18. The Net Closes

Sheriff Ericsson comes into the office almost on time whistling happily on Friday morning. He says, “Good morning, Sue, beautiful day. It’s cooled off a bit. Fall will be here soon.”

Sue replies, “Good morning, Sir. Yes, I think it might be a little cooler this morning. The coffee’s ready, I’ll bring you a cup. You’ll be happy to learn Judge Laura Mae Hopper gave us the search warrant for Ralph Hess’s handgun. I had to tell the judge you have evidence Ralph Hess is embezzling city money. She gave you the search warrant and will keep quiet until you have Hess in custody. Shall I give the warrant to Wilson and tell him your plan for getting Hess’s gun without tipping him off. Hess won’t suspect you’re going to check it to see if it’s the gun used to kill Glen Lund?”

“Tell Wilson to come to see me. I’ll tell him about my plan.”

“Yes, Sir. Wilson’s the right deputy for this delicate task. He’ll chat Hess up and Hess will give up his gun to get rid of Wilson. He won’t suspect what you have planned.”

When Wilson comes to see the sheriff Sue hears the sheriff giving Wilson instructions. She has faith the sheriff is telling Wilson what she suggested.

Ten minutes after leaving the sheriff’s office Wilson goes into Ralph Hess’s office and says, “Good morning, Ralph. I hate to interrupt your work but I have a story you aren’t going to believe. Before that, did you watch the Tiger game last night? I can’t believe how they managed to blow a four-run lead in the last two innings. Do you think the manager should be fired?”

Hess replies with a puzzled look on his face, “Yes, I watched the game. I couldn’t believe how they fell apart in the last two innings either. Maybe the manager should be fired if he can’t stop a collapse like they had last night. Now what is the story you have I’m not going to believe?”

Wilson says, “Oh, yes. I almost forgot why I came to see you. You aren’t going to believe what the State Police have us doing. There was a murder in Saginaw over a year ago. The local police there haven’t been able to solve the case so they turned it over to the State Police. The State Police are now on a wild goose chase looking for the gun used in the murder. And, would you believe some nutty judge gave them a warrant to check all the 9 mm Glock handguns in half the state. Do they have any idea how dumb that is? I’ll bet there are 50 or more in our county alone. It’s going to take me weeks to run all these down and collect a slug to be sent to the State Crime Lab. We don’t even have the special equipment to collect a slug without damaging it so it can’t be matched to any other slug. What a waste of our time. Most likely the gun used in the murder belonged to some drug dealer in Saginaw or Flint, not one of our citizens.”

“Why are you telling me all this, Wilson?”

“Right, well, when I printed out the list of all our county residents who have 9 mm Glocks registered with the State you are on the list. Since your office is so close I decided to start with you. I know this is stupid and a waste of your time and my time, but I have to ask you for your gun so it can be ruled out for the murder in Saginaw. Do you happen to have it with you or do I have to go to your home with you to get it? We are required to stay with the gun owner after we ask for the gun until we get it. If you have it with you I can have it back to you by lunchtime.”

Hess stares at Wilson and after a few moments hesitation says, “I have it here. Let me give it to you.” 

Wilson watches Hess closely as Hess opens a desk drawer, takes out his gun, and hands it to Wilson saying, “There’s ammo in the clip but not in the chamber. Be careful anyway.”

Wilson says, “Thanks, Ralph, I’m sorry to have to bother you with this silliness, but I have to follow the judge’s warrant. I’ll get this back to you as soon as I can.”

On his way back to the sheriff’s offices Wilson calls Deputy Towner and asks Towner to get a pail of sand and meet him in the basement. Wilson gets two pair of ear protectors and goes to the basement. When Towner arrives with the pail of sand they put on the ear protectors and fire two bullets into the sand. They dump the sand on the floor and sort through it until they retrieve the two slugs. Wilson says, “We may not have all the fancy stuff the State Crime Lab uses but we can do the job anyway. Let’s put these into an evidence bag, label it and go see if you can match these to the slug killing Glen Lund.”

An hour later Wilson goes to Sheriff Ericsson’s office. Sue shows him in immediately when she sees he has a big smile on his face.

