Private Practice Ch. 01

"Yes, and I'll be at that meeting." I said.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?" Mary said. I nodded and she asked "Sir, I can understand the lawyers objecting to warrants; they may think it's their job. But Savannah? Why would she actively oppose the warrant request? Who's side is she on?"

I said "In this particular situation, she has a lot riding on the Stanley Locklear case. And it's obvious she's trying to keep something about Frost's involvement from me... or more accurately, from Locklear's defense. But yes, her actions in general are becoming increasingly reprehensible, and it may not be just because of me."

Mary said "Thank you, sir. Anyhoo, I came to tell you that there are not very many videocameras in the office park where Dr. Frost had his practice, and none that show his particular building or office suite. I called the firm that manages that office park, and they said most of the offices there are rented by lawyers, accountants, and some medical doctors. The office park management offers video camera surveillance, but many of the doctors don't want it because of privacy concerns."

I said "And I would imagine that Dr. Frost was tops on that list that wanted privacy, from what we've seen of him and his pitbull lawyers."

"Yes sir." Mary said. "And because of that, we have no video of any vehicles that might've pulled up at his suite on Saturday, either in the back or front. The nearest cameras are on the larger streets, and cars on them could be going elsewhere. We're running car tags, but..." She didn't finish the sentence, but just held her hands up and shrugged.

I said "Get the names anyway. If and when we get some patient records, we can see if they're on the list. Anything else?"

Mary said "Nothing we didn't know before, sir. He's had past complaints with the State Board, and we're looking into the names of those who made the complaints. But nothing very recent...."

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

1:00pm, Monday, August 23d. Teresa and I were at the Courthouse complex, wearing our Duty Dress jackets with 'boxes', the metal-bordered ribbons denoting our MOVs, Distinguished Service Medals, Purple Orders, and in Teresa's case, the Police Cross.

We were ushered into the Chambers of Superior Court Judge Patrick R. Folsom, along with Chief Deputy Cindy Ross in her brown Sheriff's Department Duty Dress jacket, District Attorney Miriam Walters, ADA Savannah Fineman, and attorneys Nadine Hall, Michael Thomas McGill, and Michael Bertram.

We all rose to our feet as Judge Folsom came in. "Commander Troy, sit in that chair to the side of my desk. It offers better lumbar support for your back than those folding chairs you're sitting on. Everyone, please have a seat."

"Thank you, Your Honor." I said, moving to the more comfortable chair, which allowed me to survey everyone from the side.

"Okay," said Judge Folsom, "I have never seen so many lawyers so up in arms about subpoenas. And one lawyer was even arrested? Who did that? And why?"

"I did, Your Honor." said Teresa Croyle. "Gale Gaston laid hands on Commander Troy, which is physical assault. So Detective Coleman and I subdued him, and he resisted as we arrested him. He was then found in possession of servers belonging to the murder victim, having removed them from the premises and hidden them in his vehicle."

Michael Bertram said "After an illegal warrantless search of our vehicles, Your Honor."

Judge Folsom said "I've already read the Commander's report and his chain of reasoning why he knew the servers had been removed only after the receptionist called you and you arrived at the scene. And after Mr. Gaston assaulted Commander Troy and was arrested, he opened himself up to have his belongings searched."

Judge Folsom: "And even if I did drop the criminal charges, Mr. Gaston still faces the ethical violations of removing that evidence from the crime scene, and I am submitting his name for disbarment for that."

Judge Folsom then said: "What I want to know is how Mr. Gaston didn't wind up in the hospital if he assaulted Commander Troy. You are usually not that... forgiving, Commander."

I could not tell if he was trying to be humorous or accusing with that statement, so I just said "Commander Croyle is faster than me, Your Honor. She and Detective Coleman had the man cuffed before I could even move."

"It's an unlawful arrest, Your Honor---" said Bertram.

Judge Folsom interrupted: "I have your motion to dismiss here on my desk, among this massive pile of paperwork you've all amassed in record time."

Savannah said "Your Honor, it doesn't matter. I'm going to drop the charges against Mr. Gaston. He didn't assault Commander Troy, he tried to stop Commander Troy's effort to break the law and violate sanctity of the doctor-client privilege. And I believe he had the right to secure his client's servers to protect them from Police abuse---"

"Don't go there, Ms. Fineman." said the judge. "If you accuse the Police of wrongdoing you'd better have ironclad proof. Okay, let's discuss this warrant application for Dr. Frost's financial and tax records, and why it's being opposed by the District Attorney's Office, of all people."

