Knights of the Round Ch. 02

The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 5 - Things To Give Thanks For

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely redheaded MILF from in front of the Courthouse at 7:00am, Wednesday, November 23d. "Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and it is expected to be a heavy traffic day as people get on the road to visit their families!"

Bettina talked about traffic and the holiday, then began with the real news: "Police have no new leads on the murder in the Tenderloin District that claimed the life of one of legendary rapper T-Square's bodyguards. The man has been identified only as 'Holden', and Police say there is no evidence of drugs being involved in the shootout that happened Sunday night. However, sources tell Channel Two News that the crime is racially related, and that Holden was targeted because he was a black man."

"What the heck?" asked Joanne Warner as she listened with me and Cindy in MCD.

"Bettina went on: "And in other news, Regional State DOJ Director Harold Bennett says that an audit of the Town & County Police Force shows that they used proper procedures at the Holden Crime Scene, and that their officers were very well trained and meticulous in every aspect of handling a crime scene properly. Chief Sean Moynahan said that Precinct Two's Sergeant Carswell did an excellent job at that scene, as he does at every scene. Chief Moynahan also said that the training provided by Chief Emeritus Griswold and Commander Donald Troy has been of the highest caliber."

"No mention of Tasheeka Jones." Cindy said with some asperity.

Bettina then said "And Channel Two News has learned that Appellate Judge Leahy has let stand the ruling by Judge Folsom that denies Thomas P. Cook's lawsuit to have Loran T. Michaels immediately seated on the Council. Mr. Michaels can sit in on all Council meetings and discussions, but cannot vote until his formal term begins in January."

"And in State news," Bettina said, "Governor Val Jared has announced that SBI Reserve Director Tom Conlan will take over as Director of the SBI. With the formal resignation of former SBI Director Jack Lewis having been submitted, Governor Jared has moved swiftly to reshuffle the top leadership of the SBI.

"Of note is that Director Conlan's first official act as SBI Director was to ask the SBI's Office of Ethics and Review to prioritize the investigation of Richard 'Dick' Ferrell and his assault upon paraplegic SBI Lieutenant Tanya Perlman. Mr. Conlan says that he will 'vigorously' pursue charges against Richard Ferrell, and will be asking for an indictment of Mr. Ferrell by Christmas."

"We can only hope." said Cindy.

"I'm wondering how Robert Gaston is handling that news." I said, knowing a few things the others didn't.

Bettina then said: "And now let's go to Sports with Nick Eastwood. Nick!"

"Thank you, Bettina!" said Nick Eastwood. "There are several games across the nation of great importance, not the least of which is the renewal of the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as the undefeated Crimson Tide takes on their hated arch-rival, the Tigers of Auburn. The Alabama-Auburn rivalry may be the most heated in the nation, as it drags an entire State into its clutches. But hold on! say Ohio State and Michigan fans! Their feud encompasses two states, and they are eager to remind everyone that a shooting war over Toledo was fought at the border of these States in the early days of America's history. The football games for all these rivals will be just an intense as that border war, though hopefully without the gunfire."

Nick went on: "And we have plenty of action in our own Conference, as the third-ranked and once-beaten Wildcats take on the Purple Hawks of State U., who boast a strong 9-2 record and No. 15 national ranking. Meanwhile, our No. 4 Bulldogs will take on State Tech here at University Memorial Stadium."

"Nick!" shouted Bettina, "the last time this game was played at this site, you left the field nearly paralyzed. Do you think the Bulldogs remember that?" I noted that Bettina was trying to start trouble.

"I know that I sure remember it." said Nick Eastwood. "However, Bettina, the Conference will be watching this game carefully after the fights of the last two seasons between these teams. State Tech is already being considered for sanctions for their dirty play this year, as well... and they've vowed they will not accept any penalties from the Conference. So while State Law requires the University and State Tech to play a varsity football game every season, this may be the last time this is a Conference football game..."

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

"What the hell is that race-baiting shit about?" Cindy asked me as we watched the news. "There is nothing to suggest anything racially motivated, even if Holden is black. I know we have to have the First Amendment, but sometimes I'd like to force the Press to reveal its sources on inflammatory shit like that."

