Smoke on the Water Ch. 01

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After the meeting with Claire and Paulina, I began going over records related to the full HAZMAT deployment. I went over the recorded statements of those that responded as well as Officers at the scene. I began collating the data, then I called Lt. Jerome Davis to my office.

"This may be a very small thing." I said to Jerome. "But it really bothers me that Lieutenant DeLong called for the normal 2-man response and got the overkill response right off the bat. I'd like you to assign someone to look into this, and get a full report on the chain of events that led to that full truck being sent."

"Yes sir." said Jerome Davis. "Anyone in particular you want me to assign to this?"

"No, not really." I said. "And you know, if there are any Uniformed Officers that aspire to be Detectives and want to take a shot at it, let 'em go for it. But let me know what you get by tomorrow noon or so."

"Yes sir." said Jerome. He took the file folder I handed him and moved out smartly.

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

4:10pm, Monday, November 9th. Detective Joan Laurer of Vice knocked on my door. "Sir, I asked Lieutenant Rudistan if I could get your advice on something, so I'm not going over his head."

"Sure, have a seat. Whassup?" I asked.

After sitting down, Joan said "When the Intel guys got busy on that body snatching case, I picked up where they left off on the credit card fraud cases. I'm trying to lock down trends and patterns. They way you solved the 'Silverfish' case is the stuff of legend, and required reading at the Police Academy. so I thought I would ask you for some tips." (Author's note: 'Silverfish'.)

Joan: "After mapping the reported cases chronologically, the trend is definitely going from east to west in the northern part of the State. So I think they're coming here, towards us. But I don't know how. I don't know what data they're getting that would lead to a pattern like this."

"You checked with local banks? And other local Police Departments?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said Joan. "I talked to Detective Shane O'Brady in Pottsville. He said to give you his regards, by the way. He didn't have any leads, either, except that everyone who reported being defrauded or their identity stolen was white middle class. I checked further, and there are a few cases of Blacks and Hispanics reporting cases in the Lexington area."

Joan: "I did check with banks, and with local Police jurisdictions to see what they'd gotten from banks. We're being told of only individual, sporadic issues. Detective O'Brady said he thought the banks weren't being cooperative because of liability issues, and I get that point. But this doesn't really look like a breach of a bank's information. I would think we'd see a lot more cases in one area if it was."

"That's good thinking, and I agree." I said. "So what do you think it might be, based on the data we have?"

Joan said "My thought was that someone's getting hired at a department store, accessing credit card and identity information that way. But points against that are the methodical direction west-to-east of the cases, and new employees are not trusted with sensitive data that quickly."

"But it could be older employees getting bribed to give up some data." I said. "But we may be guilty of theorizing without data, here------"

The door opened, and a flash of black hair flew around my desk, which became Carole as she got around the side of my desk next to my chair.

"Daddy, something's wrong!" Carole said as she attempted to hand me a piece of paper.

"You're right, Fussbudget." I said, not taking the paper. "Something's wrong... mainly, the way you just barged into my office like that. Let's try going back out and knocking first."

Carole did not like that, and wanted to argue. But she thought better of it, and retreated to the anteroom, where I saw Marie and her mother Stephanie standing. Carole did not close the door, but knocked on it. As soon as I said "Come in.", Carole flew in again as she had done before.

Joan was about to get up, but I stopped her with a hand gesture. Then I said "Hello, Fussbudget. How was school today?"

"Something is wrong at school, Daddy!" Carole exclaimed. Whatever it was, my firstborn child simply was not going to slow down for it.

"Okay, what's wrong?" I said.

"This!" Carole said as she thrust the piece of paper towards me. I took it and looked at it, then sat up straight as I looked at it harder. The form was divided into two halves. On the left were lines to fill in about the mother's side of the family, and it asked for many details, including date of birth, maiden name of the mother, and so on. The other half was the father's information to be filled out, including the father's mother's maiden name.

"What am I looking at here, Carole?" I asked as I handed the paper to Joan with a 'look'. Her face became shocked as she looked at it. I also waved for Stephanie and Marie to come on in.

Carole said "Our teacher gave us that before we left today, and she said for everyone to get their parents to fill it out and bring it back tomorrow. She said we're going to study genie... genie..."

