Consent of the Governed Ch. 05

"Serves the bastard right." Tracy Stone, not showing any emotion on her face.

"Before you say any more, Special Agent Stone," Julia Rodriguez said, "I need to interview you, on camera."

"Why?" Tracy asked. I remembered that Tracy and Julia had not gotten along at all in the Stoddard murder case (Author's note: 'Jupiter Rising'.), and could feel that antagonism between them welling up now.

"Just to clarify some things." said Julia. "First of all, where were you tonight between 7:00pm and 8:30pm?"

"She was with me." Melina Allgood said. "My husband was at the Council meeting, so I invited Tracy over for dinner at my house."

"Can you verify that in any way?" Julia asked. Hoo boy...

"Do I need to?" Tracy Stone shot back. Hoo boy, redux."

Melina interjected herself again. "Get her cellphone pings. And I guess you could ask my children; they'll say Tracy was there for dinner."

"Welllll, unfortunately we won't be able to get anything out of your dog Dorothy." I said. "Tracy, we have eyewitness reports that Carmela was saying your name, so we've got to ask these questions. Julia, take a camera or cellphone operator... like Mr. Parker here...and interview Tracy in the bedroom. In the meantime, I'm going to question Pat Stellum...

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

I went to the breakfast room and sat down opposite the distraught Pat Stellum. He glared at me and said "I've already told your Officers everything I know, so there's no point in talking to me anymore."

"Yes I know what you told them." I said. "But satisfy my curiosity on something: why didn't you have your recorder out and ready to go?"

"I did." said Stellum. "But I hadn't turned it on yet. Like I told your Officers, I'd just arrived and we'd just sat down when the lights went out. We'd barely said hello."

"I see." I said. "And you were on the sofa, and he was in the chair to your right, is that not correct?"

"That's right." replied Stellum shortly.

"I'm trying to understand. Help me understand." I said, and everyone else began listening intently, knowing I was about to land a fish. "When the lights went out, and even when you were grabbed by the neck, you had your recorder in your hand but didn't turn it on?"

"I didn't have time." Stellum said. "I was being choked before I knew it."

"Hmmph." I breathed. "Some reporter you are. Amber Harris would have put the story first. She would've made it her supreme effort to turn that recorder on before she blacked out." Stellum looked darkly at me at the mention of his rival reporterette's name.

"And all that time you were being choked, Carmela just sat there in his chair? He didn't try to help you? He didn't do anything?" I asked.

"I don't know." said Stellum. "It all happened so fast."

"I see." I said. "Why don't you start telling me the story you didn't tell my Officers... a story that contains the truth."

Stellum looked angrily at me again, then said "I challenge you to prove what I said isn't the truth."

"Oh, that's an 'Easy Button' answer." I said. "Like I said, you're sitting there, being choked... and Carmela doesn't go for the gun in the side table drawer... which he had time to get. And I've pointed out that you did not have your recorder ready to go. That suggests to me you had no plans to use it, at all. Sooooo, this time, the truth. What really happened, Stellum?"

When Stellum didn't answer, I said, "Okay, then, why don't I tell you what happened, or is a lot more likely to have happened than what you're saying, and you just correct me where I go astray, okay?" I saw the Sheriff's mustaches twitch merrily upon hearing that.

"What, were you here when it happened?" Stellum asked, half accusingly, half sarcastically.

"No, and I have an alibi for the timeframe." I said. "I was at the Council meeting. But that's neither here nor there. What happened here is that you were here talking to Carmela, and it wasn't an interview. Maybe some pre-planning for his next move against my wife and Dr. Wellman."

Your Iron Crowbar: "You talked for a few minutes, at least. During that time, Carmela got up, and likely walked over to the window. He was in the middle of the room when the perp took you out, not in his chair nor near that side table. And he was shot with a dart and drugged, which may be why he couldn't come to help you. So... amirite?"

"I'm not admitting to any wrongdoing." said Stellum. "But yes, Carmela got up and went to the window a couple of times."

"And what were you and Carmela talking about before the lights went out?" I asked.

"I was interviewing him, so that's privileged Press information." said Stellum.

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

"I tried the 'which tire?' trick." said Julia. "I asked Tracy what they had for dinner, then asked Melina separately. They said the same thing, and 'chicken marsala' made me hungry to hear. So either they got together on their story very well, or they really did have dinner together."

