Fathers and Sons Ch. 03

"What's the status of the Queenie Files?" asked Lewis.

"They were cracked, Mr. Lewis." said Mills. "Your buddy Griswold's son broke them from his hospital bed."

"Griswold is no buddy of mine." growled Lewis. "Don't ever say that again, even joking. So what's the damage?"

"Conlan resigned as SBI Director, sir." said Mills. "Possibly due to information in the files. That happened too fast; now our plans to bring you back are breaking down."

"All because of that fucking cripple." muttered Lewis. "God damn him, and his father!"

"Yes sir." said Mills. "All we can do now is wait until the midterm elections, see who wins the Houses of the Legislature."

"True." said Lewis. "Well, see what you can find out and get back to me. Oh, and make sure you keep an eye on Katherine Woodburn. That bitch is worse than a Spider in the center of a web. She comes out and bites people once in a while. This disaster may just be one of her bites..."

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

"Mills." said Mills, answering his cellphone again.

"It's a disaster in that State." said a voice familiar to Mills. "The FBI is starting to look at me now. The attention is... bothersome."

"Yes sir, I know." said Mills. "And the SBI Director resigned."

"That is nothing." said the man on the other end of the line. "The FBI wants to bring young Griswold into their cyber fold as a Consultant. That would be another total disaster for us."

"What do you want me to do about it, sir?" asked Mills.

"You remember the Consultant's methods." said the man. "Use them."

The line went dead.

Part 22 - Succession

At 3:30pm, Thursday, August 9th, MCD became a little crowded. We gathered to watch the Press Conference from the State Capitol building.

"Thank you for coming." said Governor Val Jared, stepping up to the bank of microphones in front of the gaggle of Press reporters, flanked by Tom Conlan and James 'Curly' Goodwin.

"First," said the Governor, "I had the pleasure of awarding Charlie Griswold the Governor's Gold Medal this morning. Despite being a quadriplegic who can only communicate by blinking his eyes, Charlie Griswold decoded several encrypted files that allowed wanted fugitive Jack King to be arrested and returned to prison. Mr. Griswold has been offered and has accepted an opportunity to work with the FBI in their crypto-analysis units." Staffers applauded. Others joined in.

"Second," said the Governor, "I have reluctantly accepted the resignation of Tom Conlan as SBI Director. Tom has done a tremendous job in the SBI, and as its Director he has helped clean up the corruption and re-direct the SBI's mission to one the People of our State can be justifiably proud." Staffers applauded. No one else joined in.

"Third," said the Governor, "I am happy to say that James Goodwin of the Town & County Police Force has accepted my request to become the next Director of the SBI. Captain Goodwin did an excellent job leading the Internal Affairs Department of the TCPD, and he brings that integrity and work ethic to the SBI. I look forward to working with Director Goodwin to continue the work to 'fundamentally transform' the SBI into an organization that will serve local Law Enforcement, not attempt to rule over it." Staffers applauded. Everyone else was shocked at the speed with which the position had been filled.

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

"That's that." said Captain Teresa Croyle as we turned from the televisions and people began trickling out.

"Who is going to replace Precinct Captain Goodwin, ma'am?" asked Detective Julia Rodriguez.

"Not sure yet." Teresa said, though she knew 2d Precinct Captain Carswell had been told he'd be transferring on Monday morning. "I heard Commander Ross is getting bored with budgets. Maybe she'll apply for the job."

"Commander Ross is getting bored with boring Police Captains." replied Commander Ross. Detectives were wide-eyed with the seemingly vicious repartée.

"Good thing we have none of those around here." I said. "Never a boring day in the Town & County Police Force. But Goodwin going to the SBI will be a good step up for him, and good for the SBI." And good for us, I silently thought to myself.

"The Governor acted fast on that." said Theo Washington. "He comes into this County, rewards Charlie, leaves with a new SBI Director."

"Things move fast in this County, Theo." I said. "Especially boring Captains trying to run over me with their tanks." Indeed, Tanya had driven her wheelchair right up behind me, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks rosy with perkiness.

