Jupiter Rising Ch. 02

"And second," I went on, "I want you personally to look into Campus Detective Tracy Stone. Nothing extracurricular, just what you can find in a normal but thorough search."

"Yes sir." said Mary.

"Sir," asked Jerome, "do you think she's involved in some way? And Carmela, too?"

I shook my head and said "Stone? No, but she seems agenda-driven and twisting facts to suit theories. I just want to know the person we're working with, here. As to Carmela... hell yeah, I think that bastard is up to something. His name keeps popping up. What do we believe about coincidences, Mr. Davis?"

"They are figments of our imaginations, sir." said Lt. Davis. "Like Leg Rangers."

"For a Navy guy, Davis," I said, "you're pretty smart." That drew some chuckles through the room...

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

10:30am, Friday, February 7th. Another meeting convened in Classroom 'E'. Present were: Sheriff Griswold, Chief Moynahan, Me, Commander Ross, Lt. Commander Croyle, Captain Perlman, Lt. Davis, Detectives Rodriguez and Parker, and D.A. Miriam Walters.

"The reason for this meeting," I said, "is to get our own ducks in a row on all this without the SBI and Campus Police here. I'm not impugning them... in fact, I'm very impressed with SBI Agent Terence Johnson... but I want to talk with just you guys, and let's not let it get out of the room, okay?" Everyone nodded, even Miriam Walters when I glanced at her.

"Okay," I said, "anyone see any 'strangenesses' in all this?" There were some chuckles at that.

Teddy Parker said "Sir, Dr. Stoddard bled out in Dr. Steele's office, so I'm discounting him being shot elsewhere and moved into her office." Everyone nodded, and Parker continued: "So what I don't understand is why no one heard the shots. Silencers aren't as good as they show on TV; they don't suppress the sound one hundred percent. Someone should've heard something, like a blown up paper bag being popped, or something thrown on the floor. Especially the people in the room next door, Dr. Steele's classroom."

"Maybe the walls are that good." said Lt. Davis.

"Could well be, sir." said Parker. "But it's just strange to me."

"It's definitely a point of interest." I said. "Good observation, Mr. Parker. Anything else?"

Julia Rodriguez said "I'd like to know how Dr. Steele completed the tremendous magic trick of disappearing completely in order to be able to kill anyone, much less Dr. Stoddard, in what must be the timeframe of her 3:30pm class."

Julia continued: "Even if I didn't believe Carole's eyewitness testimony on the purse, which I do, both she and Marie said they were with Dr. Steele in her office from the time they got to the Physics Building after being picked up from School until they went to the classroom with Dr. Steele. No one at all left the classroom during the class, and Carole and Marie said they were with Dr. Steele when they went back to the office. Two girls, no matter their ages, agree on that."

I said "That is another excellent point, and one I think needs to be asked to ADA Fineman and D.A. Walters. That is a huge stretch of time in which Dr. Steele was in the presence of two or more people. Is that not right, Ms. Walters?"

"I agree." said Walters. "And I also need to say that I'm not dismissing your daughter's statement about the purses. But it is something that we need better resolution on. And I agree about Dr. Steele being in the presence of two or more people for the timeframe of the murder. That's pretty strong in Dr. Steele's favor."

"With respect, Ms. Walters," said Julia Rodriguez, "why are you letting ADA Fineman pursue this?"

Walters said "She believes she has a case. And I have to be candidly honest, here: the gun was registered to her daughter, and was found in that purse along with her ID. We do have to pursue these leads. And I've heard no other names brought up with regard to this case. If you want to exonerate Dr. Steele completely, you need to bring me another suspect."

"And also with respect, Ms. Walters," said Captain Perlman, "even if we don't have another suspect yet, there's so much there that will be 'reasonable doubt' in a trial..."

There were murmurs of agreement, and even Chief Moynahan pointed a few things out. Only the Sheriff and I were silent.

Miriam kept glancing at me as she silently listened to everyone's complaints, then she finally said "Commander Troy, why aren't you joining the chorus of everyone trying to tell me how to do my job?"

I gave a slight smile, then said "Oh, I think I prefer to silently allow you to think I'm an Agency of the Weak-Minded, than to speak and remove all doubt." The room instantly went into confused silence.

