The Four Boxes of Liberty Ch. 04

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 16 - Self-Inflicted Wounds

9:50pm, Tuesday, October 30th. The Chief and I came up in my SUV near to the locked gate that crossed the road leading up to Point Hollow. Parked just in front of that car was a black BMW sedan, a relatively older model, now surrounded by Police Officers, whose cars were lined along the road, lightbars flashing with blinding blue light.

The Chief and I gave our badge numbers to Patrol Officer Barker and went inside the cordon that had been set up. I saw that the Crime Lab team was here as well as Commander Cindy Ross and Lt. Irwin, who was holding a videocamera. That meant Captain Tanya Perlman was seeing what that videocamera was showing.

"Troy to Perlman." I said on Police Radio. "Troy to Perlman. Perlman, come in."

"This is Perlman." said Tanya. "Go ahead, Commander."

"Go to Channel 5." I said. A moment later, after establishing that we were on Channel 5 Encrypted Radio, I asked "Where are you?"

"Headquarters, sir." said Tanya "We're monitoring in Classroom Echo."

"Roger." I said. "Which Detective are you putting on the case?"

"Rodriguez and McGhillie, sir. Aren't they there?" Tanya replied.

"I see them now." I said. "Troy out."

Just then, Cindy walked up to us. "Chief, can I talk to you a moment?"

"Sure." said the Chief. He and Cindy 'moseyed' back towards her SUV. Meanwhile, I went up to Julia Rodriguez, who was near the black Beamer, making notes. "Whaddya got, Rodriguez?"

"Apparent suicide, sir." said Julia. "Chuck Pringle, KXTC Sports reporter. This is his car, the handgun is registered to him, and it's him in the driver's seat. He shot himself... er, excuse me sir, he apparently shot himself in the right temple. The bullet went through his head and shattered the driver-door window, but the bullet dropped onto the car floor between the door and the seat, and we recovered it."

"Excellent! Good job to find it." I said. "Caliber?"

"It's a .38 Special, sir. Jacketed hollowpoint, manufactured by Speer."

"How do you know all that?" I asked, surprised. Just then, a CSI came up with the bagged revolver. Julia Rodriguez was grinning.

"I peeked at the other cartridges in the gun, sir." she said. "One round fired, four still in the chamber. The odd thing is that the gun was flung out of Pringle's hand and cracked the passenger-side window, then ended up on the floor."

"Ah, you got me on that one." I said with a grin. I examined the firearm and said "Ah, I see why it recoiled so much. This is a Taurus Titanium revolver. They were all the rage at gun shows some years ago. They're very light weight for concealed carry. Yes, I'd expect that if Pringle didn't have the death grip on it, the recoil would be enough for it to fly to the other window." Julia nodded as she absorbed the lesson.

"Okay, Detective Rodriguez, you and McGillie were assigned to this case, but I'm going over your Captain's head and putting you in overall charge of it." I said. "What's your plan of action?"

"After we're finished here, we have to tell the next of kin." Julia said. "So I'll go over to Mr. Pringle's home and tell his wife."

"Does he have any children?" I asked.

"A son and a daughter, adult ages, in their twenties." said Julia. "Mr. Pringle here is 52."

I looked back and saw a Press van approaching on the road. "Julia, take a couple of Officers and go right now to the Pringle home. I don't want them hearing about this through the Media." Julia took off.

I texted Tanya to tell her what I'd instructed Julia to do, and that Julia was now the lead Detective. After another look around, including up and down the road and along the brush on the sides of the road, I saw that everything was well in hand. So I headed back towards my SUV. The Chief and Cindy were next to it.

"Apparent suicide, Chief." I said. "Chuck Pringle of KXTC. I just sent Rodriguez to tell the next of kin."

Cindy got her radio out and stopped Julia from leaving, saying she would go with Julia to the home. The Chief excused her and she took off.

"Mr. Crowbarrrr," drawled the Chief, "it might be a good i-deeeeaaaa if you do not go over to the Pringle home. Seeing that he's a reporter, and you're not exactly on good terrrrms with them."

"No doubt about that, Chief." I said. Then I grinned and said "And it's Commander Ross that does not want me to go over there, n'est pas?" What he did not know was that my grin was not a happy one.

