Sausage and The Law Ch. 02

Yolanda: "I remember meeting Lorena Rose when she was in Los Angeles. Congratulations on your promotion to Lieutenant with the SBI, Lorena." More applause. Then we got started.

Yolanda brought up what looked like a screen of a 3D video game. It was the main room of Apartment 10B of the Rio Linda Apartments. The walls were an olive-green and the floor black. The bodies on the outlined sofa were mannequins in a pale peach-yellow color, and little red lines projected from their bodies, indicating the bullet wounds and their trajectories as measured by our Ballistics expert Jody Taylor.

"What was the caliber of the bullets?" I asked.

Mary Milton said "The autopsy report is not complete, sir, but Jody Taylor says he believes the cartridges were.38 Specials, possibly fired from a revolver that can shoot.357 Magnums. He says the lack of expended casings at the scene as well as other wound indicators suggest revolver-fired rounds as opposed to a nine millimeter semi-auto pistol that would've ejected shells."

"I'll buy that for a dollar." I said. "But I'll make this point: most revolvers of calibers greater than.22 are either five-shot or six-shot cylinders. We have at least seven shots at this crime scene, which means the perp had a second gun or, more likely, reloaded to fire the coup de grâce shots."

"Which takes time." said Roark Coleman. I pointed at him and nodded; he was getting my hint, there.

Yolanda manipulated the screen to show that it was a 360º panorama, and the bullet trajectories could be extrapolated out. "Okay, the body wounds point to the ceiling, but the head shots are definitely feasible if someone is standing right over them."

Roark Coleman said "But didn't the witness say the perp ran after shooting them from the doorway?"

Joanne Warner very quickly replied "No. As I clearly stated a moment ago, she closed her door so that he didn't see her watching and try to kill her, too."

I said "Yolanda, can you have the bodies come to life and stand back up?"

Yolanda said "Yes sir. In fact, what I've had the computer do is trace their movements backwards, so that we can see them being shot then falling back onto the sofa."

"That's amazing stuff." Mary Milton said. "How does it -do- that?"

As she manipulated the images, Yolanda said "It makes heavy use of AI to create the images as well as the sequences of what happened. I'm one of the few that got the beta version from the creators, and they gave me permission to give it to the TCPD. They'll ask you to give them feedback on it, but that should be worth it."

"It will be." I said. "Okay, let's see what it tells us."

Yolanda had the images of the victims moving in reverse until they were standing. "It looks like the man was hit first with two rounds in the chest. Then the woman got three rounds. She was beginning to turn away, to her right side, and so the trajectories show a wider arc, and the third round got her at nearly a 45º angle under her left clavicle, just in front of her armpit."

Yolanda said "The program will begin trying to line up the trajectories to a single source. I'll add a little matrix image of the killer..."

A see-thru 3D criss-cross like in video games appeared, as if we were looking at his back. The POV of the camera was the hallway doorway, and we could see through the green-line image to the victims. But the extrapolations of the gunfire trajectories was all over the place.

Joanne Warner said "Maybe he began walking towards them, and towards the table to take any drugs that were on the table, which were gone but the dog alerted on."

Yolanda began tapping buttons on her computer, and the perp image moved away from the POV and towards the sofa. "They're still not lining up. That third shot the girl took is the one really messing with the program."

Roark Coleman said "Try taking the killer image out and just let the trajectories line up where they will." Yolanda did so. The lines converged a bit better, but to the right of the doorway."

"That's no good." said Joanne Warner. "The killer was in the doorway."

"Was he?" Roark fired back. "What if he stepped to his right after entering?"

"That's not what the witness told us, Detective." Joanne said sharply.

"What the witness told us may be wrong." Roark replied, a bit snarkily.

Lieutenant Christopher Purvis said "We know that eyewitness statements can be only partially correct sometimes. Ms. Huntington saw a shocking scene. She remembers the perp's first appearance, but he may have moved and she didn't quite process that."

"Could well be." Yolanda said. She re-inserted the 'perp' matrix figure and had it move to the side past the end of the door, its right arm extended as if shooting. "That better, but it's still not great. The trajectories want to go a little further to the right of the perp."

"And there's one other thing." Roark Coleman said, his voice connoting playing a trump card. "Marquis Swift is left-handed!"

"And just how do you know that?" Joanne Warner said scornfully.

