Flashpoint: Chapter 8

Interview – E. Grant
Saturday, June 11, 2011, Central Police Station
Oliver Strom, Stage Crew Manager

Mr. Strom, the court has ordered you to provide us with a usable set of finger prints which will be used in comparison with those we obtained during out investigation. While we are waiting for the results of said comparison, I would like to take this time to ask you a few more questions. At this time, you are not under arrest and would be responding under your own free will. Do you understand?

"Yeah…"

Mr. Strom, why did you lie to us about the surveillance tapes? Spencer never received them from you and we have no reason to doubt this as his story has been confirmed by the victim, herself.

"I… I don't know…"

All right, well can you tell me why you gave free tickets to the Fox Brothers?

"How do you know about that?"

It's my job to know.

"I wanted to reward such loyal fans…"

Don't lie to me! I know they abducted your niece!

"But Dona's the one who asked me to! She said she wanted to show that there were no hard feelings. She said if the court let them out early, they must really have changed."

Come on, you expect me to believe that?

"It's the truth!"

OK, let's say I believe you. That still doesn't explain why you lied to us when I asked you about the pyrotechnics.

"I told you, we dealt with an outside group, Techno P.O.P."

That company went belly up months ago! The number you gave me lead us out to an abandoned phone booth… Oh, damn it! You led us there! The prints aren't going to match because you were trying to frame someone else!

"I don't know anything about that! I always used that number for as long as I can remember! I…"

Sure, and they're the ones who plugged up the tube with cloth, right?

"No! I… I don't know who put the socks there…"

Socks? Is that what those were? You shoved a pair of old socks down the tube to try and frame the Fox Brothers, didn't you? This is all starting to make sense… You invited them there and set them up to take the blame…

"…Let me tell you something… Dona used to spend all summer down at the beach. In the winter she'd swim at that indoor pool they built a while back. Now, she won't even wear sandals… She's afraid to show off her paws, less this happen again. Those foxes took away something from her, something she loved. They deserve to rot in prison… They should have never been set free…"

Mr. Strom, that's not for you to decide. As a matter of fact, they're wanted again for the abduction and torture of Detective Wolf. If you had just sat back and waited a day or two, they would have been picked up and locked away for good.

"So I was supposed to just wait and let them kidnap another helpless victim?"

You were supposed to trust the system and mind your place. It's not perfect, but the law is the only thing that holds society together. In any case, and in spite of your actions, they managed to strike again…
Mr. Strom, you've essentially confessed to tampering with the pyrotechnics prier to the concert. When I'm done here, an officer will place you in custody and a proper confession will be taken.

"What's going to happen to Dona? What about Lyle? Who's going to take care of my kids?"

That depends on, you, Mr. Strom. I want to know exactly what happened that night. And no more lies.

"I wasn't lying to you about Dona asking me to invite the Fox brothers. She really does believe in the system and doesn't want to thing poorly of anybody. She such a good girl…
"I didn't know Techno P.O.P. had closed up. I always had done business with that number, but, more recently, I had been getting calls from someone asking if I had any work for them. I didn't think anything of it, since they came out in a marked truck with uniforms and everything, just as always…
"That doesn't really matter. I guess you'll look into it. It's probably just some out of work technicians just trying to get by. Like I said, I'm the one who tampered with the spark emitter; I won't blame that on them.
   "You know, I didn't really want to hurt anybody… I just wanted to make it look like those foxes had done it and get them locked away before they could hurt anyone else…"

What about what happened to Ms. Fife?

"I don't know…"

Liar!

"I don't know! I've been straight with you about what I did. I'm telling you, Clara was never intended to get hurt. No one was! I thought the sparks burned cold; I didn't mean to set anyone on fire!"

They do burn cooler then the outdoor type, but fire's fire. I was under the impression that the pyrotechnics were meant as a cover for whoever hurt Ms. Fife. From what you've told me, though, I don't think that was the case. At this time, as I said, you will be placed under arrest. Before that however, if you have anything that will further our investigation, please tell me. You're assistance with this matter will be noted and reported to the DA for consideration in your trial.

"I still have the tapes. Their in my office… These keys will unlock the doors to the music hall and offices. I was planning on magnetically editing out the bits that showed what I did and then turning them in, but I was afraid…
"I guess that doesn't matter now…"
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Technical Services Report – I. Forester
Saturday, June 11, 2011, Central Police Station

The results from the fingerprint assessment are as fallows:
5 fingerprints from pay-phone receiver - negative
1 fingerprint from pay-phone coin return - negative
1 handprint from phone booth wall - negative
3 partial prints from spark emitter - positive

This supports Mr. Strom's claim that he had nothing to do with the phone booth, but did, in fact, tamper with the pyrotechnics. Now if only we knew who stabbed Ms. Fife…
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Interview – S. Wolf
Saturday, June 11, 2011, E.M.S. Sub-station Echo 3
Jacquelyn Thomas – Paramedic

Ms. Thomas, I'm Special Detective Sasha Wolf. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind.

"Detective?"

Oh, you've done nothing wrong! Don't worry, I'm just checking up on a few facts.

"Well, can we make it fast? I've only got fifteen before I start my shift."

I'm sorry to bother you, but, to be fair, I did call ahead.

