the Illegals: Carson Reno Mystery Series, #8

the

ILLEGALS

A Carson Reno Mystery

––––––––

Written by

Gerald W. Darnell

––––––––

the

ILLEGALS

Copyright © 2012 by Gerald W. Darnell

Published by cr press

ISBN: 978-1-105-56604-2

––––––––

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without written permission from the publisher.

cr publishing

Gerald W. Darnell

carsonreno@msn.com

––––––––

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Be sure to check out Carson Reno’s other Mystery Adventures

Murder in Humboldt

The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land

Killer Among Us

Horse Tales

SUnset  4

the Crossing

the Everglades

Dead Men Don’t Remember

Fingerprint Murders

Reelfoot

Justifiable Homicide

Dead End

Murder and More

Cast of Characters

Carson Reno - Private Detective

Rita - Hostess Starlight Lounge

Marcie – Peabody Hotel Operator

Andy – Bartender Down Under

Mason ‘Booker-T’ Brown – Head porter Peabody Hotel

Nickie/Ronnie Woodson – Owners Chiefs Motel and Restaurant

Tommy Trubush – carhop Chiefs

Florence (Flo) – waitress at Chiefs

Mavis  Wardlow– waitress at Chiefs

Dr. Harold Barker – Gibson County Coroner

Jack Logan – Attorney /Partner

Leroy Epsee – Sheriff Gibson County

Jeff Cole – Deputy Gibson County

Scotty Perry – Deputy Gibson County

Nancy Oakland – Deputy Gibson County

Elizabeth Teague – Airline Stewardess and friend of Carson’s

Mary Ellen Maxwell – Humboldt Socialite and owner of Maxwell Trucking

Judy Strong – Vice President of Maxwell Trucking

Gerald Wayne – Owner Wayne Knitting Mill

Nuddy – Bartender Humboldt Country Club

Joe Richardson – Associate Drake Detective Agency

Sinclair McCabe – Attorney

Gloria McCabe – Wife of Sinclair McCabe

Gordon McCabe – Attorney, son of Sinclair/Gloria McCabe

Turner Clark – Attorney

Leonard Lewis – Attorney

Mary Drummond – Attorney

Matthew Malansky – Attorney

Austin Boyd – United States Senator

Gray Nelson – Owner Nelson Engineering

Shelly Norwood – Humboldt resident

Yvonne Lighthouse – Neighbor

Charles Lawrence - The Butler

Carrie Mae Johnson – Maid

Viola Person – Maid

LaMorris Person – Husband of Viola

Raymond Griggs – Humboldt Chief of Police

Tony Bailey – Humboldt Police Officer

L.D. Newell – Mayor Humboldt

Mike Barker – Alderman Humboldt

Chip Falstaff – Captain Tennessee Highway Patrol

Darcille Moore – Shelly’s roommate

Tony Scarsetti – Mafia

Steve Carrollton – Memphis Mafia

Joey ‘Pots and Pans’ Rizzo – Mafia member

Frankie ‘Two Times’ Moretti – Mafia member

Beverly Singleton – Employee of ‘M.M.C.& L.’

Conrad Taylor – Private Investigator

Brett Lamar – Private Investigator

Jake Yardley – Private Investigator

Dedication

Janie Darnell, my mother

Contribution Credits

Elizabeth Tillman White

Judy Steele Minnehan

Mary Ann Sizer Fisher

Material Credits

Humboldt Public Library

Gibson County Historical Website

Humboldt Courier Chronicle

Strawberry Museum

Libby Lynch

Prologue

Crime DOES pay – especially crime that has the support of our legal system.

Carson’s investigative work for Attorney Jack Logan runs smack into the path of the largest law firm in West Tennessee. Trying to stay out of their path only succeeds in putting Carson in the crosshairs of lawyers who want him out of the way.

Power struggles, infidelity, organized crime and eventually murder all appear to be somehow linked to this powerful law firm – McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis.

This is a story of the small versus the large in a little West Tennessee community that has no idea of the crime and corruption that lay underneath their quiet daily lives.

Join Carson as he takes on the fight of his career when he challenges ‘the Illegals’.

Chapters

Introduction

Retirement Party

Leonard Lewis

Mary Drummond

Matthew Malansky

Information

Humboldt

Murder

The Party

New Clients

Private Investigators

Christmas Day

Lawyers and Lies

The Help

Bad for Business

Searching for Answers

Dumb and Dumber

Strategy

Solution

Wrap Up

––––––––

Life is cheap – make sure you buy enough

Carson Reno

®

––––––––

It is possible that infidelity has made me what I am today. Not a rich man - it does, however, provide me with rent money and the satisfaction of providing a service to those in need.

