A Night in the Desert

Chapter V

"Good evening, Ma'am. My name is Lieutenant Littleton, from the detective bureau at the downtown precinct. I wonder if I could have a moment of your time. I believe you might be able to assist in an ongoing investigation." He held up his identification to the door. She could see the gold badge and identification card. Did this have something to do with her stalker, Sue Ann wondered? At least she was sure it wasn't him masquerading, the voice was very different.

She opened the door and invited him in to the living room. She sat down in her chair and motioned for him to sit on the couch. "How can I help you, lieutenant?"

"Thank you for seeing me this late in the evening. I'm part of the financial district detail. We are currently investigating some questionable funds transfers involving your employer. I wonder if you might look over some papers I brought and tell me what you know about the transactions?" He reached into his jacket and took out some papers, which he handed to her.

"I'm just a low-level accountant at the bank. I'm not sure how I can help, but I'll tell you whatever I can." Sue Ann picked up the papers. They appeared to be transaction records showing wire transfers of substantial sums. The sources were accounts at her bank. The destination was listed as a commercial bank in Mexico. "The transfers appear to be in order, is there something in particular I should be looking at?" She looked up from the records to the detective.

"Yes there is. Could you take a look at the origination code for all of these transfers?" He pointed to the block on the report that indicated who had requested the transfer. She looked carefully. First came her bank number and branch, then the operator employee number, then a workstation identification code. All the numbers she knew by heart, including the employee number. It was her number and her workstation. According to the printout, while at her desk she had authorized wire transfers of nearly half a million dollars from inactive accounts to some obscure bank in Mexico City. "I don't understand. This is my number. How did it get on here? I never entered any transactions like these. Did you check with the bank in Mexico?"

"Yes we did, ma'am. All the money had been withdrawn from the account this morning. The local police have been unable to locate the account owner. The name and address appear to be fictitious. However, the bank did fax us a copy of the account application. The form is in Spanish, but your name was listed as one of the cosigners." The detective was looking at her intently.

"This isn't right. I've never been to Mexico City. I never put in any of these wire transfers. There must be some mistake here. Or someone is trying to put the blame on me." She was worried now. She knew enough about banking law to realize she was in serious legal trouble. In her hands was incriminating evidence of wire fraud and embezzlement, with her name all over it. She had an uneasy feeling the detective was not here for a friendly visit.

"I'm sure you are a victim here, but until this is straightened out I must ask you to come with me to the station. At this point I am required to inform you of your legal rights." He proceeded to read from a small card. She wasn't listening. Something was very wrong here. He finished by asking if she wanted a lawyer.

"No, I don't need a lawyer. I didn't do this." She stopped with a premonition of what was about to happen. "Am I under arrest?"

He stood up. "Sue Ann Mendel, I have a warrant for your arrest on charges of embezzlement, wire fraud, currency smuggling, and robbery of a senior citizen. Please stand up and turn around. Place your hands behind your back." In a daze Sue Ann stood up and did as he directed. The handcuffs closed on her wrists. Not the first time for her, but up to now she always had a key. This was for real. "Do you have any weapons, syringe needles, or anything else I should know about?" he asked her.

"No, I don't have anything," she answered in a trembling voice. She still had on a skirt and blouse from work. Neither had pockets because she didn't like the look. She preferred to carry everything in her purse. He patted her down around her waist to verify she didn't have any concealed weapons then took hold of her upper arm and turned her around.

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to go out the front door. There is a car waiting with a female officer who will take you to the Detention Center. After processing you will be allowed to make a call. Are your house keys in your purse? I can take it with and have it stored at the jail as your personal property." He gestured to her purse on the floor next to her chair.

"Oh. Yes please. You will lock the front door behind you?" She was on the verge of crying, shaking with fear. She had never even received a traffic ticket before now, much less been arrested for multiple felonies. The detective seemed to be sympathetic. She hoped that he believed her and would take the time to be thorough and find enough to clear her of the allegations.

He held her by the arm as they walked to the front door. He put her purse down to open the door, then took her outside and closed the door behind her. An unmarked car was in her driveway, but she could see the screen between the front and back seats. A woman stood waiting next to the back door of the car as the detective led her down the front walkway. She opened the rear door as Sue Ann and the detective approached. The woman took hold of Sue Ann's other arm and held her against the side of the car. "Hold still, I will have to do a search before we go downtown." After the search the woman helped Sue Ann into the rear seat, holding her head so she wouldn't hit it against the car. The woman straightened Sue Ann's skirt and then fastened a seat belt across her waist. The woman stood up and the detective closed the car door. Sue Ann noticed the door was locked and the inside window and door handles were missing, as was the door lock button. The handcuffs were uncomfortable but the seat belt wasn't so tight that the cuffs dug into her back.

