The Copper and Arsenic CaseThe telephone rang, jolting thirty-one year old Detective William Redmond out of a sound sleep. Grumbling, he reached over and picked it up while glancing at the clock: 4:17 AM.
"Hello?"
"Detective Redmond? This is Officer Dove. We just got an anonymous call about someone selling cheap jewelry downtown. He thinks it's probably fake. It could have something to do with the rumors we've been hearing about that counterfeiting operation."
"Okay. I'll be right in," William replied. He hurriedly got dressed and headed to the police station. Upon arriving, his assistant, Officer Betsy Dove described the situation. Recently, a huge shipment of copper had been hijacked, and rumors had been floating around that it was being used by a local mob to make "gold" jewelry and maybe money.
William noticed that Officer Dove seemed very excited. She was twenty-seven, and had only become his assistant about a week ago; this would be her first big opportunity to work with him on a case. He hoped she could be trusted.
* * *
Lucille Richards rode up the freight elevator to the third floor of the abandoned warehouse. This place should have been her pride and joy, but she wished longingly for a cleaner, more luxurious place to have her headquarters. Soon, however, if all went well, she would be rich and would never have to worry about the risks of running a criminal operation again. At least she didn't have to climb stairs.
Getting off the elevator, she surveyed her "employees." Well, Tom Andrews wasn't really her sidekick; he was more like her equal. This plan was Lucille's idea, but she couldn't have gotten started without Tom. He knew just about everything about owning a criminal business.
Besides Tom, there was Michael Passo, third in command after Lou and Tom. Passo was all right, she supposed, but he tended to overlook the small, important details. But Tom had hired him, so he wasn't Lou's problem. Then there was Lucille's cousin, Bubba, who was just nineteen and couldn't overlook an opportunity like this one offered by his beautiful and scheming older cousin.
Lucille knew they all looked up to her, and she was proud of it. At six foot one, she was quite overbearing. With natural red hair and bright green eyes, at twenty-two it was way too easy to catch mens' eyes.
"Lou! Welcome back," Tom said, coming toward her with a stranger behind him.
"Who's that?" Lou shrieked, "We can't have just any old people strolling in here! Don't tell me the police have found us already! We've barely gotten started!"
"Calm down, Lucille," Tom said gently," This is Ben Floyd. He wants to help out. He only wants ten percent of the cash we bring in."
Lucille groaned. Her thirty-five percent was looking smaller and smaller. "Fine," she snapped, "He just better stay out of my way and not cause any problems."
* * *
The next day, Detective Redmond and Officer Dove were sitting in William's office with William's good friend and computer whiz, Jeremiah Harris. They were discussing Jeremiah's findings on the Copper Case, as it had become known. So far, all they had was that the shipment had bee hijacked six days ago, and its contents were possibly being sold off as cheap "gold" jewelry in the slums of the city. William had checked this out, and the anonymous caller had been proven correct; there was indeed such jewelry circulating on the streets. Where it had come from was unknown, or at least carefully covered up.
"Okay." Jeremiah said, "We know that is possible to soak copper in an NaOH solution, and, when applied to heat, will turn into brass, which looks much like gold."
"And if you were just some guy on the streets," Betsy said, "you wouldn't be able to tell brass from gold. It would take a jeweler or chemist to see the difference."
"Exactly," William said, looking at his assistant with new respect. She certainly knew what she was talking about.
Late that afternoon, William was called to the front of the police station. There was a man there who wished to speak with him. Short and thin, the man looked as though he would rather not have been there at all, and especially not to talk to the best detective on the force.
"Please follow me," William said to the man. Once back in his office he faced the man and took out paper and pencil. "Now," he said, "You have information on the copper hijacking? May I have your name?"
"Ben Floyd," he replied shortly.
"Floyd . . . ," William thought for a moment, "Ah, you were in here a few months ago for robbery, I believe. In trouble again?"
"Maybe," Floyd said suspiciously, "But I have information that might help you." He hesitated. William waited. Finally, he continued, "I may know where all that copper went. See, I got myself hired into a small "jewelry" business." Another long pause. "I won't say anything else if it'll get me in trouble."
"Don't worry," William said, "You just accidentally stumbled upon a criminal operation. I'll do what I can to keep you out of trouble if you give me information."
"All right, then. Check the abandoned warehouse on Oak Street. You'll find what you need. Just, please, keep my name out of this. I want to stay anonymous."
"I will. Thank you," Detective Redmond said. After Floyd had gone, he called Officer Dove to his office and told her what he had learned.