"With the Sheriff's blessing," I said, "I want you guys to go behind Detective Stone and Agent Johnson. Rodriguez and Parker, you may have a long weekend ahead of you, but I need you to re-interview everyone you didn't originally talk to. Confirm what they've said, but go deeper with follow-up questions that may not have been asked before."

Tanya was almost beside herself as she raised her hand high in the air like a school child. "Sir," she said when I nodded to her, "can I send some Intel people to do this? For 'edumacational' purposes, of course?"

"That is an excellent idea, Captain." I replied. "Tell you what, tell Penny Scott and Sidney Plant to put on plainclothes, and Penny can go with Julia, and Sidney with Teddy. You Detectives are in the lead, and make sure they know that. But maybe they'll learn something from you."

As we got up to go, I said "Oh, one more thing: don't attempt to contact Dana Stirewalt nor Rob Lawton. Leave them to me..."

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

I received a call from FBI ASAC Karina White, asking to have lunch with me at the Cop Bar. I met her there at 11:30am, and we were seated in the back 'Command Room'.

"So," I said as we sat down, "I know what Jack would order, but what's your favorite menu item here?"

"It's all good," Karina said, "and I'm still trying different menu items. I think today I'll try the... chop steak with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy."

After we placed our orders, I said "So what do I owe the pleasure of this lunch?"

Karina replied "Well, I'm in Town, so I thought I'd touch base with you. Jack is in the City today. Keep this under your Tilley hat, but he's meeting with U.S. Senator Nunn and other Federal Agents for what he termed was a 'security exercise'. As a military man yourself, you know what 'wargaming' is. This is something similar; they're wargaming their preparedness for something like an outbreak of violence, riots and stuff."

"Are they expecting anything to happen?" I asked nonchalantly, a little bit too nonchalantly.

"They're allegedly preparing for the eventuality of Governor Jared being convicted and removed from the Office of Governor." Karina said. "But I've been around the block enough times to know that it's more than that."

"I tend to agree with you on that." I said. "In the first place, the vote on Jared's impeachment will probably be next week. If they don't have serious contingency plans all ready to go by now, it's a bit late to be planning for a riot now."

"True." said Karina. "And the impeachment is another reason Jack wanted me to talk to you, not necessarily at lunch, but to let you know. He's gotten word that someone in Midtown is claiming that they have McGinty's Materials, and that someone is going around telling Republican State Senators that if they don't vote to convict Jared, then the Materials on them will be released to the Media."

"Oh. Really." I said emphatically.

"That's the word." said Karina.

I nodded thoughtfully, then changed the subject and said "So how are things going in the City office of the FBI? Are they leaving Jack alone? And are you getting any new people?"

Karina replied "Well, they've left Jack alone so far. They haven't tried to force anyone on him. No OPRs, either. Martin Nash is in Washington, D.C. now, doing OPRs on Federal Agents. He was in Miami, last he heard. As to getting people in the office, we've got Julius Jefferson, Crenshaw, Jenkins, and Melina Allgood... well, sorta... and we've got some potential candidates coming in. Problem is, most of them are either fresh out of Quantico and as green as the PCGW, or they're as old as I am but having made no upward movements in their careers."

Karina: "Jack did talk to Ted Crenshaw about coming to the City and promoting Tim Jenkins in Southport, but Crenshaw balked at that, saying he's really building up a good operation down there, and he likes Southport better than the City, anyway."

"Hmmm," I said, "he's the only one I've ever heard say that. She must be something special to keep him down there."

Karina grinned, then said "Maybe. Jenkins says he likes Southport, too, though if he were offered a chance to come up to your Town & County, he'd take it in a New York minute."

"Oh really? I can't imagine why." I said conspiratorially, not quite able to hide a grin.

"Why Don!" Karina said with mock shock. "Are you telling me that the great Iron Crowbar has failed to notice how his eyes light up whenever he sees Cindy Ross?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." I said. "I've been too busy noticing how her eyes light up whenever she sees him." Karina's own eyes lit up as she laughed heartily...

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

When I got back to my office, I made a phone call. "Hello, Senator Molinari." I said. "I've heard a rumor that I need you to confirm or deny: is someone blackmailing politicians with McGinty Materials threats if they don't vote to impeach the Governor?"

"Not much gets past you, Commander." said Moe Molinari. "I've heard some rumors along those lines."

