Wild and Wicked Ways Page 2

  “How’d the Steelers do today, Tiko?”

  Diego knows that during the flight to Pennsylvania, Sully was holed up with Sepulveda reviewing out of country procedures and other materials related to their trip. He guesses that Sully didn’t get a chance to catch up on that afternoon’s playoff games.

  “Shhh, don’t ask too loud, Sully. The Steelers lost earlier, so everyone’s bummed. That may be why this place seems slow, people up the house licking their wounds. Or it could be the weather. How’re the Saints doing?”

  “Who Dat! Right now, we’re down, but I hope we rally and win. I guess you can take the Americans out of the US, but you can’t take the football out of us. I’m following the game online now but be prepared to watch it sometime tonight.”

  Diego sees Wendy, seated beside her brother, roll her eyes. In the past two weeks of interacting with Wendy in preparation for their excursion, Diego knows she enjoys watching an occasional game with her brother and Tiko, though she doesn’t follow the NFL like they do.

  “Okay, Libby, I need a quick translation. What does ‘redd up’ mean?” Wendy asks, seeming to want to steer the talk away from football. Diego takes a quick glance around the table and only Vito appears mildly interested in football talk.

  “’Redd up’ means to tidy or clean something up. And before you ask, when Tiko said ‘up the house’ he meant at home.”

  “Oh, that, I knew. All of you MacGillivrays have said ‘up the house’ in all the years we’ve known you. Tewow, how was it learning all this new slang once we US Psycepts invaded ABQ?”

  The quietest member of the group looks up from making his tea. Sarah had thoughtfully brought two teapots with hot water. Maddie placed her tea bags in the teapot and poured her tea in the mug when it was ready. Tewow added lemon slices to his teapot water and was pouring the hot water over the small tea leaf infuser filled with his personal leaves hooked over his mug when Wendy asked her question.

  Tewow replies as his tea is steeping. “It was an interesting time. There was an adjustment period for everyone, and slang was only a part of it. Honestly, speaking English so much took the most adjustment. While English is the legal common language of the GT and we use it in our written communication, in SWACon, we either speak our own tongue or Spanish. There are far more descendants of Spanish and Mexican settlers than white settlers in SWACon.”

  Sepulveda nods her head in agreement. “I was young when the first wave of Psycepts arrived in PsyTown, but I remember my dad complaining about having to speak English so much. Like Tewow said, we read English quite well, but we speak Spanish with fellow Albuquerqueans at least. My dad was a police officer assigned to the PsyTown area and was forever frustrated because he mispronounced many English words, only really knowing them from reading. He made sure I took extra English language lessons so I wouldn’t have the same problem if I followed in his footsteps of becoming a police officer. At least for the past dozen years, one requirement for Psycepts being accepted in Albuquerque is to know basic Spanish. Of course, it was too late by then as ABQ had filled up and the residents were being sent to the next conservatorship.”

  “I, for one, appreciate that there are so many Spanish speakers. Growing up in Chicago speaking Spanish made me stick out in school as we were a small number. There are many Spanish-speaking pockets throughout Chicago, but it’s a small percentage for such a big city. How does your mother like it, Diego? We’ve only been on the Council a few weeks together, so I don’t know her that well,” Vito asks.

  “She’s from the Miami area, so she’s used to everyone in the neighborhood speaking Spanish. I barely remember Miami, I was seven when we left. When we arrived fourteen years ago, she was sad leaving her family behind when she came to SWACon as none of them are Psycepts. But moving to such a large Spanish speaking community lifted her spirits. She likes living in ABQ, though the spices are different. That’s okay, the family sends us Miami care packages with all her favorite stuff.”

  Just then, Sarah and another server bring their food orders to the table. As everyone begins to eat, a police officer steps through the diner doorway. He looks around the dining area and heads to their tables when he spots the large party.

