Little Red Haired Girl Ch. 05

"Hi, Frieda." said Jack. "Do you know my daughters Tiffany and Jennifer? They go to your school."

"No sir, I don't think so." Frieda said.

"That's okay." I said. "Frieda, these guys want to show you some pictures, and see if you recognize the man you saw with Paco and that woman."

"Okay." Frieda said agreeably. She came over to the sofa in the den, which faced the television set that was tuned in to SNN/KSTD. She sat down between me and Martin Nash as Mrs. Barker brought us iced tea. Joanne was using the videocamera to tape the witness interrogation.

"First," said Nash, "is this the woman you saw at that warehouse?" He showed a CIA photo of Tomoko Shimono.

"Yes sir. That's her." said Frieda.

"And this was the man that chased you on the hill." said Nash. "And you saw him at that warehouse, also?"

"Yes." said Frieda when she saw the photo of Paco.

"Okay, I'm going to show you some photos on my iPad here." said Nash. "If any of them look like that third person, let me know, okay?"

"Okay." said Frieda. She looked at each photo, trying hard to remember. Several photos of BigAgraFoods executives were shown, men in suits and ties, but Frieda shook her head: none of them were the one. Nash had also slipped in a photo of Jerry Barsbane, but Frieda shook her head and said he wasn't the man she saw.

"How about this one?" Nash said... but Frieda wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were riveted to the television set, next to Joanne taping with the videocamera.

"That's him!" Frieda said, pointing at the television set. "That's the man I saw!"

I reached for the remote and turned it up.

"This is Cynthia Freeman, SNN News." said Cynthia. "We are covering the press conference at the City offices of BigAgraFoods Corp., where Edward Blassingame has just been appointed Chief Executive Officer by the Board of Directors!"

We listened to Blassingame's speech, then he took questions from the beautiful Cynthia Freeman. "Mr. Blassingame, you built SPS from three delivery trucks to the powerhouse delivery company in the State. Are you now leaving it?"

"I'll still be Chairman of the Board," said Blassingame, "and I'll help the new CEO and his team as they take SPS to the next level, a regional and even national delivery company."

"Why did you take the BigAgraFoods position, sir?" asked Cynthia, her eyes looking flirtatiously at him.

"BigAgraFoods is one of the most important companies in the nation, and even the world." said Blassingame. "I want to help it continue its greatness in the name of its former President and CEO, Mitt Willis, a great man who was maliciously smeared and falsely accused, and led to his death by Police like a sheep to the slaughter. It is in the name and memory of Mitt Willis that I take on this role, and pledge to keep BigAgraFoods the company that feeds the World!"

I just looked over at Muscone, who was looking back at me. Making sure Joanne was videoing, I took out my Police iPhone and brought up Blassingame's photo. "Frieda," I said, "this is the man you saw at that warehouse?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Crowbar." Frieda said. "That's him. I'm sure of it." I held out the iPhone so that Joanne could video-record the photo that Frieda had just identified.

"Thank you, Frieda." I said. "You've helped us a lot. You help Barky get well and keep him safe, okay?"

"I will, Mr. Crowbar." Frieda said. We made our goodbyes. Once outside, I called Teresa and told her to re-implement the security plan to keep Frieda safe...

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

Three hours later, Joanne and I met Muscone and Nash at the Cop Bar and were seated in the small 'Command Room' reserved for Police and Fire Dept. leadership (which would be me, of course).

For the first time in my considerable memory, Jack was unable to eat the double cheeseburger in front of him; there was too much going on in his mind. "Blassingame." he said, several times, his voice connoting that his mind was a million miles away.

Joanne's appetite was unaffected. In fact, she wolfed down her steak Caesar salad, then an entire basket of crispy thin French fries that Pops had brought to the table. I made the proper observations of her rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes.

"Mrs. Warner," I said quietly, "I suspect you will not be participating in the Police Boxing Matches this year."

"Why not, sir?" asked Joanne, in shock, peering at me. "Worried that I'm going to take you down?"

"Unfortunately, Joanne, tag teams are not permitted in the Police Boxing Matches." I said, glancing down at her belly, then back to her eyes.

"What do you mean sir?" Joanne asked, though I could tell in her eyes she knew where I was going with this.

"I'll be blunt." I said. "Are you late?"


Joanne's eyes widened. "Just a couple of days, sir, which isn't that big a... deal..."