"Genealogy." I finished, and Carole nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yes sir." Carole said, finally calming down enough to use her manners. "We're going to learn about our annn-cestrrrs. But Grandma already told me about yours. And you told me to never give out per-sun-ulll data like that."

"That's right, I did." I said. "And you are right to be concerned, though not enough to not use your manners, yes?"

"Yes sirrrrr." Carole said, not wanting to concede the point. Seven years old, I thought to myself. And teenage years on the way...

"Sir," said Joan Laurer, "this form looks like it was professionally done up, not hand drawn." I nodded.

"By the way, Joan," I said, "this is my daughter Carole, and her classmate Marie. And have you met Professor Stephanie Steele?"

"Yes, I have." said Joan, rising and shaking Stephanie's hand. "And hello Carole, and Marie. I've heard a lot about both of you solving crimes.

Carole said to me: "De-tec-tive Joan won the Po-leece Box-ing Matches, didn't she, Daddy?"

"That'a right." I said, shocked but not shocked that Carole would know that.

"Wow!" Carole said. "You beat my daddy in the Po-leece Box-ing Matches?"

"No." said Joan. "The Chief did not let your daddy or Commander Ross or Commander Croyle be in the Matches last time... but I would've won anyway." I grinned at that. Oh yeah it was always 'game on' where the Police Boxing Matches were concerned.

I said "Ohhh, I dunno. And unfortunately we'll never get to find out. So, Carole, tell us everything the teacher said about this."

"She said a group of genie-olll-ogy experts were coming to school to show us their new app." said Carole. "And they would look up some of our ancestors if we brought back that information."

"Does the school have other groups come in like that?" I asked.

"The fifth graders did." Carole said. "They were selling book bags shaped like those huts Trreesa's daddy stayed in in Viet Nam. The book bags had N-F-L teams on the sides. Most people got Cowboys and Steelers bags. Some kid named Keith got an Atlanta Falcons bag, and everyone made fun of him."

"I am not a bit surprised." I said. "Did the teacher say what the name of this ancestry group was? That was coming in to sell the ancestry app?"

"No sir." said Carole.

"Carole," said Joan, "did the teacher say if this group had been to other schools, too?" Yes, Joan was thinking what I was thinking.

"She didn't say, ma'am." Carole said.

Marie said "Mrs. Wayne said not to be absent because they would only be here tomorrow." Mrs. Joyce Wayne was Marie and Carole's third grade teacher.

"Hmmm." I said, looking 'meaningfully' over at Joan, who just nodded.

Stephanie Steele said "Is there something wrong, Don?"

Marie said "Uncle Don, I'm adopted. What am I supposed to put on the paper?"

"Nothing." I said. "Neither of you are going to put one thing on those sheets of paper. And Detective Laurer and I are going to look into this, so don't say anything to your classmates or your teachers, okay?"

Just then my office door opened and Laura came in... without knocking. "Hi Stephanie. You brought Carole over?"

"Daddy, Mommy didn't knock." Carole said to me.

"That's okay." I said. "She's the boss. So are the Chief and the Sheriff. Until you're the boss, you have to knock. Is that clear?" Carole nodded. I had Carole show Laura the sheet of paper she'd brought in. My wife's eyes widened in shock when she saw it.

"There is no way we are filling this in." Laura said.

"No doubt." I said. "And this may be the break in one of our cases that we need. Carole may have led us to something sinister once again..."

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

After Stephanie took Marie home and Laura took Carole home, Joan Laurer said "Sir, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find out this group's name, then see if they've been at schools in the areas of the credit card problems."

"Before you go," I said, waving Joanne back down into her chair, "tell me, how are you going to ascertain the group's name?"

Joan said "I was going to call the school and ask the name of the genealogy group coming in tomorrow."

I said "And if someone in the school is a mole for them, that might tip off this group, and they'll pack up and go home... or out of State. So let me recommend these things. Contact Officer Sims instead, who moonlights as School Security at Eastside Elementary. Ask if he knows the group's name, or if he can get it without asking anyone else at the school. And maybe call some of the people who file reports that they were defrauded. See if they have elementary-school-aged children, and ask those parents if a genealogy group came though the schools."

