Casting Aspersions Ch. 03

"So what you're telling me," I said, "is that someone could've come in dressed as one of the waitstaff, and he or she might not be noticed because they're all strangers to each other."

"Yes sir." said Tarleton. "Flip side is that no one noticed anyone coming in or out of an entrance that would be considered to be unusual. And we checked what camera footage we could get on Campus and ran several car tags, but what makes that difficult is that many are owned by parents of students, so who knows if 'William J. Dean' is just a girl's father or a person of interest."

"This is where the 'fun' of Police work ends." I said. "It's tedious, having to search tens, dozens, even hundreds of names. But that's how we get results." Everyone nodded. I continued: "And seeking and finding those little things can lead to bigger things, as Councilwoman Kelly Carnes is about to discover. But I digress. Anything else new?"

"Toxicology came back and confirmed the poisons that were used to kill Louella Hopper." said SBI Agent Johnson. "The M.E. also re-confirmed that a hypodermic syringe delivered the poison. The killer probably took it with him or her, as the trash was confiscated by the TCPD and thoroughly searched, and no syringes or needles were found."

"Excellent work by you TCPD guys." I said. "Okay, I have a meeting with the D.A. and the SBI Inspector. Keep up the good work, everyone."

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

Meanwhile...

Captain Teresa Croyle entered the Conference Room at the Old Mill, the room where the Iron Crowbar watched what he thought might be been his last sunset. (Author's note: 'The Nuclear Option', Ch. 02.) She could immediately feel the vibe in the Precinct, and the faces of the Officers she saw were solemn, at best.

All of the Lieutenants and Sergeants stood up when she entered the room. "Please, take your seats." she said, grateful for the respect they had shown her. She remained standing at her place as they sat down.

"Okay, everyone." she said. "I'll just get this out of the way first: no one on this Police Force is more disappointed nor angry than I am at what happened at the Council meeting last night. The absolute disrespect for this Police Force by a few of the Council Members will never be forgotten."

Captain Croyle continued: "Having said that, we have to rise above the pettiness and the utter hatred of those Council Members for our Police Force. They were unprofessional, we will rise above it and be professional. I want all of you to put it out to your people that I want all of us to act in a way that Lieutenant Irwin would be proud of... and that honors his memory. Am I clear on that."

"YES MA'AM!" shouted a chorus.

"Okay, then." Teresa said, sitting down. "Let's get started. There are a lot of changes coming to the Police Force, beginning with Lieutenant Hewitt being promoted to 1st Precinct Captain..."

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

"Thanks for coming in, Ms. Walters." I said as we all sat down in my office. "You know SBI Inspector Maxwell?"

"We've met." said Miriam, as she and Britt nodded to each other. "I remember when she was the Campus Police Captain here."

"Good." I said. "Okay, let me show you the chain of observations that led to a small discovery." I said. I brought up some data and put it on the television monitor for them to see. "There are a lot of contributions to Kelly Carnes's campaigns from Citizens that work at these companies. That's easy enough for the Police to look up. The curious thing about these companies is that all of them have done business with Kelly Carnes's husband, who is a dentist."

I said: "Banks photograph virtually every check that goes through their systems. Electronic payments such as credit cards are much easier to bring up, and to trace. Checks used to take more time, but the Federal Government has this thing going where every piece of mail is photographed and stored... and so is every check written on bank accounts that are part of the FDIC."

I went on: "These checks are written upon an account at County Regional Bank, which has branch offices in Coltrane County, Nextdoor County, Rivers County, Farmdale County, and of course here... in the southern part of the County. The branch here is where the Silverfish was captured," (Author's note: 'Silverfish', Ch. 03.) "This bank was a little shady since the days of Henry Wargrave."

Me: "Dr. Carnes has been paying these various vendors, but the amounts are always different. Now I did some napkin-on-table calculations, and the amounts Carnes is overpaying corresponds virtually exactly to the amounts these good Citizens are contributing to Kelly's campaign fund."

"Textbook money laundering." Britt said.

"And campaign finance law violations out the wazoo." I said. "And Britt, this is where you come in: we're going to need subpoenas for the actual invoices, the transactions between these companies and Dr. Carnes's practice."

"The SBI-OFI will be all over it." Britt said. "And I'll be personally in on it, since Carnes is an elected official within this State."

