Diamond in the Rough: Chapter 57

"Lieutenant McBain.  I was certain it would be quite a while before I saw you again."  Mitch said, sitting at a table in a bare room.  His hands were chained and his orange jumpsuit was an eyesore to John, who did not realize how tired he was.

"Laurence.  Seems your roommate conveniently is out of the picture."

Mitch's face took on a dead stare.  "Now why would that be convenient?  It's just causing me more hassle, at your hands."

"Hassle?  The man is dead."

"Are you familiar with what kind of man he was?"  Mitch said.

"I think I am, but why don't you enlighten me?"

"He was a killer.  There is more, of course.  Had no respect for The Lord."

"And you do?"

"Of course.  I am His Messenger.  If you Heed My Word, you will find salvation."

John stared directly into Mitch's eyes, without flinching.  "What do you know about the death of James Testa?"

Mitch sighed.  "All right, Lieutenant.  I went to my appointment.  I came back.  The guy was dead.  I tried to wake him, he didn't respond.  I called the guards."

"Notice anything strange?"

"As in?"

"As in this?"  John brought out the container with the lone beetle.

"What is that?  A common roach?"

"It's not a roach, no.  I believe you know that."

"So, it's poisonous, then?"

"Is it?"

"I don't know, I'm not an entomologist, Lieutenant."

"Really."

"Yes, really.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my Bible study."

"Your Bible study?  You wouldn't know the Bible if it came down through the ceiling and clocked you on your head."

"Lieutenant," he said, smiling, "are you losing your cool with me?"

John sat back from the table.  "No, of course not, but I can, if that will help."

Mitch's eyes became slits.  "Are you making a threat?  An officer of the law, threatening an inmate?"

John pushed the vial toward Mitch.  "Did you notice any of these in the cell?"

"Never.  No.  In fact, aside from an occasional cockroach or spider, I've seen very few insects.  Nothing seems to thrive in here, Lieutenant.  Not even roaches."  Mitch looked to the warden, "May I go to my cell now?"

"We have a new cell for you, since that area is closed off right now, and we'll be spraying, but yes, you can.  Are you finished, Lieutenant?"

John nodded.

"Then let's go," The warden said, and the guards, two of them, began to walk Mitch to his new residence.

John said, "Why do I feel he had something to do with Testa's demise?"

The warden shrugged.  "Laurence is a weird guy.  You can't tell what's up most of the time."

John said, "Oh, I know he's weird.  But I can tell what's up, and it's no good."

Walking out to his car, John saw that he had missed two calls from Brody.  Dialing, he listened for the voice on the other end.  "Yeah, Boss, I mean, John?"

"Brody.  You called?"

"Yeah, I got something."

"Go ahead, shoot," he said, propping the phone on the speaker attachment.  He began to drive back to Llanview, but did not want to miss what Brody had to say.  

"I've got the name of the custodian that I think is the one on duty when these folks are making these visits."  John pulled over, made a u-turn, and headed back to Statesville.  Brody said, "John?"

"Yeah, do me a favor, huh?  Tell Natalie I'll be later than I thought, I'm going back.  You got footage, prints?"

"I have the rosters and hours.  It corresponds with the missing segments of the tapes.  His name is Parker.  Geoff Parker.  But before you go all the way back, wouldn't you want to know if he's on duty?"

"Knowing you like I do, I'd say you already found out for me."

"Yeah.  He's there.  He gets off work around nine.  You've got a good ten or fifteen minutes left to catch him.  What happened up there?"

"Testa's dead.  Heart attack, but I have a suspicion about that.  Seems he was being munched on by beetles.  For a phobic man, could have put him under."

"Sheesh, that's gross.  God, good thing I ate a while ago."

"One of the little buggers is still around.  I've got him in a little container right here.  Bringing him back to give to Nat for tests.  Listen, I'm going to go, let me get on the ball here.  Call you afterwards."

John made his way back to Statesville, and the warden did not look very pleased to see him.  "Lieutenant, what's bringing you back?"

"One of your staff, unfortunately.  I'd like to speak to Geoff Parker.  Can you get him for me?"

"Good guy.  A little slow.  What's this about?"

"You'll be able to be there during questioning.  It's regarding visits made to one Mitch Laurence."

