Who Watches The Watchers Ch. 01

"Maybe they're hearing that someone wants you to go write the Budget Bill," Cindy said, "and they're trying to distract you from that."

"Oh that's an 'Easy Button' answer." I said. "I'd just take the Budget of two years ago, which is actually the Budget of four years ago, and submit it as is. Case solved for two more years."

"Is that what you think will happen?" Cindy asked.

"I was thinking that." I said. "I was thinking that the Caucus that wants to defund the Police would either drop it or be run roughshod over, since it's becoming an albatross around the Democrats's neck, and that they'd just follow the basic pattern of the last Budget if they didn't actually just resubmit it. But this SBI thing just went more critical than I thought it ever would. So we'll have to see."

"And you have no idea who the next SBI Director will be?" Cindy asked.

"Do you want the job?" I replied, reaching for my landline phone. "I'll call Governor Marshall right now------"

"Don't you dare!" Cindy all but yelled. "I still have that green crowbar, you know."

"Point taken." I said in mock resignation.

"By the way," Cindy said, "there is one new thing I found out. You remember Susie Haskins?"

"Of course." I said. "She's part of the Crowbar Crew, and she stood up to the Slender Man." (Author's note: 'Unresolved', Ch. 05; 'Return of The Slender Man', Ch. 02.)

Cindy said solemnly "Well, she's facing something far worse than the Slender Man. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago, and she's starting her rounds of chemo."

"How old is Susie?" Teresa asked.

"Twelve, maybe 13 by now." Cindy replied. " She's trying to be strong, for her mother's sake, but that's a lot for any kid to deal with."

"She's a tough kid, and a good kid." I said. "And we'll help her and her mom in any way we can..."

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

"Hello and welcome to Fox University Sunrise!" said the lovely, athletic blonde Catrina Pierce at 8:00am from the KFXU studios. "I'm Catrina Pierce, and with me as always is Meredith Peller. Priya Ajmani is at the State Capitol, covering the Legislative session. Good morning, Meredith."

"Good morning, Catrina." said 'housewife pretty' blonde Meredith Peller. "Good morning, everyone. Here's what's in the news. The State Right To Life Committee, the SRLC, led by Chaplain Steven Ikea, is continuing to demand an investigation of the Town & County Planned Parenthood facility after the Town & County Police investigation of the murders of Theodore Boone and his fiancée Tiffany Westgate revealed that their murderer's wife, Heather Corvalis McMillan, died after a botched abortion at the facility twenty years ago."

Catrina: "TCPD Captain Damien Thompson released a statement saying that an investigation was done the time of the death by then-Lieutenant Harold Malone, who passed away several years ago. The Police report and the autopsy of Mrs. McMillan were sealed, and when they were found recently, the information in them was spotty and inconclusive."

Meredith: "The SRLC has made an Open Records Act request for that Police report and the autopsy of Mrs. McMillan, but lawyers for her husband Marty McMillan have objected to the release of the autopsy, and Planned Parenthood has filed for an injunction in Court to stop the release of the Police report. In his statement, Captain Thompson said the Police report would be released when the proper procedures as well as legal issues were resolved."

Catrina: "Asked for comment by KFXU on whether or not the McMillan death case should be re-opened, Police Commander Donald Troy issued a statement exclusively to Fox Eight News, saying that the TCPD is getting a legal opinion on the case. Commander Troy stated, and I quote, 'any crimes except for murder are far past the Statute of Limitations, and the TCPD has no evidence that Mrs. McMillan's death was willful murder', close quote."

Meredith: "And in other news, the State Legislature remains deadlocked on a Budget bill as the Parties remain bitterly divided on the way forward in passing any legislation."

Catrina: "Governor Sharon Marshall and the Conservative Caucus of the Legislature were outraged when State Senator Katherine Woodburn, who owns the parent company of our competitor KXTC, made a demand that the SBI-IDE, the Immigration and Drug Enforcement Division, be reformed and given a new mission to investigate Conservative groups and parents that speak in protest of School Board policies to teach gender identity and sexuality to children as young as first graders, as well as 'critical race theory', which among other things teaches that white children should be ashamed to be born white, and are inherently racist."

