Cold Case 8-13: End Ron

[valrush]

Nick Vera circled Levi in the second holding room. “You never told us you got accused of stealing the day Ron was killed.”

“I didn’t tell you about it because it was crap!” insisted Levi.

“Save it! Annie Roth gave you up! She told us how Ron confronted you the day he was killed! He said you were in his office and you stole a white box from his desk; a white box that was commonly known to contain Ron’s handgun!” Vera explained.

“It wasn’t commonly known to me! I only ever heard rumors about that gun! I never saw it let alone put a hand on it!”

“Well, someone did! We found two unique sets of prints on that gun; that tells us that somebody gave the gun to someone else! We know that you were working with Annie against Ron,” Vera told him.

“To force him out of the company; I already told you that!” Levi responded.

“But that wasn’t going to happen anymore, because you lost your leverage against him! Annie told us about Kramer Roofing Services too, but we’re having some trouble finding records for them from back then!” Vera informed.

Levi shook his head. “You’re not going to find any records for them; that place doesn’t exist. It’s how embezzlement works. You create a false vendor that issues false bills that the company pays as though it were a legitimate transaction. But all the while the money is going into the thief’s pocket.”

“It must have been really embarrassing for you. You were locked in a power struggle with Ron for some time from what we’ve heard, and you went to the mat for Carol Shannon. It must have killed you to find out he was right all along; I’ll bet you got so sick of his smugness that you couldn’t take it anymore,” Vera insisted.

A smile suddenly came to Levi’s face. “You are so far off base that it’s pathetic.”

“Oh really, why don’t you enlighten me then?” Vera asked.

“Carol only did the books. She wasn’t in charge of hiring anyone. That was Ron’s first mistake,” Levi explained.

Vera’s head went up. “You’re saying Ron was the one stealing?”

“I couldn’t just go to Carol because she would just deny it. I needed proof so I spent the day in the office going over the accounts for the new factory,” Levi explained. “It was a good forgery; I’ll give him that. He had paperwork drafted to look like contracts, time tables, itemized bills, and all of it on what appeared to be official ‘Kramer Roofing Services’ stationary. Or so I thought until I called the number on the letterhead and found out that it belonged to a Laundromat in Chinatown.”

“It never occurred to anyone to hire an outside accountant to double check some of this stuff?” Vera asked.

“A lot of companies didn’t think much about annual audits or internal accounting controls back then. Regulations were less strict. The dot-com bust, Enron, WorldCom: these were still years down the road,” Levi explained. “But that was Ron’s second mistake, telling me he hired Mr. Hyat. There was no engagement letter anywhere in his files.”

“Engagement letter?” asked Vera.

“If you had someone prepare your taxes before, you know what that is. When someone hires an accountant, the first step in the process is that the accountant has them sign an engagement letter; it’s essentially a contract stating that the accountant has been authorized to perform services on someone’s behalf,” Levi explained. “Anyway, I couldn’t find such a letter from Mr. Hyat anywhere in our files. So I called him to see if he had it, and of course he didn’t. According to him, he had never even heard of Ron Geseppi or Ableworks. That was all the proof I needed. I gathered up all the information I had, and I presented it to Walter Sherman.”

“So your alibi is a guy we can’t speak to,” Vera added.

“Well, it’s the truth,” Levi replied.

“Or maybe Annie didn’t give you the gun. Maybe Carol did; I’m sure she wanted revenge after being framed the way she was,” Vera added.

“No. I don’t know what Carol was doing, but when I started piecing things together I figured she must have been on the same trail I was,” Levi informed.

“And what gave you that idea?” asked Vera.

