Unresolved Ch. 05

"Yes sir." said Jerome, not quite able to believe it. "I really appreciate this opportunity."

"Captain Perlman and I believe that you have shown the leadership qualities we're looking for." I said. "But I'll be blunt: don't stop working hard to improve your skills as a Detective. For that matter, I'm still learning from Sheriff Griswold and Chief Moynahan, myself. But your primary job now is leading your Detectives, and don't be afraid to ask Captain Perlman, me, the Chief, or the Sheriff for advice. Especially the Sheriff; you have no idea how much knowledge and ability that man has in him."

"Yes sir." said Jerome. Then his face got serious and he said "I do have one thing I need to ask you both about... Geiger."

"Yes." I said solemnly as I sat back in my chair. "Let's talk about Geiger... and Parker..."

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

That evening, the Charter Commission met in the new back room of the Cop Bar.

"Have you told Jerome Davis he's going to be promoted to MCD Lieutenant?" asked Edward R. Steele.

"Yes, we told him this afternoon." I said as the others voiced their acclaims.

"He's black, isn't he?" asked Edna Carter.

"Yes." I said.

"They were calling you a racist on TV this morning," said Edna, "while you were going about promoting a black man to MCD Lieutenant."

"Yes." I said. "And speaking of that, I appreciated your words on TV this morning, Rev. Williams."

"They were God's truth." said Williams. "And I'll just tell you all here and now... if Lester Holder thinks the black community is on his side when he calls your daughter those filthy names... he's got another 'think' coming. I know there are issues out there, black and white, cops and the black community... but that's no excuse for that level of hatred towards a child."

"Anyone told Holder that?" asked Edward Steele. "Or KXTC?"

"I think they know," said the Rev. Williams, "and I think they don't care. Like I said, there are real issues out there... but it's the Media that gins it up, makes it worse, and they do all they can from letting any solutions work. The way the Media is today, any hope of better race relations will never happen."

"That's true." I said. "And for Lester Holder, it's practical. He has his job because he's willing to gin up the race hatred... and he knows he's getting paid to attack my daughter like he does. It's also personal."

"With your reputation, Don," said Savannah Fineman, "I'm surprised you haven't had a... conversation... with Holder."

"That's what he wants." I said. "But I promised my Police Chief I wouldn't touch him. So I won't touch him, and neither will Commander Ross... who is Tasha's cousin, of course."

"I will pray that the Lord continues to give you strength and patience, Commander." said the Rev. Williams.

"Thank you, Reverend." I said. "And while you're at it, pray for all of us to have strength and patience as we work on this Charter. We're beginning to get into the nitty-gritty of things... and we'll be getting input from all the Government agencies over the next month..."

Part 27 - Victory Party

Friday, April 26th. We gathered in the back room of The Steakhouse. All the Detectives, their significant others, and their leadership were there, as was the Sheriff and Mrs. Griswold. Laura was sitting with Mrs. Griswold, and it saddened my heart to observe that the Sheriff's wife really had no idea where she was nor what was going on.

Paulina Patterson was present, and without a date, so she sat next to me. Miriam Walters came in the company of Chief Moynahan; I mused that his methods of establishing good relations with the D.A.'s office might be similar to my good 'relations' with Paulina... except that Paulina had given me a child from our liaisons...

Alison McFarland was invited, and showed up. She and Cindy were still avoiding each other, but I noticed that Teresa made a point to have Alison sit with her and Todd, and Alison may not have realized she was undergoing a full Police interrogation, so deft was Teresa at doing it. Todd was subtly flirting with Alison, of course.

The steak dinners were outstanding; The Steakhouse was one of the very best steak restaurants in the State; even Moe Molinari, who had a few steakhouses of his own, admitted that Jack Colby's restaurant was the gold standard of steak standards.

*ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding*


Spoon met glass as Cindy Ross stood up to begin the afterparty. "It's time for the Iron Crowbar to explain the solution to us all." There was acclaim and applause as I stood up.

"First of all," I said as the chatter died down, "I really want to thank Alison McFarland for all her help with this case. Her information about related crimes in the past really put us on the path of the perps, and I give her a lot of credit for this." Everyone applauded Alison, even Cindy.

