Beethoven Virus Ch. 01

Priya: "However, political experts are calling the Budget a victory for Establishment Republicans and their donors, mainly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Club For Growth; and a setback for Conservatives that had been making political gains the last few years."

Catrina: "And the Black Caucus is also angry that Lieutenant Governor Corey Coons did nothing, pretty much watching from the sidelines as the SBI and local LEO entities were fully funded, depriving the Black Caucus of their goal to defund the Police. Let's go to Peter D. Gordon of Clear Call Polling. Hello, Peter."

The camera panned out to show Peter D. Gordon sitting in the 'hot chair' next to the ladies that were on the sofa, showing off their crossed legs. Priya said "Peter, what do the polls show about Governor Marshall after her seemingly being forced to accept this Budget?"

Peter D. Gordon: "Priya, the Governor is perceived to have lost the philosophical fight by signing the Wilson-Hammonds-led Budget bill. Our polls show that her numbers with people who identify as 'very Conservative' dropped from 82% to 61%, but she held steady with Republicans overall."

Catrina: "So she didn't drop from 80% to under 40% with Conservatives?"

Peter: "No, Catrina, and many Conservatives see through Wilson Hammonds's dishonest Establishment rhetoric, and realize that the Budget doesn't totally abandon the fight against Illegal Immigration."

Priya: "What about the Democrats, Peter? How are they reacting to this Budget's passage?"

Peter D. Gordon: "Now there is where there's fire to go with that smoke. The Black Caucus is furious with Lieutenant Governor Corey Coons for not doing a lot more to stop the Budget's passage. But Democrats overall know that Mr. Coons had little influence on the Budget process, and he is no match for Jimmy Cerone and Moe Molinari when it comes to getting things done. And Democrat voters do see the Budget as a capitulation by Sharon Marshall, and a repudiation of Val Jared."

"Thank you, Peter." Catrina said as the camera came back to her. "And in other news, Fox Eight News has learned that a bill called the 'District Consolidation and Fair Representation Act', or DCFRA, is being worked on in the Legislature."

After explaining the workings and ramifications of the DCFRA, Catrina said "University Trustee, Ladies Auxiliary President, and Town & County Chamber of Commerce member Myrtle L. James gave this statement to Fox Eight News. Roll tape."

Tape rolled showing the elderly Myrtle L. James saying "We believe that separating the Town and County back into its previous and separate jurisdictions is in the best interests of the County's citizens and our businesses. The current direction of the merged Town & County is in a direction not conducive to Free Enterprise and low taxation."

Back to Priya live: "And finally, in a Town & County internecine battle, District Attorney Miriam Walters filed a complaint with Town & County Inspector General James 'Curly' Goodwin against Police Commander Donald Troy. D.A. Walters claims that Commander Troy is usurping the privilege of the District Attorney's Office to make plea deals by making his own unilateral plea deals."

Catrina: "Legally, Commander Troy has the power as a Principal for the County and an Officer of the Court to make plea deals, and he has done so several times recently. Fox Eight News will cover this developing story in the coming days..."

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

"That Double Breakfast Cheeseburger is going to be mighty tasty." I said. A green crowbar was waved in my general direction.

"Okay, okay." Cindy said. "I'm still surprised they brought it up."

I replied: "They can't defend Governor Marshall and give her side of the story without laying the base first."

Cindy: "And they did cover Miriam's complaint against you, too."

"Of course they did." said Tanya, speaking up for me. "It is a news item, and KFXU's coverage was far more fair and less biased than KXTC's. And that leads to my next question: how can the poll numbers between Karl Frazier and Peter Gordon be that different?"

I replied: "I'd say Karl Frazier massaged those numbers so well that Deshaun Watson called for an appointment." The laughter that generated from my all-female audience was tepid, at best.

"Seriously," I continued, "I'd say Frazier really cherrypicked his respondents to get the result his bosses wanted. These polling firms have lists of numbers of people who they know with reasonable certainty will give them what they want. So Frazier is not lying about the actual results, but the poll was rigged beforehand by calling pre-selected numbers."