Miriam Walters said "That's a very good catch, Commander." Her beady black eyes squinted a bit a she said "When I bring a strong prosecution for these crimes, they're going to ask how you got onto it in the first place."

"I hope they do." I said. "My answer will be that I observed and deduced the anomalies I just showed you. My daughter is better than I am about things like that, but I've had a pretty decent career of seeing things that I call 'strangenesses'."

"That's the understatement of the year." Britt said. "This is great stuff, Don. Are you going to go to the Press with it?"

"I'll let you check into it and get the ducks in a row." I said. "And then we're going to hit Kelly Carnes like a freight train roaring out of the High Sierras..."

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

Meanwhile...

Jack Muscone and Laura Fredricson came up to the table at Laura's favorite Soup & Salad place, where Phyllis and Tanya were already seated.

"So how are Tiffany and Jennifer doing?" Phyllis asked Jack after everyone had ordered.

"They're doing well." said Jack. "They're making good grades in school, and they're talking about what they're going to wear at the wedding... hint hint."

"Okay, okay." Tanya said. "But after all this crap goes down, you might need a new Best Man."

"Nonsense!" Phyllis exclaimed. "We will get this solved and settled, and my son will see that you are one of the best friends he's ever had, Jack."

"I hope so." said Jack. "But I'm not ignorant to some things that have been going on. I've been suckered, played like a fool. Don might forgive me, but when all is said and done, he might just turn in his FBI Consultant badge and never take it back again."

"What is going on?" asked Laura.

"It's like a tiny snowball rolling down a mountain," said Muscone, "and now it's a frickin' avalanche. What happened is that the Feds did try to plant some phony info in an attempt to trace a leak. And then someone piggybacked that, and leaked information about Don possibly finding and having McGinty's Materials."

"Hmmm, I wonder..." Phyllis mused.

"What's that?" asked Tanya.

"I was remembering that FBI investigation a few weeks ago." said Phyllis. "The one where that Agent tried to hook Don up to a polygraph."

"Oh yeah." said Muscone. "FBI Special Agent Dominic Ellis. He's back in Washington D.C. now."

"Yes." said Phyllis. "And he tried very hard to force Don to take the polygraph. He even stood up to the EAD in the attempt. And I can't help but wonder... what would have happened if Don had allowed himself to be polygraphed, and they'd ambushed him with questions about McGinty's Materials? Something is amiss within your FBI, Mr. Muscone."

"Rogue cells?" Tanya asked. She noticed both Laura and Jack wince at that.

"I hope not." said Jack. "If that were the case, then we're saying that people I have worked with and trusted for years can no longer be trusted."

"Maybe we're looking at it the wrong way." Laura said, speaking up for the first time. "Maybe not being rogue, at least not like I think about it. Jody Corrigan was rogue. Mr. C. was rogue. Les Craig was rogue. What's happening here looks like good people making decisions and taking actions they think are in their best interests, or the best interests of the FBI, but they're not in the interests of others, like Don. And they're doing end runs that make other, good Agents like Jack here look bad. Having said that, I agree with my husband that our family's lives have been put in danger."

"Hmmmm," mused Phyllis, "looking at it the wrong way..." She went into a reverie.

"Like mother, like son." said Tanya with her cherubic grin. "She's in Crowbar World."

Phyllis's reveries didn't last as long as her son's; they didn't need to. She looked at the others and said "I was just thinking that perhaps we are looking at the Louella Hopper murder the wrong way. After all... how would anyone know what Louella's next column was going to contain?"

"She told them." Tanya replied.

"Yes, but..." Phyllis said, trying to marshal her thoughts. "Of the five things, three were related to the Federal Government: the Blassingame immunity, the US DOJ coming after the Mayor, and the Federal Government, and let's call them who they really are, the FBI, whispering to Louella that Don has McGinty's Materials. But what about the fourth item: T-Square being behind Lester Holder's beating."

"Ah, the child's riddle of 'which one of these doesn't belong in this group?', eh?" Tanya said.

Phyllis said "But what if that came from a Federal Government source, as well?"

Laura said "I don't know how that could be, but I do know that it's Don and the missing papers that are what's going to get him and me and our children killed, and what's going to tear the City Office of the FBI apart."

"So we really need to move fast, and get this solved." said Tanya. "Or at least answered. Right now I am not seeing how we'll ever make a Court case of anything, but if we at least know the answer, we might be able to do something about the danger..."