"Next," I said, "I want to be very clear that this was a Team win. You all did great work, you all contributed greatly to one of the most successful results in TCPD history. Some big-name, arrogant perps thought they were above the law. You, my friends, have proved them wrong. You busted them up." Everyone applauded themselves politely.

"Okay, as to what happened." I said. "This is the kind of case that we might not so easily solve just a few years ago. Today we have video coverage everywhere, computer networks to rapidly obtain and correlate data, and fast forensic testing that gives us criminals's identities very quickly. The Susan Phillips murder twelve years ago was an almost hopeless case on its own, and even the more recent cases as little as four years ago might've been very difficult."

"In this case," I continued, "we had some camera footage of an Impala and some masked perps murdering two young people. We had information come in about previous cases from the work of Alison McFarland, and we were able to get onto the hazing incident in Nextdoor County very quickly, which led us to the Pi Omega Sorority. That was our first big break in the case."

"Our second big break," I said, "was the anonymous tip that led us to identifying Wendy Withers. Once we knew who she was, data started pouring in in a hurry, and like water from a firehose. We'd have gotten there eventually, but that tip saved us some time. It also brought up some questions that could've been distracting... like did Stephen and Wendy know each other, why she was in his car at three in the morning, and so on."

"And don't tell the FBI this, but when that BAU unit arrived offering their 'help'," I said, making air quotes, "that made me realize to be on the lookout for some 'powerful interests' that might interfere with us... as they had in the past. So when the Tau Fraternity's name popped up, I was making a connection there."

"That's one place you're ahead of us, sir." said Julia Rodriguez.

"Maybe," I said, "but several of you Detectives do have connections, and you can use them... and I'm not talking about Captain Perlman setting a wedding date. Hint hint." I looked at Tanya and Jack as I said that, and there was some laughter.

"Anyhoo," I said, "from that point on it was just you guys doing some good old-fashioned Police work, gathering information. Thanks to Detective Geiger's experience in Vice, we were able to get ideas about where the Impala was taken, and it did show up." I noticed it got a little quiet... and tense... when I mentioned and praised Geiger. I moved on.

"Bit by bit, and piece by piece," I continued, "we put together the full puzzle. But as I've said many a time, our job is not done until we give the D.A.'s Office a case they can spoon-feed to a Jury to get a conviction. To that end, we got warrants and set about obtaining the evidence we needed to make arrests. Our first attempt, a bull rush upon the Tau Fraternity, was interfered with by 'powerful interests'," I made air quotes as I said that, "and caused some problems. However... we had an ace up our sleeves, which gave me 'hopes' for successful arrests."

Miriam Walters's beady black eyes glinted, but she seemed to roll with it. I went on with the narrative:

"With the help of the Midtown Police Force, which did a great job," I said, "we got the Impala, and we got fingerprint evidence and tire evidence, putting that car in that field in Nextdoor County, and also at the murder scene. At that point, it was all over. 'Powerful interests' tried to put roadblocks in our way, but we stood up to them and their unlawful and even violent tactics, and I believe that we will prevail in the trials-by-juries to come." Everyone applauded.

"Okay," I said, "any questions?"

"Just one." said Cindy Ross. "Did Stephen Henry buy an engagement ring? And if so, where is it? We haven't found it yet."

"Ah, you touch upon the one point of failure upon my part." I said, surprising everyone. "And it may be good luck that I failed, as the issue itself is very tangential to the crimes, and might have distracted us if we'd known more."

I continued: "I failed to ask Dottie Smith directly if Stephen had actually asked her to marry him. If I had, and she had been truthful, then she would have said yes, that he had asked her! I believe he asked her, and she turned him down. Maybe she thought he'd ask again and she could say 'yes' the next time, or maybe she was hoping something better would come along."

"As I said before," I went on, "we have tremendous access to data... but it sometimes takes time for data to enter the systems we can access. We didn't find it at the time, but after being rejected, Stephen Henry sold the engagement ring, went back to his hometown of Rocktown, opened a savings account, and deposited the $2000 from the sale of the ring into the account. That happened just before his death."

"Oh, wowwwww." whispered Alison McFarland, but where I could hear her. Then she said more loudly: "That explains a lot about her reactions to his death."

"Yes. Yes it does." I replied. "I admit completely misreading her on that. From now on, I'll leave the psychological analyses to the real expert in the room... my wife."

