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Meet Detective First Grade Whit Fletcher

12/2/2012

3 Comments

 
Picture
 


             From 
 The Pot Thief Who Studied Billy the Kid
      by
J. Michael Orenduff
 


Whit Fletcher  was born in Tucumcari in 1960. After graduating from Tucumcari High school where he made second team all-state as a defensive tackle, he joined the Army and trained as an MP at Fort Leonard Wood. He received an honorable discharge in 1981 and enrolled in the New Mexico Police Academy. He joined the APD in 1982, eventually working his way up to Detective First Grade in 1996.
 
So what have you been doing since the last big case?
Mostly trying to bust the drug dealers, but I’m getting to the point of wondering why we bother. If they ain’t back on the street in forty-eight hours, some other punk takes their place, and business continues as usual. Almost make me wish I was back in uniform. 

How did you become involved in this case?
I usually get involved with Hubert Schuze when he gets into hot water because of his pot stealing, but this time he actually called me. 

Tell us about this case.  
Hubert told me a guy he knew was looking for old pots and accidentally dug up a body. And not an old mummy. This here was someone recently died. Or was killed.  I say to him, “So you was out digging for pots and found a fresh corpse.”
    “It wasn’t me,” he says. 
    “Right,” I say.
    “It was a guy you know.”
    “Right.”
    “What’s his name?”
    “See, that’s the problem. He told me about finding the dead guy because he wanted the
police to know. But he doesn’t want to get involved because he wasn’t supposed to be digging in a prehistoric site. So I can’t give you his name.”
    “Okay, Hubert, I’ll play along. Where did this guy find the stiff?”
    “I can’t tell you that, either.”

Well, we went round like that for a few minutes, and I agreed to nose around and see if there was a missing person that might be the body Hubert claims he didn’t find. And because there could have been some valuable pots in that site, I figured maybe there would be a few bucks in it for me being helpful.

Was there ever a time during this case that you doubted those that you normally trust?
Nah. I knew Hubert was lying to me right off, but he’s done that before, and it don’t stop me from trusting him. He’s so bad at lying that it never fooled no one. And every time he and I scratch each other’s backs, money seems to end up in my pocket. 

How dangerous was it to solve this case? 
He’s put me in a few tight places before, but this time the risk was all his. All I did was run down all the missing persons from the area he’s been digging in and match one up with the facts as we knew them. It was Hubert who figured out what happened to the dead guy. Then he pulled another one of his stunts and decided to check on the murderer to collect evidence. Damn near ended up in the grave where he had found the body. 

Did working on this case affect you emotionally?
I guess you could say I was depressed for a while. I was hoping for half the money from one of them old Anasazi pots, but the bad guy who nearly killed Hubert had already picked the site clean. All Hubert could find was one lousy shard. That’s what they call a piece of one of them pots. Even a piece sold for a thousand bucks. 
 
How did this case affect your personal life?
Well, I’m a big fan on University of New Mexico football. And my half of the shard money was enough to get one of those flat screen TV’s, although the way the Lobos have been playing, I can hardly stand to watch ‘em.

Just to wrap things up, what happened to the guy who killed the person Hubert found?
Well they couldn’t make a murder charge stick because the dead guy was one of those  nuts who beat themselves with whips and even volunteer to haul a cross and be tied on  it. Sometimes they even get their hands nailed to it. Someone dies under those  circumstances, you can’t really say they were murdered.  When I told Hubert that he said, “Maybe most of them are nuts, but some could be saints. Before you criticize a man, you should walk a mile in his moccasins.”

    “That’s good advice,” I told him.
     “It is?”  he said. He seemed surprised that I liked his advice because he knows I don’t go in much for corny sayings like that.
    “Sure,” I said. “It’s  good advice because if he don’t like your criticism, there ain’t much he can do about it because you’re a mile away from him and he’s barefooted.”
 
But they did get the guy for kidnapping Hubert, so he’s in the State Pen. 
 