“It was before I spoke to Annie that morning. It was before I had even entered the building; I overheard a phone call…”

[valrush]

Shawn Colvin: “Sunny Came Home”


“I had just pulled up to the building. I remember I had just turned my engine off when I heard a voice. It was Carol on one of those clunky mid-1990s style flip phones. I don’t know who she was talking to, but I could hear her side of the conversation clearly. ‘Yeah. … … I’m not disagreeing with you there, but … Look, he’s definitely gone off the rails lately, but this. … … Yeah, I’ve been in Ron’s office; I know where it is, but … … I don’t know. … … You can’t possibly guarantee that. … … I just see this thing blowing up in our faces. There are a million things that could go wrong. … … I guess that’s true. … You have a point there; what do we have to lose at this point?’ Then she closed the phone and entered the building.”

[valrush]

“Then as I started figuring things out I remembered something Carol said at the picnic. When she spoke to him at the picnic, she mentioned something about having money for buildings they couldn’t afford. I thought maybe she was on the verge of discovering Ron’s scam,” Levi explained.

“You don’t know who she called,” Vera added.

Levi shook his head. “I assumed it was Walter; that’s the only thing that would have made sense. But I brought it up when I spoke to him later that night; he said he hadn’t heard from Carol since the picnic. So I tried to reach her. I ended up leaving a message at her place, and her cell phone just kept giving me busy signals.”

There was a knock on the door and Andrew stuck his head inside. “The boss just called from the crime lab. He says they have something.”

[valrush]

Vera, Miller, and Darius arrived at the crime lab where Stillman was seated at a computer and talking on his phone. “Well, hopefully the fallout from the DA will be minimal. … No Scotty, I think we can manage one more night without you. Tell Lilly she can head home too, and I’ll call you if that changes.” He ended the call.

“You said you had something for us?” asked Darius.

“IAFIS came back empty on the trigger, but we got a match on the barrel. Guess who got popped for drunk and disorderly conduct in sophomore year at Temple,” John said turning the screen. The mug shot read ‘Carol Lester’, but it was definitely her.

“She wasn’t looking for any paperwork in Ron’s office she was looking for Ron’s gun,” insisted Vera. “Bring her in. It’s time to find out what else this accountant left off the books.”

[valrush]

5

Scotty heard a knock at the door to his apartment. He opened the door and found Lilly on the other side. “Lilly. Well, if this isn’t the definition of déjà vu. Only this time my nuts aren’t in a sling.”

“Are you sure about that? Do you really think Mr. Reese will back off?” asked Lilly.

“He has no need for me now. I did him a favor; I got his brother out of prison. It’s done,” insisted Scotty.

“I wish I had your confidence,” Lilly responded.

“Why would he go back on me now? I gave him what he wanted,” Scotty replied.

“Did you? You don’t know what this guard wants! How do you know he won’t call in another favor? How do you know he won’t sell the information to another guard? How do you know he won’t just turn you in for kicks? I can’t even imagine what the DA might be thinking!” Lilly shouted.

“Well, I’ll deal with that when it happens!” insisted Scotty.

“You can’t possibly be this naïve! This guy owns you, Scotty! He owns us now!” Lilly informed.

“I told you that I would do my best to keep the fallout in your direction to a minimum!” Scotty responded.

“What if you can’t?” asked Lilly.

“I didn’t ask for your help with this, Lilly! You came to my place and volunteered!” insisted Scotty.

Lilly through her hands in the air. “Whatever. I didn’t come here to argue.”

“Then why did you come here?” Scotty asked.

“Well, we’ve been through hell these past few weeks. I wanted to see how you were now that the crisis has been averted,” Lilly explained.

“Is that really all?” asked Scotty. Lilly closed the door behind her as she moved toward Scotty and kissed him. “Okay … again really?”

“Well, you did say it was déjà vu all over again,” insisted Lilly as they kissed again.

[valrush]

Vera and Miller had Carol Shannon in holding. “Do you remember a Friday night in March, 1981 outside of a place called Tiki Bob’s Cantina?” asked Vera.

“One Doris Leitner might. According to her someone matching your description kicked the crap out of her car and blew cookies all over the back seat that night,” Miller added. Then she placed a copy of Carol’s mug shot on the table. “Do you recognize her?”

