The Usual Suspects Ch. 03

The chronological order of my stories is now 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 10 - Aikido Rules

From around the corner, Phyllis Troy ran up. "What are you doing?" she screamed at Ferrell, distracting him. He turned to face her.

"You fucking cunt!" Ferrell snarled. "I'm going to finish what Ikea started. And your turd son isn't here to save your sorry ass!" He advanced upon Phyllis and swung as hard as he could at her face. Phyllis dodged the blow, and saw his shoulder joint pass by... ah, a joint. She knows what to do with those.

*WHAM!!*

Ferrell came down hard on his neck and cheek, driven into the floor by his own body weight. As he lay stunned, Phyllis moved to get the wheelchair off Tanya.

"Are you all right?" she asked. Then she saw Ferrell trying to get up, and going for his gun.

*WHEE!* *WHEE!* *WHEE!* *WHEE!* *WHEE!* *WHEE!* *WHEE!* *WHEE!* *WHEE!*

It was the building fire alarm. As people began coming out of the rooms into the hallway, Ferrell rushed for the stairs to get away. Phyllis pulled the wheelchair off Tanya's legs.

"Tanya, are you okay?" Phyllis asked.

"No." said Tanya. "I can't feel my legs, but I know something is wrong." Phyllis looked and saw the bruises forming on Tanya's thighs.

"Let's get her to the hospital!" said a technician as several ran up.

"Call an ambulance!" replied Phyllis, taking charge. Then Tanya handed her the file and jump drives.

"Take these to your son." said Tanya. "That's more important than anything. Get some of these guys to go with you."

As Phyllis and two technicians rushed to the elevator, she got out her cellphone and made a fortuitous phone call.

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

"I'm sorry, Commander, he got away." said Captain Cortese, commander of the 1st District State Patrol Post. With him was Sergeant Rudistan, and they were in my office at Police Headquarters. "We expected him to go either south towards Midtown or east towards Hillside and maybe cut south. But he went west. He crossed the State Line."

"The only non-stupid thing he's done all day." I said. "Okay, Captain, thanks for your efforts."

"Sir," said Captain Cortese as he read a text, "the SBI is ordering the State Patrol to cease and desist pursuit of Lieutenant Ferrell."

"Those orders do not apply in this County to you, Sergeant Rudistan." I said. "Put out an APB on Ferrell for aggravated assault with the intent to kill. Do it in the Sheriff's name, not mine, and I've already gotten his permission."

Moments later, as I sat alone in my office, the Three Mouseketeers came in. "We got the hallway footage from the State Crime Lab building, sir." said Myron. "But we had no warrant to hack them, so I don't know if it's valid."

"It's valid, Mr. Milton." said a voice. It was my mother's voice. She came up to us and said "Two technicians recorded what Ferrell did to Lt. Perlman in the hallway. They sent videos to the TCPD and the Campus Police, and we're holding their cellphones as evidence for now."

I accessed the evidence servers and watched. It was painful to watch Tanya take that abuse, and I was very angry, very angry in-deed. "How is Tanya?" I asked.

"Dr. Morgan said it was lucky her legs weren't broken." my mother said. "They have her on exercise therapies to try to keep her leg muscles as strong as possible, but it's not all that much. And she had some severe bruising that they're going to monitor overnight. She's lucky, son. Very lucky."

"So is Ferrell... in a 'bad luck' kind of way." I said. "Nothing will stop me from destroying that bastard if I ever see him. My katana will be blooded, consequences be damned."

"Not if I get him first." said another voice. This one belonged to FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone.

"Why aren't you at the Hospital, Special Agent Muscone?" I asked.

"I was." Jack replied. "They're running tests, and I think Tanya felt a bit humiliated to have me there. She asked me to come see you."

"I think you're right, Jack." said my mother. "I believe she felt very helpless lying there, but it was she who activated the alarm."

Tanya had a necklace that had a button secreted in it. It was the equivalent of the "I've fallen and I can't get up" kind of alert. She also had something secreted in her wristwatch, and when she pressed that, the fire alarm went off in the building, and camera evidence was automatically moved to evidence servers. It was Dr. Marvin Milton that had given Tanya the watch, fearing for her safety as he'd feared for mine when he gave me the belt alarm. Tanya's own acumen to have camera evidence preserved if she activated the alarm is what caused her to activate it.

