Smoke on the Water Ch. 01

"I hear ya." said Muscone. "And maybe it's related to one of the two reasons I asked you to this lunch. I heard that KXTC blurb about the DEA confirming that fentanyl was showing up in this area. Dwight Stevens was pissed off at the report. He does not know who confirmed that to the Press, and they were just starting to get information on the possible pipelines."

"Well," I said, "we appear to have one now. And a dead girl with fentanyl all over her face."

"Yes." said Jack. "And I'd like to ask you on Dwight's behalf to share with us anything of significance that you find out about that. The death is your case, of course, but if you find a connection between that girl and any drug rings, especially fentanyl rings, I'd appreciate it if you let us know."

"Sure." I said. "But are things so bad that you, and particularly Dwight Stevens, feel you have to ask?"

"Uhhh..." Jack said, then hesitated. Then he decided to let it all out. "Yeah, and that issue is the Miltons. Yes, we are very aware of that situation, especially after you handed Clark Webster's ass to him on a platter over it. I don't know who told him to ask you to have the Miltons help him, and it feels like they set him up as a prank, not realizing how strong your response would be."

"He knows now." I said. "Soooo, you're worried that if our Intel Branch finds something, Mary Milton will object to me sharing any information with you Feds, huh?"

"That''s the gist of it." said Jack. "Look, I get it how they feel about it. I was on your side when you damn near killed Dana Fox over it. I just hope that you won't keep information back that the Miltons find, especially if it might affect Agents's lives."

"I get that." I said. "And despite my son Ian wanting me to give up being an FBI Consultant, I'm still holding that ID badge. And I certainly wouldn't want something wet happening to a Federal Agent that I could prevent by withholding information from you."

Muscone nodded. "I appreciate that, and I'm sorry I had to even bring it up like that. Anyway... oh, one extra thing: we have Tracy Stone working on some things in the City and Midtown. She's getting to know Nell Bell and the Midtown MCD team a lot better. We're keeping her out of here for a little while, because Carmela thinks Tracy is the one that put out his eye, and he might retaliate."

"Carmela better figure it out." I said. "He put out a fucking contract on my daughter's life. Why he's still breathing, I'm not sure, but that is something that can be remedied verrrrry quickly."

"Give me plausible deniability." said Muscone. "Anyway, the other reason I wanted to talk to you concerns the SBI Director position. Tanya told me you guys were joking about me being a candidate for it."

"Yeah, we were." I said. "And Tanya got upset about it. She said she's afraid the Press will hear about it, and try to make something of it. And I can understand that. There is no limit to what the Press will do to harm us."

Jack said "I haven't talked to Tanya about this, at least not yet, but I have been considering retiring from the FBI. And if I did, that SBI position might be a good one for me to apply for."

"Want me to put in a good word with Sharon Marshall for you?" I asked.

"Thanks, but not quite yet." said Muscone. "Like I said, I haven't talked to Tanya yet, though she likely knows I'm thinking about it. Women's intuition, you know."

"Intuition, hell." I replied. "I sincerely believe my firstborn daughter can literally read my mind."

"And everyone else's, too." Jack replied cooly. "But seriously... I talked with Curly Goodwin a few months ago, about what the job entailed. He said it was highly political, and that the SBI had a seriously bad reputation, but that he hoped that he had helped improve it. He also said you improved it greatly in your Reserve role."

Muscone: "With Sharon Marshall winning the governorship, I know I'd have her support. And I think I could continue Curly's work improving the SBI."

I said "Yes, you would do very well for it. But what about the FBI? You seriously want to retire?"

Muscone paused, then said "I think you know, Don, how politicized things are in Washington. The Civil Rights Division of the DOJ has been weaponized, and I think you know they're coming after the TCPD and Daniel Allgood, and soon. And they fully intend to completely destroy you."

Muscone: "But a lot more is going on. There is a new Associate Attorney General, and he's an ally of National Security Director Brendan Chapel. His name is Derrick B. Harland, and he wants to weaponize the entire FBI against patriotic white Americans that he considers subversives."

Muscone: "If you support Conservative candidates, Harland's FBI will come down on you. Go to a School Board meeting as a parent concerned about the 'Critical Race Theory' the Left is teaching in elementary school, and Derrick Harland's FBI will put you down as a 'Domestic Terrorist'. Harland's FBI will tag you, follow your life, investigate your finances, and may even arrest you an try to imprison you for 20 years if you get angry because the School Board covered up the rape of your daughter by a transvestite male they allow into girl's restrooms."