"Any idea who is making the blackmail threats?" I asked.

"I have absolutely no proof, Commander," said Molinari, "but I've heard that Tasheeka Harris of Midtown is the prime mover on that. And the threats are pretty effective, too; I've got a lot of scared Republican State Senators down here."

"Maybe I can help." I said. "Can you put together some kind of meeting with the Republican Senators? So that I can address all of them?"

"We're meeting tomorrow morning." said Molinari. He gave the particulars, then said: "I won't tell them you're coming until the meeting starts, so that our enemies don't have time to plan anything."

"Thank you, Senator." I said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

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

3:00pm, Friday, February 7th. Lt. Mary Mahoney Milton came to my office. I had her close the door and sit down. She refused my offer of freshly made coffee, which did not stop me from pouring some for myself.

"I dug into Campus Detective Tracy Stone, like you asked." Mary said. "She's 26 years old. Her father was in the Army, so she was a military brat until her mother divorced her father when she was fourteen. They moved to Pottsville, and she attended the University, majoring in Political Science, with a minor in Criminal Justice."

Mary: "She graduated with a 3.25 GPA almost four years ago, then attended the Police Academy that summer. She was in the dead middle of her Class, and by that I mean dead middle: there were 53 cadets in her class, and she was 27th; 26 above her and 26 below."

"Not the end of the world." I said. "Any idea who her Faculty Advisor was in School?"

Mary consulted her notes and said "According to her official University records, Dr. Grogan. Harrison Grogan, of the Political Science Department. But in the middle of her Junior year she switched to Dr. Charles Townsend of the Criminal Justice School. And per her transcripts, she began taking Criminal Justice-related classes, enough to get a Minor while finishing her Major in Poly Sci."

Mary: "I talked to my father-in-law, Dr. Marvin Milton. He said Dr. Grogan is an older man, nearing retirement. My father-in-law also said that the Political Science Department is totally dominated by Dr. Lionel Carmela, and he 'rules'... that's the word my father-in-law used... that Department with an iron fist. He can't fire tenured professors, but he can, and has, made some of their lives miserable if they are not in 'jackbooted lockstep' (air quotes) with Carmela's radically extreme Leftwing views."

Mary: "And students he takes a disliking to have been harassed and he's even tried to have some expelled. Carmela lost two lawsuits over those issues, and President Wellman threatened to use those to revoke Carmela's tenure and fire him, so he's backed off a little bit. But the word is out: if you're not a radical Leftist, avoid Carmela like the plague."

I nodded, and Mary continued: "Tracy Stone's Police Academy record was a mixed bag. She did well in the classroom portions and the physical fitness requirements, but only average in the problem-solving and fast-reaction portions, i.e. the field exercises. She also was negatively noted by one Instructor for her attitude towards the Second Amendment; apparently during one exercise she stated a belief she could confiscate Citizens's weapons pretty much on a whim."

"I've seen that attitude already." I replied. "So what did she do from there?"

"She did not find a Law Enforcement job until January the following year." Mary said. "She was finally hired by the City University Campus Police, then to our University Campus Police last Summer. Her record with City U's Police was good, but nothing exceptional."

"Nothing in that interim period between graduating the Police Academy and being hired by City U.?" I asked.

"I didn't get her tax records, sir." Mary said. "I got what I do have from the State Labor Department. They didn't have any employment records for them in that gap in time. However... I did a twist on the bastard U.S. Civil Rights Division by peeking into their records with regard to Tracy Stone. Several Police Departments in the State interviewed her, but apparently she didn't do interviews very well, because none of them offered her jobs... and in a time when any Cadet who graduates the Academy still breathing has a good chance to find work, and women are sought after to fulfill EEO requirements."

I said "That's true. And for them to have something in the official records shows they felt they needed to cover their fourth points of contact after the interviews."

Mary said "Yes sir. And most of the notes were that they either didn't think she could handle the field work, or they were concerned about certain statements she made. She may have touched the third rail of talking about politics or religion."

I nodded. "Okay, good. So, Detective Milton, you've seen her and you've seen this data. What do you make of it?"

Mary said "I'm not sure, sir. I understand her 'follow the evidence' method in looking into Dr. Steele, but I don't understand her complete dismissal of Carole's observations. And like I said before, I don't understand why she wasn't hired for months after graduating the Police Academy with a decent record."