"I agree." I said. "That was pretty uncalled-for by the Press, and I might just have to embarrass Bettina with a public statement. But we'll see what Priya says at eight o'clock."

"Sir," said Joanne, "what did you think of Mr. Bennett's comments?"

"You still go hunting with him?" I asked.

"Melina Allgood and I went hunting with him in October." said Joanne. "Up around Lake Amengi-Nunagen. Melina got us special hunting permits."

"I see." I said. "Well, I suspect that the situation with SDOJ Agent Jones got a little too warm for him. Maybe even the Governor had a word with him."

"Is that what really happened?" Cindy asked me quietly.

"For the most part." I said. "Chief Moynahan made some phone calls, and I called Tom Conlan. Once it got back to the Governor, Bennett suddenly called Jones on the carpet. She couldn't say under oath that we were doing anything wrong at our crime scenes, so he wrapped things up------ ah, good morning, Captain Croyle."

Teresa was headed straight for the coffee pot, and she looked bleary-eyed. "I couldn't get to sleep last night." she said as I peered at her. "I just couldn't get comfortable. Abdominal pains... must've been something I ate."

"Is it that time of month?" Cindy asked quietly, though I heard it. Teresa shook her head 'no'.

"Captain Croyle," I said loudly, "I need you to put out an email to all Uniformed Officers, and you might as well send it to everyone else on my behalf, that the audit of our crime scene procedures came up with zero faults. To have no faults at all is damn near impossible to do, but the best Police Force in the world, that being ours, just did it. Let everyone know how proud I am of them."

"And add the Chief's appreciation, as well." said Chief Moynahan, who had just come in.

"Yes sir." said Teresa. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go do that now." She left the room.

"What's bothering you?" I asked Cindy, who'd been peering at Teresa.

"This is not the first day Teresa has complained of abdominal pains." Cindy said. "And for her to even mention it, when she normally won't say a word about being in pain, is bothering me, as well."

"Well," I said, "keep an eye on her. I will have no problem making her go to the doctor."

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

"This is Priya Ajmani, Five-Alive News in the Morning!" said the beautiful Indian reporterette as Cindy and I watched in my office... and Cindy watched attentively.

"Five-Alive News is following the murder of one of legendary rapper T-Square's bodyguard last Sunday." Priya said. "While Police have no leads and seem overmatched in this case, sources tell Five-Alive News that the murder may be a racially motivated killing of a black man..."

"She went there." said Cindy.

"Yes, but that wasn't the important thing." I said.

"What was?" Cindy asked, not desiring to play the Game at the moment.

"Just like Bettina did, Priya said 'sources'. Not 'experts' or any b.s. like that, but 'sources'. The Media has to be somewhat careful and scripted in their own speech on air, so if they're saying they have 'sources'... then it's likely someone is feeding them something."

"Hmm," said Cindy, "so someone is trying to gin up a racial issue out of this killing. Think it's the Media themselves?"

"They are having no problem colluding on it." I said.

"Think it really was a racially motivated killing, and someone associated with the killers is using the Media to gin up the story?" Cindy asked.

"Now that's Iron Crowbar thinking there." I said. "It could also be someone sees this killing and says 'we can use this to our advantage'. So they opportunistically gin up the racial story.

"Who would want to do that, that we know of, anyway?" asked Cindy.

"That," I said, "is the $64,000 question..." Cindy peered over at me but I was already going into a reverie...

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

"Come on in, Robert." said Governor Val Jared. Robert Gaston, Deputy Director of the SBI for the time being, came into the Governor's side office. A lunch for two had been set on the table. "Let's have some lunch." the Governor invited Gaston after they shook hands.

After the appropriate amount of small talk, the Governor said "What I asked you to come down for, Robert, is to discuss the situation with the SBI, as well as some other things."

"I heard you were putting Tom Conlan in the SBI Director slot." said Gaston.

"Yes, the Media found out about that one before I had a chance to talk to you." said Governor Jared. "Yes, I'm putting Conlan in that position. I know that position is what you were hoping for, Robert, but I have another position I want to talk to you about. It's one of the Regional Director slots in the State Department of Justice."

"Which one, sir?" asked Gaston.