"I must have missed the note…"

This is about the night of Friday, June 3. I know that was over a week ago, and you've probably seen a hundred different calls since then, but do your best to remember. There was an incident at the Brenner Music Hall. A wolf in her early twenties was stabbed in the back and you were called to transport her to the hospital around 9:30.

"Oh, you mean Clara! Yeah, yeah, I remember. I'm a big fan! Big fan! I wish I could have gotten out and said hello, but I guess she was in no condition to put up with another wild fan."

Ms. Thomas, why were there three paramedics riding that night? Back when I was on the job, there was just my partner and I.

"Oh, were you a paramedic? What made you take up law enforcement?"

There was an incident that need not be explored at this juncture. It left me at quite a loss and I wanted to make sure that the ones responsible for hurting me never had the chance to hurt anyone else. When I was done with them, more took their place; the job never ends…

"I see… Well, that night we had a trainee along with us. His name was Karl; it was his first week on the job. He'd already seen a lot of action over the course of the week, but he still seemed pretty green.
"To tell you the truth, Chuck isn't all that experienced, either. He does a good job attending to the patience, but he doesn't pay much attention to basic procedure. Take that night for instance. We have bags for people's stuff and we're supposed to keep a list of the items we remove from them, even if their awake to give consent. Did he use them? No! He just tossed Clara's stuff on the floor and forgot about it! If I hadn't said anything, he probably would have left them there!"

Did you see what he took from her?

"I was too busy watching the road. I know he took off her pants and shirt, but I didn't really watch him picking the stuff up. We already had another call and I was busy with the radio."

OK, well, thank you for your time. I'm sure we'll have everything worked out as soon as possible.

"Hey! What did any of this have to do with the case? You don't think one of our guys hurt her, do you?"

No, I don't see how that could have been possible. Like I said, I'm just getting some facts in order. There's nothing to worry about.
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Interview – V. Valerian
Saturday, June 11, 2011, St. David's Hospital
Roger Gibson – Admissions Clerk

"Checking in, sir? Just fill this out."

No, no. I'm fine. You look like you have a minute and I just wanted to ask you something. Were you working here on the night of Friday, June 3?

"That's right. I work every weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the week I attend classes at the community collage."

Oh, cool! You see, a friend of mine came in and she thinks her belt may have gotten lost. Can I have a look in your lost and found?

"Sure, but I can't let you have just anything you like, can you describe it to me?"

Well, it was a black web belt with a silver buckle. Now this is special, the buckle is shaped like a set of fangs with the letters B.B. in the center.

"Oh, nice! I think I saw something like that! Just let me have a look here…"

That would be so great! It's one of a kind!

"Here it is… Gees, what happened to it?"

You tell me. It wasn't like that before!

"I don't know. It couldn't have gotten that way from just sitting in here. This looks almost like it was cut with a knife… Hay, wait a minute! I remember, now! This is the belt from that girl who got stabbed in the back! Oh, gees! I must have stuck the wrong belt in with the stuff Cindy gave me! I'd really like to help you, but I have to get this to the police right away."

I'm Special Investigator Vincent Valerian, B.P.D. I didn't mean to deceive you, but there's no need to make this into a song and dance.

"So you were looking for the belt in relation to your case?"

Not exactly; at this point it's more like recovery of stolen goods.

"Stolen?"

That's not really your concern. You're not being accused of anything, but it would be in your best interest to tell me exactly what happened that night and how this belt came to be here when it should have been submitted as evidence with the rest of her clothes.

"Well, Cindy gave me a stack of things and I thought she was just tossing them in lost and found. When she told me to put them in a bigger bag, I had to fish them back out of the box. I put the pants and shirt in and she grabbed them up and dashed off down the hall.
"Later on, she came back around with the bag filled with even more stuff. I called her over, since she had forgotten the belt. I bent down to get it out of the box and when I came up, the belt I had on my desk was gone and she was running out the door."

You had a belt that was cut in half just sitting on your desk?

"Well, yeah. Belts don't always fit everybody. I was going to modify it to fit my tail."

Where did the belt even come from?

"It had been in the lost and found for over thirty days, which means it's up for grabs. I just helped myself."

So, you didn't even bother to try and stop Mr. Riverson? You just let her go off and hand over the wrong belt to the police?

"At the time, I didn't know it was for the police. I figured whoever's stuff it was, they'd be back for it later on. I guess I was sort of right, 'cause here you are."

…Look, just give me the belt and I'll be on my way. Like I said, you aren't being charged with anything, so I'll let you get back to work.

"Sure. Glad I could help."
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Progress Report – B. Wolf
Saturday, June 11, 2011,
Thornhurst Manor, Office of Cap. Wolf

Mr. Strom's confession brings this case to a close. Remember that our job was to find the party responsible for the pyrotechnics incident. While it turned out to have nothing at all to do with terrorism, I commend all of you for a job well done.
Vincent, I'll be transferring the recovery of Ms. Fife's possessions to your desk in Burglary. Elwood, follow up on the imposter technicians; I'll have the papers sent over to Arson. I'll have all of our files pertaining to the assault on Ms. Fife sent over to Crimes Against Persons. As far as THORN is concerned, this is case closed!