One Night In Bangkok Ch. 04

"What is your advice for Commander Troy, then?" asked Wallace.

"To refuse to appear without full immunity." said Reed Hudson.

"They'll just say he's hiding something." said Wallace.

"And that's worse than the Democrats colluding with Karl Handel to indict Commander Troy for perjury he didn't commit?" fired back Hudson.

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

"Reed Hudson is right." said Cindy as we watched in my office. "You shouldn't appear before that Committee. It's a bigger trap than the Independent State Counsel was."

"If I don't respond to the subpoena," I said, "they'll refer that to the Attorney General. And Handel is like Wilson Hammonds: an Establishment Elitist that really wants to bring harm to me because I've helped Governor Jared in the past. Handel will be eager to bring charges against me."

"Handel wants to run for Governor." Teresa said. "How is trying to bring charges against the best and most heroic Police Officer in this State going to help him win?"

"I never said the Establishment Republicans were smart." I said. "In fact, they're so damn stupid as a group that I wonder if they lose elections on purpose. Handel definitely belongs in that 'idiot' class. And this... after they were cold-busted in that Caucus scandal."

"It won't take much for the State Senate to go back to the Democrats." Teresa said. "The Republicans are losing the suburbs, and badly."

"And we're right back to wondering if they lose on purpose, or just don't seem to care." I said. "Apparently they think it's a game, and they're bringing a child's slingshot to a machine gun fight with the Democrats."

"Can Sharon Marshall win the Governorship?" asked Teresa.

"It will depend partly upon who the Democrats put up against her." I said. "And of course she has to win the Republican primary against Handel and probably Cagle."

While I knew Teresa was picking my brain so she could keep her husband, the CEO of an energetic, up-and-coming company, informed of what was going on, the Green Crowbar had no desire to talk politics nor sit through us doing so. She said: "Back to you and this testimony How are you going to avoid the trap? And don't say by walking into it."

"By walking into it." I very courageously said...

Part 19 - Solutions

Saturday, March 23d. Chief Sean Moynahan called me and asked if I could come to the Cop Bar for lunch. When I got there, I found out that he had another guest: City Police Captain Wes 'Coldiron' Masters, of the City Police Internal Affairs.

"Eat lightly, we have a big dinner tonight." said Moynahan, to me. "That doesn't apply to you, Coldiron, unless you're going to be at the celebration dinner tonight."

"No sir." said Masters. "But congratulations on your total victory over that sleazebag, Commander."

"Thanks." I said. "But even if he is a sleazebag, if McGinty wasn't guilty of betraying his Police partner, we should do right by him and set the record straight."

"I agreeeee." said the Chief.

"So do I, though City I.A. wonders why we should bother, now that he's dead." said Masters. "But... it may lead us to some other dirty secrets, so I'm digging up whatever I can find."

"And what did you finnnnnnd?" drawled the Chief.

"There's a couple of strange things about the Sullivan case." said Masters. "First, the records are sealed, even against I.A. personnel looking into them, and I pretty much had to hack into them to get the information. I appreciate the Milton's help in covering my tracks in doing that."

"Just be glad they're working with you." I said. "They won't help the FBI."

"I hear you." said Masters. "So... before the Sullivan incident, McGinty had nothing against him. I'm not saying he was good, but he wasn't outright dirty. The issues against him were that his stings were failing, and his C.I.s were coming over all dead."

"Makes sense." I said. "That's how the Consultant of Crime operated. He was the one that tipped of the perps so that McGinty's operations would go wrong, and he was the one that exposed the C.I.s. And then he had his people in the City Police and City I.A. set up McGinty, including using his marked card Les Craig of the FBI to discredit McGinty."

I continued: "McGinty gets fired, has no place to turn, and in comes a benign Pastor, offering him a thin sliver of hope. He has McGinty become a P.I., then installs him into the very ring that McGinty and his partner Sullivan were very close to busting just weeks before."

"That's what it looks like." said Wes Masters. "Jeff Farley has disappeared, just like Dick Ferrell and Jack Lewis seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth, and it looks like Farley was very dirty. Also, Susan Wexler had a hand in organizing the 'blanket party' for McGinty by City I.A. and the FBI. Anyway, the other strange thing is that elements of City I.A. continued to keep tabs on McGinty until Cash was murdered, which I think is one reason why the records are sealed so tight. I really don't get the continued interest in him."

