King's Rook

Preface

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals. This quote from novelist and playwright Don Delillo sums up in part why it is that I write.

Since I was a child, there have always been stories coming to me at all hours of the day. In class, I always thought of myself as a space cadet. Despite my efforts not to, I would always find myself in the middle of some story that my mind had just randomly conjured. Today I'm still a bit of a space cadet but I now see myself as some sort of magnet for unwritten stories.

In college, I had always found pride in the fact that many of my English teachers would use my work for examples for the rest of the class. Today, nearly fifteen years later, I am just now beginning to understand what Don Delillo meant. There is a freedom in writing. The freedom to express ideas, to become anyone or anything. And to …save themselves, to survive as individuals. as Delillo puts it.

Now I find myself finally putting pen to paper so to speak. I hope that I still have that talent for writing that my teachers would beam about years before. More than anything, I hope that I’ve been able to captivate and entertain.

Should you desire to comment on my novel, inform me of any mistakes, or be added to my mailing list, please send me a message to my email address: bradleylutes@yahoo.com with the title of my novel in the subject area. Thanks for reading.

Other Novels From Bradley Bigato:

Over Her Dead Body

Finding Mommy

King's Rook*

*A Chris Cassidy Novel

Chapter 1

Commissioner Klarman stood behind the podium in what had been dubbed the Situation Room in downtown St. Louis. Detectives staggered in the door from all nine districts. The meeting had been set for three in the afternoon to accommodate all shifts. From some of the tired expressions, yawning, wrinkled jackets, and tousled hair, Commissioner Klarman doubted that the time appropriately accommodated everyone.

A secretary in a gray dress greeted the detectives as they came in the door. Each detective was given an itinerary and instructed to seat themselves alphabetically. The room had recently been modified on the commissioner's request that it be raised in the back and sloped gradually toward the front. The idea being that those who sat in the back would have an unobstructed view of the lecture or meeting.

Every row on the sloped floor contained individual desks that the detectives were now occupying. Typically, there were no specific seating arrangements. Detectives usually sat with the detectives from their own district and shift. But today, the desks all had nametags and were arranged alphabetically.

The Commissioner pretended to be reading a document to avoid the various evil looks that were coming from many of the detectives. Rumors had been running ramped, pissing off nearly every detective in every district. And today, they were about to find out that the rumors had been true. So the commissioner felt compelled to not get into a staring match before the meeting began.

After about fifteen minutes, the seats were all filled with the city detectives. The room was loud with chatter. Ahem... The commissioner began. Gentlemen, your attention please. He said into the microphone. The room began quieting down. There was still a small section whose chatter echoed about the room. Gentlemen...! The commissioner bellowed a little louder. One by one, they fell silent. Thank you.

The commissioner adjusted the microphone on the podium. We have a few topics to discuss today and I know you have work to do so I'll keep this as brief as possible. The commissioner's black wavy hair was sticking to his head from sweat. He was already hot from the weather, but having to drop the bomb on the detectives had sent his internal thermometer shooting upward another few degrees.

The commissioner grabbed a glass under the podium and took a quick drink of water, adjusted his dark-rimmed glasses and continued. There have been many rumors circulating in the department lately about the replacement for Dick as the first sergeant of the Division of Criminal Investigation department. The commissioner glanced around at the detectives. The tension in the room went up a notch. The commissioner fought off the urge to take another swig of water. It was best to not be nervous when in the presence of a Rottweiler. A room full of Rottweilers demanded it.

The commissioner adjusted his glasses and continued. The board of commissioners has made a decision... He let it hang in the air for a moment. Feeling the tension in the room climb to an all-time high. "Although all of you who applied for the position are hard-working, deserving, and appreciated detectives, there could only be one person accepted for the position. I'm pleased to announce that Matt Lowry will be your new first sergeant. The room immediately filled with noise and all eyes were suddenly on Matt Lowry in the center of the room. Matt, who had already been briefed about his promotion, began shaking hands, nodding, and smiling to nearby detectives.