The female police officer got in the other side of the rear seat and sat next to Sue Ann. The detective closed the rear door then got in to drive. He set her purse on the front seat; she could see it through the metal screen. She had a handcuff key on her key chain inside that purse. Inches away, but it might as well be a thousand miles; there was no way for her to get to it.

As they pulled out of the driveway Sue Ann had a perverse thought; she would have been happier if the detective had been sitting next to her, or if the female officer hadn't been there at all. As they drove towards the jail the detective and the female office talked about some common friends while Sue Ann looked out the window, watching the scenery go by. She followed the same route every day to and from work but it all seemed different now. It might be the last time she came this way for several years.

Someone at the bank had framed her. Whoever it was had done a good job too. In order to initiate a wire transfer the operator had to enter both employee number and a PIN code. Theoretically no one knew her PIN code; it was encrypted in the computer system so even a system operator could not extract it from the security database. New ones always replaced lost or forgotten PIN codes. One of the techs in the computer department at the bank had explained to her that there was no way to retrieve the original code number because they were one-way encrypted. So no one could have stolen her employee number and used it without the PIN number. That's why they had come for her. No doubt the bank's security director had told the detective the same story. Someone in Mexico was living the good life while she was heading for prison. Though chances were whoever had robbed the bank was long gone from Mexico too.

She saw the sign as the car pulled into the rear of the jail building. Metropolitan Detention Center Prisoner Area AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY it read on a large sign at the driveway. This was the part of the building she could see from her cubicle across the street. The detective parked near the large barred gate, the inmate entrance. He opened the rear car door for the female officer, then came around and opened Sue Ann's door. The female officer unbuckled Sue Ann's seat belt and then the detective helped her out of the car. As she stood up she could see the window of her office. All those times she had sat at her desk up there, watching, even fantasizing about being down here, but never did she expect to actually be one of the prisoners.

The female office said goodbye to the detective and headed for a door further down the building. Sue Ann knew that door was for the police and jail guards; she had never seen prisoners go in or out that way. The detective led her to the main door and pressed a buzzer. Someone inside opened the heavy steel door and unlocked the barred gate. The detective took Sue Ann inside and stopped at the booking window. A jail guard took her name and address and inventoried her possessions from the purse. If either the detective or the guard noticed the handcuff key they made no mention of it. Next the detective took her in a side door where a technician was waiting to record her fingerprints. The detective removed her handcuffs while she was fingerprinted. After she cleaned the ink off he handcuffed her again, hands behind her back, and took her down another corridor to a small room with a table and some chairs. He pulled one chair out and helped her sit down, then sat down across from her and began to fill out some paperwork.

"Sorry about the handcuffs," he told her. "Procedure. We have to do it for everyone now. The lawyers say it has to do with liability." She nodded. At least he was being nice about it. It wasn't as if she had never been cuffed before, and for far longer periods of time. The detective stood up and walked to the door. "I have to file this paperwork and then I'll be back in a few minutes to discuss your case in more detail. Will you be okay here by yourself? I'll be right back." She nodded in agreement, afraid to speak lest he hear the tremor in her voice. She had a suspicion he had left her handcuffed as an intimidation tactic for the upcoming interrogation. It was working. She was trying to remain outwardly calm but inside she was a frightened helpless little girl.

He knocked on the door, someone opened it and he left. Sue Ann looked around the small interrogation room. On TV there was always a one-way mirror. Here were only bare walls. She looked up at the ceiling. Nothing more than a common fluorescent light panel as far as she could see. There must be a concealed camera somewhere , she thought, or they wouldn't have left me alone . She touched the cuffs locked around her wrists. They did have a familiar outline; she must have one of the same models in her collection. He had placed them just as the instruction sheet described. The keyhole pointed away from her hand and her palms faced outward. She could just touch one of the keyways with the tip of a finger. She had always worn her cuffs with the keyway toward her hands and palms together. It didn't really matter; without a key she couldn't open them in either position.

The detective came back in with another man dressed in a suit. "Ms. Mendel, the District Attorney's office has instructed us not to discuss your case with you. This is Mr. James Logan from the Public Defender's office. Unless you decide to retain another attorney he will handle your case. For now he will explain what happens next. I'll leave you two alone to discuss it." Detective Littleton knocked on the door again and left.

