Jupiter Rising Ch. 03

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When we got to the anteroom of our offices, I saw Campus Police Detective Tracy Stone sitting there. "Let's go into my office." I said, knowing that I wanted the lumbar support in my comfortable Command Chair for this.

Cindy and Tracy came in, and Cindy said "My friend needs your help." I nodded and had Tracy sit in the hot chair nearest the door, and Cindy in the other one.

"So," I said to Tracy Stone, "you're in some kind of trouble, thanks to Dr. Lionel Carmela. How can I help you get out of it, and maybe take that bastard down hard?"

"How'd you know?" said Stone, looking wide-eyed.

"Not much gets past him." said Cindy.

"In your case, Detective Stone," I said, "it's been obvious that you've been sticking like glue to the theory that Dr. Stephanie Steele is behind the murder of Dr. Robert Stoddard, even though it's obvious that the case holds no water. Add to it a few small details of your career in college that are readily and publicly available, and it's easy to see that something's going on."

"And what could that something be?" I asked aloud. "Well, you were a Poly Sci major, and Poly Sci professor Carmela actually came to the crime scene, where you confronted him when he went after Carole. I do appreciate you taking up for my daughter, and I didn't fail to notice some hostility between you and Carmela at that moment."

"You're right." said Tracy. "I hate that bastard. Here's the full story. As you know, I have certain political views, for which I do not apologize. When I was in School, I had ideas of working in politics on women's issues. I worked with Malinda Adams, and I've always respected women like Jenna Stiles and Commander Ross, here. But I'm not one of those militant feminist types. I don't participate in those illegal demonstrations, or get violent like some of them do. I was thinking in terms of being a lawyer, or maybe running for office one day."

"Laudable." I replied. "What happened? Carmela try to push you into more violent activism?"

"That, and more." said Stone. "In the Fall of my Junior year, he called me into his office. He said he wanted me to participate in demonstrations that were going on in Midtown. I told him that that wasn't my speed nor style, that I preferred quieter means of activism, like working on Malinda Adams's campaigns."

Stone: "Carmela pulled out a document bound in a file folder from his desk. He said that if I didn't start doing more, a lot more, for his causes, then the document he was holding, which he said proved I plagiarized someone else's work, would be presented to the University Ethics Board, and I'd be expelled from School."

"But you didn't plagiarize anything, did you?"

"No, I'm not Joe Biden." said Tracy Stone. "Hell, I didn't even write that paper! And the signature was a clear forgery."

"Oh, a forged signature." I said acidly. "Commander Ross, we've come across some forged signatures lately, have we not?"

"Have we ever!" Cindy replied. She turned to Tracy and said "You may have heard how those rogue Agents of the FBI forged Commander Troy's signature in the recent Betty Morelli case." Stone nodded.


"And whether or not you believe Governor Jared or his accusers," I said, "the signature on a document they said was his proved not to be. And I can see Carmela's influence on both cases. So what did you do when Carmela tried to blackmail you?"

"I just left the office." said Stone "I didn't know what to do. Later that night, I visited Dr. Grogan, my advisor. He told me this wasn't the first time he'd heard of those tactics by Carmela, but he also told me he couldn't help me very much. He did get me a new advisor, from the Criminal Justice School."

"What did Carmela do?" Cindy asked.

Stone: "A week later he called me, and told me where the buses would be to take us to Midtown, and what time. I told him I wasn't going, and for him not to contact me again. The next morning I went and swore out a restraining order against him. He retaliated by submitting a complaint to the Ethics Board about me. But I never got called before the Board. The complaint somehow got lost."

Stone: "I was going to switch majors, but Dr. Grogan and my new advisor both told me to just work towards my current degree, and take the Criminal Justice courses to get a minor and finish out my degree. So I did, and I thought I was free of Carmela."

Stone: "But I wasn't. My application to Law School was denied, and applications to other Law Schools were also denied. I found out that Carmela was contacting them and telling them I'd plagiarized a paper, but it was too late to do anything about it by the time I heard about it. I also couldn't find any jobs with any Police Forces; Carmela was telling them that I'd been busted for using weed, and he'd gotten the charges buried but I was still dirty."