The commissioner allowed Matt his moment of glory before silencing the growing voices. O.k. back to business. Back to business. Gentlemen! The room fell silent again. As you know, that places a vacant position for the head of the Assault and Homicide Unit that Matt will be leaving. The commissioner glanced around for a moment before continuing. This was the part that was going to sting. This was going to piss off a lot of detectives. But there was no way to sugar coat it. Rip it off like a bandage. He thought. Fast, but not painless... Ahem, He coughed to steel his nerves. Now, it has always been our policy to promote from within. We have always prided ourselves in running things that way and would love to continue doing so. Murmuring had already erupted among the detectives. However, as most of you know, St. Louis was listed as the most dangerous city in America last year. We can no longer accept anything less than the best. Which means... The murmuring had grown louder now. WHICH MEANS..., he said. The room began to quiet. That if there is a notable difference in skill and qualifications, then we will have no choice but to hire from outside the department. The commissioner watched the awestruck and somber faces. He adjusted his glasses and continued. "Now, does that mean that you will never be able to advance? As you can see, we advanced Matt Lowry. And that's because there was no notable difference in skill and qualification from the outside applicants. And if the difference isn't huge, we're going to pick the best from our own pool. And we determined Matt to be the best person suited for that position. But, that wasn't the case when we made a decision about who to promote as head of the assault and homicide unit." The murmuring erupted again. Everyone was looking at one another and trying to understand why they would have to go outside the department to fill the position.

The commissioner took advantage of the sudden onset of noise to swallow half the glass of water and wipe away the sweat from his brow. Excuse me. EXCUSE ME! He quieted them back down. Look, nobody likes this less than me. But understand this... He looked around at the detectives. Many of you have family and loved ones that you care about. You need to remember that you are raising them in the most dangerous place in the United States. And one day it may reach out and knock on your door and it might be your sister, or your mother's death, rape, or robbery, that you're investigating next. So I think we can all agree, that despite our desire to lead the pack, keeping our city safe requires us to put aside our own ego, and accept that if there is a person who can get the job done better than you, then for the betterment of the department and the safety of the city, it is in everyone's best interest to give him or her the reigns and learn all we can from them.

So who's the new guy, Jack? What puts the lace on his panties? Harry Rudker, a six year detective hollered above the noise. Everyone fell quiet.

The commissioner took off his glasses, polished them momentarily and placed them back on his nose. Well, Rudker, I'm glad you asked. Your new head of assault and homicide is sitting among you. He hails from a smaller city up north where he has earned a prestigious ranking for his 98% conviction rate and only a 3% unsolved. Nearly the highest in the country. The commissioner watched the faces as he threw out the figures. They were impressive and everybody knew it. The place was dead silent. You could hear crickets. And what puts the lace on his panties besides that? How about a small demonstration... The commissioner reached under the podium and pulled out a small white box. New tools gentlemen. We had an anonymous donation. Under your seats you will find a box and file folder. He waited a moment while everyone reached under the desk for their equipment. Please be careful when opening the box, there is expensive equipment inside. The commissioner opened his own box and pulled out a slender, sleek looking tablet out of the package. This, gentlemen, is your very own top of the line tablet. Place it on your desk and power it on like this... The commissioner demonstrated how to power it on. Now, it's going to prompt you for your password. In the file folder is a small paper that has been sealed. Please verify that the seal has not been tampered with before opening it and retrieving your password. Please guard your password carefully. Memorize it. And destroy the paper when you have. Not now, but sometime today at the least.

The commissioner took another drink of water while the detectives punched in passwords. Each of your tablets has your case files uploaded. Please do not lose this. I can't stress this enough. Losing this tablet will have consequences and disciplinary actions as if you had lost your firearm. Take my word for it, you don't want this thing out of your sight. Don't let your kids or spouses play with them. Lock them up. Has everyone got their password entered? The commissioner looked around. Ok, then follow my lead. You will receive training later in the week on how to properly use your tablet. After you are trained you should be able to slide photos or files easily from your tablet to our large screens and computers back at the department with a swipe of the finger. You will all be able to literally 'throw' the information from your tablet onto your new commanding officer's tablet so he can stay up to par on all your progress. These new tablets will have more capabilities than you can even imagine. Snap pictures of fingerprints, shoeprints, or evidence and start a scan right away while still at the crime scene. Take pictures and zoom in so close you can see a mole on the ass of a cockroach hiding in the corner. It will zoom so close you can visually see small fibers and trace left behind by the perp. The tension in the room had vanished and suddenly it was filled with excited faces, pointing, and talking.

