“We know what you’re doing, Detective!” Liz Monroe paused as Tony shifted in stance slightly, but with award winning body language at being interrupted. “You… and these others are railroading Lisa! You have no right to incarcerate her without due process. That ends now!”
Nick stifled the amusement factor flowing through him with grim determination. The angular blonde haired Liz, dressed in a navy blue dress suit held her fists tightly clenched in front of her on the table. She looked ready to pummel the table into firewood. Tony waited patiently for Liz to finish the tirade. Nick could tell Allen smelled something cooking besides outrage. Yep. Allen knows when the family is about to become barbeque. He reached over to cover Liz’s hand with his own. Dark brown hair with only the casual streak of gray at the temples, and only slightly soft featured because of an unflattering rounded chin, Allen shook his head imperceptibly at Liz who quieted.
“Go on Detective Donatello,” Allen said.
Tony allowed a slight Caruso knowing smile. “Very well. I will be short. Here is a copy of Lisa Monroe’s confession to being the ringleader in numerous jewelry store robberies using automatic weapons. As you can see, she has agreed to cooperate fully with us, and has waved her right to an attorney. Extending a courtesy to you, we will allow your presence in the next phase of questioning. We know this string of robberies to be a method of obtaining money for a larger score, probably a drug shipment. Lisa needed time to think things through which we are giving her. If she doesn’t produce actionable intel we will be unable to intercede on her behalf at court. The two of you will not be able to speak with her in private, but we will allow you to urge her to help us fully. That will be the only way we can help her. Do you understand and agree to our terms?”
“Yes. We would like to be with her during this phase,” Allen replied. “Can she expect a significantly reduced sentence for her cooperation?”
Tony shifted, looking at the ceiling for a moment with a deep breath before turning his attention again on the Monroes. “We will do what we can, but you must understand she is guilty of numerous armed robberies, three deaths, and threatening the life of a federal officer. Hopefully, she still has the goods from the other robberies, and you may provide recompense to the victims. The leniency will depend then on the disposition of the court. These were not victimless crimes. If you’re ready, we’d like to begin.”
The Monroes glanced at each other and stood. “We’re ready,” Liz said.
Nick believed the Monroes were thinking a six month suspended sentence while Nick was thinking of fifteen to twenty, out in ten on good behavior. He was sure though if everything panned out with the drug connection, Lisa would unfortunately only get a couple years - which would be no punishment at all for what could very well have happened in the commission of those robberies.
Later, in the interrogation room with Lisa, her parents urged her to tell all. They explained to do otherwise at this point would be foolhardy given the fact she had already confessed to all of the suspected crimes. Lisa then outlined a plan to buy into one of the largest scores of Oxycontin ever in the area. A shipment coming into port from Pakistan would disappear when in route through Seattle. The buy in was a hundred thousand apiece with twenty separate buyers. Street value for the shipment of a hundred and forty thousand units would be in the twenty million dollar range.
To Nick, this began to shape into something far beyond, especially with Pakistan as the originator. “Did you hear any names mentioned, Lisa?”
“Only one. The guy at the top has some weirdo name he uses… ah… Jahan… Jahannam I think. The low level guys we met with were white, but had heavy accents.”
“When they spoke to each other, did their language sound like this?” Nick spoke an Albanian Northern dialect called Gheg.
Lisa’s eyes widened. “Yes… that sounds just like it.”
Uh oh. “We have a problem,” Nick said. “That’s an Albanian dialect spoken in Kosovo and Northern Albania called Gheg. It doesn’t much matter; but an Albanian drug gang led by a guy calling himself Jahannam, which means ‘Hell’ in Arabic, makes me wonder where the money received from selling the Pakistani shipment is going. I will have to make a few calls. This could have more far reaching effects than a drug bust gone bad. I’ll be right back. Keep going, Lisa. Try to tell the detectives as much about these white guys with bad accents as you can remember. Anything you noticed may be a key.”
Nick stepped out of the room. He called Paul Gilbrech.