"Smart man." said Laura, making everyone laugh at the many meanings included in her remark.

I said "But again, that turned out to be a tangential story, and not really important to the murders."

"Sir," asked Julia Rodriguez, "how many people do you think have been murdered in the past by this Fraternity and Sorority?"

I said "I'm researching old Missing Persons cases now, and the Campus Police are doing their own review. It's hard to believe this went on for so long, and at least one time a year, and these guys didn't get busted."

"That's because we didn't have the Iron Crowbar back in those days." said Sheriff Griswold, whose cheeks were rosy as the effects of the bourbons he'd been drinking took hold. Everyone clapped at his words of praise.

"I say again," I said, "that I believe this outstanding group of Detectives would've solved it without me being here at all. Indeed, I felt like I could go to the City and bust Samuel Russell's chops because I had total faith in all of you... and you justified that faith..."

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

Tuesday, April 30th. The Orange Order dinner was being held at the Junction Station Depot. Cindy was sitting next to me as we ate dinner.

"I finally figured it out." she said quietly to me.

"What's that?" I asked.

"During the Audial Security and the Boddiker Hospice cases," Cindy said, remembering the recent 'Four Square' cases, "I felt like you bluffed to get them to confess. Nothing wrong with that; they sang like canaries and made things easy for us."

"And then in this case," Cindy said, "you went with the very aggressive raid on the Taus, even though you obviously knew we'd get the Impala and its evidence. That's not really like the Don Troy I've come to know and love over the past few years."

"I admit, the raid was aggressive." I said. I did not admit that I had indeed bluffed the hell out of the perps in the previous cases.

"And then I realized why." Cindy said. "You knew about that FBI BAU evaluation of you, and you knew they'd be feeding that information to the Swamp Frogs... so you changed your tactics on them."

"Is that so?" I asked.

Cindy said "Ashwarya and her crew, and the Fitch's daughter and her husband, genuinely believed you could prove your cases against them, even though it would've been tough. They got bad advice and acted on it, and confessed and took plea deals."

"They got a bad Buddha, all right." I said agreeably.

"And that raid on the Taus... that rattled them, especially Jesse Smallwood, who later confessed." said Cindy. "And they handed you Samuel Russell on a platter, like the head of the Baptist John, trying to distract you from going after the Taus and Pi Os... and maybe expecting you to comply and leave Blassingame alone in exchange for getting Russell... and found out that you could accept the sacrifice and still bring down the Houses of Tau and Pi Omega."

"That is Iron Crowbar thinking, there." I said. "I should give you a crowbar. Oh wait!... I already have!"

"Stoppit." Cindy said, but she could not help smiling brightly. Yes, she'd figured me out. That was indeed Crowbar-worthy...

Part 28 - May Day

Wednesday, May 1st. While Bettina was gushingly talking about 'Workers of the World Day', I was getting ready for the Ceremonies. This was going to be an extremely hectic day.

"They're here, Commander." my assistant Helena said to me on the phone. I thanked her, then went and fetched Cindy from her office. We went into MCD in our semi-formal uniforms: rows of ribbons over our right jacket pockets, badges over the left pockets, and Medals of Valor around our necks, mine with an oak leaf cluster.

The Detectives were in their semi-formal uniforms, with Roy McGhillie, Teddy Parker, and Joanne Warner wearing their Purple Orders around their necks. Jerome Davis was wearing the uniform of a TCPD Lieutenant, with the thick piping down the sides of his pants, and a thin band of piping on his jacket sleeve.

His father, Navy Sr. Chief Petty Officer (Ret.) Jonathan Davis was also here, wearing his Navy uniform... I'd suggested he do so, and told him why. Admiral (Ret.) Leonard R. Cordell was also here, in his Navy uniform, and he and Jonathan Davis shared stories as if they were old Navy buddies..

Then came a surprise: ADAs Paulina Patterson came in with Tasha, and ADA Franklin Washington came in... with his cousin Jamaal Washington, the Heisman Trophy winner.