"We should go check this out," he said, "It sounds legitimate. It's about 7:30. Should we go now even though it is dark?"
"We might as well," replied Betsy, "If we put it off, Floyd might warn them and give whoever's there time to clear out."
"Good thinking; I agree completely. Let's go."
* * *
"Where were you?" Lucille demanded, "I told you not to leave without telling me first!"
"Sorry. I had to go check on something," Floyd mumbled. Then more loudly: "I heard some guy saying something about the cops coming here this evening. Maybe we should leave for awhile."
Lucille looked at him suspiciously. "The cops know we're here? How can that be? And how would you know?"
"Do you think we should take some of this with us?" Tom asked, gesturing to the equipment used for turning copper to brass.
"It'll be fine," Lucille replied sharply, as though trying to convince herself, " we couldn't take it all anyway. Besides, the cops won't come. Ben is just trying to scare us," she said scornfully.
The four of them went down to the back of the building and headed for their cars. Passo, Bubba, and Ben drove away into the night, while Lucille and Tom got into Lou's black Porsche. Lucille cruised down the street and parked at the curb within sight of the warehouse.
"This is just great," Lucille said sarcastically, "things were going so well, and all of a sudden the cops just might know we're here, coincidentally right after we hire that Ben Floyd. If I find out he tipped them off, I'll kill him!"
"Calm down, Lou," Tom said reassuringly, "if this operation doesn't work out, you and I can leave and start over somewhere else."
"If only it were so simple," Lucille said regretfully. They grew quiet, each wondering if the other was as nervous as his or herself was.
* * *
Detective Redmond and Officer Dove drove slowly toward the abandoned warehouse. About two blocks away, William turned off the headlights and crept slowly down the dark streets to avoid being noticed by anyone who might be watching. William parked his car about one hundred yards from the warehouse.
"We should walk from here," he said to Betsy, "We don't know if anyone is inside, and we don't to warn them we're coming. If anything happens to either of us, the other will quickly call for back up. Understood?"
Betsy nodded, looking quite nervous.
"Are you all right?" William asked, "If you'd rather not come, you can wait here unless I need help."
"No," she said firmly, "If you go, I go."
They quietly got out of the car and started for the warehouse. Betsy hung back a little, not sure of herself, but she tried to appear confident. They went around the back, hoping to surprise anyone inside. William tried the door. It was locked, so he prepared to kick it in.
"Wait!" Officer Dove whispered sharply, "There's a window open up there," she said pointing to the third floor. "We can climb up the fire escape and go in there instead of making noise by kicking in the door."
Detective Redmond hurried over and nodded his approval. They helped each other up onto the bottom of the fire escape and headed for the third floor. They cautiously looked in the window, and climbed in when they saw no danger. Shining his flashlight around the room, William saw what he was looking for. There were several large containers of NaOH and heating elements as well.
Over by the wall were metal cabinets, which were sturdily locked. He quickly picked the locks, and inside he found copper. Stacks of blocks of copper filled the cabinets completely full. Each one was marked by the name of the company whose truck had been hijacked.
"Well, here's their lab for turning copper to "gold"," William said, "Will you take pictures, Officer? Now we need to find out who's running this operation. We'll put 24-hour surveillance on this building and track down Ben Floyd."
Betsy finished taking the pictures and handed the camera to William. "We can get Jeremiah Harris to research Floyd. He may not have any links to this case in his records, though, but we can also ask around downtown and see if anyone knows anything about where the jewelry is coming from."
"Right," William replied, "Let's put surveillance on this place immediately."
* * *
"Look!" Lucille whispered loudly to Tom, who jerked awake from his half-sleep.
"What?" He asked groggily.
"Tail lights! Do you suppose those are the cops?"
Tom looked after the retreating car. "Could be. Let's make sure everything is all right inside."
They cautiously returned to the warehouse and called Bubba, Passo, and Ben, and the first two arrived quickly. The four of them scrutinized the room and noticed that the window they had left open on the back wall was opened further than it had been. They all stood silently, realizing that their hideout had been trespassed upon.
Finally Lucille spoke, stating the obvious. "Well, I guess the cops were here. What'll we do? This operation is ruined! And where's Ben? Trying to hide from me, I suppose. He told them. I knew it! Just wait till I get my hands on him!" She shook with what was no doubt a combination of rage and fear.
"Well it's been nice working with you all," Passo said. He picked up his things and disappeared down the elevator.
* * *
Two days later, Officer Dove entered the police station with a man in tow. She spoke to Detective Redmond: "I arrested this man after witnesses told me he was part of the counterfeit jewelry operation. He is Michael Passo, and says he knows Ben Floyd, whom we still have yet to find."
