The Line

"Yes, Mark, as long as I'm not being made an accessory to a crime I can keep quiet."

"Thanks, John, we'll fill you in on what we know and suspect at this time."

It took the better part of half an hour for the visitors to fill John in on what had been going on, and what they suspected. At the end of the briefing John started to speak.

"Whew, you are in one unbelievable bind. Legally your hands are somewhat tied, and as you indicated your lives may well be in danger. The testimony you have presented rings true. I have heard a lot about your city government "through the grapevine". I had hoped that the "grapevine" was wrong, but it would seem that it was accurate. How can I help you with this situation? I definitely will help you if I can. "

John Hughes, of the state police, spoke up: "I'm not sure how we can proceed, legally. With the local Judge compromised we can't use the local legal system to help. With the Attorney General's (A.G.'s) office now having no evidence or records they won't know who to trust, and our local Judge can sound very upright, proper and honest. With multiple murders, that are likely to all be classed as accidental and with cremation called for by the Judge there will be no evidence of illegal action. I think we know who the ring leaders are, but we can't prove a thing with the loss of the evidence that was destroyed. Even if the rifle bullets found their way back into the coroners hands, the chain of custody for the evidence has been broken. I'm at a total loss as to what to do."

The room became deathly quiet for a couple of minutes.

Peter Slovenski broke the silence. "Have you considered talking with the FBI about the corruption and the BATF about the arson?"

"Yeah, we talked it over. We have a possible problem in that area. The Federal attorney for this state is both an old classmate and a close social friend of the Judge. To top that off, we have a strong hunch that the local Judge has some bit of evidence on the Federal attorney as well. We have no idea what the impropriety might be, but there have been some indications, in the past, that the Federal attorney has made last minute adjustment that limited the FBI's operations that the judge would find 'unpleasant'. We don't have hard evidence, but there are strong hints that there is something going on there. If we are identified as the instigators of a Federal investigation, our lives are probably worth nothing."

"Hmmmmmm; I'm going to have to think this one through very carefully. In the meantime I need to ask you gentlemen a very difficult question. If the law were not a limitation, what is the minimum adjustment needed to bring this case under the reasonable perview of the law?"

That was a question which all of the detectives had individually considered, but never voiced. There was a heavy air of extreme discomfort. After all, these were good lawmen. The law, and the rule of law, was one of the most important things in their lives. They all knew that vigilante justice very soon tended to become as great an evil as the original wrong which it purported to remedy. Sensing what was going on Peter Slovenski rephrased his question: "Assume for the moment that this was a criminal case in the year 715 a.d. and that magic and such were real solutions; in such a case what would be the obvious solution?"

Mark Fabrizzio broke the silence. "If we were talking about the Middle Ages, with an understanding that magic existed, I would say that the removal of the Judge would be the simplest way to get this case moving. If he were gone, the FBI and BATF could be called in and things would move ahead as they should. But, that's just my opinion."

John Hughes spoke next: "That is probably a good suggestion. If we had a court order to obtain his phone records we might find out who else is involved in this mess. The problem is, how could we get a court order to get those records, when he is the Judge?"

Pete Slovenski responded: "I may have a way to arrange that. I have an old friend who is on the staff of the U.S. Attorney General's office. In fact he works for the espionage and terrorism group of that office. They have a Federal Judge with chambers that are off limits to all but a few. It is there that search warrants are made out for suspected international terrorists. I may be able to get you the needed search warrant, and have the complainant names purposely left off. Let me see what I can do. In the meantime please use your creative imaginations to figure out the minimum 'extra-legal' activity that would be necessary to return this case to the proper legal system. I'm not saying or suggesting that anything like that should be done, but if this were the Middle Ages, what would be the minimum that could be done to set this aright?"

Jack Frazier, the Sheriff's deputy, chimed in. He had been quiet for most of the evening. "There is one possible way that could have been used in the Middle Ages. With your assumption of the availability of magic; what would happen if the Judge were frightened so badly that prison would seem to be the better of two evils? I mean, if the Judge had the fear of God, or of the devil, put into him is it possible that he would simply run away leaving an open field for the FBI and BATF? I know that this sounds crazy, but if all options were open, could he be made to essentially do nothing?"

