somewhat of a labyrinth, Mr. Kilton. Not one that we couldn’t move through, and certainly one that had a great deal of paths that led to nowhere but, eventually, we found our way to the end.”
“This is ridiculous—”
“Thomas, quiet,” Robert barked, keeping his attention on Kyle.
“We’ve known that some of Kilton’s pharmaceuticals, particularly opioids such as your brand of fentanyl, have ended up on the black market, often used as an additive with heroin or cocaine, making it way more potent and way more addictive. Cash value on the streets is in the millions.”
Thomas began to speak again, but a sharp glare from Robert caused him to snap his mouth closed, his fingers clutching the arms of the chair.
Continuing, Kyle said, “We were suspicious of the van robbery. While I wouldn’t call it easy, there were too many variables that led to our concerns. The van had to get to the pharmacy earlier than normal, and yet the truck was already there waiting for them, indicating the thieves knew not only the regular schedule but the change in schedule. The driver who was struck, Joe Parson, had been taken out of sight and yet Charlie distinctly heard him talking, indicating Joe had a conversation with the driver in a tone that was not upset or concerned. The truck involved in the theft had been reported stolen from a local laundry business but was owned by a larger cleaning service. It was found, and while the thieves assumed the use of gloves on the plastic-wrapped cardboard boxes would suffice, trace evidence of the pharmaceuticals was discovered. The truck was owned by Hope City Linen and Uniform Service, which in turn is owned by Artog Shipping.”
At this, he noted Robert’s eyes widened. “I see you recognize that name. It has ties to both Kilton Pharmaceuticals as well as Congressman Dell.”
Thomas scoffed. “This is ridiculous! This is nothing more than a convoluted fabrication that exposes the Hope City Police Department’s inability to find stolen drugs. Hope City has a drug problem and the police are ineffectual in combating it, so they're coming after us with nothing but ridiculous political innuendo.”
Kyle turned and looked toward Thomas, lifting his brow in skepticism. His lips curved ever so slightly and he continued without hesitation. “What was suspected from the beginning was that the robbery was either planned by or planned with someone from inside Kilton Pharmaceuticals. As it turns out, we now know how it was done and have arrested most of the players.”
Alex’s phone vibrated aloud, and after he checked the text, he looked toward Kyle and nodded.
“Detective Freeman has just been informed that Porter Myles has been taken into custody, and we already have Joseph Parson. At the moment, those are the only two employees of Kilton Pharmaceuticals that we have arrested. Joe knew that the robbery was going to occur. When the accident kept them from keeping to their original schedule, he had to inform someone, ensuring that thieves on the other end would know about the change. Officially, he called Tammy Rutgers, which would be the correct protocol. She, in turn, told Bob Trogdon, and that should have been the end of it. In checking Joseph’s phone logs, we found that he also sent a separate message to Porter Myles, who responded that he’d take care of it. We know that Porter then contacted Roger Solten, who works at the Linen Service. He was the driver of the truck and made the change necessary to be at the pharmacy at the new time.”
Thomas shifted slightly in his seat, and Kyle threw another glance toward him. “Roger took the drugs and delivered them to the next level, getting them close to the streets. He used Joseph’s stepbrother, Jeremiah Dempsy, who would then deliver the drugs to various dealers. Roger kept a tight accounting on the dealers, and he had sufficient manpower to back up any threats he needed to make. The money started pouring in to him after the dealers took their cut. Then Roger began paying the person in charge of the entire operation after he took his percentage. Even with all that, the person at the top is making over a million dollars on this stolen shipment alone. And, of course, that doesn’t include other stolen shipments around the world that occur when Kilton Pharmaceuticals uses Artog Shipping.”
“Detective, please tell me that you’ve identified who was at the top so that we can plug this hole,” Robert Kilton said, his blue