A Death in the Family Ch. 01

"You're using Police brutality to try to silence our voices!" yelled the young woman at the podium. The chants were about to start up again.

I went up to her and said into the microphone: "Contrary to any thoughts of chivalry, I will hit a woman. Hard. As hard as I need to to incapacitate you and take you to prison. Or to the Hospital when I break your jaw. Test me." I looked around. tapping the crowbar into the palm of my hand. "So what's it going to be, people?"

The chamber emptied.

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

As the Council managed to get through towards the end, Reginald B.F. Lewis said "I move to go into Executive Session."

"I second." Kelly Carnes quickly said.

"Why?" asked Mayor Allgood.

"Point of order!" shouted Malinda Adams. "There is a motion on the floor, and seconded."

"First of all, Ms. Adams," said the Mayor, "I did not recognize Mr. Lewis to speak and make that motion, so as far as I'm concerned, it's not even made. Second, I want to know why this Council should go into Executive Session. For what purpose?"

"To discuss personnel matters." said Reginald B.F. Lewis.

"Mr. Mayor, may I speak?" said Edward R. Steele.

"Mr. Steele is recognized." said Mayor Allgood.

"Mr. Mayor," said Steele, "there is no business regarding personnel nor any reason this Council needs to go into Executive Session. The only possible reason would be to hide something from the Public." The Democrats on the Council gasped.

"Point of order, Mr. Mayor!" yelled Kelly Carnes. "Councilman Steele has made a false accusation against another Council member! I demand he retract that statement and apologize!"

"The point of order is not recognized." said the Mayor. "I did not hear a direct accusation. And I agree that there is no business that requires being under Executive Session. If there are no further comments, let's vote."

The vote was 5-5, with Lewis and his allies voting for Executive Session, and Steele and his allies voting against.

"The Council being evenly divided," said the Mayor, "the Mayor will vote to break the tie. The Mayor votes 'Nay', and the motion fails..."

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

When Edward and I came into the Mountain Nest, we were met with a barrage of super-heroines, their arch-nemeses (who Carole calls 'boys'), and their canine supervision. Even Buddy was getting a bit rowdy.

Edward went over to speak to Molly and see how she was doing. Marie was telling me that The Flash had defeated The Thinker's nefarious plots. "The Flash needs a crowbar, too. Then he could spank the villains for being bad." Marie suggested.

"He does pretty well without one." I said.

"Grownups who do bad get sent to jail." said Carole. "That's what The Flash did to the Thinker. The Thinker should think about doing good instead of doing bad."

"Yes he should." I said. "Yes he should."

As Selena helped Marie get her things to go home, Edward said "Some people around these parts should think more about doing good instead of bad. Like whoever keeps planning these disruptions. I'm surprised they shut up when you confronted them."

"I think a lot of them were looking for a reason to be shut down." I said. "And when I mentioned I knew they were being paid and that they'd get prison sentences if arrested, they really wanted to just get out of there."

"You were facing them, so you didn't see Kelly Carnes's face when you mentioned the Media's intentions." said Edward with a grin. "I have rarely seen such hatred on a human face before. And when we voted down 'executive session'? She's truly becoming fanatical. I'm glad you found out about their plot to disrupt the Executive Session, so we could stop it in its tracks."

"You'll have to go into Executive Session sometime." I said. "We've got to figure out a way to get them to stop the crap. I do know that not all of the Democrats in the room support the tactics."

"That's true." said Edward. "Weston and Sorrells are sick of it, and Malinda Adams really doesn't like it though she goes along with them. Maybe censuring Carnes and Lewis if they get disruptive might work."

Just then 'Supergirl' appeared. "Are you ready to go home, Daddy?" Marie asked. "Carole and I have piano lessons tomorrow!"

"You beat up those criminals on the piano keyboard, Supergirl." I said to Marie. She fist-bumped me as she turned to leave with her family.

Part 7 - Charter Course

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, June 5th, from in front of City Hall. "The Town & County Council meeting erupts into chaos!"

Bettina began: "Once again Mayor Daniel Allgood used hamfisted tactics to silence the voices of our Citizens, and this time he had the help of Police Commander Donald Troy! Commander Troy not only flooded the Council chamber with heavily armed Police Officers, he threatened the crowd with physical violence if they did not leave! Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing Kelly Carnes saying "It was the most disgusting display of Police brutality and brute force I've ever seen. It is long past time Commander Donald Troy was fired for his abusive tactics. Anyone who goes around threatening people with a red crowbar needs to have that crowbar shoved up his posterior!..."

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

MCD burst into laughter at that one. "Yeah, said Lt. Micah Rudistan with great joviality, "just threaten the Iron Crowbar, and he'll shove that crowbar up their posterior!"

"So she complains about Police violence," said Julia Rodriguez. "And then wants to impose violence on Commander Troy."

"Typical politician." said Vice Detective Christopher Purvis.

"Typical Democrat." muttered Joanne Warner under her breath...

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

"They have audio and video of you in there." said Cindy Ross in the Chief's Conference Room. "Why don't they show it?"