––––––––

Carson Reno

Introduction

The firm of McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis is unquestionably the largest and most prestigious law firm in Gibson County, Tennessee.  Their main office is located at #2 Court Square in Trenton, Tennessee - just yards from the County Courthouse. With satellite offices in most every town in the county, they offer a legal staff of over 50 attorneys, 75 paralegal and 3 private investigators working from 10 offices scattered across West Tennessee.  Their client list consists of senators, governors, judges, business executives and prominent citizens from all across the southern United States. 

The firm of ‘M.M.C.& L.’ isn’t just smart, powerful and prestigious; they are also great at marketing their services.  It’s illegal for lawyers to advertise in any public forum; however, they somehow convinced Southern Bell (the phone-company) they needed a separate telephone prefix for their many offices around West Tennessee.  The standard exchange for Trenton was PEabody 2 (732).  ‘M.M.C.& L.’ acquired the exchange of 668, to which they added 4589 for their main switchboard inbound telephone number.  The telephone number of 668-4589 (NOT-GLTY) appears on all business cards, stationary, letterheads and any other printed material associated with the firm.

However, having money and needing an attorney did not necessarily guarantee you a place on the McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis client list.  They were very selective, and used specific processes and programs to assure their legal staff only took cases that were public, profitable and most importantly good for the growth of the firm. The weight of the case was much more important than winning.  Weekly meetings held by the managing partners reviewed each prospective client, and their decisions were firm and final.  They weighed the political implications, versus the publicity, versus the client and versus the impacts from a possible loss of decision.  They didn’t win every case, but sometimes the loss might bring more to the firm than winning.  ‘M.M.C.& L.’ considered all the angles, and made decisions on the long-range impact – not necessarily the ruling handed down by a judge.

For community support, they offered small ‘paralegal services’ that represented the little guy, the small fry who had money and wanted the ‘M.M.C.& L.’ clout behind their problems.  This was considered charity, and treated that way by the managing partners.  After all, they were a part of the community and wanted to be recognized as such.

Weekly and quarterly meetings by the Senior/Junior Partners rarely discussed these clients and their issues.  Mostly they discussed expansion and opening more offices in larger metro areas.  Memphis was scheduled next and Nashville would not be far behind.

~

There are three Senior Partners at ‘M.M.C.& L.’ and three Junior partners:

Sinclair McCabe is a Senior Partner and Founder of ‘M.M.C.& L.’.  Sinclair was a 1922 graduate from Yale.

Turner Clark is a Senior Partner and a 1935 graduate from Yale.

Leonard Lewis is a Senior Partner and a 1938 graduate from the University of Mississippi.

Mary Drummond is a 1948 graduate from Harvard and has been with the firm since graduation.  She is also a Junior partner.

Matthew Malansky is a 1952 graduate from the University of Arkansas and a Junior partner.

Gordon McCabe is a Junior Partner and a 1959 graduate from the University of Tennessee.  He is also the son of Senior Partner, and founder, Sinclair McCabe.

~

On the surface this was a large, successful and well managed law firm.  The real truth is that Sinclair McCabe had no idea what was going on in this law firm of which he was so proud.  Underneath the facade that everyone saw as ‘M.M.C.& L.’ were problems that dwarfed the personal and political squabbles that are typically found in a large firm with just a few controlling partners.  The managing partners and controlling board were confident that sufficient rules and controls had been implemented to prevent any member straying into areas that didn’t meet the firm’s guidelines and charter.  Unfortunately, they were wrong, and the struggles for control of ‘M.M.C.& L.’ made it impossible to see the dangers lying ahead.  Events beyond their knowledge and control were about to challenge the dynasty known as McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis.

~

It was snowing and snowing heavily. McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis didn’t plan this and it wasn’t something they could control.  However, this is December, and the snow added to the decorations scattered across the outside deck and patio of the Sinclair McCabe home, located just outside Trenton, Tennessee.  For emphasis, the servants had placed lights in the trees and even a few ornaments on the evergreen shrubbery around the patio and party area.  Sinclair McCabe had turned 66 last month and this was his retirement party; it was going to happen - snow or not. 

This is where our story begins.

Retirement Party

All the important people had been invited and most of them accepted.  Present and former governors, senators, congressmen and even a few ‘small people’, who might carry some weight in their respective communities, had received gold engraved invitations to Sinclair McCabe’s official retirement party.  This was official, because in reality Sinclair had been distancing himself from the firm for the past few years.  He no longer handled regular business and only had a handful of high-profile clients on his ‘active’ list.

Sinclair had transitioned the day-to-day business control to Senior partner, Turner Clark.  Turner joined the firm soon after its founding and had proven to be a very capable businessman as well as an outstanding attorney.  In the beginning, Sinclair and Turner made a beautiful team.  After all, they were both Yale graduates and brought the same high standards to their work.  However, other than the Yale graduate logo, they had little else in common.  Sinclair was a people person, relying on his personality and friendships to move the business forward and make it successful.  Turner Clark certainly had people skills, but he relied on cunning and manipulation as the keys to success.