"Teachable moment: which is it?" I asked with a slight grin.

"I hate it when you do that to me, sir." said Julia, then she said "Oh! It's true. Tracy had to be over at Melina's. We could get camera video from Promontory Point and other cams, and she'd have to drive by those cameras to get to Melina's."

"True, and good thinking." I said. "But I came to that same conclusion from something even more prosaic: Melina offered to let you speak to her children. Little Dan and Patricia would know, and would be able to say that Tracy was there, but it is farrrr less likely they could accurately tell you what time Tracy was there."

"Ohhhhh" said Julia. "Nothing gets past you, sir. Okay, so why was Dr. Carmela whispering her name?"

"Obsession." I said. "It's even possible that Carmela and Stellum were discussing what Carmela was going to do to her, Tracy, for opening that FBI investigation on him. Carmela is a very, very vindictive man..."

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

"The cleanup wasn't all that bad." said Dr. Morgan to Detectives Parker and Rodriguez. "It could've even been outpatient treatment. But we admitted him overnight to make sure there's no infection. We were going to sedate him, but he kept insisting he wants to give his statement to the Police as soon as possible."

"Let's indulge him, then." said Julia Rodriguez. Dr. Morgan led them into the room. Lionel Carmela was lying in the bed, dozing, his left eye socket covered up with bandages. He turned when he heard the door open.

"Dr. Carmela, the Police are here." said Dr. Morgan.

"I'm Detective Rodriguez and this is Detective Parker." said Julia. "Can you tell us what happened to you?"

"The lights went out," said Carmela, his voice sounding normal, "and someone in all black came in and attacked us."

"Us?" asked Parker. "Who was with you?"

"Pat Stellum, the KXTC reporter." said Carmela. "I was giving him an interview, and outlining my next steps against Dr. Sidney Wellman... a truly corrupt man... and against Dr. Fredricson. You guys really should be looking into her crimes, as well."

"It's out of our hands." said Parker. "Her being the wife of our Police Commander, dontcha know."

Julia asked quickly: "Dr. Carmela, do you have any idea of who might have wanted to attack you this way? You told the doctor you wanted to talk to the Police, that you had information we needed to hear. What was that?"

Carmela said: "The person that attacked us was small, slender, what I'd call 'lithe'... and her voice was familiar to me. It sounded like Tracy Stone. She was once a student of mine, and was bitter towards me after I failed her out of my classes and filed ethics violations against her. And Stone is an FBI Agent now. She might have acted on Laura Fredricson's behalf."

"Any particular reason why she would attack you tonight?" asked Julia.

"Maybe that fake investigation of me she opened isn't working out for her." said Carmela. "Or maybe her superiors are about to shut it down and slap her back for even opening it."

Teddy Parker asked: "Did the perp say anything about why he or she was attacking you?"

"Just that she'd come back for my other eye if I didn't stop pursuing the ethics charges and leave Fredricson and Wellman alone." Carmela said.

"Okay, we'll check up on Agent Stone's whereabouts tonight." Julia said. "You get some rest. We'll talk to you when you get out of the hospital..."

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

"Yes sir." Julia said as she, Teddy Parker, and I sat in my office. "He said he thought it was Tracy Stone's voice, and she threatened to come back if he kept up the pressure on Wellman and your wife."

"Hmmm." I mused, nodding. "That guy is really, really crafty. By bringing in Laura's name, he is trying to force our recusal, and definitely my recusal. And by mentioning Stone, he tries to implicate the FBI... that is investigating him right now. He just doesn't quit, does he."

"And, sir," said Teddy, "he's turning things around. We know Carmela was threatening Carole to (air quotes) 'pressure' Laura and you, and Tracy Stone opening that FBI case was also a response to Carmela's actions. Yet he tries to say he is the aggrieved one, and you're the bad guys."

"I'd get real political and say that's par-for-the-course for the Left," I said, "but it's getting late."

"Sir," Julia said, a bit uncertainly, "don't we have to investigate the possibility of Tracy Stone's involvement in this?"

"Oh, absolutely." I replied "By all means. But you've already interviewed her, and she's been given an alibi by another Federal Agent. And unless Carmela and Stellum can produce one hell of a lot more than dreaming of hearing her voice and describing a small, slender ninja, nothing will ever be proved. Do not do the Carmela thing and start creating things out of empty air..."

