Price No Object Ch. 02

"And who do you want to replace him with?" I asked, possibly surprising her.

Claire said "I'm not sure, sir, and that is something I was going to discuss with you when I brought this up myself. My first thought is Joanne Warner, and while I have not talked to her, I think she wants the job and would take it. I think Teddy Parker can handle the job, as well. I'm not sure Theo Washington wants the job at all; he seems happy where he is, doing what he's doing now. 'Ice Cube' Perry could handle the job, but he's my marked card in Vice if anything happens to Rudistan."

"Tell me this before I circle back to Davis." I said. "What do you think of Lieutenant Rudistan? Truly, and candidly."

Claire said "At first I thought the same of him that I've been thinking of Davis, that he shouldn't have been put in that position. He takes getting used to, especially his totally irreverent wit. But I've begun to see that he's savvy, he really knows the Streets, he's well-respected by his Detectives as well as the Officers in the field, and as you just indicated a few minutes ago, you obviously have a good deal of respect for him and trust in him."

I said "Yes, I do. And I'm glad you're seeing the good qualities in him, especially his knowledge of the Streets. As to the rest of it, what I will tell you is that I have had a lot more time working with Jerome Davis than you have, I think he does have the leadership skills to run MCD, and he's been doing so for a while now. He also did well at the Academy courses we sent him to, for what that's worth. I'll also say that he was promoted over Joanne Warner and the others, and while I recommended that he be, it was a consensus Police Leadership decision to make that move. They saw what I saw."

Me: "He's not perfect, no one is, and we saw an example of that this morning. And yes, he's young. So are most of us here. If only I had a dollar for each time someone asked for a Sergeant because they thought I was just a Patrolman trainee and looked too young to know what I was doing." Claire chuckled at that.

I continued: "And when the chips are down, like they were last summer, Jerome is the guy who steps up and leads others through it. Okay, call Jerome and both Lieutenants Milton into MCD. I'll be there in a minute, after I make a phone call."

After Claire exited the office, I got out my personal iPhone and made a call to Eddy the Bounty Hunter. "Hi, Eddy." I said. "I need some information. Price is no object, but keep good records so I can pay you back and then expense it myself..."

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

Joanne Warner and Teddy Parker were back and at their desks, as were the rest of the MCD Detectives except Davis and Newman. Once the Miltons arrived in MCD, I addressed everyone.

"Okay, guys, I want you to review the Alicia Tate interview at the Hospital, and Jeff Cawthorne and Sheila Sullivan's interviews in the Interrogations Rooms." I said. "You can also review what has been found on all their computers, and discuss the case amongst yourselves. This is a good opportunity to use those newly installed doors, so shut them and block the windows while you're examining the *ahem!* video evidence. Be ready to discuss this when I call a meeting this afternoon, likely at 1:00pm, but be flexible about it..."

Part 5 - The Party Never Stops

Meanwhile, as all of that was going on...

10:30am, Tuesday, January 5th. Sheriff Department Chief of Staff Cindy Ross was sitting in her new office at City Hall. Why the Sheriff's office and her office were at City Hall and not at County Jail or some other location, she wasn't sure. But that's how it was in her beloved Town & County.

Her office was next to the Sheriff's much larger corner office at the northwest corner of City Hall on the second floor. Her old office had been wider than it was deep, and this office was about the same dimensions, just deeper than it was wide. The window at the back end of the office gave a view of the Civic Center and some of Riverside Drive going north.

She was wearing civilian clothes, maternity clothes, instead of a uniform. She had not spent money on multiple uniforms while she was so heavily pregnant, just the one for her swearing in, and the Sheriff had given her a written dispensation allowing her to wear civilian clothes while pregnant.

Her assistant Lauren Wilcox was in the anteroom serving both the Sheriff's Office and hers. Cindy heard her landline phone buzz, and answered it. Lauren said "Ms. Jenna Stiles is here, and has asked to see you."

"Oh! Yes, send her right on in." Cindy said. She got up as the redhead Jenna came into the office, wearing a tasteful black dress and matching high heel pumps.

"Hi!" said Cindy as she and Jenna exchanged a hug. "I wasn't expecting to see you today. Have a seat."

"I was already here, so I thought I would stop by." Jenna said as she sat down. "When is your baby due? You've got to be close."