Wilson walks in and says excitedly, “I got Hess’s gun and we checked a slug from it against the slug we found in Lund’s car. Do you want to hear how I got Hess to give up his gun without hesitating? It’s a good story.”

“No, Wilson, I want to know if the slugs match. Is Hess’s gun the murder weapon or not?”

“Okay, Towner checked the slugs and he says they match. Of course we’ll have to send them to the State Crime Lab for confirmation that’ll stand up in court, but Towner’s convinced they match.”

“That’s good news, Wilson. How did you and Towner check the slugs so quickly? We don’t have a lab for that sort of thing.”

“We don’t need a fancy lab, Sir. We fired two slugs into a pail of sand in case one got damaged too badly to compare. Both were fine when we took them out of the sand. Towner has experience comparing slugs. He knows what to look for even if he only has a magnifying glass. He’s like Sherlock Holmes.”

“Alright, I don’t need to know all the details. I’ll take your word Hess’s gun is the murder weapon. Now we have him for both embezzling and murder. Let’s go arrest him. Prosecutor Alan Quick issued a warrant for his arrest. I’ll do the arresting. You back me up in case he tries anything funny,” says the sheriff.

An hour later the Sheriff and Wilson are back in the sheriff’s office. The sheriff says to Sue, “We did it. Hess is behind bars. And I did it without any help from Pam Lafave. Before you ask, I did read him his rights, Wilson reminded me and he heard me.”

“Yes I did, and I can testify to that in court,” says Wilson excitedly.

“I doubt the prosecutor will need you to testify, Wilson, but I’m glad you can in case he does.”

Sue says, “Did you have any trouble with Hess?”

The sheriff answers, “No. I had him in cuffs before he knew what was happening. He figured it out though. You should have seen the look he gave Wilson when he realized he had fallen for Wilson’s crazy story. As soon as we got him behind bars he wanted a lawyer. I suggested I call the Mayor for him. At first I thought he was going to say yes, and then he thought about it. He said no, he wants someone else. He must realize Paul Waters would sell him down the river to get even for the mess he made of the city finances.”

“Sheriff, is it okay if I call that new young lawyer Karl Katz? He seems like a nice man and representing Hess would get his career started,” asks Sue.

“Sure, why not. Tell him he can go see Hess in the County Jail. It’s up to Hess if he wants him as his lawyer,” replies Sheriff Ericsson. The sheriff pauses as he thinks. Then he says, “Sue, get Paul Waters on the phone for me. While I’m talking to him please call Trudy Lund and tell her I’ve caught Glen’s killer. I want to keep on the mayor’s good side. If I give him a heads up he’ll have time to decide how he wants to handle the news of the city money being embezzled by Hess. The computer systems administrator’s notes said he found no record of any audit of the city finances for the last few years. If the mayor knew, he’s going to have to answer for being careless for letting Hess get away without the audits the State requires.”

“Yes, Sir. Do you want me to alert Mary Jane Bloom?” asks Sue.

“No, let’s leave her in the dark until her sources tip her off. If she calls you about it tell her she’ll have to make an appointment to see me for the facts. And when you’ve finished talking to Trudy tell the deputies not to say anything to Mary Jane Bloom. They are to tell her she’ll have to talk to me. Let’s see if she’ll apologize for how she’s treated me the last few weeks when she comes to my office.”

Turning to Wilson the sheriff says, “It’s almost time for lunch. Call Towner and ask him to join you and me for lunch to celebrate solving this case right after I talk to the mayor. This is worth driving out to the Dinner Pail. I can taste the pecan pie already. I may have two pieces today. Sue, we may not be back for two or three hours. You can say we are on road patrol.”

“Yes, Sir. I’ll get the mayor on the phone for you, and then I’ll call Trudy. Have a wonderful lunch. Maybe I’ll ask Trudy to lunch today.”

After the sheriff and deputies leave the building Sue calls Pam Lafave. She says, “Pam, it’s over. Everything went just like you suggested. The sheriff is tickled pink thinking he solved the case without your help. How about coming into town and having lunch with Trudy Lund and me. The sheriff will be out celebrating for several hours. We can have a nice lunch at the Harbor Deli and celebrate too.”

