Schoolhouse Rock Ch. 04

West showed the clips. One showed Bettina yelling and screaming at Lt. Irwin. The other showed cameraman Scott Turnbull advancing towards Cmdr. Troy, then Cmdr. Ross intervening.

"In the first one," West said, "Lieutenant Irwin acted calmly and professionally throughout. A jury would see you yelling and screaming, and believe that was assault on a Police Officer."

"Assault------?... are you kidding?" Bettina asked.

"Griswold's not." said West. "And the second clip shows Turnbull advancing on Troy, and when Ross intervenes, it looks like she's stopping Turnbull, and she's facing him and speaking to him as if he's the aggressor."

"Scott was defending me!" Bettina exclaimed. "Against Troy's threat to knock my teeth out with his crowbar!"

"Got any audio of that?" asked West.

"Scott was filming at the time." said Bettina.

"Yes, he was." said West. "Let me show you that tape." He ran the tape, which showed Commander Troy coming through the guardhouse, then static and a hum, then a totally messed up video.

"We've long suspected Troy of having a jamming device." said Bettina.

"So why didn't it affect the Officer-cams? And the Police dash-cams?" asked West. "The bottom line, Bettina, is that Griswold stated out loud that if we, meaning the Media, 'keep up the crap' is how he phrased it... then he's going to get a warrant and have you arrested. He's not doing it as a negotiation, either... he said once you're arrested, the Police and ADAs will take it all the way to trial, with no quid pro quo deals, nothing but your ten year imprisonment as their goal."

"He really said that?" Bettina gasped, shocked. Then she said sarcastically "Are you sure it wasn't Troy on the line, pretending to be the Sheriff?"

"I'm sure." said West, as if the question were serious. "These are no longer the days of Sheriff Daniel Allgood. Griswold hates us almost as much as Troy does."

"You know..." Bettina said after a pause. "I'm tired of Troy and the TCPD's shit. I thought Ross might help tamp down his garbage, but she's no better than he is and she showed it last night. Let 'em arrest me. It'd be worth ten years in jail to protect our Press Rights."

"I talked to our lawyers this morning about that." West said. "Personally, I'm with you. I'm ready to go to jail to make the point about the First Amendment, also. But our lawyers said it's not an open-and-shut case. If Troy gets on the stand and says he didn't believe we'd stay at a respectful distance, that we'd try to get too close and put firefighters in harm's way, and get into the Burke's faces with our cameras... and you and I know that is what we'd love to do... then he was in the right to keep us out."

"I am really ready to fight and test that one." Bettina said.

"And it's like the Right of Free Speech." said West. "You have it, but yelling 'FIRE' in a crowded theater is not permitted, nor is using speech to intimidate or commit fraud. Troy will say our Free Press rights do not permit us to put his Officers in unnecessary danger... and with the Public's hatred of the Press at an all-time high today? A jury might find against us."

"What about Troy destroying our drone?" Bettina asked.

"Ah, that's different." said West. "I am going to have people working on that, to gather the evidence we need to go after him for that..."

Part 19 - The Daily Grind

Fire Lieutenant Roy Easley came to Headquarters. I took him to the Main Conference Room. Also there were Cindy, Teresa, Tanya, and Sheriff Griswold.

"This meeting of the MOV Club will now come to order." I said jovially as we sat down, the Sheriff at the near end of the table, me to his left, Roy to my left, Tanya, Cindy and Teresa on the other side from us.

"Except for me." said Tanya.

"Yours is the State-level one." I replied. "Even higher."

"He's right, you know." said the Sheriff, to Tanya. Then he said: "And I'm glad to see you here today, Mr. Easley. How are things with the TCFD?"

"Good, sir." said Easley. "First, here's the formal documentation making the Burke home fire an arson case, and in the Police Force's hands." He handed me the documents, and I perused them, then handed them to Tanya.

"Who are you putting on this one?" I asked Tanya.

"Any specific suggestions you want to make, to steer me in the direction you're thinking?" Tanya asked with a gleam in her eye, essentially 'calling me out'.

"Washington and Parker." I said. "I have something else for Davis to do, and I'm not sure we want to put that Alabama fan on the case of an Auburn fan's house fire." When that joke fell totally flat, I said. "Just kidding. But Parker and Washington on this one."

"Roger that, sir." Tanya said. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go give this to them now." She drove out of the room.