I smiled. "I will make you an appointment with the very best gynecologist in the world." I said. "Of course I'm very biased in that assertion, since she's my wife. Do not waste her time nor embarrass me by being late, or not showing up."

"Yes sir." Joanne said thoughtfully, then remembering her manners, said "Thank you, sir."

"Sooooo, Jack." I said. "What's this reverie habit you're getting into?"

Muscone looked at me, still not a hundred percent in the present. "Blassingame... took the BigAgraFoods job." he said.

"The puzzle pieces fit, don't they?" I asked. "At least the border pieces are put together, framing the picture. And now you just have to fill in the rest of it."

"This is big, Don. We're gonna need your help on this." said Muscone.

"I can't help you if I don't have any data." I 'hinted'.

"Sir," said Martin Nash, "we should tell him what we know. And Joanne, too."

Muscone nodded. "Go ahead. Keep your voice down while you talk, though."

Nash began: "I personally apologize for these guys playing around the edges with you. Dwight Stevens doesn't know all that we've found out; he just scratched the surface via his drug investigations. Jack here has also asked that Miles Winters be reassigned due to his past associations with Les Craig. Winters is probably clean, he's been watched for a while now, but on this one... we need to make sure."

I was observing that Nash was acting like a man put in charge who was taking charge as I listened to his story. He continued: "After we left Frieda's house a few hours ago, we talked to the BAU people in the City and some heavy hitters in Washington by remote conferencing. They had to pick themselves up off the floor when we told them what Frieda had told us. Her accidentally seeing those three together has lit the fuse of a box of dynamite."

"I daresay." I said. "It has never made sense for Shimono 2.0, Barsbane, and Paco to be together on much of anything more than having a drink in a bar together. But Blassingame changes the dynamic. His man Granger and Barsbane were meeting in the City. Granger went out west for a while; we now can see that had to do with SPS expanding. Anyone want to bet against me that Granger will be the next CEO of SPS?"

"I'll take you up on that, sir." said Joanne. "I think they'll put a figurehead in as CEO, and Granger will work behind the scenes on whatever Blassingame is doing that he doesn't want us to know about."

"She's good." I said to the FBI agents. Turning to Joanne I said "Here, hold this." as I handed her the red crowbar. She looked very happy as she took it in her hands.

"But yes," I continued, "Granger is a key figure in whatever this new batch of Big Boyz has going on." I continued. "And I'm guessing Paco was security for Blassingame at some point in time. That's the only connection I can think of that fits."

"Yes, Wilshire and Winters found that out for us." said Nash. "He was part of an overall security squad for SPS, as opposed to just Blassingame."

"Was... was Paco ever in the military?" I asked, as if it were a sudden thought.

"Not that we know of." said Nash. "Though you know he was in the CIA at one time." I nodded.

"It's a connection, anyway." said Muscone, who I realized had not heard what I'd asked Nash. Muscone then said: "But playing Devil's Advocate here, why would Blassingame send Paco to kill Frieda? Paco was way too valuable an asset with his skills, and Blassingame could afford a hundred grand to hire a hit man to just kill Frieda."

"Care to answer that one, FBI Consultant Warner?" I asked, knowing that Joanne had been approved to become an FBI Consultant for Melina Allgood in the local Resident Agency.

"Well, sir," said Joanne, "he did try to use proxies to kill her twice, trying to make it look like an accident or someone else doing it both times. But why he went after her so publicly the third time, I'm not so sure."

"Good points, though." I said.

"I get some of that." said Muscone. "I agree that it's Blassingame she happened to see that led to the attempts on her life. Blassingame tells Paco to take care of it. But shooting the redheaded girl gets the full attention of the redheaded guy with the red crowbar, so it's made to look like an accident the first two times... and some pretty sophisticated devices used as part of those attempts."

"Yes, and that's a very important observation." I said.

"But I'm hitting the same snag as Joanne." said Muscone. "Why the direct and public attempt the last time?"

"That's simple enough." I said. "Desperation. It had to be taken care of quickly; ergo, I deduce that whatever Shimono 2.0, Barsbane, Granger, and Paco were doing, there's a timetable to it, a deadline. So Paco all but sacrificed himself in that final attempt to kill Frieda. And it may not have been by his own choice. Martha the M.E. found him to have been under the influence of LSD-type drugs. Maybe someone else got desperate, drugged up Paco and sent him after Frieda."