"Good old-fashioned data research." Roark replied smugly. "Which I do more often than I've been given credit for." That was a total shot at Joanne for what she'd said to him at the crime scene, and her face turned beet red with anger, and perhaps embarrassment. I knew I had to step in.

"That's an interesting point, Mister Roark." I said, a bit loudly and more forcefully than I really needed to. "Yolanda, can you make that little matrix perp left-handed?"

"Sure can." Yolanda said. In fact, she was already doing it.

I said: "And have him spring out of the coat closet to the right of the door, and move towards the victims." Yolanda did so, and the trajectories began lining up.

"But that means he wasn't in the doorway." Captain Claire Michaels said. "And that means Rhonda Huntington lied to us like a dog in the shade."

"That is exactly right." I said. "Commander Croyle, Captain Michaels, an arrest warrant for Rhonda Huntington, on suspicion. And while you're at it, get a material witness warrant for Randy Luna and bring him in, too---"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

It was my Police iPhone. "Yes, Sheriff?... Yes sir... You mean now, sir?... On my way." After disconnecting, I said "The Sheriff wants to see me in his office, and it can't wait. You guys carry on."

As I left, I noticed that Roark Coleman was looking just a little smug, but more importantly, Joanne Warner's face connoted utter fury...

Part 8 - Health And Welfare

It was 10:30am, Monday, January 10th, when I arrived at Sheriff Griswold's office at City Hall, wearing my Duty Dress jacket with boxes over a white shirt and black necktie. The Sheriff's assistant did the 'all proper' thing by opening the door to his office to let me in, then shutting it behind me after I'd declined coffee or water.

I saw why there was formality: also in the room was a middle-aged black man, in decent physical condition, about 5'10" tall, deliberately bald (meaning he shaved his head), wearing a well-tailored suit made of surprisingly cheap materials.

Griswold said "Commander, I believe you've met Dr. Raphael Kapel."

"Yes, at the Council meeting last week." I said. I shook his hand and the Sheriff bade us to sit in the chairs in front of his desk.

"I apologize for not calling you sooner, Commander." said Kapel. "But since I was in City Hall today on other business, I thought I might come see the Sheriff about my ideas for the Public Health Service, and I appreciate you coming by."

"No problem. I'm at your service, Dr. Kapel." I said, and my statement was exactly as truthful as his.

Kapel: "I appreciate that. And I greatly respected the job you and the Charter Commission did re-writing the Charter. Unfortunately, a problem has come up."

"Ryan Paulson wanting to kill the Free Clinics." I replied.

"Yes." said Kapel. "And that has terrified the Black Community. They depend on those 
Free Clinics for their health care. And if you even want to know why Blacks despise the Republican Party, just look at what Paulson is doing now."

"A lot of non-Blacks also depend on the Free Clinics." I said. "I'm not trying to defend Ryan Paulson nor the Establishment Republican Party, but I don't see this as a racial issue."

"Then what is it?" Kapel asked skeptically.

I said "Ryan Paulson's campaign is being financed largely by BigBenefitInsurance. They want the Free Clinics closed to force poor people to have to buy their insurance. And yes, University Hospital stopped taking BBI's insurance after the Ransomware Virus incident last year and BBI's attacks on our doctors, bur I think the green dollar bills are Paulson's motives." (Author's note: 'Beethoven Virus'; 'Climate Injustice'.)

"And we're right back to the Corporate Elites of the Republican Party." said Kapel, and I really couldn't argue with that. "Before I say more, I ned to ask you this. Why is the Public Health Department part of the Public Safety Department in the first place?"

I looked at the Sheriff, who answered: "Back when the Town and County merged, someone said that since public health was a safety issue, the County Public Health Department should be part of the newly merged Public Safety Department. At the time the EMTs were part of the Fire Department, so there was only Police and Fire as first responders. So they put the Public Health Department in with them."

I took it up, saying "When we re-wrote the Charter, we had the situation where the Police had gotten the SWAT Team, the Fire Department had the Bomb Squad, and they'd given the Public Health Department the HAZMAT Team. That made some sense, as hazardous materials are a health and safety issue. So we pretty much just left all that alone."

"How do you feel about the possibility of separating Public Health from Public Safety?" asked Kapel.

I said "I don't really have any problems with it either way. But if they were to separate them, I'd want one thing: I'd want the HAZMAT Team moved to remain in the Public Safety Department, possibly under the EMS Service."

