Believer Ch. 03

Holder kicked the belt through the bars into the hallway, then sat down, trying not to feel the fear that was welling up inside him..."

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

Two hours later, Burt West, Executive Publisher of KXTC, came into Headquarters. With him was a lackey from the Courthouse, serving a writ.

"This is an order from Judge Nance." West snarled at the Duty Desk Sergeant. "The charges against Lester Holder were dismissed. With prejudice. I demand you turn him over to me, right now."

"Demand?" asked the Duty Desk Sergeant, who happened to be black, also. "Say that again, and Commander Troy might put you in the holding cell with your 'boy' Holder."

"Bring Troy out here, then." said West. "I'm not afraid of him."

"You should be." said a whispery voice, low and menacing. "You should be..." West turned around to see... no, not the Iron Crowbar... but the Iron Wolf, Teresa Croyle.

"Oh, it's you, the Little Racist that beats up DUI suspects." snarled West. "What, carrying your boy Troy's water now?"

"More like taking care of his lightwork." Teresa replied. As she went towards the door to go back into Headquarters, she turned and said "Be sure you don't drink and drive this Holiday season, Mr. West. If you do, I'll be there. I'll be there..."

Part 14 - It Keeps Going

Wednesday, December 11th. The day before, December 10th, was Patricia Allgood's fourth birthday. We'd given her Dorothy earlier that year, so Carole and Jim's presents of toys and coloring books were what she got from us.

Dorothy seemed to like Carole a lot, and enjoyed playing with the two girls. Meanwhile, Jim and little Dan found new ways to get into trouble with their fathers: sampling the birthday cake before it was brought out for everyone was not be remembered as one of their better decisions.

On this Wednesday morning, my Angels and I were in my office, drinking coffee after watching the KXTC broadcast. Neither the Chief nor the Sheriff attended the previous day's klatch, and Tanya was openly thinking about checking in with MCD and Vice during the Holiday season klatches to get a 'feel' of their morale. So this morning I just invited my Angels into my office.

"So Nance just dropped the charges against Penis Holder with prejudice, pun not intended but somehow ironic." Tanya Perlman said. "And Bettina didn't say two words about what happened at your Press Conference on Monday."

"KFXU was sure all over it, though." said Teresa. "They could not show the clips enough, of KXTC's van hiding behind the Jasmine Club while the agitators were massing. You really put the the light of day on those cockroaches, Commander." I nodded.

"And Penis Holder has not been seen at the KXTC offices, much less on their television screens." said Cindy Ross. "There are two groups of rumors floating around about him. One is that he was 'invited' to take some Christmas vacation and let things calm down, including whatever's in his own head. The other is that he was suspended, and is banned from the KXTC offices for two weeks. It was not for lack of trying, but I never could pin it down which was the more likely."

"None of the above." I said, almost absentmindedly. "Remember the Kendra Luskin case, when I was suspended without pay? And I used the time to find all of Luskin's other victims?" (Author's note: 'Falsely Accused'.) "Well, it occurs to me that whichever of those two theories is true, Penis Holder now has time and cover to go about doing something else... " My voice drifted off.

"Like what?" Cindy (of course) asked.

"Like... I don't know." I said. "You guys know how paranoid I am. I'm just seeing these wisps of clouds. It's like a cloudy nebula, and then suddenly there's a star igniting in the middle of it. I know something's up, I can sense it... but right now all I'm seeing is the misty cloud in front of my eyes."

"What are the elements of your star formation?" Cindy asked, peering at me, and probably getting a vibe from me.

"Well..." I said as I sipped my coffee, "there's Carmela going after my wife, trying to get her presence totally removed from the University Campus and the Hospital. Oh, I'm sorry, I can't say Carmela's name, because he's hiding behind whistleblower laws. Then there's KXTC working hard to gin up racial tensions between blacks and the Police."

"Then there is MegaTech Industries making themselves a problem." I said. "I shouldn't complain; they've given me plenty of work to do, and made me earn my paycheck these last few months. But whatever their angle is, it's part of it."

"Then we move up to the Federal level." I continued. "The Hospital bombing and the Feds's handling of it. The lawsuits against Daniel Allgood, and what I believe will be a similar attack on the TCPD-------"

"C'mon, that hasn't happened." Cindy said. I allowed some of my irritation at her words show.

