Jupiter Rising Ch. 03

I was not done: "And you still have to explain, and in the face of eyewitness testimony to the contrary, why someone brought in a blue purse, emptied Dr. Steele's black purse contents into it, left the gun with it, and left. You'll also need to explain exactly why someone would steal Selena Steele's weapon, use an ill-fitting aftermarket silencer, and then do the purse business. That makes the simple into something complex. And that creates 'strangenesses' that cause the perp to just beg to be caught."

"I still don't agree with you about the purse." replied Tracy Stone. "I think Dr. Steele brought in a blue purse, not a black one."

"And how are you going to prove otherwise?" said Savannah Fineman. Her voice was almost a snarl.

"I have an eyewitness, regardless of her age." I replied. "But let's continue playing the game: explain to me why a woman with advanced degrees in Physics and Astronomy, who just published a theoretical paper that is being called 'groundbreaking' by the Scientific Community, and which is under consideration for a Nobel Prize... why she would be so stupid that she would put a gun she used to kill a man back in her purse with her ID."

"And despite the theories of the physics," I said, "how do you explain her being in two places at once... in her class, in front of her students and two observant six-year-olds, and in her office shooting Professor Stoddard?"

"You unleashed a tiger, Chief Moynahan." said Commissioner Briscoe said.

"A Wildcat, actually." replied Moynahan adroitly. "And I a-greeeeee with every word he has said. Detective Stone, you may be an excellent Detective, and you may even be partially correct about some things, such as a third party committing the crimmme. But you have something very frightening up against you... not one, but two Iron Crowbarrrrrrs."

"I pity the criminals when Carole becomes a Detective." said Julia Rodriguez. "Oh wait!... she already is one." Tracy Stone was joined by Savannah Fineman in giving Julia 'Teresa Cunt' looks.

"I look forward to the day she earns the red crowbar." I said. "So let me sum this up, just to have a 'teachable moment' and let you know what I'm thinking, and how and why. Based upon the evidence we have, this has to be the chain of events."

Your Iron Crowbar: "First, someone who knew Selena Steele was out of Town broke into her home and stole her gun. Moving to the day of the crime, the likeliest scenario is that someone was hiding in the closet of Dr. Steele's office, and even Carole did not realize he or she was there. When they left for Dr. Steele's class, the perp came out, somehow got Dr. Stoddard to come to Dr. Steele's office, let him in, shot him, did the purse thing, then left."

"Ohhhhhh, wait!" exclaimed Julia Rodriguez. "Dr. Steele and Captain Perlman have a similar 'Farrah Fawcett' style of hair, and a similar color. Someone else could wear a wig in a similar hairstyle, and if she kept her face generally hidden from closeup inspection, she could walk in and out of the building without attracting much notice!"

"Excellent use of your imagination, Detective Rodriguez." I said happily.

"So a woman did this?" asked Tracy Stone skeptically... more than skeptically, but I digress.

"Not necessarily." said Teddy Parker, catching on. "Dr. Steele is not fat, as in rotund, but she's big boned for a woman. So a man could dress up as a woman, wearing a wig with a big mane of brown hair, and slip in and out of the building. And anyone seeing her from a distance would think it's Dr. Steele, and not think anything of it."

"Maybe we should let you guys take over this case." suggested Commissioner Briscoe.

"No sir." I replied. "Despite how it may look, I think Detective Stone is doing a good job with this. I'd like for her to open her mind to other possibilities than Dr. Steele as the culprit, but I think she can get the job done. Prove me right, Detective Stone, prove me right."

Needless to say, only one other person in the room was not surprised... make that 'shocked'... at my words. And that person was Teddy Parker. After all, he'd been part of Operation ISCARIOT, and knew well just how sneaky I could be...

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

As we were leaving, Detective Rodriguez asked if she could ride with me and the Chief in my Police SUV. I assented, and Moynahan said he'd ride with Parker, giving Parker some good face time with the Town & County Chief of Police.

As we drove through Town, Julia said "Sir, I'm trying to learn from you, and that's why I'm asking this. So far, Detective Stone has been a disaster, in my opinion, anyway. So why did you say she's doing a good job, when Commissioner Briscoe was about to take her off the case?"

