Casting Aspersions

This story is part of an ongoing series.

The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and

constructive

criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

***

Part 1 - Prologue

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, July 15th, from the roof of the building at the corner of Riverside and College, with City Hall in the background. "Channel Two News has learned that US DOJ Civil Rights observers

will

be in attendance at

all

portions of tomorrow's Town & County Council meeting!"

Bettina began: "Channel Two News has learned that Mayor Daniel Allgood's appeal of the Federal Court order allowing Federal Observers into Council Executive Sessions has rightly been denied, paving the way for the illegitimate Mayor's racist suppression of minority voices to be exposed!"

Bettina: "The Town & County Council is expected to take up the long-delayed issue of the hostage situation at BOW Enterprises a month ago, which claimed the life of TCPD Lieutenant Ivar Irwin. Council action on the Board of Inquiry report has been delayed by Mayor Allgood running scared from being held to account for his actions at previous Executive Sessions. A Board of Inquiry will convene today to make its findings on the application for the Medal of Valor for Lieutenant Irwin."

Bettina: "In other news, the Town & County Police have yet to make any arrests in the case of the severe beating of our colleague Lester Holder. Our colleague has recovered consciousness and is slowly healing, though not as slowly as the TCPD's progress on the case. Commander Donald Troy continues to run away from his obligation to respond to KXTC's repeated requests for comment, which we consider very suspicious."

Bettina: "And in State news, the State House Judiciary Committee continues to gather information and hold hearings on the Abuse of Power by Governor Val Jared in working with the Federal ICE Bureau to deport hardworking Undocumented Workers, and obstructing the Legislature in their investigation by refusing to cooperate and refusing to allow his staffers to testify under oath before the Committee..."

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

"What BOI is that?" asked Captain Tanya Perlman as we drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room and watched the news report.

"The one Silas is secretly convening this morning." I said.

"Yezzzz." said Chief Moynahan. "We were not inforrrrrrrrrmed of it. There are going to be no witnesses called; it will just be three Board members, which Silas unilaterally chose, and they will make their finding and report it to the Council for tomorrow's mee-tinnnnnnng."

"Talk about rigged." Captain Teresa Croyle said. "Why do I get the idea that Mr. Landau will not be chosen for that BOI, but Finneran will? Can the Mayor do anything about that?"

"He probably could, but is it a battle worth fighting?" I replied. "Silas thinks he's being cute, but everyone knows that it simply doesn't matter what the Board finds; the Council is going to decide what to award Lieutenant Irwin."

"It

will

be the Medal of Valor... won't it?" asked Captain Cindy Ross, herself a Medal of Valor recipient.

"It

should

be." growled Sheriff Griswold, himself a Medal of Valor recipient. "But Susan Weston will try to downgrade it just on principle, or what she calls principle. And Carnes doesn't want to give Irwin anything at all, to make the point that Don and Teresa's alleged mistakes led to Irwin's death, not Irwin's courage and heroism."

I saw pure shock on Teresa's face. "Are you kidding?" she gasped. "How could they not award him a posthumous MOV? What he did was what I did, except I survived and he died."

Chief Moynahan said "I a-greeeeee, but some will say that what Irwin did was the equivalent of what Father Romano did to save you, Ms. Croyle, and they awarded him the Police Cross for that."

"Commander?" said Teresa.

"I could not have been more clear in my written comments on the MOV application itself that I think Irwin deserves it." I said, myself a two-time Medal of Valor recipient. "But Haters gonna hate, and we have some real Haters on the Council."

There was a long moment of silence as the Sports report was given by Jeff Hull on the broadcast. As I refilled my coffee cup, then everyone else's since I was up and with the coffee pot, the subject matter changed.

"Speaking of Nick Eastwood," Tanya Perlman said, "I heard that his lover, or former lover, Amber Harris is pregnant again."

"Where did you hear that?" asked Cindy.

"Elsie Gringer, the local gossip columnist." said Tanya. "Amber was permitted a visit to the doctor by the Court, and the doctor confirmed the pregnancy. Someone in the office must've leaked it to Elsie."

"Not that it's

any

of my business..." Cindy said with great sarcasm in her voice, "but who is the father? I thought Nick wasn't seeing Amber anymore. He's been dating Savannah Fineman."