"Since you don't believe me, we should bet on that, like we bet on the Police Boxing Matches or the Wildcats-Bulldogs games." I said acerbically. "But back to the nebula. Behind the scenes, most people are not seeing that LT Jeff Bayport's old Navy SEAL team, the one that featured Trent and Quint and that maniac Jack Logan, is now in the wind. I dunno, it's just getting..." I drifted off again.

"Well," said Cindy, "under the old Franklin Covey adage of beginning with the end in mind... what endgame of theirs do you have in mind with all this?"

"That's what's not coalescing for me." I said. "I simply don't have enough data yet to understand it."

"Changing the subject." Tanya said, putting a file folder on my desk. I reached across for it as Tanya said "Theo needs a couple of vacation days, particularly Friday and Monday."

I grinned. "So Jamaal was invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation? Oh wait, as a past recipient, he would be anyway. So am I to deduce that he's a Finalist for it this year, too?"

Tanya said "As Jack would say: '400 years ago'. Yes, both Jamaal and Clarence Appletree are up for it, and the Alabama quarterback was invited, as well."

"So why don't you or Jerome sign that?" I asked.

"I thought you might want to sign it personally, being a Wildcat and all." said Tanya with a gleam in her eye. I grinned and signed the vacation request, adding 'GO WILDCATS! HEAR US ROAR!' to the copy Theo would be receiving.

"Who do you think will win?" Teresa asked.

"Y'all first." I said back.

Teresa said "Appletree. More than 2200 yards? Sit me down and feed me supper." We broke out laughing at that.

Cindy said "I think the Alabama QB will win. Joanne loves Alabama, and so does everyone else... everyone."

"Someone is trying to start trouble with someone." I said, knowing that Cindy had just fired that shot across the bow of the Good Ship Teresa Croyle.

"And succeeding." said Tanya with a grin. "I'll say Washington, just because I want him to. He'll be only the second player to win two Heismans if he wins. So break the tie, Don: who do you say it'll be?"

"I think it will be..." I said, then gave them a name.

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

9:00am, Wednesday, December 11th. A relatively tall, slender black woman in her mid-40s came into the front lobby of Police Headquarters with a man in a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. She walked up to the Duty Desk and exhibited her credentials. "I'm Ava Hinds, with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. I need to speak to either your Chief or your Civil Rights Compliance Officer."

"Just one moment, ma'am." said the Duty Desk Sergeant. "I'll notify Deputy Chief Ross that you're here."

A moment later, Cindy Ross came through the door into the lobby, and after introductions said "Are you an Agent with the DOJ? An attorney?"

"I'm a Compliance Officer with the Civil Rights Division, which is a civilian position." said Ava Hinds. "Mr. Smith here is a lawyer, and acting as a Compliance Officer, as well."

"Let's go talk in the Main Conference Room." said Cindy. She had the two Federal officers sign in, then led them to the Main Conference Room.

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

My office door was open as I did paperwork, and I had seen Cindy leave her office and go down the hall. Moments later I saw her walking back up the hallway, with two persons in suits, and it was not a hard deduction to make that they were Federal Agents of some kind.

Cindy did not lead them to her office, but to the Main Conference Room. I picked up the phone and called the Chief, but there was no response. I called the Duty Desk and told them to call every phone we knew the Chief had, and to use the Police radio to find him if need be.

I then got onto the computer and activated the videocamera in the Main Conference Room, which was in the back left corner near the ceiling. I emailed Myron and Mary Milton to make sure any conversations with any Federal Government entities were recorded.

Then I got up and went to the Main Conference Room myself...

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

"Well, hello." Cindy said acerbically to me as I entered the Main Conference Room. "I didn't hear you knock."

"That's because I didn't knock." I said as I went around Cindy, who was sitting in the chair at the near end of the table, and sat down to her left. The woman she'd come in with was sitting in the middle chair of the near side, two empty seats between her and Cindy. The other Federal person was sitting two seats on down, the last seat on the row. I thought that was a 'strangeness'.

"And who in the hell are you?" the woman asked, her voice unfriendly.

"In Hell, and everywhere else, I'm Police Commander Donald Troy." I replied. "And I am here because our Police Chief gave explicit instructions that no one in this Police Department is to be alone in a room with any Federal agents for any reason at all, and I'm just keeping Commander Ross out of any possible trouble."

"This is Ava Hinds of the US DOJ's Civil Rights Division." said Cindy. "I never quite caught his name, beyond 'Mr. Smith'."

