spoke. “As you know, we have videos of Sysco and Baker and we have the video in the room with Bud and the fat man as well. What we didn't know was that there was a separate hidden camera that our tech man found in Branca's office that shows the private room from another angle.” O'Malley started playing the video from the back wall camera, showing Bud talking to Branca. The camera showed Bud clearly.

“Do we know what he is saying?” Ashley asked.

O'Malley turned around and looked at them with an unhappy expression. “I took the liberty of calling in Jackie Smith, a lip reader we have used on a regular basis. Bud is telling Branca to take the bounties off everyone in the task force and to put the whole amount on him.”

Paul shook his head. “What? No! Why? What is he doing?”

Ashley looked over at Paul. “I think we need to keep this to ourselves right now. Bud is trying to draw fire away from the rest of us, but I'm not sure if it means anything to these guys. The answer is to find Simpson and Wiley, and then we will get to the one pushing all the buttons.” Ashley walked over to the door and added, “Let's keep this to the three of us for now. We need to get to Sysco before Bud gets himself in trouble in the room.”

They walked in and saw Bud singing to Kevin Sysco, with the big man begging him to stop. Paul motioned for Lynagh to leave and asked him to join O'Malley in the control room to watch the interrogation.

Paul sat down and started talking right away. “Well, well, well, you're looking at ten to fifteen years for your display of affection toward Detective Baker. However, it will most likely be life for the murders of Kate Summers and three other police officers. So if you do not cooperate right now, we are going to walk out of here, put you in a jail cell, and throw away the key. You will have bread and water for the next thirty to forty years.”

Bud sat up as he said, “Think of all the weight you will lose.”

Ashley and Powers ignored Bud's comment as the ADA spoke up. “Start talking and we will only pursue the attack of Detective Baker, but only if you were not involved in the murders.”

Sysco was not as dumb as he looked as he stared at Powers and ADA Ashley.

“Put it in writing and I'll talk with an attorney here.”

Ashley replied, “We have a deal, but only if you had no involvement in the murders and the attorney you use is not employed by Brian Branca.”

Sysco looked up at Bud as he spoke again. “And protective custody from my friends at the club and this sick cop,” he said, as he pointed to Bud. Powers looked at the ADA and their eyes were in agreement.

Bud spoke again. “Would you like a side rack of lamb with that written agreement?”

Sysco replied, “This is what I mean. Keep him away from me and I'll talk.” Bud walked out of the room singing “The Cisco Kid.” O'Malley and Lynagh smiled from the control room, for it appeared that Bud accomplished what he wanted to do, which was get a reaction from Sysco.

Bud walked into the control room and greeted them and the tech man, Bill. He went toward the PA button and said,

“Watch the fat man's face very carefully.” He pushed the button and in his best radio voice said, “Hello, gentlemen, I hope you are having a nice day. I would just like to remind you that in Interrogation Room 2 Miss Linda Tangretti is waiting for you to tell her side of the story. Thank you for your attention.”

The PA button was released as Sysco's face became flushed and he said,

“You made a deal with me. I want to talk. I will speak now if you give me your word. This is on video, right? I'll talk now!” Bud nodded in the control room. “That's right; don't pee your pants just yet.” Lynagh and O'Malley were trying to hold back their giggles. Ashley looked down at his notes on Sysco's priors that O'Malley had gathered. It showed that he assaulted his mother five years prior.

“You're a regular woman beater aren't you?” Ashley asked. “No,” Sysco answered, “she pissed me off, made a comment I didn't like.”

Bud pushed the PA button again and said,

“True, she must have told you to stay off the couch.”

Sysco ignored Bud's comment and said, “Do we have a deal or not?”

Ashley spoke. “We have a deal. If we find out you were involved in these murders, it's off the table.”

Paul started his questioning. “Who killed the three girls, and why?”

Sysco answered without hesitation. “Robert Simpson killed them in coordination with Jason O'Connor to get the Priority 1 Task Force assigned to the case. They knew if they killed girls that resembled Debbie Lance that another connection would be made.”

Paul continued, “The other connection being?”

“Bud Johnson,” Sysco answered. “Simpson said he was forced by Detective Cronin to get involved in the vigilante killings to draw out O'Connor and his gang. According to him, Johnson humiliated him by the way he spoke to him and treated him.”

Bud stared through the window as O'Malley chewed on pumpkin seeds with an occasional glance at Bud as the interrogation continued.

Paul scratched his head for a moment and looked at Ashley, then moved a piece of paper and a pen in front of the large man and said, “Write down the names and amount of each person that has a bounty on them.”

Sysco took the pen and said,

“As of now or including everyone?” Sysco explained, “The initial bounties once the task force was involved were for Deborah Lance, Rachelle Robinson, and Lindsey Wilkerson. O'Connor called off the bounties once Cronin was gone. He only had a reward on their heads to punish Cronin for the way he handled the case. He figured with him out of the way there was no need to waste the bounty money on them.” Paul nodded as he told Sysco to start writing.

While the big man was putting pen to paper, Ashley and Paul exchanged a few whispers. In the control room O'Malley called Wyatt to verify that Deborah Lance, Rachelle Robinson, Lindsey Wilkerson, Baker, and Chapman all had someone in the vicinity of them. As he was speaking on the phone he saw Powers wave him into the interrogation room.

When he got to the door, Paul got up and met him there and said, “Get Lynagh, Healey, and yourself home for some rest for a few hours. We are going to be busy late tonight. Make sure Healey is replaced at the Wilkerson house. Also don't mention this to Bud; just tell him I asked you to go speak to Linda Tangretti in the next room for a few minutes before we get to her.”

O'Malley nodded and wasn't sure what Paul was up to, but he had learned and accepted fast that things were done a little differently at Priority 1.

Sure enough when O'Malley got back to the control room Bud asked what was going on, and O'Malley handled it well.

He waved at Bud and said, “Your boss wants us to sit with Linda Tangretti for a bit and extended courtesy to me since I was the first one to speak to her.” Bud nodded and accepted the explanation.

Lynagh was asked to stay in the control room and witness the interrogations with the suspects. When they entered Interrogation Room 2, O'Malley mentioned he forgot his notepad and went back to the control room. Once he arrived he told Lynagh to pull Franks into the control room, replace Healey at the Wilkerson house with Officer O'Brien, and to get home for some rest. He explained to Lynagh, Powers wanted discretion with Bud about that night and that's all he knew. Lynagh pushed the intercom button for Gina to find Franks as O'Malley went back into Interrogation Room 2.

Kevin Sysco pushed the paper over to Ashley and Powers and they looked at the names on the list.

Powers and Ashley looked at the list, and then Paul turned to Sysco and said, “There is over $1.3 million here in bounties. Where is all this money coming from?”

Sysco looked around the room to collect his thoughts before answering,

“Simpson took money over the years from William Lance, a few thousand here and a few thousand there. It added up. He had a good gig. He figured whatever he could sneak away while he was banging his daughter. When he married her it would be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. All that changed when you guys brought him into the limelight of a case he had nothing to do with.”