Going Rogue Ch. 04

"Bert Jones?" asked Daniel.

"Yes, Bert Jones." I replied. "So, let me start at the beginning: the other morning I saw the new construction and went to the site to see what was going on. Pretty routine, one would think, but I was met with an exceptionally hostile reaction from Jones. I didn't have jurisdiction there, but Sheriff Allgood does, so I asked him to pay a friendly visit.

"That visit turned hostile, and quickly. Sheriff Allgood found nothing in the trailer, but that was because some of the equipment was removed and stored in a couple of trucks on the property during the daytime. The construction company may have known nothing about what Jones and a few of his guys were doing at night."

"Anyway, after that, everything went to the dogs. Literally. I get to Headquarters that morning and we're confronted with dog killings." I continued. "As we investigated, I kept looking for a motive. It was clear that there was no pattern, and Theo and Cindy both astutely realized that.

"So I'm left wondering why these killings were occurring. There were three possibilities: one, some serial dog killer suddenly sprang up; two, there was a connected, underlying pattern and we hadn't found that pattern yet; and three, it was being done to distract us from something else.

"I saw no pattern, even with a couple of teachers or former teachers involved." I said. "The four killings on the Southside truly made no sense, and someone even used a police car that looks like it was Coltrane County surplus. They have black and white Sheriff vehicles down there, and recently bought a couple of new ones and sold off the old ones."

"Why do that?" asked Daniel, who barely beat Jack to the punch with the question. I looked at Cindy.

"Ah, to mix up the pattern." Cindy said.

"See Jack, she's definitely worthy of a Blue Crowbar." I said. Cindy merely waved the mentioned device in my general direction in warning.

"So, I'm spending my time looking into dog killings, and then we have a second set of them on the northside. And these two, while very likely the same person or persons, were different."

I continued: "They tried to make it look like they were mixing patterns, but there was a bit more purpose in these killings. They actually imported a dog that had been abused for some time into the yard behind the empty house, then killed it and the White's dog Charlie at the same time.

"I at first thought someone wanted to break into the White's home, but they have nothing of real value to burgle, and they were now on alert, having been forewarned by us Police Officers. You can also believe that while I was following Bryce around, other patrols were constantly riding up and down that neighborhood."

"And they say you can't find a cop when you need one." said Jack.

"Well, the Whites sure had no problem the last two nights." I said. "But back to the story. Thanks to some descriptions and some good old fashioned Myron-and-Mary police work, the name of Patrolman Brett Bryce came up. He is known for shooting dogs on Vice raids, which was one reason Malone had him removed from Vice raids.

"I do believe he was one of the 'Siths' like Gunn and Brody, and never was activated by the Black Badge gang. But he was being expertly and profitably used by someone else... a certain Consultant of Crime that also deeply hates dogs. I believe that poor malnourished dog spent his unfortunate life, or the last part of it, in the clutches of that vile son of a bitch."

"Let me ask this." said Daniel. "You said you think the same perp or perps did the southside and northside crimes. What's leading you to that conclusion?"

"The firearm or firearms used." I said. "Silencers were used in all of the shootings. No one heard loud gunshots, or even the noticeable pops of a .22 auto pistol. There were some reports of muffled noises, so I'm surmising that a silencer was used, and one that was not perfectly effective. And that suggests that all the shootings were done by the same gun or guns. Ballistics will likely show that to be true, as well."

As Daniel nodded at that explanation, I went on: "So I was curious about Bryce, but I also was looking around Town for something, anything, that criminals would want to distract me from by doing this. The duty logs were about as exciting as watching fresh paint dry. The only thing out of the norm in our Town and County... was a new construction site going up with an extremely belligerent foreman."

"And I'll add this." I said. "My suspicions of this radio activity increased when reporter Nick Eastwood's transmissions to KXTC were going in and out. He was reporting from a mobile news van near the stadium, and Jones was transmitting data to somewhere, which interfered with the KXTC signal. I asked someone in KXTC to check it out for me, and was assured the KXTC equipment was fine but that it looked almost as if someone was jamming the signal. Not intentionally, but it was being jammed."