"Ohhhhhh, of course!" I exclaimed, mostly to myself. Then I looked up and said "And it also explains why they never murdered him, too..."

"What's that?" asked Chief Moynahan.

"His files!" I said. "He had a ton of dirt on some prominent people. Even U.S. Senator Russell, so I was told. They kept him alive and kept watch on him, hoping he'd one day lead them to the dirt. If they had killed him, that dirt might well have been released to the public, which those stained by that dirt did not want to see happen."

"That's very possible." said Masters. "And the word I'm getting is that finding McGinty's computer, which is missing, and any hidden files he had is a top priority."

"Any idea where those are, Mr. Crowbar?" asked Chief Moynahan.

I said "I have no data to support this, but I was getting the idea that McGinty might've had his own office ransacked, and that after he killed me and O'Brady he would disappear to another part of the country and start life anew. Shane and I came right on Cash's heels, and if we'd died then others would have been right behind us. McGinty knew the Game was 'ovah', and things were too hot for him to stay around, what with Law Enforcement coming after him on one side, and his former employer, the real 'Birdie Edward' likely coming after him on the other side."

"Heck," said Masters, "why didn't he just run as soon as you showed up at 'Bangkok'? I sure would've gotten the hell out of Dodge if you showed up like that."

I smiled. "I think he had visions of the the sugarplum of taking down the Iron Crowbar before exiting stage left. But he failed. Stupid to fail. Unforgivable."

"I'll bet those people he has dirt on are losing a lot of sleep right now." said Chief Moynahan. "With his death, that information could be released at any time. You think it's on computer? In one of those, what do you call them?... clouds? Yes, in one of those clouds?"

"No sir." I said. "He probably has a good deal of information on computer, but a lot of the photographic evidence and documents would have to be hardcopies, or else someone would say they're photoshopped. No, there's a treasure trove of real... and very lucrative... dirt out there, just waiting to be found..."

After lunch, as we left the restaurant, I said "Captain Masters, there's one more thing I'd appreciate you doing for me. Can you send me everything I.A. has on Jeff Farley, especially his entire career with City PD?"

"I'll put it together and send it to you." said Masters...

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

4:00pm, Saturday, March 23d. I went to Westphalia Police Headquarters, and to the office of Chief Engle. He had someone in his office with him, and to my surprise it was the Town & County Sheriff, Antonio Griswold.

"Come on in, Crowbar!" Griswold said happily. "You've met my friend Engle. He and I go back a long ways."

"And don't believe any of the bad stuff he tells you." Engle said with a grin. I chuckled politely as I sat down at his bidding."

"We really appreciate the job you did, nailing Cash's murderer to the wall." said Chief Engle.

"I was glad to be able to help." I said. "I don't take kindly to people murdering good Police Officers."

"So, Crowbar," said Griswold, "I guess you want to hear the whole story."

"About why Cash left the WPD for six years? I'm sure I could tell you some of it" I said. They nodded and I said "Had to be at least partly for his own protection. I'm thinking he stumbled onto the Consultant of Crime, began pursuing him, and the Consultant did Consultant things and tried to ruin his reputation before murdering him. I'm just a bit surprised he didn't stay and fight harder; from what I've seen, that's the kind of guy he was... a fighter. Ohhhhh..."

"Yep, he's seeing it." said Griswold, his mustaches quivering. I silently wondered how much they'd bet on it.

"He did want to stay and fight, but you and the WPD kicked him out, sent him away." I said. "What, did the Consultant threaten the rest of the WPD and your families, like he threatened the TCPD when I was about to bring him down?"

"Yes." said Chief Engle. "Cash wasn't married, so threats against him didn't work. But our Chief at that time was sitting at home one night when a visitor came to see him. Our Chief didn't know who he was, but he looked like an amiable old gentleman. But what that man said..."

"Tell him." said Griswold.

"He showed our Chief photos of all the senior Police leadership's families, their children and wives." said Chief Engle. "He said that it would be a shame if Paul Cash kept pursuing his case against an organization that could turn all Westphalia into a heap of dead bodies, with all the Police Force's families on top of the pile. Dozens of lives were at stake, and we had no way to protect them all."