Ok, quiet down everyone! Like I said, you will be trained on the ins and outs of your tablets. For the moment, I want you to follow my lead while we go through a demonstration. On the front of your screen you will see a folder titled 'Felter Family'. Click on the folder and you will see one image that has been stored inside. Now, this case has already been solved. Nobody in this room has been privy to any of its contents or details. To open the image just click on it with your finger. You can move the photo around by moving your finger. You can zoom in on it by flicking your finger and thumb away from each other or vice versa to make it smaller. Everybody try that real quick. Make it large then make it small. The commissioner paused and gave everybody time to practice the technique.

"Ok, now anybody not get it to work?" A hand shot up in back. Detective Malroy.

"I guess that means you're not the new head of the department eh Malroy?" Harry Rudker shouted out.

Detective Malroy looked up at Rudker. Haha Rudker. At least I can put a tie on straight.

Rudker looked down and adjusted his tie. Two detectives near Malroy helped show him how to properly slide his fingers to expand the photo.

Got it? The commissioner asked. Malroy nodded. Ok, then here we go. You will find a scrap sheet of paper and pen with your file folder. You have five minutes to tell me everything you can about the scene. Starting... The commissioner tapped his own iPad beginning a stopwatch. Now!

The commissioner watched everyone go to work, a room full of strong egos, each wanting to prove themselves better than the other. He hoped his new leader didn't fail him or he was going to have a riot on his hands. Not much crime was going to get solved with a room full of pissed off detectives. He knew offering the tablets now as opposed to dispersing them at a separate training meeting would soften the blow of having to hire from outside the department. And it had. The detectives rarely got to see new equipment. And the tablets were going to make them so much more efficient at their jobs. It was like giving children candy after getting a shot in the ass. It kind of made the sting go away.

The commissioner checked his clock. Four minutes remaining. He tapped the icon on his own tablet and brought up the photo. It was a picture of a murder scene. One man and one woman lying on the floor of what looked to be a living room. There was a fireplace and mantle in the background. The woman's eyes were open and staring toward the man. The man's head was facing away from the camera. He had a wound on his neck and stomach. Blood protruding from both. He was wearing a red pair of boxers. The woman was in a light purple nightgown. She had one wound slightly above center of her left breast. Various other items and shelves could be seen in the photo. The commissioner wondered how his own observations would hold up to the other detectives. Or to the gifted intellect he had broken budget to bring in to lead the department. He shook his head at the screen. He better be good...

The commissioner closed the photo and watched the time click down to zero on the stopwatch. Time's up! Please put your name and badge number on your paper and pass it to your left. Mrs. Catterbury will collect them at the end of each row. The secretary in the gray dress stepped up to the top isle and began collecting papers. For the next hour, Sergeant Haxley will be going over the basics on your new tablets. Then I will return and go over the results of our demonstration.

Mrs. Catterbury handed the commissioner the collected papers and he headed out of the room while Sergeant Haxley stepped up to begin his lessons on the new tablets. Four men standing in suits at the side of the room followed him out the door. All of them took seats in a nearby meeting room that had been readied with fresh doughnuts and a steaming hot carafe of coffee.

God damn Jack, I thought they were going to rip your head off for a second. Mayor Stevens said as he snatched up a glazed doughnut and poured himself a cup of coffee. The mayor, who had fierce blue eyes and gray hair that looked like it could be a photo in a men's magazine, took a bite out of his doughnut and looked across at commissioner Klarman.

Man you aren't shitting me. Thanks for voting me to be the one to take the bone away from the pack of dogs. Larry, if it weren't for you handing me the tablets on a platter, I think we'd a had to call in S.W.A.T. just to break the news.

Larry, another commissioner, picked up a chocolate covered doughnut and sat down at the table. Glad I could save your ass once again Jack.

Save it? If you hadn't thrown me in the pit in the first place, you wouldn't have had to get me out of it.

Alright, alright, the mayor said. Let's get this thing in gear before the lesson's over. Jack, how do you want to do this?

Jack passed out a handful of small cards. You know, for my own amusement, I want this to be as fair and objectionable as possible. So first, let's tape these cards over all the names. Commissioner Klarman passed out the small cards to the other four commissioners and they all set to work taping the cards over the names.

Now what? The mayor asked.

Now, we weed out the exceptional from the average. I'm thinking since we've gone through all this work, then any exceptional results should have notes added to their personal files. Agreed?

