Chapter two: Man Stripped Down
2 AM…………………………..….August 17
Fairbanks, Alaska is a small community of thirty-five thousand people. It has two main streets that intersect to form much of the downtown area. In order to travel to Fairbanks from Anchorage or the Denali Park area from the south, you have to travel State Route two or what locals call the George Parks Highway.
In the 90’s this highway was diverted around the main part of town. So in order to enter the city you have to take the Airport Road exit which is one of the main streets that connects downtown to the Fairbanks International Airport; thus the name Airport Road.
Just north of the junction of Airport Road and highway two was a night club known as the Sleepy Lady. Between ten PM and two AM the Sleepy Lady was not a quiet place; especially on Friday nights. This particular Friday evening was no exception for this infamous strip joint.
“They called us down here at two AM…I thought this was a nine to five job…I came here to take it easy,” Detective Moore declared to Gloria, his partner, as they both exited the squad car.
“You better not let the boss hear you say that, Detective….Our job is to be on call twenty-four seven…Didn’t you read your contract?” Gloria answered abruptly.
“Gloria, don’t take things so seriously…I was joking ….I’ve worked twenty-four straight before …Remember the first day I got here?”
“Just trying to keep you on the straight and narrow …Help you out…Keep you honest.”
Dave thought for a moment then he replied, “Sounds like religious talk again…I’ve only been here a month, and you’re already trying to get me saved.”
“Dave Moore!....”
Lieutenant Jacobson interrupted, “What are you two arguing about?….Aren’t you friends, yet?”
Gloria startled by Jake’s statement, answered, “Jake….I mean Lieutenant….Sorry we we’re not fighting …just talking ….Discussing our schedules …….Never mind…It’s not important ……What do we have here, boss?”
“Don’t know exactly….except it’s a homicide….Male I would assume since this is a strip joint.” Lieutenant Jacobson stopped in his tracks when he saw the partially clothed body lying just in front of him. The Doc was looking down the victim’s throat, and there was just a small sheet covering the corpse. “You’re here already, Doc, thought you were out of town…..Nude male body?”
Dr. Morgan ignored the Lieutenant at first then he answered, “Oh, sorry, Jake, Found something down his throat….Just bagging it… Didn’t leave yet….I was at the airport when the call came in…..Found the body just like this.”
“Why is everyone saying sorry this morning….Gloria check inside for witnesses …Genesis should have them detained….Dave you go with her….Where’s Joe? I need him.”
Dave and Gloria left the scene and went into the club as Joe Smothers ran up. He interrupted, “Boss, I’m here…Had….Sorry,…..well, you know…company…Never got to bed.”
Very disgusted, Jake said, “Finally!!…..Need you to check all around the building….Look for this guy’s car and whatever else you can find…. Doc, is there an ID lying around anywhere?”
Joe ran quickly to look for the victim’s car when Dr. Morgan spoke, “Jake…..you aren’t going to like this…..He has a wallet…It was lying around the corner. Haven’t seen his clothes.”
“I like that….but what’s wrong?”
“He’s a cop…from Anchorage……Demetri Gonzalez…Detective Demetri Gonzalez….2nd precinct, Anchorage, Alaska.”
“What about a gun? And his clothes?… What’s he doing here without us knowing about it?.......Very strange… I’d better help Smokey.”
Detective Joe “Smokey” Smothers was a seasoned detective. He was born and raised in Alaska, and he began his career in Anchorage in the seventies. Some call him ‘old school.’ He worked as a smoke jumper and fire fighter before he became a cop, thus the nickname ‘Smokey.’
Jake joined Joe at a deserted vehicle a few hundred feet away. It was a black, 2001 Ford F-150, parked all by itself on the back side of the club. Smokey searched the vehicle very thoroughly. He found a few gas receipts and an empty soda cup.
“Smokey, did you find a gun?....Find anything else?”
“No gun….just a few receipts and an empty soda container…..but wait…there’s lipstick on the cup….can’t be his…..unless…”
“Unless what Smothers?…..Don’t say it!....This guy’s a cop …..We found out through his ID…..Let’s walk through this carefully without jumping to conclusions….”
The Lieutenant and Detective Smothers bagged and labeled all the pertinent evidence and gave them to the doc as he prepared to transport the body to the station. Just as he jumped into the rig, Jake stopped the doc and motioned him to roll his window down.
“Doc, no press yet, please….We don’t have all the facts and I still need to call Anchorage to get the full scoop on this guy. Especially Jeff…. Make sure doesn’t find out…It goes without saying…no Chief either….Keep me posted on the evidence…….Wait, are you still leaving a in a little while?”