Pam replies, “I’d love it. Is it alright with you if I invite Mary Anderson to join us? She played a key part we can’t discuss, but she deserves to celebrate.”

Sue says, “Yes, I’ll call her and invite her while you’re driving in. Mary’s a good friend of Trudy’s. Trudy will like having Mary join us and learning Mary helped catch Hess even if Mary can’t say how. Meet us in 25 minutes at the Harbor Deli.”

17. Sue Drops Hints

Sue is back at her desk after lunch with Pam when the sheriff returns from his lunch. She says, “Did you have a good lunch, Sheriff?”

“Not especially, the new cook at the Corner Bar can’t cook a decent hamburger. He overcooks the meat and puts on too much mustard. I wish they could keep a cook long enough to learn what their customers like. How was your lunch?”

Sue expects his casual question and decides, despite how much it pains her to lie, she's going to just this once. It’ll be worth the guilt to get the sheriff in a better mood. She’ll say she had lunch with someone the sheriff won’t likely talk to, yet will give her an excuse to relate gossip. She replies, “I had a delicious tuna fish sandwich. I had lunch with Violet Green so of course I had to listen to the latest gossip going around the Cut and Curl. You know the people on the City Council have been talking with everyone about the city’s financial problems. Violet’s hearing some people say the problems could be due to someone embezzling money from the city. They’re saying Glen Lund probably discovered the embezzling and got himself killed.”

That’s interesting; I’ve been thinking that could be the motive for killing Glen.”

At the end of the day when Sue is ready to go home she sticks her head in the sheriff’s office and says, “I’m done for the day. I’m going home. You could be right, Sheriff, if Glen discovered someone is embezzling money from the city like the gossips are saying it could be the reason he was killed.”

The sheriff says goodbye to Sue and she sees a puzzling look on his face. She thinks, ‘good, he’s thinking about a new line of investigation’.”

When Sue brings the sheriff his first coffee in his favorite red mug on Thursday morning she finds him in a better mood. As she puts the mug on his desk she says, “Can you imagine what Mary Jane Bloom will have to say if you catch someone embezzling city money?” She leaves his office before he can reply.

An hour later Sue takes the sheriff a second cup of coffee in his blue mug and removes the empty red one. She has trouble remembering if he wants the second coffee in the blue mug or the green one. He glares at her if she gets it wrong. He doesn’t glare so either she got it right or he’s thinking about catching the embezzler. She asks, “Sheriff, wouldn’t an embezzler have to have access to the treasurer’s computer files? “

He picks up his blue mug without noticing the color and says thoughtfully, “Yes, I suppose they would.”

“Do you think his files have evidence of embezzling or could the embezzler fix the files so no one would know? I guess you’d have to examine the files to know.” Again she leaves before he can answer.

At 10:30 Sue brings the green mug of coffee, picks up the empty blue mug, and says, “I can’t stop thinking about city money being embezzled like the gossips are saying. Wouldn’t that young man who’s the computer systems administrator be able to see the treasurer’s files without the treasurer knowing?”

“I believe he can access any of our files without our knowing, Sue,” the sheriff says more cheerfully than he’s been for days.

When the sheriff leaves for lunch Sue calls Pam on Pam’s cell phone. She says, “I’ve dropped almost enough hints. If I know the sheriff he’ll go see the computer systems administrator and have him access Hess’s files. I have to give him one more hint after lunch so he’ll know he has to see both bank statements and financial reports.”

“Good going, Sue. I suspect a new line of investigation is beginning, thanks to you. I have a way to make sure the systems administrator knows what to do.” says Pam.

The sheriff returns from lunch smiling. Sue asks, “Better lunch today, Sir?”

“Yes, I told the waitress to tell that new cook how I like my burgers. She did and he finally did it right,” the sheriff replies in a happy voice.

Sue adds, “That’s good news. I’ve been thinking. How would you detect embezzling? Would you have to compare bank statements to financial reports?”

“I suppose that’s one way,” the sheriff says as he goes into his office. A few minutes later he asks Sue to have the computer systems administrator come to his office.

