Jupiter Rising Ch. 02

Bettina began: "There were many legal issues regarding Commander Troy's testimony, but one issue proved impossible to overcome when legalexperts agreed that Troy retained the right to take the Fifth regarding the Betty Morelli case. Governor Jared's pardon of Troy, in an obvious quid pro quo for Troy suppressing the credible claims of two women against Jared, protects Troy against State charges of sex with a woman in his custody. However, Troy has no immunity against Federal charges of the same nature even though the Feds dropped their case against Troy, and therefore Troy can take the Fifth because of the potential Federal charges."

Bettina: "This has not stopped State House Democrats from attempting to access adoption records to find Betty Morelli's baby, so that they can force a DNA test to determine who the father of Morelli's child is. They have filed a lawsuit in Superior Court to obtain those records. KXTC has filed a 'friend of the Court' brief in support, as we believe the People have the right to know who the child of Betty Morelli is, and who the father of that child is. And even if the Legislators drop the lawsuit and the investigation, KXTC will continue to demand answers and bring you the truth in this matter. We will not rest until those names are discovered and revealed to you!"

Bettina: "In State news, State Attorney General Karl Handel issued a press statement that he supports State Attorney Jenna Stiles's appeal of Judge Harry Nance's actions last Wednesday to drop all charges against University Professor of Political Science Lionel Carmela with prejudice. The charges included trespassing on a crime scene, failure to follow a Police Officer's instructions, disturbing the peace, assault upon a minor child, assaulting State Agents, assaulting a Police Officer, and resisting arrest."

Bettina: "Judge Nance cited the presence of Commander Donald Troy and Troy's history of abusive tactics as reason for dropping the charges, but the SBI issued a statement that it was their agents that made the arrest, and that they have proof Carmela committed the crimes for which he was charged. State Attorney Stiles says that she will appeal this and all of Judge Nance's egregious rulings of this nature all the way to the State Supreme Court."

Bettina: "Meanwhile, student groups are demanding that University President Sidney P. Wellman fire or suspend Astronomy Professor Stephanie Steele, who was arrested and charged with suspicion for the murder of Professor Robert Stoddard on Wednesday. The groups say that the failure to remove Dr. Steele is an embarrassment to the reputation of the University. President Wellman issued a statement saying that Dr. Steele has not been convicted of anything, and will remain on Faculty for the time being..."

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

"Okay, I don't get it." said Campus Police Commissioner Briscoe, who Chief Moynahan had invited to the coffee klatch in the Chief's Conference Room. "Why are those student groups demanding Dr. Steele be suspended?"

I replied, "I'd be willing to bet those students are Leftist in their politics, or led by Leftists, as Dr. Steele's husband is a Republican Council Member. And I do have some data to back that up: when Lionel Carmela was trying to get my wife suspended and her medical license pulled, Stephanie Steele came out in support of Laura."

"And Carmela was arrested at the crime scene on Wednesday." Teresa said. "Commissioner Briscoe, you should ask Commander Troy what he thinks of coincidences."

"Oh I know." said Briscoe. "I heard his comments on that many times while I was here with the TCPD." We all chuckled.

"So, Commander Troy," said Tanya Perlman, "you're off the hook vis-a-vis the Impeachment trial?"

"Looks like it." I said. "Lisa Fillmore hit the right spot on the Reed Hudson Radio Show the other day, and my attorney Mike G. Todd battered the Legislature with it. And once it was agreed by most people that compelling me to testify wouldn't work, they've moved on... at least for now."

"I still don't get why they're pushing that so hard." said Teresa.

"Optics." I replied. "They think it helps their case against the Governor, so they push it."

"But it doesn't." Teresa said.

Sheriff Griswold said "It's come to the point where those who want it to hurt the Governor will think that it does, and those who support the Governor will think that it doesn't. Bottom line, they won't be using the Iron Crowbar's good name to hurt the Governor."

"What about that business of trying to access the adoption records of that woman's baby?" asked Briscoe. The silence in the room that met him was deafening. "Anyone?" he asked after a moment.

The Sheriff replied "That's a matter not really up for discussion, here." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

To change the subject, Tanya said "So Commissioner, Agent Johnson and Detective Stone will be here for the meeting at 8:30?" That is why the Commissioner was there, by the way.