“Boss, I’ll call and tell Anchorage I won’t be there… They’ll be mad…but they know we’re short-handed….And I know…no press or Chief ….If they ask I’ll refer to you.”
“Awesome….Let me know as soon as you find anything…I’m going to go help Gloria and Dave..”
Doc drove away leaving Jake and Joe standing in the dark. The two officers walked swiftly to the club’s entrance to find Gloria and Dave.
Jacobson found Dave leaning on the bar interviewing one of the bartenders, and Gloria was in the back with two partially clad strippers. Dave looked up and called to Jake, “Boss, over here…”
“Right there, Dave….Joe take someone and interview …We need to get this part done…. Check with Dave and see whose next….Need to see Gloria.” Jake stopped and turned around to face Joe and said, “Joe, don’t tell him yet…unless he knows already..got it!”
Joe hollered back, “Yep, got it, Jake.”
One hour later ………………..…August 17
“So tell me, Dave…You found girls clothing on the floor in the men’s room?...Gloria, what do you make of that?”
Dave interrupted, “Jake, the bartender said a guy and a chick came in a few minutes after midnight…..He also said a lot of the guys that were in here…They got out as soon as they figured out there was trouble…..Some kind of scuffle in the back near the rest rooms.”
Gloria Caruthers said, “The girls I interview acted as if it was a normal night…They didn’t see anything…I guess that is what they are told to say.”
Jake walked back and forth around the room and then asked, “I’ve wonder if the owner knows his place had a murder this morning? Maybe, he knows something….Dave, take Joe and wake him up…Why wasn’t he down here on a Friday night?”
Dave inserted, “Bartender said he was in charge tonight and that the owner was ill….He said maybe cancer….Don’t know…Remember I’m the new guy….Sorry.”
“Why does everyone have to tell me they are Sor……ry? Joe take Dave and get going…Go see this sick owner, and see what he knows.”
“Gloria, you and I have to find this ‘friend’ of our victim…He probably knows something about his death …. Why did he get out of here so fast?....Some of this stuff is not adding up,…but first I need to check with Doc….He didn’t get right back to me…That’s not like him.”
Jake took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Doc Morgan’s cell. There was no answer. He dialed again while Gloria waited patiently, but there was still no answer. Jake left a message and started walking toward the door of the club, “Gloria, you coming? Tell the bartender we will keep in touch….We need to get to the station.”
Gloria told the bartender that they had to leave, and probably would be back later. “And get some sleep.”
The female detective caught up with her boss, and they both jumped into the squad car. Jake talked as he drove, “Detective, I was just wondering…You were in a strip joint and I never heard you say anything….well, religious…. Like, ‘this is a sinful place’ or something…Did it feel really weird …you being in a horrible place like that?”
Gloria looked at Jake and smiled then she began, “Jake…Jake…you’ve known me long enough to know that I don’t let my personal beliefs alter my job performance …Sure I didn’t want to be there…A lot of women would say that…It’s a man’s club….and I don’t believe men should go to those places, either….but that’s my opinion….I live according to what I think God wants me to…but I can’t determine where the crimes will be…I’m a cop…a scientist ….and a darn good one….so it puts me in bad places to make good things happen.”
“You’re not only a good cop,….but also an orator…. Well, to the case…We need to find that partner….and find out what happen to the Doc..”
The pair arrived at the station and began searching immediately for Dr. Morgan. The personnel at the front desk said he had to take a body to the airport. Jake wondered if it was their latest victim. He tried dialing the doc one more time.
This time he picked up. Jake began, “Doc, been trying to get a hold of you ……………..Ok, What?.....I guess that is the best, but two days? …………………Get back here to we can process all the other stuff…you and Gloria van probably ………….See you in a little bit then……..We are looking for the guy…the partner of the victim ……..Yeh, he was with him at the club……….Bye.”
“He’s ok, Boss….The Doc?” Gloria asked.
“Yeh, had to send the body to the big city for autopsy …Order from up above….or something…I hope there isn’t press involved with this…They could make a heyday out of this story …..You go into the lab and start processing…doc will be back soon…We have the clothes and the stuff from the car……I’ll check back with you soon.”
Gloria immediately went to the lab while the Lieutenant sat at his desk to think. “Who is this other guy? What were they doing in that club….Dressed like a female …Crazy.”
Jake’s land phone rang, and he almost jumped. The front desk said he had a visitor so they sent him down. A couple minutes later a tall roughly dressed Hispanic man with a visitor’s pass walked up to his desk.