I said "I think he dropped her when she wouldn't leak anything to him about what the Charter Commission is doing. Not that there's anything to leak. And they apparently didn't think much of each other in bed... so I was told by reliable but confidential sources."

"She must set a high standard." said Tanya, who then grinned as she said "You should take on that challenge, Commander."

"I have nooooo interest." I said. "My own wife is more than enough challenge for me, these days."

Tanya said "Speaking of your wife, last I heard, Nick Eastwood was dating one of Laura's graduate students in sexual psychology."

"He's a 'playa', and he's 'playin'." said Teresa. "He'll bang just about anything that's breathing and is in a skirt------"

"Oh my Lord." muttered Chief Moynahan. "Is this my Police Leadership, or Elsie Gringer's gossip club?" We all laughed at that.

"I'm with Cindy." I said. "I'm very curious as to who the father of Amber's baby is. But it's not a gossipy curiosity, it's professional. We know she was getting out of her house by tricking her ankle monitor until the bail agreement was revoked and she was placed under house arrest."

Teresa said "Speaking of 'playahs', Todd's brother Benny Black came to Town this weekend, to visit Todd after his ordeal. And O-M-G, you have never seen a set of young boys as riled up as ours after Todd and Benny got through with them. The good news is that little Jack and his Uncle Benny got along very well. I haven't seen Jack come out of his shell like that in a long, long time."

Cindy said "That's curious... Callie and I went down to 'The Vision', and she never mentioned Benny coming here. I wonder if she even knew?..." My cousin exhibited a family trait by going into a reverie.

"I have another question, to change the subject." said Sheriff Griswold. "What's going on with Bettina bringing up the State Legislature Democrats trying to gin up a fake impeachment case against Val Jared?"

Tanya said "I did notice she conveniently forgot to mention that it's the Democrats doing it all. As to why she brought it up... that's a mystery for Commander Troy to solve."

"Harumph." I grunted. "The State Democrat Committee and KXTC must've forgotten to send me the memo on why they had Bettina report that. But I'd say she's setting the table for something in the near future." I noticed the Sheriff nodding thoughtfully at that...

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

Your Iron Crowbar counts his many blessings every time his lovely Angels convene in his office. Lucky, lucky Iron Crowbar, I tell myself.

"Okay, ladies," I said, "what's going on in our Police Force and our Town & County?"

"I got the email from Geiger this morning." Tanya said. "He's taking the medical disability retirement. August 1st is his last day." We all nodded.

"I got it, too." I said.

"Funny how a month ago I'd have been doing the Happy Dance over that news." Teresa said.

"Yeah, me too." said Cindy. "And I do think it's the best possible outcome all the way around."

"I agree." I said. "Geiger got some redemption and some 'street cred', and he's leaving with some compensation."

"And he's leaving." said Tanya. "My Detectives in Vice and MCD won't admit it out loud, but I think they're relieved."

"And I think he knew it, too." said Cindy. "Which was a factor in his decision. He was the last remaining member of the Captain Malone clique... except this here Iron Wolf, of course." The look Teresa gave Cindy would've killed anyone not in possession of a green crowbar.

"I think we can declare that shame 'dismissed'." I replied. "I'm happy to have her on my team now, and I'm not letting her get away."

"Awwww." said Cindy and Tanya together, as Teresa blushed and gave what was for her a smile.

"And I'm not letting any of you get away, if I can 'heppit'." I said.

"Speaking of that," said Tanya, "we did learn something else through all of this. Jerome Davis and Julia Rodriguez were far and away the most professional about Geiger. The rest... I'm disappointed in them."

"In fairness," said Teresa, "I don't blame them. Julia Rodriguez didn't know about a lot of the past stuff------"

"But her professionalism really shined anyway." I said.

"Yes sir," said Teresa, "but what I was going to say is that the rest of them felt no different than I did about Geiger... and still do, a little bit."

I nodded. "Yes. We'll keep all of that in the backs of our minds. In the meantime, what cases do we have going on?..."

Part 2 - The Art of the Deal... Not

At 9:30am, Jack Muscone came to my office. Accepting my offer, he poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down.

"I'm beginning to think that unlike my Detective Corps, you must like my coffee." I said as he sat down.

