Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Lieutenant Deviled Yeggs.  I work homicide in the big city of Tracy.  Working for me are my old partners: Detective Sgt. Jim Wednesday and Detective Poached Yeggs, my nephew who is slowly becoming a good detective.  But then again, I have all the detectives in the big city of Tracy reporting to me.  Even so, I HELP them when they need help, but I WORK homicide.

Poached was in my office.  He was spinning his fedora in his hands, nervously.

Poached said, “Lt. Yeggs, I would like a day off tomorrow.”

I asked, “Are you not saving your vacation for the next bird watching expedition followed by another baby?”

Poached groaned, “Yes, I want to not use my vacation time, but I need a mental health day.  This case ruined the lives of several families.  Those families will never be the same again.  I really need a mental health day, and I need the commissioner to reevaluate the team.  Polly is fitting in really well and Bones Rattler is ready to go solo.  But this case got to me Uncle Dev.  You may fuss about me being informal, but I need my uncle right now.  I had to add another family who is getting their lives wrecked this morning.”

I nodded, “If you have a new family added, I need to know why.  But all the arrests that led to not many being charged…  I think I need a roadmap.  If the DA calls me, and I am covering for you, I will need to know the details.  First, give me the new family and how they fit when they were not part of the initial series of arrests.  Then, in your storybook fashion, tell me how this got out of hand so quickly.  By the way, you are going to be at the T.R.U.S.T. library tomorrow, doing some research for the day.  Wink.  Wink.”

Poached nodded, “There are two stories that overlap.  The oldest of the events was when Mary Silverman’s husband died.  But do you know the people who live on the cul-de-sac with the Niblicks?”

I nodded, “On the corner of Tess Blvd. and Edna Way, the side closest to Chester Way where Naomi and I live, that corner house is the Finks.  They are Dinks, double income, no kids.”

Poached said, “Finks the Dinks.  Maybe not for long.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Oh?  Phillida Finks said they could not have children.  Okay, you will have to explain that.  Next door is the aforementioned Mary Silverman.  The very contrary widow who spends all her time gardening, except for the winter months.”

Poached nodded, “Yeah, her husband ran off with his secretary, filing for divorce before leaving, dying of a heart attack on the way out of town, and the secretary getting badly injured due to the heart attack happening while he was driving.  She sued the wife, but Mary eventually got everything, living off a monthly income that was set up.  Her son is Eli Silverman, a senior this year at Flintheart.”

I nodded, “Next is the lawyer, Gabriel Goldberg, wife, Lior Goldberg, son, another senior at Flintheart, Joshua.  Then the Niblicks.  The next three houses are what Glyce calls the OJ triplets.  Their occupations, the husbands that is, all start with ‘O’ and their last names start with ‘J’, both in alphabetical order.  Ophthalmologist, the eye surgeon, last name Jamison.  Orthodontist, braces guy, last name Johns.  Orthopedist, bone surgeon, last name Judkins.  Then the next house is where the Danvilles live.  Dave, field engineer, assigned to a big project in Brazil, but back in town.  Darla, nurse.  Daughter, Desiree, Sophomore at Flintheart.  Then at the house facing the Finks is General Bellovry, nickname General Delivery, retired Army General in Logistics.”

Poached nodded, “All our efforts started with an anonymous call from the General.  I knew who it was due to caller ID, but I played along.  He said that nasty things were happening at the Danville home.  He feared child endangerment.  He gave us details, that a casual neighbor should not have known.  I think he has some surveillance toys from his Army days.  Some of what Logistics does is new equipment testing, and he may have kept a sample of some IR glasses.  But to go back to that first story, a very lonely and wronged Mary Silverman.”