"All right." I said. "Myron, I need jump drives of this video prepared."

"For whom, sir?" asked Myron.

"For the Press." I replied. "By the time I am done, both Ferrell and his boss Jack Lewis will rue the day they hurt Tanya."

"By the way, Mom," I said after the Mouseketeers had left. "Awesome job planting Ferrell's face into the floor."

"I was trying to kill him, you know." Phyllis said. "Unfortunately, my skills are rusty."

What you may not know, people, is that when Elizabeth and I were young, we were not dropped off at our Aikido lessons... we went with our parents. My mom and dad were both very good with Aikido, as Elizabeth and I learned to be.

"And Ferrell has a very hard head." I replied. "Okay, so what did Tanya learn?" I asked, looking at the information even as my mother spoke.

"As you know, son, the SBI made a raid and confiscated some synthetic drugs. Some of those drugs apparently are nothing short of nerve agents, and somehow they found a way to inject young Jeremy with those drugs. The drugs destroyed his brain stem and cerebellum, and virtually all of his autonomic activity."

"Was this done at the scene?" I asked, "or at the Hospital later?"

"It was fortunate I asked for blood samples to be taken even as Jeremy was being transported to the Hospital, was it not?" my mother asked. "They show it happened at the scene. We'll never prove it was Ferrell, but he was in this County at the time, monitoring your casino stings."

"For what I am about to do," I said, "I don't need proof."

"Son, you should refrain from physically attacking him at this time." my mother admonished. "Your enemies will use any attack by you against you."

"Oh, I'm not going to touch him, not just yet." I said. "We have something far, far more important to do for our State first..."

Part 11 - Revenge of the Crowbar

"Director Lewis!" shouted Priya Ajmani at the Press Conference Jack Lewis was giving at the Lakeside Inn and Suites resort hotel, "do you support Richard Ferrell as your successor?"

"I think he's a fine SBI Officer, and one of the reasons the SBI is the premiere law enforcement agency in the State. He will certainly be considered when I become Governor." said Jack Lewis.

"Even though Director Ferrell attacked a paraplegic SBI Agent, Mr. Lewis?" asked Tim Sioban of KSB in the City. The silence was sudden and overwhelming.

"What?" asked Lewis. "What are you talking about?"

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

"This is Amber Harris, KXTC Channel Two News at Six!" said the athletic blonde behind the anchor desk. "We are bringing you shocking footage of SBI Agent and Narcotics Task Force Director Richard Ferrell attacking Lt. Tanya Perlman, who is a paraplegic. This is very disturbing video, showing Mr. Ferrell throwing Lt. Perlman's wheelchair on top of her legs..."

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

"This is Diane Williams at the City National Newsdesk." said the decided blonde from her anchor desk, which had a national audience. "A State Bureau of Investigation Officer is being investigated after throwing a paraplegic Crime Lab employee out of her wheelchair! Lt. Tanya Perlman is paralyzed from the waist down, and was unable to avoid Agent Ferrell throwing her wheelchair on top of her!..."

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

"This is Priya Ajmani, Five-Alive News in the evening!" shouted the lovely Indian reporterette. "SBI Director Jack Lewis continues to support his NTF Director, Dick Ferrell, after Ferrell attacked Crime Lab Director Tanya Perlman, throwing the paralyzed woman to the floor and dropping her wheelchair on her. Ms. Perlman was hospitalized with severe injuries..."

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

In all cases, the footage of the Ferrell attack was shown over and over again, all over the State, and even on a few national outlets that used Diane Williams's coverage.

"You know, Commander," said the Chief as we sat and watched in the Main Conference Room, "it is likely that Ferrell can't be prosecuted now, because the evidence is being shown all over the State."

"Yes sir." I said. "But he can be fired after an investigation. And we're going to nail Jack Lewis's foreskin to the wall and staple-gun his scrotum with this." The Chief was laughing hard at my potty-mouth language.

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

"We don't have any information yet." said Jack Lewis as reporters thronged around him. "The SBI is handling this as an internal investigation. We will determine what actually happened, and you should not jump to conclusions based upon sensationalized video tape that we have not verified yet as being accurate."