Stone: "I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I didn't have any money to sue Carmela. And then the City University Police hired me. Carmela had tried to stop it, but the Campus Police Chief over there had had issues with Carmela in the past, and hired me to spite Carmela."

Cindy said "How'd you end up with this Campus Police?"

Tracy Stone said "The former Commissioner here, Dexter Robinson, brought me in. His daughter worked for the City Police----"

"Still does." I said.

"So I was brought in, then Commissioner Robinson retired." said Stone. "Still, things were good. While you Iron Crowbars were solving huge crimes, I was investigating car thefts, assaults on Campus, and minor drug offenses. Still, it was good... until a couple of weeks ago."

Stone: "I was getting out of my car to go into Campus Police Headquarters, when suddenly Carmela was just standing there in front of me, with that folder in his hands. He told me that he was going to have me brought up on State ethics charges, and fired. He also said that drugs would be found in my car and home, and there was nothing I could do to stop him."

"I told him he was violating the restraining order, and his face turned red and very ugly." Tracy continued. "He said I was going to do one thing for him. If I did it, he'd hand me the original document and leave me alone, but if I didn't do it, I'd go to prison for drug distribution."

"And that one thing was to investigate the Stoddard case in a way to implicate Dr. Steele." I said.

Tracy said "He was vague about it; he didn't say anything direct. He just said I'd be contacted and would know when the time came. And when the Stoddard murder happened, I got a text from a burner phone, that said 'Stephanie Steele did it. Make sure it sticks.'."

"You still have that text message?" I asked.


"Yes sir." said Tracy. "But I've already checked it out. Burner phone, bought at Wal-Mart, used one time, can't be turned on now."

"So why did you come to us now?" I asked.

"This morning," said Stone, "Commissioner Briscoe was going to take me off the case, and you intervened and said to keep me on it. What you may not know is that after you guys left, Briscoe told me that he'd intended to not only take me off the case, but to fire me on the spot. So I was between a rock and a hard place again. I called Jenna Stiles, and she said to contact Commander Ross. And Commander Ross said you'd know what to do, and you'd be fair to me."

"Well, Commander Ross, I appreciate your faith in me." I said. "As to knowing what to do, that's a bit murky at the moment. One thing you and Detective Stone need to do is talk to Chief Moynahan, have him talk to Commissioner Briscoe, then begin working on the case with the idea of really solving it and finding the real killer."

"And what will you be doing?" asked Cindy. "I'm asking for a friend, of course."

"I may not be available for the next couple of days." I said. "So Captain Perlman and her people, SBI Agent Johnson, and you, Detective Stone, will have to carry the water on this for a couple of days. And I suspect you will be able to do that..."

Part 17 - Dad Jokes

Family dinner at the Mountain Nest. Marie was staying with Carole, as Laura and I didn't want someone appearing at Stephanie or Selena's homes making arrests on a dirty illegal warrant given out by Judge Harry Nance, and Marie seeing it. Edward, Stephanie, and Selena joined us for dinner, as did Molly Evans.

"Okay, it's 'dad jokes' night." I said after dinner, to lighten the mood. "The winner gets the coveted 'Dad Jokes Blue Ribbon'." I held up a blue ribbon that I'd bought at the store for the occasion.

"I'll go first!" said Ian. "Want to hear a cat joke?... Just kitten!" The other kids booed and howled, which was part of the fun. I just mock groaned... okay, it was a real groan.

"I'll go." said Carole. "Did you hear about the kidnapping at school?"

"No, what happened?" I replied with mock surprise.

"The teacher woke him up." Carole replied. Groans and boos abounded.

"I'll go!" said Marie. "What's the least spoken language in the world?"

"I don't know." I said. "What's the least spoken language in the world?"

"Sign language!" said Marie. The kids booed. I half nodded; that one had been okay.

"Okay, Jim." I said.

"Ross and I are going to do this one together." Jim said. Ross nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Okay." I said. "Let's hear it."

Jim said "Why do kittens make good deejays?"

I said "I don't know. Why do kittens make good deejays?"

"WEE PAWS for station identification!" Jim and Ross shouted together. The other kids booed.

