Cool For The Summer Ch. 02

"It's good you have all that," drawled the Chief, "but I'm not sure it'll hold up if Munson can get it into Nance's Court instead of the other judges's."

"C'est la guerre." I replied. Seeing the Chief turn and glare at me, I said: "I mean, what am I supposed to do when a suspect asks to talk, and asks that his lawyer not be called?"

"Call his lawyerrrr, anyway." said Chief Moynahan. "Make him fire her, or he'll have to choose if he wants to speak in her presence."

"He wouldn't have." I replied. "Chief, McCombs knows the law; he was a Sergeant in the TCPD for years and made a lot of arrests. He did everything exactly right in proposing discussing a 'hypothetical'. I had to make a judgement call, and I chose to agree to his terms and hear him out."

"I trust your judgement, Crowbar." growled the Sheriff, more as a statement to the Chief than to me. "I think you did the right thing, and damn what Gwen Munson thinks."

"And what about Hatch?" asked Cindy Ross. "Are you going to suspend him? Arrest him and interrogate him?"

"Now there is where we have to be careful." I said. "We don't have any evidence more than McCombs's word... which is not very credible... and some financial anomalies after a McDonalds bag of money disappeared by his hands. The Union could and definitely would fight like hell for him if we try anything. I did the only thing I could do: I put him on the Duty Desk, the only place I could think of where he doesn't have access to records, Court document, or could control the direction and actions of other Officers."

"Assign him to taking 9-1-1 calls." said Cindy. "That's what Officers recovering from injuries and pregnant Officers get, a lot of the time. I'm halfway expecting the Chief to send me there at any time." We all chuckled at that.

"Taking you seriously," I said, "if Hatch shows his incompetence and fucks up a 9-1-1 call, and someone dies... I'd rather deal with Gwen Munson for talking to her client without her there, thank you very much."

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

The door opened, and Paulina Patterson poked her lovely head in. "I just got a call from Miriam Walters. Gwen Munson just called her, and Munson is livid, accusing Commander Troy of violating her client's rights. Miriam is on her way here, and wants an explanation."

"And we will give her one." I said. "Have her come to the Main Conference Room. Teresa, get those tapes ready to show..."

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

7:35am. Town & County District Attorney Miriam Walters was escorted to the Main Conference Room. Waiting for her were the Sheriff, the Chief, me, Paulina Patterson, and Teresa Croyle.

"All right." she said. "Show me the tapes of what actually happened." Teresa 'drove' the computer and showed the tapes. She also handed Walters a copy of the affidavits she had obtained.

"Now would you mind showing me the case against McCombs in this bugging incident?" Miriam asked. I spelled it out for her, omitting only the name of Archie Brody."

"And you didn't arrest this technician?" Miriam asked. "Even though he admitted bugging the wheelchair?"

"He did not admit to that." I said. When Miriam looked up at me, her beady black eyes reminding me of Jack Muscone's, I said "He admitted that he planted a tracking device at the request of a Police Sergeant who showed him a letter with my name forged on it. It would appear people forging my name on documents is becoming popular, but I digress. He didn't know the device was a bug."

Miriam said skeptically. "Come on, he's a technician, isn't he? And he had no idea of what he was planting?"

"A transceiver listening device and a device that emits a signal to be tracked would look very similar." I replied. "I think he blindly followed what he genuinely thought was a genuine Police request. I don't think he's guilty of any criminal intent."

"I will also add," said Sheriff Griswold, "that we're looking for whoever is behind this. We found the guy who tricked the technician into installing the bug, that being McCombs. The information he gave Commander Troy, even under a 'hypothetical' that we can't use as evidence, still gives us something to work with going forward."

"And before you say it," I said, "we do have more on Hatch that gives us probable cause when it's time to take his sorry butt to Court."

Miriam Walters dropped the papers in her hand and sat back in her chair. "Yeah." She said, then added: "The only reason I think you did no wrong, Commander Troy, is that the original case against McCombs is so weak that I likely would not have prosecuted it."

Teresa said "What would you suggest that Commander Troy,or any of us, for that matter, do if this situation ever comes up again?"

Walters said "You should've notified his lawyer, for openers."

"And then he would not have said anything, under any conditions, real or hypothetical." I replied.

