Smoke on the Water Ch. 02

Stevens did not reply, just took his gun and magazine and left the room. Jack Muscone said "Why don't we talk later, when we've all cooled down?" I just shook my head vigorously in disagreement as I collected my weapon. Teresa did likewise, and we left the room, as well...

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

"Just between us and the crowbars," Teresa said as we sat alone in my office, with my bug-killer on, "what if that leak was from the TCPD?"

"And even though it's not," I replied, "what if Bettina tries to say that it was?" Teresa rarely looks shocked, but her eyes widened a bit at that comment on my part.

I continued: "It doesn't really matter. Stevens crossed the last uncrossable line when he harassed Helena like he did. The spirit of harmonious cooperation with him is ovah."

"So that's why you sent her the flowers?" Teresa asked, having seen the just-delivered flowers on Helena's desk when she (Teresa) walked into my office behind me. I nodded, then she said "Is Tanya going to hire an assistant?"

"She has to." I said. "I told her Helena can help her out only for so long. And the Orange Order vote starts the Monday before Thanksgiving, and Helena really does a lot of work keeping the records on that."

Teresa nodded, then said "So, where are we on that case?"

I said "Let's find out." I picked up the landline phone and called Captain Michaels, and told her to come to my office, and pick up Mary Milton on the way.

An instant later, both women were in my office. Teresa had moved to the sofa, allowing Claire Michaels to sit in the far-side (relative to the door) hot seat. Mary sat in the near-side seat.

"Sir," said Claire, "on his way out the door, Dwight Stevens blew into my office. He told me that the DEA was taking over the Elena Katrina murder case, and we were not to investigate it any further. I told him that it was still a local murder, and until the Chief or you explicitly told me to drop it, I was going to keep up the investigation. Then I told him he could find his way out the door the same way he came into it, and he did... he left in a huff."

"Good." I said. "And that instruction to drop it may come soon. In the meantime, my explicit instructions are that no one in the TCPD is to share any more information with the DEA nor any Federal Agency without my explicit permission... which you won't be getting."

I continued: "And furthermore to that point, if Commander Muscone asks about the case in any way, even asking for an update, you are to tell her that I have explicitly ordered you, all of you, including you Teresa, to tell her that she has to come to me to get any information about the case or to share with anyone else."

Mary nodded vigorously in agreement with that. Teresa showed no reaction at all. Claire's eyes widened slightly, realizing the full import of the insinuation I had just made.

"All right," I said, "do we have anything new on the murder, or the related drug case?"

Mary Milton said "Sir, we have what I call 'negative confirmation'. The Detectives have worked hard, contacting C.I.s and other sources, and have gotten nothing, not one peep, on the drug gang that might have killed Agent Katrina. Uniformed Officers have been asking around during their patrols, and have not gotten a thing. Even the 'Infinity Circle' whispers have dried up."

Mary: "And sir, I've had a very unofficial agreement with Captain Damien Thompson for some time. I rarely ask him to contact his uncle, 'The Teacher', but for this I did... and I authorized five hundred dollars to be paid to The Teacher for his truthful information about this case."

I nodded and Mary said "Captain Thompson told me that The Teacher said that he did not believe it was any drug gang in the Tri-State area, and very likely not any drug gang in Southport, Midtown, nor the City, effectively all the gangs in the whole State. The Teacher said he has no idea who it might have been, but to him it looks like a 'one-off', someone we've never heard of, and probably will never hear of again. Yes, he's heard of 'Infinity Circle', and that it was a DEA front, but he's not hearing their name now."

Mary: "And I will add, sir, that The Teacher knows about the Desert Scorpions, and that they are the ones that tried to steal the body from the HAZMAT truck. The Teacher does not like the Desert Scorpions being in this area; he is afraid of them and what they are capable of doing to him or anyone else... including you, sir."

"The party never stops in the Iron Crowbar's little world." I replied. "But that's good information to have."