Miriam looked at Savannah and said "Go ahead."

Savannah said "Your Honor, it's because of the upcoming Locklear trial. Commander Troy is using this to get information on one of my witnesses, and he cannot be trusted to not give it to the Defense---"

Michael McGill pounced: "Oh, so you were going to try to put him on the stand as a surprise witness, and too late for us to then demand his records of his sessions with the Locklears."

Savannah glanced at McGill with a look full of hatred, for being caught and called out. She then said "Your Honor, it's still an issue of relevance, and could be prejudicial in the trial."

"Even his financial records?" the judge asked, his voice connoting his derision.

"Yes, Your Honor." Savannah replied firmly. "The Locklears paid Dr. Frost."

I piped up and said "And we know that already, Your Honor, from the Locklear's financial records. So I have to ask what ADA Fineman is trying to hide, and ask if there is something else she knows that she did not include in discovery."

Judge Folsom rebuked me: "Let's not get into that here, Commander."

Bertram added "And Dr. Frost's other clients also paid him, clients who should be protected by doctor-client privilege."

Judge Folsom said "But he's dead, and he won't be testifying in any earthly Courts now. Commander, what do you expect to find from Dr. Frost's financial and tax records?"

"Possible motive for his murder, Your Honor." I said. "If he made a large, strange payment; if he had unexplained money coming in; anything irregular that raises red flags; that would be something we could investigate."

"And won't the client list also be helpful in that capacity?" asked the judge pointedly.

"Yes, Your Honor." I said. "Especially his most recent clients last week, and who he was expecting to have visit him today."

"Sir, I must object!" said Savannah Fineman, very strongly, as if she was in charge. "You cannot allow Donald Troy to have the client list, much less their files. If I may remind you, Your Honor, several months ago the Town & County Police obtained the client list of Town Fitness Centers and began investigating those clients without probable cause, and they turned out to be innocent. Troy also ignored a 'cease and desist' order in that case." (Author's note: 'The Babymaker')

"I was under no obligation to respect that worthless so-called 'cease and desist' order." I replied. "Fineman is being dishonest again---"

Savannah interrupted me and continued: "For Donald Troy to begin investigating Dr. Frost's clients, and and all of them, without probable cause, would cause untold devastation to people's lives. Dr. Frost was a marriage counselor, Your Honor. How is it going to go down when Troy starts revealing what's in a wife's file to her husband, things that were said with the expectation of confidence---"

Judge Folsom interrupted: "I get it, Ms. Fineman. Doctor-client privilege. And I'm not insensitive to your concerns about your upcoming Locklear trial... which we were supposed to be meeting at this time to discuss. But as an ADA, don't you think the Police need to develop leads so they can solve the murder of Dr. Frost?"

"No, Your Honor." Savannah said with alacrity. "The privilege is sacrosanct, just like the attorney-client privilege and Press rights are absolute."

"I totally agree with that, Your Honor." said Bertram.

Teresa surprised me by walking in to the party: "Your Honor, may I make a suggestion?"

Judge Folsom looked at her in total surprise, as if a statue, or what he expected to be a statue, had spoken. "What?" he said, his voice harsh and unfriendly.

Unperturbed, Teresa said "I know that Federal Law allows for Special Masters to be appointed to look at sensitive or classified data. I'm not sure what the State-level law is, but I do know that you are a Superior Court Judge and can do a lot. You could appoint someone to look at the data and advise you what should be released so that we can follow leads. Someone of unimpeachable integrity---"

"That won't be Donald Troy." Savannah said snottily.

"District Attorney Walters, get your ADA under control." Judge Folsom said witheringly. "If she accuses Commander Troy of wrongdoing again, like she has several times this morning, she'll find herself in jail for Contempt, and she won't get out until she proves her allegations against the Commander."

"Yes, Your Honor." Miriam Walters said, then gave Savannah a 'look' that connoted warning.

"You were saying, Commander Croyle?" Judge Folsom said.

"Yes sir." Teresa said. "ADA Fineman accidentally got it right when she used the word 'sacrosanct'. You can appoint someone who has the experience of a Police Detective, and would also treat the data he examines as sacred as a Confessional."

I smiled as I realized who the Iron Wolf was thinking about. The lawyers were not as amused.