Poached smiled, “Mary Silverman and her son Eli had enough income for her not to have to work.  But to save on money, she became obsessed with turning her backyard into a productive garden.  They grew most of the vegetables that they needed, with some surplus.  But a few years into that endeavor, she needed help.  Eli was of no use.  Instead of a green thumb, he had a black one.  Plants would die under his care.  But in talking to their neighbors, the Goldbergs, they suggested that Joshua, their son had a knack for making things grow.  At the age of twelve, he worked at the Silverman home daily, limited hours on school days.  A couple of years later, as Joshua was carrying flats of young plants to where they would be repotted, Mary noticed a bulge in his pants.  She found an appropriate moment, although what she did was inappropriate.  She pulled down the pants of the young teenager.  She admired what she saw.  Then she swore him to secrecy.  The next morning, before dawn, Josh rang Mrs. Silverman’s front doorbell.  She answered the front door wearing nothing other than a bathrobe.  He asked why she had done what she did.  And she apologized and let her bathrobe fall to the floor.  Nature took its course, although she did a lot of guiding.”

I asked, “Where was Levi during all this?”

Poached replied, “He was at summer camp, learning how to be a lifeguard.  That plays into the next part of the story.  When he returned, neither Mary Silverman nor Josh wanted to stop what they were doing.  Eli never went into the backyard.  If so, barely next to the house.  They picked the spot where they laid their compost.  They had a tarp over it.  The privacy fence kept the neighbors from seeing.  That changed when the security crew started working on the Levy’s home. To ensure security, they had filmed the two having their trysts – information related to national security only.  It became their favorite spot.  But they were still concerned that they might be spotted by Eli.  Then, in a conversation with Lior Goldberg, she was frustrated that their new swimming pool was a maintenance nightmare.  They could never get the chlorine content right.  They were constantly skimming the surface.  And Mary Silverman suggested Eli as a pool boy.”

I groaned, “You are not suggesting the classic bored housewife and pool boy romance?  Please, Poached.”

Poached nodded, “Cliché or not, it happened.  Each of the neighbor women were sleeping with the son of the other.”

I asked, “But how is Phillida Finks pregnant and that ties into this mess?”

Poached replied, “I said Mary Silverman had excess vegetables.  Phillida expressed the love for fresh tomatoes.  Mary said that if the fence gate was unlocked, they could go to the back, next to the compost heap, and get a tomato any time they wanted.  Just what they needed, not picking her clean.  Josh knew to keep the gate locked.  The delivery guy knew to make deliveries outside the garage door.  But the memo did not reach the substitute delivery guy, who stacked six bags of fifty pounds of manure each next to the gate.  Who wants to block a garage door with manure?  Josh loaded a bag onto his shoulders, but he was too loaded down to lock the gate.  He intended to go straight back to the gate, but Mary Silverman stopped him and they did their deed right there on the compost heap.  And they had an audience of the Finks who had come for a tomato.  Mary told the Finks to pull up chairs and watch, but she did not want Josh to stop.  The deal is that the Finks became aroused, and they used this voyeurism to boost their own love-making, still with no good result producing pregnancy.  And when things started happening across the street, the Finks wanted to join in the fun.”

Poached started counting on his fingers.  “Okay, you did not ask about Gabriel Goldberg.  He has a business law firm.  He got to partner level by working 12-16 hour days.  If he was not at the office, he was at the Hoity Toity Club.  He was one of the marginally naughty gamblers.  He did some naughty things, but no one had concrete proof, so he was not dropped from the membership.  Now, his trivia team needs him for his specialty areas of knowledge: mostly government, history, and economics.  He works late at his office on the movie, television, and sports nights.  The point is that Lior Goldberg started a golf widow club, where Eli’s lifeguard skills were needed.  He made a couple of rescues, but other ‘rescues’ were drunken ladies wanting a handsome young boy to lift them out of the water.  And Gabriel Goldberg is suspected of having a lot of lady friends, but like the naughty business at the Hoity Toity, no proof.  From the Levy’s security team, solid proof of liaisons between Lior and Eli next to the pool.”