"So, Mr. Easley," said the Sheriff, "I'll ask again... how are things in the TCFD? How are they really?"

"Good, sir." said Easley. "The only issue is the constant rumors about the EMTs being reinstated. Most of our younger Firefighters wouldn't have an issue with it, but some of the older ones that remember the past are not happy about it at all."

"What if the EMTs were separate from the Fire Department?" asked Griswold. "Their own buildings, their own command structure, and so on."

"Same answer, Sheriff." said Easley. "My own personal opinion is that it would not be nearly as bad as it was before, as long as they're separated."

"How are things between the Police and Fire Departments?" I asked.

"Good, sir." said Easley. "There were some tensions after the Dog Kennel fire," (Author's note: 'Fire in the Hole', Ch. 01.) "but everyone loved it when you destroyed that Press drone, Commander. Those things are a danger to us Firefighters. If they get caught in an updraft, they could lose air pressure underneath and fall down on top of us. Our political lobby is pushing to make a law banning them from flying near fires, but the Press's lobby is pushing just as hard against us. The Press doesn't give a damn about our safety, only their story."

"You got that right." Teresa said. I saw Cindy's face fall as he said it...

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

After Easley left, I finally got to have an Angels meeting. To my surprise, Cindy attended. "Okay, the Bradshaw/Martin case." I asked. "Any new developments?"

"Just some basics, sir." said Tanya. "The Mighty Miltons have been at work, and came up with some stuff. Gus Bradshaw was a contractor. He worked with Richard Patrick for a while," (Author's note: see 'Return of the Black Widow', Ch. 01, for more on Richard Patrick.) "and then he began doing more on this side of the State. Myron thinks he began having financial problems, and then he effectively liquidated his business by selling it off in pieces, so how he came into the money to live in the Heritage Cloisters is going to be interesting to learn about."

"Jennifer Martin is divorced, two children." Tanya continued. "Her ex-husband worked in the Town & County offices of BigAgraFoods, and she was a stay-at-home mom. She basically raked him over the coals in the divorce. I don't know how Mary found this out, and probably don't want to know, but the word was that she was going to take the kids and move out of State unless he paid for her to remain at their Heritage Cloisters home. He had hired four lawyers at different times to represent him in the divorce, and none of them did a damn thing to help him fight, so he was basically forced to capitulate. The child support he was paying was enormous for anyone to have to make."

"Was making?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said Tanya with a grin which stood in for saying 'not much gets past you'. She continued: "When Mittens Willis took BigAgraFoods's offices in our Town & County away, Mr. Martin was not invited to transfer to another location, meaning he was essentially fired. He was completely unable to continue the child support payments, but his petition for relief and a reassessment of the amount of the payments was denied by Judge Harry Nance, and he was threatened with jail if he didn't make the payments. He actually told Nance to go ahead and put him in jail, where he would at least be able to eat three meals and have a cot to sleep on. Nance didn't put him in jail, and he subsequently disappeared. We think he left the State."

"So how is Jennifer maintaining her residence? Much less taking care of the kids?" I asked.

"Myron's looking into that now." said Tanya. "Jennifer got a large insurance payment under questionable circumstances from Reems & Berry Insurance when they were still in business." (Author's note: See 'Disappearing Act' for more on Reems & Berry Insurance.) "That never was clawed back after you shut them down. And this is my speculation and Mary Milton's speculation as well: we think Gus Bradshaw was helping her out, in exchange for some pleasurable evenings together, if you know what I mean."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that possibility, especially in this County?" I asked with a grin. "Okay, keep digging up that dirt. What is the Press reporting on the case? Especially Woodburn's possible involvement?"

Tanya said "The press coverage mentioned it, but they've stopped mentioning State Senator Woodburn at all. KFXU did mention her, but said that no charges against her campaign were expected. Which is true."

I nodded, then she said "KFXU then moved right into State Legislature politics. They gave a pretty good report on the issues, and both sides of it, but did not mention Governor Jared at all. And I mean 'at all'. They talked about Sharon Marshall, the Lieutenant Governor, a lot. And there was one other person they did not mention at all: Former State Senator Maxine Watts."

"Oh yeahhhhh." I whispered as it struck me. "She hasn't been a part of this at all, has she?"

