Sausage and The Law Ch. 02

Cerone said that the issues with the University were becoming more and more publicly important, as Legislators all over the State, be they Republicans or Democrats, were really hearing from their constituents about the 'loyalty documents', especially them being applied to the Athletic Programs and their various coaching staffs.

"My lodestone on that is the Hospital, and my sick kids." Teresa said. "The School can tear itself apart for all I care, but if my kids can't get the best doctors and nurses to take care of them and cure their illnesses, that's a problem."

"Would you be willing to say that to the Legislature, as a called-upon witness?" Senator Cerone said.

"Yes sir, I would." Teresa said.

"Why don't you and I talk about that at the table next door, there." suggested Cerone. "I know that Mr. Molinari wants to talk to the Iron Crowbar privately about something." Teresa looked at me and I nodded, and so she and Cerone moved to the table next to ours, where they were served cheesecake and coffee. Molinari and I were also served dessert.

Molinari said quietly "What I wanted to talk to you about is that dirtbag Randy Luna that you arrested, and (air quotes) 'dirtbag' is too kind a term for him, which I'll touch upon in a minute." I nodded.

Molinari continued: "As you know, I started in the construction business. My businesses were good and clean... oh, I know, what went on behind the scenes may not have been, but the businesses themselves were good and legit... but the company Luna is contracted with is as dirty as an overused pig sty."

"Is he running drugs with them?" I asked prematurely.

Molinari shook his head and said "No, and let me tell you the whole story. The name of the company is 'Gold & Partners'. It's owned by a man named Robert Gold. He goes by the nam 'Bob'. Bob Gold and Dean Allen, son of the late State Senator Nathan Allen, were friends since childhood." The mention of Dean Allen's name made me glad Teresa was not at the table at the moment.

(Author's note: 'Dark Side of the Force' Ch. 04-05 for Nathan Allen's death; 'Teresa's Christmas Story', 'Man of God', 'Music Box Dancer' Ch. 02' for more on Dean Allen and Phil Kearns.)

Molinari: "As you know, Dean Allen cannot earn any money without it being taken and sent directly to Phil Kearns, whose family Dean Allen wiped out while Allen was driving drunk. All Allen has that can't be touched is his father's trust fund. So Allen has been finding ways to obtain money under the table, so that he won't have to give Kearns a dime."

Molinari: "And that's where Gold & Partners come in. They're a small company, and pretty disreputable. They like to cut corners, they overcharge for things and then substitute cheaper items, such as charging for using galvanized screws and nails but using cheaper, ungalvanized screws and nails. And the same for the lumber they use, and so on and so forth. That also goes for Randy Luna: he charges for high quality paints, but turns around and uses cheap, vastly inferior paints."

Molinari: "As you also know, the northwest region of the State, especially your County, Coltrane County, and Nextdoor County, are undergoing a bit of a boom in construction. They are anticipating that either the Town & County will be fully merged by force, -or- they'll be re-separated while your County is merged with Coltrane County and maybe Nextdoor County." I nodded, beginning to see where this was going.

Molinari: "A lot of housing is being built in the outlying county areas of all three counties, because a lot of Whites know that a merged County or a majority Town Council will result in Democrat hegemony over them, with mostly Black--- er, Minorities ruling over them. And that means taxes on the White Producers will skyrocket, while indigent Blacks and Hispanics, and especially Illegal Persons, will get all the benefits while paying less or no taxes."

Molinari: "So the White taxpayers are looking to get out. And that means a lahhht of money is up for grabs, not to mention inroads for gambling, drugs, prostitution. You're going to get a lot of work in the coming months, if I don't miss my guess."

"And you rarely do, if I don't miss -my- guess." I replied.

Molinari chuckled, then said "Dean Allen has been behind a lot of the construction boom. He somehow was able to leverage property through options, and he's one of the up-and-coming players in the new construction. And he does it through proxies, like Bob Gold, so that he, Allen, won't have to pay Kearns a dime."

Molinari: "And that leads me to Randy Luna. Bob Gold was (air quotes) 'encouraged' by Dean Allen to hire and use Luna for painting the new apartments and homes. And I have found out that Dean Allen was pressured, if not outright blackmailed, to have Luna hired... by your old Board of Inquest 'buddy' Bruce Finneran.

