Falsely Accused Ch. 02

"As you know," Teresa said, "I hear things from Officers, which they hear on the streets. There's some things going on. First, those thug groups, the ones that were wearing the red shirts at the Council meeting and during the attack on President Jefferson's statue... some of them have been meeting with Jay Swenson and Ken Eidex. Very publicly. On the University Campus, and at Ronald Reagan Park."

"I hope they're working on their disc golf games." I said.

"I have enough problems with them throwing things." Teresa shot back, making me grin in concession of the point. "Anyway, Sergeant DeLong got word that there's a betting line going on... on how long before you leave the Police Force, either by being fired or resigning."

"What's the over/under?" I asked.

"Sir, this isn't funny, it's---"

I held up a hand. "The question is serious." I said. "What's the line?"

"Two months." said Teresa.

I nodded. "I wonder if they'll take bets from me... I can game the system." Teresa did not grin at the joke. "I'm just kidding, Captain. Geez, everyone's so tense these days..."

"That's part three of what I was going to tell you." Teresa said. "The Police Force is becoming aware of the problems between you, Commander Harlow, the Chief, and Captain Ross over this rape case. And such problems cause the Rank and File to get nervous. In addition, there's some divided opinion on this rape case, of the same nature as the Police leadership and the politicians are divided over."

"Thanks for telling me." I said. After a moment, I said "Teresa, how's your riot control plans?"

"They've done pretty well, so far." Teresa replied.

'And training?" I asked.

"The SWAT guys are in good shape." Teresa replied. "We got in some good training before the ticket crackdown, and we're gearing that back up now. As always, the problem is manpower if something really big happens. I've had meetings with the Nextdoor County Police and the State Patrol in this region of the State, but if 5000 University students decide to riot... it could get ugly."

"Keep that training and coordination up." I said. "And I want you and your people to work on specific plans if City Hall, the Courthouse, or Police HQ come under attack. And then if any building comes under attack, like the Community Center, or a building on Campus, and such."

"Sir?" Teresa said, stunned. "Are you expecting something to happen?"

"I hope I'm wrong." I said. "But there is something going on around here... and I'd rather be over-prepared for nothing than be caught short."

Part 7 - Turn of an Unfriendly Card

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Friday, August 11th, from in front of the Federal Building on Courthouse Square. "Fox Two News has learned that the 'Guardians of Justice' have released another huge batch of files!"

Bettina started: "This latest batch of documents could be the most devastating the Guardians of Justice have released to this point, and they are making a nationwide impact. They first assert that Larry Wheeler was a whistleblower that had evidence of BigAgraFoods's plans to control the foodstuffs of the Nation. The GOJ also released emails among the company's top leadership that discussed what to do about Wheeler, who ended up murdered. Additionally, the documents show communications between the top leadership of BigAgraFoods and Republican Senator Samuel Russell just before and after the murder of Mr. Wheeler, again discussing Mr. Wheeler being a whistleblower."

"But worse for the U.S. Government," said Bettina, "the Guardians of Justice have released documents showing the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms congratulating Federal and local officials in New Orleans for confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. These leaked documents also show that the U.S. Government more recently planned to confiscate guns from law-abiding citizens during any riots that might have occurred if white supremacists and black militants had engaged in hostilities. As you know, our Commander Donald Troy has been credited with helping the FBI break up these militant groups and averting possible disaster."

"The NRA has filed FOIA requests for the documents that have been leaked by the Guardians of Justice," Bettina went on, "and have promised a lawsuit against the Government if the allegations of confiscating citizens's weapons in clear violation of the 2nd Amendment is true."

"ConservativeSenator Richard Nunn has called for a Congressional investigation into the abuses of citizens's gun rights, while Senator Samuel Russell has denied any improper actions, and has demanded the FBI intensify its efforts to catch the 'Guardians of Justice', who Mr. Russell describes as traitors and terrorists."

"In local news," Bettina said, "Peter Dwayne Gordon was arraigned yesterday on charges of forcibly raping a woman Wednesday night. Gordon is being held without bail, as his attorney, Mike G. Todd, did not waive the preliminary hearing, which is set for Monday. Sources tell Fox Two News that the Town & County Police are bitterly divided over Gordon's guilt despite the strong evidence against him, and that the faction believing he is not guilty is led by Commander Donald Troy, who is digging into the background of the victim of the crime..."