"Well, you'll just about have your pick." said Jared. "The Northwest Region is taken by Harold Bennett, and he has done a very good job up there; he's really shown us that the regional system can work very well. The open positions are the Southwest Region, which covers Southport and Jacksonville; the East Region, which covers Jamestown and goes up towards Westphalia and Eastphalia; the Southern Region, which goes from Midtown and covers the farmlands south and southeast of there. The Northeast Region, which is mainly the City, is going to be filled by someone from the City, someone who knows what is going on up there."

"Some interesting choices." said Gaston. "Do you have any preference, Governor? For me?"

"No, not really." said Jared. "The Southwest region will probably be the most exciting, what with Southport and all the Organized Crime down there. Midtown and the south will probably bore that Regional Director to tears. The East Region is like the Northwest: fairly quiet, with the Women's Prison in Madison County part of it, State Tech part of it, and some rural areas to the east."

"I'll have to give it some consideration, Governor." said Gaston, already knowing where he wanted to go."

"Good." said Jared. "I hope you'll come on board with our team. You probably don't want to stay in the SBI. It's going to get ripped apart to the foundations. By the way, if it were solely up to you, how would you go about fixing that problem?"

"Well, Governor," said Gaston, "as you know, I've spent my whole career in the SBI. I know there were some corrosive elements, but the overall organization wasn't bad at all. If I'd been named SBI Director, I was going to weed out the crap, put good people in the right positions, and streamline it to be more responsive, especially in the War on Drugs."

The Governor nodded. "You'll have a bigger role than you realize in that War on Drugs. The State DOJ is going to be taking a prosecutorial lead in getting drug pushers off our streets, and the Regional System will be an integral part of that."

"If I may ask, Governor," said Gaston, "is the SBI Reserve going to continue on?"

"Oh, they'll be the backbone of the new SBI structure." said the Governor. "I believe that system has worked extremely well. What do you think?"

"Er, it's had its merits." said Gaston, being careful with his words. "As you probably know, Governor, even with the Reserve Program, we need a strong core of dedicated SBI Agents. The Reservists often don't use the program properly, or their superiors in the local departments don't let them work with us as much as would be needed. I know there's those two exceptions from the northwest, but Troy and Ross are exceptions."

"And they're exception-al." said the Governor. "We'll be working those kinks out, and as a Regional Director, you'll have plenty of say-so and power to coordinate the SBI working with the locals. So... which sector do you think will be the most challenging?"

The time had come, so Gaston made his choice. "Southwest, Governor. I think you need me to help clean up Southport."

"No small task, that will be." said the Governor in his best Jedi Master Yoda grammar. "Okay, then, you get the Southwest. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Governor."

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

4:40pm, Wednesday, November 23d. Everyone not on 2nd shift had been released at 4:00pm, including Personnel & Records, and the Detectives. As I went by MCD, I noticed Jerome Davis looking at the whiteboards. I went in.

"Anything jumping out of there at you?" I asked as I came up to him.

"No sir." said Davis. "I was just trying to get it all in my head. You guys have so much stuff coming at you, how do you put it all together?"

"Whiteboards." I answered, realizing Jerome would not get the joke. "And by the way, you've done pretty well so far, yourself. Captain Ross and I are impressed with what we are seeing."

"Thank you, sir." said Jerome. After a moment of peering at the whiteboards again, he said "Sir, where do you see any racial component in any of this? Besides the fact the victim is black?"

"I don't." I said. "At least not based on what we know so far."

"You think T-Square would have one of his own guys killed for racial reasons?" asked Jerome. "I heard guys talking about that. Hey, I've seen racism, but I don't get why the Media would be talking that stuff."

"I dunno." I said. "I personally don't see where T-Square financially benefits from racial strife in this area. And it's been my experience that those ginning up racial divisions have a financial reason to do so. Like in many, many crimes we investigate, it often comes down to 'follow the money'. The Media? Those bastards have every financial reason to gin up race wars, as do white supremacists on one side and militant blacks on the other."

"Damn." said Jerome.

"However," I said, standing up from where I'd been sitting, "I don't have time for the white and black of it; I only care about the blue... Police blue. That's my job." Jerome nodded.