"Good evening, Sue Ann" the attorney said as he sat down. "I'll get right to it. The cops aren't going to interrogate you because they feel they don't have to. Their evidence is solid and so persuasive they don't want any chance of some technical violation. I've looked over what they've given me so far. To be frank, they have a pretty good case. Your name is all over the records. Your fingerprints were on paper records. All the transactions came from your workstation. Just to give you an idea, the assistant DA told me she didn't want to negotiate a plea bargain, but she did offer to drop misdemeanor charges and not ask the judge for maximums if you plead guilty.

"As your attorney I don't have to know if you are guilty or not. I'll present your defense and do my best to challenge the prosecution's case. I have to tell you; in all honesty no jury in the world will let you go with the prosecution evidence I've seen so far. Is there anything you can offer to refute their case?"

Sue Ann shook her head. "No, I have nothing. I didn't do it. I knew nothing about it until an hour ago. If I had stolen all that money, why am I still in town? Can they explain that?"

The attorney shrugged. "Actually, yes they can. The prosecution will claim they discovered the theft almost immediately because of a chance security audit. Normally the transfers would not have been found for weeks, possibly months since they were inactive accounts. Three of the account owners were elderly. The other two were deceased. They believe you didn't have enough time to get away."

Smart move by whoever set her up, Sue Ann thought. They must have known the audit was coming. "Then where is the money? I haven't been to Mexico and I certainly don't have half a million under my bed," she asked. There must be something missing, some way she could prove she was innocent.

"It was a man that withdrew the money. The Federales , the Mexican Federal Police, have a blurry picture from the security cameras in the bank. Nothing useful though, he probably had a disguise on. The police think he is your partner. Not a very bright partner, he put your name down on the account application by accident. Listen, if you tell the police who he is, where the money is, I can get a better deal for you. It's something I can negotiate with." He looked at her expectantly.

"You don't understand!" She was on the verge of tears again. "I didn't do it. He isn't my partner. I don't know who he is, or where the money is. I've been set up. I'm innocent! I didn't steal anything." She would have been banging her fist on the table if not for the handcuffs. She did clench her fists in frustration. No one seemed to believe her. She could tell from the attorney's expression he didn't buy one word of her story. "What's the worst that can happen to me? If I lose in court, I mean."

"So far there are five counts of wire fraud, one for each transfer. Five embezzlement counts, that's one for each account. Let's see," he consulted a legal pad, "and three counts of robbing a senior citizen. It seems three of the bank accounts were held by people over age 55. In this state it doubles the sentence if convicted. Assuming you get a moderate judge, five years concurrent for the fraud and embezzlement, doubled to ten years for the senior citizen rider. Worst case, fifteen years for fraud, ten for embezzling from the bank, that makes 25 years if served consecutively. Three counts would be doubled, add another 15 years for that. A hanging judge would give you forty consecutive years. All that is contingent on the prosecution not adding additional counts."

She paled. Forty years might as well be a life sentence in prison. Even ten years seemed like forever. She would have nothing when she got out. No one would hire an accountant convicted of robbing her employer and customers. Sue Ann sat back in her chair, stunned at the enormity of what was happening to her. What was she going to do? For that matter what could she do?

The attorney cleared his throat. "You will be arraigned tomorrow. The judge will ask for a plea and set bail. If you plead guilty, there won't be a trial. A judge will schedule a sentencing hearing where both sides present facts they feel the judge should take into account. We present mitigating factors. The prosecution remains silent or presents facts they believe justify a harsher sentence. I should tell you that a judge is usually more lenient in sentencing if there hasn't been a trial, primarily because he may not know all the facts in the case. Also, if you take the prosecution's offer it does help that the District Attorney's office recommends a lesser sentence.

"If you plead innocent the judge schedules a trial and then sets bail. The prosecution will argue you are a flight risk because the money hasn't been recovered. In cases like this the judge will deny bail or set it to be very high, maybe a million dollars or more. Unless you have wealthy friends you won't make bail. You sit in jail for six months to a year before the trial starts. Any questions?"

It looked bad. Sue Ann couldn't come up with anything to say. She looked across the table at her attorney. "I really don't have much of a choice do I? I have no way of proving my innocence. I can't afford a big legal bill with investigators and high-powered attorneys. Even if I could they might not find anything. Can I think about it tonight, and tell you at the arraignment in the morning?"

"Sure," he answered. "What will happen next is they will put you in the pre-trial detention area tonight. It's not ideal but better than the general population area; they will treat you decently. Tomorrow morning they will take you to the courthouse. I'll meet you there and we'll appear before the judge. Depending on what happens you will probably be brought back here. I'll meet with you later to discuss your case. Okay?" She nodded in agreement. That part of the routine she definitely knew about; she saw it every day. Her attorney stood up, knocked on the door, and left as a guard opened it.