"As good of an excuse as any." said Muscone. "What I really like is getting out of the Federal Building and away from the crap for a few minutes." After sipping his coffee, he said: "I came over to tell you that your prediction came true: Edward Blassingame has offered to give us his entire operation, as well as everything he knows and has about Mitt Willis's operations, and a lot of what's going on in the Swamp portions of the Government, in exchange for total immunity... for his son Peter."

"What's the response?" I asked, peering at him.

"It's a 'NO GO' from the start." said Muscone. "John Jones, our U.S. Attorney handling this case, has already told him that nothing will be done to help Peter, that you're going for a Death Penalty case. But still he tries. But still he tries."

"The sooner we can try Peter and get him onto the execution table at Jacksonville State Prison, the happier I'll be." I said. "The security measures we're taking to make sure they can't come and get the bastard, at least not alive, aren't cheap. Anyhoo... what else is going on? What's the

real

reason you're here?"

"The coffee." said Muscone, his beady black eyes twinkling just a little bit. "I do have some good news, though. We've located almost all of the Navy SEAL Team that Trent Ridge and Quint Starr were a part of. To refresh, Trent is missing, and Quint is dead. LT David Carter, who was impersonating a MegaTech Industries scientist, is in the wind."

"Of the others," continued Muscone, "Shaun Stevenson, Parker Cassidy, William Drew, and Mort Springer have been located and checked out. Stevenson and Cassidy are with the DEA in California, and there have been no problems with them, so far. William Drew is with the LAPD's SWAT team, and no problems with him. Mort Springer applied for the Chicago Police, but wasn't accepted. The California Highway Patrol hired him, though. No issues there."

"Except they're all in California," I said, "which leans harder left than the Tower of Pisa."

"That's true." said Muscone. "But maybe coincidences do exist. Anyhoo, that leaves Gil Cox, Gary Fenton, and LT Jeff Bayport. Fenton and Cox were closely associated with Trent and Quint in the atrocities they committed in Iraq. The last we heard of them is that they were starting up a school to train SWAT Teams on potential operations, but we're unable to get much on their whereabouts right now. And Bayport is a ghost; he does not seem to exist at all. We have the photo of him with the SEAL Team and an entry in the Congressional Record of his Commission, but that's it... no record of him as a SEAL, no resignation of his Commission, nothing. At all.

For those wondering: the Constitution provides that Congress is in charge of Commissions; my own name is somewhere in the Congressional Record as having my Army Commission approved by Congress. Yay, Congress!

"Sounds like he went to the Company (CIA) or an Impossible Missions Force type group, or something." I said. "For all we know, he might be in Moscow or somewhere right now."

"Laura was going to try to get some kind of confirmation on him, but she also came up empty." said Muscone. "Truth is, we have absolutely no idea of where he is nor what he is doing. We have only that one photo of him, no official military ID or even a driver's license. He is truly in the wind."

"Okay." I said. "So what does this mean for us?"

"Keep your eyes peeled." said Muscone. "With Trent, Quint, Shimono, Barsbane, and now Blassingame down, these other guys may take their business elsewhere... or they may not." I nodded.

"Oh, one more thing." Muscone said as he took out his cellphone, as if it were an afterthought. "Does this look familiar to you at all?" he asked as he showed me the photo on his iPhone. It was a playing card, bagged as evidence, and showed the Sign of the Joker.

"Uhhh, except for the very obvious fact it's a playing card with the Joker's face on it, no." I said. "Now that particular Joker image looks like the original one that inspired the comic book character in 1940 or so, but other than that it doesn't ring a bell with me. Why?"

"Oh," said Jack, "Martin Nash found it at a crime scene, in a room that was totally empty except for that card." I could sense he was peering at me out of the corner of his eye.

I shook my head slowly. "No, it doesn't ring a bell with me." I said. "Need help on the case? Wanna tell me about it?"

"Naah, I'll see if Nash can handle it himself." said Muscone, returning his phone to his jacket pocket. "So how's the search for McGinty's Materials going? With his office burned down, I guess we don't have to look there anymore, huh?"

"Well, you know my theory." I said. "Those Materials are likely as real as the Slender Man. Their existence probably died with the Consultant of Crime."

"You mean McGinty?" asked Muscone, peering at me again.

"Oh yes, that must've been what I meant." I said, looking right back at him.

