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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Thiry-Five is HERE.

Part Thirty-Six

It was getting late in the afternoon and Finbar was ready to wrap things up.  The whole squad was there in the office with him, Dan, Lenny and Charley, and they had that collective feeling that it was just about over.  Once the various lab results confirmed their conclusions, and they sure hoped that they did, then it would be “Case Closed.”

“Let’s see how it looks so far,” Finney said to kick it off.  “I’ll go down the list and we’ll see if anything sounds amiss.” 

Looking around, he continued, “Ok, Tony’s fire started from chlorine crystals falling into a Vaseline jar.  When his nephew Willy saw the smoke coming from the kitchen, he jumped up from his whittling and ran in to see what was happening, stumbled and most likely fell on his own knife.  He was still there when the fire got him.  Same page so far?”

Everybody nodded and he continued, “Meanwhile, Joey was just a couple blocks away flirting with his girlfriend, the Waffle House waitress, and had no idea what was going on.  Now just by coincidence, the next day some hungry mouse in Tony’s pawnshop shorts out an extension cord and starts a small fire there.  While the mouse ate the wire, Mousey was unaware.”  They all groaned at that one, but Finney pressed on.

“It looks like we have an unfortunate set of circumstances, but no murder and no arson.”

“You mean no crimes at all?” Charley piped up.

“That’s right,” Finney responded. 

“What about Alderman Winters?” Len asked.

“No telling what he was up to, but his involvement with Spinoza is a police matter, not ours.  I’m sending them what we observed and be done with it.  Same thing with the burned money.  Tony probaby won’t claim it because it would bring too many new questions.  And don’t feel sorry for him, he’s still a crook.  But we’re done with him.”

“So they were all telling the truth after all?”  Danny added.

“Yep,” Finney answered, “Every one of them.”

And with that, he sent everybody home for the night and started out himself.  “Finally,” he thinks, “I’m going to make it home in time for dinner for a change.”  He wasn’t worried about what Mayrie would be saying this time.

Read the conclusion to Truth Tellers HERE.

Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Thirty-Four is HERE.

Part Thirty-Five

“So how does an empty Vaseline jar stuffed with money start a fire?” Finney asked.

“Well, you see there was no lid on the jar,” Danny answered, “I looked all over for one, nothing.  Even though everthing’s burned up in the cabinet, I found some bits of a container that held a cleaning powder that has chlorine bits in it.  I’m surmising, for lack of any other indicators, that whoever was using the cleaner spilled part of it when they set it on the shelf and a couple of the chlorine bits fell below into the money jar. 

“Apparently, one or some of the bits ended up against the inner part of the Vaseline jar where they became stuck against the thin layer of Vaseline that lines it.”

“You mean an exothermic reaction,” Finney blurted out, almost reactively.

“That’s it,” Danny said, “It’s a slow starter anyway, and with this tiny amount it could have been hours before the heat built up enough to ignite the money, burn the oily jar, and then spread through the cabinet.  For the want of a lid, the house was lost.”

Read Part Thirty-Six HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Thirty-Three is HERE.

Part Thirty-Four

Capt. Finbar Lonnigan parked again in the driveway of Antony Spinoza”s burned-out house, then walked around to the back door.  Stepping inside, he found Danny still digging and bagging debris piles in what was left of the kitchen cabinets.

“Hey, Finney… c’mere and take a look at this,” Dan said as he held up an evidence bag.  Inside the gallon-bag was some sort of black, gooey mess that had solidified and what looked like paper ashes.

“What I’ve got in here is what looks to be a huge wad of $100 bills.  I can only estimate, but it looks  way more than a hundred of ‘em.”

“That makes sense,” Finney replied.  “The guy is a loan shark so you woule expect him to have some stashes around the house.  What’s that hard plastic-lookin’ stuff, though?”

“That’s what make it really interesting,” Danny replied.  “It what led to starting the fire.  He kept his dough in a big, emptied-out Vaseline jar and put it in the wrong cabinet.”

Watch for Part Thirty-Five here tomrrow.

Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Thirty is HERE.

Part Thirty-One

Capt. Finbar Lonnigan started to feel for the first time that progress was being made in this mudpit of a case.  The pawnshop fire seemed to be clearing up and the burned body at Antony Spinoza’s house was probably identified.  He’d know in a couple of days after the DNA comparisons were processed.

Danny was making some headway at Spinoza’s house, locating the area where it started, but the cause was elusive.  Charley was still in the office, doing his computer stuff.  So Finney spoke up, “Hey Charley…..zip on over to give Danny a hand, would you?  I wanna get this cause-of-fire wrapped up quick.”

“Sure, Cap.”  Charley got up and started out the door.

“Gosh,” Finney thought to himself, “I might even make it home for dinner on time tonight.”

Feeling confident, he picked up the phone and called Mayrie.  He let it ring 10 or 12 times….no answer.

Read Part Thirty-Two HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Twenty-Nine is HERE.