Poached took a breath, “Now for the Danville home that attracted the attention of the retired General.  Dave Danville lost his job at the engineering company.  The company had both lawsuits to deal with and a slump in sales.  The Danvilles were borrowing bad money to make mortgage payments.  They were on the verge of losing the house.  Darla pulled as much overtime at T.R.U.S.T Medical Center as she could.  But then the company’s field engineer in Trinidad had a heart attack.  He came back to the States and had open-heart surgery.  They rehired Dave to take his place.  A pay cut, but Dave would have all his expenses paid while in Trinidad, that is the bigger of the two islands of Trinidad and Tobago.  That would keep them solvent and start paying off the bad debt.  But the project was only for six months.  The company followed that with a four-year project in Brazil.  Six months working six or seven days per week, then two weeks off to come home and do honey-do jobs around the house.  Pay cut per hour, but the pay was based on hours worked roughly, no time and a half overtime, but he got paid for some of the overtime while most engineers did not get paid for the extra hours.  Construction work is hard, long hours.”

Poached scratched his head, “Darla told their daughter Desiree that she was afraid that Desiree would get scared at night with her Daddy gone, so she had Desiree sleep with her during Dave’s absence.  There were other motives.  Darla and Dave went to State.  She was in a dorm where the girls liked girls.  She went back to being straight when Dave started dating her.  But with a twelve-year-old in bed with her she decided to teach her daughter the finer arts of love making.  We would call that incestuous aggravated statutory rape.  Darla called it education.”

Poached flipped the page in his notebook, “Desiree wanted to have the boy experience by the time she was thirteen and a half.  Desiree liked Billy Johns.  Darla still worked long hours, getting overtime when possible.  When alone at the house, Desiree lured Billy to the house, and they had some sort of bedroom gymnastics.  Billy started coming when Darla was absent on a regular basis.  And on one occasion, his little sister, a year younger, Cecilia followed him.  Desiree did not blink.  She did what her mother taught her with Silly Johns, what they call Cecilia.  That got Billy that much more excited, but Silly wanted a boy toy.  No way was her brother touching her.  That’s when they invited the boy with whom she had a crush, Bobby Rubenski, from a block down on Tess Blvd.  Now, there were four children, all under aged, doing the nasty.”

Poached tapped his notebook, “Desiree got bored.  One day, she saw Eli walking down the street and she called him over.  By this time, both Silvermans and both Goldbergs knew what was going on among them.  The boys wanted to know what doing the deed with someone of their generation was like, although Desiree was a couple of years younger.  Eli let Josh know, and they both availed themselves of Desiree’s services.”

I asked, “But among the arrests were two black gentlemen who worked lawncare, an illegal alien from Mexico that ran the lawncare service, an owner of a Vietnamese laundromat, and her two daughters, one of legal age and the other the same age as Desiree.”

Poached nodded, “You forgot the sister of one of the lawncare guys.  Again, Desiree was the ringleader.  She saw them mowing the Finks lawn and she casually asked them to come to her house for some refreshments, and they would not be dissatisfied.  She was the person who invited more into her circle of friends.  She had to do the deed with each one or they were not allowed in the circle.  It was during her first time with the lawncare guys that her mother came home early, not missing a beat, just joining in.  Just like the boys from across the street, Desiree invited the lawncare guys.  The two guys worked for the Mexican who ran his under-the-table business out of the laundromat.  The back room of the laundromat, which was supposed to be only office was where the Mexican had moved in with the three Vietnamese ladies.  Statutes against having a residence in a place of business.  You remember the stink with those Chinese immigrants living in a backroom at the mall a few years back.  Anyway, the Mexican brought drugs.  Somehow Desiree started collecting money from people that were added to have ample refreshments which included spiked drinks.  When we made our arrests, most were roofied and all were high.  And most were drunk.”

Poached seemed to remember something, “Oh, I brought up the laundromat because that first time Desiree enjoyed the lawncare guys, they showed up late to the laundromat.  They admitted what they had done, but then the Mexican and the Vietnamese wanted in on the fun. And for the past year, that crowd has been doing it with an occasional extra here or there.  But once Eli and Josh told their love interests of their tryst across the street, the ladies wanted to experience it, along with the Finks who found out through Mary.”