“Lieutenant Jacobson, I presume…..”
“I presume…Do I look like a Lieutenant?…Is it that obvious?….Sorry….Sit down, please…..You are? And how can I help you?”
“Oh, sorry…I’m Eraldo Gomez….a friend of…the victim from your homicide this morning. We were on the force together years ago, Demetri and I…down in Kenai….He…He went on to Anchorage, but….I quit after my son….well, he….I lost him from drugs….Stayed in Kenai with my family to protect my younger kids from the same thing….Had to take a low paying security job.” Eraldo bowed his head as tears started flowing down his cheeks.
“He was my friend and I wanted to help him…I needed the money…He told me….I guess he won’t be able to pay me……”
Jake sat silently just for a minute then he began, “I’m sorry for your loss….but why did you take off afterwards? …..But what did happen? …We still aren’t sure….. Who? ...What?”
“Officer, I’ll start from the beginning ….Demetri had a son from his girl friend, Sasha, in Anchorage….It seemed like they were happy …for a while, but you know how it is in a family when you are a cop….No life outside of police work…. even in a small town…..”
“Well, his son got in with a couple of redneck guys from Fairbanks….At least that is what we were told… Demetri needed my help…. He couldn’t do it through his department …They would take him off the case….so he and I trailed these two guys from Fairbanks to Anchorage and back……I guess they traffic drugs using the railroad in the summer….Disguised as tourists at times….They are not afraid of getting rid of anyone in their way.”
Jacobson couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but was so interested in what Eraldo was saying he didn’t see the doc walk into the room. “Jake, I’m back….Where’s Gloria….downstairs?”
Jake was in thought and finally said, “Yes, Doc, sorry…..Sorry?......Anyway, yes… downstairs ….by the way, Doc Morgan this is Eraldo …. Gomez …a friend of our victim…He was with him right before he died….He has an interesting story.”
Doctor Morgan greeted Eraldo quickly and excused himself to find Gloria. Jake asked him to continue.
“Oh, where was I?”
“The two rednecks and murder.”
“Oh, yes, thank you…..They were not afraid to murder anyone in their way…They murdered Demetri’s son because he wanted out of their schemes….so Demetri decided he had to use his skills to find these men on his own…of course, with my help.”
“So the trail led you two, here, last night to the Sleepy Lady? And your plan?”
“The two rednecks hang out in the bar there every Friday….We thought maybe this was their point of contact to their customers…..Three weeks ago we lost the trail for a while…They disappeared from Fairbanks around the twenty-first of July.”
“Yeh, I know….They murdered at least two women and caused another to have a heart attack on the train ….They almost lost their drugs …We should have….Well, we lost them south of town in the wilderness….They know their way around the bush.”
“So you know these guys?”
“Sounds like the same two….We have a name for one of them…Stephenson …Joseph ….He’s an ex-con…Was working here for a while,….but the ring leader is the other guy…We don’t know who he is….He used a bogus identity and was on the train carrying the powder…..Don’t know how he got it on there…Not too much security on a summer tourist trap.” Jake answered.
The Lieutenant continued, “So Eraldo, run through the events last night and this morning….I need to check on with my officers here in a minute …I’ll need you to make all this in writing.”
“Of course, I understand….Could I maybe get some water or something?”
“Sure, sorry for…..I’ll get you some water,” Jake got up and went to the lunchroom. When he returned Eraldo was gone. The officer quickly ran to the front desk, and asks if they had seen the Hispanic gentleman who came to see him. The receptionist informed him that the he had just left in a rush.
The Lieutenant was disgusted with himself. He ran out the door to see if he could see Eraldo. There was no one in sight.
“I guess I’ll have to put out an APB out for him….I really don’t want to……Something isn’t right about all this….Better get Gloria and investigate.”
Two hours later ……………….…August 17
“You up for some breakfast, Gloria?….It seems like a long four hours since we started this case.”
“I’m tired, Jake….Yes, I’m up to it….Where are we going?”
“I thought we could have a big breakfast at the old standby, Denny’s….You know that was the first place where we all ate together after I arrived…Remember….Just some trivia for you.”
“I remember, Jake”
The two detectives arrived at the restaurant as the sun crept over the mountains south of town. Jake grabbed his sunglasses and exited the squad car. Gloria lazily followed.
“Jake, I think I’m getting sick….You ever had a summer cold?”
“I haven’t got time for a cold of any kind.. Let’s go eat…I’m starved.”
