Dean Warner Intrigues - 2. Blood

Chapter 2 Blood

Moday morning found Dean back in classes and talking to his fellow students. He had to fill them in on all that he had heard. Nothing much had happened on Sunday except that he worked again from noon to 8 at night. A city police car remained in front of the neighbor's house whenever he came or went and anyone who slowed down or stopped was promptly encouraged to move on down the block. He reported he had a two o'clock meeting at the police station and he was expecting more questions and hopefully some answers at that time. Classes went as usual and he left the campus a little after 1:30 to head to the station.

On arrival he was shown into a small conference room and was asked if he wanted a lawyer present, which shocked Dean. He asked if he needed a lawyer or if he was a person of interest in the case and was assured that he did not as he was not a suspect, but that he had a right to have counsel present during his deposition. There were three men in the room with Dean, the detective, the officer recording the session and someone identified as an observer from the U.S. Marshal's Office. Dean was sworn and the questions started and he retold his story from beginning until he went to work the next day. Then he was questioned about what happened at work and what was discussed. He was questioned about what he and his mother discussed and he was questioned about what he discussed with Mr. Connor and also with his classmates.

Then the detective asked him if he would swear to keep the following part of the interview confidential and not discuss it with anyone except perhaps his lawyer. Dean again became nervous and said he guessed so, but was uneasy. The detective had him solemnly swear to keep the remainder of the interview confidential and that if he discussed it with an attorney to warn the attorney it was a protected conversation.

The detective was named Jack Turner and he asked: “Did you know that your neighbor Bruno Weiss was in the federal witness protection program?” Dean remembered that Sean Connor had said something about overhearing the term witness protection program but they had not considered that Bruno Weiss was in it, but rather was involved somehow in coding computer security surrounding the program. He shook his head no and told that to the detective. The detective then asked if Dean knew anything about the work Bruno Weiss did and he again explained that he knew Mr. Weiss worked from home and that Mr. Connor thought it was on computer code involving security programs etc.

During the rest of the interview, Jack Turner asked more and more for details about Sean Connor, his relationship to the victim and the rest of the neighbors, and how long had he lived there. Dean told them everything he knew including the fact that Sean Connor had lived in his house since it was built and had inherited it from his mother who died about 6 years ago. Mrs. Connor had been a neighborhood favorite with all the kids as she was always making cookies and other treats. Dean further told the detective that as far as he knew, Sean Connor had learned his trade from his father and took over his father's plumbling business at a fairly young age as his dad had a severe stroke and was disabled until he died. That was just before Dean and his mom moved into the neighborhood.

The detective then asked Dean if he was ever molested or propositioned by Sean Connor. Dean's reaction was to laugh out loud. “Oh no, you have Sean Connor all wrong, his boyfriends are always at least 10 years older than him! I've never seen him interested in anyone that didn't have at least some gray hair. None of the neighbors worried about their children being around Mr. Connor. He may be campy, but was never vulgar, foul mouthed or lewd in his behavior. “

“Did any of the neighbors have issues with him being gay?”

“I don't know. I know my mom didn't and I just always knew he was gay and interested in older men, not boys so it didn't worry me” Dean replied.

“Did Sean Connor and Mr. Weiss have a gay relationsip as we know Bruno Weiss was gay?” Again Dean was caught off guard. He had never wondered about Mr. Weiss' sexuality. The man was pleasant but distant and always very private and he appeared to be at least 10 years younger than Sean Connor. Dean explained his thoughts to the detective and said “while it is possible I guess, I don't think so. Mr. Connor was usually at his house. I never saw him at Mr. Weiss' house and and I never saw Weiss at Connor's. I did see them talk across the street on occasion when each one was doing yard work or taking out the trash, but it was just casual adult stuff and nothing I paid much attention to.”

The detective then stated: “This is the most sensitive part of the information I am asking you about and it is not to be repeated, not even to your mom. Bruno Weiss was an excellent marksman. He carried a 9 mm. pistol and was proficient with it. The bullet removed from his chest was from a .38 and the bullet removed from your room was from Weiss' 9 mm. Forensics has matched that bullet to his weapon. They also determined it was the second shot fired recently. We have not recovered the other round nor found any evidence of it at the house. We therefore think he may have wounded his assailant. Nothing seems to be missing from the Weiss house and we don't know whether the assailant was an assasin or was attempting to take something from the house when he was confronted by Mr. Weiss.”

“With this additional information, can you think of any reason why Mr. Weiss fired through his window into your bedroom through the window as he was being shot to death?” Dean gulped and pondered and then shook his head no, “Not unless it was to get attention. But the gunshots were less than 60 feet from where I was sleeping so they got my attention from the start.” The detective looked at Dean some more to see if he had anything further he wanted to add to the record but Dean was numb. Dean took a drink of water and sat back in his chair and then asked: “Why was Mr. Weiss in the protected witness program? “ The detective looked at his notes and then at the Marshal who gave a slight nod.

“Bruno Weiss gave the testimony that convicted a notorious New York mob boss for money laundering vast sums of money from drugs, prostitution, internet scams and numbers through off shore accounts. It put the mob boss away for the rest of his life and essentially deprived his family of several hundred million dollars which was confiscated by the government. Mr. Weiss was only twenty-one years old when he was recruited after graduating from MIT by an exclusive New York accounting firm to develop stronger encryption software for their financial transactions. At age twenty-three he already personally held more than thirty patents on computer encryption programs and routines that came to be licensed at considerable profit. The accounting firm which recruited him was owned by the mob and when Bruno Weiss figured out what was going on, he documented it and took it to the U.S. Attorney. He furnished the data and provided his testimony in exchange for the witness protection program.”

Dean was blown away by this information. He would have never suspected that the very quiet, unassuming but pleasant neighbor was that smart, or that daring. He then asked: “Did he continue to work on computer encryption programs for the government?”

The detective looked at his notes again and replied: “He was only allowed a dial-up connection, told to stay away from encryption or security modules and to keep his head down and under the radar of the professional world he was forced to leave. He still had royalties coming in from his previously patented programs and they were all handled through his estate and the Marshal service as his death had been faked when he was given the new identity. He never contacted his parents or siblings again and they did not know his whereabouts or contact him that we can determine. “

Dean sat and thought some more and then finally asked: “Why are you telling me all this?”

Turner looked at his notes again and replied: “The bullet recovered from your room which came from Weiss' weapon was unusual and not a standard round. It was hollowed out and contained a data chip. It was sent off to the FBI lab and may end up making the rounds of the various intelligence agencies code busters before all is said and done. “ He went on: “We think he fired it through his window and yours towards the paperback books in your book case to protect the round from impacting into anything too hard and possibly deforming it, which would have destroyed the chip.”

“We also think that your quick call to 911 and the confrontation with your mom explaining that together with the fact that the police were on the way may have saved your life.”

“What?” Dean exclaimed! “We found a small amount of blood on the grass outside your window” explained the detective.