“Yeah, I was a drunk, stupid kid that night. What does this have to do with Ron?” asked Carol.

“Technically you were an adult, and that is why your prints are still in the system,” Miller explained.

“We were able to match them to Ron’s gun,” Vera added.

“That’s not possible. I didn’t shoot Ron,” insisted Carol.

“We never said they were on the trigger,” Vera added. Then he removed another photograph from the file on the table. It was of a SIG Sauer P238. “We found a thumb and an index fingerprint on the barrel of this weapon. They match the ones we have on file for you.”

“That’s forensic proof that you had contact with the murder weapon. It tells us that you handed the gun off to someone,” Miller explained.

“Who were you working with?” asked Vera.

“Nobody,” insisted Carol.

“Stall all you want, but we know you wanted him gone. From what we’ve heard it sounds like you weren’t the only one,” Miller revealed.

“Levi Clarkson filled us in on all the drama behind the scenes. He told us about the conspiracies, the embezzlement, and how Ron was blaming it all on you. And here I thought my boss was a bastard,” Vera added.

Carol froze for a moment before speaking. “Do you really think you know what it was like there? By the end Ron was a total dictator. It was like rules didn’t apply to him anymore. Nobody was happy there, and we all know what happened when you tried to change things.”

“Ron kicked you out when you threatened to blow the whistle on him,” Miller said.

Carol shook her head. “I didn’t get that far. I knew he was up to something; I just didn’t know what. Levi was the one who put all the pieces together.”

“How do you know?” asked Vera.

“I got his message that night! He told me he had evidence that he and Walter would be able to use to finally force Ron out! I found out all too late,” Carol replied.

“So Levi didn’t know that you were planning to kill Ron?” asked Vera.

Carol shook her head. “First of all, he didn’t know. Levi is innocent in this. Secondly, I know how this is going to sound, but Ron’s death was never part of the plan.”

“You took Ron’s gun just to threaten him with it?” asked Miller.

“Do you know what the felony murder rule is? It says that if you commit a crime and someone dies as a result of that crime it’s automatically first degree murder,” Vera explained.

“But maybe we can make a deal with the DA if you cooperate with us now,” Miller added.

“He was never supposed to die. It was my job to help prevent that,” Carol informed.

“How?” asked Vera.

“I was the insurance policy; I placed the call…”

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: “Sister Vivian’s Flashback”

“He had a cell phone too. I waited in an alley a few blocks away from the Ableworks building until I got the call. ‘I’m ready. The light just went off in the office; he’s about to leave.’

“Then he turned off his phone, but my phone was still on so I could still hear him. There was an argument that was pretty muffled, but I could clearly hear the phrase ‘You hate us!’ Then about a minute later I heard the same phrase: ‘You hate us!’

“That was when I turned off my phone and approached a pay phone a few yards away. I inserted my money and began to make my call. ‘You need to send an ambulance to Germantown 457 Knox St.. Shots fired at a place called ‘Ableworks Inc.’.’ Then I hung up the phone and walked away.”

[valrush]

“So you made the anonymous 911 call,” said Miller.

“That phrase, ‘you hate us’, that was supposed to mean something?” asked Vera.

“That was my part; ensure that the paramedics arrived in time to save him. I tried to tell him that it wouldn’t work. I told him over and over again how risky and insane this whole plan was,” Carol insisted.

“I’m still confused. If you didn’t want him dead, what exactly was the plan?” asked Vera.

“Ron was never supposed to die. He kept insisting that wasn’t what he wanted; he said he had something more ‘poetic’ in mind,” Carol explained.

“If you want any chance at a deal, we need the shooter. Who was it?” asked Vera.

“Was it the other partner, Walter Sherman? Because if you’re covering up his involvement in this it might not just affect you. You used money he bequeathed to you to start your business; that could be thrown under the microscope too.” Insisted Miller.

“Corporations are separate entities from the individuals that create them. My business has nothing to do with this,” Carol replied.

