I Woke Up 352 by M.P. Arsent
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D.C.? Why did that sound familiar? Then the dime dropped. Derrick Cummings!
"Crap!"
"Dennis?"
"Bob you may have just at least found a motive for me."
"Care to share?"
"Sorry, no. At this point, it's just an educated guess. I need to make some calls."
I still had time before my next class, but not much. I pulled out my phone and called Mr Jacobs.
"Dennis, what now?"
"I need you to followup on an old case please. You remember the whole drug ring fiasco I'm sure?"
"Yes of course."
"I need you to check up on Derrick Cummings. It turns out his half-brother may be Mr. Grandise."
"I'll alert the investigators and will get back to you soonest."
Bob had sat there through the call.
"Dennis?"
"Nothing you can use I don't think. But for what it's worth, Mr Grandise MAY be half-brother to someone I had a hand in getting arrested and sentenced to significant jail time."
"And if something happened to him in jail Grandise COULD be holding you responsible."
"I'd say that pretty well covers it, but please, you are not to use that in any publication until it is proven."
"Yeah, I get it, Dennis."
"I need to get to class, later."
Logic was soon taken care of for another day and I made my way to the admin building and the Deans office.
"Should I just block you in an appointment every afternoon Mr Sawyer?"
"I don't think we need to go to that extent just yet Mrs Humboldt, but something has been uncovered that I think the Dean should be aware of."
"Very well Mr Sawyer."
I did have to wait today while the Dean saw his other appointments. Along about 3 I was admitted to the office.
"What have you today Dennis?"
"A possible motive."
"Do tell?"
"It looks as though Mr Grandise is half-brother to someone I had a hand in getting convicted of a crime which incurred significant jail time."
"Looks as though?"
"I'm having my lawyers confirm it now."
At which point my phone rang. I took a quick look at the caller id and it was Mr Jacobs.
"It's my lawyer."
"Take it by all means."
"Mr Jacobs, I have you on speaker as I am sitting here with Dean Evans."
"Mr Sawyer, this is best done privately."
"Mr. Jacobs, Dean Evans is fully involved in this situation and needs to know what I know."
"Very well sir. Mr Cummings is indeed Half-brother to Mr Grandise. He was up for early parole but before it could be granted there was a fight in the jail. Mr Cummings succumbed to his wounds just 3 months ago."
"Have the investigators turned up anything else of interest yet?"
"Only that the Hastings family has seen a reversal of fortunes several years ago."
"Severe?"
"According to what has been reported quite severe."
"Thank you, Mr Jacobs. Please keep me informed of any further developments."
"Of course sir. Good day."
"Well Dennis, it seems you may have gotten motive for both cases."
"Only if that reversal of fortune can be somehow tied to Mr Adams, or possibly my adoptive father. Financial records would require a subpoena I'm sure, unless it was a big enough of a story to be covered in the financial news."
"Do you have someone who can cover that avenue of investigation?"
"I do and I shall call him once I leave here."
"Then I don't think there is anything further is there?"
"Other than seeing if the Hastings name has any meaning for Mr Adams based on this new information, no sir, not today at least."
"Then off with you."
I left the Deans office, but before I got back to the car I called Stan Bellows.
"What can I do for the boss today?"
"Have somebody dig into the Hastings family fortunes. Seems they suffered a setback a while ago. I'm thinking it might have had something to do with following Adams's advice."
"Hard to prove unless it was a major story."
"I'm hoping it was large enough to be noticed. So you know, we think we've figured out what Grandise's stake in all of this is. He's a half-brother to one of the guys who went away for that whole drug thing in high school. He died in prison a few months ago."
"I'm sure that is more than enough to make him bitter. Other than the fact these guys are both involved with the school paper any other ties between them?"
"Not that I am aware of."
"Then why do you think they are working in concert?"
"Current thought on that is the enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of thing."
"I suppose that would do it. Ok, Dennis let me get the guys digging and I'll let you know what they turn up."
"Later Stan."
I was back to the car by this time, and I went over it with a fine-toothed comb and didn't find anything. Even with all I went through this afternoon, I was home before Karl, so I got something going for supper.
When Karl walked through the door he could tell something was up.
"Is this good or bad lover?"
"I'd say good. I think we have a motive for at least half of it, the half that directly concerns me."
I explained the whole thing to him at that point.
"And what about the other half?"
"Report is that the Hastings family had quite a big financial setback a few years ago. At this point, we don't know if that was because of Adams or Dad."
"So, they could both be after you and Adams is just a distraction?"
"Always a possibility."
"Dean Evans aware?"
"Yeah."
"So, what's the next move?"
"That, I think is really up to Dean Evans. I don't see where I have anything I can act on other than maybe defamation of Character, and I can't really prove that until I prove it's them behind it all."
"And I don't see where the Dean has anything actionable either."
"Other than possibly putting them both on probation, neither do I."
"So we just sit here and twiddle our thumbs until the next shoe drops?"
"About all we can do, besides having supper."
Which is what we did. After we got things cleaned up it was the books for an hour or so and then the tube until we crashed.
Thursday morning and we went at it again. Laps were run with little conversation today, and Karl and I got back to the apartment and got ready for the day.
Just before I was ready to head into Creative Writing, my phone rang. The caller ID told me it was Stan Bellows.
"What have you got for me, Stan?"
"Probably enough to prove motive for the moves against Adams. You called it. Eugene Hastings, Johns father, followed Adams advice and blew damn near the entire family fortune. Your fax should start chugging in a minute with the details."
"Thanks, Stan. Looks like I won't be going to practice this afternoon."
"Going straight to the Dean?"
"Yeah, something like this he needs to know. Another piece to the puzzle."
"Hopefully it makes all of the others fall into place."
"Motive wise it does, but doesn't do a damn thing to prove anything."
"Yeah, but maybe enough pressure can be brought to bear to get somebody to crack."
"Maybe. I need to get it in gear."
I hung up and grabbed the printout and stuffed it in my backpack and then headed for class.
I got into Creative Writing and got throughit with no problem and even before I went to grab my lunch I went over and made an appointment to see Dean Evans yet again. I even suggested to Mrs Humboldt that Mr Adams should be invited as well.
Then it was off to a quick lunch and a few minutes on the bench. Susan was the one to find me today.
"Hey Dennis, Haven't seen much of you this year."
"Hi Susan, been busy with things."
"So Pete tells me. You any closer to getting that all sorted out?"
"I think we're getting there."
"Well I hope things get settled soon. I need to get to class."
"So do I."
Psyche was soon taken care of and I had a few minutes to kill before my appointment with Dean Evans, so I ducked into the library and made a few copies of the stuff Stan had sent me.
I made it to the Deans office with a few minutes to spare, only to find Mr Adams waiting as well.
I simply took a seat and waited until the Deans office door opened.
"Gentelemen."