  “Good evening, Sgt. Randolph. I’m Deputy Peterson with the Potluck County Sheriff’s department. We’ll be your point of contact with law enforcement outside the forest. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, DCNR, oversees anything to do with the forest. I, or one of the other deputies, will be with your party in the forest, but the Forest Rangers take lead there. They were a bit put out when we showed you the forest the last time, even though we stayed out of the interior.”

  “Understood, Deputy. Starting to my left, you may remember my sister Wendy, she’s our group leader, I’m just the muscle. Next to her is Libby. The space at the outside corner is for you, we figure it would be easiest to speak with all of us from there. Next to your seat is Vito, then Maddie, and Tewow is at the other table’s end. Officer Sepulveda is to his left. She and I are the only police personnel in this group, everyone else is a civilian. This is Tiko to my right and Diego is next to him. Diego and Sepulveda have been successful in not bumping their chairs into each other so far, despite being in the inside corner. Your department should’ve received a Psycept Primer Brief of this visit to include all parties and their abilities, hopefully it was shared with you as it will be hard to keep us all straight just from this brief intro. Everyone, this is Deputy Peterson.”

  The group says hello as the deputy takes off his coat and hangs it from the back of his chair, then sits. He requests soup and coffee from Sarah when she arrives to take his order, then looks around the tables at everyone. “I know the group was going to be nine people, it just seems larger in person rather than reading about it on paper, I guess. Thank you all for coming, we appreciate it. I wanted to let you know about an update that Sgt. Randolph was just made aware of. A couple of hours ago, a body was discovered in Tindeehanna Stream, one of the three forest streams that makes up Quesahanough Run, which feeds into the West Branch. The Forest Rangers contacted our county sheriff department and Sheriff Ulate is on scene. The body is being transported to the ME, though not much is known now. What’s odd is that Tindeehanna Stream is frozen through everywhere, except where the body was found. It was like the river wanted us to know.”

  “Okay, this changes tomorrow’s plans somewhat,” Wendy begins. “Vito and Tiko, I think you should work with the body first before venturing to the forest. Tewow, Maddie, and Diego can still go into the forest in the morning. Libby and I were heading to the hospital in the morning, but we may need to either go with Tiko or Tewow since we can only split into two groups with one officer each.”

  “I vote we go with Tiko and Vito, Wendy. I can analyze blood from the body, and you can see what was natural or not about the death,” Libby chimes in.

  “Working the deceased sounds fine with me, Wendy. Vito will possibly have more to do than me as I’m only here to put the dead to rest. Libby is also a better analyst of the deceased than I,” Tiko replies.

  “Okay, Sepulveda. I’m staying with forest group as originally planned. Your group now has a couple more members and will start at the ME’s office instead of the hospital. Wendy, we can meet at the motel for lunch then all of us head back to the forest. The forest group will be outside all morning, a midday-break to warm up sounds welcome. Deputy Peterson, we’ll need someone at the ME’s with us as well as an escort to the forest.”

  Deputy Peterson pauses from eating another spoonful of his recently delivered soup, “Sheriff Ulate offered to meet everyone at the ME’s, Sgt., so I’ll be with your group tomorrow. Ranger Brunner will most likely accompany us in the forest.

  “Ranger Brunner’s the one who put together your dossier about all the odd events observed in the forest the past couple of years. Potluck County contributed additional information about the more recent incidents occurring outside the forest. There is no report yet available about the body, but Sheriff said she’d send something before the end of the night. It may only be preliminary information, she warned.

  “I’m also to let you know that fresh baked breakfast casserole will be delivered in the morning, is seven o’clock good? Your noon and dinner meals will also be given then too. We’ve an agreement with the motel for younz to use their stove with an oven and their full-sized refrigerator. This same arrangement is set for Tuesday and Wednesday too. I have with me six 5-gallon bottles of water with spigots as requested. We’ll refill them as needed. We appreciate you working with us regarding your meals. We are not the richest county but luckily the DCNR is also contributing some of your travel funds.”