I gasped, and Molinari continued: "As you know, Finneran is a card-carrying member of the North American Man-boy Love Association, NAMbLA... and let's just discreetly say that -that- is what Bruce Finneran and Randy Luna have in common."

"Fuckin' perverts." I muttered. "And that's why Bertram is working his thug ass off trying to save Luna. Luna is part of this whole operation, legal on the face of it, but dirty off the top and behind the scenes. So can you tell me who else is behind this? Politicians?"

"Not Katherine Woodburn, so don't get your hopes up." Molinari said, causing me to wanly smile. He went on: "Believe it or not, the politicians up here are relatively clean. They're either Republicans, or they're scared of you. Katherine is either clean or she's at a level far above most of us. But Kelly Carnes? She's a stupid bitch, and just stupid enough to try to get a piece of all this but leave a thread hanging."

"And I know what to do with those threads." I said. "Is there any drug connection you can point me to?"

Molinari: "That's how I found out about all this. Someone associated with my former associates came to me and asked if I knew of a Randy Luna. He said Luna was trying to sell six full kilos of smack, some of it China White. I advised him that it sounded like a DEA setup, and to walk away from it and stay away from it. Only later did I hear about the TCPD busting him for murder in the first. So my observation to you is that Luna was a total amateur to the drugs game."

"That sounds about right." I replied. "I'm thinking he and his girlfriend saw the neighbors bring in the smack, or knew it was coming, so they went in and ambushed them and took the drugs. But Luna didn't know how to sell it, so he asks around in a way that gets him 'noticed'."

"Out of curiosity, how did you catch on to him?" Molinari asked.

"We caught the girlfriend in a lie, went to arrest her, he tried to go out the back door, and we took him down then." I said. "And then we searched the apartment, found the drugs and the murder weapon. It was a team effort, and they didn't even need me at the scene..."

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

As we drove back to Police Headquarters, our tummies full of delicious food and our heads full of newfound knowledge, I asked Teresa what she and Cerone had discussed. She replied "He said there was a lot of bipartisan support to protect my Trust and my kids by separating the Hospital from the University, and he wants me to testify before the Committee on it."

Teresa: "He said Legislators on both sides of the aisle have a lot of respect for what I did saving Carole, the Christmas Life Flight, and the overall Hospital program. He thinks if I testify before the Committee, it'll really persuade any holdouts to our side. I took that opportunity to ask what will happen to the Hospital if it were un-yoked from the School, and he said to keep it under our hats that they were going to create a new State Medical College around it. So I'll be getting the best and brightest doctors not only to help my kids, but to teach new doctors so they can help my kids, too."

I said "And you're good with that? The whole plan?"

"Yes." Teresa said. "And truth be told, I've been hearing rumors of this happening for a while. I suspect that Seth Warner is one of the people actively behind this, and I know for a fact that Todd is. I -am- a little surprised that it's got such overwhelming bipartisan support, since the reason for doing it is to get away from the bullshit Climate Change stuff."

I said "The biased, dishonest, and corrupt Press makes it sound like everyone, especially every Democrat, is totally in jackbooted lockstep with the Radicals on Climate Change. And while most Democrats support it, they also support health care for sick children... especially if the sick child is their own. The problem is not the Democrats; it's the rabid, filthy Mainstream Media."

I then told Teresa what Molinari had told me, and said that I was going to pursue those new lines. "I know you'd just love to be the one to put the cuffs on Dean Allen if we can, but for now you just worry about your kids, your Trust, and your Hospital, and leave these NAMbLA slugs to me."

"Wilco." Teresa replied...

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

When we got back, I called Lt. Mary Milton into my office and had her sit down. I repeated what Molinari had told me. "I want to pursue these lines, and see what we can dig up, not only on Randy Luna, but on this Bob Gold and ultimately Dean Allen. I'd really like to expose him, so that maybe we can force him to have to hand over some green dollar bills to Phil Kearns."

"I hear ya, sir." Mary replied. "So under what warrant am I obtaining this data? The original one that is now in question in the Courts?"

"Hmmm." I hummed, mostly to myself. "Yeah, let's think about that." After a moment I said "Call the Magistrate Court and ask for a warrant to investigate Randy Luna's finances, based upon the drugs and the gun found under the Rhonda Huntington warrant. Also say that we have developed further intel from what I'll call a Confidential Informant right now. If there's any problem, let me know."