"Could be." said Muscone. "So he was expendable?"

"He became so." I replied. "The question that I want to solve is what his role was in their plans... because they didn't just have him along as security, or Cleanup on Aisle 5. He was part of their plan, part of their plan. I guess your renowned BAU people will have to figure that out, Jack." I think Jack recognized the derision in my voice, and what I was really being derisive about...

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

I gave Joanne a ride home. While in the car, she asked "They're not telling us everything, are they, sir?"

"Good observation." I said. "No, they are not. Not by a longshot."

"Maybe they're not allowed to." Joanne said.

"That's probably the case." I said. "And if that's the way they want to play it, it's their prerogative. But if they want my help... and they do need it... they need to come correct with me on what they think it's going on. It's hard enough solving mysteries on one end. I'm not even going to try when there's mysteries at both ends...

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

When we got to Joanne's place, she invited me inside to see Bowser's first-born son, Leo. Leo remembered me, and his tail wagged mightily as I petted him. He was growing like a weed. And I could tell that Leo, like Barky and like Bowser, made his family a lot happier. Dogs are just good people, I thought to myself.

Part 32 - The Board of Inquiry

10:00am, Monday, March 4th. The Board of Inquiry was set to begin. I was wearing my semi-formal jacket with the full 'fruit salad' of ribbons, but did not wear my Medal of Valor around my neck.

With me was my lawyer, Mike G. Todd, and he was loaded for legal bear. In something of an unusual situation, also with me was the Police Captain's Union rep. When the Union had contacted me about sending me a Rep, I'd said that I thought I needed to go full-bore with a lawyer. They agreed, but asked that a Union Rep be present, as well.

The Board of Inquiry chamber was packed with reporters, and the Witness Room just outside the back hallway was full of witnesses, including the schoolchildren Davie, Timmy, Susie and Frieda, and the school principal and two teachers.

The back door opened and the Commissioners of the Board of Inquiry came inside. There was an audible gasp among the reporters as five men came in, instead of the expected three. Mr. Silas was the Chairman, and Finneran and Mr. Fitzgerald were also there. But there were two more men: Mr. Morse, a relatively elderly man that for some reason reminded me of a theoretical physicist, and Mr. Landau, about Finneran's age, with a full head of black hair and a commanding presence and attitude about him.

I had remembered something: when Tanya Perlman had faced her Board of Inquiry for shooting the Black Widow, Angela Harlan (Author's note: 'Case of the Black Widow', Ch. 05.), it was a full Board of Inquiry with seven Board members. I told the Mayor about that, and he quickly added two Board members to offset and overcome Finneran's hostility.

Mr. Silas had not liked that one little bit. The Mayor said he would accept Mr. Silas's resignation if Mr. Silas had anything to say about it that the Mayor did not care to hear.

"Mr. Chairman," Finneran said to start the proceedings, "I object to Commander Troy having both a lawyer and a Union rep. He's entitled to one or the other, not both."

"That's not true." said Mr. Landau, who made it clear very quickly that we was not going to be tolerant of Finneran. "There is nothing in the laws that prohibit Commander Troy from having both. He's entitled to a Union rep, and he is always entitled to a lawyer."

"I'm not sure how that works out," said Silas, "but I'll take it into consideration. For now, Commander Troy, your lawyer is your spokesperson, and the Union rep is welcome only as an observer."

"I don't accept that." I replied. "If either wishes to speak on my behalf, I will recognize them to do so."

"Why don't we continue," said Mr. Fitzgerald, "unless you want to adjourn and take this issue to Court for a ruling." Mr. Silas wanted to get on with it.

The first witness was Frieda Franklin. The little red haired girl strode resolutely to the witness stand, where a high chair was brought in to seat her where she could see and be seen. Mr. Finneran wasted no time in trying to light into her.

"Did Commander Troy coach you in your testimony today?" Finneran asked.

"No." said Frieda.

"Did anyone coach you in your testimony today?" Finneran asked.

"Susie said not to let you intimidate me. Does that count?" Frieda said. There were rustles in the audience.

"Why was that man chasing you?" asked Finneran, harshly, as if Frieda had done something wrong. "What did you do wrong for him to be chasing you?"

"Objection." said Mr. Fitzgerald. "The premise that Ms. Franklin did anything wrong is a false one."

"This isn't a Court, Mr. Fitzgerald." said Silas.