  Wendy doesn’t seem to resent Sully and Peterson interacting the most, even after Sully named her the group leader. Diego supposes police are just more comfortable speaking with other officers rather than civilians, at least when it comes to logistics.

  “Thank you, Deputy Peterson,” Wendy takes over. “If you could have Sheriff Ulate contact me about tomorrow, I’d appreciate it. A phone call or video conference would be best, we can have Sepulveda, Vito, and Tiko in our room during the call. Tiko, Vito, and Libby, please come up with a list of additional supplies that you may need and work with Sepulveda and me. I know we brought some of our stuff and provided the sheriff’s office with a list prior to traveling here, but we are now dealing with a deceased body. Sepulveda, I’m sure you’ll meet with Sully to discuss the parameters about our involvement with the body, just keep me in the loop please. Tewow, is your group good to go for tomorrow?”

  “Yes, I believe so. However, I think we should stick with investigating the original strange occurrences in the forest. After lunch, the full group can then look at the area the body was found. Diego, how does time affect your ability to detect weather disturbances around the body site?”

  “Time lessens it but getting there in the morning versus the afternoon won’t make much of a difference. Both are many hours after today. Having said that, Deputy, can you have someone take samples now for me to look at tomorrow? I’ll need several vials of the water the body was found in plus samples of dirt next to the water. In addition, ice from both sides of the bank and samples of the ice surrounding the watery spot. All ice samples should remain intact in a freezer. And this is going to sound crazy, but I need bags of air. Just have someone run around with open baggies to fill with the air, then seal it tight. You’ll need to double bag, the air baggie inside an even larger baggie, but please don’t put multiple smaller bags inside one large bag, I need them to be separate. And I’ll need someone to take pictures of the sky, treeline, waterline, etc. I’ll send all this to you in writing.”

  “That seems doable, sir. If there’s nothing else, I’ll see to your requests. Enjoy your stay here in Potluck County.”

  By now, everyone’s appetite is satisfied, and they seem ready to return to the motel and rest. Deputy Peterson takes care of the bill while they ready to leave. After leaving a tip and thanking Sarah, they step into the bitter cold to walk back to their rooms. There’s a sense of excitement through their tiredness, the group is ready to hit the ground running in the morning.

  CHAPTER THREE – Wendy

  “On the way back to the motel, we need to stop at a store to pick up some tortillas. The breakfast casserole this morning was great, but I think it will be even better as a wrap or burrito. I prefer flour for that, but corn tortillas will do in a pinch. They have that stuff up here, right Tiko?”

  “Yes, Wendy. Both kinds of tortillas are available up here, if I recall correctly. We tended to grow our own food and hunt for meat, but I saw tortillas in our small community grocery store before moving to SWACon. And I grew up in an even more rural area, so they should have it here.”

  Monday morning sees Wendy’s group on their way to the ME’s office while Tewow’s group heads to the forest. Vito is in the driver’s seat with Sepulveda riding shotgun. In the back seat, Tiko sits behind Sepulveda and Libby behind Vito, while as the shortest, Wendy’s stuck in the middle. The MacGillivrays are tall, Tiko three inches above six feet while Libby is five inches taller than Wendy. Even their two sisters back home in ABQ are about Libby’s height. With their height, light blond hair and ice blue eyes, they look like Viking descendants of Norse gods or something. Wendy knows she’s no slouch either and has the dating history to prove it. Lord, they better arrive soon before she continues this ridiculous tangent.

  She must be in His good grace as Vito soon turns into a parking lot adjacent to a large single-story building. He pulls into a space near a Potluck County Sheriff’s vehicle, then they walk to the main entrance. Just inside the doors is a long counter reception desk spanning twelve feet and divided into two sections. It’s shaped like a sideways H, one of the long sides faces the entrance with a single long granite top counter, a short perpendicular barrier divides the two sides into cubicles, and the parallel rear long desk serves as a storage and filing area abutting the wall behind the reception desk. Only one of the U-shaped cubicles is occupied with a receptionist speaking with a law enforcement official. Their entrance catches the attention of the clerk who alerts the police officer who then turns towards their group. The police woman is dressed in a khaki long-sleeved uniform shirt with a patch on the left upper arm and a 5-point star badge pinned to her upper left chest. Her olive-green uniform pants lead to heavy-duty black ankle lace-up boots. A khaki vaquero hat adorns her ear-length grey and brown hair.