"Excellent work, Officer," Detective Redmond said with admiration, "Now Mr. Passo, do you know this man?" he asked, holding out a picture.
Passo hesitated, "Uh, yeah, that's Ben Floyd. Where'd you get that?"
"He came to us with information regarding the copper hijacking. I think you know what I'm talking about."
Passo looked uncomfortable. "I don't know what you're talking about. I mean, I was selling the stuff, but I had no idea it wasn't genuine."
William thought for a moment. "Who are you working for?"
Passo glared at him, "I'm not going to say anything else. I want a lawyer."
* * *
Late that night Lucille was alone in the darkened warehouse. She had just called Ben, demanding that he come immediately. She wondered what was taking him so long. Suddenly, he appeared from the elevator.
"Where were you? Lucille demanded.
"Sorry. I think the cops are watching this place; there's a car sitting down the street that shouldn't be there. I had to be extra careful."
Lucille stood up suddenly and slammed him against the wall. Shocked, he didn't try to fight her. "And whose fault is that?" She whispered harshly to him, "You told them, didn't you? Don't deny it." She let go of him abruptly. "Here. Drink this," she said, handing him a glass of soda. He looked at her suspiciously, then slowly drank the whole cup.
"Thanks, but it tastes funny," he said stupidly.
Lucille smiled menacingly. "You're pathetic," she told him, "You'd drink the NaOH if I told you to." She backed away and gestured to the elevator. "Get out of here. Don't ever expect to come back." He silently obeyed.
Lucille went over to the elevator control box, and shut it off when it was about halfway down. "Bye, you little traitor," she muttered to herself. Going quietly down the stairs, she left the warehouse, and, keeping to the shadows, she disappeared into the night.
* * *
Detective Redmond and Officer Dove were posted in the office building across the street from the warehouse. So far, nothing noticeable had occurred, but that was bound to change. Suddenly, Betsy stood up and pointed to the side of the warehouse.
"Look there," she said, "I saw movement."
"Are you sure?" William replied.
"Yes, I'm positive. Strange that we didn't see any lights on. Maybe we should go check the place again."
The two police officers went slowly across the street and entered the warehouse. When they tried to use the elevator, however, the power seemed to be out. Instead, they took the stairs, being wary of every small noise. When they reached the criminals' hideout, William immediately noticed that the elevator control box was open.
"That's strange," he said, puzzled, "The rest of the power is on, but someone deliberately turned off the power to the elevator." He switched it back on, and the freight elevator rose to the level they were on. When the doors opened, the two of them gasped in shock. There in front of them was Ben Floyd, dead in the elevator.
"Arsenic poisoning," the medical examiner said positively. "Estimated time of death is about fifteen minutes before you arrived."
"Darn," William said, "then we just missed the killer."
"Don't give up hope," the forensics man that was also present said, "we found a cup with traces of arsenic, and there were two sets of fingerprints on it: Floyd's and someone else's."
"Good," Detective Redmond said, "we can run them against our criminal database. We might get lucky and get a match."
Later, Jeremiah Harris and William were at the computer going through the files.
"I found a match," Jeremiah said, "the prints belong to a Lucille Richards who lives here in town. She was in trouble two years ago for her suspected conspiracy in the poisoning of a co-worker, but the charges were dropped. It looks like we've found our suspect in Floyd's murder."
"Thanks, Jeremiah," William said, "We couldn't have done it without you
* * *
A few days later, Lucille came out of hiding briefly and returned to her warehouse hideout. When she arrived, she found that the police had reclaimed all the copper, and all her equipment was gone. Devastated that her operation had gone under, she drove aimlessly around town trying to decide what to do.
A newspaper stand caught her eye, so she stopped, only to see the headline:
Police Search for Suspect Accused of Murdering Ben Floyd:
Lucille Richards' fingerprints link her to case.
Realizing she couldn't stay here, she left, thinking, "Better luck next time. I'll get rich if it's the last thing I do."
She contacted her good friend Tom, and told him the news. They decided that with new identities they could begin a new life together somewhere far away from here.
* Epilogue *
Lucille Richards and Tom Andrews were never heard of or seen again, but Lucille did eventually get rich but through less criminal means. The police later arrested Lucille's cousin, Bubba, and he and Michael served jail sentences, but neither of them ever told about Lucille and Tom.
Detective Redmond and Officer Dove became very good friends and solved many cases together, though William always wondered what had become of Lucille Richards.