Sheriff Griswold said "As Sheriff, I might welcome the separation, and I agree with Crowbar that we should keep the HAZMAT Team under Public Safety. But let me ask you this question: why do you think this will solve your problem regarding Paulson wanting to defund the Free Clinics? Won't he just keep going after them?"

"Maybe." said Kapel. "And I know the Iron Crowbar is not a racist, but I also know that his 'colorblind' attitude is idealistic, at best. So you may not agree with this, Commander, but we believe that if the Public Health Service becomes a separate entity, any attempt by Ryan Paulson to defund it will be seen as overtly racist, and will be too damaging for the full Assembly or Council to go along with it."

"You're right... I don't agree with the premise." I said. Then I looked at the Sheriff and said "But the logic is flawless, in the political sense. And it could hurt all of the Republicans in the local races, including you, sir, if Paulson isn't isolated."

Griswold growled "Oh, I intend to fully endorse Dr. Kapel's idea. And not for the optics nor the political reasons. I think it's a good idea, provided that we keep the HAZMAT Teams."

I sensed that Kapel was surprised at that, and I sensed deeper down that he was just a little bit disappointed, as if he really wanted the issue to attack Republicans. So I said 
"I appreciate your concern for the needs of our County's poorest people, and I can assure you we share it. So of course we'll endorse the idea."

In other words, take the win for the right reasons, I thought to myself...

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

1:00pm, Monday, January 10th. The Committee of the Whole, meaning the Mayor and all ten Council Members, convened in the Private Council Chamber on the 2nd floor of City Hall. Also in attendance were Sheriff Griswold, Myself, Raphael Kapel, and Ryan Paulson.

Also in the room were TCPD Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle and Sheriff's Department Sergeant-At-Arms Harrison J. Pierce. They were wearing armored vests.

Before we settled down, Daniel asked me "Did Laura enjoy the weekend as much as Melina did?"

I said "Uhh... I haven't had a chance to talk to Laura yet, what with that double murder and all." Hmmm, I thought to myself, so Laura and Melina went somewhere? Hmmm...

"What, no lunch?" Kelly Carnes whined as everyone sat down in their places.

"Ain't no such thing as a free lunch, Carnes." J.P. Goldman said viciously, his voice low and venomous.

"We don't have the budget for it." Mayor Daniel Allgood said flatly. "And I told y'all to eat before you came in."

"We are not fooled." Dagmar Schoen said. "We know Carnes and her fellow Democrats met over lunch to discuss strategy."

"And you filthy Republicans didn't?" Kelly Carnes fired back, her voice a mixture of snotty snarkiness.

"I never said we didn't." Dagmar replied. "We Republicans just don't whine about not getting perks like free lunch at taxpayers's expense like you Democrats do."

"All right, enough, enough." said Mayor Allgood. He called the meeting to order and tapped his gavel. "We have two items to discuss, and they're partly related. First is whether or not to create a ballot initiative to separate the Public Health Department from the Public Safety Department. And the second is to consider changes to the rank structure of the various branches of the Public Safety Department. Right now, we're just in discussion, so we don't need the formalities of points of order or of information, and the like. Keep it civil, so I don't have to resort on calling on someone to have the floor."

Edward R. Steele said "I took the liberty of writing what the ballot initiative would say, if it's approved." He went around and handed everyone their own copy, which was three sheets of paper, stapled together.

"Mighty presumptuous of you." snarled Kelly Carnes.

"We can make changes if we need to." said Mayor Allgood. "This is just the starting point, and from a Member of the Charter Commission."

"Is this what you wanted to see, Dr. Kapel?" asked Edgar Silas.

"Yes." said Kapel as he perused it. "It may be even better than what we originally envisioned."

"Who is this 'we' you're talking about?" asked J.P. Goldman, his voice unfriendly.

"Some of my fellow Town & County Assemblymen." said Kapel. "As well as some of my friends on the Black Business Council, and my friend Dr. Joseph E. Williams, who was also a Charter Commission member. But I'm the one spearheading this initiative." I noticed Edgar Silas frown at the mention of the enemy of Silas's friend Eldrick X. Weaver, the Rev. Williams.

"How do you feel about that, Ryan?" J.P. Goldman asked.

"I'm strongly opposed to it." said Paulson. "The Public Health Department should be about the health and safety of the Citizens of the Town & County, which is a public safety function; and therefore part of the overall Public Safety Department. And I'll add that separating the PHD from the PSD will not stop me from doing everything in my power to shut down those embarrassing examples of socialism and welfare, the so-called Free Clinics. They're certainly not free to the taxpaying Producers of the County."