"No, but it's a legal proceeding." said Mr. Landau. "And that was a premise, and objectionable." Silas began looking frustrated. Finneran already looked like the hater he was.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Frieda proclaimed. "I don't know why he wanted to kill me. The Police said he was a bad man."

After getting Frieda to tell her version of what happened, she was excused. Next up was the school principal. Mr. Landau ripped into him.

"The Police asked you to allow them to have plainclothes Officers mingle with the teachers and students, to help protect Ms. Franklin." said Landau. "You refused them?"

"I sure did." snarled the principal. "We don't need Police with guns near the schoolchildren. Schools are gun-free zones, and that extends to field trips."

"Police are exempt from those laws." said Mr. Fitzgerald. "Why not allow undercover Officers pose as teachers, so they could help protect Frieda?"

"I don't want cops with guns near the children." snarled the principal. "Guns are bad. Guns scare the children. And I told the Police they could not have guns near the kids."

"And you threatened to shut down the field trip if you saw any Uniformed Officers attempting to be on the lookout for the killer---"

"Alleged killer." said Finneran. "You haven't proved he's a killer, and he didn't kill that girl."

"It wasn't for a lack of trying." said Landau. "And I'll have it entered into the record that the FBI considered Paco Domingo, who was the attacker in this incident, to have killed multiple times. I reject the politically correct garbage about 'alleged'. The man was a killer, and he tried to kill Frieda Franklin."

"That hasn't been proved." said Silas. "You will refrain from the slanderous comments."

"They aren't slanderous!" Fitzgerald said angrily. Silas banged his gavel.

"I've ruled on this." growled Silas. "Move it along."

"You threatened to shut down the field trip?" Landau asked the principal.

"You bet I did, and I would have if I'd seen even one uniformed cop." said the principal. "The children need to feel safe, and having cops around makes them feel unsafe, and scared."

Landau then said "I am going to ask the Mayor to convene another Board of Inquiry to investigate your actions."

"You can't do that without my permission." said Silas. "That's beyond the scope of this Board of Inquiry."

"You can stop it for this Board." said Landau. "But I'm going to ask the Mayor to convene a different one for this principal, to determine if his actions endangered the kids that were entrusted to his and his school's care."

"I've already done it." I said with alacrity. "I've already asked for a separate Board of Inquiry into the principal's actions----"

tap tap tap tap tap tap went Mr. Silas's gavel. The look on his face was one of exasperation. The look on the principal's look had changed from anger and hatred... to fear.

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

Davie Marsdon was brought to the table instead of the witness stand when Mike G. Todd said that he was representing Davie and Timmy as well as me, as Davie and Timmy had not been cleared of wrongdoing in pushing Paco over the cliff. He detailed what he and Timmy Austin had done, tackling Paco, then following up the hill and pushing Paco off the cliff.

Finneran asked "Did Commander Troy coach you in your testimony?"

"No." said Davie.

"Did he ask you to lie, and to say that he pushed the alleged suspect over the cliff?" Finneran asked harshly.

"No." said Davie. "And if he had, we wouldn't have lied. Commander Troy is honest and wants us to be honest. So I'm telling the truth now."

"The truth." snarled Finneran. "Really? You do realize that you're admitting that you murdered a man?" Fierce objections were raised by the other Commissioners.

"Davie, say nothing further." said Mike G. Todd. Davie said he would say nothing further. And Mike did not allow Timmy Austin to testify.

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

Mrs. Boddiker was brought to the stand. She testified that the Veasley Center people had come to that spot to be on the lookout for Paco, because the school principal had whined about the Police being there.

"So you admit you called Commander Troy?" snarled Finneran.

"Admit it?" replied Mrs. Boddiker staunchly. "I'm proud of the fact that I called Commander Troy, and was able to help him and the Police save that little girl's life."

"You had no idea if what you saw was anything dangerous!" yelled Finneran.

"Unlike you, I am not stupid." said Mrs. Boddiker fearlessly, causing me to smile. "I know what I saw merited calling the great Iron Crowbar."

"Mrs. Boddiker," said Mr. Landau, "you are an Auxiliary Police Officer?"

"I am an Honorary Auxiliary Officer." Mrs. Boddiker said proudly. "And I am honored to be able to help our great Police Force whenever I can."

"And you've interfered in the past, haven't you?" snarled Finneran. "Why the Police listen to a word you say, I don't know. You're just an old nutcase."