After a few more minutes of discussion, I dismissed Joan. As she got to the door, she turned and said "Sir, what's Detective O'Brien like? He sounds... interesting on the phone."

I suppressed a grin and said "He definitely can turn on that Irish accent if he wants to. Personally he's tall, very curly black hair. You'd like him. Maybe I can arrange an introduction for you."

Joan's eyes widened a little bit, like Cindy when she's faux offended at me. I just let the grin show and said "So you say you would've won the Police Boxing Matches anyway, huh?"

Joan grinned and said "Like you said, sir... we'll never know for sure." And with that, she most very wisely retreated from the office.

Part 7 - Three Times The Fun

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Tuesday, November 10th, from the rooftop of the building at Riverside and College, with City Hall in the background. "The Town & County Police endanger the Public with their reckless actions!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "As you heard first on Channel Two News yesterday morning, a HAZMAT team was called to the scene of a woman that had died, allegedly of a fentanyl overdose. Powdery residue on her face caused a TCPD Officer to become ill, prompting the call for a HAZMAT team. Let's now go to trusted reporter Amber Harris for more. Amber!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said the athletic blonde reporterette, reporting from the parking lot of the Farmer's Market Restaurant. "The Police only called for an inadequate 2-man team to deal with the hazardous issue, but the Public Health Department wisely sent a full four-man team."

Amber: "The woman has been identified as Elena Katrina, aged 26 and a native of New York. She was an employee of World Pharmaceuticals, based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Town & County Police are calling the death suspicious and believe foul play is involved, but Commander Troy has no leads on the motive for Ms. Katrina's death, nor has he responded to repeated requests for comment by KXTC Channel Two News."

Amber: "What's more, Bettina, the Police allowed the HAZMAT vehicle to drive on the Town and County's roads without adequate Police escort, further endangering the Public. The HAZMAT vehicle was run off the road, and there was an unsuccessful attempt to steal the body of Ms. Katrina. Sources tell Channel Two News that a metal capsule was found in the deceased woman's stomach during the autopsy, but the TCPD and Commander Troy have refused to respond to repeated requests for comment by KXTC on what that capsule contained. Back to you, Bettina!"

"Amber," said Bettina, "was the Public endangered when the body was removed from the HAZMAT vehicle?"

Amber: "Yes, Bettina! The body was removed from the secure HAZMAT vehicle and then dropped on the ground when Police approached the scene, again exposing the Public to potential danger!"

Bettina: "Thank you for that insightful report, Amber!" As the feed went to her alone, she said "That's trusted reporter Amber Harris bringing you that important story on the failure of the Town & County Police to adequately protect the Public. And now let's go to Pat Stellum for an update of the Police Union's grievances against Commander Donald Troy and the TCPD. Pat!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said Pat Stellum, from the same rooftop Bettina was on but with Police Headquarters in the background. "Channel Two News has learned that the grievances filed by Sergeant Toole and Patrol Officer Hendricks will be heard as early as today! Experts say that both Officers and the Union should score easy wins over Commander Donald Troy and the TCPD. Commander Troy has not responded to multiple requests for comment by KXTC Channel Two News. Back to you, Bettina!"

"Pat," said Bettina as the feed went to a split-screen, "is there anything new on the attack upon you and Dr. Lionel Carmela, that left him blinded in one eye?"

Stellum: "No, Bettina. The TCPD is not even making an effort to attempt solve the case, just as they made no effort to solve the case of our late colleague Lester Holder being beaten nearly to death. State and Federal Agencies are also not making any effort to solve the crime against Dr. Carmela and myself, even though Dr. Carmela gave them good leads on who did that to him."

"Thank you, Pat." Bettina said. "And now let's go to political reporter Carl Lemay for more on the ethics situation involving University President Sidney P. Wellman. Carl!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said black reporter Carl Lemay, situated on the west side of University Avenue, with the University's signature clock tower in the background across the street. "Dr. Laura Fredricson was not only acquitted by the University Ethics Board of accusations that she was running a male prostitution ring out of her Psychology Department office, the SBI-OER announced that their investigation has concluded that Dr. Fredricson committed no crimes at all, and they have closed the case."