"Yeah, so I've heard." I said.

"I'm not going to be part of an FBI weaponized by a Gestapo Dictator-wannabee and his Leftwing masters to crush innocent citizens exercising their Constitutional rights. And that's where I think the FBI and all Federal agencies are headed now."

"So what's holding you back?" I asked.

Muscone: "I don't know if Sheriff Griswold told you this, but he told me once during those riots this past summer that things are getting to a point we can't ever return from. He said it's like buying a bad bottle of bourbon. You keep sipping it, hoping and thinking that it will somehow get better on the next sip, but it never does."

Muscone: "And I think that's how I feel about the FBI, that maybe if I hold on it'll get better, and that maybe I'll be one of the Agents that can hold it together. And I think they're counting on us getting tired, and giving up, or dropping down. And I never ran away from a fight, not even against you."

I said "I've felt that way too, at times, that they want to tire us out and give up. Like Carmela: every time we stopped one attack scheme of his, he just ratcheted it up. And we'd stop him again, and he'd just take it to the next level. And then he crossed the line, and put out a murder contract on my daughter..." I let the sentence hang.

Muscone: "Yes. Anyway, I felt I needed to be sure of what I wanted to do before I talked to Tanya. Now... I think I need to talk to her anyway."

I nodded vigorously in agreement.

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

Meanwhile...

The four women were at the Soup and Salad restaurant, seated at the table with the best view of the artificial lake outside the window. They were District Attorney Miriam Walters, ADAs Savannah Fineman and Paulina Patterson, and TCPD Captain of Detectives Claire Michaels.

"Welcome back to the TCPD, Claire." said Miriam Walters, after they'd gone through the buffet and were eating. "Two new cases this morning. Anything on them yet?"

"No, the Detectives are still gathering data." said Claire Michaels. "Commander Troy practically ordered me to attend this lunch instead of canceling, telling me that we have to give them time to do their job. And he's right." Paulina nodded vigorously in agreement. Savannah, not so much; she scowled.

"What did you think of the crime, Savannah?" Claire said, seeing Savannah's look.

"Girl dead of a drug overdose." Savannah said. "And I didn't hear of the attempt to steal the body until I'd gotten back to City Hall. No one called me to let me know that had happened."

"Should we have?" Claire asked skeptically.

Miriam Walters said "It would have been nice if you did. I've talked with Chief Moynahan and Commander Troy a number of times about bringing us in as early as possible at potentially big crime scenes. Certainly a suicide mission to steal a body from a HAZMAT truck would qualify."

"With four dead bodies after an exchange of gunfire, safety was an issue." said Claire. "But I understand you wanting to be called in to secured crime scenes."

Miriam continued: "And that's one area where you and we could get off on the right foot. You can call us and let us know what's going on, which helps both you and us."

Claire said "And who will I or my Detectives be calling? And by that I mean for Vice crimes and MCD crimes?"

"That's one reason for this lunch." said Miriam. "I'd like to know what your preferences would be."

"Putting me on the spot." Claire said. "And it might not matter what I think. Commander Troy and Chief Moynahan would have more sway in that."

"I'm well aware of what Donald Troy's preferences are." said Miriam, a bit acidly. "But you're going to be working with my ADAs and DDAs a lot more than he will, in most cases. So your own views are important."

"I appreciate that." said Claire. "But I'll add that I knew Paulina when I was here previously, but I don't know Savannah as well. I'll be working with you both, for both Vice and MCD cases, so I'd ask you two what you'd prefer to do."

"The politically correct answer is (air quotes) 'whatever Miriam wants'." said Paulina Patterson. Claire chuckled politely. Neither Miriam nor Savannah even smiled at the 'joke', much less chuckled.

"Let me ask you this, Claire." Miriam said. "What cases do you think are harder to prosecute? Vice or MCD cases?"

Claire said "In my experience, white-collar crimes, financial crimes, are the toughest to have to explain to a Jury. And crimes with a lot of scientific data, like mass spectrometer results, are also hard. And you'll have those issues in both Vice and MCD cases."

Miriam didn't really like that answer. "Interesting." she said, almost to herself. "So how good are your Detectives at explaining those things when they're on the stand?" Claire noticed that Paulina looked puzzled at that question. Savannah had a blank expression on her face.