Sue says, “Right away, Sir.” She thinks, ‘Finally, now I have to keep him on track until he’s got proof of Hess’s embezzling. Then I’ll have to lead him to ask Judge Laura Mae Hopper for a warrant to get Hess’s 9 mm Glock and see if it fired the bullet that killed Glen.’

Later Sue listens from her office to the sheriff’s conversation with the computer systems administrator. She hears the sheriff ask the young man to bring him copies of Hess’s financial reports and corresponding bank statements and not let Hess know he’s accessed Hess’s files. She’s surprised to hear the young man agree without asking why the sheriff wants the information.

That evening Sue calls Pam. She says, “Pam, the sheriff asked the systems administrator to get copies of Hess’s files. The young man agreed without asking why the sheriff wants them.”

Pam replies, “Good, now when the sheriff has the files he needs to compare the bank statement against the financial reports. He will find the expenses in the financial reports don’t match corresponding checks in the bank statement for many of the expenses. It’s the difference that’s being embezzled.”

“I’ll make sure he checks the expenses against the bank statement checks, Pam,” says Sue. Then she adds, “When the sheriff has proof of Hess’s embezzling I’ll get him to investigate Hess for Glen’s murder. Do you want me to keep you in the loop, Pam?”

“No need unless the Sheriff hits another dead end, Sue. I think you can handle it from here.”

The next morning when Sue arrives at work Deputy Wilson is waiting for her. He asks her, “Is the sheriff’s mood improving? All the deputies want to know.”

Sue replies, “Yes, he’s on a new investigation. I think he’s trying to show the city’s financial problems are due to someone embezzling city money. If it’s true it could be the treasurer. You know the sheriff. If he thinks Hess is guilty of embezzling he'll want to confront him. I’m worried Hess might have a gun. Would you see if he’s registered any guns with the state? He might even have a concealed carry permit. He handles a lot of money so he may think he needs protection. Let’s not let the sheriff be surprised.”

“Thanks for the heads up, Sue. I’ll check to see if Hess registered any guns. If he has, I won’t let the sheriff confront him alone. If you think the sheriff is about to confront Hess, call me. I’ll give him backup. If I find out Hess has guns I’ll let you know. Maybe you can talk the sheriff into requesting a search warrant. Since Lund was working with Hess we should check any guns he has to see if the bullet that killed Lund matches one of them. Maybe the sheriff should have considered Hess a suspect earlier.”

About mid-morning when Sue is about to take Sheriff Ericsson his second coffee the computer systems administrator comes in, hands her a large envelope, and asks her to give it to the sheriff. She gives the sheriff his coffee and the envelope. When he sees it’s from the systems administrator he asks Sue to close the door and not let him be disturbed. She leaves and closes his door.

A few minutes later Deputy Wilson peeks in her office, sees the sheriff’s door closed, and comes in. He tells her in a quiet voice that Hess has registered a 9 mm Glock and has a concealed carry permit for it.  He says, “I mentioned to the sheriff when we found Lund’s body that Hess lives close by. I thought it made sense if Lund met a drug dealer before going to Hess’s. Now, I think if Hess is embezzling money and killed Lund to keep it quiet he dumped the body at the picnic site because it’s close enough to walk back to his house.”

Sue says, “You could be right. I’ll tell the sheriff your theory when he’s through checking the financial reports. Thanks for finding out about Hess’s gun.”

An hour later the sheriff opens his door and calls Sue in. She sees he’s excited. He says, “I’ve done it. I’ve found the embezzler. It’s Hess alright. I’m going to his office and tell him I’ve caught him. I’ll arrest him.”

“Please slow down, Sheriff. You must have asked Deputy Wilson to check to see if anyone close to Lund has registered guns. Wilson came in this morning while you were analyzing whatever the systems administrator brought you. Wilson said to tell you Hess has a 9 mm Glock and a concealed carry permit. You should be careful if you’re going to accuse Hess of embezzling. Can you wait until Wilson can back you up? Or maybe it’s worth getting a search warrant for Hess’s gun to see if it fired the bullet that killed Lund. If it is you’ll be a hero for solving both Lund’s murder and catching the embezzler. That would fix Mary Jane Bloom’s wagon. You could get Hess’s gun without letting him know you’ve got him for embezzling if you play your cards right. What if you send deputies to get Hess’s gun and they tell him you’ve had a request from the State Police to check all the registered 9 mm handguns to see if any match a gun used in a murder in Saginaw. Hess will know his gun isn’t going to match so he shouldn’t be spooked into doing something stupid. What do you think?”