"Sir," said Claire Michaels, "do you think they'll separate the Town and County? And if they do, what happens to the Police Department, and the rest of the Public Safety Department?"

I said "If they were to merge our County with Coltrane County and Nextdoor County, then I would definitely say the Town and County will be decoupled. If not, then I have no idea. And if they did separate us without merging us with other counties, I still don't know what they'd do to... I mean with the Public Safety Department."

Claire: "My next question is why does Mrs. Myrtle James want to separate the Town from the outlying County areas?"

"Uhh, we'll discuss that later." I said. "I have a question I need to ask Chief Deputy Ross before she leaves: how is your new house coming along?"

Cindy said "A little frustrating, right now. The gas lines to the three properties, which includes mine, are laid. The properties will have septic tanks, which will be installed when the houses are built. The problem is the water lines. I'm right behind Promontory Point, the highest point on the ridgeline. The water tower that serves the Mayor's home and Joanne Warner's home is lower than my property."

Cindy: "Sooo, they're debating whether or not to build a new water tower. The only place they can build that's higher is right next to the three properties, and it will have to be elevated and could cause the Observatory problems, as well as be an eyesore to those on Lake Reservoir. And they're wondering if it's worth the cost to build a whole water tower just for three properties."

Cindy: "But the good news is that the new water tower could serve the houses along Ridgeline Road, and all the houses from the Mayor's on one end, to your Cabin on the other. And with better water pressure for most of the homes."

"Where does your water come from, Don?" Tanya asked.

I said there's a water (air quotes) 'tower', actually a tank on the ground, near the top of the mountain above McGhillie's Golf Course. It's hidden in the woods pretty well, and it serves The Cabin and Teresa's home, and the homes on Reservoir Road. The golf course is irrigated by water from the lake, so that doesn't drain our supply. But you were saying, Cindy?"

Cindy: "Yes... well, the road people are ready to pave a street off of the road just past Promontory Point, but they don't want to pave the road until they know where the water lines are going to be. So they're waiting on the Water Works. And I'll be 'nudging' them to get going, pretty soon. The good news, once again, is that the Mayor lives up there on one end of the road, while the Police Commander's home is on the other end of the road..."

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

After the meeting ended I had Claire Michaels stay. After Cindy and Tanya left, I said "To answer your question about why Myrtle L. James wants the Town and County split... she gave the answer herself in that media statement. She thinks things are going in the wrong direction politically... and she may be right."

Claire caught on quickly, and said "Politically? Or racially?"

"Politically." I replied. "I'm not trying to imply anything racial. There are a lot of white Democrats, too. But the time is approaching where the Town's population is going to overwhelm the overall County, and the equal-district composition of the Town Assembly will cause it to become dominated by the Town's population, which is largely Democrat. And the Powers That Be will be sure to draw the lines so that the Assembly is dominated by Democrats, especially if the US DOJ is under a Democrat regime in Washington."

YIC: "So Mrs. James is doing Mrs. James things: being proactive about the situation. She wants to separate the Town and County, in the hopes the County's taxes will stay low and be spent on 'Legitimate Functions of Government'. And that's why I am going to call in Mary Milton, and I want you to hear this."

I called Lt. Mary Mahoney Milton into my office. When she sat down, I said "Mary, I want either you personally or just one other person, like Penny Scott or Ranger Halston, to do some research for me, and it needs to be done very discreetly. I want to know about land sales in what would be the unincorporated County if the Town and County were to separate."

"You think that's going to happen, sir?" Mary asked, surprise in her voice.

"No, and don't read too much into it." I replied. "But I want to know if anyone is snapping up County land, especially the land BigAgraFoods began selling off when we caught them poisoning the farmland." (Author's note: 'Return To Apple Grove', Ch. 02.)

Claire Michaels almost gasped as she said "Do you think Mrs. James, of all people, is doing something dirty?"

"No, not at all." I said. "Again, don't read too far into it. And there are other people supporting separating the Town and County, and I want to see if they have... other... reasons to be supporting it. And it's not necessarily illegal, either. But my 'Spidey-sense' just went off on this..."

