The Saga Continues Ch. 05

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

"Looks like I missed a good party." Cindy said as we drank coffee in MCD with all the Detectives. "Several of them, in fact. Mary, that was great work by you and all of your Vice Squad."

"Thanks, ma'am." said Mary. "Purvis was all over that like one of T-Square's cheap suits." Everyone laughed, partially because T-Square's suits were expensive and looked good, and partially because it had been Mary herself that had been all over that case.

"And what's going on with these warrants, and finding guns in the pond?" Cindy asked.

"I'll tell you all about that later." I said, letting my voice be just a bit 'quiet' to connote my desire for her to stop talking about that at this time.

"Commander, who are you rooting for on Saturday?" asked Joanne Warner happily. "The Bulldogs, or State Tech?"

"Oh, Bulldogs, no doubt." I said. "I even root for the Wildcats's archenemy State U. to whip State Tech's sorry asses."

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

"Welcome back, Captain Ross. How was California?" I said as we gathered in my office for the Angels meeting. I was noticing a gleam in Teresa's eyes, and wondered what that was about.

"It was great!" Cindy said. "But it's good to be back. And I wish to God that Dana Fox would show up here like he did in California. Then you could take care of business a little more completely."

"We'll talk about that." I said, letting the seriousness of my voice show that there were serious issues there. "But first, let's bring you up to speed on the Tammy Cochran cold case. What happened is that I was able to get warrants to search that tract of land where Tammy was found, and that included dredging the pond, which was never done before. We came up with several handguns that had been thrown into there, and Tanya's Crime Lab is now working on those."

I continued: "We also found some containers of chemicals that had been thrown in there. Some insecticides that are no longer legal to make. Some of the labels are still visible, and say 'Ultra Diox' on them. The Crime Lab is attempting to get lot numbers and trace back time of sales."

"So we're working it on two angles." I said. If we can match a gun to the bullets at Tammy's burial site, and that gun was owned by one of the McGill's, it's probable cause to bring that person in and lean hard on them. Ditto for the chemicals, though that'll be me and the FBI pushing on that."

Cindy nodded. I turned to Teresa. "Anything new on your front?"

"Briggs went to the Union." said Teresa. "Filed multiple grievances, the latest being my email to him explaining my intent to bring him up for discipline for missing meetings I've explicitly ordered him to attend."

"Yes, the Chief has already told me." I said. "Anything else?"

"Just some grapevine stuff." said Teresa. "There's word that those red-shirted thugs are going to do something to disrupt our Orange Order overnight patrol. We may have to limit where we go, or really change the routes so they can't anticipate us. We can put out extra people to protect the initiates, but the Press might make a huge issue of the 'overwhelming Police presence'."

I nodded. "Prepare to have extra people on call if not on duty, in case of trouble. But let's not change the traditional routes unless it's a really bad threat... I don't want to be seen as reacting to these filthy bastards and letting them think they've won."

As I wrapped up the meeting, Cindy went there: "What are they doing about Dana Fox?" she asked.

"Not much." I said. "Slap on the wrist. No official OPR opened, that I know of, anyway." Cindy scowled.

"Why are you still working with those corrupt slugs?" Cindy asked, her voice low and venomous. Teresa's eyes widened a bit. I just met Cindy's glare.

"I'll say just one thing about that." I said. "The fact I'm working with Muscone and his team is the only reason I'm able to bring up any flak on your behalf about Fox in the first place. But I also think they are treating this just a bit too casually... and that means they may have someone looking into Fox very quietly and non-publicly."

"Don, they don't have an Internal Affairs like we do." Cindy said. "If they're not opening an OPR on him, that means they're giving him a free pass."

"So they're making a point to tell me." I said. "But I know sneaky subterfuge when I see it... I watch my daughter ceaselessly try to find new ways to give her stringbeans to Bowser. So I'm just going to play along... for the moment. I'd suggest you do the same, though you have your own paths to follow..."

Part 29 - Holiday Spirit

Thursday, November 23d. Thanksgiving at the Cabin was a festive occasion. Cindy and Callie went to Cindy's father's compound in Coltrane County, but we had just about everyone else. Paulina Patterson brought Tasha. Jack Muscone and Tanya Perlman brought little Pete. Martin Nash, Lindy Linares, and Sandra Speer came, and Sandra brought baby Greta!

Carole and Tasha were just beside themselves seeing baby Greta, who seemed to like them, as well. My mother and I made sure to get a lot of pictures of them together... not knowing how often we'd see Greta.

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

Laura and I were invited to go to the Bulldogs-Engineers game, but we made our excuses, including mine that I was working on a serious case. I did have the game on TV; the #2 team in the Nation, the Bulldogs, were relegated to an early game. Tech Field was 3/4 blue and silver; Tech fans didn't bother to show up.

The game ended 56-0 Bulldogs, with their third team players getting most of the second half snaps.

But then the day turned bad. The Wildcats lost to a very good 9-2 State U. Purple Hawks team, their first win over us in six years. Rebuild around the crowbar, I silently thought. Rebuild around the crowbar...