The other commissioners nodded. Good idea. Helps to know in the future who we can put on our high priority cases. Commissioner Bingsley added. But how do you want to weed them out? We've only got about forty-five minutes.

Alright, here's how we're going to do it. Commissioner Klarman passed out three colored highlighters to each commissioner. We are each going to work on five detectives at a time. I'm guessing most of the detectives will note the same things. We are going to highlight the things that everybody mentions in yellow. Then we'll highlight in orange what only a smaller number pointed out. And then in pink what any detectives uniquely pointed out that nobody else did. They all nodded their agreement.

"I've got a list of percentages here from the city this was taken in where detectives were asked to do the same thing. This is what 90% of the detectives came up with:

1) Male and female in their late twenties, early thirties.

2) Likely died from stabbing or gunshot wound to chest, neck, and abdomen.

3) Based on clothing, likely husband and wife and occurred sometime during the night.

4) Based on clothing and likely time of crime, they possibly interrupted a robbery.

5) No defensive wounds indicating a lack of struggle. Suggests they either knew their attacker, or the attacker had a gun.

That's it? The mayor asked.

Are you saying you can come up with more based on the photograph? Commissioner Klarman asked.

The mayor took a close look at the photo. No, I guess I couldn't. I suppose that's why we pay those tech boys the big money to test DNA, fingerprints, and trace.

"Well, don't feel bad. I used to be the detective and the tech and I couldn't draw much more from the photo than what the other detectives observed." Commissioner Klarman added.

So what do you want us to do here Jack? The mayor asked.

Highlight in yellow any observations that match these five. If that's all they have, set them in a pile here. He pointed to a spot on the table. Any others that you come across that have more, cross off the five things that we've got from the other detectives in yellow, then set them in a separate pile here. He pointed to a different spot on the table. Then we'll weed them out once or twice more until we've found our boy. If he's as good as they say he is, he should jump right off the paper.

It had been thirty minutes of sorting before commissioner Jacobs' gray mustache began to twitch. He began making small sounds like hmf and uh hmm. He flipped the paper he was holding in his hand over and continued reading on the other side. By the time he had said Holy shit... everyone at the table had already turned their attention on him.

I guess that means you found our boy. Commissioner Klarman added.

Jacobs casually lifted the card covering the name on the paper and peered under it. Uh, ya, that's him alright. Good God almighty.

Everyone got up from their seats and hovered over Jacobs shoulder until Holy shits and Oh my God was spewing out of every mouth around the table.

The mayor was the first to speak up about it afterwards. I think we got our money's worth with this boy wouldn't you say?

Commissioner Klarman wiped the sweat off his brow. I'd say that's an understatement.

◊

Commissioner Klarman stood at the edge of the situation room. Sergeant Haxley was just finishing up showing the detectives how to download special apps designed for CSI's and investigators. Haxley looked over at Klarman and got the nod that signaled him to wrap it up.

Klarman stepped up to the podium with a handful of papers and adjusted his glasses. Hopefully you guys have had a chance to get acquainted with your new equipment. I know you have a lot to do, so I'm going to quickly get to the results of our demonstration before you go. Klarman laid down the stack of papers into three separate piles. One pile was thick, the second pile contained three papers, and the third pile contained one sheet of paper.

Commissioner Klarman grabbed his tablet, held it up in front of him, and swiped his finger from the bottom up and out toward the detectives. Everybody's screen filled with an image of a sheet of paper with writing on it. What you are seeing on your screen is the average detective's response to the photo you were asked to make observations about. You will notice that there are only five observations. And this stack of papers here... the detective pointed to the large stack next to him. "Are your responses that matched those five. A few of you didn't even get that and I'll be speaking to you later."

Klarman coughed into his hand and continued. Those of you who are in this stack are average detectives. Not bad detectives. Just average. It's nothing to be discouraged about. It simply means that you have room to grow and more to learn. Now this stack... He pointed to the smaller stack. Has three papers in it. Three detectives in this room made observations that the rest of you did not. And this single paper... The commissioner pointed to the third pile is the observations of your new head of Assault and Homicide Unit. We will get to that one in a moment."

"Real quickly, let's go over the details that most of you were able to point out. The victims were male and female. Late twenties, early thirties. Likely died from a stab wound or shot to the chest, throat, and abdomen. Probably husband and wife. Probably occurred sometime at night. And no