"No sir." said Teresa. "Todd's lobbyists are telling him that since Maxine lost the Lieutenant Governor's race, and lost so badly, she's being ever so subtly pushed aside in Democrat circles. Not being in the Legislature is also hurting her political clout."

"How's she taking that?" I asked.

"She's keeping her mouth shut, so far." Teresa said. "That in itself is a minor miracle. But Todd's people think she's working the Minority Legislators in the State Senate and even the State House, and will re-emerge with a bang at a critical time in the Budget negotiations."

"Surely she's not going to prevent a Budget from being passed." Cindy said. "That would hurt her and the Democrats's... constituents... more than anyone else."

"It depends on what she wants." I said. "And like everyone else, she thinks she can get what she wants by holding the Budget hostage."

"What do you think she wants?" asked Cindy.

"Another Independent State Counsel." I said. "With the primary focus on the Jasmine Nix murder, and also about what happened here last October and November with the Harlow/Tunnin case and those disputed votes not being allowed."

"She's still hung up on the Jasmine Nix case?" Cindy asked, her voice sounding shocked. "Why?"

"Because she can't handle the truth." I said. "The four of us in this room know more than the vast majority of the General Public about that, but Maxine simply can't accept that it was black-on-black, which does not fit her narrative that 'The Man' is keeping blacks down."

"Or if she can cast any doubt on the FBI's findings," Tanya added, "she can run with that for the rest of her life, and make tons in campaign contributions from it."

"Exactly." I said. "You said it better than I did."

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

Marcie Harper was sitting in the room behind her studio, putting together the next lesson plan, when Tim Sluman came to the door. She had him come in and sit down.

"What is it, Tim?" she asked a bit sharply, not liking to have been disturbed.

"So we're not shipping any product this weekend?" he asked.

"If the Iron Crowbar is all over us," Marcie said, "then it wouldn't be very good if we did, now would it?"

"No ma'am." said Tim. "But cash flow is already getting tight, and some of our customers are getting supply through other sources."

"I can hardly blame them for that." said Marcie. "But if we don't get hit this weekend, we'll be back to normal next week." Seeing the look on Sluman's face, she said "Right?"

"I hope so, ma'am." said Sluman. "But the suppliers our customers are going to... they won't like just being suppliers for one week. We could lose a lot of business."

"Sluman, I don't understand your worry." Marcie said. "We've had this happen before, where we've had to skip a week. We've got a reserve in cash, and we'll make up the supply next week, if need be. Right?"

"I... I guess so, ma'am." said Sluman.

"We do have plenty enough in the cash reserve, don't we?" Marcie asked, peering at Sluman.

"Yes ma'am." Sluman said. "We'll be all right this week, but it can't go on indefinitely. We're more JIT than we've been in the past." That meant 'just in time', a popular business model.

"Okay." said Marcie. "Look, have you got people watching the Iron Crowbar? And his people up in his County?"

"Yes ma'am." said Sluman. "One of his Captains had a house fire last night, so she's going to be occupied for the weekend."

"You weren't behind that, were you?" Marcie asked, looking hard at Sluman.

"Oh, no ma'am!" replied Sluman. "That was either an accident, or someone else. If I were going to have a house burned down, it would be the Iron Crowbar's home, to keep him occupied."

"Someone did burn his house down, once." said Marcie. (Author's note: 'Seriously Inconvenienced', Ch. 04.) "The bastard that did it paid for that with his life, which I don't regret. But in any case, stay away from that man, the Iron Crowbar: he is a pit viper on steroids. Okay, Sluman, keep me informed of anything that happens with tomorrow's shipment. You can go." Sluman took the hint, and left.

Once he was gone, Marcie picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Perkins, come to my office behind the studio. There's something I need you to do..."

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

"I am going off the grid." I said.

It was 2:00pm, and I was meeting with the Chief, Commander Ross, and Captains Perlman and Croyle in the Chief's Conference Room. I continued: "I will be completely unavailable when I leave here today, as will Jerome Davis. So if anything comes up, ladies, you are in charge, and if you have any issues, call the Chief."

"What are you going to do if you run into trouble?" asked Cindy.

"To be candidly honest," I said, "if Jerome and I are discovered on our mission, we most likely will end up like MSG Terhune at Valley Villages."

"It really scares me when you do things like this." said the Chief. "But I know it's necessary to keep drugs out of the hands of our children. Good luck with your mission."