Poached slapped the notebook against his head.  “So, the General saw how many heat signatures were inside the Danville house, and some of them were small in stature, he made the anonymous call, although caller ID said who he was.  To make matters worse, when we made the raid, Dave Danville and his Brazilian maid walked in on us as we were making the arrests.  There was a screwed up commissioning of one piece of the Brazilian plant.  Things were destroyed, nothing that Dave’s company had done, but he was sent home.  He showed up without calling ahead, not knowing that he should have.  He was livid.  The house was a wreck.  The two Goldbergs and two Silvermans were arrested in the kitchen, totally covered in whipped cream and marshmallow cream.  They were high as kites.  And as we caught them, no one was doing anything incestuous.  But as it turned out, the black guys were sharing Desiree.  The Mexican was enjoying Silly Johns and the sister of the lawncare guy.  Billy Johns was enjoying the two Vietnamese girls, who go to Central.  The Vietnamese woman and Darla Danville were with Bobby Rubenski.  We have them solid on statutory rape since the state has the age of consent set at sixteen.”

Poached smiled, but not a happy smile, “Dave Danville insisted that Desiree cooperate, but she was selective in her cooperation.  Dave knew his life was a wreck, but the Brazilian maid came with him with a son, Dave being the father, and another on the way.  Throwing the book at Darla made the divorce easier.  Dave had married the maid in Brazil.  One of those wife at home and another wife at work deals.  If it weren’t for Dave already being married, his Brazilian wife had him attend church in Brazil on a regular basis, a nice little family.”

I sighed, “And I am surprised you have not commented that it was ‘big of him.’”

Poached genuinely smiled for the first time, “As in bigamy?  I was about to and you beat me to the punch.  We are not pressing that one in that he has not pressed the issue of their Brazilian marriage.  She would not have returned with him if this had been a usual two-week visit, but she will deliver the baby before he goes back.”

I asked, “What is still in the works?  I know that Gabriel Goldberg has fought the case for the two Goldbergs and two Silvermans.  They will be assistants for Cassie for more than a year.  Community service but not in jumpsuits along the side of the road.  Really, all they were guilty of was being there, using illegal drugs, and an aid and abet to child endangerment.  Their activities of the night were consensual due to the boys now being seventeen.  But Desiree, Bobby, Billy and as you call her Silly are underaged.  So is the younger Vietnamese girl.  All those doing the deed, except those in the kitchen, are tentatively on the court docket.  But what about ‘others’ that I am hearing about.  And how do the Finks figure in?”

Poached said, “The Finks had quit going to these ‘events’ a couple of months ago.  Phillida was pregnant and she did not want that messed up.  They had fertility issues, but they never got tested.  They basically learned through these encounters with Desiree Danville that Felix Finks was shooting blanks.  The DA did not want them charged unless a minor was the father.  The special DNA test for an unborn child requires a blood sample from the mother and a cheek swab from the father.  We had to swab as many men as we could find who might be the father.  Fifteen-year-old Billy Johns, son of the Orthodontist friend of yours, is the father.  We think that Gabriel Goldberg will work out the same deal as with his wife and neighbor and their boy toys.  Hey, the boys can brag about their exploits.  But as for the others, we confiscated all the cellphones and there are people who had been in the Danville house that have not yet been identified.  Many are from high schools around Tracy.  Almost all included under the victimized label with photos of who victimized them.  The DA has this tentative on the docket in that we do not know whether we want a group trial, or individuals.  ICE is allowing us to hold onto the Mexican for now, but they are trying to get his drug connections out of him.  The three of Vietnamese descent are US citizens.”

Poached sighed, “Is that enough, Uncle Dev?  I would ask you for a hug, but that isn’t very manly.”

Gisele almost always listens in on our discussions since she often has to type a report.  She was suddenly at the door of my office with her hands outstretched.

Poached buried his face on her shoulder and started to weep.  “This job is not fun anymore.  There are so many families with their lives upside down.  Dave Danville is looking for a house in Pawnee Heights.  Desiree is in a padded cell.  Her lawyer is trying an insanity plea and she is a victim, but due to her being the ringleader and only a few months shy of sixteen, the DA wants to try her as an adult, at least someone with consent to mastermind this crazy thing.  It could be that some of the others will move.  The laundromat is shutdown.  The lawncare guys are out of work.  The children who are victims are getting therapy.  And seven people are on trial for rape.  I do not want praise for this job being finished.  With the unknown additional victims, it will always have an element of being open.  Please, I want Ibie to take a hooky day from Kindergarten.  Callie has arranged the day off.  I just want to hug my wife and two children.”