"Tell ya what." I went on. "Head on home, and have a good Thanksgiving. And we'll get back to it on Friday."

"Yes sir. Have a good Thanksgiving, sir." Jerome said. But he did not move from that spot, nor stop looking at the whiteboards.

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

Thursday, November 24th. Thanksgiving Day. We were at The Cabin. Present for the festivities were: myself, Laura, Carole, Jim, Molly, Ross, Ian, Todd, Teresa, little Doug, my mother Phyllis, Chief Griswold and his wife, Tanya, little Pete, Jack Muscone, and Chief Moynahan.

Cindy was not here. She was having lunch at 'The Vision' with her father Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart and his acolytes that lived there. Thanksgiving Day was a very big day there, and I could understand Cindy wanting to spend that time with her father. I also suspected she wanted to talk with him in a father-daughter kind of way.

I'd invited Joanne and Seth, but they said they had other plans. Those plans were to spend the day with Daniel and Melina Allgood, with Melina and Joanne talking about hunting. Barry Oliver also attended that function with his date, Lainie Everett, one of my Data Guyz.

Here at The Cabin, the women were bustling around the kitchen, chattering like parakeets, while us guys sat and watched pro football, and generally babysat the kids. Not that I had not done anything: Todd and I had deep fried the turkeys earlier that morning.

I had Bowser in my lap and was petting him, while Todd was heaping some love on a receptive Buddy. Carole was too busy marshaling her young troops to notice. Somewhat to my surprise, Bowser sniffed Chief Moynahan's hand then let Moynahan pet him.

"Nothing like a home with good dogs in them." said Moynahan as he skritched Bowser under the chin."

"Especially this home." said Laura, who had come up behind me. "Don loves that dog more than he loves me."

"Not true!" I said jovially. "But Carole will have to make her own statement."

"Bowser is a good dog!" Carole yelled, a bit too loudly.

"You guys need to get washed up." Laura said. "We're about ready to eat."

As we got up, I went over and hugged Laura. "I don't love Bowser more than you, sweetheart." I said. "But he does have a Commendation Medal."

"Get your hands washed, you!" Laura said, slapping me on the butt to get me moving.

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

After lunch, we were sitting around watching the Dallas Cowboys football game against the Atlanta Falcons. It wasn't a very good game, as the Falcons couldn't hold their early lead to save their lives, and were now being soundly crushed by the Cowboys. We were talking in groups about different things, and I was talking with Teresa and Chief Griswold.

"Have either of you heard anything about Jenna Stiles, and what she's going to do?" asked Chief Griswold.

"Krasney offered her her old job back, but she declined." I said. "I get the feeling she's going to find a job in Midtown, either as a a lawyer or as a lobbyist for rape victims and other women's issues."

Griswold said "I was wondering if she would get back together with Cindy, and stay here." I could see he was phishing for information.

Teresa took the bait. She said "From what Cindy has said to me, she's tried to contact Jenna, but Jenna's avoided Cindy except for saying hello at public gatherings, and such stuff. I don't think Cindy is going to figure into Jenna's future plans."

"I haven't talked to Cindy about that." I said. "But I suspect their relationship is over. Of course, I've been wrong about things like that in the past. I never question the course of true love, and I am no good at figuring out things concerning love. I've been lucky in that area, and I don't question any of it."

"Well," Griswold said, "I happen to know a certain Governor who is looking for good State Attorneys. Think Jenna might be interested in that?"

"Can't hurt to ask, sir." I said.

And speaking of football, someone who shall remain nameless, but his initials are (T)odd (B)urke, decided to organize a 'dogpile the Iron Crowbar'. So I had Jim, Doug, Ross, Pete, and Ian all jumping on me (or being placed on me) in one gang-tackle as I lay on the floor. Bowser barked loudly at them, and I was not sure if he was trying to verbally protect me, or if he was egging the kids on.

Carole was struggling to get in on it, and was miffed when she couldn't. Teresa held her and said that Daughters of Paratroopers like them stayed out of such frays, and Carole seemed to accept that. Laura and Molly and my mom were taking pictures of this gang assault of a police officer, but as evidence for future years...