I groaned, but said "You know, that one's not so bad. Jim and Ross are the winners tonight." Jim and Ross took the blue ribbon and high-fived. The other kids and the adults clapped politely...

Part 18 - Agency of the Weak Minded

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Tuesday, February 11th, from atop the building at Riverside and College, with the State Office Building in the background. "Chaos reigns at the Legislative session in Midtown!"

Bettina began: "After stunning revelations yesterday by Commander Donald Troy, and bitter accusations traded by Legislators of both Parties, the Impeachment trial of deeply unpopular Governor Val Jared is in total turmoil. Political experts that once believed Jared's conviction was a shoo-in, are now divided on the possible outcome after State Senator Jimmy Cerone, a Democrat, openly stated he would vote to acquit Jared if the blackmail threats continued!"

Bettina: "State Representative Tasheeka Harris of Inner Midtown was forced to admit that she did not have the potential blackmail papers known as 'McGinty's Materials'. The SBI had been investigating sworn complaints that she was threatening to expose Republicans that did not vote to convict Jared. The Impeachment trial will get underway again today."

Bettina: "We have with us State Senator Katherine Woodburn of our 1st District. Senator, what can you tell us today?"

A split-screen appeared on the television screen. Katherine Woodburn appeared on the right half of the screen and said "Bettina, we're going to move forward with the trial of Val Jared today, and hopefully we can wrap this up and get the conviction the People of the State deserve by this weekend."

Bettina: "Senator, what about Commander Troy going to Midtown on Saturday and asking Republicans to acquit Jared?"

Woodburn: "I can tell you for certain that it's not true Commander Troy asked them to acquit Jared. You should be careful about saying that, because Troy has filed a lawsuit----" The screen blanked out, then went to color-bars-and-tone.

Bettina: "We seem to have lost our connection with Senator Woodburn. We'll try to get it back. In the meantime, we'll move on to other stories. Police continue to have no leads in the murder of University Physics Professor Dr. Robert Stoddard last week. Early suspicion fell upon his colleague Dr. Stephanie Steele, wife of Republican Council Member Edward R. Steele, but the Campus Police issued a statement last night saying that there is strong evidence supporting Dr. Steele's innocence."

Bettina: "And Police also have no leads on who deliberately rammed reporter Amber Harris's vehicle, and they don't appear to be working very hard on it. Our colleague Amber Harris has been released from University Hospital after suffering minor injuries in the attack, and she will resume working on several hard-hitting stories that you will hear only on KXTC Channel Two News."

Bettina: "And award-winning meteorologist Diane Lawrence says that today's cloudy skies are a prelude to an incoming snowstorm. Residents are advised to stock up on essential items, and to stay at home and not drive on the streets unless absolutely necessary...

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Meanwhile...

The gray skies seemed to drain the color out of the fields on the sides of the road as the armored car drove up the Midtown-Southport Highway from Jacksonville State Prison. Federal Marshals in sleek black Escalades with powerful motors accompanied the paddywagon.

"Not much better out there than it is in prison." said Peter Blassingame as he looked outside.

"We can always take you back." said the Federal Marshal sitting next to Blassingame, a Death Row inmate. (Author's note: 'Unresolved', 'Vox Populi Vox Dei'.) Blassingame said nothing, his mood seeming to fit the gloom of the cloudy skies.

After getting through Midtown's traffic, the convoy headed up the University-Midtown Highway. As they neared the farmlands just north of the abandoned Pine Valley project (Author's note: 'Environmental Hazards'.), Peter noticed a black Bell helicopter in the field to his left. It's rotors began doing rotor things, revving up faster and faster as the convoy approached.

Peter Blassingame was not in the paddywagon; that was a decoy. The last vehicle in the convoy had just passed his, making his the last. The driver braked the car to a smooth stop, then crossed the median into the southbound side and pulled over to the side of the road. The Marshal next to Blassingame unshackled the prisoner.

"There's your ride, bud." the Marshal said, nodding towards the helicopter. "Now get the fuck out of here so we can make our escape, too, before they notice us."

Blassingame did not waste time; he scrambled out of the car and ran to the field where the helicopter was waiting. As he got in and fastened his seat belt, the helicopter took off, rising into the air and turning to go west...

To be continued.