"And you are the only person in the world, much less the County, that would've noticed that." said Jack Muscone. "And you want me to bet money with you?!?!"

I grinned, then continued: "Now guys, if Bert Jones had not been so hostile that morning when I stopped by," I said, "they're probably still sitting there at night monitoring our radio frequencies and communications. But I suspect Jones panicked when I drove up the first morning. He knew damn well who I was, and was probably thinking to himself that I somehow had gotten wind of the operation going on there. He gets huffy and puffy when all I wanted to know was what the construction was about."

"But his overreaction made you realize something else was wrong." said Daniel. "And then when I showed up with the Deputies, he must've really believed you knew all about it. He got hostile with me just long enough to give his guys time to cover up anything needing it, then relented and of course we found nothing."

"Wait a minute." Cindy said. "The first dog killings had already happened... even before you pulled into that lot, from what I remember of the timeline of this."

"No Jack, you cannot steal her from me, despite this demonstration of brilliance." I said to Jack.

"I'm still going to try." said Jack. Cindy smiled at the compliments.

"You're right, Cindy." I said. "Which is why I know that there is yet something else going on. But I'll come back to that in just a second. First, let's talk about Bryce."

I began this phase of the story: "Since I had Bryce in my sights, I decided to follow him and see if anything of interest popped up. His getting himself on 3d shift was a good plan if he had some 'Black Badge'-like things to accomplish. At first I thought he might be doing some drug dealings like Sergeant Carroll did, and then I thought he might be setting up some smuggling pipeline. In case you guys haven't noticed, in the last few months we have run into a lot of non-drug smuggling: diamonds, contraband, stolen goods from wealthy homes, and such."

"But the Bad Boys somehow got wind of our plan." I continued. "And so their Consultant had Bryce drive the same route I drove on that night I rescued the kids from Ned, and McCombs and Hendricks were watching to catch a glimpse of me to confirm what I was doing. Cat and mouse games, if you will."

"I figured that the next night there would be a confrontation." I said. "I realized that Bryce was driving around the Federal and State buildings with some kind of signal-reading device in his car, helping Jones get signal intelligence information. I was hoping to catch him doing that, but he and his cronies were setting up an assassination attempt upon me. I was going to let that play out, and we damn near got that Motorcyclist..."

I sighed as I continued: "... and then all hell broke loose, and someone started blowing whistles all over the place. Enough noise to raise the damned from their graves. The Motorcyclist still came along, tried to shoot me though I'd taken cover, and then was driving away..."

I sighed as I continued: "... and then someone fired a shot at the motorcyclist... someone who was not one of our Police Officers. Hit the cycle, which caught fire and was abandoned. Bryce apparently had stopped and dumped the signal-tracking device, and I never could find it. Overall, an entirely unsatisfactory conclusion to this case."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." said Jack. "I acted on your tip, convinced the Governor to let us have some National Guard SIGINT assets, and we caught Jones and his cronies committing acts which can get them charged with terrorist activities. So let me ask my original question, Don? Who was the primary target? Us? You?"

"All of us." I said. "The Consultant of Crime wanted that SIGINT information on the Feds and State, to sell to our enemies on several levels. But he was also gathering info on TCPD communications and operations... that's personal, and he has me in mind if he's doing that."

"Don, if I didn't know better," Cindy said, "I'd think you're paranoid as hell about that bastard. But I also know what Chief Griswold says about being paranoid, so I will excuse it."

"Spoken like a true Klingon, Crowbar 2." I replied, knowing Cindy would understand the comment about Chief Griswold's love of all things Klingon.

"What about the seventh dog?" asked Daniel. "The one that was so brutally killed by that bear trap? It doesn't seem to fit the other killings."

"Yep, another pattern-scrambling dog killing." I said. "Keeping us distracted."

"And speaking of that... you said there was another reason they were trying to distract you." Daniel said. "What was that?"

"It needs confirmation." I said. "Which is what Captain Ross and I will be doing after we finish this excellent lunch... more double cheeseburgers meeting their intended destiny at the hands of the FBI..."

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

As we got into my silver Police SUV and drove off, Cindy said "Spill it, Crowbar 1."

"What do you mean?" I asked, with mock innocence in my voice.