"He really rattled our old Chief." said Chief Engle. "I think it rattled Cash, too, though he wanted to drive on with the case. Instead, we told him that we couldn't risk it, that the bastard had the drop on us. Someone in the WPD at the time had some connections, so we had Cash take the job in Iraq."

"Why did he come back before the Consultant was destroyed?" I asked.

"By that time you were all over him like a wet blanket, Crowbar." said Griswold. "Cash's work in Iraq was getting increasingly dangerous, and he was becoming a target of the terrorists over there. So I told Engle here to go ahead and bring Cash home, that the Consultant was... distracted. So they brought Cash home, and he kept his head down like a good soldier."

"I know what you did against the Consultant, Commander." said Engle. "And I won't blame you if you think less of Cash, and us, for backing down from a fight you fought all the way and then some."

"I don't blame any of you a bit. Nor him." I said. After a pause, I added: "I had three advantages that none of you had. First, my wife was once one of the highest-level CIA Officers in the land, and she had dealt with dangers of that level and higher almost all of her life. She knew what we were fighting for, and fighting against, and she stood with me and supported me through the worst of the danger. We did have to fake her and my children's deaths to make sure they didn't really die, but it worked out."

"Second," I said, "and probably most important: I knew who he was. You guys had no idea who he was, and that was his trump card against you. I wanted to take him alive, and take down his entire organization, and we did get most of it. But he knew as I knew that I always had that final option. He couldn't outrun a bullet, and I would've made that demonstration if I'd had to."

"Ultimately, his own desire to live caused him to pull his punches." I said. "He did try to kill me and my family, and he did try to destroy my reputation, as well. But he left everything else alone because he knew I always had that final... nuclear... option on him."

Chief Engle nodded. "That's true." he said. "We did not know who he was, nor how to get to him. So what was the third advantage you had?"

I smiled and held up the red crowbar. "The Power of the Crowbar, Chief. It is a magical thing." Both Chief Engle and Sheriff Griswold laughed at that.

And sure, the Power of the Crowbar is a truly great thing... but it wasn't my real third advantage over the Consultant. The real third advantage was that I had people behind me, family of course, but also good people like my Angels, my Police Officers, and especially my Police Chief, Antonio Griswold. He stood with me, and put it all on the line with me in that fight. And there was no way I would ever shame myself before that man by backing away from that fight, no matter the cost. No way. Ever.

But I wasn't going to tell this other Police Chief that. And no, I didn't blame Paul Cash for backing down... just as I did not blame my father, Douglass Troy, for committing suicide to save his family. They did what they had to do. And so did I.

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

The Westphalia Police Department and the Lieutenant Governor of the State hosted us for a celebration dinner at the very best barbeque place on the east side of the State. We had the back room (really the side room) to ourselves.

Attending were: Sharon Marshall, Gloria Bernstein, Chief Engle, Captain Tsoulas, Lieutenant Mason, Detective Marvin Chester, Detective Tom Carrier, City Detectives Sapper Warren and E.J. Jefferson, Sheriff Griswold, Chief Moynahan, Commander Cindy Ross, Captain Teresa Croyle, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone, Supervisory Agent Martin Nash, Special Agents Jefferson, Speer, Linares, DEA Special Agent Dwight Stevens, Pottsville Officer Wilson, and of course Detective Shane O'Brady and Your Iron Crowbar.

It was a festive mood, and a lot of beef and pork and fixins were consumed... and a decent bit of beer, as well. I was sitting with Cindy and Teresa, and we were making some very inappropriate observations.

"Sandra has dumped Julius." Cindy said.

"And she's picked up with O'Brady." I replied, seeing Sandra sitting next to Shane and very overtly flirting with him.

"Glad to see politics taking a back seat to good Police work." said Teresa. Though of opposite political Parties, Sharon Marshal and Gloria Bernstein sat next to each other and talked amiably with each other as well as the Officers and Agents that might have been doing a little 'brown-nosing'.

"So Sheriff Griswold knows Chief Engle pretty well?" Cindy asked me.

"Yes." I said. "I get the feeling that Our Sheriff goes back a long way with a lot of LEOs in this State."

"You'd be right about that." said Jack Muscone, who was sitting on Cindy's other side. "I'd imagine Griswold has a few stories that even the Iron Crowbar has not heard."