Fifteen minutes later, she let me know. And then some...

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

2:00pm. I had put on a tie and my Duty Dress jacket with boxes over my blue shirt, and ADA Paulina Patterson and I were now in the Chambers of Magistrate Judge Hannah Doss.

"I still believe the material witness warrant I issued for Randy Luna was perfectly legitimate." Judge Doss said. "But you know how radical many D.A.s and attorneys are becoming in these times. It's going to be an interesting legal case whether or not that warrant remains valid, but in any case we risk further damage if we try to get around it."

"With respect, Your Honor," I replied, "I don't see it as interesting nor a legal case, but an extremely political one. And I'm not trying to get around it, but I need to continue the investigation into possible new crimes, related to this one, that a Confidential Informant has made me aware of. So where do we stand?"

Judge Doss said "Let me ask this first: who owned the gun used to kill Sarah Sandstone and Geoff Gerard?"

"It appears to be Luna's." I said. "He bought it several years ago at a gun show."

"So that's not a possible inroad." Judge Doss said. "And I'm trying as hard as I can to help you guys out."

"And we appreciate it, Your Honor." Paulina said. "But we found the drugs as well as the gun under the warrant for Rhonda. And then Randy runs from Police, resists arrest. Isn't... isn't that enough?"

Judge Doss said "Judge Watts and Judge Washington and I had lunch today. I saw you at Luigi's, Commander, so your C.I. is busted. But his secret is safe with me. Anyway, what we discussed was this case and the challenge to the warrant. Michael Bertram, Randy Luna's attorney, has (air quotes) 'revised and extended his remarks', meaning he's added to his complaints about the warrant. He's now really emphasizing the 'phishing expedition' of it. And this new warrant, however valid and based on what you have, will be challenged as even more of a phishing expedition than the first one was."

"So what do you want to do?" I asked.

"I think we need to wait until a ruling is made on the warrant issued last time." Judge Doss said. "If it's ruled valid, you'll have clear sailing. Even if it's ruled not valid, that will all be out of the way, and we can issue new warrants based on what holds up..."

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

Getting back to the office, I had Paulina sit down in a hot chair and poured her and myself coffee. Then I called in Captain Claire Michaels and Lieutenant Mary Milton. They also got coffee when they arrived.

"Judge Doss has denied the warrant." I said. "More accurately, she asked us to withdraw the request, so that no record of it appears for Bertram and his thugs to see, and we did so. We'll re-apply and likely get a warrant when a ruling has been made on whether or not the last one was legit."

Mary said "Sounds like she thinks the ruling on the previous warrant will go against us."

"I agree." I said. "Anyhoo, we're stymied for now."

Claire said "What about Rhonda? Can we give her Immunity in exchange for testifying against Randy?"

I said "Not yet. Leahy is exactly the type of asshole Activist that will throw out all the evidence, and drop the charges with prejudice, and it'll be forever getting the State Supreme Court to even hear our appeals. So if we give Rhonda immunity and then Leahy lets Randy go anyway, we're truly fucked. So, let's wait."

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

Half an hour later, Lieutenants Teddy Parker, Micah Rudistan, and Mary Milton brought Detective Roark Coleman to my office. "Roark has an idea, and we think it's pretty good." said Teddy.

"Don't keep me in suspense." I replied.

Roark said "There's one angle we haven't looked at, sir: how did Randy Luna or Rhonda Huntington know to hide in the closet to wait for and ambush Sarah Sandstone and Geoff Gerard?"

"Ahhhh." I said. "Go on."

Roark: "We know from Yolanda's 3D images that it is extremely likely Luna was in the coat closet and came out firing. But how did he know to be -in- the closet? I'm thinking that Rhonda has peeked on the neighbors in the past, and she's seen them bring in drugs with the pizza and takeout every Saturday. I'm speculating, I know, but we can try to find out if they had a pattern of that, and then try to trace back to where Gerard... or Sandstone, maybe... was getting the drugs."

Rudistan added: "We may can kill two birds with one stone, sir. This could lead us back to a drug ring, maybe even the Smooth White Boys. And it just may give us a fresh link to connect Randy Luna back to, so we can circumvent the problem of that warrant."