"They should be." said Briscoe. "Detective Stone didn't want to come, and she said yesterday that she did not want to cooperate any further with the TCPD. I told her that if she wasn't at this morning's meeting, I'd take her off the case... and then I'd start the process of firing her."

"Not to tell you your business, Commissioner," said Tanya, "but why not take her off this case anyway?"

"Because I'm not sure she's wrong about all this." said Briscoe. "And I was hoping she'd learn some things working with all of you, and become a better Officer and Detective for it. But I'm not sure that's working out so well..."

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

After the coffee klatch, Cindy Ross went back to her office and shut the door behind her. Chief Moynahan, Sheriff Griswold, and Commissioner Briscoe went to the Main Conference Room to talk, and I joined them as the Detectives, Lieutenant Mary Milton, and Captain Perlman gathered in the Classroom 'E' just before 8:30am. Jerome Davis was excused; he was on a personal mission.

SBI Agent Terence Johnson came in at 8:26am, and was getting coffee three minutes later when Campus Detective Tracy Stone came in, looking like she wanted to be somewhere else... anywhere else.

"Thanks for coming, guys." Captain Perlman said with her usual perkiness. "Okay, let's get started. Who wants to go first------" She stopped as the door flew open, and in walked ADA Savannah Fineman.

"ADA Fineman." Tanya said with considerably less perkiness. "What brings you here?"

"I'm going to be at least co-prosecutor for this case." said Savannah. "And D.A. Walters is angry that you didn't notify us of this capital murder case..."

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

At the same time, District Attorney Miriam Walters burst into the Main Conference Room. "Why the hell didn't you tell us about this case, much less this meeting?" Walters snarled. "I thought we had an agreement that you'd call us in on these big cases!"

"It's not our case, for openers." I replied before the Chief or Sheriff could. "We've been asked to assist the State with it, and are doing so in a spirit of harmonious cooperation and educational opportunities. And that infers the State Attorney will likely take the lead in the prosecution of the case."

"If you're cooperating with them, then why aren't you IN the meeting with them, Commander Troy?" Walters demanded to know.

"Oh, they don't need me in there to make things worse than they already are." I replied. "My question is why are you and ADA Fineman so eager to get involved with this one?"

"Are you kidding?" gasped Walters. "Dr. Stoddard was world-renowned, and Dr. Steele is the wife of a Town & County Councilman. This is a huge case!"

"Then let's listen to this." I said, nodding towards the monitor...

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

"How familiar with the case are you, ADA Fineman?" Captain Perlman asked.

"I've been briefed by Detective Stone." said Savannah. "I also handled the arraignment of Dr. Steele for the People."

"Have you been shown Detective Troy's testimony?" asked Julia Rodriguez.

"Commander Troy's?" Savannah asked back, not understanding.

"No, his daughter's." said Julia. "And it's strong stuff."

"No I haven't seen it." said Savannah, with a quick sideways look towards Tracy Stone, whose face had turned sullen.

"You need to see it, then." said Tanya. To Mary Milton, she said "Bring it up and show it to her."

"Oh, come AWWWN!" whined Detective Stone. "It's irrelevant! It's the ramblings of a self-important six-year-old child!"

"IT'S NOT IRRELEVANT!" shouted Julia Rodriguez, getting out of her seat and 'fronting the blonde Campus Detective. "AND THAT CHILD IS ALREADY A BETTER DETECTIVE THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!" Tracy Stone stared back at Julia malignantly. Terence Johnson looked shocked.

"Simmer down, Detective." Captain Perlman said. Julia returned to her seat, her face beet-red with furious anger... as was Tracy Stone's.

Tanya looked around, then said "I thought I asked for that video to be played. Did someone higher ranking than Captain say differently?"

"It's coming right up, ma'am." said Lt. Mary Milton hastily. A moment later, the video of Carole's testimony was played in its entirety...

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

I'd taken a laptop that mirrored what was shown on the screens in Classroom 'E', and turned it so D.A. Walters could watch.

"Wow." Miriam said as she watched. "No, I hadn't seen this, either. And it definitely creates issues."

"Enough that we need to keep looking for other suspects." I replied. Miriam nodded as she continued watching...

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

"Well," said ADA Fineman as she sat back in her chair after watching, "that definitely is interesting, but as Detective Stone said, it's from a six-year-old child." That earned her some dark looks.

SBI Agent Johnson said "Why don't we move along, and talk about the data that's been accumulated."