As Muscone got up to go, he said "There is one other thing we've been discussing at the FBI... why do you suppose Edward Blassingame fell so hard for your ruse and recruited Geiger? By that I mean... that should've taken longer, he should've been more careful. But he had Geiger in the fold within days."

"Yes, I was thinking about that, too." I said. "First off, we did prep it for weeks and months, bringing Geiger into MCD, having the arguments and the low morale. Second, Jerry Barsbane is a likable guy, and he and Geiger hit it off quickly and very well. Third, Geiger passed the test and pulled the trigger, which also caused Blassingame to let his guard down. Fourth... well, that train of thought hasn't boarded at the station yet."

"We were thinking," said Muscone, "that Blassingame really, really wanted access to something in the TCPD. Maybe some information that would help him break his son out? Or information on your case against his son?"

"Geiger never accessed that, nor was asked to." I said. "And the backdoor that Geiger put in our systems has been neutralized by Myron Milton. So... who knows?"

"Yeah. Who knows..." said Muscone. "I'll see you later." And with that, he left.

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

I got a call from Laura. "Hello, Darling." she said. "Your mother is back in Town. She's staying in the MIL apartment at the Mountain Nest, and she's going to cook dinner for the family tonight. I've invited Paulina and Tasha to join us for dinner, as well."

"Good." I said. "Did my mom say why she was visiting?"

"Not specifically." Laura replied. "She said she was going to be meeting a couple of friends this afternoon. I have several appointments today, so I can't do the Secret Agent spy thing and follow her around." My wife was needling me, I knew.

"If anyone is able to follow my mother," I said, "it would be because she

wants

them to..."

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

3:00pm, Monday, July 15th. The Command Group and my Captains of Detectives and Operations were meeting in the Chief's Conference Room. The Chief was at the end of the table, I was to his left, Cindy to my left. To his right was Tanya, and to her right was Teresa.

"It's going to be official." said Teresa. "Hugh Hewitt to 1st Precinct Captain, with Sergeant DeLong promoted to Lieutenant and the 1st Precinct Lieutenant slot. PCpt Abram and Lt. Rudistan will continue to hold down 2d Precinct."

"What if the Council doesn't get off its ass and approve these changes by August 1st?" asked Cindy.

Chief Moynahan said "Then I'll make the appointments unilaterally on a temporary basis until they dooooo approve them. But I really don't think it'll be a problemmmm."

"Maybe I'm getting paranoid, Chief," said Cindy, "but I can already hear Lewis and Carnes screaming about it, demanding DeLong be in 2nd Precinct because he's black. And Malinda Adams will scream because they're not women."

"Hey now," I said, "I'm supposed to be the paranoid one, here!" Everyone laughed, and then I said "But I do agree with you; I think there will be objections raised, and who knows what else they'll find to complain about. Okay, what about the Detective ranks?"

Tanya said "We have a space in MCD now, with Geiger leaving. My first thought is Christopher Purvis in Vice."

"Is he ready?" asked Teresa, who was once Purvis's boss in Vice.

"I don't know." said Tanya. "His forté is financial crimes, though he's not The Abacus."

"Thank God for small favors." I said. Everyone nodded vigorously in agreement.

Tanya said "Granted. But Purvis is pretty good about picking up white-collar anomalies, and getting the data gurus onto hot scents. He's also pretty good with C.I.s."

"So, Ms. Perlman, who is your best Detective?" Chief Moynahan asked.

"Commander Troy." Tanya said without missing a beat.

"Yezzzz, granted." said the Chief. "But who under your command? As a pure Detective in the mollld of Commander Troy?"

"Right now, I guess it's Joanne Warner." said Tanya. "She'll be taking maternity leave this Autumn, though."

"If I may," I said, "my answer is 'Julia Rodriguez'. She is coming along fast. Very fast."

"I agree with that." said Cindy.

"Is there anyone else like her in the Uniformed ranks?" asked the Chief.

"No sir." said Teresa. "No one I'd recommend, at least not yet."

"I agree, Chief." I said.

"What about Nell Bell, or one of the other Detectives in Midtowwwwn?" asked Moynahan.

"Chief," I said, "I'd take any of them in a heartbeat, except for one thing: they're gelling into a great team down there, and Midtown and the Midtown PD needs them far more than we do."

"Truuuuue." drawled the Chief. "Anyone else outside our current Police Force, someone that pops into your head?"