Mark responded immediately: "That would be an excellent approach. Suppose the Judge was so frightened that he feared that he was losing his mind. Suppose that the very thought of denying justice was enough to make him almost have a nervous breakdown. Would he be able to pull legal strings if everyone started to see him come unglued?

Jim Wood added: "This would make a nice fairy tale, but nothing like this possible in this day and age. You'd need to have the Judge meet a real wizard or monster to shake him up that badly. I think we are just spinning our wheels here."

Pete closed the meeting out with some solid advice: "Gentlemen, let me see what I can arrange with my friend in the Justice Department. In the meantime, keep coming up with interesting Middle Ages ideas, and don't do anything out of the ordinary.. Keep working like you would normally work so that nobody will suspect that you know anything. From the sounds of it you may not know who else may be compromised. I suggest that you quietly go back to your respective homes and pretend that this meeting never happened. Since I have had contact with both Jack and Mark with respect to the park incident that involved my brother it would make perfect sense for me to talk to them at one time or another. I suggest that we communicate through them, but only with digital cell phones."

Polite goodbys were exchanged and the group split up.

On the way back to town John Hughes observed: "He is sharp. By assuming a scenario involving magic and the Middle Ages it would take a real stretch of the imagination to make it sound like our current problem. He seems to be trying to move us back from the problem so that we can see it more clearly. I'm glad he's on our side."

"I think we need to keep something in mind, said Mark, he is on the law's side as well as on the side of justice. We all know that those two things are not always the same. I get the feeling that there is much more depth to Pete than he lets on. We need him, but at the same time I feel that we are working out of our depth. I can't even tell you what I mean by that, but that is my gut feeling. I think my feeling is much like a person from the Middle Ages would have felt in the presence of a wizard or such."

There was a round of "yeah, I feel the same way" types of comments. The rest of the ride was very quiet.

* *

Judge Goodwin called his core political group to a meeting at his house, Monday evening. Present were the Sheriff Matt Damon and Mayor Larry Talbot. Neither of these two knew about the Judge's secondary group consisting of Ted Smith and city detective Simon Hoover. The Judge led off the meeting:

"Guys, we have a problem. As you know, Chief Riley has put us into a corner. Due to some fortuitous accidents it appears that the evidence that the attorney general would need to get us has been destroyed. However, we are not out of the woods yet. "We have some local lawmen who have always been unwilling to bend the rules for friends in the city government. Three of them, Mark Fabrizzio, Jim Wood and Jack Frazier are working on those park attack cases. If they manage to put together their case against the Chief's son, he might tell enough to bring the investigation too close to home. Now, I don't know if the Chief told him anything. But, they lived in the same house and it is possible that he picked up just enough to bring curious investigators too close to us. What do you think we should do?"

Mayor Larry Talbot chimed in; "It's a shame that he wasn't involved in one of those lucky accidents. It would be inconvenient to have him talking to some investigator from the state or Federal Government."

Sheriff Damon interrupted. "I've never been a strong believer in coincidences. Something about these recent 'accidents' involving Al Moore and Chief Riley seems to be too convenient and two well timed. Judge, what is your expert opinion regarding these fortuitous turns of events? Are they worth looking into in a careful forensic sort of way?"

"Well, Matt, I've always had the opinion that it was bad business to 'look a gift horse in the mouth'. I'd say that it might be best if we treated these unfortunate events as just what they are, unfortunate accidents. After all, you never know what you'll find if you go turning over too many rocks."

"I understand." Said Larry Damon, "I will assume that we will put up a plaque to commemorate Chief Riley's untimely death. However, that leaves us with a very dicey problem with the police station. The local fire officials have requested that the State Fire Inspector review this scene. They claim that this has to be arson. We can't control what they will find."