"No, Your Honor!" Bertram practically shouted. "I protest anyone at all looking at that data!"

"Noted." said Judge Folsom. "So who is this person, Commander?"

"Police Chaplain Alberto Romano, Your Honor." Teresa replied. "He was a Police Detective before he became a priest. He was kidnapped and beaten once to force him to reveal something told to him in Confession, and he did not break. He would've died before breaking that sanctity. And he showed his immense integrity by making the arrest of Claude Cardinal O'Leery in spite of the threat of excommunication and being shunned by his fellow priests." (Author's note: 'Return to Point Hollow', Ch. 03-04; 'Deliver Us From Evil', Ch. 03.)

"That... is a good idea." said Judge Folsom. "What do you think of it, Commander Troy?"

"Your Honor," I said with alacrity and with a smile, "the only thing I don't like about it is that I didn't think of it myself first." Cindy, Nadine Hall, Michael McGill, and even Miriam Walters chuckled at that, as did the Judge.

"That sounds like high praise for you, Commander Croyle." Judge Folsom said. "What do the rest of your think?

Bertram said "If you allow this, I want a stay to appeal it."

Savannah said "I agree, and will also appeal, Your Honor. I don't care who it is; Romano is part of Donald Troy's Police Force."

Nadine Hall said "Your Honor, I think Father Romano is the perfect choice to be the Special Master, such as it is. But I request that the records pertaining to Stanley and Marla Locklear be protected from even his scrutiny, because I believe it will taint the upcoming trial."

"I can do that... for now." the Judge said agreeably. "Call Chaplain Romano and have him report to my Chambers. You guys can appeal, but I won't issue a stay. Time is of the essence for the Police trying to solve this murder."

As Teresa got to work on her Police iPhone, Bertram got up and left the room, fishing his cellphone out of his pocket as he exited...

Part 6 - Desperation

Judge Patrick R. Folsom swore in Police Chaplain (Captain) Alberto Romano as a Special Investigator answerable directly to the Judge, with the mission and mandate to examine all of Dr. Frost's personal and professional papers, to include his records pertaining to his clients.

Afterwards, the first thing we did was to take Father Romano to Frost's home, an expensive Townhouse in a subdivision very near the Heritage Cloisters. Michael Bertram and Nadine Hall were also present, at my personal and select invitation. Savannah Fineman was denied access, as Nadine Hall was there to represent Marla Locklear's interests, and the Police had not referred a case to the District Attorney's office. Cindy Ross also came, for reasons that were not exactly clear to me.

"No signs of forced entry anywhere." said Detective Roark Coleman. "But his Audi is in the garage, and the keys are on the kitchen counter by the door leading in from that garage."

"What does that tell you, Mr. Roark?" I asked.

Roark: "The perpetrator could have shot Dr. Frost in his office, taken his keys, driven his own car here, then come in and taken anything he doesn't want us to find."

"Outstanding thinking, Mr. Roark." I said. "What else?"

"Uhh... I'm not sure what else you're wanting me to see, sir." Roark admitted.

"Think about how the killer got somewhere else from here." I replied.

"Oh." Roark said. Then it hit him: "Ohhhhh! Another car must've been here, or came here and picked up whoever drove the Audi here! And that means there may be more than one perp!"

"Either theory is possible." I said. "How are you going to go about gathering data to show what happened?"

Roark again got the hint: "If you'll excuse me, sir, I'll go call Intel now and get them to see if there is any surveillance footage of the area, and if we have something for the weekend."

"Before you go," I said, "here's something else I want you to do, as well. I want you to organize a group of Officers to go door-to-door and ask if anyone saw anything out of the ordinary on Saturday, if they saw unusual cars in the neighborhood, especially around this home, and/or if they saw any strange persons walking or loitering around."

"Yes sir." Roark said and moved out smartly to execute the mission. I turned to other things.

"Davis, get a CSI team over here to get fingerprints, though I doubt we'll find any if the killer wore gloves."

"Yes sir." Davis said, fishing out his Police iPhone.

The house had no professional papers in it, but there was one item of interest leaning against the corner of the bedroom: a high-quality video camera.

Cindy looked at it and said "This is one of the highest-quality digital videocameras on the market. Callie has a couple of them for her professional films. It records to a memory drive, which is not here. So we need to look for that."

"Can it record directly to a computer server?" I asked.

