Time Flies Ch. 03

"Unless he made a mistake," said Teddy Parker, "and set his watch the wrong way."

"Or '40a' actually means behind, and '40b' would mean ahead." said Julia. "Like 'Opposite Day' in the Calvin & Hobbes cartoons."

"Seems like an unnecessary layer of finesse." said George Newman. "The code itself wasn't as complex as it could've been, so why do that little trickeration? It just creates potential for a mistake."

*Whirrrrrrrrrrr*

Captain Tanya Perlman drove her wheelchair into MCD, and saw what they were looking at. "Oh," she said, "you're looking at the code, too."

"Yes ma'am." said Lt. Davis. "And I told them about the speculation that 'a' and 'b' being 'ahead' and 'behind', though Fisher's wristwatch was behind and the code suggested 'ahead'. And that brought Calvin & Hobbes into the mix."

"Opposite Day?" asked Tanya with a grin. "Good thinking. But none of this explains why someone moved the body from the place he was shot... and went through an elaborate scheme to do so. And there's that question on my mind: who reduced Hamm's charges?"

"Ma'am," said Julia, "we've been discussing that either Fisher or Hamm was or is an undercover agent of some kind. Hamm's charges could be a backstop, and for that matter, so could Fisher's. Also, if Fisher was undercover or a C.I., and discovered to be one, they might kill him and put him out there to be found to let the world know that that is what happens to undercover agents and snitches."

"Good points." said Tanya. "And the Iron Crowbar is trying to find that out, also... but by the more expedient method of asking the Feds directly."

"Would they tell him?" Julia asked. Seeing Tanya's 'look' at her, she said "No disrespect, ma'am, but the DEA might refuse to answer, to protect a source or undercover agent."

"And protect their operation, if there is one." said Lt. Davis.

Tanya nodded. "I can see that. But you're forgetting one thing: it's the Iron Crowbar who is doing the asking."

"That's right." said a voice in the door to the back hallway. Everyone turned to see Your Iron Crowbar standing there.

"I will indeed be asking our Federal friends some very pertinent questions." I continued. "But in the meantime, I like the way you guys are thinking about all of this. Keep at it..."

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

10:00am, Friday, January 10th. FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone appeared in the door to my office, and he brought someone with him: DEA Special Agent In Charge Rutherford Lyndon. I got up and shook hands with both of them, and poured a 'round' of coffee for each of us.

Muscone said "I got your messages, and Tanya's. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner, but I was in meetings with SAC Lyndon and EAD Owen Lange, and we decided to just come over instead of calling you back. So how can we help you?"

"Thanks for coming." I said. "The relatively urgent thing I need to ask you about is this Fisher murder. I'm not trying to step on any operations or blow anyone's cover... but I really need to know if Hamm is an undercover Agent, or if Fisher was one... a real one, not a Fake News C.I. And it's urgent because I am beginning to fear that people are in danger right now."

Muscone and Lyndon looked at each other, then they turned to me and Muscone said "No, neither of them are any more than what you've been told already. Merkle tried to flip Fisher, but apparently without success."

"That's correct." said SAC Lyndon. "And with the TCPD getting more involved in recent drug operations in this part of the State,, and with those maybe spilling over the State Line, I agree with SAC Muscone that we need to bring you more into the loop than we have in the past. So since I'm here now, ask anything you like and I'll answer to the best of my ability, within protocols, of course."

"Okay, then." I said. "Was Carl Fisher sent to a drug buy, as a sting or on behalf of the DEA in any way?"

"If he was," said SAC Lyndon, "it was without my knowledge, much less my sanction."

"Mr. Lyndon," I said, "since you have no knowledge of it... and I believe you when you say that you don't... can you get Dwight Stevens on the phone, and have him answer that question directly? And Fred Merkle? And Jackson Ripley?"

Lyndon visibly started when I mentioned Ripley's name, and I let my gray eyes bore in hard on him. "Okay," he said, taking out his cellphone, "I'll see what I can do."

As he began dialing numbers, I texted Myron: "Lyndon's phone." I looked up to see Jack Muscone peering at me, and I peered back.

EAD Rutherford spoke into his phone three times, asking the recipient of his calls to return his calls ASAP. "Okay," he said after disconnecting the last call, "all three phones went straight to voicemail. And you heard me leave messages to call me back."