"Sir," asked Teresa for all of them, "if it's not a drug gang, any idea who it is? And I'll add that the Feds, particularly the DEA, have been very active in this area the last few months, and they fucked with us by trying to recruit Hendricks as a C.I. for them."

I replied "True, and Dwight Stevens just burnt some serious bridges because he's so agitated about that Press leak. But my answer is that I really have no firm ideas about it."

Teresa then said "And if I may ask, sir, what's the status on the 'Ancestor Discovery' case?"

I looked at Claire, who said "Joan Laurer reported that the SBI-OFI has taken the lead, and that she, Carter Fischer, and Shane O'Brady are working well in harmonious cooperation as they investigate it."

I said "Back when you were here before, Claire, that would not have been possible. We could not have worked with the SBI of that day even if we had wanted to."

Claire said "Well, Joan and I are pretty sure Carter Fischer would like to grab the credit if the case is solved, but he seems to be honest and aboveboard. But I really think the cooperation stems from our Detective and a certain Pottsville Police Detective, if you get my drift."

"Good!" I said with a grin. Mary's eyes were twinkling. Even Teresa showed a small smile.

Claire continued: "Also, the perps's arraignments were earlier this morning. Judge Nance tried to take the cases, but was stopped cold by Judge Folsom, who said that Nance could take on no new cases since he won't be a Superior Court Judge after January 1st. Bernie Parker and Alana Dalmore were denied bail, as Paulina showed them to be significant flight risks. Ron Ellijay and the other three employees had their bails set at one million dollars each, and that hasn't been met yet for any of them."

"Good." I said. "That gives us a little bit of time. Anything new with the case?"

Mary said "Chris Purvis has nothing new. I authorized him to share what we find with the SBI-OFI and with Shane O'Brady. The SBI-OFI, Hamilton County Police, Nextdoor County Police, and Coltrane County Police have gotten calls from people who have been victims of fraud or identity theft, and a number of them can be directly correlated to their children filling out those forms when Ancestry Discovery visited their schools."

Teresa said "I cant' believe so many parents allowed so many of their kids to give up all that personal information."

"You and me both." I said. "I'm just glad Carole realized it was a problem and came to us with it." Three female heads nodded vigorously in agreement.

Part 14 - Women's Work

9:00pm, Friday, November 13th. After a delicious dinner, the five women gathered on the back deck of Katherine Woodburn's home. Katherine's guests were Bettina Wurtzburg, Beth Paige, Savannah Fineman, and Kelly Carnes.

"Lovely new place you have here, Katherine." said Kelly Carnes as she looked north at the view from the back deck, as Katherine lit the fire pot to give them some warmth. "All the lights at night are spectacular."

"Thank you." Katherine Woodburn said. The property abutted the northern edge of the Heritage Cloisters subdivision. "That's County Airport to the northwest, the Water Works to the northeast, and the Fire Department range to the right of it."

"And the land was safe to build on?" Bettina asked. "It's not marshy from the springs underground?"

"Not really." said Katherine as they all sat down with their drinks. "The Airport grounds were built up to the 1000-year flood plain, so I had the ground here built up that high, as well. Barring Noah's Ark coming in, we should be high and dry. And yes, it's not the view from Promontory Point or those houses on the mountain, but I like the nighttime lights."

"You didn't rebuild on the site of your old home?" Beth Paige, referring to the fire that had utterly destroyed Katherine's previous home. (Author's note: 'Schoolhouse Rock', Ch. 05-06.)

"No." said Katherine. "It would've cost just about as much to rebuild there, and the security here is much better. I got to design the house I really wanted, and the view here is much better, as well."

"This is a nice fire pot you built into the back deck." said Savannah.

"You'll hate me for this," said Katherine, "but that was a housewarming gift... from the Iron Crowbar himself." The other women were shocked.

"And you accepted it?" Beth Paige asked, her voice connoting 'disapproval'.