Lewis was shuffled into his car, and was driven to the SBI's Midtown offices. Once there, he was escorted into the building by a back door, so that reporters could not speak to him. Once inside, he was taken to a conference room. Inside were SBI Deputy Director Robert Gaston, State Senator Katherine Woodburn, State Senator Richard Langdon, and his top campaign managers.

"How bad is it?" Lewis asked, seeing the haggard, stunned faces around him. "And where is Jimmy Cerone?"

"He declined to come." said Langdon. "And I can guarantee you I considered it. This is a disaster, Lewis. An unmitigated disaster."

"Let's not jump to hasty conclusions." said Lewis.

"Have you seen the tape?" asked Katherine. Lewis said he had not. Katherine had the campaign people run the footage from the various angles."

"Jesus Christ..." Lewis whispered, practically falling into his chair. "Oh my... God...." He watched it again, just to make sure his eyes were not lying to him.

"As you can see, Director," said Gaston, "it's bad."

"First of all," Lewis said, groping for words, "has anyone talked to Ferrell? Has anyone asked him just why he did that?"

"No," said Katherine Woodburn, "but we don't need to ask. Lt. Perlman's Crime Lab found strong evidence that the drugs captured in the SBI raid some days ago were used on Jeremy Moreland, and may in fact be what killed Jeremy. Perlman was trying to get the evidence to the Iron Crowbar, and Ferrell interdicted. After what you saw on the tape, the Iron Crowbar's mother came upon the scene and Ferrell attacked her."

"Ohhhhhh, nooooooo." said Lewis. "After what the Iron Crowbar did to Ikea for hitting Mrs. Troy..."

"Fortunately, Ferrell got out of the County before the Iron Crowbar found out." said Katherine, hurling her words at the SBI Director. "Mrs. Troy did defend herself from Ferrell with martial arts, by the way. She's no slouch."

"Ferrell did that to a paralyzed woman..." whispered Lewis. "What is this doing to the campaign?"

"We don't have polling yet." said Langdon. "But your campaign may well be finished."

"No, we have to find some way to mitigate this." said Lewis.

"You'll have to fire Ferrell." said Katherine. "You will probably have to serve him up to the System on criminal charges. You have to separate yourself from him, and you need to make a Press statement very, very soon."

"No, that is what you must not do." said Robert Gaston. "Director, you have to come out and support Ferrell on this. Say this isn't what it appears to be, that it's a smear job by Jared and the Republicans."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Katherine all but screamed. "This tape is all over the State, and you say Lewis should support Ferrell?!?!?"

"Yes, Senator." said Gaston. "That is the only way for the Director to save his campaign. He says there will be an 'internal review' of Ferrell, and a 'security review' of the State Crime Lab cameras and Lt. Perlman herself. You must say that Ferrell has done nothing wrong, though. Make people doubt what has happened, and what is going on."

"That is the craziest thing I've ever heard, outside the Iron Crowbar's County." said Katherine.

"Katherine," said Richard Langdon, considering it, "we must think about this. On its face, it would seem crazy. But I'm starting to see Gaston's logic in this... stand right up to them. It's always the Republicans that retreat in shame. With us Democrats, we stand tall and strong, no matter what crime we're accused of perpetrating. We deny, deny, deny. And we say there's an internal investigation, so we can't comment until it's done. And then we say we didn't mean to do anything wrong, that this doesn't rise to the level of an actionable crime. And with the Media behind us, we'll be just fine until December and beyond..."

Katherine said "I don't agree. We have to cut bait, here. If it weren't for the fact Ms. Perlman is a paraplegic, you might get away with that... but people see a helpless woman... and note that she's a woman... thrown to the floor and her wheelchair thrown onto her... and with her now in the Hospital..."

"Well," said Lewis, "let's get this right. We only get one shot at getting it right, and we also had better go nuclear on Jared. If we have anything on him we were holding back, now is the time to bring it out."

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

Governor Val Jared stood beside SBI Inspector General Brittany M. Maxwell at the State Capitol. On cue, he took to the microphone, and spoke into the ears of the State: "It is obvious that the deep corruption of Jack Lewis's SBI cannot be tolerated any longer. Inspector?"