"Holy crap, did she really say that?" asked Theo Washington as we all watched in MCD.

"Not exactly 'fair and balanced' for the new Fox station, I'd say." replied Vice Detective Roy McGhillie.

"Not to start trouble," said Vice Detective Mary Milton, "but she said nothing that was an outright lie."

"True." I said. "But for her to say I'm digging into the background of the victim, however true, makes it sound like I'm blaming the victim and excusing the accused. The truth is that it's routine to check into the victim of a crime, and not just rape crimes, as well as whoever called in the crime, witnesses, family, friends, etc. But Bettina's reporting was typically irresponsible journalism... nothing new under the sun,"

"And if that was Bettina's report," said Teresa Croyle, "I can only imagine what distrusted reporter John Hardwood is going to say." There were murmurs of agreement.

"By the way," I said, "where is Captain Ross?"

"She may be be cleaning up after I whooped her in our training match this morning." said Jermaine Davis.

"What?!" came a chorus, except for me, getting it. I just grinned.

"I'm just kidding." Jermaine said, also grinning. "She whooped me, as usual. She was pretty into it this morning, so I figured she might be meditating or something to calm down now."

"Or something..." I heard Teresa whisper under her breath.

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

Cindy was in her office when I called. I had her come down to discuss the evidence report from the State Crime Lab. Tanya Perlman had cc'd me a copy, as she usually did.

"Okay," I said, "semen in the vagina definitely Peter's. Skin under the fingernails was Peter's, but quantity very small. Semen on the blue dress appears to be Peter's. Semen on Ms. Luskin's underwear is Peter's, and there was quite a lot of semen in her panties. He may have pulled out and come on her instead of inside her.

"Further and more conclusive DNA testing is underway, which will take several days." I continued to read. "Medical report says that Ms. Luskin experienced sex, but there were no abrasions or other damage in her genital areas that suggest forced rape."

"Women do lubricate during a rape." Cindy replied. "Defense mechanism."

"But there's usually still some damage." I said. "And this report says that there was no bruising on her thighs, her arms, her face or neck; no bite marks anywhere. Mighty gentle rapist, it would seem."

"Sir," Cindy said, "with all due respect, you sound like you're twisting these facts to suit your theory that he didn't rape her."

"Quite the opposite, Captain." I said. "This is not the first time I've encountered a rape case. It's also not the first time we've seen a woman falsely accuse a man of rape... perhaps you remember my nephew Todd being suspected by the Campus Police of rape until it was shown to be his brother Ned." (Author's note: 'Todd and Melina', Ch. 04.) In this case, the evidence so far is more consistent with the latter than the former. You disagree?"

Cindy thought a moment, then said "The evidence they had sex is pretty obvious. Why she would want to falsely accuse him of rape is not obvious."

"That's why I'm investigating Ms. Luskin's background, as Bettina made a point to report to the world this morning." I said.

"Any previous connection between them?" Cindy asked.

"I haven't found one yet." I said. "Maybe Myron or one of the Detectives will dig up something... if they're looking."

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

"This is John Hardwood, Five-Alive News in the Morning, reporting the news you have a right to know." said Hardwood at 8:00am. Everyone had re-gathered in MCD for this one.

"Five-Alive News has learned that Peter Dwayne Gordon was arraigned yesterday on the charge of raping a woman Wednesday night. Five-Alive News has chosen to withhold the victim's identity at this time. The suspect, Peter Dwayne Gordon, was initially assigned public defender Dexter Epstein by the Court, but is now being represented pro bono by Mike G. Todd of the Madison & Ives Law Firm. Again, that's Mike G. Todd of the Madison & Ives Law Firm."

Hardwood continued: "Five-Alive News has learned that as the Police investigate this brutal assault, one person is investigating the victim instead of the suspect, and that person is Police Commander Donald Troy. Troy, who has been accused by Town & County Council Members of discriminating against women in his Police Force in the past, apparently is taking the side of the suspect and is attempting to blame the victim. State Attorney Jenna Stiles, an advocate for women's rights in her campaign for District Attorney last year, has taken the lead for the Prosecution in this case."