"But I will, over time." I said. "Sheriff loves to talk by the fire in his back yard. And you better believe I sit there and listen to every word." Cindy and Teresa nodded, absorbing the lesson I was subtly giving them. After a bit more talk, I observed it was time to start talking... the Green Crowbar was on her feet and grabbing her spoon and a glass.

*DING!* *DING!* *DING!* *DING!* *DING!* *DING!*

"For those who don't know," Cindy said loudly as everyone hushed, "it has become tradition for me to cajole the Iron Crowbar into tell us how he solved the case. Okay, Don, tell us the story, from the beginning." There was an acclaim and applause.

"Let's let O'Brady do it." I said. "We solved it together."

"I just had the luck to have a front row seat." said O'Brady astutely. "Please, Commander, go ahead."

"I better stand up." I said. "After eating all that food, I'm about to doze off." Cindy immediately refilled my coffee cup from the pot that had been left on the table for us. It was a 'hint' for me to start talking lest the Green Crowbar become 'impatient'. Everyone turned their chairs as I brought over a podium that was in the corner of the room.

"Okay," I said, "Where to start..."

"At the beginning." Cindy Ross said. Everyone laughed.

"Which beginning?" I replied. "Where I came into it, or the whole McGinty story?"

"Where you came into it." said Jack Muscone.

"Good answer." I said. "O-kayyy... I went to Pottsville on Sunday, and Shane O'Brady and I went to the Paul Cash crime scene. I left that scene absolutely convinced that Lieutenant Cash had been led into that warehouse to observe criminal activity, was betrayed, forced to remove his body armor, and then he was walked into the large area and shot up."

"So the question for me was who he had been working with prior to that moment." I said. "We went to visit the Westphalia Police, and I am grateful to them for their hospitality and help in the investigation. While there, we found out that Cash was working on something, but he didn't say what it was."

"Why didn't he say anything?" asked Detective Chester. "We could've helped. He might not've been ambushed and killed."

"Well," I said, trying to be jovial, "I've been accused of not telling colleagues what was going on in some of my cases. Falsely accused, I might add." That got a green crowbar being waved in my very specific direction by a platinum blonde, making everyone (except her) laugh.

"Seriously," I said, "no offense to anyone here, but my suspicion is that Cash wasn't sure who to trust. He'd had experience with the Consultant of Crime in the past. In this case, something in the Marcie Harper drug bust led him to a trail that caused him to stumble upon the murder of Detective Jason Jones. And that led him to what he thought was a huge smuggling case, being led by someone very powerful, one of the Crony Capitalists of Big Business working with the Establishment Elites in Government. Cash may have confided in someone, but that's not my story to tell." I was glancing pointedly at Chief Engle. He kept a straight face, but I could see in his eyes that I was right.

"So Cash did what Jason Jones and Lisa Reece did." I said. "He looked for someone that might have knowledge of the smuggling ring. Being good Detectives, they all found McGinty quickly enough through the Sullivan murder case. And they all did what O'Brady and I did: they attempted to use McGinty to get to the ring, and to its leader 'Birdie Edward'."

"Not knowing it was him." said Dwight Stevens.

"They were good Detectives, all of them." countered O'Brady. "They must've had suspicions of him, as you did, Commander."

"I'm sure they did." I said. "But between his story about being set up over the Sullivan case, which may well be true, and his potential knowledge of the smuggling ring, they took their chances. I might add that Lisa Reece only had the Sullivan case to go by, Jones had two cases, and Cash had three. O'Brady and I had the advantage of seeing four cases in front of us, and three precedents."

"Anyhoo," I went on, "we went to Westphalia P.D., where I found some files on Cash's computer that were easy enough to decode---"

"Easy!" Detective Chester all but yelled. "We're still trying to figure those out!"

I couldn't help but grin. "I had the advantage of having worked with Charlie Griswold, who made short work of puzzles like that. Cash knew of that case, and used some of the same concepts to encode his information, knowing that if something happened to him, it was likely that I would be called in and would know how to treat those files."

"Why you?" asked Detective Carrier.

"You said it yourself at WPD Headquarters." I replied. "Cash had studied my work."

"And perhaps Cash had talked to Lieutenant Governor Marshall," said Chief Engle, "who promptly called you in when he was found dead." I nodded vigorously in agreement. So did Lieutenant Governor Marshall.

"And you've worked on cases involving these Elitists at every level from local to Federal." Jack Muscone added. "You'd be the first person on my list to call, too."