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, racism, 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.
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Part 8 - The Way Forward
"All right, Mary," I said to Intel Lieutenant Mary Milton as she stood in front of my desk at 10:15am, Wednesday, August 12th, "I want you to very quickly and very quietly begin looking into this 'Archie Brody' guy. And bring your results directly to me, not to Captain Muscone. Do I make myself clear on that?"
"Yes sir." said Mary, with enthusiasm. "Is there anything in particular I should be looking for?"
"I'll say 'no', so as to not bias your research." I replied. "But take note of any red flags you find, and start digging deeper depending on what you find."
"Wilco, sir." Mary said. I dismissed her and she left the office. I got up and headed down the hall to the anteroom for Interrogation Rooms A, B, and C. I looked in I-A to see Teresa talking to Archie Brody inside. I listened in for a moment.
"Okay, Archie," Teresa said, "we brought you down here to get your statement on camera. This interview is being recorded. And to protect your rights as well as ourselves, I'm going to read you your rights." She did so from the card, then asked if he understood the rights.
"Uh yeah, but what's this about?" Archie asked. He looked and sounded rattled. "Do I need a lawyer?"
"You have the right to one at any time." Teresa said. "Right now what I am doing is getting a more complete picture of what you said at BOW Enterprises. You said that you concealed a tracker in Captain Muscone's wheelchair?"
"Yeah, like I said earlier, Commander Troy asked me to." said Archie. That was my cue to go in, and I did so.
"Hello, Archie." I said as I sat down next to Teresa. "In case you don't know, I'm Commander Don Troy. You're saying that
I
asked you to put that tracker on Captain Muscone's wheelchair?"
"Uh, well, it was another Police Officer. A Sergeant." said Archie, who then added almost desperately "But he had a letter signed by you, asking me to install the tracker."
"What day was this?" I asked.
"It was in mid-April." said Archie Brody. "Saturday. Maybe the 11th?"
"Yes, April 11th was on a Saturday." I said, remembering that Teresa and I were in her hometown that day. (
Author's note: 'Centuries', Ch. 03.
) "So just walk me through what happened that day."
Archie Brody said "A TCPD Officer... a Sergeant... came to BOW Enterprises and asked for me. When I came to the front desk, he asked if I was part of Captain Perlman's... er, Captain Muscone's wheelchair team. I said I was, and he told me that Commander Troy wanted me to put a tracker on Captain Muscone's wheelchair when she got to rehab that day, and that he'd drive me up to the Hospital to do it. He gave me a letter, signed by you, with those instructions."
"Was the tracking device a BOW Enterprises device?" I asked.
"No sir." said Archie Brody. "He had the device with him, and asked if it would work with the wheelchair's battery. I said it should, so we left for the Hospital. Captain Perl... sorry, I keep forgetting she's married now... Captain Muscone came in for rehab and I told her I was going to do some work on her wheelchair. So I installed the tracker, the Police Sergeant gave me a ride back to BOW, and that was that."
I had an insight, and brought out my Police iPhone and brought up a photograph. "Is this the Police Sergeant."
"Yeah, that's him!" Archie exclaimed. "He had a beard when he came to pick me up, but I think that's the guy."
I showed Teresa the photo.
It was the last official Police portrait of Sergeant McCombs.
Teresa's eyes widened just a bit, then she nodded as she made some notes on her notepad.
"What did he say his name was?" I asked.
"Gray." said Archie. "Sergeant Earl Gray." I managed not to react, but I saw Teresa's eyes shoot up at that.
"Do you have the letter he gave you?" I asked Archie Brody.
"Uh, no, I think he took it up while I was working on the wheelchair, and he just kept it." said Archie. "I didn't give it a second thought, really."
"Okay, I appreciate your cooperation." I said. "We're going to have to verify the details, and we're doing so now. What I can tell you is that I did not write that letter, nor did I authorize anyone to get you to install anything on Captain Muscone's wheelchair. That device was not a tracker; it was a bug, a listening device. We found it in a routine sweep of our offices."
Archie Bunker's face was a combination of shock and fright. "I... I'm sorry, sir, I had no idea... I thought it was you asking for that to be done---"
I held up a hand to stop him. "I understand. And you were trying to be helpful. As fair warning, and I'll be having the BOW Enterprises CEO put this out to everyone, don't be afraid of asking to verify anything like this if it happens again. For now, Mr. Burke has sent a car to come get you and take you back to BOW Enterprises. They'll have you stay in the conference room until we verify the story. Don't say anything to anyone about this, either..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
11:30am, Wednesday, August 12th. My Team was well trained, and had executed their missions flawlessly, and we were now meeting in Classroom 'E'. Present were: Chief Moynahan, me, Lt. Commander Croyle, Captain Muscone, Lt. Davis, Lt. Mary Milton, and Lt. Myron Milton at my request and as a courtesy.
Lt. Davis started us off: "Detectives Joanne Warner and Theo Washington went up to the Hospital, and had a number of people confirm that Archie Brody was at the Hospital a few times working on Captain Muscone's wheelchair. They picked his face off a piece of paper 'lineup' with six persons on it. But they said he was not there very often, and not on any kind of regular pattern. And other guys worked on it, as well."
"I have a question." asked Teresa. "Tanya, why were you in rehab on Saturday, when you normally go on Wednesday."
Tanya replied: "I think that's when you and Commander Troy were in your hometown, and I was 'Acting Commander' (air quotes). I told the Hospital that if they could fit me in on Saturday to do so, as I didn't know when you'd be back."