"As a 'teachable moment'," I said, "I can see a few patterns here, though I don't insist upon them. I noticed that Stone all but changed majors by going to Criminal Justice in her Junior year, though she wisely stuck with Poly Sci to get her degree in four years... a rare accomplishment, these days. But she did make a switch there, and got away from her PolySci advisor." Mary nodded.

I continued: "As to why it took so long for her to get a job, there could be a lot of reasons for that, but it is 'interesting'. Okay, keep up the great work, Mary. And I cannot express enough how happy I am with you and your Intel Division's work. Make sure to tell them I said that."

"I will, sir. Thank you, sir." Mary said. She left the office. I heard Lauren Wilcox, Cindy's assistant, say "He's free." An instant later, Cindy appeared in my doorway. I invited her in, and she closed the door and sat down.

"What are you doing tonight?" the Green Crowbar asked.

"Dinner party." I said. "Edward and Stephanie Steele are coming to the Mountain Nest, and Selena and J.P. Goldman, also. Molly and Paulina are herding the Troy cats, feline and human, at The Cabin. Want to come to the dinner party?"

"Uh, I'll pass." Cindy said. "And that brings up a small point: I know you are friends with the Steeles, you were on the Charter Commission with Mr. Steele, and Carole and Marie might as well be sisters. But is it 'proper' for you to be having these contacts with Stephanie Steele right now?"

"Now more than ever." I replied, in the form of a quotation. "And I'll make no bones about it. I think she's innocent. I can't believe Savannah Fineman could possibly think otherwise, and part of tonight's dinner is to get our ducks in a row on what she should do to defend herself. But I get your point, and I'll be sure to let her know not to make any statements to me that she doesn't want me to have to testify about."

Cindy nodded. "Okay, then. Have a good evening."

Before she could get up to go, I said "Just one second. Since as Deputy Chief you oversee hiring, maybe you can help me with something." I told Cindy what Mary Milton had told me, then said "Is there a reason you can think of that would account for Stone not being hired out of the Police Academy?"

Cindy nodded thoughtfully, then said "I can tell you a couple of thing. First, ask Laura and Stephanie Steele about the reputation of our University's Political Science School with Dr. Lionel Carmela as the Head of the Department. And second... it's not politically correct to say this, especially in these times, but a lot of Police Departments don't want PolySci majors, especially straight out of School. And the University here, with the aforementioned reputation with Dr. Carmela, has that problem. It doesn't come up often, because PolySci students usually go on into Politics or apply to Law School, but I'd bet that's what Tracy Stone's problem was."

I nodded. "Thanks, that's good info to know. So... what are you doing tonight? Country Music Palace?"

"No, I think this is a 'quiet evening at home' night." Cindy said, getting up. "And I've got paperwork to finish before that happens. Have a good evening with your party."

After Cindy left, I made a phone call to Eddy the Bounty Hunter. "Hi Eddy, I need you to check something out for me..."

Part 10 - Dinner and Ducks (In A Row)

The six of us sat at the table in the formal dining room of the Mountain Nest (yes, we have one!). I was at one end and Laura was at the other. Edward Steele was to Laura's right, and Stephanie Steele to my right (yes, that's a formal seating arrangement). Selena Steele was to Edward's right, my left, and J.P. Goldman was to Laura's left and Stephanie's right.

I told Stephanie first thing that because she had invoked, she should make no statements at all about her case, because I was a Police Officer and would be obligated to testify about anything she said, and it might abrogate her Fifth Amendment rights. So her case was a verboten subject at dinner.

"How was the banking conference?" I asked Selena as we ate.

"Good, until I got the call that my home here had been broken into." said Selena.

"Who knew you were out of Town?" I asked, as nonchalantly as I could make my voice be.

"It wasn't a secret, but we didn't advertise it, either." Selena said. "I'm sure people around the office knew, but I would think they're all trustworthy."

I nodded. "I'm sure they are." I said. "So... what great banking secrets can you and Mr. Goldman tell me?"

Selena laughed, then said "The theme of the conference was banking and financial security against cyberattacks and other attacks on our systems. The underlying gossip was that a lot of the top-tier people, the so called 'Big Boys', are expecting something political to happen around the country in this Election year, something that will rattle the Markets and maybe even the banking systems."