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

Meanwhile...

After filling my plate with heaps of good food from the lunch buffet, I sat down at the table in the back room of the Country Breakfast Diner. The restaurant served lunch as well as breakfast, and John Colby often made the advertisement "And we serve lunch, too!"

Joining me were John Colby, Dagmar Schoen, and Sheriff Griswold. The Mood of the Elected was angry.

"So how is Mr. Goldman?" I asked.

"He's getting better." said Dagmar. "I visited him this morning. It was a pretty bad night for him, and he looked exhausted. They were going to release him this afternoon, but may wait until tomorrow morning."

"Any leads on who did that to him?" asked John Colby.

"We think someone was impersonating the sound man." I said, telling them what we'd gathered as evidence. "We're also checking into Adele Peabody's niece Jenny, as well. She's a Poly Sci major, but she's a good student at the University with a good record and nothing to suggest political activism, much less extremism."

Dagmar said "I get it that the Democrats wanted to poison a Republican on the Council to stop Lt. Irwin from getting the Medal of Valor. My question is 'Why?'."

"In fairness," growled Griswold, "we have no proof that the Council Democrats were behind it. Though I'm sure the Iron Crowbar has his suspicions."

"Yes, sir, I do." I said. "My first observation is that someone knew how things operated at City Hall, and especially with regard to Council meetings. That bespeaks insider knowledge. My second observation is that Mr. Goldman and Mr. McGhillie were targeted, as they're the oldest and most physically deficient, unlike you two young 'whippersnappers'." The Sheriff chuckled mightily at that one.

"Also," I said, "None of the Democrats drank of their bottled waters, though our tests showed none of the bottles were poisoned. That in itself proves nothing, of course, but it's suggestive. And last but not least, it was my own observation at the scene that some of the Democrats were less worried about Mr. Goldman's illness than getting into Executive Session. I know that things in this country are getting worse, and the personal hatreds between people of opposing political views is reaching a Rubicon line, but for there to be NO interest at all in Mr. Goldman's condition was not the normal reaction of people... unless they had some idea of what was going on."

"But we'll never prove a link." said the Sheriff.

Dagmar Schoen said "Again, my question is 'why?'. I don't understand it. The Mayor limited the Executive Session, so they couldn't take advantage of the numbers."

I said "Let me answer with this question: how did you two feel about it? About denying the MOV to Irwin? How did you feel about what they did?"

"Angry, of course." said Dagmar Schoen.

"But we go through those battles all the time." said John Colby. "Susan Weston always tries to downgrade any award application, Carnes and Adams support her on it. Sometimes we uphold the award, sometimes we take it down a notch, like what was done for Father Romano's Police Cross. To be honest, I wasn't all that angry, just disappointed."

I nodded. "Okay, then." I said. "How do you think Captain Croyle felt? And let me say this: Lt. Irwin worshipped Captain Croyle, and she was loyal to him in return. The last thing Lieutenant Irwin said to her was that he would get her husband out alive... and he did, making the supreme sacrifice to keep that promise."

"Geez." said Colby sadly. "Now that you've told me that, I'm surprised she didn't kill Kelly Carnes on the spot. If it weren't for you two being there, she might have."

"Exactly." I said. "And all of that... in front of that corrupt DOJ Civil Rights observer. I think the intent was to ratchet up the angst and the drama, and corrupt the process. And yes, they wanted to spit in the Police Force's face by downgrading what should've been an MOV for Irwin."

"And there was one more side effect." said John Colby. "They pretty much forced us all to vote for it, so they can accuse all of us, including those of us that wanted to award the MOV, of downgrading it. And if we vote against it, the Democrats will say we Republicans are voting against awarding Lt. Irwin anything."

"What about the Second Reading of the Bill?" growled the Sheriff.

"Edward Steele made the original motion, and so must vote for it even though it was amended." said Dagmar. "And it re-opens the whole Board of Inquiry situation, which is getting really untenable. The Democrats are weaponizing that against us, too."

"Now let me ask you a question, Don." said John Colby. "I've been keeping track of what you guys on the Charter Commission are doing. There are a lot of people preparing to line up against it. Do you think the Charter will pass?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know." I said. "You're right that the Special Interests are lining up against us. But we'll see."