"That's true Larry, but what can they find? It was an accidental fire wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't. The local fire investigators have already copied me on the summary of what was found. They took photo's, measurements, chemical samples, they might as well have been some outfit shown on Forensic Files or some other goddamn cop show. Someone cut the lock off the sprinkler valve and turned it off, prior to the fire being started. There are obvious tool marks on the copper tubing that connected the furnace to the oil tanks. There is way too much iron under the tank and there appears to be a lot of Aluminum Oxide in the area. That means only one thing, Thermite! This one could get messy."

"Thanks Larry, I hadn't been copied on that memo. I assume that they will catch whoever did this job. You don't suppose that Chief Riley could have had anything to do with it do you?"

"I don't know, Judge. Anything is possible at this point. After all, you wouldn't expect to have a fire in the police station and a car bomb go off at the State Police barracks within minutes of each other; after all this isn't the Middle East."

"Mayor Talbot, what is your take on this situation?"

"Well, Judge, I think it is too early to comment on these sad events. We have had deaths of fine, upstanding, lawmen here. I suggest that we let the new Chief of Police try to sort these events out. By the way, who are you suggesting for the new Chief?"

"I've been giving that a lot of thought", Larry. "Our police department has many good and talented men in it. Why don't we promote from within the police department or the Sheriff's office. Off hand I know of at least two good men, at least by reputation. One is named Detective Simon Hoover. I think I've heard that he has been on the force for a few years and that he is a reasonable sort of guy. He doesn't want to make waves unless they are warranted. The other man is in your department Matt. His name is Ted Smith. How would he be as the new police chief?"

"Judge, I know Ted very well. He is competent, is a bit of a loose cannon, and he is dangerous. He's never stopped thinking like a special forces guy. Are you sure that you would suggest him? What about this Matt Damon? Is he any good?"

Mayor Talbot chimed in; "I've worked around Matt several times. He seems to be open to follow good solid political guidance when it is needed. He can do first rate police work, but he also knows when it is best to "turn a blind eye' toward a problem as well. I'd be comfortable with him as the new police chief. That is especially true since I know of one case where he bent the rules too far and had to have a little help pulling his butt out of the fire. All-in-all he'd fit the job well."

"Larry, offer him the job tomorrow morning. We need someone who can give us a timely 'heads up' when our over zealous detectives start moving in undesirable directions."

"Now, we should probably go over to the hospital and express our condolences to Dan

Riley. After all, he needs to know who his friends are. We can tell him that the park attacks are so important that the new police chief will be taking over both of those cases. We can also tell him that the police department building was destroyed, unfortunately taking all of the evidence with it...... What a shame."

With broad smiles, they all agreed that this would be the best option.

* * * *

When they got to the hospital, the upbeat humor of the judge, and his crew, suddenly turned into nervousness. As they entered the ICU the first thing that they saw as a large, muscular man holding a pump 10ga shotgun. He was wearing the uniform of an officer in the State Police.

"What's going on here? Who are you and who told you to come into the hospital with a weapon?"

Lt. James Moore replied: "I and my squad, have been sent here directly under the Governors orders. He is the head of the national guard, as well as the State Police. My squad is made up of ten men they are armed with handguns, and standard issue military rifles. We are here to make sure certain witnesses are not harmed. Our orders are to keep anyone, not on the visitor list provided by the Attorney General, out of this area. If you are not on this list you will be escorted by six armed guards directly back to the parking lot. Now, identify yourselves!"

"This is outrageous! I'm the local judge and I'm telling you that you cannot do this!"

"Ah, I was told that you might come here. Here's a little legal note to you from the Governor."

The judge took the note and as he read it his face became pale.

"We're leaving. You don't need to escort us."

"Oh, yes I do! I have specific orders regarding the judge, mayor, and sheriff. Your faces match the ones that came with my orders. Unless you are deathly ill, if you set foot in this hospital again, you will be placed under arrest. I have the warrant in my pocket."

"On what grounds?"

"Attempted obstruction of justice."