"In other news," said Hardwood, "the cyber-terrorist group calling themselves 'The Guardians of Justice' released another batch of emails, accusing BigAgraFoods executives of colluding to cover up the murder of Larry Wheeler, who was a BigAgraFoods employee. The leaked documents also claim that the Federal Government conspired to confiscate citizens's guns during the Hurricane Katrina crisis in New Orleans, in which President George W. Bush heartlessly did nothing to help the suffering minorities. U.S. Senator Samuel Russell vigorously condemned the Guardians of Justice as traitors to the Nation, and called upon the FBI to work harder to capture the perpetrators..."

"You were right, Captain." I said to Teresa. "it was as bad as we imagined."

"Commander," said Joanne Warner, "what's the deal with this Guardians of Justice group? That's some spooky stuff they're releasing."

"Sure is." I said. "And I note the Press, especially Hardwood's network, is actually trying to help Russell suppress what these Guardians are putting out. We'll see if Congress actually does have hearings on the contents of that stuff..."

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

"Thank you all for coming." said FBI Assistant Director Dana Fox to the gathering in the large conference room in the FBI offices in the Federal Building in the City. "As you know, the Guardians of Justice released another batch of emails and documents. These documents are extremely damaging to the United States Government. Some of them were classified, which raises this to a national security issue."

In the room were several cyber-analysts, some counter-intelligence agents, and Team Lazarus. They were all silent as Fox spoke.

"The word from Washington," said Fox, "is that this will now be treated as a potential terrorist threat requiring Homeland Security assets to be brought in. It is also considered to be the FBI's top priority, especially for us in this region. I need not say that there is tremendous pressure from our top leadership as well as Members of Congress to get this under control, and quickly. It's also an opportunity for us to show what we're capable of doing. It's our chance to shine."

"Sir," said Martin Nash, having raised his hand, "why is this region under particular pressure?"

"Glad you asked." said Fox, attempting dry humor. "Mr. Cardigan, would you like to go ahead and address that?"

"Yes sir." said Special Agent In Charge Cardigan, who was in charge of the cyber-analyst group in the region headquartered in the City. He got up as Fox sat down, and started a Powerpoint presentation on the computer.

"As you can see," said Cardigan, "we've managed to trace the internet transmissions of this data to this area of the country. Obviously we can't show everything, as some of it is classified at the highest levels, but the NSA has independently confirmed much of what we've discovered. The University and State Tech are two major hubs for internet traffic, and the GOJ transmissions were routed through both of those hubs."

"So it could've come from anywhere in the northern half of the State, or the States to our north." said Jack Muscone.

"We can be a little more precise than that." said Cardigan. "The State Tech hub was a re-routing. We're looking at the University as the nearest major hub to the source point." He showed a slide, of which half was redacted, but showed that the northwest part of the State was the suspect area.

"Is it from the University itself?" asked Fox.

"We haven't traced it to that level yet." said Cardigan. "Right now, we're 83% sure it's from the Tri-County region that is the northwest corner of the State."

"Iron Crowbar country." someone said. Murmurs started.

"Pipe down, everyone." said Dana Fox, standing back up. "Thank you, Mr. Cardigan. For a threat assessment of the area, let's bring up Special Agent Miles Winters. Miles..."

Special Agent Miles Winters had worked with Les Craig, and had had to work his ass off convincing the FBI top brass, not to mention the nearly-annihilated Team Lazarus, that he had had nothing to do with Craig's treachery. To say there were still issues of trust were an understatement, and the members of Team Lazarus were very tense.

"Thank you, Director Fox." said Winters ingratiatingly. "The University has a number of Faculty that have shown some degree of hostility to the Constitution and the U.S. Government in the past. There are also groups in the area that have likewise shown a lack of loyalty. The names I am giving you are not an outright accusation, just people we are glancing into." His assertion fooled no one present; he was naming suspects.

"First," said Winters, "is Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart of 'The Vision'. The FBI has had suspicions of him in the past. We know that he and his organization collect massive amounts of information, which he will not share with the Government. We know he is partial to Canada, and his daughter is a dual American-Canadian citizen---"

"Surely you are not saying that his daughter is a suspect!" exclaimed Lindy Linares. "She's a highly decorated Police Officer, a natural-born American Citizen, and an FBI Consultant!"