"Not much gets by youuuuu." said the Chief. "And I happen to think she' right on this one..."

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

Midnight, becoming October 31st. Heckuva way to begin Hallowe'en.

We were meeting in Classroom 'E'. Roy McGhillie and Julia Rodriguez were there, as well as Captain Perlman, Commander Ross, the Chief, and myself.

"What did you get from the family?" asked the Chief.

Julia Rodriguez said "I went over to tell them, and she already knew. Her minister, Pastor Calvin Derkins of First Baptist, was already there, as was her son and daughter."

"First question, as always." I said. "Who called it in?"

"There was a call to 9-1-1 at 9:35pm." said Tanya. "It was from Chuck Pringle's wife, saying she feared her husband was going to harm himself. The Duty Desk called me, and they also put out a general APB at that time. We almost always send a patrol to Point Hollow if an APB goes out, and they found the car at the gate."

"I'll add for general reference," I said, "that we the Police had that gate put up to keep people out of Point Hollow. We have to open it for the Wednesday cleaning crew, but other than that, it should always be closed and locked. The gate stopped Pringle from getting all the way to Point Hollow."

I then asked to Julia Rodriguez: "So how did Mrs. Pringle know to call 9-1-1?"

"Julia, just tell the story from the beginning." Cindy suggested.

"Yes ma'am." said Julia. "Sir, earlier today Mrs. Pringle received a manila envelope, which I took into evidence. Inside were photographs of Chuck Pringle engaged in homosexual acts with Lester Holder and the late Graham Collins. When Mr. Pringle came in that evening, Mrs. Pringle confronted him and then threw him out, saying she was going to get a divorce. Pastor Derkins was there at the time; she had called him right after getting the photos."

"She also said that her husband kept a gun in his car for self-protection in case a news event he was covering went bad." Cindy said. "She said that many reporters have been doing that for the last several months, because they don't believe the Police will help them if they get in trouble."

"I hope they have their concealed carry permits in good order." I said. Cindy glanced over at me with a withering look. "You were saying, Detective?" I said to Julia, studiously ignoring Cindy's look.

"Mr. Pringle sent an email to KXTC, which was cc'd to her." Julia said. "She forwarded the email to me, and I put it in the evidence server."

"Upon my instructions." said Cindy, as Julia opened her Police iPhone and showed me the email.

It read: "My family has rejected me. My wife has kicked me out. My life is over. May God damn Donald Troy."

I asked "How did Mrs. Pringle take the news of her husband's death?"

"She was upset, but calm." said Rodriguez. "Her kids were giving her support, as was the Pastor, but she never had any crying spells or breakdowns while I was there."

"By the way," I said, as if it were a sudden thought, "whose Press van came up as we were leaving?"

"KSTD's." Julia said. "I saw their logo on the van as I left."

"Hmmm..." I said. "now why, Detective Rodriguez, is that a 'strangeness'?"

Julia thought about it, as did everyone else, then Julia said "The only thing I can think of, sir, is that a KXTC van should have arrived also?"

"Very good." I said. "And you are exactly right... KXTC knew; the majority of their reporters and staff would've gotten that email. I'd think they'd be watching the Police, listening to our Police Band radios, maybe making sure to follow me when the Chief and I left City Hall... but no, they sent no van to the scene, and I am always aware of any vehicles or persons that might be following or watching me."

"Yezzzzz." said Chief Moynahan. "I'm also aware of my surroundings, a regrettable but necessary habit when I was deployed while at war. I don't believe we were being watched tonight, either."

"Sir," asked Julia Rodriguez, "should I be investigating this as a homicide instead of a suicide?"

I gave a small smile. "Yes. And that's a 'teachable moment' point. You should always first look at a suicide as if it's possibly a homicide, which is why the Crime Lab was taking so much evidence and I had you go talk to the family. Keep glancing into this."

"Glance into it in the morrrrrning." said the Chief. "It's late, and it'll keep until the sun rises."

As we all got up, I said, "Commander Ross, can I see you in my office, please?"

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

"You're upset." I said as we sat down in my office, my gray eyes boring into Cindy's ice-blue peepers.

"Do tell." Cindy said acerbically. "I'll just get straight to it. Did you send or have sent those photos to Pringle's wife?"