"Two reasons." I said. "First, it exonerates me. Second, I might have mentioned that about the Press wanting to make something of anything we did to keep them from showing it. Of course, Fox Eight News might show that part of it, especially the part where I mention Bettina by name, if Bettina shows the other parts of it."

"Still, Mr. Crowbar," said the Chief, "we have got to find a way to do this without giving Bettina these headlines to run with."

"With respect, Chief," said Teresa Croyle, "there is no other way to do this. If those punks had rioted, we'd have had to put them down... and we would've put them down... and Bettina would be right there screaming 'Police brutality!'. There's no way to win; with the Press it's damned if we do and damned if we don't. I thought the Commander did it just right: he told them he knew what the Press's intentions were, and that it wouldn't save them. They backed down and they left."

"She's right, you know." growled Sheriff Griswold.

"Yezzz, Sheriff, I know." Moynahan said, resignation in his voice. "And my statements to the Public will reflect my strong support of the Police's actions to keep order last night. But how do we stop the Press attacks?"

"That's the age-old question, Chief." I said. "We have to have a Free Press to have a free country. But what do we do when the Press abuses the privilege and journalists become nothing but biased propagandists?"

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

7:30pm, Wednesday, June 5th. For some reason the Charter Commission meeting was moved to the Board of Inquiry room at City Hall. It was kind of nice to be behind the long bench and wielding the gavel, instead of being the object of Boards of Inquiry. The meeting was surprisingly well attended, and I tapped the gavel to begin.

"Welcome to the first Charter Commission hearing." I said. I introduced the other Charter Commission members, and said "The purpose of this hearing and the public hearings that will follow is to get you the Public's input on how the Town & County Government should be structured. This is an important process, and will affect the lives of our County's citizens for years to come, so I appreciate your attendance tonight."

I continued: "This meeting will cover the Town & County Assembly, which currently sets all taxes and fees in the County, and makes the Budget for the year. We'll also be discussing miscellaneous structural and procedural issues."

We had a bullet-point presentation on Article 1 of the Charter, and our proposals for changes, which were few. I then opened it up for questions, hoping that trouble would not start tonight.

No such luck: it started right away. An attractive woman, with head full of wavy blonde hair like Farrah Fawcett's (back in the day), came to the podium and stated her name, then asked "You said the Assembly sets all taxes. Does that include school taxes?"

I turned to Edna Carter, who said "That is the current situation, yes."

The woman said "I would like to propose a separate School Board, and have the School Board set the rates for school taxes."

"We'll be having a separate hearing to discuss a separate School Board," I said, "but it's fair to talk about the taxation issue at this time. Does anyone on the Commission have a comment or question?"

Edward Steele spoke up. "I'd like to ask you, ma'am, if you own a house?" The woman said she did not, that she lived in an apartment. Steele then said "So you may not be aware of what the millage rate is for school taxes and other property taxes today?" The woman did, and she accurately named the rate; it turns out she was a teacher in the County High system.

"The reason I ask," said Edward R. Steele, "is because when homeowners get their yearly tax statement, they can see all the taxes on one form, as it's set by one body, the Assembly. And the Assembly knows how much it's taxing in sales taxes, property taxes, school taxes, and other fees, so they have an idea of what they're taking in. But if we separate the tax collection, the Assembly and School Board might not necessarily know what the other is taxing, but the homeowner sure will when he or she gets two tax bills in the mail. And they're going to feel double taxed, and it's more than possible they'll pay a lot more in taxes to different places."

"But the Schools are not getting their fair share of the tax revenues." the woman complained.

"Mrs. Carter, do you have a comment on that?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm in agreement with the young lady." Edna Carter said, drawing laughs from everyone. "I'd like to see more for the schools, as well."

"Those of us with children would agree, I'm sure." I said. "But the revenues for schools was pretty well set by the Assembly, and is pretty fair. The debate on whether more or less of the overall pie should go to schools is a fair one, but beyond the scope of this particular meeting..."

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

For most people, the School Board issue was the main one, and I knew we'd see a lot of them back for that hearing. In the meantime, we had one other major issue as a Citizen approached the podium to speak.

"My name is Eldrick X. Weaver." said Eldrick X. Weaver. "I have found a weakness in the current Charter, which I believe needs to be addressed. There is currently no real way to remove an elected official of this Town & County from office, either by a voter recall or a legislative or judicial process."

He stopped, and we all waited, expecting him to continue. When he didn't, I said, trying to make my voice sound as polite as possible,"Did you have more?"

"I do have proposals written up," said Weaver, "which I would like entered into the public record of this meeting."

"If you'll provide us a copy of them, we'll enter them." I said. "I agree that it's an issue upon which the current Charter is silent. And just to let everyone here know, there is a process for removal in that the Governor of the State can suspend an elected official of any County upon that official being arrested and charged -or- indicted for a crime, and the State Legislature can impeach and remove an elected official, as well. You may even be hearing about that on the news." There was some laughter at that, but also some tension, I noted.

"So," I said, "I'm interested in your proposals, Mr. Weaver. Why don't you give us an outline here and now?" It was obvious, at least to me, that Weaver had either expected hostility or at least dismissiveness from us. But I'd just disarmed him of that.