  “Welcome to Potluck County, I’m Sheriff Ulate. I’m sorry that the situation escalated when you arrived. Not that I am suggesting causation, merely commenting on the correlation. I believe I spoke with everyone briefly last night, correct? You didn’t request much additional supplies and I have them all here with me. Please follow me to the ME office area.” As they walk with the sheriff, Wendy confirms reintroductions are not needed. Sheriff Ulate can match names with faces and she recalls the basics of their abilities.

  “Has there been any updates regarding the body that you can discuss, or do you wish for this to come from the ME?” Sepulveda asks.

  “The ME will talk more about the condition of the body and other medical stuff, he’s much better at explaining that. He isn’t willing to sign off on cause of death until the toxicology results are returned, which can take more than a month. This will remain our case unless he rules it murder. If that happens, I’ll call the Pennsylvania State Police to investigate as I have limited resources. We’re a small county of less than 20,000 residents and I have only one deputy detective who deals mainly with robbery and narcotics plus five deputies who patrol and handle traffic collisions. There are a couple of municipalities in my county that have their own small police department, but otherwise me and my deputies provide the bulk of police service for the county.”

  Their group walks into a neutral colored room with a medium-sized oak paneled oval conference table with ten chairs placed around the perimeter. In one of the chairs, a gruff-looking older man sits with several closed folders spread out before him.

  “Everyone, this is Dr. Rademacher, the medical examiner for six counties, including Potluck. Rade, this is the Psycept group from Albuquerque, down in the Southwest Alliance Conservatorship. Why don’t you folks have a seat and I’ll introduce you?” The sheriff provides Dr. Rademacher with their names and abilities as they take off their heavy coats and settle in the chairs.

  “Dr. Rademacher, first, thank you for meeting with us,” Wendy begins. “Second, feel free to call us by our first names, we’re not very formal. Finally, what can you tell us about the deceased individual found in the river yesterday and do you mind if we voice record what you say?” Sepulveda has her digital voice recorder out and ready to record as soon as permission is given. Taking Dr. Rademacher’s nod as approval, Sepulveda taps the record icon.

  “Well, I can say there are many unusual observations surrounding this body,” Dr. Rademacher says as he passes out pictures from a folder. “First, the body is a lean male but was found floating face-up. Most bodies float face-down, with their spines dorsal facing the sky and the limbs dangling below the water’s surface. Women and obese people may sometimes float face-up due to the gas accumulating in the breasts or very large abdomen. Neither applies to our body. If the body was submerged for a week or two, then it may float face-up. However, as the stream was frozen prior to the body being discovered, I don’t know what caused the position the body was found in.” As Dr. Rademacher speaks, he points to key findings from the pictures.

  “Second, I can’t determine cause of death. There was fluid found in the lungs, but unlike television shows, this isn’t proof of drowning, especially with the body being in water for an unknown period. Water gets into the lungs of submerged bodies, even if they died outside of the water. But the typical foamy lungs of a drowning victim are absent which may be attributed to weeks of submersion or not drowning altogether. I can confirm the water found in the lungs matches the water from the stream. This means I can rule out the person drowning in saltwater, but the body dumped in freshwater.” No pictures accompany this declaration.

  “There is no evidence of cuts, bruises, or clawing on the hands or other parts of the body that may indicate scrabbling to get out of the water or fighting off someone holding your head underwater. There is evidence of hemorrhages in the lungs and around the face and eyes, consistent with asphyxiation. There are no suspicious physical injuries to the body and no evidence of heart or cardiovascular disease.” He passes around several pictures of close-ups of hands as well as pictures of the other limbs, head, and torso.