"Jamaal!" shouted Carole when she saw him. Yes, my daughter was here, and she rushed across the room to hug Jamaal. She was not wearing her No. 10 Wildcat jersey, as she was wearing her 'Sunday best' blue dress and white stockings, as she had at the State Capitol a few months earlier. Her mother Laura had been holding her, and Laura was wearing her navy blue and white striped dress, and she looked good enough to eat... which I promised myself to do later that night... but I digress.

Captains Teresa Croyle and Tanya Perlman came in, followed by Lt. Ivar Irwin and Lt. Micah Rudistan. "I heard there was a party in here today!" Rudistan said with great joviality. How he knew what was coming, I don't know. I did know that Teresa had told Lt. Irwin what was going on.

"Rooood-i-stan!" said Carole when she saw him, somehow remembering his nametag from earlier times. Rudistan jovially said hello to Carole and to Jamaal.

Callie Carrington had come in, distracting all the men and a few of the women. And Alison McFarland was here, looking extremely hot in a crimson-red dress and black peep-toe slingback high heels. I had to do a bit of work to keep my little iron crowbar from getting iron hard.

A moment later, Chief Moynahan and Sheriff Griswold came in with some guests. FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone and Supervisory Agent Martin Nash came in... along with Martin's uncle, the retired former Deputy Director of the FBI. But they weren't the ones that brought 'shock and awe' to us.

One of the guests was General Alexander McFarland, which was impressive enough. The man with him was even more impressive: he was the Marine General that had given me Gunny Guernica's Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, the insignia of the Marine Corps. (Author' note: 'Semper Fidelis', Ch. 03.)...

...and he was now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Yes, that Chairman of that Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Jonathan Davis had come to attention upon the Generals's arrival. The CJCS came up to him and shook his hand and talked with him a moment, then shook Jerome's hand when introduced by Jerome's proud father. He then spoke to Admiral Cordell as if they were old friends... and I realized they were old friends. Admiral Cordell introduced the CJCS to Teresa, mentioning that she was the daughter of a Medal of Honor recipient and had earned the TCPD Medal of Valor herself. I observed that the CJCS was very impressed.

He was also impressed that Jamaal Washington was in the room, and shook hands with him as he congratulated him on winning the Heisman Trophy. He then allowed himself to be introduced to everyone in the room, shaking hands with everyone as if he were running for political office. I knew he knew the DepDirector, and I was not surprised that he knew Laura.

A moment later, they began a ceremony. "Thank you for allowing us to join you today." said the CJCS. "I'm sorry that I can't stay for your ceremonies. I understand that everyone in here knows what happened a few weeks ago, even though we can't talk about it."

He was referring to the EMPTY QUIVER event. (Author's note: 'The Nuclear Option'.) Everyone nodded; even Jamaal Washington knew what had happened, thanks to having two cousins in the area that did not keep their mouths shut, at least at the family dinner table. And Carole didn't really count, even though she'd remember every word spoken at this ceremony today.

The CJCS continued: "We're here to honor Commander Donald Troy for his part in bringing that incident to a successful conclusion." He called me to the middle of the room, and as General McFarland read the proclamation (the unclassified part, anyway), the CJCS pinned a medal on my uniform jacket beneath my badge.

It's formal name is 'The Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Valor', and it is the highest civilian award for valor presented by the United States Department of Defense, awarded to government employees and private citizens who perform an act of heroism or sacrifice, with voluntary risk to their personal safety in the face of danger, and relating to the Department of Defense. I daresay I'd met those requirements, but it was nice to be honored.

Everyone applauded, and selfies and photos were taken, especially by Commander Cindy Ross. Afterwards, I went and got Carole from her mother as General McFarland said hello to Laura and the DepDirector.

"Daddy, why do those men have stars on their shoulders?" Carole asked.

"They're military generals." I said.

"Why do they have different uniforms?" Carole then asked. The things she observes...

"Well, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is a U.S. Marine, and General McFarland here is in the Army." I said. "The Marines and Army were created when the United States was created, and they made different uniforms, and just kept them that way for over 200 years. It's tradition now."

"Like Wild-cat tra-dish-un?" asked Carole.

"Sort of." I said with an amused smile. "But a lot older."

"Jim is going to have stars on his shoulders one day." said Carole, referring to her younger brother. I think my eyes widened in surprise at that prognostication.

General McFarland had heard most of that conversation. "Is this your daughter, Laura?" he asked my wife.