Lemay: "After Dr. Fredricson was acquitted by a slim majority of the Ethics Board with the help of University President Sidney P. Wellman, five highly respected professors filed an Ethics complaint against him. Dr. Jan Camp, head of the Department of Women's Studies; Dr. Juanita Rivera, acting head of the Romance Languages Department; Dr. Joseph Zenger, head of the University School of Journalism; Dr. Peter Romanov of the University's Institute for Political Policy, and a KXTC contributor; and Dr. Lionel Carmela, head of the Department of Political Science; all signed their names to the formal Ethics complaint against Dr. Wellman."

Lemay: "The complaint stems from FBI documents obtained by Channel Two News showing that Dr. Wellman worked closely with University Trustee and benefactor Henry R. Wargrave in possibly unethical if not illegal activities. Wargrave was being investigated by Federal and international authorities for illegal arms trading, and allegedly jumped from his 30th floor office window in the City to his death."

Lemay: "Reached for comment, TCPD Captain Damien Thompson stated that any crimes by Dr. Wellman are long past the Statute of Limitations. Also reached for comment, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone, who is married to TCPD Deputy Chief Tanya Perlman Muscone, issued a statement saying that Dr. Wellman was never found to have committed any crimes, and also that anyone in possession of the FBI documents in questions, which he claims are classified, will continue to be investigated as violations of Federal law."

Lemay: "Student groups are demanding that Dr. Wellman resign for the stain with which his actions have smeared the University, and that any money from University boosters be rejected or returned, They are also continuing to demand that Dr. Laura Fredricson and Dr. Stephanie Steele also resign, as Dr. Steele is married to a Republican Town Council Member, Dr. Fredricson is married to a Police Officer that does not support the Constitutional nor Civil rights of People of Color, and for both professors not stating strong support for Dr. Carmela's agenda of Social and Environmental Justice, particularly with regard to Climate Change. Back to you, Bettina."

"Thank you, Carl!" Bettina said. "And KXTC's position on those so-called classified documents is that we have the right to publish them per the First Amendment Right of a Free Press, and because you, our viewers, have the right to know what the FBI and our University's President is doing under clouds of secrecy, and attempting to cover up by claiming the documents are classified..."

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

"That is not what Damien told Lemay." said a visibly angry Deputy Chief Tanya P. Muscone as she, Sheriff Griswold, Chief Moynahan, Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle, and myself drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room. "Lemay asked if the case was past the Statute of Limitations, and of course Damien confirmed it. Damien also said that there was no evidence Dr. Wellman had committed any crime, but that... bastard Lemay didn't mention that; in fact, he made it sound like Damien was insinuating there was wrongdoing!"

"Welcome to the Command Group." I said. "By the way, it appears that I have refused to respond to repeated requests for comment by KXTC, though Lemay admitted that Damien did respond. Of course I never received those requests in the first place, and likely because KXTC never made them of me."

"Anything to the crumb they threw Stellum?" asked Teresa. "Letting him report on Toole and Hendricks's upcoming hearings?"

"I think that's admirably exact." I replied. "It was a crumb they threw him. I'm not sure why that fool is still employed by them. Having said that, they're figuring it out... they give Amber the juicy stories with meat on the bone, and Lemay the political stories and have him inject race whenever he can. Stellum is relegated to minor stories that he can still inject drama into."

Chief Moynahan said "Howwww in the worrrrld did Amber get all that information she reported? The name of the victim... the cap-suuuuule that the M.E. discovered... Is Martha our leak?"

"Not intentionally, sir." I replied. "But if Martha had left out the capsule from her autopsy report, KXTC could sue her and demand criminal charges against her for filing a false report. And if we try to hold back the autopsy, KXTC will immediately sue for it under the Open Records Act,. And while we might win the suit, we have to pay the money to defend it."

I continued: "And last but not least, I suspect the autopsy report as well as the other information Amber reported was leaked by someone else with access to that information... someone in the District Attorney's Office, perhaps?"

"Savannah?" Tanya blurted out. I just nodded vigorously in agreement with those suspicions.