“It might if we think it was funded with criminal assistance. All it takes is one call to the feds,” Miller explained.

“Nobody likes it when the feds get involved, Carol. Hell, even the cops don’t like when the feds get involved. Please don’t make us do that,” Vera said.

Carol put her head down on the table. “You don’t have to do that. It wasn’t him,”

[valrush]

“Well, I just got reamed by my boss,” said Andrew as he walked into the holding room with a file under his arm. “I guess it was my own fault really; you would think by now I would know what happens when you assume things.

Andrew walked around the table. “You see something struck me as odd about the way Mr. Geseppi was killed. The bullet hit him in the lower back, but ballistics confirmed that it was travelling at an upward angle. Now normally when someone shoots a gun at eye level the bullet travels straight and then eventually down. So I figured the shooter must have been someone who didn’t know what they were doing and fired from the hip.

Andrew took a seat at the table. “But I was wrong. The gun was fired at eye level. You see, what I didn’t realize was that eye level is lower when you are in a seated position. But I’m guessing you would know that, Mr. Mackleroy.”

“You’re hilarious. You think I shot Ron,” James replied.

“For what it’s worth it sounds like the guy was a real bastard. I wouldn’t blame anybody for wanting him gone, especially you,” insisted Andrew.

“Why me?” asked James.

“I don’t have it wrong, do I? This is the guy who insulted you, the guy who used you, and the guy who blocked every chance you might have had to get something better at that factory. You’re telling me you didn’t want him dead,” Andrew responded.

“Look, I don’t know what it’s like to be you, but I do know what it’s like to have someone in your way all of the time. I’m new to homicide, and I’ve been begging them to let me do one of these interviews for weeks. But I just kept hearing the same lame excuse: ‘You can’t do it.’, ‘This isn’t your old clubhouse anymore. This is homicide.’, ‘You’re not ready; you can’t do it.’ I guess I never liked being told what I couldn’t do,” Andrew explained.

“Well, I had my disagreements with Ron. We all did at that point, but I never wanted him dead,” insisted James.

Andrew stood up. “Yeah, I figured this was pointless. I have to call the other detectives and tell them that her deal is off the table. I knew she was wasting our time.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” asked James.

“Oh, we have Carol Shannon in the next room. She’s trying to feed us some line of bull about how the two of you worked together to take Ron out that night,” Andrew informed. “But don’t worry, her story is obviously crap. Anybody could tell that much just by looking at you.”

James’s hands started shaking. “What the hell does that mean?”

“What does it mean? Come on! You’re a damn cripple for Pete’s sake! You couldn’t shoot someone if you wanted to! Just like you couldn’t do chemistry anymore, and just like you can’t do math now!” Andrew replied.

“That’s not true!” insisted James.

“Seriously, why do you even bother going back to school?” Andrew asked.

“Stephen Hawking is still doing math and physics at his age, and he can barely blink!” James responded.

“No wonder they kept you in that crappy factory job! That was all you were capable of!”

“I’d like to see you graph a three-variable equation or calculate a definite integral of a cosine function! I still know this stuff! Don’t ever tell me what I can’t do! EVER!” James shouted.

“So, Ron was wrong about you!” Andrew replied.

“DAMN STRAIGHT!”

“It wasn’t right the way he was holding you back! You wanted to make him pay!” Andrew yelled.

“YES!”

“So what did you do?”

“I SHOT THAT LITTLE HAIRLESS SEWER RAT, AND I’D DO IT AGAIN!” The room fell silent. It was all James could do to catch his breath. “They have libraries in prison, don’t they?”

“Some do. Some places might even let you continue your schooling. I’ve even heard of places where they put guys like you to work as tutors for other inmates in rehabilitation programs,” Andrew informed. “That’s a long shot of course, but it is something I can check on if you tell me what happened to Ron.”

“I suppose that if that’s possible, then at least my life will have amounted to something,” James said calmly. He took a deep breath before speaking again. “I meant what I said; I never wanted Ron to die.”