Part 3 - Prelude To Crisis

2:30pm, Monday, March 29th. Alice's funeral mass was being conducted at the Catholic Church on College Street in Town. Teresa and Cindy. both wearing civilian clothes, were in attendance. Teresa sang 'Ave Maria', tears streaming down her cheeks. She barely got through it.

The Maestro, Dr. Wolfgang Strauss, played his violin, which was rumored to be a Stradivarius. He played 'Who You Really Are' from the 'Sherlock' television series, one of Alice's favorite pieces. He and a group of his students then played the fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, commonly called 'Ode To Joy'.

Father Alberto Romano delivered a sterling eulogy, remembering Alice's life and the joy she brought to many lives through the music she played. Without mentioning Teresa, he said that among Alice's last words were that the Music would go on, and he implored others to rise to their own talents, be they in Music or anything else.

I had intended to attend the funeral, also, but my wife, Dr. Laura Fredricson, asked me to consider an alternative. Many of the Cancer Children wanted to attend the funeral mass, including some who had no business leaving the Hospital. Laura suggested that the mass, which was being shown on local public access television, be watched on a monitor in the 'big room'.

Many kids went into the room and sat on the floor, facing the monitor that was set up between the large portraits on the wall, the one of Teresa and Carole at Teresa's Medal of Valor presentation, and the other of me and the redoubtable Bowser. The kids were very somber as the funeral was about to start, and some nurses had questioned the wisdom of the kids watching it. Some kids began wondering out loud if their own funerals were going to be soon...

"May I sit down with you?"

The kids whirled around to see Their Iron Crowbar standing there. I sat down on the floor with them and some of them moved over to sit very close to me, which was okay with me.

We watched the funeral mass. "There's Teresa." one little girl said when Teresa began singing. We all watched and listened, then watched the little orchestra play their instruments. Some kids cried. Some nurses cried, too, especially the ones who'd known Alice very well.

As the funeral mass ended, one kid asked me: "Mister Crowbar, why did Alice have to die?" It got very quiet in the room, and all eyes, child and adult, were on me.

I said "Well... we're all going to die someday. All of us. All of you, me, even Bowser will pass away. Hopefully all of you will live long lives, and come to my funeral whenever I die."

I then pointed to the portraits on the wall, and said "But what matters most, guys, is that while we're alive, we never give up. I know you guys never give up, and you help each other never give up. I've been very close to death, closer than many of you, but I never gave up, either."

One kid said "But why did Alice have to die? She was so good with the violin? Why did God take her from us?"

I said "If I knew the answers to things like that, I would run for God. But I don't. What I do know is that Alice played wonderful music while she was here with us. And she left this world better than when she started in it. I just hope that whenever my funeral is, whether tomorrow or a long time from now, someone will be able to say that I left this world a little bit better than I found it. And whether all our lives are long or short, we have to do our best to add to making the world a little better than the day before."

"How can we do that, Mr. Crowbar?" asked another little girl. "We're just little kids, and sick with cancer."

"What you can do, all of you, is beat that cancer." I replied. "That's your mission and goal right now. By beating cancer, you're making the world better. Just by being treated, the doctors are learning how to help you more, and help other kids more. And then, once you're cured and you ring that bell and walk out of here, you'll find other ways to make the world just a little bit better, every day."

"Just like you do, Mr. Crowbar," said one boy, "by putting bad guys in jail. I'm going to do that, too... be a Police Officer and put bad people in jail."

"And with that attitude, you will be." I said. "I need people like you on my Police Force..."

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

As I walked out of the big room, Laura came up to my left side and put her right arm through my left arm. "You did very well." she said as we walked down the hallway. "The kids were very inspired by your words, and I felt the energy in the room go up a lot. Want a job as a psychologist?"

"I already have one." I said. "It's called 'Detective'. Being a Detective is mostly about the psychology of the criminal mind."

Laura said "If I weren't specializing in sexual psychology, I might pick up criminal psychology from the Detective point of view------"

"Commander Troy!" a nurse yelled as she ran up to us. "Can you come down to the second floor?"

Laura and I hurried down the stairs, and I got to the second floor before she did, as she was wearing heels. Coming into the hallway, I heard the raised voices down the hallway, near the entrance to the Hospital Pharmacy...