"I'll just say this." I said. "For the record or off the record. I didn't directly sent those photos, and no one will ever prove that I asked or ordered them to be sent."

"I'm not trying to get you in trouble." Cindy said. "But what bothers me is... how do you feel about this? And your ongoing war with the Press. A man is dead now. He took his own life. Does that not matter to you? And where does this end?"

"First of all," I said, "why don't you ask the Press when they're going to end their 'ongoing war' against me? Chuck Pringle got on the air and personally attacked me without reason, just adding to KXTC's filth they're constantly spewing at me... and my family. Second, Chuck Pringle's actions, both in attacking me and in killing himself, were his own actions, and I refuse to accept guilt or blame for them. Especially his death... by his own hand."

"Still," Cindy said, "a man is dead, if by his own hand. His children are grown, but they still will never see their father again. This has got to stop. Pringle's wife said he and other reporters carry guns because they believe the Police won't help them. Your only response tonight? That the permits had better be in order, not that the Press thinks the Police won't help them. And then there's what Pringle put in his suicide email..."

"We can argue this all night, and won't get anywhere." I said. "And that's not the reason I asked you to come in here." I took a breath, then said "Deputy Chief Ross, there is an invisible line between our jobs, and while they may sometimes cross or get blurry, investigations of crimes is absolutely on my side of the line. Unless the Chief dictates otherwise, my own counsel will I keep on how I conduct those investigations. While I'd already chosen to not go to the Pringle home, I would have if I had wanted to... and I resent like hell you asking the Chief to stop me from doing that."

I went on: "You tried to stop me from going into the Harris home during their domestic incident. It was not your place to stop me. I also am fully aware that you were at the scene tonight either to try to stop me from investigating it, and/or to prevent me from going to the Pringle home after seeing the scene. There really was no other reason for you to be there tonight."

"Damn straight that's why I was there." said Cindy. "And why I asked the Chief to keep you out of the loop. In light of all that's going on between you and the Press... and the Amber Harris situation is a perfect example of what can happen... yes, you need to back off. That email Pringle sent is all the more reason---"

"Again, Commander," I said, raising my voice, "it is not your place to dictate that to me. I'll do my job as I see fit. In other words, 'stay in your lane, bro'."

The ice blue eyes flashed ice cold fire, made even brighter by the red flush of anger on Cindy's ruggedly pretty face. She got up.

"I may can't stop you, nor your war with the Media." she said angrily. "But the good news is that I can tell you to fuck off and then walk out of here, and you can't do a damn thing about that... unless you want to see me in the boxing ring." With that, she turned on her heel and left my office. I saw her go into her office, and a moment later she came out, slamming the door behind her and not looking back at me as she tore down the hallway.

An instant later, the Chief appeared. "She's only trying to help you, you know." he said, being pretty much the only person in the world who could say that to me right now.

"Yes sir." I said. "But I said what had to be said."

"Yes, you did." said the Chief. "Go on home. Pet your dog. I'll see you for morning coffee."

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

"What do we do now?" Bettina said. "Jennings went to jail. Amber had to plea deal; she has a record now. Cynthia Freeman is discredited, though she pretends not to know it. And Pringle shot himself. What's next?

"Who's next? is the question." replied Burt West. He and Bettina were meeting in his office as the Midnight Hour struck, beginning Hallowe'en. "I've always wondered why Troy hasn't tried to destroy you, Bettina."

"He's threatened it, a couple of times." said Bettina. "But to your question, I've always wondered if it's because his mother and my aunt are friends. But his mother is talking about moving back to Apple Grove, and she and Aunt Elsie haven't talked much since Don started his war on us. So if that was my 'protection', it will soon be gone."

"Yes, I know." said West. "And we really can't afford to have Troy coming after you. Amber, she's expendable. You're not; you're the face of KXTC, the brand of it."

"Thank you... I think." said Bettina, meaning it humorously.

"Listen, Bettina, there's something else, something I'm only going to tell you." said West. He lowered his voice to a whisper and said "The boycott against us... is working. J.P. Goldman, Edward Steele, and John Colby are powerful businesspeople in this County, and they are doing everything they can to push the boycott. Troy is not suffering in popularity polls, nor is he a drag on Griswold and Allgood's campaigns."

"How... how bad is it?" Bettina asked.