"Any time now." Cindy said as she sat down behind her desk. "January 11th was the day Laura told me when she confirmed I was pregnant, but it could be days before or after. I do know the baby is kicking a lot now, and may be turning over head-down. It'll be soon."

"Good." Jenna said. "Are Callie and Betsy excited?"

"Uh, 'excited' may be too strong a term for Callie." Cindy admitted. "She's happy for me, and happy about it, but she's nowhere near as excited as Betsy is... oh, and Betsy's birthday is tomorrow, January 6th. It's hard to believe she's three years old already!"

"How's the new job?" Jenna asked.

"Good, so far." Cindy replied. "Chief of Staff Oswald trained me very well and got me up to speed the past few months, so it's a relatively easy transition. And Sheriff Griswold has pretty much kept the delegation of responsibilities he implemented, since he knows I'm going to be on leave when the baby arrives." Then she paused and said "Soooo, what brings you up to City Hall?"

Jenna said "I was interviewing with D.A. Miriam Walters about a possible DDA job."

"Uh oh." Cindy said. "And that's necessary?"

"Yes. Gil Krasney fired me." said Jenna, who had been a State Attorney. "I wasn't the only one he let go, but the others that he fired found out yesterday. My letter was delivered by hand last Friday, literally an hour after Krasney was sworn in as State Attorney General. It was likely the very first official act he made."

Cindy said "Gil Krasney is a douchebag. Glenn Alberts is incompetent, but I voted for him instead of Krasney. Lesser of two evils. I can't believe how bad our choices were in most of the races."

Jenna said "And that reminds me: I don't know if you've heard, but Krasney kept Alberts as a State Attorney. He made a big, splashy public announcement about it, saying it was (air quotes) 'a conciliatory gesture meant to promote an atmosphere of both Parties working together'. He then actually said that he hoped the Legislature would find it in their hearts to do the same while working on the Budget."

Cindy scowled. "Sheesh. So how did it go with Miriam Walters? And what's going on in the DA's Office? I'm asking for a friend... well, a relative."

Jenna gave a brief smile and said "I think the interview went pretty well. Miriam and I have known each other for a long time. And what we discussed most is the structure Miriam wants to implement. Forgive me that I can't really discuss the details, even with you, but I'll just say that I get the sense Miriam either doesn't know what she wants, or can't get what she wants." Cindy nodded.

Jenna: "We also talked a good bit about the situation that Franklin Washington is now a Superior Court Judge while his brother Theo is a Police Detective. Miriam asked me if I considered that to be a conflict of interest, and what I'd do about prosecuting cases in Franklin's Court if and when Theo is an integral part of the case and having to testify."

"Is that really a problem?" Cindy asked. "And I'm sure there's precedent, one way or the other."

Jenna said "Miriam thinks it shouldn't be a problem if other Detectives can testify to the same things Theo would. But what if he's the guy who finds the weapon used in the crime, and is the only one who could testify to that? And Miriam then said that some lawyers like Gwen Munson are dirty enough to subpoena Theo to testify even if he had nothing to do with a case, just to force Franklin to have to recuse himself. She could wreak havoc, and tie up the Courts in knots with endless motions and appeals about it."

Cindy: "I-yi-yi... noooo, just because they're blood doesn't mean their integrity can be impugned. That'll work itself out. Anyway, I understand that you can't tell me everything, but tell me this: did you meet with Paulina and Savannah?"

Jenna smiled. "You're good, and you're spot-on. I met with Miriam alone at first, and then she brought Savannah in. Some of our discussion of the conflict of interest was with Savannah in there, though she said almost nothing. We also talked a lot about the Police and working with them... especially your blood kin, the Iron Crowbar. I did not see Paulina at all, much less get to speak with her."

Cindy nodded and said "If you were hired, would you be working with MCD or with Vice?"

"We discussed the possibility of both." Jenna said. "I'm more experienced in the areas that would fall under crimes of violence against others, and much less experienced in financial crimes, so I'd probably fit better working with MCD. I mostly worked civil rights issues while I was a State Attorney, but I can do whatever I need to do."

Cindy said "You should consider applying to work for the City Attorney's Office. They need attorneys with your experience, what with the crap coming down from the USDOJ."

"Is it crap?" Jenna replied.

"You really think the TCPD has acted in an institutionally racist manner?" Cindy fired back, her ice blue eyes shooting cold fire.