I nodded. "Thanks for trying." I said. "Let me ask you this: if my Chief or the Sheriff were calling me, I'd have to be in personal combat with an armed thug to not take the call. If your guys aren't taking your calls, does that mean they're undercover now? busy? or just not taking your calls?"

"They'd better be taking my calls, if they're physically able to." said Lyndon. "And to answer your question... for all three not to answer suggests they are out of cellphone range, or on an undercover mission." I nodded thoughtfully.

"Just one more question, sir." I said. "Chain of command. Is Fred Merkle in Dwight Stevens's chain of command? And ditto that for Jackson Ripley?"

"No." said Rutherford. "Stevens is the SSA for the City area, though I have him working all over the State and region if need be. Merkle has been the primary in Southport, along with Morales, though neither is formally an SSA just yet. And Ripley was deep undercover in the Turpin Heights area for some time, and his chain of command was through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to help his cover if there were any moles in the DEA down there. He's never been formally assigned to Stevens up here. So I guess I'm their direct chain of command, if you want to look at it that way..."

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

Jack Muscone and Rutherford Lyndon went back to the Federal Building, and I made deductions from the observation that Jack did not mention lunch at the Cop Bar. I went to Cindy Ross's door and knocked on it. When she invited me inside, I closed the door behind me.

"Have a seat." she said. "Whassup?"

I sat down, then said "I could use your help, if you're willing to do it. Here's what's going on: DEA Agents Dwight Stevens, Fred Merkle, and Jackson Ripley cannot be reached by their own boss. I really need to know where they are and what they are doing, or they might end up like Carl Fisher. I am going to call Ted Crenshaw in Southport, and will subsequently call Tim Jenkins... unless you'd like to call Jenkins at the same time I call Crenshaw."

Cindy peered at me and said "I'm tempted to say something about staying in my lane, but I can tell you're on edge. Okay, what are we asking them?..."

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

"Hi Don." said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ted Crenshaw as he answered my call. "Is this about Cerone coming up to your Town & County today?"

"Uh, no." I said, surprised. "I called about something else, and let me ask about it first. Do you work with DEA SSA Dwight Stevens down there in Southport?"

"Oh sure." said Crenshaw. "He works out of the City, but our DEA Agent down here, Juan Alberto Morales, works with him all the time. Why?"

"Is Stevens down there now?" I asked. "Or have you heard from him? And what I'm really asking is for you to tell me in confidence if he's on an undercover mission down there."

"Uhhh..." stammered Crenshaw, and I could tell he was deciding what he should tell me, if anything. Then he said "Hold on one second." After several seconds, he got back on the line and said "Okay, I see you had Commander Ross call Tim Jenkins."

"Just to save time." I said. "And this really is urgent, or I wouldn't be bothering either of you."

"I get that." said Crenshaw. "Okay, here's the story. Stevens has very recently been working on a guy who has a home down here, across the State Line River, but has been spending most of his time up your way. Stevens thought he was the Mob's man bringing drugs to University students, or at least the means to worm the DEA's way into whatever organization is up there. Problem is... that man came up dead the other day, and I'm sure you're working on that case now."

"Yes I am." I said. "What about DEA Agent Fred Merkle?"

"Oh, him." said Crenshaw. "We came across him while watching Mob figures down here. Turns out he's DEA, but he's never checked in with us to let us know who he is. Then we got word from Rutherford Lyndon, the DEA's SAC in this region, that Merkle was probably undercover when we saw him, so we should leave him alone."

"Is there any information you can get on all that and send to me?" I asked.

"No." said Crenshaw. "I do know Merkle has another DEA Agent working with him, but I don't know who that is. Morales said he's being kept out of the loop, as well. I bitched to Jack Muscone about the lack of communication between them and us, and Muscone said he'd ask about it. And I think he did, and also got a runaround. And that's all I know."

"Okay, thanks very much for the info. I owe you one." I said. "So what was that about Cerone coming up here?"

"Yeah." said Crenshaw. "As you know, we've continued to watch Cerone, even though it looks like he really did get clean... if a State Legislator can be clean, but I digress. Anyway, he left Midtown for your Town & County early this morning, even though the Legislature is in session. Not sure what it is that couldn't wait until tomorrow, Saturday, but he's up there..."