"I've got a couple of things." said Teddy Parker. "We checked up on Selena Steele. She's at a banking conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she's been there all week. On Wednesday, she was filmed as she asked the Chairman of WorldBankTrust a question during his Q & A session, and it was within one hour of the murder. Charlotte Police have also confirmed through interviews with witnesses that she's been there the whole time."

"I confirmed that, also." said Tracy Stone, though not happily.

Parker said "The Charlotte Police interviewed Selena Steele yesterday, telling her that her townhouse had been broken into. She said that she had a .38 caliber snub nose revolver in the safe in her bedroom closet, and that she had not fired it nor carried it in at least a year, maybe two. Her 9mmP is secured in a drawer in her office at the J.P. Goldman Bank, and the .380 is secured in a locker at City Airport, since she couldn't take it aboard the airplane."

Parker: "We also got back the CSI report on what I am calling the break-in and burglary at the Steele townhouse. Videocameras went dead around 8:00pm Tuesday night, and were reported inoperative the next morning when the security office opened. Her burglar alarm did not go off, as it was disabled by a manufacturers default code. Neighbors saw nothing unusual, nor heard anything like dogs barking or someone breaking a door or window. There were no fingerprints in the house other than Selena's, her parents's, Marie's, and J.P. Goldman's, and none on the safe at all; it appeared to have been wiped down."

I sent a 'text' to Tanya's screen, and after reading it she said "See if you can get video footage going back a week, and see if there's anyone casing her place, unusual cars in the area, all that." Teddy Parker made a note as he nodded. as did Lt. Milton.

"Okay, what else?" Tanya asked.

Terence Johnson said "We talked to people on Campus yesterday as well as the day before, including Dr. Steele's students, Dr. Stoddard's students, and other people that have classes in that building at that time."

Tanya Perlman asked "And you and Agent Johnson conducted these interviews together?"

"Most of them." said Johnson. "But I wasn't there for Dr. Stoddard's assistant's and student's interviews, nor some others that Detective Stone will tell you about."

"Cool beans." said Tanya. "Go ahead."

Johnson: "First of all, no one heard a shot. No one at all. There's an acoustics lab on the ground floor just across the hall, and no one heard anything nor registered anything on the equipment there. Dr. Stoddard's office is on the other end of the hall from Dr. Steele's, so I'm not surprised his assistant heard nothing. Dr. Steele's assistant resigned about two weeks ago to take another job, and she had not been replaced."

Johnson: "Dr. Steele's students said they liked her, and the entire group was friendly with each other and with her. They said they liked Dr. Stoddard well enough, though most said they didn't know him all that well. They all said they were in the room for the full fifty minutes of the class, from 3:30pm to 4:20pm, and went about ten more minutes before they packed up to go. No one went to the restroom, nor left the room during that period of time. And I believe Detective Stone has some information from the Campus Police interviews of Dr. Stoddard's people."

Tracy Stone didn't seem pleased be called upon, but she began her report:: "I interviewed Dr. Stoddard's assistant, who said that Dr. Stoddard was well-liked by his colleagues, staff, and students. When I asked specifically about Dr. Steele, the assistant said that she very rarely came to his office at all, that he would go to hers or talk in one of the classrooms, and that as far as she could tell, their relationship was cordial and professional, though not particularly friendly."

Stone: "His two students were at the Observatory when I caught up to them, and they said Dr. Steele was nice to them, and she and Dr. Stoddard were cordial and professional when they saw them together. But they also said that they, Dr. Stoddard's students, frequently argued with Dr. Steele's students over telescope time, both at what times they could use it, and for how long. Part of the problem was that both professors were studying similar things, so their students were, also, and that created conflict."

Stone: "Last night we (Detectives) talked about Robert Stoddard's students, and I've found this out: the two he has are scheduled to graduate with their Ph.D.s this Spring. His death shouldn't set them back, as other professors can help them finish out. I asked his assistant why he didn't have more students, and she said he'd had more, but two others had transferred to Dr. Steele's tutelage, while two others had transferred to other Schools, one to State Tech, and the other to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and he wasn't going to take on any more until Fall semester."

Stone: "I also interviewed two other students. One was named Dana Stirewalt, and she was taking a basic Astronomy course, so she frequently was in the building. She introduced Rob Lawton as her 'friend', and said he walked with her to many classes, even though he was not taking any Astronomy courses himself."