With that Lt. Moore called a detail of six very large and very serious looking armed soldiers.

"Escort these men out, and make sure they get in their vehicles and leave the Hospital parking lot!"

"Yes, sir!"

**********************

As the car, carrying the Judge, Bud Lisk, the mayor, and the sheriff left the parking lot the sheriff spoke up. "I've never seen you back down like that before. What spooked you? What was the paper that the soldier handed you?"

"The Governor apparently strongly suspects something. He has placed our hospital, and the sheriff's office, the court house, and the temporary police station under martial law. We will find a squad of armed, and trained men, at each of those places. At least one member of every squad is also a member of the State Police. Somebody has been pulling strings at a level far above what I am used to dealing with. We are in trouble and need to very carefully try to defuse this situation. The question is, how?"

The rest of the ride was uneventful.

**********************

Important visitors were just leaving John Hughes office when John picked up his digital cell phone and called Mark Fabrizzio.

"Mark, I suspect Pete has pulled off a bit of a miracle. I was just visited by the head of the State Police and a Major in the National Guard. The hospital, courthouse, sheriff's office, and city hall have been placed under martial law by the Governor. Heavily armed guards are guarding each of those locations. They have set up their headquarters in the gymnasium of the local high school. The guards will be changed every four and a half hours, with one hour of overlap so that there is never an unguarded moment. I suspect that our suspects are not going to handle this very well."

"You're not kidding me, are you John? That sounds like something out of a Tom Clancy novel. Are you totally sure of this?"

"Yup! They were manning their posts as of half an hour ago. They will be on rotating watch. Oh, and hopefully just for show, they have a fully equipped armored personnel carrier stationed outside the sheriff's office. The guard has been told to treat this as if they were guarding areas in Iraq. They aren't carrying non-lethal weapons as far as I know. Some folks are going to feel uneasy from here on in. I was told that an armed Humvee was going to accompany each police or sheriff's patrol car on all duty runs. Our city has been mostly taken out of the hands of the folks we think are behind the problems we have had."

"Are they providing any bodyguard services?"

Yes, but at a distance. They don't want to make it too obvious who they are protecting so that the good guys get pointed out."

Have a good night John. I think I can sleep a little more easily tonight knowing the quality of our protection."

**************

Judge Henry Goodwin was mulling over his options. He knew that someone had been pulling some strings at a very high level. He decided to call his friend Detective Simon Hoover over in Smithton.

"Hi Simon, it's Henry. We've got problems! Somebody has pulled some strings and gotten the Governor to place most official places in our city under martial law. Do me a favor and snoop around a little and see if you can pick up any ideas about who has enough clout to do something like this."

"I'll do that Henry. I have one fact that I need to mention that came to light just recently. After that attempted mugging in the park, the one where a bunch of kids got hurt, Detectives from your city police and sheriff's office came over into our county to interview someone at a local attorney's house. We found that out by way of a courtesy call from the detectives. They just wanted us to know that they conducted an interview in our territory. I don't know if this is....."

"What's the name of the lawyer, Simon?"

"Peter Slovenski, but I don't see how it ...."

"Simon, I want you to lay low and act like a perfect good cop. I know of Slovenski. His kid brother is the one that the gang was trying to hurt. I also know that Slovenski has a fair number of friends in high places, including the U.S. Justice department. He's dangerous! I'm going to have to take care of this situation. Don't do anything except your job until I contact you again. Don't try to contact me. Understand?"

"You got it. 'Night Judge."

As he hung up the phone, the judge placed a call to Ted Smith.

"Hi Ted, this is Henry. Are you on a digital cell phone right now?"

"No."

"O.k. I'm going to hang up and have you phone me from a digital cell phone or from a pay phone that isn't near your house. Can you do that?"

"Yup, I'll call you right back."

The return call arrived less than a minute later.

"Ted, I think I'm going to need more of your expertise. What would you charge me to take out a few more people? Although it doesn't have to look like an accident, it would be better if it did. What would you need per person?"