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

Back in Cindy's office, after I told her what Crenshaw had told me, she said "Tim told me the same thing. And Crenshaw realized he was talking to me while Crenshaw was talking to you, and I told Tim we were trying to save time, as you suggested we do if they caught on to us. Tim said one extra thing, though: he thought that Stevens and Merkle may not be working together, that Merkle was on his own mission, and Stevens wasn't aware of it until very recently. But Stevens hasn't been forthcoming, either."

I nodded. "Well," I said, "at least it's not just me that Stevens isn't trusting. But I'm really disappointed in him."

Cindy said "Yeah, I thought he was one of the good guys. Why is he doing this?"

I replied "Well, I don't think he's a Swamp Frog. But remembering the Marcie Harper case, I think he wanted to take the credit for busting her up, but that didn't work out for him." (Author's note: 'Schoolhouse Rock'.)

I continued: "So he and Merkle get onto Carlton Fisher, a.k.a. Bellows, and they think they've got a big connection between the Southport Mob and a drug pipeline into this County. And they'd just love to make a bust, especially right under my nose. But things went wrong for them again, and Fisher came over all dead. And because they won't trust me, I can't get the data I need to bust a murderer and prevent more people from getting killed... possibly these aforementioned uncooperative DEA Agents."

"So you don't know who killed Fisher?" Cindy asked, peering hard at me.

"No, I don't." I said. "If we can find burners that have those coded texts, we're on our way. And with that, we're right back to the DEA not cooperating again. If they have anything at all on James Hamm, we could use it to get warrants."

"So you think he's the one?" Cindy asked.

I just threw up my hands in a shrug. "I don't know. I just don't know." I said. I got up. "Thanks for your help. I'd take you to lunch, but I'm expecting a phone call---"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

"And there it is." I said. Answering, I said "Hello, Mr. Cerone, how can I help you?..."

Part 15 - Critical Mass

Dressed in civilian attire with my badge on my belt and my gun holstered under my armpit, I was escorted by the Manager of the local Luigi's Italian Restaurant to the private dining room upstairs. State Senator Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone was at the back table by the window, looking out over the gray skies and the barren fields beyond the River.

"Thank you for coming, Commander." Cerone said as we shook hands and sat down opposite each other, Cerone looking left and me looking right to see through the window. "I know you're a very busy man."

"And you're even busier, with the Legislature in session... in Midtown." I said, and Cerone got my meaning.

"Yes," he said, "but it's all Committee meetings today, and nothing is moving at all. Forgive my crudeness, but this Impeachment talk is like a bowel blockage, and nothing else can get through."

"An admirably exact analogy." I said. "I'm a little surprised you came up here, to my County, though, what with the murder case and all."

"I had some things I need to tell you about." said Cerone. "And why would your murder case affect me in any way?" I peered at Cerone. He seemed genuinely surprised at what I'd said.

"You know our victim was Carl Fisher?" I said.

"I heard the name on the news, but it means nothing to me." Cerone said. Then he peered at me. "What's it about?"

"Did you know a man named Carlton Ernest Bellows?" I asked.

Cerone looked confused as he said "Yeah, he was my brokerage investor for a long time. Legitimate all the way. Why?"

I had a vibe, and said "Wow, you really don't know... Carl Fisher is Carlton Bellows. Or was."

Cerone looked genuinely shocked. He stared at me in stunned disbelief as he asked "Really? Are you serious?"

I took out my Police iPhone and brought up Fisher's photo. "Does he look familiar?" I asked as I showed Cerone the photo.

"Holy shit." Cerone muttered under his breath. Then he sat back, looking dazed, and said "No, I had no idea. And no, I might not've come up here if I'd known. But I'm here, so if you have something to ask, go ahead."

I said "He was investing your money?"

"Yeah." said Cerone. "Back when I was running my businesses in Southport. He did very well with my money, too. One reason I was able to retire and be a humble Servant of the People in the State Legislature is because my investments with him did so well. And it was all clean and aboveboard, too."

"Yes, it's all good." I said. "Were you his only client? Or did any of your... associates... invest with him, also?"