Weaver said "Many places in the country have mechanisms for voter recalls, usually petitions of voters. We might also have something like a Board of Inquiry that can make recommendations for a recall."

I said "We'll have to study the recall petition method. My own idea for a process is a 2/3d vote of the Council and 2/3d vote of the Assembly to remove someone who has been convicted of a felony crime."

Edward Steele spoke up. "I agree that the issue needs to be addressed. What we have to be careful about is someone attempting to use the process to remove an elected official who has done no wrong, but someone just doesn't like him or her. So it needs to be a rigorous process, and not something to be gamed by the politicians. Imagine if Congress wanted to impeach a President that had not committed any crime, but was simply not liked because he or she wasn't part of their 'Establishment'..."

"We'll definitely look into this." I said. "Though I think I want no part of Congress nor the Presidency. We've got enough issues right here in our beloved Town & County..."

Part 8 - Planning and Execution

Thursday, June 6th. It was the anniversary of D-Day, and for me it was the more important anniversary of the birth of my son Jim, who was now five years old. Carole gave him the Lego 'Police Station' set. I got him a set of toy soldiers that he wanted, and a camo 'uniform' set of clothes. And Laura got him a 'James Bond spy kit', which contained (among other items) a belt in which he could secrete hidden messages (or weapons), and something resembling the old decoder rings that came in Cracker Jack boxes when I was a kid.

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

Meanwhile...

Edward Blassingame called his office at BigAgraFoods in the City and said he would not be in until noon, as he had an important meeting to attend. He then drove to the law offices of Gresham & Mason, P.C. The news was not good.

"All of our motions have been denied." said Nathan Masterson. "We were hoping to exclude the evidence because of the disputed warrant for the Tau House raid, but that evidence will be allowed in because they found the car and your son's fingerprints in it. The testimony of those that cut deals will be allowed. A change of venue has been denied, though the judge is considering bringing in and empaneling jurors from outside the Town & County jurisdiction. They'd be sequestered, of course."

"Once we find out who the jurors are," said Blassingame, "we'll have something to work with."

"There is one other thing to consider, Mr. Blassingame." said Masterson. "I speak under attorney/client privilege, so I cannot be forced to testify against you on this. I know people who know people. We might could find a way to break your son out of County Jail. He'll be a fugitive for the rest of his life, but he'll be out, he'll be alive, and you can arrange for him to start over somewhere else."

"I'm way ahead of you thinking about that." said Blassingame. "There's just one problem: I've gotten word that if we try to rescue Peter, Troy or his Officers will kill Peter. They will murder him in cold blood. And those bastards are loyal to Troy, they're like a fucking ninja clan... a ninja clan..."

He went into a reverie. When he came out, Masterson was looking at him. "It's nothing; I just had a thought about something. Let's continue with the meeting..."

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

As Blassingame was riding in the back of his Escalade limo through the City, he received a phone call on a cellphone that was on his person but was not registered to him.

"This is 'Beauregard'." said the voice on the other end of the line. "I've got five names for you of TCPD Officers that might be willing to betray Troy and help us."

"Okay." said Blassingame, his notepad and pen ready.

"First is McCombs, he's a Sergeant, and he's dirty as hell." said the other man. "We may can get something on him, to make him... pliable."

"I'd prefer to find someone who will act out of some sense of loyalty." said Blassingame. "Blackmailing someone works, but also creates enmity."

"Yes sir, I agree." said the other man. "Second is Justin Hendricks, he's a Patrolman, and McCombs's wingman, so to speak. He's also dirty, but he hides it better. The Union has saved him from being fired several times. Third is Patrolman Jeremy Hatch. He's very inept, and he's angry that they keep giving him shit jobs."

"I've heard that name already." said Blassingame. "He's so incompetent that I've wondered if it was one of Troy's ruses. In any case, we don't want him. Who's next?"

"Two Detectives." said the other man. "One is named Teddy Parker. He's angry that he's being forced to work with the last name on my list: Timothy Geiger. Geiger worked closely with Harold Malone and Steven Ikea before Troy came to Town and ran them out on a rail."

"But Troy kept Geiger." said Blassingame.

"My research shows they couldn't find a way to fire him." said the other man. "So they kept him in place until recently. He didn't want to go to MCD; he wanted to stay in Vice, but they moved him and told him to either accept it or find another job."

"Hmmm." said Blassingame. "So they're trying to force him out by making him miserable. Okay, good job getting this information. But we have another problem. We don't have time anymore to develop any of those men to betray Troy and the TCPD. We have to act fast. So here's what I want you to do..."

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

"I like piano lessons." said Marie at 12:00 high noon, as she and Carole walked along the sidewalk in front of Eastside Elementary towards the parking lot where Marie's mother was waiting to pick them up. "I want to learn how to play the guitar, too!"

"I want to learn how to play the violin." said Carole. "Daddy said Sherlock Holmes played the violin, and Sherlock Holmes was a great De-tec-tive---"

Just then a TCPD Police cruiser came up, blue lights flashing. "Carole Troy!" said the Officer inside. "I'm Officer Smith. Your father's been in a car crash. I'm here to take you to the Hospital..."

To be continued.