"As I said," intoned Winters, "we are not making accusations here. And in this case, I'm mentioning Dr. Eckhart, not his daughter. Dr. Eckhart was on our subversive list long before his daughter ever knew he was her father, from what I understand."

"Carrying on," said Winters, "Dr. Eckhart is in a position to amass the information that the GOJ is leaking, he is in a position to leak that information through many places, and all over the Nation."

"Next," said Winters, "is Retired Admiral Leonard Cordell, who recently became the University Hospital Administrator. Dr. Cordell has a stellar Navy record, but he exposed some CIA operations that were going on overseas while he was leading medical units in Afghanistan and Iraq. While those CIA operations were indeed illegal, his refusal to shut his mouth about them has him on the CIA's list of untrusted persons."

"Next," said Winters, "is University Mathematics Professor Marvin Milton. He has been openly hostile to the U.S. Government, and exposed CIA assets on the University Campus several times, forcing the CIA to have to shut down some labs that had been extremely helpful to our mission to protect our Government from foreign hostile actions. Professor Milton has shown an uncanny and unnatural ability to obtain information harmful to Government operations in the past, and he is a prime suspect in this GOJ case."

"Miles," said Jack Muscone, "Professor Milton has been openly skeptical, for lack of a better word, of the Government for a long time, and has not needed to play games like this GOJ thing to expose Government operations and assets. Why is he such a prime suspect?"

"I'm getting to that." said Winters. "One reason is that the GOJ information is so sensitive that if he were to openly release it, he'd be arrested and charged with treason immediately. The second reason is because he has a powerful resource available to help him... his son Myron, a Town & County Police Officer. Myron Milton is in an exceptionally convenient place to gather sensitive information, which he could pass on to his father."

"And that brings me to the next suspect, which is Officer Myron Milton." said Winters. "He was repeatedly asked to help us trace the GOJ, and he has repeatedly refused. We consider that action suspicious, if not out right treasonous."

"Wait a minute!" Jack Muscone all but shouted. "We've gone through this before: Milton has every right to refuse to help the FBI, and you can't assume anything suspicious because his loyalties are not to an FBI that has been hostile to him and his family for some time. I might add that his bosses, the aforementioned daughter of Dr. Eckhart, as well as Commander Troy, have been treated very shabbily by the Federal Government at times... Troy even got a 20-million-dollar settlement for what was done to him---"

"Enough!" shouted Dana Fox, rising from his chair. "We don't need to discuss that situation in mixed company, here."

"Even so," said Muscone, not yielding, "to accuse Myron Milton of being a suspect because he won't help the FBI is wrong. Dead wrong."

"That's not the only reason we suspect him, Mr. Muscone." said Winters acidly, and disrespectfully. "We know he has illegally accessed classified information in the past. And there's the connection to his father."

"Tell you what," said Dana Fox, who had not sat down, "let's just end the meeting here. I'll have assignments for you by noon. Muscone, you come to my office now..."

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

"One hell of a week." Teresa Croyle said as she came to my table on the outside patio of the Cop Bar. It was 7:30pm, Friday, August 11th. With her was her fiancé and my nephew, Todd Burke, who set down a pitcher of beer for all of us. Beef nachos were already on the table; they were my contribution to the 'literature' of snack food consumption.

"Yes, yes it was." I said as they sat down. "Where's Cindy?"

"She said something about going out with Callie tonight... what?" Teresa said, having seen my face turn to one of 'wtf?' at her words."

"Callie went to California this morning." I said. "She's going to be out there for a week. And I know this because my wife made the ticket and hotel arrangements." Now it was Teresa's turn to have a 'wtf?' look on her face... which turned to contemplation.

"So what's new with you, Todd?" I asked. "How's BOW Enterprises doing?"

"If it were doing any better, we'd be investigated by the FBI." said Todd. "And I'm not really kidding, there. Our I.T. people have stopped three hacking attempts. One of them was very obviously by the FBI. I had our lawyers send the ubiquitous 'strongly worded letter'. But the company is doing great."