"So you want to deny Blacks access to health care?" fired Raphael Kapel.

Ryan Paulson angrily said "If you're trying to call me a racist, I'll haul your ass into Court and sue you to death. Those Socialist clinics are not being used exclusively by Blacks. The worst thing about them is that they are being used by Illegal Persons, feeding off the hard work of the taxpayers---"

"They're not illegal persons!" yelled Kelly Carnes. "They are persons, and human beings just like anyone else!"

"And they're here illegally, which makes them Illegal Persons." persisted Ryan Paulson.

"You're a racist!" yelled Carnes. "What you just said is racist hate speech!"

"Cry me a river, you Leftwing idiot." shot back Paulson. "You try to call it 'hate speech' because you know it's the truth! And that's what you really hate... the truth that exposes your Socialist lies---"

*tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap*

"This is neither the time nor the place for this." said Mayor Daniel Allgood."

"Why not?" yelled Ryan Paulson. "If you weren't such a weak Mayor, we wouldn't be having our tax dollars stolen and wasted by Illegal Persons!--- uhhk!"

He suddenly stopped talking. The rounded end of a red crowbar has a way of doing that to people. I had risen and jabbed my red crowbar into Paulson's chest.

"Shut your fucking mouth, asshole." I said venomously. "You're here as a guest, and I'm about to revoke your privileges. The hard way."

"You son of a bitch!" Paulson snarled, wanting to stand up and front me, but unable to with the crowbar pressing him back. "You ain't the boss of me! I got rights! What are you gonna do, hit me with that thing, you thug?---" He stopped again when Teresa Croyle appeared in the chair next to him.

"You know something, Mr. Paulson?" the Iron Wolf said. "When you're in a deep hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. I can assure you that if you think you can stand up to the Iron Crowbar, you got another 'think' coming. And you can cry about your rights all day and night, but that crowbar is still going to hurt when -I- take it out of the Commander's hands and shove it up your Establishment Elitist ass!"

"I'd listen to her, if I were you." said Sergeant-At-Arms Harrison J. Pierce. He stood up. "Why don't you come with me, Mr. Paulson, while we let the hotheads cool off, eh?"

"I'll see you on the debate stage, Allgood." said Paulson. "Or are you too much of a pussy to debate me?" Sergeant-At-Arms Pierce moved Paulson along to the door that Teresa had opened. A second later she came back in alone.

"I have one question, Mr. Kapel." said J.P. Goldman.

"It's Doctor Kapel!" shouted Kelly Carnes.

"Yeah, whatever. I call everyone 'Mister', or 'Miss'." said J.P. Goldman. "Mister Kapel, Paulson is right about one thing... he's going to try to kill the Free Clinics no matter what. So is it really necessary, or better, to separate Public Health from the overall umbrella of Public Safety?"

"That's the question for you, and perhaps for the voters, to decide." said Kapel. "I do think it would be better if they were separate. The Public Health Department can retain its mission of emergency health response as well as the general welfare---"

"No, no, no." growled Sheriff Griswold. "True public safety works only under one cohesive umbrella with a cohesive leadership structure... some of which I'm going to discuss in the structure issues later."

"Which way would you prefer it, Sheriff?" asked Sheila Sorrells.

Sheriff Griswold said "The Public Health Department is already one foot out the door. I leave all the services, the Clinics and all that, to the PHO and their Leadership. I'd have no problem letting them go and being on their own... except the HAZMAT and other emergency people. We need to keep them, so that we can coordinate them with the rest of the Public Safety response to emergencies."

"What about you, Don?" asked John Colby.

Kelly Carnes said venomously "He's just an employee. He will do what the Sheriff tells him. His opinion is of no value."

"Neither is yours." fired back J.P. Goldman. "I'm asking Don Troy as Charter Commission Chairman: Don, what's your opinion? What would you do if it was all up to you?"

"I have no problem with it either way." I replied. "I would put it on the ballot, and let the People decide, and I'd be happy with whatever they vote to do. My only caveat and request is that if the PHD goes its own way, we need to retain the HAZMAT Team as part of our coordinated emergency health response to anything... such as fentanyl releases and train explosions and fires. I recommend the EMS Service take over those responsibilities. That should be stated in detail on the ballot." (Author's note: 'Smoke On The Water', Ch. 01; 'Scavenger Hunt', Ch. 04 for the fentanyl and train incidents.)