"You didn't just forget to check Bryce's car for that signal device." she said. "That means that there never was one, or you have it."

"That's Iron Crowbar paranoid thinking, there." I said with a grin. "But I don't have it. Let's just say I owed someone a gift, big-time, for past and future favors."

"And the seventh dog?" Cindy asked.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted to handle it." I said. "You do realized what happened there, don't you?"

"Yep." Cindy said. "And the Blue Crowbar is crying for Justice..."

Part 19 - Righting Wrongs

We picked up Detective Joanne Cummings from Headquarters, and drove to the Animal Control shelter. They had a dog ready for us.

"Not quite a year old, had all his shots." said the Animal Control officer. "He belonged to the Andersons, who died in that horrible car crash on the Bypass a couple of weeks ago. Their family turned him in, didn't want him."

"I have a perfect home for him." I said. "What's his name?"

"Charlie."

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

The three of us pulled up to the home of George and Beverly White. He was at home, having been asked by me to come home and attend this little gathering. Once inside, we presented Mrs. White with the new dog.

"Aw, he's so precious!" she said.

"His name is Charlie, also." I said. Beverly White looked sad at the name, so I said "When I was a little boy, I had a dog. I called him 'Tag' because he was always tagging along behind me. Tag and I explored every trail in the woods in the County, got in lots of trouble together. Then he got heartworms, and even after we had him treated at the vet, his great little heart couldn't keep up, and he passed on."

I continued: "About a month later, I found a little stray dog, and yes, it was the story of 'Mom, he followed me home.', even though I picked him up and carried him."

"That's true." Cindy said. "His mom told me this story from her end of it."

I said, "I always believed that the spirit of Tag sent that new dog to me, to watch over me. And I think the spirit of your dog Charlie has sent you a new Charlie to keep you company."

"Aw, that's a sweet story." said Joanne Cummings, who had given the dog to Beverly only with reluctance.

"I think you're right about that, Commander." said Beverly, petting her new dog. "Thank you for bringing him."

"Tell you what." I said, "Detective Cummings, if you'll stay with Beverly here and keep Charlie company, Captain Ross and I will talk to Mr. White about home security. Mr. White, can you give us a moment in the backyard?"

"Uh sure." said George White. We went into the backyard and sat down on the edge of the patio.

"Mr. White," I said, "your original Charlie was killed as a warning to you. I believe that someone wants you to use your position as a regional manager of the Kroger chain to help smuggle things amongst the pallets and trucks of food that come in and out of your warehouses. Am I right?" The look on his face had already answered me that I was right, but I still asked for Cindy's sake. Her eyes were wide as the information was absorbed into her brain.

"Uh..." George said, then admitted "Yeah, that's basically true. A guy came to see me in my office, pretending to be a new trucking firm sales rep. Once in my office, though, he said very bluntly that he wanted me to help arrange shipments of an extra pallet or two of wrapped goods from my distribution center to the City and back. I told him to get the hell out my office, and he said I had a wife and dog at home. I told him I was going to call the Police, and he said if I did I would regret it, but he left."

"What did he look like?"

"White man, medium height, not fat, not thin either." said Mr. White. "He was wearing an obvious brown wig, bushy eyebrows and a big brown mustache, obviously a disguise. Eyes were dull brown and his pupils were a bit dilated; he might have been a drug addict. He was wearing a suit, but it didn't fit him well."

"So did he contact you again?" Cindy asked.

"No." said White. "I didn't call the Police then, but I did start carrying my gun, for which I have a permit. I told my wife that I'd heard there had been some burglaries in the neighborhood, so to watch out for strangers. So when Charlie was shot, she thought it was a potential burglar, and she understood when we barricaded the doors at the Police's suggestion."

"I was halfway expecting for them to contact me again, and pressure me." said White. "I had contacted my superiors in the management chain, and they contacted the SBI about it. They told me and my assistant to immediately call a number if the guy showed up again... but he never did."

"That's too bad." I said. "I was going to ask you to help me set up a sting to catch him. Please do call me, even before calling the SBI, if you're contacted about this again, though I doubt you will be."