"From my point of view," said the District Attorney, "you didn't gain anything actionable from what he said. And if you do get to Hatch by other means, a good Defense attorney... which Gwen Munson actually is, even if she is annoying... will use it to contaminate our case. And while you did nothing legally wrong in accepting McCombs's offer, it's going to be a point of contention. I might add, Commander Croyle, that Commander Troy could accept that deal offer, but you cannot."

"Aren't I an Officer of the Court?" Teresa asked, though not angrily.

"Yes," replied Miriam, "but only a member of the Command Group, acting as a principal for the County, can do what Commander Troy did." She then looked at me and said: "And I would also advise in similar situations in the future, Commander Troy, is for you to contact me, Paulina, or one of the other ADAs before accepting the deal. You might ignore our advice, but at least we could give you some."

"That's a good point." I said, pretending to concede that point.

Just then, my Police iPhone chimed with a text. I called the Duty Desk Sergeant, who said "Sir, there's a Gwen Munson up here demanding to talk to you and D.A. Walters. She's getting really ugly about it, and I'm going to arrest her if she doesn't calm down."

"Escort her yourself to the Main Conference Room." I said. "Do not send her with Hatch..."

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

"What the hell did you think you were doing, talking to my client without me here?" yelled Munson. "You've violated his rights! You might as well drop the charges and have him released!"

"Sit down, Ms. Munson." I said. "And I'll show you that your client asked to talk to me specifically without you present----"

"Bullshit!" Gwen yelled. "This is just another of your lies! Now I want to see my client, and then I'm going to go to Court and file motions to--- awk!" Lt. Commander Croyle had gotten up, come around, and very strongly forced Gwen Munson to sit down. "Why you bitch---"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Teresa yelled right in her ear. "Or I will personally drag your ass through Booking!"

"That's assault!" Gwen complained. "That's Police brutality!"

"No, that's not assault." I said. "But Commander Croyle seems to be very willing to show you what 'assault' really is, if you don't shut your goddamned mouth. Now as I was saying, we have it on tape, and we have the affidavits: your client asked to talk to me specifically without you present. I agreed to his request to speak of a 'hypothetical' issue, which can't be used in Court, of course, but did not violate his rights... especially as, once again, he asked to speak without you present."

We played the tape of McCombs in the holding cell yelling that he wanted to talk to me, then in I-1 saying he did not want Munson in the room. I stopped the tape there.

"Show the rest of it." Munson demanded.

"Oh I will... in Court." I said. "Not before." The hatred in Gwen's eyes accurately showed her immeasurable hatred for me.

"What do you have to say to this, Ms. Walters?" Gwen asked the D.A. haughtily. "Are you complicit in this dirty cop's assault on my client's rights?"

Teresa said "That's hypocrisy if I've ever seen it: you calling anyone else dirty."

"Drop dead, cunt." Gwen Munson.

My hand on her shoulder restrained Teresa from doing the obvious thing. Gwen's eyes were gleaming in the pleasure of having nearly taken the Iron Wolf over the edge... and then I saw her eyes flicker up to the camera mounted in the corner of the room near the ceiling.

"Oh, that camera?" I said. "It's not working. Nor are your attempts to goad us into an incident."

Munson returned her glance to me, the goading look turned to pure hatred. "I want to see my client McCombs. Now." she demanded.

"Commander Croyle," I said, "go see if McCombs wants to see his lawyer. If not, and I suspect he does not, then leave him in his holding cell until his arraignment." Teresa got up and left the room.

"Wellll," drawled Chief Moynahan, "there' no reason for me to hang around here. Ms. Walters, Ms. Patterson, may I offer you some coffee in my office?"

"That sounds good." said Paulina. "Miriam, the Chief does make a good cup of coffee."

"Sure." said Miriam, understanding that the Chief was doing that to get them out of the room... and leave Gwen Munson alone with the Sheriff... and me. I got up and opened the door, and they exited. I closed the door, but remained standing there, blocking it. I reached up and fiddled with my ink pen.

"Soooo," said Gwen Munson cattily, "you stopped your little cunt from assaulting me. It doesn't matter. She'll fuck up one of these days. She can't help it----UHK!"

I moved so fast that she did not have time to even move. I grabbed her, twisted her up and out of her chair, and slammed her onto her upper back on the edge of the table, choking her neck with my left hand. My right hand and withdrawn my service weapon from its holster, and I jammed it into her mouth.