"Unfortunately, Commander," Tanya said, "things are getting slow. I'm thinking we may need to dig up a cold case to have some fun with. Parker! You up to that?"

"Yes ma'am." said Parker.

"Ma'am," said Jerome Davis, "Parker has been helping me work on the perps that sabotaged Charlie Griswold's car. Can I keep him for a little longer?"

"Sounds like that's a cold case in itself." said Tanya. "Sure, keep at it."

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

On my way home that evening, I had a thought that I should go by and see Charlie. I figured he might be asleep, but upon getting to his room, I found him to be awake. He began blinking his eyes furiously.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, buddy." I said quietly. He did so, now that he knew he had my attention.

He began blinking: "D o n, t h a n k s f o r e v e r y t h i n g."

I smiled. "Glad to have been of help." I said. More furious blinking, then Charlie slowed down again.

"D o n," he blinked, "p l e a s e... t a k e c a r e o f M o m a n d D a d f o r m e."

I nodded. "I can promise you that." I said. "I will take care of them. For you and for me."

"T h a n k y o u, b r o t h e r." Charlie blinked. I could see he was exhausted, so I told him I would come see him the next day. He was asleep by the time I got out of the room.

I contemplated what he had said, and had asked. And yes, I could do what he wanted to do but could not do himself. Wasn't there an old song about that? He ain't heavy, he's my brother..., I thought...

Part 22 - League of Shadows

3:15am, Friday, August 10th.

The orderly came up to Patrolman Phil Goodwright.

"Whatcha got?" asked Goodwright.

"Nutritional supplements." said the orderly. "Just like last night." He exhibited his Hospital badge. Goodwright scanned the bar code on it, and the reader said the badge was legitimate.

The orderly went into Charlie Griswold's room and hooked up the IV bag he'd brought with him into Charlie's water tube.

"What's going on?" said Police Sergeant DeLong, who'd seen the orderly go in from a distance.

"Said he had nutritional supplements." said Goodwright. "Brought them in last night, too. Said the doctors were upping Charlie's intake because of all the excitement he's been through."

"I'm going to the Nurse's Station and check that out." said DeLong. He began walking down the hall.

A moment later the orderly came out. He'd left the rolling table with the IV materials in the room, Goodwright had noticed.

"Hey, hold on a second." he called out. The orderly continued on as if he'd heard nothing.

"Hey, stop!" called out Goodwright. The orderly looked back, then began running.

DeLong saw what was going on, and as the orderly tore around the corner, DeLong gave chase. The nurse at the station was calling in the code to lock the Hospital down.

The orderly ran down the hallway and turned a corner, then ran down the hall to another patient room. He rushed inside. The room was empty.

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

The TCPD Officers were converged around the door. Sergeant DeLong gave the signal, and Corporals Kirkpatrick and Hicks burst in.

"Clear!" called out Hicks. Officers came in. The orderly was lying on the floor, dead. A pungent odor of almonds as well as the foam drooling from his mouth showed that he had self-ingested cyanide.

They went back towards Charlie's room, where several nurses and two doctors had already convened. They knew this wasn't good.

"Call Commander Troy." said Corporal Hicks. "Bad news does not get better with age."

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

I stepped off the elevator and turned towards the Hospice side of the facility. I saw Hicks and DeLong at the hallway intersection, looking grim... and a little bit scared.

"What happened?" I asked. They recounted the chase and finding the body. DeLong filled in what he knew about the orderly as we went down the hall.

"He was here last night, sir." said a considerably agitated Goodwright. "His badge checked out." I looked at the information that was still on the badge reader.

"Looks like you guys did right, and all that you could." I said. "Okay, let's go see..."

I went to Charlie's room. Dr. Morgan and Dr. Cordell were there. The Admiral looked about as profoundly sad as I'd ever seen him look.

"The Crime Lab just took the IV bag." said Cordell. "Looks like barbiturates and maybe potassium chloride."

I looked onto the bed. Charlie was lying there, as always, staring at the ceiling. The eyes were no longer blinking. I reached over and closed them, tears in my own eyes.

Charlie Griswold was gone.

To be continued.

Who is behind the killing of Charlie Griswold? Final chapter next...