Every investigation that runs for any duration of time will have its period of nadir, and my sister’s cold case was no different. It seemed like Captain Smelter instinctively knew when these times were because without fail, he would contact me with a job. On each occasion, I was able to accomplish the tasks that he asked of me, and the cases were concluded satisfactorily. After each successful conclusion of the case I received a check in the mail for my services.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t spend any time discussing these cases but since they were my first instances of doing undercover work, I think it’s appropriate that I do so if for no other reason that it was a good learning experience. Since my going undercover became instrumental in eventually cracking my sister’s case, I thought it’s especially important to recount my experiences in detail. While they were fairly simple cases, they helped me polish my undercover skills.

First off, I will give the reader a little background information. Over the last year or so, there had been young women disappearing at an increasing rate from the D.C. area. The locations were finally narrowed down to a few clubs. Unfortunately, the undercover police officers were quickly spotted by the traffickers. What was called for was new blood, and that is where I came in. Not only am I fairly new to law enforcement, but I am still quite young. I don’t want to sound conceited, but I’m quite good-looking. I would soon find out that this was a double-edged sword. My looks made it difficult to be a simple observer.

My job was quite easy. All I had to do was first, dress nicely and then go bar hopping to the targeted clubs. I not only had to stay sober, I had to fit in as well. While it was OK to occasionally dance with the other patrons, I was not there to get lucky. So, I had to figure out how to stop interactions before they became messy.

It all sounds easy on paper, but in reality, it was a lot of work. A couple of women became quite perturbed when I refused to go home with them. Of course, they were drunk at the time. Alcohol does tend to loosen one’s inhibitions.

When I was given my instructions, I was told to be on the watch for overly aggressive men who would not take no for an answer. I was also told to keep an eye on any unattended glasses. Drunk women have a tendency to forget to take their beverages with them when they go to the restroom. Or, at the very least, make sure someone that can be trusted watches over them.

That is how the first trafficking ring was broken up, by a simple slip up on the part of the perp. He hadn’t anticipated that someone would be on the lookout for precisely that. After the young lady went off to the restroom absentmindedly leaving her drink unattended, the perp rather clumsily added a couple drops of liquid from a small bottle to her glass. When she came back to their table, she immediately picked up her glass to take a drink. To prevent this from happening I walked by her and accidentally bumped into her before she could consume any of the drugged alcohol.

She spilled some, but there was enough left to test. I immediately took the glass and put it in a double ziplocked bag. I then quickly as you please handcuffed the perp. I then explained to the young “Mark” what had happened when she went to the rest room. That her supposed partner had laced her drink with as yet unknown drug. At the very least, it was Rupinol and he was going to rape her. On the other hand, I just saved her from a life as a sex slave in some foreign country.

All she could do was shake and cry. While the perp just stood there and scowled. I then quickly read him his Miranda Rights.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”

Afterward, I hit the send button on my pager. Within two minutes, two Metro officers, one male and the other a female, showed up. The female officer immediately went over to the mark and provided some much needed comfort.  It is surprising how quickly one can sober up because this young lady no longer exhibited any of the usual giddiness associated with inebriation.

I quickly showed my gold shield to the male officer and explained what my assignment was and what had transpired. I then handed him an evidence bag, which I had labeled with a sharpie, the case number, and the number 1 for exhibit one.

Both of them were escorted out of the club and into police cruiser for booking and a debriefing.

Thanks to the commotion that I created at this club, I would no longer be able to work undercover there. Luckily for me, the person I apprehended would blow the trafficking ring wide open, and no further surveillance would be necessary.

The second case involved illegal gambling. This time I was a high roller involved in high stakes poker. Highstakes poker is illegal in Washington D.C.

Washington, D.C. gambling laws do, however, allow residents to participate in charitable games, bingo games, lottery games, and sports betting. However, there are no commercial casinos, horse tracks, or off-track betting in Washington, D.C. All the gambling operations are overseen by the DC Lottery.

This was an even easier assignment once I learned how to play poker, that is. It took a couple of days for me to gain the skill set that a high roller would have. It took a little more time to hang out at different sport’s booking locations to finally learn of where a high stakes game was located. A couple of days later I was able to finally get the creds I needed to play in the game.

I hate to speak in cliches, but the game was, in fact being held in an old warehouse. Every week, to prevent detection, it was moved to a new location.

Once the gambling began and a couple of rounds had been played, I tapped the send button on my pager. This time, when the police came, I was arrested as well. This was to maintain my cover. I, of course, acted indignant and asked the cops if they knew who I was? You know the whole spiel. I am not sure if I convinced anybody, but I did the best I could. I am a cop not an actor, after all.

I don’t know if the sting made any difference or not, but at least we tried.

My second round of undercover work would be more germain to my sister’s kidnapping and, in actuality, would break the case wide open.