“I think you’re onto a good plan. Let me think about it over lunch. You’re right as usual, there’s no hurry. If I play my cards right, as you say, I may be able to solve two crimes at once. If I do I can’t wait to read Mary Jane Bloom’s column on my success.”

Sheriff Ericsson returns from lunch whistling cheerfully. He says, “I’ve thought about it and I see if I’m patient I can get Hess for embezzling and if he killed Lund because Lund found out, I can get him for the murder. I remember now, Glen’s phone log showed he called Hess rather than Hess calling him as Hess claimed. I’ll bet Lund intended to tell Hess he found out about the embezzling. Could be Lund intended to tell Hess before turning him in, never expecting Hess would kill to cover up his embezzling. Wilson mentioned Hess’s house is close to where we found Lund’s body. Close enough to walk back home after leaving Lund and his car at the picnic site. I had it all along, just didn’t put it together until now.”

“I knew you’d figure it out, Sheriff.”

“Okay, let’s put my plan in motion. Get a warrant for Hess’s 9 mm from Judge Hopper. I’ll go see the prosecutor. When I tell him I have proof of Hess’s embezzling city funds he’ll give me an arrest warrant. This time I’ve got more than speculation.”

“Yes, Sir.” Sue thinks, ‘Now it’s his plan.  That’ll keep him happy for a while’.

16. Suspicions Confirmed

During her lunch hour, the following Monday Mary calls Pam and says, “My plan worked, Pam. I called two companies doing business with the city this morning and said I am the secretary to the Assistant Treasurer. I asked for duplicate invoices saying we are preparing for an audit and discovered we’ve misplaced their invoice for April. They bought my story claiming we will fail the audit if we don’t have their invoice to match the check we sent them. They agreed to overnight a duplicate so we’ll have it for the audit I claimed we’re having on Thursday. They are sending the invoices to my Courthouse mail address. No one will see them but me.  I should have the invoices we need for proving Hess’s embezzlement by tomorrow morning.”

“Good job, Mary. Did you learn if Hess has a registered handgun?”

“Yes I did. He registered a 9 mm Glock and has a concealed carry permit for it, just as you suspected.”

“Okay, good to know. Call me as soon as you have received the invoices and checked them against the checks Ralph sent and what he listed in the monthly financial report. I have errands in the morning but I’ll have my cell phone with me.”

Wednesday morning Pam is grocery shopping at the Pineville IGA. She gets a call from Mary about 10:00. Mary says, “Pam, I got the duplicate invoices this morning and checked them against the checks sent. They match the checks and not the inflated amounts Ralph put in the financial reports. That proves he’s falsifying the financial reports to cover his embezzling city funds.”

Pam replies, “As we suspected. Thanks for your efforts, Mary, I’ll get Sue Johnson involved and she’ll have the sheriff on the right track in no time. I’ll keep your name out of it, don’t worry.”

Pam finishes buying groceries and puts them in her car. She calls Erin at the Cut and Curl salon. When Erin’s on the phone she says, “Remember when you were cutting my hair the last time? I said I might need you to set up a meeting for me with Sue Johnson without the sheriff knowing about it. I would call Sue myself but I don’t want the sheriff to know I’m talking to Sue. If I call and the sheriff asks about the call she would never make up a story. She can’t bring herself to do something like that. You can say you’re calling about her next perm appointment as well as setting up lunch with me. If the sheriff asks she can tell him the call is about her perm appointment. Please ask her to meet me at the Harbor Deli at noon today. I have important news she needs to relay to the sheriff without him knowing it comes from me.”

“I’ll call Sue as soon as you hang up, Pam. Glad to help even if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Thank you, Erin. You’re a good friend. Goodbye.”