Gisele sighed, “Poached, it’s our job to present the case to the DA.  An entire crew of people on the raid will be called in to testify.  But in the end, we are to protect and serve.  Think about how many more victims there would be if you had not stopped Desiree when you did.”

The elevator door opened and Callie came into the squad room holding Blue and Scarlet Ibis (Ibie) running beside her.

Ibie said, “Daddy’s hugging Aunt Gisele.”

Gisele corrected her, “No, Sweetie, Aunt Gisele is hugging your Daddy.  We have the big case that your Daddy was working on about solved.  Your Uncle Dev can take it from here so you and your Daddy can do something fun tomorrow.”

Captain Hart grumbled, “I didn’t approve that.”

Gisele said, “I sign the timesheets, Al.”

Al laughed, “Yeah, Poached has been busier than a one-armed paper hanger this week, and last week also.  I think he should go to the Rowe-Casey Farm and check it out as a good R&R spot for burned out captains of precincts.”

I asked, “Shouldn’t that be burned out detectives?”

Al walked over to get in my face, “You look at it your way.  I’ll look at it my way.  We just need feedback from your nephew.”  Al went back to his office and slammed the door for emphasis.

Poached and family walked back to the elevator and were gone.

I asked Gisele, “Poached never said who these other people are.”

Gisele said, “Our computer people have isolated all the fresh faces on the phones that we confiscated from the people that were arrested.  We did not want what they are doing to be so obvious.  We have tried doing facial recognition, but with limited success.  We have had more success asking people like Arabella and Menzie if they recognize them.  But then we have to contact those children and the parents.  It is time consuming and messy.  Bones Rattler is our lead on that part of the case.  He’s sitting down with the school yearbooks from every school in the big city of Tracy.  We’ll find them Dev, even if it is to provide therapy for the underaged children that Desiree involved in her craziness.”

Credits

My wife had a black thumb.  If we had a desert plant, she drowned it.  If we had a tropical plant, she never watered it.  Everything in between had one problem or another.  I was the one who planted vegetables and flowers.  She enjoyed them as long as she never touched them.  So, Eli Silverman had a black thumb.

Back over sixty years ago when my parents lost the farm, but before we had to sell the farmhouse, my mother lectured me one night.  My Dad had gotten a job as a field engineer for a poultry equipment company.  My Dad was their only customer that did all the installation work himself, so he hardly had to interview for the job.  My mother “knew” that I would be scared at night now that my Dad was out of the house.  Actually, I was about eight-years-old at the time and the thought never entered my mind until she placed it there.

My mother was non-sexual, so we did not do what Darla and Desiree did, quite the opposite.  I can remember what my mother said to me the first night I slept in her bed.  She said, “I have a slipped disc in my back.  I received that slipped disc when I was eight months pregnant with you.  If you wiggle at all in your sleep, my back will hurt and you will pay for such insolence.  And also remember that I keep a loaded German Luger under my pillow.”  I did not wiggle.  But then again, I rarely slept.  I think that is when my insomnia started.

And my Dad had brought the Luger back as a souvenir of World War II.

And my last contract job with my old company was as a field engineer.  They called me when their usual field engineer had open-heart surgery.

Most engineers that work in that type of company keep a certain amount of savings handy in case, but they always expect the company to rehire them in a few months.

As for the rental wife concept, I was told that when you went to Thailand, you simply told the concierge that you wanted a wife while you were there.  One would be provided, and then when you came back the next time to the same hotel, the wife would be waiting for you in your hotel room.  I never even asked when I met the concierge.  I was not going to be there that long, and I was loyal to my wife, even when 21 and a half hours away by air.  I had heard of other engineers doing that in various countries, especially when they were going to and from the same job site over a few years.