"Ah, so desu ka?" I said. "Well, allow me to help you with the identification. He is Algernon Kehoe, goes by 'Al'. He's an attorney for the Civil Rights Division, and he normally works with Jocelyn Moran."

"How the hell do you know that?" Ava Hinds said, her voice ugly now.

"I never forget a name nor a face." I said. Well, that wasn't really true, but magicians don't reveal their tricks.

Cindy spoke up, her voice not exactly friendly, either. "Ms. Hinds was just telling me that she is here to conduct the annual review of our civil rights compliance."

"Well, by all means, please continue." I said, sitting back in my chair, which my back didn't like very much.

"I was conducting a private discussion with Commander Ross," said Ava Hinds, "who is in charge of Personnel."

"Well," I said, "as I'm sure Commander Ross will affirm, I am the Officer in charge of every Officer on this Police Force, including the only one that outranks me, the Chief. And since we can't be alone in an interview with you, either I'll be staying here while you interview Commander Ross, or she'll be in here monitoring your interview with me."

"Oh yes... it almost slipped my mind." I said as I turned and pointed at the camera in the corner. "This is being recorded, as will every conversation you have with anyone on the TCPD. For your security and ours, of course."

"We object to that." said the lawyer Kehoe.

"Why?" asked Cindy, and I sensed that her anger at me was now being redirected towards the Federal Officers. "Why would you object to being recorded during an interview with us?" That hit home, I observed in their eyes.

"I think we may need to speak to your Chief about this." said Ava Hinds.

"Well, by all means, do so!" said a voice as the door opened. In walked Chief Sean Moynahan, with an iPad tablet in his hand. He patted Cindy on the shoulder as he passed her, then came around and sat down in the chair to my left. "I'm Chief Moynahan, and I agreeeee with what Commander Troy said. He's followed my instructions perrrrrrr-fectly. And yes, that camera will stay on and record our conversay-shhhhhuns."

"Why?" Kehoe all but thundered. "What the hell is the purpose of that?"

"Again," Cindy said, "why are you opposed to it?"

"I'll give you one reason." said Ava Hinds. "These audits are confidential in nature, and we want the people we interview to be able to speak freely, without the hindrance of knowing they're being recorded. And that is also why I demand private, one-on-one conversations with the Police Officers we choose to talk with."

"Audit?" I asked. "Lot stronger word than 'review'." That also hit home, I noticed.

"Semantics." Hinds snarled. "Call it what you like."

"No no nooooo, you're the one calling it an 'audit', Ms. Hinds." I said. "And words mean things. So is this a review? Or an audit?" I paused for effect, then said: "Or a full investigation?"

Hinds was now trapped, and she knew it. "It is an audit, for now." she said. "Whether or not it turns into an investigation will depend on what we find."

"Well, then." said the Chief. "Audits basically are investigations, and we will be treating this accordingly. No Police Officer may be questioned without either a Union Rep, a lawyer, or a superior Officer present. And by 'superior Officer', I mean Lieutenant or above. Any attempt to go around that, and I will end this inquisition... immediately."

"Then I'll fail you immediately." said Ava Hinds. "And we'll be taking it to Court. You'll be looking at a Consent Decree-------"

"Ah, there it is!" I said jovially. "That's what this really is about, isn't it? But let me remind you... a 'consent decree' contains the word 'consent'. And words mean things, Ms. Hinds." I then lowered my voice to a more menacing tone. "And I can assure you that we will not be consenting to a God damn thing with you. We'll fight you in Court every step of the way... just like Mayor Allgood is fighting you."

"This has nothing to do with Mayor Allgood------" Hinds started, but I interrupted her.

"Ms. Hinds, please do not insult us." I said. "We are not Agencies of the Weak-Minded, here. You people come in here, in person, for the first time in years... years!.... and right at the same time Mr. Kehoe's associate Jocelyn Moran is taking Mayor Allgood to Court on trumped-up, false charges? Please, Ms. Hinds. I'm a Police Detective, and a good one, so stop with your bullsh-------"

"Why don't we..." Cindy interrupted, stopping my potty mouth reply, ".... just take a breath and reel this back in. Ms. Hinds, ask your questions, or don't. The Chief can stay in here with me while I answer them."

"Ohhhhh," said the Chief, getting up, and putting his hand on my shoulder to keep me from standing up, too, "I'll leave you to it. Commander Troy, take charge. But 'be nice', won't you?" He ambled to the door and exited, closing the door behind him.

