*-- *-- *
It had been almost two weeks since Pablo and Shera had turned themselves in and Johnny was wondering what was happening in the search for Ramon’s killer so he called Sheriff Lampton.
“If you had called fifteen minutes earlier, I would have told you there was no news; but just now Detective Tavalerio came in with Captain Powell from the Laredo Police Department in Texas.-Since Detective Tavalerio is aware of all the aspects of the case, they have sworn him in as a deputy and he’s assisting with the case.-They will be talking with Pablo Alvarez in a little while and getting as many facts from him as possible.”
“And Pablo and Shera are alright, then?”
“Yes, they’re fine.-A little nervous, I think, about having to testify and all, but they’re fine.-When Jorge Laquidera is apprehended, I think we will be trying him here for murder and then he will be extradited back to Texas to stand trial there on the heroin smuggling charges.-I’ll try to keep you informed of the progress in the case.”
“Thanks, sheriff.-I’ll appreciate that a lot.”
When he hung up the phone, Sheriff Lampton turned to Captain Powell and Detective Tavalerio.-“That was the man who helped us with taking Alvarez into custody.-We’d still be nowhere in this case if he hadn’t talked Alvarez into turning himself in.”
-“How about if we get everyone on a first name basis.-Using all the titles just takes too much time.-I’m Dan.”
“I’ll be glad to be ‘Bernie’ if that’s alright with everybody.”
“I’m Owen and that will make this investigation a lot easier.-I’ve sent two deputies in plain clothes and unmarked car to pick up Pablo from the safe house and they should be back any minute.-They’ll park in the garage so no one will see Pablo getting out of the car.-Oh, here they are now.-Come in Pablo and sit right here if you will.”
“You’re absolutely sure I’m not going to get in any more trouble when I tell you all the stuff we do when we work for Jorge?”-Pablo was trying to cover his ass.
"You have my word as a police officer and as a gentleman, Pablo."
“And ours as well.-Your service to us will be of great value and the information you have should help us save countless lives that would be ruined by the heroin that we can keep off our streets and away from our young people.-Besides, we can also hope to apprehend and punish the ones responsible for the murder of your friend, Ramon.-If you’re ready, we can begin.”
“I’m ready, I guess.”-Pablo’s hands fidgeted with the buttons on his shirt and moved restlessly to his hair, his ear, his collar.-When he shook hands with Captain Powell, he had noticed his palms were sweaty and his skin was clammy and he swallowed dryly several times.
“Would you like something to drink; some coffee perhaps or a soft drink?” Owen asked.
“Si, por favor; that would help.”
When he had taken several sips of the Coke, he indicated he was ready to begin.
“When did you begin working for Laquidera?”
“Three years ago in April.-I don’t remember the exact date.”
“How were you paid?”-Captain Powell was doing the questioning.
“In cash only—American money.”
“Where did you go to get paid?”
“Sometimes we were paid when we delivered the drugs.-Other times, we had to go to the main office on Pueblo Street there in Laredo.”
“What was the street number, Pablo?”
“219 Pueblo Street.”
“And you received your wages directly from Laquidera?”
“Sometimes.-Other times his second in command, Jose Paschall, gave us our envelopes.-When Jose paid us, the money was almost always short.-When we complained, Jose said he had taken out his ‘delivery fee.’-I think Jose was Jorge’s cousin or some relation, so we knew talking to Jorge would do no good.”
“Can you describe both of these men to us?”
“I would be more able to draw them for you.-If I could have a pencil and unlined paper?”
“Okay.”-Owen went into his office and came back with several sheets of typing paper.-Pablo went to work immediately and began to sketch a likeness of a Latino man with black hair, receding hair line, long aquiline nose, dark eyes set close together, a thick, heavy-set neck, bushy eyebrows, a sneering mouth partly covered by a shaggy, unkempt moustache.
“That is amazing art work, Pablo.-When we relocate you, you need to do something special with that extraordinary talent.-I’ll e-mail this to the state lab in Frankfort and see if they can match it to someone in our data base.”
“You might want to get it to the Austin identi-bank, also.-Since his headquarters is there, we might be more likely to be able to match it there,”-Dan suggested.
Sheriff Lampton went back to his office and e-mailed it to both places as well as the federal boys in Washington.-When he came back, he also had a sketch of Jose Paschall to send on the way.-Jose was a short, skinny man and although he had some Latino features, he also had some of the features attributable to his American mother.-His complexion was fairer with hair a little lighter shade and eyes that Pablo indicated were a bright blue.-There was a jagged scar on his right cheekbone and his nose was crooked from having been broken, Pablo said, in a saloon fight.-His mouth had the same harsh, cruel slant to it that he had drawn for Jorge and Jose’s eyes, though blue instead of black, were set close together like Jorge’s.-There definitely seemed to be a family resemblance.-
“Okay, Pablo, you have been most helpful and your talent for doing portraits will certainly assist greatly in tracking down these two culprits.-Now, if you will, please write down the names of any others of the gang members you can remember.-We need to put away the whole crew if we can.-Do you know if there was anyone who Laquidera answered to?”
“There was, but I never heard his name.-He was only referred to as “The Boss” in my hearing.”
The questioning continued for some time and Pablo drew some sketches of others of the gang and made a drawing of the inside of the office on Pueblo Street complete with the location of Jorge’s office and the cache of arms they kept at all times.-He also mapped the three different routes they took when they came in with drugs and explained the methods they used to camouflage the contraband to keep it from being found by the border officials.-It had been a very productive session, indeed.
The next morning they had word from the Austin, Texas computer technology lab that they had matched the sketch drawn by Pablo to one Jorge Laquidera who had served time for assault almost fifteen years prior.-Since he had been released following his completion of a three year sentence, he had kept his nose clean to the extent that they had not been able to get enough evidence to charge him with anything.-Jose, they had found no matches for and assumed he had no criminal record, yet.