"Har." said the Sheriff. "You do it right, and the vast majority of people will tell those 'Special Interests' to shove a crowbar up their elitist hides, and they'll vote for it..."

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

I went into the hospital room of J.P. Goldman, bringing a festive balloon instead of flowers. Inside the room were Selena Steele and Dr. Morgan. Mr. Goldman was still showing the aftereffects of his ordeal.

"Mrs. Goldman stepped out to get her house ready for J.P.'s return." Selena said when I asked about her.

"How do you feel, Mr. Goldman?" I asked.

"Better." Goldman said, his voice weak. "Your mother Phyllis brought us some of her medicinal soup, and I began feeling much better after eating some of it."

"Good." I said.

"We're still going to send him home in the morning." said Dr. Morgan.

"Don," said Selena, "do you think J.P. needs Police protection overnight?"

"Sheriff Griswold thinks so," I said, "and will have Deputies here all night. But that's just an abundance of caution. I doubt they'll attack you again, Mr. Goldman. Having said that, don't drink the water at any more Council meetings."

"Heh." said J.P. Goldman. "What I need is my own bed and some real food, instead of what this Hospital serves. You know what that's like Don. You've been in here before."

"I try to stay out of here." I said with a grin. "But like the guy says in that 'Godfather' movie: 'they keep dragging me back in!'." Everyone laughed. After a few more minutes of conversation, I left to let the patient get some rest...

Part 14 - Course Charted

7:30pm, Wednesday, July 17th. Last meeting of the day... I hoped.

The Charter Council was meeting in the public Council Chamber. It was a bit strange, sitting on the other side of the bench, in the seat normally occupied by the Mayor. To my right were Edna Carter and Dr. Joseph E. Williams. To my left were Edward Steele and Savannah Fineman.

It was a capacity crowd. Security was high, mostly because of the potential threats to me, but also just in case some PCGW nutjobs got out of hand. Teresa Croyle and Sheriff Griswold were present as part of that.

I gaveled the session into order, then said "Thank you all for coming. Tonight's hearing is going to cover a lot of ground regarding the Board of Commissioners, various Boards and the beginnings of the discussion of the School Board, which we will be discussing next week in greater detail."

I said "This is probably the area of the new Charter that will undergo the greatest and most important changes. As such, we are eager to have your input. Due to the number of people here, we will limit the time at the microphone to one minute, though we may hold you for questions and discussion."

Edna Carter said "Before we begin, perhaps Commander Troy and Councilman Steele can explain the differences between Police Internal Affairs, the Inspector General's Office, and the various Boards of Inquiry."

"Certainly." I said. "I'll discuss the Internal Affairs angle first. The Fire Department has an Internal Affairs, but I'll discuss the Police I.A. The purpose of our I.A. is to make appropriate internal investigations of any issues that come up. These issues might range from guideline violations to potential infractions that are indigenous to the Police, like insubordination, to actual crimes. I.A. investigations do not always lead to criminal charges; they can be psychological examinations that result in getting a stressed out Police Officer the help he or she needs."

I continued: "The Town & County Inspector General's Office is a division of the Sheriff's Department, but may investigate any Town & County Government entity. The I.G.'s Office usually gets involved when there are serious infractions or actual crimes involved, and could lead to a referral to the District Attorney's Office. And the D.A.'s Office, of course, is the prosecutorial authority for the County, and is responsible for bringing cases to trial in the Court system. This Charter Commission has virtually no authority to change the Court systems already set into place by the State."

I turned it over to Edward R. Steele, who said: "The concept of the Board of Inquiry began as a way for the Town & County Council to independently investigate things for the Council, and to make recommendations to the Council. And those investigation range from the benign, such as Medal of Valor applications, to the potentially criminal. The Council has used the BOI to investigate situations of Police indemnity, and those investigations may be concurrent with Inspector General investigations, and in the past that has indeed occurred."

Steele: "Unfortunately, good things can be abused and corrupted. For example, the Impeachment process in the U.S. Constitution was meant to get bad criminals out of Office, but if a political Party were to use that process against someone, say a President they just don't like, in a purely partisan, political way, that not only corrupts the process when it needs to be used legitimately, but it also damages the support for the foundations of our Government. That is what has happened with the Boards of Inquiry in recent months, and it is reaching the point where the Police Unions have called for strikes if the corruption of the process continues."