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

While we had been watching the funeral, Hospital Administrator Seth Warner, husband of TCPD Detective Joanne Cummings Warner, was conducting a tour of the Hospital's pharmacy for a group of executives from several insurance companies, as well as representatives of a company that made the automatic dispensing equipment that the Hospital pharmacy was using.

"We have two dispensers." said Seth Warner as everyone crowded in to look, they themselves being watched with skepticism by the pharmacy staff. "One is the on-demand system. The doctor enters the prescriptions on his smart device, which for most here is an iPad with specialized software. The pharmacy gets the prescription, checks it to make sure there's no problems with drug interactions, then clicks the approval button. The machine then fills the prescription and sends it out the conveyor belt, where it's picked up by a nurse or orderly and delivered to the patient."

Seth Warner: "The other is the system that serves our patients that are on a regular regimen of pharmaceuticals. We currently have 40 beds for pediatric cancer patients, 25 beds for children affected by rare diseases and are in our research programs, and we also have up to 30 beds for adults in long-term or hospice care."

Seth: "This second system is programmed to dispense pharmaceuticals at regular times, which are then taken up to the patients. The system is automated to print out a card that is placed on a tray, then a container, usually a plastic cup, is placed down and the pills dropped into it. Liquids are dispensed into small bottles, which are placed on the tray. Injectables can also be fed through the system and placed on the trays. The machine is operating now."

Everyone watched as trays came out of the machine onto a conveyor belt. After the first row of 20 trays was done, the machine moved to the next row and began dispensing trays. After 80 dispensations, the rows would have to be cleared before the machine would fill the rest of the prescriptions in the batch.

"I have a question." said a distinguished man middle-aged man in a well-fitting suit. "How is the machine refilled? And by whom?"

Seth said "Before each run is made, the pharmacists check the stock of the drugs, usually in tablet or pill form, to make sure they are adequate. The stock room, which refills both machines, is accessible only to licensed pharmacists. We can also make it accessible only by two-man control if there is a need to. In any case, when it's time, the machine is filled with the total correct number of tablets, and then the machine dispenses from that. It has the technology to count the tablets as they are dispensed; ergo, it can call for and get more if needed, though that rarely happens. And if the drug completely runs out, the machine will stop and alert the pharmacists."

"I have a question." said a short, slender man with greasily curly black hair, spectacles, and a nasally voice. He was wearing the pants and vest of a suit, but not the jacket. It would be stereotypical of me to say he 'looked Jewish', but that was people's first impressions of him. "What happens if your computer gets one off of the names, and literally every tray of drugs is wrong?"

"That can't happen." said a heavyset black woman named Shanice, who was the chief pharmacy tech.

"How can you say that?" asked the snotty young man. "Can you guarantee that?"

"Yes." said a tall, slender man with almost-auburn light brown hair. "My name is Alton Roberts, and I'm the chief Pharmacist here. The computer program is redundant. There are two sets of files: one is the general patient information file, and the other is the pharmacy's file of patients and their prescriptions. With each fill, the computer checks the prescription and name against the general patient file. If there's a discrepancy, the process is stopped an alert generated."

"So what?" said the man. "It can still be off one on the trays, if patient #2 is getting patient #1's tray, and so on."

"And that's the point." said Roberts. "The patient's name and prescription are printed and put on the tray along with the fill before it comes out of the machine. Between the program's redundancy and the observations of the techs, the nurses, and even the doctors, it would have to be absolutely intentional for the patient to receive the wrong prescription."

"Exactly." said the snot. "How can you guarantee an intentional mishandling won't occur?"

"Are you accusing anyone here of intentionally trying to harm patients?" Shanice said shrilly, just about yelling.

"I'm sure Mr. Palmer did not mean any insult." said the distinguished man. "But------"

"Yes he did!" Shanice yelled.

"Still, it's important to be as safe as possible." said the distinguished man.

"Mr. Woolsey," said Alton Roberts to the distinguished man. "There is a reason that pharmacists are the most trusted profession in America. A human is more likely than these machines to make an error, and human error is very rare in the pharmaceutical profession. I resent your employee Palmer's insinuations."