"She's not your problem, you corrupt bitch!" I growled, feeling the fury that she must've been seeing in my eyes. "You just don't seem to get it, do you? I'll kill you just as soon as I'll look at you, just on account of your goddamned bad manners!"


Munson was struggling, to no avail. The looks of hatred, derision, and cunning were no longer in her eyes. Just pure fear.

"I'd suggest you listen to the Iron Crowbar, Ms. Munson." growled Griswold. "And I'd suggest an attitude adjustment on your part. It's you who is going to fuck up and cross a line you can't uncross."

"And when you do," I hissed, "I'll be there."

"All right, Crowbar." the Sheriff said. I let Gwen go and re-holstered my service weapon. Munson grabbed her satchel of papers and fled the room.

Part 12 - Roll Call and Bad Calls

Meanwhile...

At 8:00am sharp, Thursday, August 13th, the roll call at 1st Precinct Headquarters began. Senior Sergeant Roy McGhillie called out the names by rank and then alphabetically. On this morning, he shocked the room by calling out a particular name:

"Gunddottar!"

"Present!"

Despite being in formation, everyone turned to see Corporal Inga Gunddottar standing at thee back of the room. A smattering of applause built into an avalanche of a strong ovation.

"Welcome back, Corporal." said McGhillie as the ovation ended. He finished the roll call. Many of Inga's fellow Officers came up and welcomed her back, then Captain Hugh Hewitt came in and had her report to his office, to let her know that she was on extremely light, restricted duty...

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

10:00am. Teresa Croyle as she came into my office at 10:00am and sat down at my hand gesture bidding. "Inga Gunddottar is back." the Iron Wolf said. "She was assigned to the Dispatch desk while she's on restricted duty and not re-qualified with her service weapon."

"Good." I said. "She really shouldn't be back, but she really wanted to, and Laura told me privately that bringing Inga back on light duty would allow the psychologists to evaluate her better."

Teresa nodded, then said "McCombs did not want to see Gwen Munson when he was asked this morning, so the Duty Desk Sergeant, which is Carter today, told Munson she could not see him. She left in a huff for the Courthouse."

I said "So I heard. I also heard that Munson ran... not walked, but ran... to the Chambers of Judge Harry R. Nance. Unfortunately for her, she was too late. The City Attorney's representative legal eagle was already there, filing a lawsuit against the Union, and they went ahead and got McCombs's arraignment on Judge Folsom's docket. Gwen is furious, which is the normal state for her when she deals with the TCPD."

"And specifically with you." Teresa replied. "So what happened in there after you sent me out?"

I said "What happens in the Conference Room, stays in the Conference Room. We'll just leave it at that. The Sheriff was in the room with me the whole time, so whatever Munson says, nothing happened... of course."

"Of course." said Teresa, understanding. "So what's going on with those legal actions? We're suing the Union?"

"We sure are." I said, much more happily. "We're saying that the Union's action is harassment and designed to cause us financial and emotional harm. We're contending that McCombs is no longer a Police Officer and that the situation regarding his status is closed and has been for some time. The Union says their grievance is still ongoing; ergo, they have the 'right' (air quotes) to continue representing him and grieving on his behalf."

Teresa said "Good. I hope we can blast them to Hell in Court. What about McCombs, though? Please don't tell me he skates on this."

"Okay, I won't tell you." I replied. "Seriously, I'm not sure what's going to happen. Paulina has asked Miriam to let her, Paulina, pick the case up. Left to her own devices, Miriam probably would drop it just to show me up for allowing that 'hypothetical' conversation, but she's considering Paulina's request. All in all, it's just part of the legal muddle we're wading through right now."

Teresa said "Cool beans." Then she hesitated before saying "May I speak freely, sir?" I knew that this meant Teresa wanted to talk about something personal more than any notion of speaking out of protocol.

"Always, when we're alone like this." I said. "Whassup?"

"Are things okay with Tanya?" Teresa asked. I nodded, understanding the underlying nature of the question.

"Before I answer, and I will," I replied, "why do you ask?"

Teresa said "She's normally the perkiest person in the world, much less this Police Department. She makes 'perky Katie Couric' look like Kelly Carnes. But Tanya has had a little edge to her the last day or two. She also has been talking to Cindy a lot. She talks to me more when she doesn't mind you knowing about it, and she talks to Cindy when she'd rather you not know about it."