I said "We-ellll, it doesn't really circumvent that vis-à-vis Luna, but it -is- something we can get a whole separate warrant for, without having to worry about the other one. Mary, get that warrant, and make sure not to mention Randy Luna's name in it, anywhere at all. And that's good thinking, Roark. What, have you been eating Wheaties for the Brain?"

Everyone laughed, then headed out of the office... with my admonition to make sure Captain Michaels was informed of what they were doing...

Part 11 - Structure

6:00pm, Wednesday, January 12. The Committee of the Whole was meeting again at City Hall, and Our Sheriff had insisted on my presence. Teresa and I were giving our Duty Dress jackets with 'boxes' workouts today. I also had my laptop with a slide presentation ready for the Sheriff and/or myself to use.

As everyone assembled in the Private Council Chamber, Councilwoman Malinda Adams actually spoke to me. She said "What did you think of that bipartisan vote last night?"

I replied "It made me think of the British Parliament. They usually have to vote the way they're told to by their Party leaders, but every once in a while they're allowed to vote as they wish on certain controversial items."

The Mayor and all ten Council Members were present. The Sheriff, Me, Cindy, Teresa, and the Sergeant-At-Arms were also present, and so was Police Chief Moynahan, Fire Chief Warren Davies, and EMS Chief Leonard R. Cordell. And we had one other guest: Inspector General James 'Curly' Goodwin.

Everyone found seats and the Mayor gaveled the meeting to order. "It's your floor, Sheriff." he said.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor." said Sheriff Griswold as he came up to the lectern at the far end of the table, which was in front of the projector screen. "The Charter Commission did a really excellent job with the Public Safety Department structure. They also left us the means to make further modifications based upon internal and external events. The changes made here are based on experience as well as preparation for possible future events, such as expansion or to pre-empt possible complaints by hostile Federal agencies."

Griswold: "I'll first say that these changes included the Public Health Department. But after your passage of the ballot initiative, we've added some alternative possibilities for either result in the vote in May."

Griswold: "The first change is clearing some space. The Chiefs of the various branches will be wearing three stars on their uniforms. The Assistant Chiefs or Commanders will have two stars, the Deputy Chiefs will have one star, like most of them have now."

Griswold: "Next is the various Internal Affairs Departments. Each branch of the Public Safety Department has their own I.A. Department, which were not necessarily equal within their structures. We are going to do several things. First, the I.A. Chief of each branch will have one star, like the Deputy Chiefs, and will answer solely to the Chief of his branch. They used to answer to the Assistant Chiefs, but that will no longer be the case. The Sheriff Department's Internal Affairs is the de facto I.A. for all the Public Safety Department, and I'll say more on that in a minute. The Inspector General's Office will also have input with the various I.A. Departments."

"Question." said Edgar Silas. "Why not just have the Inspector General's Office be the sole I.A. for everything?"

"Because we don't want that." said I.G. Goodwin with alacrity. "The I.G.'s Office does handle issues concerning the top leadership of the Public Safety branches. We also handle I.G. and I.A.-related issues for all of the Town & County's various Government services... even the Assembly and the Council. But it works just fine for each branch to have an I.A. Department that can handle its branch's specific needs and disciplines."

"We can debate that later." said Silas. "Let's keep going for now, Sheriff."

A slide with a brown background showing the Sheriff Department ranks appeared on the screen, with the Sheriff stepping to one side so everyone could see. "In the Sheriff's Department, we'll have two two-star positions: the Command Deputy Sheriff, and the Chief of Staff."

Griswold: "The Command Deputy Sheriff, which may also be called the Undersheriff, is second-in-command of the Sheriff's Department and the Operations Officer. I'll show the org charts in a moment, but she... since it's going to be Cindy Ross to start, Ms. Adams... will be in charge of the Jail as well as the operations of the Sheriff's Department. The Command Deputy Sheriff will have two stars, and called 'Commander' or 'Undersheriff'."

Griswold: "The Chief of Staff, a.k.a. the Finance and Admin Officer, will be the same as the current Chief of Staff, not unlike the XO of a military unit. Like every branch's Admin Officers, the Chief of Staff will have one star, unless one person is both Command Deputy Sheriff and Chief of Staff."

"Hint hint." said Teresa Croyle, make some people in the room chuckle. Cindy was not one of them. A green crowbar was waved in her BFF's general direction.