"Ah yes, some 'teachable moments'." I said. "First, I think I'm a decent judge of people, and Police Officers... I was right to bring you into MCD... and I think Detective Stone is not as bad as she's being made to appear. Second, within the extent of your knowledge of her, you are right about her. But I've learned a few things, and if I'm right... then Tracy Stone herself may be our best if not only hope to find out who did kill Professor Stoddard..."

Part 15 - Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind

12:55pm. I put on my Duty Dress jacket over my uniform, and checked to make sure I looked good. As I came out of my office, Commander Cindy Ross, also in her Duty Dress jacket, came out of her office and walked down the hall with me.

"The Press pool is huge, so we moved it to the front steps outside." Cindy said.

"Good." I said. "Let 'em freeze their asses off for a few minutes. All right, here goes nothing."

We went through the door to the main lobby. Flanked by several heavily armored Officers as our bodyguards, we stepped outside. I stepped up to the podium and the bank of microphones at the edge of the 'porch'. Reporters began shouting questions, but stopped quickly as I took out my prepared remarks.

"Thank you for coming." I said. "I am here to discuss the true facts of my meeting Saturday morning with the State Senate Republican Conference. First, contrary to the dishonest reporting of KXTC and KSB, I did not ask any Legislator to vote to acquit Governor Jared. I did ask them to vote their own consciences, but I did not suggest they vote to convict nor acquit."

"Second," I went on, "the reason I met with them in the first place was to warn them of the credible evidence that had developed, that some Legislators were being blackmailed into voting to convict Governor Jared. I have four sworn affidavits that Representative Tasheeka Harris of Midtown personally contacted the Legislators, and she told them that she had McGinty's Materials, and if they did not vote to convict Jared, she'd give the information on them to the Media."

I went on: "As you know, I personally was instrumental in bringing Bundy McGinty to Justice. I also searched for McGinty's Materials, and I did not find them, and it was not for lack of effort on my part. I personally believe that McGinty's Materials are exactly as real as the Slender Man, and I'll let others make their own evaluations."

Your Iron Crowbar: "What I do know, is that if Tasheeka Harris does have McGinty's Materials, she is obligated to turn those Materials over to the SBI, or the FBI if she prefers. But if she really does have them, she has to turn them in. Therefore, I call upon Tasheeka Harris to either admit she has the Materials, as the four affidavits I have say she admitted to having; OR I call upon her to state for the record that she does not have them."

"If she has them," I said, "we will be obtaining warrants based upon these affidavits, to search her homes, businesses, and offices to find those Materials. If she does not have them, she'd better say so publicly, and quickly."

"Last, but not least," I said, "Bettina Wurtzburg of KXTC and Tim Sioban of KSB owe me an apology at best for their false assertions that I asked the Legislators to vote to acquit Governor Jared. If I do not get those apologies within 24 hours, I will be filing lawsuits for libel, slander, and defamation of character. I'll be taking no questions."

With that, I turned and went back into the Headquarters building, followed by the Green Crowbar...

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

"What did y'all think of that?" I asked as the Command Group and my Angels met in the Chief's Conference Room, with Sheriff Griswold having joined us.

"You were too nice to them." the Sheriff said simply.

"That's what I was thinking." Cindy said. "I'm surprised you didn't just file the libel lawsuit and take names later."

"And you're not going to open a can of whoop-ass on Tasheeka Harris?" asked Tanya Perlman.

"Oh, she'll be hearing from the SBI." I replied. "Britt Maxwell and Norm Chow have copies of those affidavits. But I chose the route I took because it's more important to force her to publicly admit she doesn't have McGinty's Materials than anything else."

"It may be saving her life, too." said Teresa Croyle. "McGinty's Materials are like famous diamonds and rubies: they bring nothing but pain to their owners. Someone might try to kill Tasheeka Harris if they think she has McGinty's Materials."

"Excellent point." I said. "Anyhoo, the seeds are sown. As Hosea 8:7 says: 'He has sown the wind, and he shall reap the whirlwind.', and we'll see what kind of whirlwind I've dusted up..."

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

3:00pm. Reporters gathered in the atrium of the State Capitol building in Midtown for Rep. Tasheeka Harris's (D - Inner Midtown) press conference. As the various networks cut in live, she approached the podium.

"I've called this Press Conference to answer the lies by Commander Donald Troy and the racist white Republicans that are claiming I blackmailed them. I absolutely believe that Val Jared is a racist who should be convicted of the crimes for which he was impeached, and I don't need to resort to blackmail to call upon all State Senators of integrity and conscience to vote to convict him."