"Thank you, sir." I said.

"Okayyyyyy, bring me up to speed on your various 'cay-sezzzz'." drawled the Chief.

"On the arson fire at Heritage Cloisters," said Tanya Perlman, "Todd and Teresa had some videocameras overlooking their backyard. The servers were in the safe room in the house, which survived the fire very well. It does show a person in all black going to the kitchen window, breaking the window, and throwing something inside twice. Unfortunately, the person is masked and we can't get any facial features out of it. The body type isn't that far away from Gus Bradshaw, though."

"Bradshaw is at County Jail, awaiting arraignment on the new charges." said Teresa. "He'll probably be there all weekend, but if Nance tries any tricks and moves up his hearing to this afternoon, Folsom will step in and make sure Bradshaw gets no bail or is ankle monitored and confined to his home."

"Irwin questioned Bradshaw," Teresa continued, "and while the lawyer Lynch did a lot of crap and delay tactics, like asking to speak to his client privately several times, Bradshaw only said he was at home until he heard that the Police were outside the front gate, and then he went down to stop them from coming in. He did not elaborate on how he heard the Police were coming. and would not give a clear reason on why he tried to block the Police and Fire Departments from coming in.."

"Did anyone question Jennifer Martin?" I asked.

"No sir." said Tanya. "Not yet, anyway. If we did, she'd demand her attorney be present, and it'd take two hours to get Gwen Munson in from the City. We are getting fresh warrants for any bank activity by either Bradshaw or Martin after their arrests."

"Good." said the Chief. "Commander Ross, have you heard anything from the Press, or anything about their threatened lawsuit?"

"No sir." said Cindy. "Not a peep. And we may not until Tuesday. All lawsuits filed against the County are brought before the Town & County Council at their Tuesday night meetings, so they may sneak it in at the last moment Tuesday afternoon."

"I'd think they'd want maximum publicity, and wouldn't wait." said Tanya.

"Except that if and when they file it," I said, "we're going to arrest Bettina Wurtzburg and bring felony charges against her. If it were Amber Harris, they'd probably be tripping all over themselves getting to the window at the Courthouse. But if we take Bettina off the airwaves, that's going to crush their spirit." I again saw a look cross Cindy's face as I said that.

"Maybe they want to keep us guessing for as long as they can." said Teresa. "Not that we care."

"Hmmm... that's a good thought." I said, becoming introspective. "Maybe... there's another reason..."

"Like what?" asked the Chief.

"I don't know." I said. "I'll have plenty of time to think about it this weekend, though."

"Out of curiosity..." said the Chief. "Captain Croyle, if you'd been at the front gate that night, and maybe it wasn't your house on fire, what would you have done about that confrontation with Ms. Wurtz-burrrrrrg?"

"The way she was yelling at my guy Irwin?" Teresa replied. "I'd've arrested that bitch on the spot." I chuckled, as did Tanya. Cindy frowned... and that is what the Chief was noticing...

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

Not long after the meeting broke up, Teresa came into my office.

"Don," she said, and by using my first name showed that this wasn't just Police business, "you and Cindy have got to get this Press thing worked out. You and she are clearly on opposite sides on it, and one day it's going to blow up. It's already affecting your job performance, and hers."

"More than that," I said, "I think the Sheriff and Police Chief don't see eye-to-eye on the issue, either. Sheriff Griswold is pretty much in line with me, while Chief Moynahan is more in line with Cindy's 'softer' approach."

Teresa nodded, then said "You may be right... what am I saying? Of course you're right. And that's all the more reason it needs to be addressed."

"Well," I said, "right now is not the time. I'm about to leave and go on a mission that could very well prove dangerous, if not outright deadly, and I have got to have my head fully in the Game on that. In the meantime, you're Acting Commander, such as it is, while I'm gone. But if KXTC does do something active, have Irwin or Rudistan make the arrest of Bettina; don't do it yourself. You've got to stay as clear of all that as you can, so you can help from the lawsuit side of things."

"Roger that." Teresa said. "Good luck on your mission this weekend. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You can pray for me." I said. "And no, I'm not saying that facetiously..."

Part 20 - Operation Vermissa Valley

Vermissa Valley... the valley in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's excellent Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear. It seemed like an appropriate name for this mission as Jerome Davis and I prepared to go into Valley Villages on a potentially deadly undercover mission.