Part Thirty

Finney thought about what he’ll do next.  Spinoza was on his way to the lab to be swabbed for his DNA and he appeared to be genuinely upset.  Doc Gimble was going to see if Finney’s theory about the boy falling on his knife was bonafide.  So he decided to see how Len Cousey was getting along at the pawnshop.  Picking up the phone, Finbar dialed Len’s number.

“Hey, Len…it’s me.  Just checking to see how it’s going for you down there.”

“You called at a good time, Cap.  I just found the cause of this little blaze.”

“Oh, good, Lenny.  Let’s hear it.”

“Well, under the ash and melted dvd’s I found a mouse…..with it’s teeth welded to an extension cord.  I can promise you that late lunch is what started this one.”

Watch for Part Thirty-One here tomorrow.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Twenty-Seven is HERE.

Part Twenty-Eight

Finney waited for a moment, then asked, “You hope not what, Tony?”

“Dis is sickening, Cap’n.  My nephew Willy is 15, big for his age, and hangs around a lot.”

Finney let that sink in a second, then carried on, “Hangs around when you’re not there?  You told me you were gone.”

“He’s got a key.  I let him use the place, sack out sometimes.  Things aren’t so good at home, you know?”

“What do you know about a pocket knife, Tony?”

“Oh, yeah….never without it. He was always whittlin’ stuff, little animals and things.”

Read Part Twenty-Nine HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Twenty-Six is HERE.

Part Twenty-Seven

Natually, Spinoza had bailed out right away, but Finney tracked him down by phone.  He was over at the pawn shop looking at the damage when Finney called and asked him to come in to the office to help out with this body ID.

“Antony, thanks for coming by.  I’m trying to find out who got burned up in your kitchen.  You got any ideas?”

Spinoza, wearing his permanent scowl, shook his head, “Nope….haven’t got the faintest.”

“You know anybody who might be in your house who’s about 16 years old?”

Tony thought for about 10 seconds, then his face suddenly went ashen and he looked like he just got hit in the chest.

“Oh, Jeeze….. I hope not….”

Read Part Twenty-Eight HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Twenty-Five is HERE.

Part Twenty-Six

Just as Finbar started to get his list started, his phone chirped again.  Danny’s number showing in the window.

“Hey, Danny.  What’s up?”

“Ive got some more stuff on that cadaver from Spinoza’s fire.  It’s a he, but he is probably about 16 yrs. old.”

Finney gave a “sheesh” and thought for a second.  “Man, that really messes things up.  Any idea on who he might be?”

“Not a clue yet,”  Danny answered.  “And we still don’t know how he might have had the knife inserted into his lung.  But we’ve confirmed the point of origin.  It started in the kitchen, like we thought.  The burn pattern confirms it.  Gonna take a while to pinpoint the exact location, it’s such a full burnout.  But just between you and me, I’m going with the kitchen counter under the sink.”

Finney didn’t have any reason to doubt him,  Danny knows his business.  “Looks like I gotta go talk to Spinoza again, I wonder if he’s still in the lockup,” he mumbled to himself.  Finney started to get up, complaining about how everybody connected with this case were scattered all over town.  “I need a Hercule Poirot moment,” he thinks, “Where you get everybody sitting around in the parlor while you confront them with the facts.”  But that wasn’t going to happen today.

Watch for Part Twenty-Seven here tomorrow.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Twenty-Three HERE.

Part Twenty-Four

By the time Len arrived at the pawnshop, Finney had already sorted out where the fire had started.  It was on the bottom shelf of a storage rack that held mostly cardboard boxes of scruffy old dvd’s that would eventually be set our for sale at $3 each.  Nothing of any real value unless the fire had spread through the shop.

“Hey, Len.  Gonna need your thinking cap here.  Th’ fire was knocked down quick and the manager was here when it started.  What I need is a solid cause.  What started it?  I’ve got some cans in the trunk if you need them for the chromatograph evidence.”

“Nah…I’ve got some.  I’ll start sniffin’ around and bag the stuff if you’ve gotta go.”

“Yeah, I have to get back to the office and sort this stuff out.  We’ve got actors running all around town on this one.  Except for our crispy critter, that is.”  And with that, Capt. Finbar Lonnigan left to try once again to make it back to HQ.

Read Twenty-Five HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Twenty-Two is HERE.

Part Twenty-Three

“Better now than later,” Finney thought to himself as he pulled the phone out of his pocket.  Hitting the speed dial # for Mayrie’s cell, he waited until she answered.

“Hey, I’m gonna be tied up again.  We just had another fire at one of Spinoza’s places and I was already on the scene,” he started out.

“Well that’s just frickin fine!” Mayrie spouted out.  “Here I’ve had to make it to the store and back by myself, work all afternoon on this baked chicken Parmesan, and now this!  What good is it even trying to make any kind of a household when all we get is a bunch of no-shows!”

Mayrie took a breath and was starting in on the next round when Finbar took his phone down and pressed the End button.  One of his investigators, Len Cousey was on the way over to help out with the fire and he would be able to handle it by himself.  There didn’t appear to be much to have to paw through.  But how does a fire just suddenly start while three people are standing around?  And one of them was Finbar.