Turner Clark ruled with an iron hand, which was much different than the way Sinclair managed the business.  Turner and Sinclair argued often about Turner’s demanding manner and his aggressiveness regarding growing the business.  Sinclair believed the business would come if they served their clients well; Turner believed it was necessary to address, and if necessary, combat competition.  Turner had a good point.  The number of attorneys in the area had almost doubled in the past 10 years, while the local client base had continued to shrink.  For this reason, and some others, Turner felt it was absolutely necessary to expand their business to the larger metro areas of Memphis and Nashville.  These plans had been formulated and approved by the partners as well as the controlling board of directors.  Reluctantly, Sinclair had agreed to the changes, but everyone realized his heart wasn’t in it, and rumors of his retirement floated about the office on a regular basis.

Obviously, Sinclair was aware of the rumors and finally made the decision to step down and officially retire.  The date was set to be the end of the calendar year 1962 and this party was the culmination of that decision; however, there was another lingering problem.

Sinclair and Gloria McCabe’s only son, Gordon, had joined the firm last year, following his graduation from the University of Tennessee and the Memphis School of Law.  Years earlier, Sinclair had added the second ‘McCabe’ to the name "McCabe, Clark and Lewis’, believing that it added prestige to the firm and also in hopes that his son would someday become the other McCabe on the ‘M.M.C.& L.’ letterhead.  When that finally happened, Sinclair was as proud as any father could ever be.  Unfortunately, he was in a minority.

Gordon came into the firm with high promise and praise, and it was Sinclair’s wish for Gordon to take the reins of ‘M.M.C.& L.’, so he was immediately named a Junior partner – that turned out to be a serious mistake.  Not only was Gordon disregarded by the other attorneys, he was simply not respected – and he managed to live up to all these expectations!  He drank too much; he partied too much and lost almost every case he handled.  Sinclair failed to see, or refused to acknowledge, the shortcomings and misdeeds by Gordon.  He continued to support him and offered praise at every opportunity.  Sinclair’s planned announcement of Gordon as a Senior partner at ‘M.M.C.& L.’ was just another step in the wrong direction.

Gordon barely made it through college, finished last in his graduation class and (rumored) only passed his bar exam by one point.  But, Gordon’s life had always been an easy one.  When your father is Sinclair McCabe, you didn’t need to work hard – things just naturally came your way!

The clash between Turner and Gordon started on the first day and had only gotten worse with time.  Everyone in the firm wondered how Sinclair’s retirement would affect this relationship and Gordon’s future with ‘M.M.C.& L.’.

~

The guest list was huge, but the Sinclair home was able to accommodate.  A small band in the foyer played a mixture of slow waltzes and Christmas music, while the guests snacked, drank and told stories of bad judges, bad clients and good money!  Everyone had assembled to wish Sinclair good wishes with his retirement, and to wish his wife, Gloria, good luck dealing with a ‘hard nosed’ lawyer who, seemingly had nothing left to do.

Gloria was busy mingling with the many guests, but continued to glance at her wristwatch and look around the room.  Her son, Gordon, had not arrived. It was very important that he be at the party - and he knew it!

Sinclair was holding audience in the den and entertaining former Governors Frank Clement and Gordon Browning with some humorous stories of past clients and difficult cases.  Sinclair was really a people person, and a large group of younger lawyers from ‘M.M.C.& L.’ had also gathered to enjoy the performance and rub shoulders with these former political giants.

If Sinclair was aware of his son’s absence, it didn’t show.  Perhaps he wasn’t concerned, or perhaps he knew why he was delayed, or perhaps he still couldn’t recognize the failures of his only son.

Carrie Mae Johnson is the head housekeeper, and frankly, the success of this gathering was because of her tireless work.  She ran a tight ship and knew exactly how Mrs. Gloria Sinclair wanted things, and made them happen that way.

Somehow, amidst the mingling crowd, Gloria managed to get Carrie Mae’s attention when she was replenishing one of the appetizer trays.  She motioned toward the kitchen door, letting Carrie Mae know to meet her there promptly.

Gloria quickly walked into the kitchen and nervously sat down in one of the plastic cushioned aluminum kitchen chairs.  She was shaking.

‘What’s wrong, Miss Gloria?" Carrie Mae quickly asked, as she entered the enormous kitchen moments later.

Gordon isn’t here, she said almost out of breath. He knows how important this party is and he’s not here!  Where is he?  Has he called?

No ma’am, Miss Gloria, I haven’t heard from him.  But you know the weather is bad, maybe Master Gordon is just having trouble with the icy roads, Carrie Mae offered, trying to comfort.

That’s not it, Gloria snorted. He’s off drunk somewhere and probably with that whore, Shelly Norwood.  I know he is, and I know he’s doing it to spite his father and me!  Oh, Carrie Mae, what am I going to do? She started crying.

Carrie Mae put her arms around Gloria and let her cry on her shoulder as she