"Thank you, Governor." said Britt Maxwell. "The SBI Office of Ethics and Review has determined that the video footage, obtained from several sources, of Agent Ferrell attacking Ms. Perlman is valid and accurately depicts what happened. I am suspending Agent Ferrell, without pay, and the SBI Office of Ethics and Review is opening a comprehensive investigation of this issue, as well as others that will be discussed shortly. In addition, I have asked the FBI for assistance, and they will also be making a determination if Ms. Perlman's civil rights were violated in addition to the criminal violence against her."

"Thank you, Inspector." said the Governor. "Ladies and gentlemen, despite the political campaign, this issue is so serious that I cannot fail to act. Responsibility begins at the top, and the actions of SBI Agent Ferrell are the responsibility of SBI Director Jack Lewis. Therefore, I am suspending Director Lewis indefinitely. Deputy Director Robert Gaston will take over as Interim Director."

"Governor, if responsibility goes to the top, doesn't that mean that YOU are ultimately responsible for this?" John Hardwood sneeringly asked.

"Normally that would be the case." said the Governor. "But now let's listen to the hookup with Commander Donald Troy, speaking from his home County, to show you what is truly happening here."

"Thank you, Governor." I said on cue. I was speaking in front of reporters and cameras at City Hall in Town. I was wearing my formal jacket with ribbons over my white shirt and tie (and body armor, of course). 
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have proof, evidence that will hold up in Court, that Jeremy Moreland was injected with drugs confiscated by the SBI some days ago. They are the same drugs, some of which are missing from the SBI's evidence rooms."

"These drugs," I continued, "were injected into Jeremy before he arrived at the Hospital, nearly dead from a blow to the head. Blood samples taken at the scene prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jeremy was injected at the scene with the SBI's drugs. Again, we have proof of this that will stand up in Court."

"Commander," asked Bettina Wurtzburg, "do you have any idea who injected Jeremy with these drugs?"

"We have no video evidence." I said. "We talked to the young man who confessed to hitting Jeremy with the tire iron, and he claims to have seen no one. Considering the seriousness of the charges against him, and that a plea deal might be made should he have seen something, I consider his claim to be truthful."

I went on: "What I also know is that Chaplain Steven Ikea is a close friend of NTF Director Dick Ferrell, and that Chaplain Ikea is the organizer of the 'State Right To Life Committee'. In fact, Ferrell and Ikea were once partners in the SBI. We also have evidence that shows that Dick Ferrell was in this County on the night Jeremy was attacked. Ferrell and the SBI were monitoring a casino sting operation being jointly run by the TCPD and the FBI."

"Commander, are you saying Richard Ferrell injected those drugs into Jeremy?" asked a cub reporter that I did not know.

"I am only stating the facts for which I have evidence." I said. "Any other conclusions that you draw are just that: conclusions drawn by you, not stated by me."

"Why would they do this, Commander?" asked Bettina.

"Again, I have no proof who actually injected Jeremy." I said. "But Jeremy was used as a pawn by SBI Chaplain Steven Ikea's 'State Right to Life Committee' to politically attack Governor Val Jared. That young brain-dead man was used as a tool, causing his family anguish and grief, by Steven Ikea's group. And that young man was brain-dead likely as a result of being injected by these powerful drugs that were confiscated by the SBI but are now missing from the SBI's control."

"It is obvious to me, Bettina," I said, "that all of this was done to create a political attack on Governor Jared. I will continue to investigate this matter, and will report my findings to the FBI and to the United States Department of Justice. And I will not try to deceive the People of this State by saying that there is going to be even a hint of cooperation with the SBI in this investigation..."

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

It was now officially 'late'. It was about 11:00pm, Friday, October 7th. I was sitting in my office, feeling cold after taking off my Police jacket, and thinking and re-thinking this whole thing.

"I'll just say this." said Chief Moynahan, who appeared at my doorway, then came on inside. "If it had been anyone but you connecting those dots and telling that story, no one would be believing it."

"They might not believe me anyway, sir." I replied.

"Oh, if you get the chance to watch a tape of yourself, do so." said the Chief. "Everyone who saw that on television will know that you were right, and that you are all over it. Now go home, Mr. Crowbar."

I went home. Laura was in bed, asleep. I checked in on Jim and little Pete Feeley in their beds, then Carole in her room. In the process I found myself being followed by two fine dogs that needed taking out.

Outside, they went and did their business while I looked over my beloved Town, seeing the twinkling light and enjoying the sight, as always. And I knew that I had yet more work to do to keep that Town clean.