Read Part Twenty-Four HERE.

Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Twenty is HERE.

Part Twenty-One

The first line in knocked the fire down quickly, apparently there wasn’t much to it except for a lot of smoke.  Finney saw Mousey standing out front a few feet away from the door.

“Hey, Mousey, you all right?”

“Yeah, Captain…except I t’ink my heart is gonna explode.”

“Where’s Joey?”

“Dunno, he left right after you did.”

“Front door or back door?”

“Back door….I saw him go myself.”

Read Part Twenty-Two HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Nineteen is HERE.

Part Twenty

“Before you go….” Finbar barked to Danny, “Any idea on who our burnt marshmallow is yet?”

“Not a clue,” Dan responded.  “Total burn, but the doc’s hoping there will be enough viable bone to get some DNA.  With any luck, this mutt’s will be in the criminal data base, but don’t hold your breath.”

“Ok,” Finney answered, “How about Spinoza?  He still clammed up on the dead guy’s ID?”

“Tony swears he has no idea who it could be.  Wasn’t supposed to be anybody in there last night.”

“Alright, Danny, see if anybody in the police side can give us any clues about Winters’ connection with this band of clowns.  I’ll stick here until the fire’s out then see what’s going on in there.”  With that, Finney hung up and strolled over to log in at the command post.

Watch for Part Twenty One here tomorrow.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE
Previous episode Part Eighteen is HERE

Part Nineteen

Finney was only about three blocks away when the dispatch channel came awake and a full box was dispatched.  When he heard the address, it gave him a jolt.  It was the same block as the pawn shop, but he was just there a couple of minutes ago.  No smell or visible smoke then, of course.

Turning on his dashboard flashing light, Finney turned the car around and as soon as he did, he could see it.  Thick, black smoke roiling up into the air already.  Speeding down to the block, he pulled up across the street where the car would be out of the way and got out.  It was the pawnshop, barely visible through the smoke pouring out like a black Niagara onto the sidewalk and street.

Just then, his phone rang again….Danny’s number.  “Hey, Dan….guess what?  The pawnshop’s on fire arready!”

“Oh, yeah?” Danny says.  “Well, I’ve got some news for you, too.  Maybe even better.  The lab called back about the body in Spinoza’s place.  They haven’t had time to find what really killed him yet, but they thought we might like to know that there was a 4-inch pocket knife shoved into his right lung.”

“Just what we needed,” Finney said.

Read Part Twenty HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Seventeen is HERE.

Part Eighteen

Capt. Finbar Lonnigan was tired….really tired.  Well into middle-age, he couldn’t handle staying up all night and working through the next day like this.  He could feel it in his step, too.  If he can only make it ’til dinner, then he can go home, eat, and crash.  If Mayrie would leave him alone, that is.

Getting back in his car, Finney cranked the engine and pulled away from the curb, aiming to head back to the office where he could make some calls and track down Alderman Winters.  Maybe he could catch 40 winks at his desk.

But that wasn’t to be.  Finney wouldn’t get back to the office this day.  Just two minutes later channel one crackled with a dispatch that would change his plans again.

Read Part Nineteen HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Sixteen is HERE.

Part Seventeen

Finney turned and walked out of the pawnshop, and as he started down the sidewalk his phone rang.  It was Danny again.

“For what it’s worth,” he began, “Tony claims that he was with Ned Winters at the Red Band Casino all last night.”

“You mean Alderman Ned Winters?”  Finney said with a hint of surprise in his voice.

“The same,” Danny said as he rang off.

“Huh!  He was just leavin’ the pawnshop as I was walkin’ in.”

Watch for Part Eighteen here tomorrow.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE
Previous episode Part Fifteen is HERE

Part Sixteen

Finny was getting nowhere fast.  Turning back to Mousey, “So tell me who’s gonna say you were at home last night, Mousey.”

“Nobody… I was by myself.  Hey, youse not gonna pin nuttin’ on me here!  I don’t go ’round settin’ fires, I’m a law-abidin’ citizen.”

 Finbar closed his eyes for a moment and thought to himself, “Cripes, this is not going to be any fun at all.”  Then he realized that soon he’d be having to face Mayrie next.  Double-cripes.

Read Part Seventeen HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.
Previous episode Part Thirteen is HERE.

Part Fourteen

Turning back to Mousey, Lonnigan says to him, “I’m not here about the bleepin’ extinguishers, Mousey, and you know it.  I want to know about the fire at Tony’s house last night.”

“Fire?!  What fire?” Mousey cried with obvious pretense of surprise.  “What’s wit’ Tony?  Is he ok?”

“Don’t know, there was a burned up body in the kitchen and we haven’t ID’d it yet.”  Then leaning across the counter, Finny says, “Where were you last night, Mousey?”

“I was home….home, man.  What’s goin’ on here?”

Finbar ignored his question and then turned to the mug, “What about you, Joey?  Where were you last night?” he asked, already knowing where he was.

“I don’t know nuttin’  bout no fire….” Joey responded.

Read Part Fifteen HERE

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