Meredith: "State Senator Woodburn also wants to use the revamped SBI Task Force to investigate, arrest, and imprison White Nationalists that use violence against Minorities. Senator Woodburn cited the presence at last year's Christmas Concert at University Hospital, where a White Nationalist motorcycle gang called the Guardians of Justice M.C., which the Federal Intelligence Community considers to be insurrectionists and subversives, violently interdicted a Social Justice group that was peacefully protesting the religious event on State property, which University Hospital is." (Author's note: 'Angels of Christmas', Ch. 02-03.)

Catrina: "Among State Senator Woodburn's demands is that Governor Marshall appoint a new Director of the SBI that will be acceptable to her, Senator Woodburn, a Director that will use the SBI as a weapon against Police and Sheriff Departments that enforce the law against violent rioters. The Legislative Black Caucus and Social Justice groups across the State strongly endorsed Senator Woodburn's demands..."

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

"Strong letter to fol-lowww." said Teresa Croyle as my Angels and I sipped coffee and watched the broadcast in my office. Cindy Ross's glance over her shoulder at Teresa was one of 'non-approval', and I knew I had to say something."

"Let's just leave that line to our boss, the Police Chief." I said, knowing Teresa was mocking the Chief, and was being insubordinate in doing so.

"Yes sir." said Teresa, getting the message.

"Don," said Tanya, "before I say anything else, exactly what is Steven Ikea's position in this State?"

"He's an ordained minister, and he is employed by the State as the Chief Chaplain of the SBI and the State Patrol." I replied. "He is the supervisor of the other State Chaplains that are assigned to the six regions of the State, the same regions the State Attorney's are assigned to."

"And being the leader of the SRLC is not a conflict with that?" Cindy Ross asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, then said "I guess someone could make something of it, if they wanted to. I've got wayyyy too much going on to bother with that... dingleberry." That caused Teresa to laugh out loud.

Tanya said "I noticed that KXTC didn't say a word about the Planned Parenthood 'thingy', but KFXU was all over it like a wet blanket. I get that, but I do wonder what Channel Two News is going to do when an investigation of Planned Parenthood starts up."

"Same thing they'll do when the truth starts coming out about Hoyt Stenson's son Hunter's crimes coming out." I said, referring to Democrat candidate for Governor Hoyt Stenson, who had been soundly beaten at the polls by Sharon Marshall. "They'll ignore the fact they did everything they could to cover that up during the Election. And they'll just pretend to be surprised when they finally have to say something about the Planned Parenthood scandal."

"Is there even going to be an investigation?" Cindy asked.

"I sure hope not." I replied. "It'd be a waste of time and money. The SRLC is making noise to make political points, but trying to prove a crime that hasn't hit the Statute of Limitations would be beyond Carole or even my mother's powers, much less any of us in this room now..."

Part 3 - Mysteries Old And New

9:00am local time, Monday, February 22nd. Clarissa Belvedere Esterson and Phyllis Troy had had breakfast at the local diner, where Phyllis noticed a mixture of old and young people. The older ones were the longtime residents that had never left, and had seen the worst of this town's history. The younger ones were connected with the new businesses that were coming into the area, representing a fresh start.

At 9:00am the Courthouse and Records Building opened for business, and the women went to the Records Department. The young woman behind the counter greeted them cordially.

Clarissa said "We are seeking the Death Certificate, autopsy, and Police report of my sister's death and her daughter's birth." She gave Sarah's and Teresa's full names.

"Let me look that up for you." the woman said, consulting her computer monitor. A moment later she said "Ohhh... I'm sorry, ma'am, but those records are not on digital media. The paper records are in the Archives. They're on microfiche, but it would be easier obtaining the paper records themselves."

The woman continued: "We'll have to send someone to the Archives, and it could take a while. Maybe even a couple of days."

Phyllis said "We can look for the records ourselves, and not waste your collective time."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." the woman said. "Only employees are allowed in there."

"Well then," said a voice behind them, which turned out to be Chief Bennett coming up to them, "I'll just deputize them right now. Seriously, I'll be in there with them, so it's all good."

The woman did not look very happy about that, but Harold Bennett was the Police Chief in those parts. So she just nodded and watched as Chief Bennett led the women away...

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

At 9:00am my assistant Helena French buzzed me to report the presences of FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone, Assistant SAC Karina White, and Special Agent Tim Jenkins. I told her to have them go to the Main Conference Room. A moment later, Deputy Chief Tanya Muscone and I joined them, and we all got coffee and sat down.