"I don't know about the the TCPD," Jenna said, "but I think Allgood's actions at the Council meetings were wrong and racially biased. The USDOJ is long overdue coming in and bringing the hammer down on him."

"Don't bother working for the City Attorney, then." Cindy replied, a bit icily. "It's their job to defend the County, and the Mayor from the false charges of the USDOJ."

"And you now see my problem with that." Jenna replied cooly. And then she saw the look in Cindy's ice blue peepers, and realized she'd crossed the line. "Look, I didn't come here to argue with you on anything------"

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

The door opened, and a set of huge handlebar mustaches appeared, followed by Sheriff Griswold's head. "I heard you'd stopped by, Ms. Stiles." he said. "Why don't I take you two ladies out to lunch..."

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

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

The door to my office opened, and Chief Moynahan's head poked through it. He said "I'm going to lunch with the Fire Chief, EMS Chief, and Acting PHO. Please don't destroy the building while I'm gone."

"I yam what I yam, but I will try." I replied in an excellent imitation of the legendary 'Popeye'. "Have a good lunch, sir."

The door closed and I got back to work, reviewing the Alicia Tate interview at the Hospital. As I'd reviewed the various videos, I would fire off emails to various Detectives and their supervisors to check on various things.

At 12:15 my landline phone rang. "Sir, this is the Duty Desk." said the Duty Desk Officer. "A man and woman came in, and they're saying they're the parents of the woman that died yesterday. He's demanding to see the Police Chief, and he's starting to make a scene."

"On my way." I said. I paused to put on my armored vest over my uniform shirt, then took my red crowbar and hurtled up the hallway. Teresa came out of her office, also wearing her armor over her shirt.

"I'm telling you to take me to your Police Chief right now!" I heard a voice yelling. Teresa and I went through the metal door into the lobby to see a distinguished-looking middle-aged man at the window to the Duty Desk, haranguing my Officers. A woman of the same age, whose very pretty face looked distraught and showed telltale signs of crying, was standing and watching.

"Can I help you?" I said loudly.

"Are you the Police Chief?" the man yelled as his eyes roamed over me.

"I'm the Police Commander." I said. "Second in line to the Chief, who is unavailable. And you are?"

"I'm Richard Davalos." snarled the man. "Your Police Chief called ours last night and said our daughter was dead."

"If you both will come this way, I'll answer your questions." I said, trying to guide them to I-A before the reporters in the Press Room realized who they were.

"Goddammit, answer my questions here and now!" Davalos roared, his face a mask of pain and fury. "Did that little shit husband of hers kill her?"

I turned to Teresa and said "Take Mrs. Davalos to I-A. I'm taking Mr. Davalos to I-B." I proceeded to do just that, all but pushing Davalos down the corridor to I-B. And just in time; filthy reporters were poking their heads into the lobby to see what was the matter.

"What is this?" Davalos all but shouted at me as I all but forced him to sit down at the table. "You can't push me around like this! Do you know who I am?"

"Yes." I said with unnerving quietness as I stood over him, tapping my crowbar in my hand. "And I don't care if you're connected with the Establishment Elites of Big Business. You do not come into my Police station and disrespect me with your yelling and screaming."

Davalos looked stunned as I went around the table and sat down on the other side. I said "This is being video-recorded. I am going to read you your rights." I did so from the card.

"Why the hell are you reading me my rights?" Davalos snarled. "I'm here to find out about my daughter's death!"

"If you'll shut up for a minute, I'll tell you exactly why." I said. "The first thing you asked was if your daughter was murdered by her husband. How do you even know if she was murdered, sir? And why do you think her husband murdered her? Do you know something I don't? Something that I need to know?"

Davalos stared at me for a moment, then said "The Media said it was a murder-suicide, and my own sources told me the same thing. And who else would it be, if not that piece of shit she married?"

"You didn't like your son-in-law, Mr. Davalos?" I asked pointedly as I peered hard at the man. It began dawning on him where I was going with this.

"No." Davalos said more quietly, and raggedly. "I despised that little son of a bitch. I tried like hell to convince Julie to stop dating him when they were in School, but her mother kept interfering, supporting him. I told them both that it would end up badly, and it obviously has!"

"What about him did you hate so much, Mr. Davalos?" I asked, actually genuinely curious. "Especially if your daughter loved him, and your wife supported them?"