"I was his biggest client, by far." said Cerone. "He sold off everything after I retired. Orrin B. Taggart chose not to invest with Bellows, one of Taggart's less wise choices, if you ask me. And as far as I know, Bellows had plenty of money, a nice house across the State Line River in a good neighborhood, paid for. He didn't really need to work anymore. So how did he get himself killed? And under another name, you say?"

"Looks like it." I said. "He was shot, double tap to the chest. And we have very little to go on as to who killed him, and why."

Our food came, a casserole of lasagna. And for the first time in my memory, Cerone seemed to have lost his appetite. He picked at his food as I hungrily consumed two platefuls of the delicious dish.

"So," I said as I finished up, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Ah, yes." said Cerone, perking up a bit. "As you know, Senator Molinari and I have become something of the State Senate's 'brokerage house', for lack of a better term. And you know how things work: we have lunches with our Senate colleagues of both Parties, and Members of the State House, good excuses to have some good food, if nothing else. And we talk about bills, and getting them through, and who trades what for what. Especially with the Budget."

Cerone's appetite had returned, and he consumed his lasagna and got some more. I slowed down my eating, patiently waiting for him until he continued: "This year... it's different. Unlike anything most of us have ever seen. First of all, no one is talking about the Budget. At all. It's almost like everyone is conceding there won't be a Budget this year." I nodded.

"Second," said Cerone, "the State House Select Committee is going through the motions on Impeachment, but there are no strategy sessions about it. However, there are meetings going on, especially meetings of the House and Senate Black Caucus Democrats. I thought they were about Impeachment... but they're not, and I can't get anyone to tell me what they are about. All I can get is that it's about defunding the Police, and they'll start publicly chanting about it when some incident occurs between the Police and blacks." I nodded, mostly wondering if D.A. Miriam Walters knew something about that.

"And that brings things around to you, Commander Troy." said Cerone. "Your name is being brought up a lot, and in a manner of 'we have to get Commander Troy out of the way'. Despite our best efforts, which are considerable, neither Molinari nor I could find out exactly why they want you out of the way, or how they plan to do it. But something's coming... and soon." I nodded.

Cerone said "And as part of that... well, you know that Katherine Woodburn and I have become pretty good friends the last few years. She's really become a leader in the Senate and among State Democrats. I was thinking she might run for Governor this year, or Lieutenant Governor, but she says she's re-running for her State Senate seat. Of course she's young, there's plenty of time for her to move up the ladder of political power."

Cerone: "She also won't admit it, but she has a huge crush on you, Don. I suspect you're the only man in this State who has balls enough to impress her." I (almost) silently began whimpering with laughter, shaking my head. Cerone helped himself to more of the salad.

Cerone: "Well, Katherine hasn't been saying much to me lately, not even 'No!' on Budget issues. And she's been meeting with Tasheeka Harris, who has been leading the charge against Jared in the Impeachment inquiry, and also is very active with Maxine Watts and the 'Black Voices Raised' group. Those meetings may be about the US DOJ's civil rights lawsuit against the TCPD and against your Mayor, but they're definitely about you."

Cerone: "And last but not least, Katherine has been meeting with Bettina Wurtzburg. No less than four times since the Legislative session started. And down in Midtown, not up here. I know Katherine used to own KXTC and she's still good friends with Bettina, but they've never met that often before, at least not in Midtown. I casually asked Katherine about it, and she just said she's giving interviews to local reporters in her District."

Cerone: "But on one of those visits, Bettina Wurtzburg brought a guest, a woman, and the three of them met for over an hour just a couple of days ago. Not that he was trying, but one of my staffers just happened to see them coming out of Katherine's office, and just happened to have been using his iPhone and got this."

He showed me a photo on his iPhone, taken from the video the staffer had shot. I recognized Katherine Woodburn and Bettina Wurtzburg...

...and I recognized the third woman, as well: FBI EAD Dr. Robin Isley!

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

When I got back to my office, my assistant Helena said that Lt. Myron Milton had called and asked to see me as soon as I got back. I asked her to call him and tell him to come to my office. Moments later, he came in and sat down at my bidding.

"I pinged the cellphones that SAC Lyndon was calling." said Myron. "One of them, Dwight Stevens's phone, was pinging from the Federal Building. I have to be careful there, because of their Communications Room on the top floor. It's highly classified, and I want no part of being seen pinging phones anywhere near it."