Part 31 - Dogs and Cats

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Friday, October 30th, from the KXTC anchor desk. "The investigation of the assault upon a prominent University professor continues!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "Dr. Lionel Carmela lost his left eye in an attack upon him and our colleague Pat Stellum at Dr. Carmela'a apartment at the Tower Condos last Tuesday night. Police are investigating several leads based upon previous threats to Dr. Carmela, but will not comment on the case, citing that it is ongoing. And now let's go to trusted reporter Amber Harris for more. Amber!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said the athletic blonde reporterette, who was at the 'usual' location on the Town side of University Avenue, with Tower Condos and University Hotel in the background. "The investigation of the assault at Tower Condos took a new turn when Assistant District Attorney Savannah Fineman, who has been assigned responsibility for any prosecution of this case, contacted the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, regarding the case." An inset photo of Savannah Fineman was shown in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Amber: "And we have with us ADA Fineman, who is running for the Town & County Solicitor's Office." The camera panned out to show Savannah standing next to Amber, and for the record, Savannah was the taller woman despite Amber wearing high heels that shaped her legs very nicely. "Savannah, what can you tell us about this case?"

Savannah: "Amber, I can't give out any names, but we do have a person of interest in the case, and I've asked former TCPD Officer Martin Nash, who is now with the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, to help us with the investigation. And because your colleague Pat Stellum was also attacked, I've contacted the US DOJ Civil Rights Division and asked them to look into the matter. Attacks on reporters, on the Media that is the underpinning of our Constitution and Freedoms, simply can't be tolerated..."

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

At the end, Bettina said "Let's go to Jeff Hull for Sports. Jeff!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said Jeff Hull. "Tomorrow the undefeated #5 Bulldogs welcome the undefeated #4 Wildcats to University Memorial Stadium for a clash of Conference rivals! The game is at 12:00 noon Eastern time, which is 11:00am local time, and is part of a big triple header of top-ranked teams, as Georgia and Florida renew the World's Largest Cocktail Party at Jacksonville at 3:30pm Eastern time, followed by Alabama and LSU in an SEC West showdown at 8:00pm Eastern time!"

Hull: "The Bulldogs are slightly favored, as the quarterback play of Shane Watson has garnered national attention. But he'll be seeing two All-Americans, linebacker Davis Smith and safety Gregg Scott, for the strong Wildcats defense. It could be a defensive struggle..."

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

"So when did Savannah Fineman become a TCPD De-tec-tivvvvve?" growled Chief Moynahan as he, the Sheriff, me, and my three Angels convened for our coffee klatch... for possibly the last time. "It is not her place to investigate our case!"

"It's a fine line, sir." I said. "I'm not defending her actions, but yes, the District Attorney's Office can involve itself in our investigations. Usually we bring them the case, or they work with us to keep things on a good legal line as we proceed with the investigation. But not this time."

Sheriff Griswold growled "But it is wrong, dead wrong, for her to go the FBI OPR's office, especially for a local case."

Tanya Muscone said "Unless the suspect is a Federal Agent, sir. And Special Agent Tracy Stone is just that."

"I should tell you guys the whole story, to round out the picture." I said. "Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker are the primary Detectives on the Carmela/Stellum case. Stellum's description of the assailant as short and slender generally fits Tracy Stone. They both said the assailant spoke, and sounded like a woman. Carmela said in the hospital that night and in a later statement that the voice sounded like Tracy Stone, who he does know."

I continued: "Julia already has Melina Allgood's sworn statement that Tracy Stone was having dinner with Melina that night while Melina's husband... and a few of us in this room now... were at the Council meeting, which covers the time period of the assault. Julia also interviewed Tracy Stone at the scene that night when the Feds showed up------"

"Why did the Feds even show up?" growled Griswold.

"Because of the Tamara disappearance case, and also because of their investigation of Carmela over the Wellman/Wargrave documents." I replied. "I also consider it a point in Tracy's favor that she would show up there with the other Feds, and was willingly interviewed when she was asked to be."

I continued: "Then Savannah Fineman showed up yesterday morning. She asked to meet with Julia and Teddy. During the meeting, she asked what they had on the Carmela eye-gouging case. Julia told her, and truthfully, that they had no real evidence that could be used to prosecute anyone. Savannah said that wasn't true, that they had the physical description and the voice ID by Carmela, and why weren't Julia and Teddy, and I quote, 'working over Tracy Stone?', close quote."

