Return of The Slender Man Ch. 03

"Put them in the Press Room." I said to Cindy when she came to inform me. "I'll talk to 'em."

"Whaaa?" Cindy gasped. "These are like Star Wars groupies, except they follow all things Slender Man."

"At least they have something to follow." I said. "Call Dr. Mickelson and ask him to come down, as well."

I went down the hall and to the Press Room, and in a rare occasion actually enjoyed going in there. I found the young 'Slender Man' sycophants to be respectful, they asked good questions which I tried to answer to the best of my abilities, and they paid attention to what was being said. Then Dr. Mickelson arrived, and I excused myself. I understand that Dr. Mickelson had an attentive audience for over two hours, and he was loving every minute of the attention he was getting as he gave his lecture on Sigma radiation and the Slender Man...

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

Tuesday, April 24th, 8:30pm or so.

"Alright, the second reading of the bill is passed, by the same numbers as before, and the motions are carried." said Mayor Larry Vaughan, the People's Choice. "Our next item of business is to allocate funds to buy Commander Troy a new kevlar 'girdle'. There is no doubt that his old one was damaged badly by the lightning strike." He held up the 'girdle'; everyone was stunned by the damage.

"Money well spent; it worked well." said Edward R. Steele, whose adopted daughter Marie was Carole's friend. "I move to make an emergency appropriation to buy a couple of replacements."

"I second the motion." said John Colby.

"Why bother?" sneered Kelly Carnes. "The Iron Crowbar is going to be indicted and suspended by July 4th."

"You know that for sure?" asked Dagmar Schoen scornfully. "How?"

"I keep my ears open, Ms. Schoen." Carnes said haughtily. "It's all over the place: Mullen is aiming to have Troy gone by July 4th, if not earlier."

"Commander Troy is not the only person who could wear a protective 'girdle'." said John Colby, steering the conversation back on track. "Anyone else with a bad back and needing protection from Enemy gunfire could use one. So it'll still be money well spent." After some more back-and-forth, the motion carried 9-1.

"All right," said the Mayor, "and our last item is the Board of Inquiry report of the kidnapped children's rescue. The finding is 1-1, with Mr. Silas abstaining and voting 'Present'. He adds a note that he found it simply impossible to get an accurate picture of what happened. He believes the Police and children were truthful in their statements, but none of them can really explain what happened."

Kelly Carnes took it up. "Mr. Finneran stated strongly that he does not believe the Police statements, and says the children couldn't see anything. He thinks the Police are covering up something, though he does not say what that something is. But he's skeptical of the official Police story, and frankly, so am I."

"For a rare one time," said J.R. Goldman, "I agree with Mrs. Carnes. We don't really know what happened, though I think the Police told what they knew, and truthfully. I don't think they know what happened for sure. That lightning burst, or whatever it was, is on videotape, so something happened."

"The other issue" said Susan Weston, "is that Chief Moynahan put Commander Troy in for a Purple Order and Star of Gallantry, for being injured by the lightning strike, or whatever it was, and for engaging the Slender Man in personal combat in order to distract the kidnapper and let others get the kids out of there. The Board's actual vote was out that; they indemnified the Commander's actions, 2-1. With the tie vote, we have to decide for ourselves."

"They attached the doctors' reports." said Kelly Carnes. "The doctors all said that Commander Troy's back was no worse than it was before that day, that there was no further damage to his previously injured vertebrae, and indeed in some ways it looked like his back was stronger than before. So while he had a burn on this back that did not cause lost time, there's no back injury to justify a Purple Order."

"Wow, I agree with Ms. Carnes twice in one meeting." said J.R. Goldman. "Edward, what is the world coming to?" Steele shrugged in good natured agreement. Kelly Carnes looked daggers across the table at Goldman.

"What about the Star?" asked Colby. "There is no doubt in my mind that Commander Troy was more than a little brave in taking on the Slender Man as he did, and his actions enabled the rescue of the children."

"Yes, but does it rise to the level of a Star?" asked Susan Weston. "Again, we're not sure what even happened. Rushing a perp is normal for Police Officers, especially if they're not being shot at. Yes, he helped get the kids out of there, but I'm not seeing this action as especially significant."

"Commander Troy and his fellow Peace Officers have set a high bar for themselves." said Malinda Adams. "Yes, he was brave. But we've seen many brave acts, which is one reason I thought we were agreeing to ratchet down the level of awards being given out. Detective McGhillie was a fine example of someone deserving the Star of Gallantry. Does this rise to that?..."

Part 22 - Epilogue

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, April 25th. "Fox Two News has learned that the Police and Fire Department promotions have been approved by the Town & County Council!"

Bettina: "None of the proposals made by the TCPD and TCFD were turned down, and the ceremonies will take place next Tuesday, May 1st. As part of the promotions, several offices at TCPD Headquarters will be renovated over the weekend. The Police are not saying what changes will be made, with Commander Troy saying only that some surprises are in store for us."

More Bettina: "Also, the Council denied the application of a Purple Order for Commander Donald Troy. They cited that doctors could find no new and significant injuries to his back, despite possibly being struck by lightning right on the spot of his previous injury. The Council did approve new armor to replace the damaged vests Commander Troy was wearing last Friday night when the freak lightning strike occurred as Commander Troy engaged the Slender Man in personal combat."