"Do you have McGinty's Materials?" asked an Asian man at the corner of the dias.

"You're a racist." replied Tasheeka Harris. To her surprise, the man came on stage with her, and displayed his credentials.

"My name is Lieutenant Norm Chow of the State Bureau of Investigation." Norm Chow said where the microphones could pick up his voice. "First, you can put away the race card; I'm Asian. And second, this is a formal question related to our investigation: do you now or have you ever held what are known as McGinty's Materials?"

Seeing that the game was up, and that she could not use accusations of racism to get out of the trap he'd laid for her, Tasheeka Harris was forced to concede: "No, I do not have McGinty's Materials, nor have I ever had them..."

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

"And there you have it!" said Priya Ajmani into the homes of those tuned to the Fox network of channels. "Representative Tasheeka Harris has just stated to an SBI Agent in front of dozens of reporters that she does not now nor has ever had possession of McGinty's Materials!"

As we watched in my office, Tanya Perlman said "Wow, you did it! You forced her to admit she doesn't have McGinty's Materials."


"Ohhh, I think Norm Chow forced that one." I replied cooly. "And I loved it when he told her to put away the race card. Only he could've done that to her."

"Did KXTC and KSB have it on air?" asked Teresa Croyle. "And more importantly, have they retracted their accusations of you, Don?"

"They carried it." said Cindy Ross, who had just come in and joined us. "No apologies yet, though. If they hold to traditional, established patterns, Burt West and Julie Moon, publishers of KXTC and KSB respectively, will try to issue a private, off-air apology. If you, Don, don't accept that, we'll have to see what they do next."

The answer was not long in coming. Cindy had left, but came in again and turned my monitor to KXTC. We watched the unfolding editorial:

"I'm Burt West, Executive Producer of KXTC." said Burt West, Executive Producer of KXTC.

"And I'm Julie Moon, Executive Producer at KSB." said the middle-aged Asian woman on the screen with West. Once a lovely reporterette, Julie Moon now had way too much makeup on, covering up the obvious, and in my opinion bad plastic surgery work on her face.

West said "KXTC and KSB acted upon information from reliable sources that Commander Donald Troy did ask State Senators to acquit Governor Jared. We believe what our sources told us, and we stand by our reporting on that issue."

Moon: "We also stand behind the integrity of reporters Bettina Wurtzburg and Tim Sioban. Remember that Donald Troy is a man who the Federal and State Governments accused of raping a woman in his custody, and was saved only by deeply unpopular and corrupt Governor Val Jared's pardon in a quid pro quo arrangement in exchange for Troy abusing the Power of Police against women who made credible claims of sexual impropriety against Jared. I'll take Bettina Wurtzburg's and Tim Sioban's integrity over Donald Troy's any day."

West: "As to Donald Troy, he can hold his breath waiting for an apology from us, which will never be forthcoming. And as to his silly threats of a lawsuit, we say 'Bring it on!'. We will not be intimidated by Donald Troy and his little red crowbar, and we will fight his silly lawsuits all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if need be..."

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

I texted Mike G. Todd. "You may file at will." He would have the libel lawsuits filed within the hour.

"The SNN networks carried West and Moon's comments." Captain Damien Thompson said a few minutes later when he came down to my now-busy office. "We're flooded with calls asking for Commander Troy's reply to them."

Everyone grinned at that one, especially when they saw my face. "Ohhh, I can't think of a reply good enough!" I said. "And definitely not one that won't violate FCC regulations." Everyone laughed, and I said "Captain Thompson, let's give Bettina a reason to say Commander Troy has refused to respond to repeated requests for comment."

"Yes sir." said Captain Thompson, who left for his office.

"Wow, Don." said Tanya Perlman. "They really hate your guts."

"Yeah they do." I said. "Especially after what I just did, which they know may have saved the Governor."

"Yet another Swamp Frog ploy failed." said Teresa.

"Ye-es..." I said, my voice drifting as I went into a reverie. When I came out of it, I was alone in my office...

Part 16 - Blackmail Redux

4:00pm, Monday, February 10th. I was asked to go into Classroom E. Present already were Captain Tanya Perlman, Lt. Jerome Davis, and Sr. Detectives Joanne Warner and Theo Washington.

"How's Tony doing?" I asked Joanne as I had them sit down.