"We need a moment alone." said Ava Hinds. "Why don't you two step out, and we'll call you back in when we're ready."

"The breakroom is down the hallway." I said. "You can talk privately there."

Hinds and Kehoe looked at each other, then Hinds said "Let's go." They got up and left the room.

"No way I was going to leave them alone in here," I said, "so they could tamper with the camera."

"Well, you've ratcheted up the drama again." Cindy said. Then she slumped down in her chair and said "Talk about 'stay in your lane'... I wish you'd just let me do my job."

"I just saved your job." I replied. "If the Chief didn't fire you for being alone in the room with them, the Sheriff would have."

"Oh really?" Cindy said acerbically as she peered at me. "Look. I was not getting any vibe of hostile intent, until you came in here. There's no reason to think they are trying to fuck with us."

"You're saying that," I said, "even after I just connected the dots between Kehoe and Jocelyn Moran... and after Hinds gave you a false name for him? And did you notice their faces after I pointed out the (air quotes) 'sheer coincidence' of them coming down in person while the Allgood case is starting up?"

"Well of course they got hostile." Cindy said, and bitterly. "You come in here, guns blazing, accusing them of some sort of conspiracy. You ever think of pushing the bullet through molasses instead of firing a gun at it?"

That came from the old adage that if one shoots a bullet at a block of molasses, it will glance off or shatter the front part of the molasses; however, if one slowwwwwly pushes the bullet, it will penetrate and go all the way through.

I sighed. "Like every other time, I guess I'll just have to show you." I said.

"What do you mean 'every other time------" Cindy had started, just about coming out of her chair, but the door opening stopped her. Hinds and Kehoe took their original seats.

"Okay, we'll play it your way, for now." said Hinds. "And to not play games: we already have your personnel records, which are required to be filed with the State and Federal Governments for oversight purposes. And that's what this is: oversight."

"What are your questions, Ms. Hinds?" Cindy asked, trying to sound polite.

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

"So," said Ava Hinds, "your Detective Corps. Vice is completely White, and all male."

"Not true." Cindy said. "Officer Laurer is a female. Also, Lieutenant Milton is female, and she just went from Vice to Intelligence, and she's still overwatching Vice. Captain Tanya Perlman is Vice's leadership, and she's a female, as well.


Hinds said "Milton is not in there now, and Perlman is not actually in Vice, but the Captain of all Detectives, is that not true?"

"Laurer is still female." said Cindy.

"She was just transferred into there." said Hinds. "Maybe just so you could say you're meeting the civil rights requirements?

I said "Or maybe because Laurer is an outstanding Police Officer who is doing well in Vice."

Hinds said "And once again, all white."

"Well," I said, "Detective Newman is black, and he was in Vice until he was essentially promoted to MCD very recently. But I guess you won't give us credit for that."

"He's not in there now, so no, I won't give you one bit of credit for that." said Hinds.

I said "Furthermore, your records are incomplete." I said. "We have one Vice Detective who is so deep undercover that we don't mention his name, gender, or ethnicity... but he is mixed-race; white mother, black father."

"He is?" Cindy asked, stunned.

"What's his name?" said Hinds.

I smiled. "Ms. Hinds, you gave Commander Ross a false name for your attorney here, calling Mr. Kehoe 'Mr. Jones'. Why did you do that?"

"That's none of your business." growled Hinds.

"Oh, but it is." I said. "Why did you lie to us about him? Oh, the Chief asked me to be nice, so I'm just asking instead of telling you why I really think you did that, so give Commander Ross the courtesy of an answer."

"We often refer to U.S. Attorneys and DOJ attorneys by false names." said Hinds. "To protect them and their families, as they prosecute some of the most dangerous criminals in the world."

"I agree." I said. "And we keep our undercover Officer's identity a total secret for the same reasons. No one really knows who he is, and I intend for things to stay that way."

"If you won't name him," said Kehoe, speaking for the first time, "it will be held against you. We're not taking your word that he is anything but lily White."

"We'll see if a Jury does when I testify." I said.

"Testify to what?" Ava Hinds said sharply. I just rolled my eyes.

"Let's move on, Ms. Hinds." said Cindy. "Our overall Detective Corps, which is everyone under Captain Perlman, has a female Lieutenant, a black male Lieutenant, a black Detective besides our undercover man, a Hispanic woman, and a White woman on maternity leave right now. Intel has more females than males, and one of the females is Indian and one is black."