As he waited for the man to arrive, John pulled out a few papers he was carrying in the manila portfolio he grabbed from the car.  Inside was a shot of Mitch Laurence.  His thoughts went to Natalie, and Jessica, and the monstrous things Mitch had done.  This was interrupted by Geoff walking through the door.  He sat across from John.  John extended his hand, and said, "John McBain."

He said, "Geoff Parker."

The man seemed clean enough, but he'd learned all-too-well that it didn't matter.  He said, "There's evidence to suggest that this man," he held up Mitch's photograph, "has had several visitors here, at Statesville, in the recent months. . ."

The warden interjected, "I am not sure why that would apply.  Geoff does not work in visitation."

John, thwarted for a moment, said, "Have you seen him before?"

The custodian looked nervous and uncomfortable.  "Yeah, I've seen him."

"Where?"

"On the tapes.  Of the visitations."  He continued, "I don't work visitation, but I saw him on those tapes."  Parker said.  The warden seemed surprised.

"And how did you see the tapes?"  John asked.

The man wiped sweat from his brow.  "All right, look, I know I'm in trouble.  But whatever it is, I didn't know it would turn out like this."

"Like what?"

"Like whatever you're going to tell me next."

"I'm not telling you anything.  You tell me.  You tell me, how you saw those tapes and why."

The man gulped, and loosened his uniform shirt collar.  "A woman.  She was real nice, real fancy.  She. . . he told me she was there to win over the account for security cameras.  She asked me to . . . let her into that room so he could get a handle on what equipment they currently had and outbid the current company. . ."

John sat forward.  "And you let her?"

The man was trembling.  "Yeah, I let her.  It wasn't long, only a few times.  She had a badge, a uniform, and lots of papers, and she . . . gave me money.  I got kids, they can barely eat.  I . . . figured . . ."

John almost could not contain himself, but the warden slammed on the table with his fists and yelled, "Do you realize what you've done?"

"No, I don't.  But I know . . ." he swallowed, "it's bad."

"More than bad.  Immediate dismissal,"  the warden said.

John said, "No, wait.  I need to ask you a few more questions."

"Is this really bad?  Like, who was that lady?"

"There are hundreds of visitors here every day," the warden said.

"Hundreds like this?"  he said, showing the photo that Lynette had given Todd.

"That's her," Geoff said.  "Where is she?"

"We're not sure, she might be dead, now.  She's missing.  This didn't strike you as something . . . odd?  Someone asking such a thing?"  John said.

"I guess.  I was just interested in . . . the money.  I needed it.  We're losing our house, the kids can't eat enough.  We have four."

"They'll really be in trouble when you lose this job, which you will,"  the warden added.

"I realize," he said.  "I wasn't thinking."

"How often did you let her in?"

"It was about four times, three close together, and then one a lot later, more recent."

John said, "How much did he give you?"

The man fiddled with his hands.  "She gave me . . . one thousand dollars.  In cash."

"Once?"

"No, she gave me one thousand dollars in cash, each time."

John practically laughed, "She gave you four thousand dollars and you didn't think that was . . .Never mind.  What did she say about the visit?"

"Nothing.  She wasn't a visitor, according to what she told me.  She was just there to look at the equipment.  After the first time, I didn't want to let her do it again.  I felt something was kind of wrong, and she said she'd tell on me about the other time, so I took the money and tried to ignore it."  He stopped.  "What did she do?"

"She erased the tapes showing any visitors that Mitch had.  Now, she just may be in grave danger.  She's been missing for months."

The man greened in front of John, and the next thing John knew, the man was crying.  "I . . .  didn't know.  I can give the money back, maybe to the family?"

"It won't matter to them.  They want their mother."  John said.

"I . . .I'm sorry.  I didn't know, or think . . ."

"That your actions could have this kind of impact?  Yeah, they did.  However, the man she is helping has already had done terrible things, and would have anyway.  It's not that this changed much, except that we now know his connection outside.  We now have proof."  John said, and in some small way, he wanted the guy to be less hard on himself.  Even though he'd done it for money, the guy seemed simple, like he may not have really seen the whole picture.  "Can you tell me anything else?  Maybe about this man?"  He again showed Mitch's picture.

"I told you, only on the tapes.  I don't know.  I don't know anything else," he said, his tears streaming.  "I didn't know it would make that much of a difference what I did.  I didn't know, and once I let her in, I was too scared to stop."

The warden chimed in, "It mattered.  Parker, go and get your things."

"Yes, sir," he said.

John watched the man go, and could not help thinking how he was just another victim of Mitch Laurence.

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