Stone: "Ms. Stirewalt said that she'd heard Dr. Steele and Dr. Stoddard arguing in Dr. Steele's office on several occasions, often loudly and venomously, and they were having a particularly heated 'spat'... that's the word she used... about 2:00pm of the day of the murder. Mr. Lawton confirmed that he'd also heard the arguments a couple of times, when he was with Ms. Stirewalt."

"Did she say what the arguments were about?" asked Captain Perlman.

"She didn't stay too long to listen, she said," said Stone, "but it sounded like it was about their theoretical ideas and their papers. She said she heard Dr. Stoddard say that Dr. Steele was plagiarizing from one of his papers."

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

As they talked, I brought up photos of Dana Stirewalt and Rob Lawton. He was brown haired, broad-shouldered, and wore black thick-rimmed glasses like that guy on 'Mythbusters', but he didn't look particularly nerdy in them. Dana Stirewalt was 'not attractive', and I had a 'vibe' about her.

I sent Eddy the Bounty Hunter a text with their photos, and asked if they were familiar to him. He replied "She's the one that was taking your name in vain." I couldn't help but laugh, remembering how Eddy had 'taken one for the team' in that case. (Author's note: 'Believer', Ch. 01.) And from the looks of her photo, he had indeed taken one for the team.

As D.A. Walters gave me a funny look for having laughed out loud, I hit a button that connected me to Classroom 'E'. When everyone saw my face pop up on the monitor matrix of screens, the TCPD Officers said in unison "Hi Commander Troy!"

"Hi guys." I said. "I heard the name Dana Stirewalt, and I need to ask a couple of things: Detective Stone, did you get her interview and Mr. Lawton's on videotape?"

"No sir." Tracy Stone said.

"And how did you come across those two?" I asked.

"They came to Campus Police Headquarters." said Stone. "They said they'd heard about the murder, and wanted to tell us what they'd heard earlier. I interviewed them at the Duty Desk in front of Cadet Officer Channing, who initialed their affidavits as a witness."

"Excellent." I said. "But if possible, see if you can get them back to Campus Headquarters or to here at TCPD Headquarters, and re-interview them on videocamera. And my second question is more of an instruction: Lt. Milton, get Intel to check Ms. Stirewalt and Mr. Lawton out, particularly to see if they have had associations with Dr. Lionel Carmela."

I could see through the videocamera that Tracy Stone had reacted to that with something of a 'double take'. "Sir," she said, "what does Dr. Carmela have to do with this?"

"Well," I said, "he was arrested at the scene, trying to make a scene, pun not intended. You were there; you saw it. And I have come across Ms. Stirewalt's name before, through a Confidential Informant. So check her out, Ms. Milton."

"Wilco, sir." said Mary with alacrity.

As I closed the video connection and just watched, Captain Perlman said "I want to ask ADA Fineman what she thinks of this. If this went to trial, I'd think the case would be blown out of the water. What say you, Ms. Fineman?"

"The case is circumstantial, but it's strong." said Savannah Fineman. "The gun was found with the ID in the same purse, the purse was found on Dr. Steele's desk, no other purse was found, the gun used to kill Dr. Stoddard was the one in the purse, and that gun was registered to Dr. Steele's daughter Selena."

"And Carole Troy's observations mean nothing to you?" Julia Rodriguez asked.

"I've seen a ton of adults as well as children make mistakes about the color of purses or clothing." said Savannah, "so I can't just accept what she said at face value. And again, we have the gun, we have the name of its owner, and so on and so forth. We still need to develop the information we have, but it's a strong case against Dr. Steele."

"I'd say all we have to do is find a motive," said Tracy Stone, "and this case is in the bag."

At that point I sent Tanya a note, saying: "Shut it down. We'll talk later." My Angel hastened to execute my instruction.

Part 9 - Sparks and Flashes

After Walters, Fineman, Stone, and Johnson had left, I went into Intel. Going from the lighted hallway to the darkened room with the monitors and das blinkenlights was faintly shocking, as always.

"Commander on deck!" said Lt. Jerome Davis when I came in.

"Carry on." I replied. I went up to Mary Milton at one of the stations. "Mary," I said, "I want you and your team here to very quietly do two things, and don't share the information with anyone outside the TCPD. I want you to investigate Dana Stirewalt, but I also want you to dig deep into Lionel Carmela... really deep, if you get my drift." Mary nodded.