“So we’ve been told,” Andrew replied.

“I don’t expect you to believe me, but it’s the truth. Killing that son of a b*tch was the last thing I wanted to do…”

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: “Carl’s Recollection”

“Ron was in his office late again that night. I was waiting for him across the street when I finally saw the light go out in his office. That’s when I pulled my phone out of a red, cloth bag on the side of my chair and placed the call to Carol who was waiting a few blocks away. ‘I’m ready. The light just went off in the office; he’s about to leave.’

“I rolled up to the front entrance as Ron was coming out. He spotted me. ‘James, what the hell are you still doing here? Don’t you know it’s dangerous after dark?’

“’Thanks for the advice,’ I said casually. ‘Why did you really fire Carol?’

“’What do you mean? Weren’t you there for the fight I had with Levi earlier?’ Ron asked.

“’Yeah, and I think what you said is crap! I think you fired her because she was trying to actually help some of us! I think you fired her because she stood up to you and tried to make things better for us!’ I shouted. ‘You hate us, don’t you?’

“’What are you talking about? I don’t hate you, James!’ Ron insisted.

“’That’s not true either! You hate us! I can tell! Let me ask you something! For all of those long, flowery speeches you like to make, when was the last time you actually spent five minutes talking with the workers here, except for when you are trying to get them to pose with you for publicity shots?’ I asked.

“’James, I fired Carol because I found evidence that she was stealing—‘

“’I don’t care what ‘evidence’ you say you have because I trust Carol a hell of a lot more than I trust you! I believe she wants to make a difference, I believe Levi wants to make a difference, I believe Annie wants to make a difference!’ I shouted. ‘Maybe I haven’t been here from the beginning like the rest of them, but I can see it. You stopped caring about making a difference a long time ago.’

“Ron actually laughed. ‘Like you really no me, James. I don’t hate anyone, and I don’t socialize with the workers because I have work of my own to do. Now, if you are done, I have to lock this place up so I can get out of here.’

“Ron turned back to the door, and I started to role away into the shadows. Then I pulled the gun out of my bag and whispered, ‘Let’s see how you like being told what you can’t do.’

“I had seen enough x-rays since my accident to have a good idea of what I needed to do. I aimed the gun at the base of his spine. Little did I know that my hands would pick that moment to start shaking. I fired, but the gun jumped on me as I did throwing off the bullet. I didn’t hit him in the base of the spine. I hit him a few inches to the right side, and he fell like a ton of bricks.

“I dropped the gun when I saw that he had stopped moving. Then I heard sirens coming up the street so I rolled myself into the nearest alley. As I rolled away I heard one of the paramedics call it an obvious DOA. I don’t even think the guy suffered long.”

[valrush]

Duncan Sheik: “Barely Breathing”

 
John Stillman escorted James Mackleroy to the cells. He would share a cell with Martin Tibbs and the charge would be second degree murder.

Carol Shannon hung up a phone as Kat Miller placed her into a cell. The charge for her would be aiding and abetting a homicide.

In Scotty’s apartment Scotty lay sleeping comfortably for the first time in weeks. Lilly lay next to him held tightly in his arms.

Andrew Darius replaced the Ron Geseppi’s file box on the shelf in file storage and marked it ‘CLOSED’. Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He touched the web browser on his phone and began typing in a search: ‘PA PRISONS WITH LIBRARIES’.

Nick Vera entered the office of Ablesmarts. He glanced at the picture of Ellen’s daughter as he explained what had happened to Ron and the charges Carol would be facing. He then told her that there might be others interested in taking over the business. That’s when Levi Clarkson and Annie Roth followed behind him. Then they all stared past Vera to the ghost of Ron Geseppi as he faded from view.

[valrush]

Audio PowerPoint slides also available.

[valrush]

AFTER THE SHOW

Okay, time for me to get on my soapbox.

