The Four Boxes of Liberty

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 21 - Guy Fawkes Revisited

Please to remember...

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November

The Gunpowder Treason and plot;

I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,'Twas his intent.

To blow up King and Parli'ment.

Three score barrels of powder below.

To prove old England's overthrow.

By God's providence he was catch'd,

With a dark lantern and burning match

Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring

Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!"

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, November 5th. "Channel Two News has learned that State Independent Counsel Robert Mullen will release his final report of his investigation into Governor Val Jared and Commander Donald Troy today!"

"The report promises to be a political bombshell." said Bettina. "Political

experts

believe it will be the starting point for the impeachment of Governor Val Jared and his removal from office after the Democrats

very likely

take control of both Houses of the State Legislature!"

"Less certain is what Mr. Mullen will say in the report about TCPD Commander Donald Troy." continued Bettina. "Sources tell Channel Two News is that Commander Troy is not only ready but very eager to sue the Independent State Counsel and Robert Mullen personally if there is anything at all that Commander Troy considers to be defamatory. Social justice groups claim Commander Troy harassed two women with credible claims of sexual harassment against the Governor, but Commander Troy and the FBI have asserted that the women's claims were made up and used a forged document to defame Governor Jared."

"And the State as well as our County eagerly await Election Day, which is tomorrow!" Bettina said happily. "We have with us Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling. Karl, how is it going to go tomorrow?"

"We have a lot of very tight races, Bettina." said Karl Frazier. "Statewide, Sharon Marshall and Maxine Watts are in a dead heat at 49-49%, with that small number of undecideds to be the difference. Locally, the race for Mayor is equally tight."

"What about the Legislature?" asked Bettina. "Will it be the 'wave' election for the Democrats that everyone's... expecting?" She was about to say 'hoped for', but changed it to 'expecting' just in time.

"Bettina, our polls are showing that the Democrats will make strong gains in the State House," said Frazier, "and we expect the Democrats to retain the State Senate, but they may not add to their numbers there..."

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

"Wow, talk about 'toned down'." said Teresa Croyle as we watched the Bettina broadcast in the Chief's Conference Room. "Bettina was almost nice to you, Don." There were murmurs of agreement in the full room. Present were Chief Moynahan, Chief Emeritus Griswold, my three Angels, and myself.

"Maybe she got the pickle-tickle she needed." said Tanya Perlman with a wicked grin.

"Maybe she was at Laura's birthday party." I said, my eyes glinting with a wee tad of maliciousness. "I heard it got pretty... raucous."

"Blame the professors that were there." said Teresa. "You'd think those so-called 'liberated women of Academia' hadn't gotten... pickle tickles... in years." Most of us laughed, especially at the way Teresa had said it.

"And I thought soldiers in the Army talked rough and explicitly." said Chief Moynahan. My Angels laughed.

"Sir," I said, "we guys have no idea how... candid... these women can be. Especially amongst themselves." My Angels laughed again.

"So, Commander," said Moynahan. "It wasn't you taking care of Bettina's... needs?" My Angels were rolling with laughter now.

"Noooooo sir." I said. "We had a big birthday party yesterday. Douglass Burke turned five years old yesterday, and today is Ross's fourth birthday. All those kids flat wore me out."

"Me, too," said Griswold, "and all I did was sit there and watch them running around."

"It didn't help that Todd was rilling them up so much." Teresa lamented. "But he's just the big kid in the group."

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

"And this is a Fox Eight University news update." said Meredith Peller at 7:30am. She was sitting behind a news desk, and would rejoin Catrina Pierce and their guests on the sofa after the news update.

"Independent State Counsel Robert Mullen will give his highly anticipated report to State Attorney General Karl Handel today, and they will hold a joint press conference at 10:00am in Midtown." said Peller. "The report is expected to be a scathing indictment of the conduct of Governor Val Jared towards women and minorities."