Katherine shrugged. "Well, yes. He has one on the deck of his house on the mountain top, and he said I'd really come to love it like he loves his. And he's right; it's really nice on cool evenings out here." Sensing the other women's disbelief, she said "And I'm sure you all realize that I'm a politician, and I play the Game with a lot of people I don't like.... and whatever else you think about him, the Iron Crowbar is a lot easier on my eyes than most men."

"And from what I hear, he has it where it counts the most... between his legs." said Bettina. Everyone but Kelly Carnes chuckled at that.

"Well," said Beth Paige, "he certainly rocked my world... in the worst way possible. I'm out of a job now. And with Teresa Cunt now ruling the Hospital Board, I have no hope of getting a job at University Hospital."

"Don't worry, Beth." said Katherine. "I need a health issues advisor on my staff, and even with Sharon Marshall in the Governor's chair, the State Health Services need good people like you."

"I appreciate that." Beth said. "I just hate it for my daughter Bettie. She already knows something's wrong, and to have to uproot her from her school and her friends won't be easy. And she still never completely got over being kidnapped by the Slender Man." (Author's note: 'Return of the Slender Man'.)

"Thank God for Commander Troy on that one." Katherine said. "He went in and just took those kids back from that son of a bitch."

"And got his back broken again for his efforts." said Bettina.

"How are the other kids that were kidnapped?" Savannah asked. "Did they get over it?"

"Zack Ridley is still in Juvie for setting fire to the Dog Kennels." said Beth. (Author's note: 'Fire in the Hole', Ch. 01.) "As to the others, I take Bettie in for her periodic counseling with Dr. Yates, and he told me that every one of the children are dealing with their kidnappings well, as is Bettie. Except Susie Haskins. Dr. Yates said her standing up to the Slender Man gave her a confidence that he's rarely seen in children of any age."

"She's a fireball, for sure, as is Davie Marsden." said Katherine. "So, Savannah, what is Miriam going to do?"

Savannah said "I was expecting to be given the Vice portfolio, and I could drop a lot of charges against minor drug offenders, especially blacks, that were arrested. And I was all ready to do my part for Bail Reform, to ask for low bails for Minorities, no matter what their crimes are. But Miriam torpedoed that in her interview with Carl Lemay."

"That was totally unexpected for us, too." said Bettina. "Miriam must want to be destroyed in her next election effort in two years."

"Don't be so sure." said Kelly Carnes. "As much as I'm also in favor of Bail Reform and defunding the Police, the tide is turning on those issues, and they're becoming a liability."

Katherine Woodburn added "And the Public forgets all too quickly about things in the span of two years. I agree with Kelly that Miriam's stance may not hurt her. But I also wanted to ask you, Bettina... what's going on with that case of that DEA Agent being murdered?"

Bettina said "Not much, that we know of. The DEA asked us to not talk about it on the air, and they're upset about the Agent's real name being released. Of course we told them to pound sand, and talked about it on the air as much as we possibly could. And Amber is working on a lead about the DEA Agent and possible family and mob ties. We'll see what pops up there."

Bettina: "And from what I heard, it may have been just sheer luck on Don Troy's part that he stumbled onto Walter Walton. Even so, that took out a huge source of information for us, one that will take time and effort to effectively replace. And with Beth out of the picture, it'll be tougher to set up situations we can take potshots at the Police for."

"That's too bad." said Kelly Carnes. "God, there has to be a way to get rid of the Iron Crowbar!"

"Easier said than done." said Bettina. "And it hasn't been for lack of trying on the Media's part, on the Federal Government's part, on the Independent State Counsel's part. But Don Troy isn't made of iron. He's made of teflon."

"You guys are lucky." said Savannah. "You get to actively fight him. I may end up having to work with that son of a bitch!"

"Then you should take advantage of that." said Katherine Woodburn. "You can look for ways to undermine him that the rest of us don't have the opportunities to."

"And how do I do that?... without getting fired like Beth was?" Savannah said.

Katherine pointed to the fire pot and said "Sometimes, in order to beat the Iron Crowbar, you have to think like the Iron Crowbar..."

To be continued.