Me: "Julia said that Tracy had an ironclad alibi in the Tracy's fellow Agent and the Mayor's wife, and Melina's small children did say they saw Tracy at dinner with them on the night 'Daddy was being Mayor at the Council meeting', per little Dan. Savannah then got snippy and said Melina could be lying to cover for Stone, that Stone had a vendetta against Carmela, and that they weren't giving Carmela's voice ID enough credit. Julia replied that the mirror-image was true, that Carmela had a vendetta against

Stone in the past as well as reason to lie about Stone in the present time."

Me: "At that time the meeting pretty much broke down. Savannah said she wanted my Detectives to pursue the case harder, and that she was going to call in Martin Nash of the FBI to (air quotes) 'assist' them. Julia got her hackles up and said Savannah needed to talk to me, your humble red-crowbar-wielding Police Commander, before she tried to order her around. Savannah got up and left, but never visited me nor contacted me. Nor did Miriam Walters nor Paulina, for that matter."

Tanya said "Jack said that Savannah had D.A. Investigator Gregory Mitchum try to talk to Tracy Stone. Karina White got word of it and told Mitchum to pound sand, to get a warrant based on real evidence if he wanted to even talk to Stone, and that Tracy would absolutely want to have legal representation at any interview regarding the case. As far as I know, there has been no further effort to talk to Tracy."

"And now Savannah is trying the case in the Media." I said. "Obviously a last-ditch attempt to get her name in the news before Tuesday's Elections."

The Sheriff was 'not amused'. "Sounds like I need to have a talk with D.A. Walters." He was about to get up to go.

"Before you go, Sheriff..." I said. The Sheriff sat back down and I said "Since this is Cindy's last coffee klatch with us, at least as a TCPD Officer, I took the liberty of getting her a little present to remember us by."

I took the small, gift-wrapped box and passed it across the table. "Awww, you shouldn't have." said Cindy as she began unwrapping it. She opened the box inside and took out the object inside... a coffee cup, dontcha know. It was white, and wrapping around the outside were the words 'THE GREEN CROWBAR', and a green crowbar underneath the words.

"Aww, this is so cool." Cindy said.

"Don must've been reading my mind when I thought of this." Teresa said, handing Cindy a box that was the same size. Inside the box was... you guessed it... a coffee cup. It had Cindy's TCPD badge, No. 1069 on one side, and the medal part of a Medal of Valor on the other.

"Oh, wowww." Cindy said softly. It was starting to hit her, and all of us.

"I guess the Vibe is strong with all of us." said Tanya, handing Cindy a box. Another coffee cup. It had six Police Boxing Matches trophies printed around the outside.

"Oh yeahhhh, now this is perfect." Cindy said happily. "And Don will never have one of these!"

"Time will tell." I said. The Chief's look at me showed that he was 'not amused'.

Sheriff Griswold said "Don't worry, you'll be seeing Cindy around her a lot, and if you know how to kiss ass properly, you'll make sure to fill those cups with good coffee." We all laughed, mostly to break the wave of emotions that were hitting us.

"What are you going to be doing today?" Teresa asked Cindy

"I've almost finished cleaning out my office." Cindy said. "They're going to lay down plastic for Tanya's wheelchair over the weekend."

"And she damn well better not complain about the size of that office." I said with mock severity. "It's bigger than mine." That was true; Cindy's office went sideways a little farther than mine.

"I'm curious; how is this working?" Teresa said. "Tanya becomes Deputy Chief on Monday, but Chief of Staff Oswald doesn't retire until the end of the calendar year."

Sheriff Griswold said "She's officially retired, and for two months will draw half-pay per that retirement. It's like when I was retired from being Chief before I was elected Sheriff. And we're giving her a 'signing bonus' for accepting the Chief of Staff job, which by pure coincidence will be exactly two month worth of half pay."

"We'll miss you." Teresa said. "Enjoy the two months retirement."

"I know I'll be around," Cindy said, "and I'll see you away from work, too. But yeah... I'm going to miss you guys... and all this."

"I'm not!" said the Sheriff, trying to sound jovial. "I for one am glad I'm going to have you over there with me!"

"Kissing ass and filling your coffee cup." I said, making everyone laugh.