Jack Muscone asked: "So how big a deal is that crap about those slug groups wanting us investigated because our kids told dad jokes at the whiskey convention?" Pete Feeley was his wife's son, so he definitely had interest in that.

I replied "I don't know. It should be nothing, but there is an orchestrated attack in coordination with the Media, at least the KXTC part of it. So yes, I'm concerned."

"It was on KSB this morning, too." said Karina White. "My question is whether or not it's a distraction from other things."

"That's Iron Crowbar thinking, there." I said with a smile towards Karina. Then I continued: "However, I don't think you guys are here to talk about that nor to drink Jerome Davis's coffee, as good as it is. So whassup?"

Jack said "A couple of things. That operation that your Vice guys helped us with, watching the Whiskey Convention, turned out to be a whole lotta nothing. There was nothing even remotely suspicious going on, except those murders you solved. Those WhiskeyTubers were a bunch of good people, and I don't know why anyone would think otherwise. And upon review, there was no reason for anyone to even think there was an issue in the first place."

"So all in all," I said, "someone thought there was a serious issue there, and it turned out to be a red herring, prompting you, plural, to have a serious review of the whole operation?"

"That's the gist of it." Karina said, seeing I was catching on. "Despite the way the news media reports things, we do have to account for our spending on projects like that. So when the Brass began asking why we were doing the operation, telling them 'because you told us to' was not an option as an answer."

Karina: "The operation started not as an alcohol operation in ATF, but as a drug operation in the DEA. They in turn had ATF, then some of the local FBI people like me, since I'm former ATF, and also a few of the TCPD Vice Squad since the Whiskey Convention was here in Town."

"Sorry to interrupt." interrupted Tim Jenkins. "Who handles alcohol situations in the SBI? The SBI-BFE said it wasn't them, that they only handle firearms and explosives. and the SBI-IDE said they handle drugs but not alcohol. So who handles booze?"

"The SBI-STE, State Tax Enforcement." I replied. "Alcohol is legal in this State; it's not even considered a crime to make moonshine, or what my dad called 'bootleg liquor'. Any crimes involving alcohol either are taxation-related, or are derivates of Federal Law. Ergo, the State Tax Enforcement Division, once part of the State Tax Authority but now under the SBI umbrella, was tasked with all alcohol-related oversight."

Everyone nodded at that knowledge drop, then Karina continued her narrative: "So nothing was found at the Convention, and a lot of our Agents were asking why their time had been wasted. And the same DEA that started up the operation became the Agency trying to blame others, like the ATF, for the operation. And as usual, that started a lot of finger pointing and bickering that reached even higher levels, like our overseers: the Intelligence Community."

"Hmmmm." I said. "Feel like you're being set up?"

Jack Muscone said "I thought that, too, but FBI Deputy Director Lawrence Lance and EAD Owen Lange said they were assured multiple times that that was not the case. And that became a (air quotes) 'thou doth protesteth too much' situation that has our hackles up even more."

I was halfway in a reverie while Jack was talking, and as he finished I said "Tell me... was anything besides the Whiskey Convention being investigated?" Tim and Karina turned to look at Jack Muscone, as if needing his permission to answer. Muscone himself had looked uncomfortable at the question.

"Tell him, Jack." said Tanya. That was a wife-to-husband order, as Tanya did not like being caught in the middle between Jack and me if and when we were at odds on anything.

Jack conceded this one: "A Food and Drug Administration team did an audit on University Hospital's Schedule II through V drugs, and they passed with no negative comments. What they didn't know was that two of the team were actually DEA Agents looking for more than what the FDA guys were auditing. They also found nothing."

"O-kayyyy." I said. "So why are you so nervous about telling me? It's probably Laura you should be more worried about." Jack just shrugged his shoulders.

I asked "I'm not asking for actual names, here, but do you know who the DEA guys were that helped audit the Hospital?"

Jack said "I don't know, but I can ask Dwight Stevens or Kevin Pitts if they can find out."

Karina said "Isn't Pitts undercover in the City right now?"

"Oh, that's right." said Jack, who looked less than pleased that Karina had said that out loud. "But we can't talk about that. No offense, Don."