Carole and Marie were playing, and the game had been on the television in the greatroom. Bowser barked when the Wildcats scored, causing Carole to turn and say "Yay, Wildcats!" But after the loss, Carole said "Oh well, we'll get 'em next year!" and continued to play with Marie without a care in the world. First world problems, our college sports were...

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

Sunday, November 26th. It was Ian's turn to have a birthday, the next day on the 27th. So we had yet another party, but this time over in Nextdoor County. Cindy brought Callie, who was looking strangely subdued and thoughtful the whole time.

And Carole got into some trouble... she kept saying she wanted to go home to see Bowser. I told her that we'd see Bowser in a little bit, but it was her brother Ian's birthday, and we were going to help celebrate it with him. That got me one sulking daughter, who was turned over to her Mommy for remedial instruction. That didn't work, nor did 'time out'.

When we got home, Carole ran inside to find Bowser and Buddy hanging out where they always did, on the landing at the top of the stairs. The dogs seemed fine and were happy to see us; I couldn't tell what Carole's obsession had been. I took the dogs out to do their business while Laura kept Carole on the steps in 'time out'.

When I got back, I sat with Carole, who continued to sulk fiercely. I dunno where she was getting this stubborn streak, I thought to myself. Must come from her mother's side of the family...

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

Tuesday, November 28th. My assistant Helena had informed me the morning before that less than half the Orange Order ballots had been turned in so far. I sent out an email to 'Loddy-Doddy-Everybody' (that's actually how I have it in my email index) to get ballots in. That got 'water cooler talk' going.

"There's no real consensus on who to vote for." said Teresa as we drank coffee in MCD with everyone and watched Bettina's report on Christmas shopping. "The Chief is eligible now, and he'll likely get voted in, but after that it's wide open."

"In a way, that's good." I said. "We only have two spots, the Chief is getting one of them and we're not going to have extra slots like they did when Cindy and I were brought in."

"Sir, who are you going to vote for?" asked Joanne Warner.

"Bowser." I said. Then I added "No, I'm just kidding about that. Knowing you guys, you really would try to vote the dog in, but as much as we could use a good mascot, it's all about the humans on this Police Force. As to my vote..."

And then it hit me. I went to my office and got my ballot, then came back. "I do have an idea. And if people happen to see it while refilling their coffee mugs, then so be it." I put my ballot down on the coffee table and proceeded to watch the news. Detectives refilled their coffee mugs, surprisingly needing refills at the same time, wouldn't you know...

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

Thursday, November 30th. The Orange Order balloting closed at noon. Cindy and I gave Helena a bouquet of roses for being the keeper of the Ballot Box (and Helena loved getting those roses), then we took the Box under two-man control to City Hall. We were meeting in the conference room of the Board of Commissioners.

"Thank you all for coming." said Corporal Kirkpatrick, taking charge. "First, Mrs. Peabody and I will count the ballots." He took the Ballot Box from me and the 'tag' box from Cindy. The tag box showed who voted, and would be matched up with the ballots inside by Mrs. Peabody to ensure it was all correct.

Moments later, it was certified. Those of us in the Inner Circle were brought up to see the results. Then the rest of the group came up.

"Do we all agree on these two nominees?" asked Corporal Kirkpatrick. We all agreed.

"Very well." said Corporal Kirkpatrick. "We now have two things to do. First, to select our newest Inner Circle members. We are picking two this year. The other is to select a new spokesperson, as my term has expired. Let's do that first."

Secret ballots were taken. Your Iron Crowbar won handily. But I said "I appreciate your sentiment, but I must raise an objection: I truly believe the Spokesperson should be one of you Uniformed Officers, not me nor the Captains. The Orange Order is everyone's organization, and I believe it means something for our Officers to see it led by their fellow Officers. They see more than enough of me as it is."

"No doubt about that." said Cindy, making everyone laugh. A red crowbar was waved in her general direction.

"I agree with what the Commander is saying, also." said Chief Griswold. "So, Commander Troy, I guess it's up to you to pick our next Spokesperson." There was an acclaim for that.

"Okay." I said. As I looked around the room, Micah Rudistan was egregiously pointing his hands at himself and mouthing 'pick me!'.

"Rudistan," I said, "you're a great Officer, but there is no way in hell I am picking you. Laughter erupted, especially from Rudistan himself. So I said "I'm thinking future Sergeant... Morton... should be the next Spokesman." Sr. Patrolman Morton looked shocked, and everyone else applauded.

"Uh, thank you sir." said Morton, standing up. "I think." More laughter. "Okay... Inner Circle. If those of you in the Inner Circle will form a circle in the middle, and the rest of you on the outside ring..." As we did, he went and got two sets of robes and two orange-glassed lanterns. As Morton wasn't Inner Circle, it was Rudistan who took them and walked between the circles and then stopped in front of... Precinct Captain Damien Thompson.

"Captain Thompson," Rudistan said, "if you accept the responsibilities and rewards of being a member of the Orange Order Inner Circle, signify so by taking this lantern." Damien took the lantern.