"He's awesome, sir." said Joanne happily. "Sleeping, eating, pooping, sleeping, eating pooping right on schedule, like the books say." Jerome and Theo chuckled. They obviously weren't parents yet, and didn't get the underlying humor in Joanne's remark.

"And before you ask, sir," said Joanne, "Leo is doing well, also. He sleeps under Tony's crib, watches over him, just like Bowser did for Carole when she was a baby."

"And still does." I said. "Good. And I hear Seth is settling into his new role as Hospital Administrator very well. I hear that from what I consider to be the most reliable of sources, my wife. Okay, whaddya got for me?"

Joanne said "Sir, we've been looking for the car that hit Amber Harris. We know it was black, and Amber told me the hood looked more like a matte black than the shiny black paint most cars are. So I've been expanding streetcam searches. I also went back several days to see if the car was casing the area."

"Good thinking." I said. "Did you find it?"

"The matte black car? No sir." said Joanne. "It disappeared very quickly after hitting Amber, and we couldn't find it on any street cameras."



Theo added: "We've agreed that whoever was driving that car knew exactly where the cameras were, and was able to avoid them."

"Hard to do, but possible." I replied. "So, you're going to tell me you found it somewhere?"

"Not that car, sir." said Joanne. "But in checking, I looked at cameras around Selena Steele's neighborhood on Tuesday night, and this regular black car came up." She brought a video up, showing a black car going into Selena's neighborhood, then an hour later coming out.

Joanne said "We got a partial plate on it, so Captain Perlman asked her secret source within the FBI, actually his next-in-command, to use the Federal Government's program 'Kaleidoscope', which can find vehicles just about anywhere if they were on street cameras or security cameras. They came up with another hit."

She put the video up, and a black car could be seen driving into and then out of a parking lot... on the University campus... on the day Dr. Robert Stoddard was murdered!

Tanya said "The parking lot by the Physics Building is uncovered and open, but our suspect here parked in another lot just south, which is covered up from the sky and cameras by oak trees that are a century and a half old."

I said "And someone with good knowledge of the area would know he or she could park in that shaded lot, walk to the Physics Building pretty easily, and do untold mischief."

"And it keeps getting better, sir." said Joanne. "These perps are a little too good for their own good. They cased both Selena's neighborhood and that area of campus on Monday night. And we got a really good car tag as they left Campus on Monday night." She brought up more video, showing the car moving towards University Avenue. Other video showed the vehicle going south and on into Coltrane County.

"Outstanding!" I said. "And the plate belongs to?"

"One 'Tim Brock', who lives in the City." said Joanne. "That car tag was reported stolen six months ago. Mr. Brock is in his 50s, married, two grown children, and an employee at the Railyards. About six months ago they had a rash of car tag thefts. We think someone stole the tags and sat on them for rainy days, and whatever they're doing in our County this week is one of those rainy days."

"Could well be." I said. "This 'Kaleidoscope' program might search for recently stolen car tags, but not so quickly search for older ones. Hmmm, sehr interresant. Can you pull up the Police report? Was the car tag stolen at the Railyards?"

Joanne pulled up the report. "No, per the report, he said he noticed the car tag was stolen off his car in his driveway. His address is '11 Hudson Street'."

"Wow." I said. "That address is not far from where the Farrises lived in the 'Shipping And Handling' case. Coincidence? You make the call."

"Coincidences are like Leg Rangers." muttered Lt. Davis. "Figments of our imaginations. But where this gets us, I'm not sure."

"Gets us a long, long way towards the end." I said. "And here's why: whoever killed Dr. Stoddard at the Physics Building had already stolen a gun from Selena Steele's home. He or she, I'll say 'he' just for the sake of brevity, cased the home as well as the Physics Building and surrounding parking lots, and knew where to park. Very good, very careful, there."

I went on, almost ranting to myself: "Stolen car tags from half a year ago... that's starting to be professional grade. Someone works up a disguise, maybe, goes into the building, lures Stoddard into Stephanie Steele's office, kills him with Selena's gun that was fitted with a silencer... that there is also an indication of 'professional grade'. This is big, people. This is big..."

I would've gone into a reverie, but the door to Classroom 'E' flew open, and Commander Cindy Ross came in. "Commander Troy, can I see you in my office please? It's urgent."

When Cindy says something is 'urgent', I take her at her exact and literal word. I got up as fast as my back would allow me, and hurried out of the room after her...