"Critics have accused Mr. Mullen of releasing the report just before the Elections in order to influence them." said Peller. "Mr. Mullen originally intended to release his report last Friday, but delayed it until today. Sources tell Fox Eight University that Mr. Mullen rewrote the final report over the weekend to remove possibly slanderous comments about Police Commander Donald Troy, whose lawyer Mike G. Todd has already promised a lawsuit if his client, Commander Troy, is defamed in any way..."

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

"Don's not happy." said Tanya as we sat in my office and watched the news report. "They put Meredith behind a desk, and he can't see her legs." A red crowbar was waved in her general direction.

"And it

should

be a crime to hide her smoking hot legs behind a desk." I replied.

"Isn't Fox Cable notorious for having women show off their legs on set?" asked Teresa.

"Back in the day, it was." I said. "But with sexual harassment claims being weaponized these days, they're more careful." After a pause I asked: "So, ladies... what's going to be in the Mullen report?"

"It's going to blast Jared," said Teresa, "but stop short of accusing him of an actual crime. At least that's what Todd's lobbyists are telling him."

"You think that's true about Mullen rewriting the report to remove anything about Don?" asked Cindy.

"I know for a fact that's true." I said. "Meredith's sources on that are my sources. The original report was going to say that Jared ordered me to harass Braselton and Rodman. It is possible that word got back to Mullen that he would be personally sued as well as the ISC being sued if he says I've so much as chewed bubble gum the wrong way without him being able to prove it."

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

Cindy and Teresa remained in my office after Tanya drove out to check in with the Detectives.

"Don, there's something we need to tell you." Cindy said. "We were at Laura's birthday party at Rita's place. We both saw a woman there in BDSM clothing, going to another party in another room. She looked exactly like Tomoko Shimono."

"Hmmm, that's interesting." I said. "I'm pretty sure she's dead. How 'exactly' alike are we talking about?"

Teresa said "Pretty frickin' 'exactly', sir."

Cindy said "And it was more than just a sighting for me... I felt a vibe about it, too."

"And what was the result of your follow-up?" I asked.

"Callie tried to access some stuff this weekend," said Cindy, "but it was a 'no go' from the get-go. All of Shimono's files are classified at the very highest levels... maybe higher than CIA. Maybe NSA."

"Hmmmm," I mused. "That's... interesting... very... interesting..."

"He's gone." said Teresa, speaking of my reverie.

"No, not quite." I said. "If you want, I can talk to Rita about seeing if this woman comes back. She's not going to help too much, as she does

not

want the Police bothering her customers. But maybe I'll appeal to her patriotism, and see if she'll help us out."

"Or appeal to giving her a good pickle-tickle." Cindy said without even batting an eyelash.

"Ahhhh, you're catching on to my secret weapons." I said, making my Angels shake their heads in something resembling mock pity. "Seriously, I'll talk to her, and let you know what's going on..."

Part 22 - Big Bang, Big Fizzle

The women of 'Point Taken' filed into their studio to raucous applause from the all-women audience. They took their seats, and Connie Chen started them off.

"A lot of news going on today." said Connie. "We're expecting to be interrupted by State Attorney General Karl Handel's press conference at 10:00am, where the truth of Governor Val Jared's racism and misogyny will be confirmed for all to see!" The Snowflakes... er, the audience... burst into applause.

"We'll talk about all that after the news conference." said Rosie Berkmar, who sometimes acted as co-host and leader of the discussion. "Right now we have another story by the Federal Government that isn't bearing scrutiny. The first story we've questioned is the assassination of superstar singer Jasmine Nix. Now we have the discovery of a communications center under the Wynand Building."

"The FBI is saying that this facility was built by international tycoon Henry R. Wargrave." said Zara Zeigler. "They're also refusing to confirm or deny that the facility was used by the cyber-terrorist group known as the Guardians of Justice."

"But one prominent politician is questioning the FBI's story." said Donna Roselle, the militant black woman. "Let's bring her on now. Give it up for our next Lieutenant Governor, State Senator Max-iiiiiiine Waaaaatts!!"