"I think so, if you know how to hook that up." Cindy said. "But the better and more common thing to do is to record to a laptop computer attached to a memory drive, then copy it to a server for storage."

"You think that's what this is? Was he making sex films?" I asked as I looked all around.

Cindy said "I don't see a setup like lights and mirrors or anything, like at the Matheson home." (Author's note: 'Price No Object', Ch. 01.) "It looks more like he just has it ready to film his own personal encounters."

"Sir," said Roark Coleman as he came into the room, "there are no computers in the home, and no wire hookups except the television cable service. Any wifi internet routers in conjunction with that service may have been taken. We'll rip the place apart from the attic to the basement, but I'm getting the idea that Frost did not bring his professional work home with him."

"But he has that videocamera here, and no storage capacity for it." I said. "Okay, Roark, keep looking."

"Sir," said Jerome Davis, "we found this in his dresser drawer." In his hand was a small jewelry box, and he opened it to reveal an impressive diamond engagement ring.

"Wowwww." I said as I carefully took the ring out of the box (with my gloved hands) and examined it closely. "There's something inscribed on the underside... 'my love Marla'."

"What the hell?" exclaimed a shocked Nadine Hall.

"Oh my God." Cindy Ross whispered. "He was going to ask Marla Locklear to marry him?"

"If he didn't ask her already." I said. "Hmm, it looks like... there was some sizing work done to the ring, then the inscription was made over it. Jerome, this is a longshot, but swab the inside of the ring and around the diamond, and submit it to the lab to see if any DNA comes up."

"Wilco, sir." Jerome said.

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

4:30pm. Teresa and I drove Father Romano to the office suite of Dr. Peter Frost. I said "Father, we have the servers at Headquarters, so you can look at them at your leisure. What we need is for you to look at the paper files while you're able to do so, and as quickly as possible."

"Certainly, sir." Father Romano said. He was wearing his uniform with clerical collar, and he had a Police radio with him... and his service weapon, at my insistence. Yes, he was qualified with it and could carry it as part of his duties, though he rarely did so.

When we arrived and parked out front, I saw the Patrol cruiser parked in the closest non-handicapped space. I said to Teresa "I thought you had two patrols here?"

"Yes sir." Teresa said. "The other one is probably parked in the back lot."

We said hello to Patrol Officers Madison and Colquitt, who were standing out front. "We just got here, sir." said Patty Colquitt. "We brought the receptionist Denise, like you asked us to."

"Perfect, thank you." I said. We went inside. Denise was sitting at her receptionist desk. Michael Bertram was sitting in the waiting room chair nearest to the desk.

"Thank you for coming, Denise." I said. "This is Chaplain Romano, who Judge Folsom appointed to examine the protected files."

"I'm sorry to have to meet you under these circumstances." Father Romano said. "I appreciate your help." He asked for the list of patients for the past week, then they went into the file room to look up the names.

Meanwhile, I went through the office and out the back door. Officers Kevin Buchannan and Mullen Grant were standing outside, talking. (Author's note: 'Angels of Christmas' for Mullen Grant.)

After greetings I said "Stay alert, guys. And stay here until you're relieved by 3rd shift. This place has to be guarded 24/7." The Officers acknowledged the instructions. We went back inside, and I said to Bertram: "Are you staying here all night? There's really nothing you can do."

Bertram said "I'm here to represent Denise's interests, and my late client's. I'll be here as long as she's here. I'll give her a ride home when she's done here."

"Nooo, our Officers will do that." I replied. "But you can leave whenever you like. Those chairs do not look comfortable for sleeping on..."

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

7:30pm. Lieutenant Joanne Warner brought take-out dinners for everyone, saying that Commander Troy had ordered the food for them. Bertram refused his, even though I'd ordered a meal for him, too. Joanne ate it as she talked with Buchannan and Mullen Grant in the office, mostly about her young son Tony and Buchannan's son Henry, born on the same day.

Meanwhile, Father Romano exercised his considerable interpersonal skills as he talked to Denise. "So tell me," said Romano, "were there any threats against Dr. Frost that you knew of? And I'll treat your answers as privileged."

"Thank you, Father." Denise said. "And to answer your question, which I was told I couldn't discuss with the Police, there were some problems. I'm not sure this is proper to tell a priest, but... well, Dr. Frost was very forward-thinking in his advice to couples."