The two friends went inside and ordered their food. They had just begun to eat when Jake’s cell phone rang. “Hello, this is Jacobson ……Yes, we’ll be right there……. Gloria, we have to go…. Can you tell the waitress to pack our food up… and we’ll get them later. Let’s go.”
Investigator Caruthers did as she was asked and met Jake at the car. She jumped in, and he sped off.
“Where we off to, Jake? A fire?...or something.?”
“The guy who came to see me….. earlier ….They found him…..”
“That’s good….isn’t it?”
“Someone shot him….They don’t think he will make it…..He has three kids, and a wife….. Heading for the hospital … Dave is there waiting.”
One hour later……………………..August 17
“Those guys are still around here, and they seem to know more than we do….How can a couple of cowboys out fox us?” Jake blurted as he, Dave and Gloria left the hospital.
Dave Moore inserted, “Lieutenant, I had a case like this in Anchorage….These guys just blend in….That’s why they are so good in the drug thing, too. We might need to send someone under cover….That’s what we did…..and older…. redneck type.”
“Joe…..,” Jake yelled out. “I don’t know if I like it… already have one cop dead in an undercover mission….. Have to run it by my boss….or will I?”
Gloria inserted, “Been done before……”
Dave blurted, “You condoning dishonesty, Gloria? Shame on you!”
“Dave!”
“Detective, lay off Gloria…She’s trying to say something…..What are you trying to say?”
“Just trying to say that the chief knows Jake’s decisions are sound….The first week you were here, Boss, we tried a scheme, and Morrison approved of it after the fact….and he said and I quote, ‘You did what you had to do, Jake. Good work.’”
“Yeh, but he gave me a bit of a hard time in private …He brings it up all the time…..Let’s do it….Call Joe, Gloria. Tell him to meet us at the crime scene…We need to strategize.”
One hour later…………………….August 17
“Ok, let’s get this done so I can get some sleep….all of us have had a long day….Joe, you need the most rest….Do they have some coffee in this joint?”
Dave looked around and ran into the bartender as he walked through the door. “You guys still here? Thought FPD officers were professionals in fighting crime…Haven’t found them yet?…..By the way, my boss should be here soon.”
Dave inserted sarcastically, “By the way, my boss would like some coffee….Can you make some, ple……ease! … That’s as professional as I’m going to get right now….Thanks big guy.”
Within ten minutes Jake had his coffee, and the team had decided to sit tight while Joe got in good at the club. They decided he would spread some dirt around about the police force, and that he was ready to use it against them. Joe would have to spend a lot of time drinking. The bartender had to be in on it, as well as the owner, for this all to work. They both agreed.
One week later…5 PM…………August 24
Joe Smothers was doing a stand up job as an undercover officer. It was almost too good. He actually believed what he was saying to everyone who came in the door of the Sleepy Lady. He knew that tonight could be the night that he would meet the perks.
“Hey, Jerry, take a seven-up on the rocks.”
“What Joe? I mean Hank…a seven-up… Taking it easy tonight?”
“I’m broke and it’s Friday night…Have to be fresh tonight… Have a date later….You know?”
“What girl would go out with you? Ha!! Ha!!
“I could slap you but I won’t….Might ruin that baby face complexion of yours.” Joe took his drink and went to a secluded table in the dark to watch.
This Friday night the owner made himself known in the club. He visited with the girls as they got ready to perform, and chatted with the regular customers. He, too, knew this could be an important night for justice.
The club, Sleepy Lady, opened at five PM and was required by state law to close at two AM. Joe waited patiently at first, but after a few hours he was getting nervous.
He walked over to the bar to get a refill of soda, and the owner was standing nearby. Joe leaned on the bar and was ready to order when the proprietor nudged him with his shoulder.
“Mr. Hank Jones I presume…..You’ve been here for a few hours….Any action?”
“Nope, just relaxing and enjoying the scenery…. You doing alright tonight?”
“Just about time for me to leave….I have a doctor’s appointment early tomorrow ….So ……. When will I see you again?”
“Hopefully tomorrow, but you know how life is…May be dead tomorrow.”
The owner grabbed his sweater and briefcase from behind the bar and said his goodbyes to the bartender. He waved to the barmaids and exited the club.
Joe returned to his secluded corner, and his cell phone rang. “Hello,……………No nothing yet ………Norton left…Said he had an appointment tomorrow…Doctor……..I’ll be here.”
Just as Joe hung up his cell three strangers walked through the door, and set in another dark corner of the Sleepy Lady.