Davalos began ranting: "He was just a piece of crap loser that wasn't going to amount to anything. I don't know what Julie saw in him, especially when she could've been with a real man like Jeff Cawthorne! Or I would have found her a decent, successful young man to marry!"

"But nooo!" Davalos ranted on. "Julie wanted to marry that piece of shit. That was bad enough, but then he quit his job. A really good, well-paying job! My God, a man is supposed to provide for his wife, not put her at risk of bankruptcy and destitution!"

"So you wanted to marry off your daughter like they do in other parts of the world?" I asked. "Like she's property, just a piece of meat?"

"That's not what I was saying." Davalos snarled. "You're putting words in my mouth, you frickin' cop."

"So one more time." I queried. "Why do you think Mr. Matheson would want to kill his wife? Again, Mr. Davalos: do you know something about them, about him, that I don't know... and need to?"

"Again, like I said before and will repeat myself now: it was murder-suicide, wasn't it? Who else could've done it?" Davalos snarled. Then it started hitting him. "Or was it double murder, and you and the Press are lying to us?"

"I can't speak for the corrupt, dishonest Press," I said, "but I haven't lied to you at all, Mr. Davalos. I also have not confirmed any of your assumptions... and you know what they say about 'assuming' something."

"Then how did my daughter die?" Davalos asked. "Answer me, goddammit! I have the right to know!"

"I'll discuss that with you and your wife in a minute." I said as I took out my Police iPhone and speed-dialed the Duty Desk. I asked for a Uniformed Officers to come to I-A and I-B. When Patrolman Culver came in, I told him to assist Mr. Davalos if he wanted something to drink or needed to use the restroom.

Then I went out the anteroom door and over to I-A. Going inside, I saw Mrs. Davalos sitting at the table, a tissue in her hand. Teresa was sitting on the other side of the table. I sat down next to the Iron Wolf.

"Mrs. Davalos, I'm Commander Troy." I said. "I am sorry for your loss. I need to ask you some questions regarding this situation of your daughter's death. It will be video-recorded, and I am going to read you your rights." I did so from the card.

"Mrs. Davalos," I started, "were there any problems that you know of between your daughter and her husband?"

"No." said Mrs. Davalos. "Julie loved Dwayne. My husband hated him, really hated him, but Julie loved him."

"So they weren't having any arguments? Your daughter never said anything to you?"

"No." said Mrs. Davalos, then said after a pause: "Several months ago, Julie told me that she was starting up a new business because Dwayne was being worked too hard but wouldn't quit his job. And Richard... my husband... didn't help matters. He hadn't spoken to Julie in years... or more like she hadn't spoken to him... but he actually took the phone out of my hand and yelled at her."

When she stopped, I asked "What did he say to her?"

"That Dwayne absolutely should stay at the job, and work to support her." said Mrs. Davalos.

"Is your husband typically that hotheaded?" I asked.

"Oh no, that was the angriest I'd seen Richard in... years." said Mrs. Davalos. "The only other time I'd ever seen him that angry was when Julie told us she was going to marry Dwayne."

"And your daughter and your husband had no problems before then?" I asked. "While she was growing up?"

"No, they were as close as I would imagine any father and daughter to be." Mrs. Davalos said. I felt Teresa's emotional reaction to that within her, though neither of us visibly reacted in any way.

"But he objected to Julie marrying Dwayne?" I asked. "Why?"

"Richard believed that Dwayne was beneath Julie, that she could do better and didn't have to 'settle'." said Mrs. Davalos. "But I could tell that Julie really loved Dwayne and would be happy with him, so I stood up to Richard and approved Julie marrying him. Richard refused to walk Julie down the aisle at the wedding, so her brother Peter stood in."

"Where is Peter now?" I asked as casually as I could make my voice sound.

"Charlotte, North Carolina." said Mrs. Davalos. "He works for WorldBankTrust, and is doing very well with them. Richard is very proud of Peter."

Just then there was a knock on the door, and the Duty Desk Sergeant looked in. "Sir?" he said. I went to the hallway, and the Sergeant whispered "The Mathesons... the parents of the man that died... are here. I put them in Interrogation-C."

"Also, sir," he continued, "the Press reporters have been coming into the lobby, asking us who is here, trying to see who signed in on the visitors log. I keep telling them to go back into the Press Room, but they are getting increasingly antsy. They smell blood, sir..."