The first thing you need to know about this episode is some background information.  In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the ironically named "Fair Labor Standards Act".  This law marked the first legislation to establish the minimum hourly wage, but it also created what came to be known in America as sheltered workshops--manufacturing houses specifically set aside for people with disabilities that were intended to prepare disabled workers for jobs in mainstream society.  Such workshops were deemed exempt from having to pay workers this minimum wage; piecework wages remained the norm.  Workers within these shops were also prohibited from forming unions so they did not have access to the protections offered to non-disabled workers.

Why is this relevant to a 1998 case? Because, in 2019, this minimum wage exemption is still legal! Sheltered workshops still exist in the U.S., and they are still permitted to pay employees far below the minimum wage.  I know this because I did four years hard time in one of those workshops.  They claim that they strive to prepare their workers for mainstream jobs, but what I observed over that time was workers practically aging in place.  Most often, I saw that the employees in my shop had been doing the same menial tasks for as long as 30 years with little variation; they did not receive chances for advancement, training for jobs outside of the shop, and many went their entire time there without even the slightest pay raise.

I should note that I am using the word pay very loosely here.  The hardware-sorting job in my story was one such job offered at my shop; it paid $0.02 per bag and did not cover most people's bus fare on their best days.  Minimum wage may not be easy to live on, but try living on the peanut-dust wages that this place paid.  I was fortunate enough to have family that I could stay with; most lived in some type of halfway house and were forever stuck on public assistance.

I later did some additional research, and found that I was not alone.  I went online and found several stories of workers stagnating in sheltered workshops.  One case told a story about an Ohio workshop where the workers worked full shifts and received as little as $0.41 per hour.  Another Illinois workshop actually went so far as to break the law paying its workers in McDonald's gift cards.  For an organization that is supposed to promote independence for the disabled, they have rendered many people like me permanently dependent on a struggling social security system.  Whatever the intention behind sheltered workshops might have been, the system has clearly been abused.

The episode itself was based on a few friendly allies that I had and one serious enemy.  The boss character of Ron Geseppi was largely based on the most stubborn, obnoxious, arrogant, brainless, heartless, gutless, BLEEP of a boss I ever had.  I won't go so far as to name him directly; I usually just refer to him as "lips" because the man definitely knew how to make a speech.  The James Mackleroy character was a combination of myself and another employee who thought for a long time that the workshop was the only place that would want him after several frustrating years of looking for work.  The character of Carol Shanon was based on a friend I had at the workshop who was sympathetic to my cause until "lips" let her go for no apparent reason; this would be the major incident that convinced me that this was not where I wanted to be.  I want to say that the embezzlement part of this story is entirely fictional, but frankly, I heard so many stories of "lips" getting into shouting matches with employees while he was their that I just don't know what happened behind closed doors.  I never saw "lips" again after that public firing incident so I don't know what happened to him; in my dreams he gets hit by buses a lot.  Thus, this writer's revenge episode.

I had a devil of a time deciding on songs for this episode.  In the end, I chose Jimi Jamison's "I'm Always Here" (otherwise known as the "Baywatch" theme) to start the episode because it set the stage for the illusion that this workshop was actually rescuing people.  Also, given what I knew of "lips", I figured he would probably be obsessed with the sleaziest, cheesiest show ever created, i. e. "Baywatch".  I chose Duncan Sheik's "Barely Breathing" because this was ultimately a song about unmasking.  Everyone knew what Ron was ultimately about, and nobody had any delusions anymore.

For what its worth, I am in a better place now.  I kept in touch with that friend, and she saw my fan fiction pieces.  That got me an opinion column with a local newspaper which eventually got me noticed by a government agency where I currently work managing a database and occasionally contributing articles to that company's social media.  What's more, after finally finding someone who believed I could do more, I decided to continue my education and pursue a degree in Mathematics.  I completed this degree last August.  I don't know if I would call myself a genius, but I figure that if you get a math degree, nobody can call you stupid.

Lastly, in case there is any confusion about how I felt about this guy, I will leave you with this clip from "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation":

And now my rant is done.