"And in what is called the most exciting season for the Police Department," Bettina said, "Commander Troy put out the call for entry applications for the Police Boxing Matches! Defending Freestyle Champion Teresa Croyle has stated that she intends to successfully defend her title against all comers, despite having been seriously wounded last Christmas Eve when she rescued little Carole Troy from the deliberately set explosion at the Ward Harvester Warehouse. But she will have serious competition, including previous champion Captain Cindy Ross..."

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

"Slow news day." said Cindy Ross as we drank coffee in MCD. "We just heard more about the Police Boxing Matches than we did about State-level politics."

"Yeah, what's that about?" muttered Jerome Davis.

"It usually means something is up." said Teresa Croyle, ever cynical. "When politicians and the Media stop talking, they're usually doing something bad behind the scenes."

"You got that right." I said.

"You moving out of your office, Commander?" Micah Rudistan asked jovially. "Giving it to the new Deputy Chief, whoever that will be?"

"You should be worrying more about your own office... or lack of one." I replied, drawing some 'ooooooh's. "But they're renovating over the weekend, so I'm taking the personal stuff home and they can move the furniture themselves. And that does remind me, I'm taking Friday off so I don't have to deal with that mess."

"Gonna work on those Police Boxing Matches brackets while you're at home, Commander?" Joanne Warner asked brightly.

"Naw, I've got those figured out already, unless someone surprises me by not entering, or somebody comes correct with a huge bribe." I replied. "Right now, mischievous Detectives are in spots 94-97."

"Awesome!" Davis all but shouted. "That'll make my win the biggest upset championship in history!" That tore the lid off Police Boxing Matches banter hell...

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

"Okay," I said to Cindy and Teresa as we gathered in my office after the coffee klatch. "Laura and I are leaving Friday to go to our property on Lake Watchacoochie for the weekend. We'll be back late Sunday night. Molly and my mom are keeping Jim and the boys and the dogs, and the Steeles are keeping Carole. Unless there is something involving the kids, or a true, blow-the-doors-off emergency, solve the problem yourselves and don't call me."

"Wilco, sir." said Cindy. "So Wanda and Carl are going to the Lake with you?"

"Not with us, but they'll be meeting us there." I replied. "Cal and Drusilla Romano, too. I guess you'll be covering at the gym?" Cindy nodded.

"And getting paperwork done." she said. I nodded.

Turning to Teresa, I asked "What about you, Teresa?"

"With Cindy's offices... current and new... being renovated," said Teresa, "she's being kicked out the door, too. So I'm the one on call. If the criminals will take a weekend off, I'll get to spend the time undoing the damage Todd and his people are doing with the wedding plans." Cindy and I both chuckled at that.

"Wow, that's coming up so fast." Cindy mused. Teresa nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yes, yes it is." I said. "Y'all ready for Promotions Day next Tuesday?"

"Like everyone else, we're taking bets on who the Captain of Detectives will be." said Cindy. "The odds will change tremendously depending on if Claire Michaels or Lorena Rose come through our doors Tuesday."

"You guys are good." I said, then grinned and added: "And like Rudistan, sometimes too good for your own good..."

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

The Slender Man would never again appear in any more of my dreams or visions. He would never appear in my Town & County again in my lifetime... with one small exception, which I will discuss in a near-future story.

The Slender Man Fan Clubs around the world would contact me about him, and I would reply with as much information as I could give. Tourists came, and for a while we had to have one patrol on duty at the Point Hollow location at all times. One added benefit of the attention was that several Cosplay and other conventions were held at the Convention Center off Courthouse Square or the University's facilities, bringing lots of money into the local economy.

As I thought of that, I was remembering the visit from Dr. Mickelson after his conversation with the young people from England:

"We've put your crowbar through a myriad of tests." said Dr. Mickelson. "Astatine has been identified, as well as sigma radiation. The spot on the ground at Point Hollow where you hit Slender Man on the head is also pretty warm, as far as the sigma radiation goes."

"My crowbar was lying there for a few minutes." I said. "Is that the cause of the residual ground radiation?"

"Could well be." said Dr. Mickelson. "I also checked with the University's Weather Service. They said there were no lightning strikes at Point Hollow or anywhere in the County at the time you were up there."

"Cool beans." I said, very sure that that was true. "By the way, do I get my crowbar back?"

"Oh yes." said Dr. Mickelson. "I brought it with me, in fact; the young folks from England were looking at it. I'd suggest you keep it in the lead foil we wrapped it with for a few years. The half-life of the isotopes is about a year and a half, so in fifteen years or so, it'll be back to normal."

When a radioactive substance decays, it takes a certain amount of time to be half of what it originally was. That time is called the 'half-life' of the substance. After ten half lives, the radiation is reduced to essentially background levels. So for a substance to have a half-life of one year means that in ten years the radioactivity from that isotope will be essentially gone. The red crowbar I used to defeat the Slender Man would be safe again within a couple of decades.

And my dream while unconscious on the ground at Point Hollow was prescient: that red crowbar would one day be given to and be used by Detective Donald Troy... Donald David Troy, Jim's son...

...and my grandson.

Finis.