"Very good." said Claire. "One thing I've been very impressed with since I've gotten here is the experience and talent of every Detective, and I've also noticed that they are well-trained in all the little things they need to do to give you good cases, from evidence collection to testifying before Juries. Commander Troy says Paulina has been responsible for a lot of that."

"Do you believe everything Don Troy tells you?" Miriam asked sharply.

"Uh, why wouldn't I?" Claire replied. Paulina's eyes narrowed; she looked angry at Miriam's insulting question.

"Let me be blunt, Captain." Miriam said formally, leaning forward on arms resting on the edge of the table. "The only difference between Donald Troy and God is that God doesn't think he's Donald Troy. Troy demands loyalty from his Officers, and while that's expected and can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing if carried too far. Our Sheriff is an old man, long past the age of retirement, and Troy has intimidated Chief Moynahan to the point the Chief is totally ineffective as a leader."

Miriam: "Donald Troy likes to dictate terms, including who I assign to cases. I need someone who will work with me, not try to boss me around. I need someone who is going to work with my prosecutors. I need someone who will stand up to Donald Troy and not let him run roughshod over everyone investigating a case. My question is, are you the person who is capable of that, of standing up to Donald Troy?"

Claire said "You realize you're talking to me about my direct boss? Of course I'm going to follow his instructions and his lead on things, provided they're not unlawful or badly wrong in some way."

Claire straightened up a bit and continued: "And since you've been blunt with me, I'll be the same with you. I was a Lieutenant in one of the finest Police Departments in the world, the LAPD. I am a damn good cop and a damn good Detective, and I could've gone anywhere I wanted to."

Claire: "I chose to return to the TCPD, and I did so for one reason: so I could work for the Iron Crowbar again. I have never met nor seen a better Detective than him, nor a better leader. And you want to talk about loyalty? One reason I left the LAPD was because loyalty and respect are two-way streets, and their return loyalty and respect towards me was in question."

Claire: "But not here. I know Commander Troy has his Officers's backs, and he has my back. I know the Chief and the Sheriff, especially the Sheriff, will have my back. Here in the TCPD, I don't have to do my job in fear that I'll be thrown under the bus by some puke in the upstairs Brass trying to curry political favor with agenda-driven politicians.'

Claire: "And you, all three of you, are lucky as hell that you have Donald Troy to give you gift-wrapped cases tied with a bow. You have no idea what the DDAs in LA would give to have Detectives of his ability and leaders of his integrity and quality."

She got up. "I've got the check. You ladies have a nice day." And with that she left the table...

Part 5 - Continuing the Investigation

I parked in my place at Police Headquarters, but instead of going inside, I went across the parking lot to the Crime Lab building. The Morgue was in the basement. When I got to the autopsy room, Commander Tanya Muscone was already there, watching through the window, as were Detective Julia Rodriguez and, thankfully, Detective Teddy Parker. I sat down in the seat next to Tanya.

"Glad to see you up and about, Mr. Parker." I said.

"Thank you, sir." said Teddy. "I did a dumb thing this morning."

"And you survived in one piece." I replied. "You feeling up to this?"

"Yes sir, I'm fine." said Teddy. "Just my pride is hurt. Like Ole Miss losing to Alabama." I chucked at that. Yeah, he's okay, I thought to myself. He's talking about SEC football...

Looking inside the room, I saw that Martha the M.E. was buttoned up in a full Tyvex suit, rubber gloves, a full mask with a clear face and an air filter protruding from the left side. "Anything big?" I asked Tanya.

She replied: "As you know, there's a speaker system where Martha can talk and we can hear, and she can hear us if we have questions. But with her masked up and with the filtration system on, we can't her her and she can't hear us very well, either."

A few minutes later, Martha broke the seal on the inner door and came through, took off the Tyvex and the mask, then came through the second door after wiping down a small object.

"The substance on her face was fentanyl." said Martha. "It was on her mouth, the tip of her nose and inside the linings, and on her forehead and her clothes. I've neutralized it and cleaned it all up, so there's no more HAZMAT danger. I also submitted her fingerprints and a facial shot to the TCPD, SBI, and FBI databases, but nothing has come back yet."

"Good." Tanya said brightly. "So what did you find?"

"She died of fentanyl inhalation." said Martha. "Judging by the pattern of the stuff on her face, it looks like someone forced her face into a bag of the stuff, almost like drowning her in a tub of water She struggled until the fentanyl took effect and killed her."

