The Eightfold Fence Ch. 02

"You will not only be making money, Harold," said Wargrave, "but you will be helping to assure that our way of life continues, and that your wife does not get gang-raped by black thugs." Wargrave was pouring it on. He was a master of psychology; only the Iron Crowbar and his once-master were his intellectual equals. Harold Malone was not.

"Okay, I'm in..." he heard Malone say. "But there's an extra I want you to throw in for me..."

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

Just after shift change at 4:00pm, Sheriff Daniel Allgood gathered his things and got ready to leave. He'd been using the Chief's office, which had made Commander Troy uncomfortable because of the Commander's relationship with Chief Griswold. The Iron Crowbar was discomfited by someone else sitting in that seat so soon after Griswold had retired. Daniel also wanted to leave at this time of day because he found out that Commander Troy, and therefore the Lieutenants of the Detective Division, would not leave until he did. Good on protocol, but he didn't want to tax their time any further than was necessary.

His wife Melina was working at her gym tonight, catching up on paperwork. Daniel didn't understand how Cindy Ross could keep that gym going, do her police work, and train for the summer ironman competition, but she was doing it... and maybe to the detriment of her health. She'd been coughing a lot, which was one more reason Melina wanted to do some work; to give Cindy a few hours off. Daniel had to attend the Kiwanis Club meeting and give a short speech; such was his new life as a political figure in the County. His wife's ex-mother-in-law was taking care of the baby; Phyllis just loved taking care of babies, and little Daniel as much as her own grandchildren...

He went to the Fire Department offices, spending a couple of hours in meetings with the senior officers there. He always felt like, unlike the Police Department, the Fire Department officers were trying to hide something from him. In addition, he could never get straight answers on the status of the EMTs, and there was never any EMS representation at the meetings. Commander Zoe Singer was never invited to the meetings either. Daniel made a mental note to schedule private meetings with her.

It was dark as he left and headed to the Ladies Auxiliary Clubhouse, where the Kiwanis Club was meeting. He sat at the head table for the supper, then was introduced as the speaker. He gave a few remarks about getting settled into his job, the professionalism of the Police, Fire, and Sheriff (Deputy) Departments, and thanking the club for their community service, yadda yadda yadda.

One thing he did like to do was open the floor for questions... after stating clearly that any questions and answers were formally 'off the record' if any Media people were there. The questions themselves would give him clues to what the People of the Town & County were interested in, a trick he'd learned from the Iron Crowbar.

Most of the people at this meeting were businesspersons from the northern half of Town and 'upper' County, and most of their questions to their new Sheriff were about the encroaching crime from the southern parts of Town and 'lower' County, thinly disguised code words for black crime encroaching on white neighborhoods. The Sheriff answered that the new Police Precinct structure was designed in part to serve the County by giving emphasis to where it was needed, when it was needed.

That brought a counter-question from Councilman Reginald B.F. Lewis, who asked rather sharply if the issues between police and blacks in other parts of the nation would be a problem in this County. The Sheriff replied that both himself and his Police Commander had worked hard and would continue to work hard to ensure that all citizens were equally and fairly treated. It sounded politically correct, and of course it was; after all, Daniel Allgood was now a politician. Of course the question of who the next Chief would be was asked, which of course the new Sheriff did not yet know, and said he'd like to get Chief Griswold back... pointing out Chief Griswold, who was sitting right there in the audience. That got some applause and was a good ending for the meeting.

The meeting was over about 9:00 and Daniel lingered about 30 more minutes, talking to people in small clusters. As he got in his car to leave, he considered the questions and realized that there were underlying tensions in the county, mostly of race. He'd have to talk to the Iron Crowbar about it, he thought as he drove towards the gym to pick up his wife.

As he parked in the half-full lot and got out of his car, he was dimly aware of movement at the other end of the building. Something more than instinct caused him to race to the other side of his car, and just in time- two masked men came around the corner and began firing at him!

To be continued.