 
 Mike Orenduff grew up in a house so close to the Rio Grande that he could Frisbee a tortilla into Mexico. While in graduate school at the University of New Mexico, he worked during the summer as a volunteer teacher at one of the nearby pueblos. After
receiving his M.A. at New Mexico and his Ph.D. at Tulane, he became a  university professor. He went on to serve as President of New Mexico State University. He took early retirement from higher education to write his award-winning Pot Thief murder mysteries which combine archaeology and philosophy with humor and mystery. Among his many awards are the “Lefty” national award for best humorous  mystery, two“Eppies” for the best eBook mysteries and the New Mexico Book of the Year Award. His books have been described by The Baltimore Sun as “funny at a very high intellectual level and deliciously delightful” and by The El Paso Timesas “the perfect fusion of murder, mayhem and margaritas.”


 
 
 
 
 

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An Interview with Carney Brogan

8/29/2012

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Picture



from  Death of a Flapper 
 
  
             
Carny Brogan has recently opened his detective agency in Tin Pan Alley, his skills learned from his police chief father and friend, Detective Phil Spillman from the NYPD. 
             
The time is 1926, the heart of the Roaring '20s and what is known as the Flapper Era.  The case:  A missing persons caper involving a young woman by the name of Alice   Prado.

Carney, tell us about this case.           
As soon as Mrs. Lucille Prado came into my office, I figured she had  lost her way, that happens a lot in Tin Pan Alley; but when she started to tell  her story, about her missing daughter, I paid a little attention, more so when she showed me a photo of Alice, quite a looker. There was something about Mrs. Prado that struck me as honest and earthy, and I told her I'd take her case--but not to expect a lot of success.  Grateful for at least that much, she gave me a buck retainer, and I went to work. 
 
Carney, what makes your case so special?               
Little did I know that I would run into quite a bunch of characters, many  of them from the ranks of high society. I counted on some help from my inside source, Lt. Phil Spillman with the police department, and my friend, Bruno Kowalewski with the city morgue. In addition, I get the lowdown from another friend of mine, Woody Byrd, an ex-musician who combs the streets of the Bowery; and then there's Pops Dempsey, who owns Dempsey's Boxing Gym and who's always good for an odds-on bet.
             
I started with Alice's recent address, where I found her roommate, aspiring actress/dancer Sally Blair.  She told me Alice now went by the name of Arabella Germaine, a real party girl who enjoyed pearls, fancy champagne and even fancier guys. 
She had been seen in the company of playboy Robert Landon and his group  of spoiled, rich kids, including his sister, Regan. Their friends came with the cutesy names of Muffy, Frenchie, Tippy, Hoochie and Spiffy.  Plus, I had a lead on some art gallery owner, a fancy pants guy by the name of Victor Cathcourt.  Sure, he knew Arabella all right.  In fact, she had been his muse in more ways than one.
             
As I went along, I found a lot of inconsistencies in their stories, plus the kicker:  no one had seen Arabella since the weekend--at least not until she showed up in the morgue.  Now, as I looked down on that beautiful, pink angel--the girl who had been the life of the party--I knew I had to start earning that buck.
 
Has this case affected your personal life?             
You bet!  I guess you could say I fell in love with Arabella, at least the image of her that I had formed in my mind.  The high society kids called her "Angel" and I couldn't agree more with that appellation.  She was an angel, an ethereal creature, and us mere mortals had been given only a brief glimpse of such beauty and grace.
             
If that's not a hoot, Sally Blair, the aspiring actress/hoofer, keeps casting goo goo eyes my way, and my friend, Maeve Dempsey, wants to set me up with a friend of hers from the phone company, Harriet Mumson.
 
 What made this case hard to solve?             
Well, for one, everyone had an alibi, a lot of slick alibis by my count. The rich sure think they can get away with even such a paltry excuse as murder; but I persevered, if not for
Arabella, then for her parents who needed to know why their daughter had been left for dead on a grimy city street.  In the process, I almost got myself killed by a mobster named Slim Jim Morelli and his gang. So, I just have to sort all the clues while I share a drink with my friend Phil at Jerry's Gin Joint, a real cat's meow speakeasy.

 
 What have you learned from the case?             
Well, for one, women are sure strange creatures.  One minute I think I can trust them, and the next--well, I prefer not to say.  Although, I can tell you this:  I finally got over my
infatuation with the dead Arabella, and now I'm focused on Harriet Mumson who sent me violets while I was laid up in the hospital after a tangle with a couple of tough guys.  Harriet, or as I like to call her Pixie, just got under my skin for some reason--and who
knows?  Maybe we'll tie the knot someday...