"Bad enough." said West. "Look, I hate it like hell that Troy is getting away with all of this, and I definitely blame Pringle's death on Troy as if Troy pulled the trigger and fired the bullet that murdered Pringle. I don't care about my job here, either; I'll be fine, and I was always willing to be martyred on the tree of Don Troy's destruction. But it's you and the others here that I'm worried about. Our people losing their jobs, leaving their children hungry. Or worse, leaving their children without a parent. That new Fox network starts up Thursday... tomorrow. We've got to do something, or we just may not survive here. Bettina...we're losing the war."

Bettina nodded. "I'm not sure what we can do, though. We're committed to our course. We capitulate to Troy, and he'll run roughshod over us. We keep fighting, it's just a slow-bleed death."

"What we can do," said West, "is for you to get in touch with Priya Ajmani, and ask her to find out what Troy's terms are. Then we can negotiate peace from there."

"Troy does not give a shit about negotiating peace." said Bettina. "He's as all-in as we are. Our only hope is for Weaver to win the Mayoral race and be the tie-breaker vote to fire him. And that won't lift the boycott by Colby and Steele..."

"Let's try." said West. "Before someone else gets hurt, let's try. Maybe Troy will realize it's gone too far with Pringle's suicide, and maybe he'll meet us halfway. Hell, I'll accept one-third of the way. Will you contact Priya?"

Bettina realized that West was set on his course... and that he was right. "Sure." she said.

Part 17 - All Hallows Eve

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News." said the very tired-looking redheaded reporterette solemnly from in front of City Hall. Bettina was wearing all black as she said "Channel Two News is bringing you continuing coverage of the apparent suicide of our colleague, KXTC Sports reporter Chuck Pringle."

"Mr. Pringle was found dead in his car at the gate on the road leading to Point Hollow." said Bettina, "with a gunshot wound to the side of his head. He leaves behind a wife and two adult children..."

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

Bettina would go on about Pringle for over ten minutes and then go to break. MCD Detectives got weary of it and turned the volume down.

"Oh, look at these new pictures of Leo I took!" Joanne said, almost squealing. She 'pushed' the pictures to one of the four monitor screens on the wall. They showed the utterly adorable Leo in many different situations at home.

"How's cage training going?" asked Jerome Davis.

"Really good." said Joanne. "Seth can even leave the house for periods of time now."

*Whirrrrrrrr*

"Anything new on that Pringle shooting?" asked Tanya as she drove in.

"No ma'am." said Julia Rodriguez. "We're waiting on ballistics."

"Ma'am," said Theo Harris, "is there any truth to the rumor that they're going to three Precincts again? And that we Detectives will be dispersed amongst those Precincts?"

"Where did you hear that?" asked Tanya, with no trace of a smile, cherubic cheeks, or perkiness on her face. The room had gone completely quiet, as well.

"Friend of a friend of my wife." said Theo.

"All I know," said Tanya, with some venom in her voice, "is that Eldrick Weaver brought it up at the Assembly budget meetings. If he wins the Mayor's race, then we might have to worry about it. If not, not. I'll have more for you next Wednesday, after the Elections."

"If they're decided by then." said Teddy Parker, sitting at his desk on restricted duty as he recovered from his wounds.

"Why wouldn't they be?" asked Joanne.

"Call it a vibe, as Commander Ross would say." said Teddy. "But I think some crap is going to happen..."

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

7:45am. Teresa strode into my office. Tanya was already parked in front of my desk. I was sitting behind my desk, the red crowbar on the desk in front of me. "Where is she?" Teresa asked.

"In her office." I said, knowing she meant Cindy.

"May I borrow your crowbar, sir?" Teresa asked.

"Yes, yes you may. Maintain its honor." I said as I handed her the red crowbar. She strode out of the room. Tanya just gave me a 'WTF?' look...

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

"Angels meeting. Let's go." said Teresa as she opened Cindy's office door and strode in.

"I'm not going. And you have a crowbar in your hand. Try using it to knock on the door next time." Cindy said, trying to keep her voice matter-of-fact.

Teresa began walking the long way around Cindy's desk to come up behind it, to Cindy's left side. "You're coming in there with me. Let's go." she said.

"You have got to be kidding." Cindy said.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Teresa asked severely.