I knew it!" i said with mock joviality. "I knew that sneaky Green Crowbar was keeping things from me." Teresa cracked what was for her a smile.

My mock humor left as I continued: "That's interesting. And here's my promised answer: Tanya really did not like it when I instructed her to withhold the information we'd learned about her bugged wheelchair from all Federal Agents, including her husband. There's also continued friction between her and the Miltons, and part of that problem is that I take the Miltons's side against her... which is dead wrong of me, but cannot be helped."

"Does Jack know about all this?" Teresa asked. "And if so, how does he feel about it?"

I said "I think he gets it. I told him that some things are like me and Laura... she and I can't and don't talk about our jobs if we don't have to, and that his and Tanya's marriage needs to be the same way---"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

It was my Police iPhone, and it was Paulina Patterson, which sent a shock of worry through me; she normally calls me on my personal iPhone. I answered the call: "Troy."

"Don, it's Paulina." said Paulina. "I just wanted to give you a huge 'red alert' about something. The Feds have filed charges against McCombs, and are seeking to take physical custody of him!..."

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

11:00am, Thursday, August 13th. The Sheriff, Chief, and I were in the Main Conference Room. With us were District Attorney Miriam Walters and ADAs Paulina Patterson and Savannah Fineman.

I had tried to call Jack Muscone on three separate occasions on both his personal and professional lines. Everything went to voicemail. My texts to him generated auto-messages that he was driving his vehicle.

Miriam Walters said: "McCombs was brought in for his arraignment. Savannah was handling it for the People of the Town & County. She asked that McCombs be remanded into custody, as he was arrested outside the jurisdiction and posed an extreme flight risk. Gwen Munson, defending him, asked that he be released on his on recognizance, saying that he was well-known after his hung-jury trial, and that he had ties to the community."

Walters: "Before Judge Folsom could make a ruling, a Deputy brought in a file folder and handed it to the Judge. It was a writ from Federal Judge K.M. Landis, ordering that McCombs be held while a Federal warrant was served to take custody of him. The warrant was being sought by the FBI, as Federal charges were being filed for bugging the wheelchair of the wife of a Federal Agent."

"Did the Feds take custody of him?" asked Chief Moynahan.

"Yes." said Savannah Fineman. "Federal Marshals came in about ten minutes later with a Federal warrant to take custody of him, and they took him away from the Courthouse holding cells."

"Did you contest that?" I asked Savannah Fineman. "Any of that? At all?"

"Are you kidding?" Savannah shot back. "It was from a Federal Judge."

"You could've asked Judge Folsom to make the Federal Government prove it has habeas corpus, which I don't believe they had. And if you'd asked Judge Folsom for a hearing before letting the Feds have him, he'd have granted that."

"Why would I do that?" Savannah all but snarled at me. "You just about destroyed our local case with that frickin' 'hypothetical' bullshit you let him do."

"Commander," said Miriam Walters, "remember that McCombs still was a TCPD Officer at the time he allegedly had the technician Brody install the device. And Gwen Munson is the Devil in high heels; she would be fighting those charges to the last ditch."

"And they're just not significant enough to waste all our time and money on." Savannah added.

"Still," I countered. "you could've fought the Feds on this, and kept McCombs in our custody until this thing played through. Did you even ask yourself why the Feds want McCombs so badly on these charges that you consider so insignificant?"

"Why are you always trying to make things so hard?" Savannah Fineman practically wailed. "And why are you always trying to tell me how to do my job?"

"Because I want you to do your job!" I fired back. "Do you have any idea of the damage you've done by giving McCombs to the Feds?"

"What damage?" Savannah yelled. "And the Marshals were there in just a few minutes. I had no time to call about it!"

"By your own admission," I said, "you had ten minutes to call us before the Marshals got there. What were you doing with that time? Twiddling your thumbs?"

"Like you consulted anyone in the D.A.'s Office before pulling that 'hypothetical' stunt with McCombs, which was wrong?" Savannah yelled, her face turning redder and redder with anger that matched my own.

"He asked to see me." I said. "And I got good information from him by doing that, and what I did was not wrong and you know it---"

"I'm done with your shit!" snarled Savannah, getting up and gathering her things. "I was doing my job... and trying to mitigate the damage you did by fucking up your job! The Feds did us a favor, in my opinion." She stalked to the door and exited the room.