Martha: "She was also beaten. There are bruises around her eyes, and her nose is broken. She has a couple of cracked ribs, and soft tissue bruising in her abdomen. She wasn't raped, so I'm thinking someone beat her up to get her to talk about something, then shoved her face into a brick of fentanyl."

Martha extended her hand and dropped a small metal capsule into my hand as she said "And this may be what they were after. She'd swallowed it; I took it out of her stomach."

"Ahhhh, so this is why they tried to steal the body." I said in a falsetto voice as I looked at it. "Get your Police iPhones out, start recording." When Julia and Teddy had done so, I twisted the capsule open, narrating my actions as I went along. A small microchip and a tiny scroll of paper revealed themselves.

"I think there's code on the paper." I said as I examined the paper. "And this chip is designed to be dropped into a jump drive, but it has to be in the right direction or it'll destroy itself. But I think Myron Milton has ways to get around that. Let's get some techs down here so this can be taken under two-man control to him..."

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

2:30pm, Monday, November 9th. We convened in Classroom 'E' for a meeting concerning the current cases. At the table were: Chief Moynahan, Me, Captain Michaels, Lieutenants Davis, Mary Milton, Myron Milton, and Micah Rudistan, Sr. Detectives Teddy Parker and Christopher Purvis, Detective Sergeant Julia Rodriguez, and Detectives Joan Laurer and J.J. 'Ice Cube' Perry.

Behind the table, sitting in chairs where they could see the 5x4 matrix of monitors, were Sheriff Griswold, Deputy Chief Muscone, and Lt. Commander Croyle.

"I invited Public Health Officer Beth Paige to attennnnd." drawled the Chief. "She declined, and also said she had no intent of sending someone in her stead. So we'll continue without herrrrr. It's your meeting, Commander."

"Thank you, sir." I said. "And I think I'll throw Captain Michaels into the fire by having her lead the meeting. Whaddya got, Captain?"

"Who wants to go first?" Claire asked. "Mary?"

"I can give the composite of everything that's been submitted and that we've discovered." said Mary Milton. "And please chime in if I misrepresent or miss something."

Mary Milton: "First, the victim. She did not come back from the local nor State databases, and the FBI database identified her as 'Elena Katrina', a native of New York City, age 26. She is listed as a graduate of SUNY-New Paltz, and an employee of World Pharmaceuticals, a small drug manufacturing and sales company in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania."

"What is SUNY-New Paltz, and where is it?" asked Teresa Croyle.

I replied: "New Paltz is a small town about 90 minutes north of New York City in the Hudson River Valley on the way to Albany, and State University of New York - New Paltz is a college in that town. If memory serves me correctly, it's a good science and engineering school, and has a planetarium."

"What, sir, have you memorized the entire United States?" Teresa asked a bit cattily. A red crowbar was waved in her general direction.

"No, but in this case I visited the town once when I was in college." I replied. "That's a story in itself, and would be distracting us from the case, here. Suffice it to say our victim appears to be from the New York and Pennsylvania areas."

"Appears to be, sir?" asked Claire Michaels, astutely catching my wording.

"He's right, ma'am." said Lt. Mary Milton. "I was about to say that we've tried to look into her past, and it's coming up sketchy. We contacted SUNY-New Paltz, and they had no record of this Elena Katrina attending classes, much less graduating from there. We checked on World Pharmaceuticals, and while it exists in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, we could not reach anyone by phone, just an answering machine."

"And what does that suggest to you?" I asked. "Anyone?"

"A dummy or shell corporation?" answered Christopher Purvis.

"True, and that's good." I said. "But go deeper, further."

"Ohhhh!" said Julia Rodriguez. "Her whole identity and history is a backstop!"

"Yes! Very good!" I said, pleased and impressed with Julia's thinking. "So we have mysteries on both ends. But for now, continue with what you've found."

Mary: "Well, I'll dispense with her financial records of no debt, modest and wise use of one credit card, and a bank account with Bank of New York, since that's likely part of the backstop." I nodded.

Mary: "Anyway, she died of an acute fentanyl overdose. Martha thinks her face was pressed into a brick or mound of fentanyl, and she inhaled a big dose of it and died quickly. Time of death is estimated between 11:00pm and 3:00am last night, and that she was dumped at the Farmers Market Restaurant before dawn."