Rudistan repeated the process, walking between the circles and stopping in front of... Captain Teresa Croyle.

"Captain Croyle," Rudistan said, "if you accept the responsibilities and rewards of being a member of the Orange Order Inner Circle, signify so by taking this lantern." Teresa took the lantern.

The rest of the Order was excused as the Inner Circle conducted its initiation ceremony.

Part 30 - Orange Is The New Order

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded reporterette from in front of Police Headquarters at 7:00am, Friday, December 1st. "Today is the Police Department's Orange Order Day. Officers will learn who among them will be inducted into the TCPD's honorary fraternity later today. The members of the Orange Order do not choose who joins them, but the entire Police Force makes the selection of those they believe worthy of this honor."

Bettina continued "Tonight, the initiates will walk what is called a Patrol of Honor, carrying lanterns like the first citizen patrols in Holland in the days of the Prince of Orange." Bettina then proceeded to tell the route in very explicit detail, which annoyed me.

"Why is she telling everyone the specific route?" I asked. "We've never put that out before. Who the hell released that?"

"It wasn't me." said the Chief. "Nor did I authorize it. I'll check with Briscoe." He left the room.

"Should we change the route?" asked Teresa quietly.

I thought about it. "Let's change the timing of it. Let's get MLK Jr. Avenue out of the way early, then do the northside later. We've only got one group tonight, so we don't have to worry about multiple routes. And we'll go back to the meeting place straight down University Avenue, with heavy escort."

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

With everyone in Standard Uniform, with no insignia for MOVs or Purple Orders and such, and only our ranks giving any differentiation to our uniforms, it became something of a party day. Lt. Tanya Perlman had come in, wearing a Standard Uniform and her 'Retired' badge. She talked the Cochran/McGill case with the MCD Detectives.

Right after the shift change at 8:00am, the Chief called me and Cindy into MCD. And then, with great solemnity, Sergeant Rudistan and Corporal Kirkpatrick came up to us and said "I'm sorry, ma'am, sir, but it is my duty to inform you that you are out of uniform."

Cindy looked daggers at them, but I was well aware that something was up. "Oh really?" I said loudly. "What is the correction we need to make?"

With that, Patrolman Hicks and Patrolman Johnson came around from behind us with two international orange crowbars... among the set Susie and Davie had brought us. "Sir," said Rudistan, "on Orange Order day, you should be carrying an orange crowbar. Same for you, ma'am."

I now realized the real reason the kids had had orange crowbars made. Not so much for the Boxing Matches, but for this day and occasion. I took the orange crowbar from Hicks and tapped it in my hand. "Feels good." I said. "I feel properly attired now. Thank you for bringing this to our attention." Cindy took her orange crowbar and everyone applauded. Tanya had recorded that 'ceremony' on her iPhone.

And after today, my orange crowbar would stay in my office, hanging on the wall beneath the red one the Fire Department gave me, and brought out only on future Orange Order days. Properly attired, indeed.

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

At 3:30pm, those of us in the Orange Order put our Orange Order medals on our uniforms and gathered in the Main Conference Room. Everyone else knew they needed to be somewhere at Headquarters. Our scouts quickly determined where the two new honorees were. We planned our route.

At 3:45, we headed out. Chief Griswold told Captain Damien to be the line leader, and for Teresa to bring up the rear, and that that would be tonight's order, as well. Griswold and I knew why; almost no one else did.

We headed out, going along the back hallway towards the gym and Interrogation Rooms. Then we turned down the hall and went past Administration. Turning again, we were along the front hall, seeing many Officers in the Main Auditorium, waiting. Everyone was forbidden from following us, but they watched curiously.

And now we moved along the hallway between the Officers Offices and MCD and Vice, towards the back corner where the Chief's Office was. As we got to the corner, we stopped. Chief Griswold was followed by Cindy into the Chief's office.

"Chief Moynahan," growled Griswold, "would you please come with us?"

"Certainly." said Moynahan. He was brought into the line behind Captain Thompson. We began again, taking the same route down the hallways. No one was surprised that we'd picked up the Police Chief along the way, but who the other initiate would be had everyone wondering...

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

MCD was full of Detectives from both MCD and Vice. Mary Milton and Teddy Parker were playing a very simple card game: whoever picked the higher card off the standard deck won. Others were sitting and talking in groups. Myron was sitting in a chair off to the side, watching the monitor on the far side wall.

They noticed that the Orange Order line had come by the side-by-side doors of MCD and Vice and stopped just beyond. "Ooooh, they're stopping here." Joanne whispered excitedly. Activity in the room stopped.

What they did not know was that Your Iron Crowbar had continued down the hall, followed by Cindy Ross. We came in the door to the back hallway, surprising everyone. All eyes were on me as I came to the middle of the now-silent room, ju-ust past my intended target. Then I executed a sharp left-face, looked down, and pointed to the front side door we'd be exiting out of.

"Supervisor Myron Milton," I said solemnly, "would you please come with us?"

To be continued.