Thank you for being with us today, Carney. 

 
             
Marva Dale is the author of the Death by the Decade Series, featuring a mystery during each decade.  "Death of a Flapper" is the first in the series, and she hopes the reader
will enjoy each story, filled with not only a murder or two, but with a bit of
comedic and romantic encounters as well.  Ms. Dale has also penned the historical family saga, "Far From  Eden: New World," the first in a series concerning the Traynor Family dynasty.  These books are available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. For more information visit Ms. Dale's website at www.merrillspassion.info.

             
 



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An Interview with Detective Rick Martinez

7/2/2011

2 Comments

 

from Lights! Camera! Murder! by Loni  Emmert


We’re speaking with Det. Rick Martinez  of the Los Angeles Police Department. Rick joined the LAPD twenty years ago, spending ten of those years in a patrol car, four of them in vice busting hookers and johns on the infamous Sunset Strip, and the last six tackling murders in homicide. 
 
Det. Martinez, tell us about this case.
This was a very high profile case involving the murder of a star from a daytime soap opera, Lovers’ Lane. Everyone from the show was a suspect: the director, other actors, even some of the crew members. The media loved that celebrities were involved and reporters were all over the crime scene. The pressure coming down on the department was pretty intense as the studio execs where the production was filmed and the producers of the show wanted the murder solved fast even though the crime was making the formerly low ratings shoot through the roof. Because of the media coverage surrounding the case my job seemed to be on the line every day. 

But working in Los Angeles, especially Hollywood, you must see a lot of cases that involve celebrities. 
Not really. Most of the homicide cases that I have investigated are the same that you’d find in any large city. Gang killings, domestic violence that goes too far, plenty with money as a motive but not in large amounts like you’d probably guess. Often someone will kill for just a few dollars. 
 
Was there anything that made this particular case hard to solve? 
The murder of Dirk Saunders became difficult to solve due to the sizable amount of potential suspects. Plus, he was bludgeoned to death which pretty much told me that it was a very personal and emotionally driven crime but that didn’t narrow down the suspects. There had been a lot of pressure on my supervisors for a resolution from high-powered, wealthy people which put my investigation in the spotlight. Also, this was a difficult case because of constant threats on the lives of other individuals surrounding the victim and television show. A second murder occurred, as well as several attempted murders. 
 
Did anyone outside of the police department help you solve this case? 
Yes. The primary person of interest who at first seemed to be my best suspect, Abigail Whitefeather, was instrumental in solving the case. Abigail had been on a date with Dirk Saunders the night he was killed so being the last person, besides the killer, to see Saunders alive put her at the top of my list as someone to interrogate. She had also been  working on the set of the show and had a lot of access to the cast and crew. Several of the people involved in with Lovers’ Lane wanted Dirk dead and out of their way. Abigail used opportunities to find out what was going on behind the scenes and acquired information that proved crucial to solving the case, though I must say that I do not condone citizens becoming involved in police investigations.
 
Has this case affected your personal life in any way? 
Yes, and that also made the case more difficult. During the investigation it became clear that I was developing feelings for Abigail, which brought me uncomfortably close to not
only a possible suspect but also to someone whose life was in danger. Once I realized that we could be headed toward a more intimate relationship it obviously became clear to my supervisors and I was taken off of the case.  
 
Sounds like you have a problem separating your personal life from your work. 
Trust me, this is the only time that something like this has happened in my career. I tried hard not to let my feelings for Abigail taint my judgment. And nothing really happened between us until after the case was turned over to the D.A.  Everything was kept at a professional level.
 
Thank you Detective Martinez. We’ll keep a lookout for any other high profile Hollywood cases that Abigail may get you involved in.

 
Loni Emmert lives in Southern California, works in entertainment, and loves to write murder mysteries.  Lights! Camera! Murder! was released in October 2010. It is the second cozy mystery written by Loni Emmert.  It is the first in the Abigail Whitefeather Mysteries and explains how Abigail finds herself alone at forty and moves to Hollywood to follow a long-forgotten dream: become an actress. Lights! Camera! Murder! can be purchased through Amazon.com, Hilliard & Harris, or the author’s website: 
http://thewordmistresses.com


 
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