"None taken." I said, though the tone of my voice might have conflicted with the words.

Karina said: "It's nothing personal. Due to deconfliction rules we were told Pitts was going undercover in the City, and we were told that we could not tell anyone in the TCPD, Nextdoor County PD, nor Midtown PD. Not even Commander Tanya Muscone could be told, we were told."

"Okay, okay." I said. "If it's not in my County, it's probably none of my business."

Jack Muscone obviously wanted to change the subject as he said "There is one other thing I wanted to bring up. and that's Katherine Woodburn wanting the SBI to be used to go after parents that speak up about what their children are being taught in Government schools."

Muscone: "As you know, that is happening at the Federal level already. We're supposed to have the First Amendment right to petition the Government for the redress of grievances, but Derrick B. Harland's gestapo task force is meant to intimidate anyone who speaks out. He wants to use Government Guns to deny Citizens their First Amendment rights!"

I said "I am the Choir. You are preaching to it."

Tanya spoke up: "What Jack is taking too long to get around to saying, Don, is that we need to be speaking up against Katherine Woodburn's attempt to impose pure totalitarian authority and deny Citizens their rights by threatening them with tax audits and Government Guns. And nobody in this State is more able to do that than the guy who speaks softly and carries a big red crowbar."

I nodded and said "Point taken. Point well taken------"

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

It was Jack Muscone's iPhone ringing. "It's EAD Lange." he said, then answered it: "Muscone... yes sir, I'm at TCPD Headquarters now... whaa?!... yes sir, I'll try, anyway... yes sir."

After the call disconnected, Muscone said "The DEA got an 'Agent In Distress' alert before dawn this morning. It was from Kevin Pitts's phone that he was using in his undercover role. They found the cellphone at the City Railyards, then found the car he was using at a dead end street, empty. The EAD asked me to ask you to come with us, Don."

"Sure, but I'm bringing Teresa with me." I replied. "Tanya, you're in charge while we're gone."

"Moohahahahaha!" Tanya cackled. "The power is mine! MINE!..."

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

10:00am local time. Despite the volume of records and the seeming haphazard way of storing them, Phyllis Troy had found the records pertaining to Sarah Belvedere's death pretty quickly.

"Okay," she said to Clarissa and Chief Bennett as they sat at the table in the room next to the vast storage room, "the autopsy says that Sarah's uterus hemorrhaged after the baby came out, and that she bled out and went into shock. Efforts to save her failed, and she died. There is a note that said the baby 'survived' the birthing process, and appeared to be healthy. There is no Police report, but the doctor and the nurses made good notes for the file, and also testified at the Inquest. It also says that Sarah's husband collapsed and went into shock when they told him Sarah had died, and he was treated at the scene."

Phyllis: "Okay, the Inquest... mostly details about trying to save Sarah's life, and the medical particulars... but... that's strange... there's a note here by one of the nurses that says... Oh my God!..."

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

We were speeding along the University-City Highway, which we call the Nextdoor County Highway, in two vehicles. Having changed to civilian clothes and having logged in as the SBI Reserve Inspector, I was driving the black SBI SUV, whose blue LED lights embedded in the windows and frame of the vehicle were blazing.

Tim Jenkins was riding shotgun, and Teresa, also in all-black civilian clothes, was in the backseat, texting on her Police iPhone like crazy. Jack Muscone and Karina White were in a Federal vehicle behind us, embedded blue and red lights flashing.

"So how's fatherhood?" I asked as we sped through Nextdoor County.

"Good." said Tim Jenkins. "Cindy's mom has been asking me to visit and stay a lot, especially when Callie's not there and Cindy needs some sleep. So I've been able to feed him and change him and rock him to sleep a good bit."

"How are things with Callie?" I asked, just a wee bit too casually.

"Not bad." said Tim. Seeing my gray eyes cut over in his direction, he said "Well, I don't want to be telling tales out of school..."

"Bu-ut..." I prodded.

"Okay, but don't take any of this the wrong way." Tim said, then started: "Callie is being as good and as understanding as she can be about my presence, so that's not the real problem. And I'm not as good at observation and deduction as you guys are..."

"Bullshit." Teresa said flatly.

"I agree." I said, but more jovially. "Cindy says you're pretty damn good at it, and my own observations confirm that. So spit it out."