"I will. And thanks for the new dog. I don't know if you noticed, but Beverly has been devastated by Charlie's death, and her eyes really lit up when you guys brought that puppy inside." Of course I had noticed, but politely said nothing.

"Damn!" I spat as we got back into my SUV. "That was one hell of an opportunity that slipped by us!"

"Why didn't they contact him again?" Cindy asked as Joanne came outside to leave with us.

"A Red Crowbar would say that someone within the SBI heard that Kroger contacted the SBI, and had the criminals back off." I said. "I might also add that this master of disguises might have been the one who gave Girl Scout Margaret the cyanide-laced cup of pink lemonade to give to SBI Agent Reubens. That guy has been getting around."

"The Blue Crowbar agrees with the Red one." said Cindy.

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

The group was practicing putting at the Practice Basket near the first hole of the Disc Golf course at Ronald Reagan Park, when a platinum blonde policewoman in a dark blue Police uniform came up, the Captain bars on her shoulders sparkling in the sunlight.

"Hey Nikko," said Captain Cindy Ross, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh sure." said Nikko. His wife Jessica was about to come over with him, but Cindy said "Ma'am let me have a word with your husband for a moment." Jessica was non-plussed, but went back to the others and continued putting discs into the practice basket, the chains making musical quality sounds.

"What's up, Captain er... Ross?" asked Nikko.

"I just wanted to give you a message." said Cindy. "My boss, you know who he is?"

"He's that 'Iron Crowbar' guy, isn't he?" asked Nikko. "He was carrying that red crowbar the other day."

"Yes." said Cindy Ross. "And I don't know if you've heard of his reputation, but he was kind enough to send me to talk to you today instead of coming here himself... and beating the living shit out of you with that crowbar."

"Why would he do that?" asked Nikko, trying to keep his composure.

"Because he loves dogs." Cindy said. "And he knows full well that you put that trap there and had Frizz walk into it."

"What are you talking about?" bluffed Nikko, his face showing far more fear than his voice.

"Don't fuck with me." Cindy said, keeping her voice quiet and level. "He knows you did it, he knows it's the only explanation. I don't know if he has video proof it, but he's being very generous and giving you a chance to get out of this County and never come back. And I suggest that you never let him see you, ever again."

"And if I don't?" Nikko asked quietly. "What, is police brutality okay with you and the cops in this County?"

"Oh, he won't touch you." Cindy said. "Me, I'm just telling you to get out while the getting is good. Him? He'll arrest you, and then show your wife, prove to her that you killed her dog. You hated that dog, and when you heard of the dog killings, you took your opportunity to get rid of it. You got that bear trap from the outdoor company for whom you've been making and selling bags, and you took Frizz for a walk, put the trap on the ground then had Frizz go smell the dogfood, and the trap snapped shut around that poor dog's neck."

"If your wife finds out," said Cindy, "there's no telling how she'll react, but your marriage will probably be over. Me, I'm not willing to fuck up your life like that for killing a dog, however brutally. But the Iron Crowbar? He is as bad-ass as they get. So maybe you'll sell your bags from the City, or Midtown, eh?"

"I'll take that into consideration." said Nikko. He walked back to the group as Cindy Ross left for Headquarters.

"What did she want?" asked Jessica.

"She was just updating me on the dog killings." said Nikko. "So, let's go play disc golf. By the way, Jessica, you know how we talked about moving to Midtown?..."

Part 20 - Epilogue

"So," said Cindy as they ate popcorn and watched the movie, "why did you have all the old people blowing those whistles? The Iron Crowbar was irritated; it messed up his plans."

"It kept your Commander from being killed." said the Widow Athena Jones, her voice scratchy as she wrapped herself up in her shawl more tightly. "That nasty Patrolman Bryce, who was the man who shot Mrs. Veasley's neighbor's dog, was going to shoot the Commander if that motorcycle woman did not succeed."

"Yes, but Don had that under control." said Cindy.

"He did not have the third person under control, my dear." said Athena Jones. "That third person is the one who my friends and I were watching for. He was in the trees, in the shadows, coming up behind your Commander and Patrolman Bryce. And I would not be surprised if his firearm carried armor-piercing bullets. Do you know what those can do, even to a police officer in a bulletproof vest?"