Pam looks at her watch and sees she has enough time to take her groceries home, put them away, and get back to the Harbor Deli in time for lunch with Sue. She can think of how best to inform Sue while driving home and back.

Pam is sitting at a table in the back corner of the Harbor Deli where her conversation won’t be overheard when Sue arrives a few minutes after noon. Sue comes to the table, sits down, and whispers, “I assume you have a private message for me, Pam.”

“Yes I do, Sue. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice. I’ve heard the sheriff eliminated all the people involved with Glen Lund’s shady land deals as suspects in Glen’s murder.”

“He has and he says he’s at a dead end in the investigation. Mary Jane Bloom’s columns are driving him up a tree. He can’t let it go. I wish I could help him because he’s making my days difficult.”

“That’s why I’m meeting with you, Sue. I have some information to share with you. It can put the sheriff on the right track if you handle it right, which I know you’ll do. I won’t share how I learned what I’m going to tell you. It could get an innocent person in trouble. Well, maybe not completely innocent, but only unethical, not guilty of something illegal.”

A waitress with pink and blue streaks in her dark hair comes to take their order. Pam orders a tuna fish sandwich and ice tea. Sue says she’ll have the same. When the waitress is out of hearing, Sue leans close to Pam and whispers, “Want hair like that?”

Pam says, hair like that violated our dress code on the Grand Rapids Police Department and I’ve never wanted it anyway. I’m quite happy with my plain black hair.”

“Nor me,” says Sue. But I admit I have Erin touch up my graying temples now.”

“Working for Sheriff Ericsson would give me gray hair too,” Pam says chuckling and then continues, “I learned Ralph Hess is embezzling city money. He’s been doing it for some time and he’s continuing. That I know for sure. I don’t know if Glen Lund found out when he started working as Assistant Treasurer and I don’t know if Hess murdered Glen to keep his embezzling from being exposed. It’s a plausible theory, determining if it’s true is an investigation the sheriff can conduct. First he should get proof of Hess’s embezzling. He needs to compare the treasurer’s monthly financial reports with the monthly statements from the city’s checking account. He’ll need to access Hess’s computer files and the bank’s web site. The person who can do it for him without Hess knowing is the computer systems administrator. The sheriff can prove Hess’s embezzling before he approaches Hess. Even if it turns out Hess isn’t the murderer, arresting him for embezzling city funds will help the city and the sheriff’s reputation. If the sheriff meets with Hess he should know Hess has a concealed carry permit for a 9 mm Glock. Do you think you can put the sheriff on Hess’s trail and let him know Hess has a gun without letting him know where you got the information?”

“I can do better than that, Pam. I’ll feed the sheriff clues in a way he’ll think the new line of investigation is completely his idea. That’ll get him out of the doldrums and make my days better, not to mention the days of the deputies. They’ve been avoiding the sheriff while he’s been in his funk.”

“There’s one more thing, Sue. There may be a way for the sheriff to be a real local hero. I know Hess is the embezzler. He could be the killer. If he is, the sheriff can solve both crimes at once if he does it right. Once the sheriff has satisfied himself that Hess is the embezzler he can investigate the possibility of Hess being the killer without spooking Hess. Suppose he gets a warrant for Hess’s gun but tells Hess it’s for a routine check to see if the gun is one involved in a crime in Flint or Saginaw. A crime that Hess knows his gun can’t possibly be connected with. He’ll give up his gun without a question because if he protests it’ll be suspicious. Getting Hess’s gun allows firing a bullet to compare with the bullet that killed Glen. I assume the sheriff found the bullet.  If he did and there's a match the sheriff has solved both crimes and Hess won’t know he’s caught until he’s arrested. Do you think Sheriff Ericsson has the patience to play it like that?”

“I should be able to get him to see the glory he’ll get from solving both cases.” 

“I knew I could count on you, Sue. Let me buy your lunch.”

“No, let me buy your lunch, Pam. I’m the one who will benefit from the sheriff having a new line of investigation. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised Ralph Hess is embezzling from the city. It may explain why city expenses seem too high, as I’ve heard some council people believe.”