The audience applauded as Maxine Watts came out and sat down on the middle sofa. Donna Roselle said, "First of all, Senator, are you ready to become Governor after Val Jared is impeached and removed from office?"

"I am." said Watts. "The sooner that that racist Jared is gone, the better off we will all be." The audience applauded, because the 'Applause' light came on, instructing them to applaud.

"Tell us about this Wynand Building facility." said Zara Zeigler.

"My Office has repeatedly contacted the FBI in the City, as well as U.S. Senator Richard Nunn, and they are simply not responding to my inquiries." said Maxine Watts. "I have filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the FBI to turn over all of their documentation concerning that facility, as well as everything they have on the Guardians of Justice. If they do not respond by the end of this month, we'll be filing lawsuits against them."

"What specifically are you trying to find out about the Wynand facility?" asked Ruby Russell.

Maxine Watts looked at Ruby as if Ruby were a turd on the floor in front of her as she said: "We want to know what really was going on there. It's impossible to believe that the FBI hasn't taken any fingerprints, or obtained information of who might have accessed that facility."

"Unless it's

their

facility in the first place!" interjected Donna Roselle. The audience clapped.

"That could be," said Maxine, "but the information I have is that former SBI Director Jack Lewis, who is listed by the SBI as having disappeared, was hiding down there. We want to know if that's true, and if so where did Mr. Lewis go or where was he taken to? And if it

was

used by the Guardians of Justice, we want to know who those traitors are. The FBI owes us these answers!" The audience applauded strongly.

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

"How much of that is true?" I asked Jack Muscone as he sat with me and Cindy in my office awaiting the Mullen/Handel press conference.

"It's true she filed FOIA requests." said Jack. "What she lied about is our response. We did respond to her, and told her that the investigation is ongoing. The FOIA requests were denied as the GOJ is considered a matter of national security."

"Out of curiosity," I asked, "what

did

the FBI find down there?"

"Lewis and Ferrell's fingerprints were all over the place, especially Lewis's." said Jack. "Ferrell was staying in the 21st floor apartment with the basement access. We were hoping to get some prints of dirty SBI-NTF people, or that man of God, SBI Chaplain Ikea. But it was 'no joy' on that. We did get some prints that were pretty old, and may have been Wargrave's people. Austin R. Murphy's prints did not show up down there, though, nor did Lilly Wargrave's."

Just then Teresa and Tanya arrived. "Don, you didn't tell me you had a handsome man in your office as your guest." Tanya said as she drove up next to her fiancée Muscone. Teresa sad down in the far side 'hot chair', where she usually sat.

"And now that you're here," I said, "he's hopelessly distracted. Okay, it's ten o'clock. Let's watch some TV." I clicked on the monitor with the remote.

"This is Meredith Peller, Fox 8 University!" said the lovely blonde reporterette from inside the rotunda hall at the State Capitol building. "Attorney General Karl Handel and Independent State Counsel Robert Mullen are just coming out now!"

The camera moved to the dias, where a podium with a bank of microphones was waiting. A moment later, two men came out of a room and went up to the dias.

"Mr. Attorney General," said Mullen, holding up a thick book, "it is my pleasure to present to you the findings of the Independent State Counsel, which clearly shows the racism and hatred of women of Governor Val Jared."

"Thank you, Robert." said Handel as they posed, both holding the book, as the Press cameras flashed. Reporters began shouting questions, but Handel stopped them.

"We'll have a more full press conference after you've had a chance to read Mr. Mullen's damning report of our corrupt Governor." said Handel. "We'll take no questions now. My only comments will be to thank Mr. Mullen and his team for their long hours of hard work and their honest, frank investigation of these issues."

"I also want to say how disappointed and disgusted I am that Mr. Mullen did not have more help from law enforcement officers, particularly Commander Donald Troy and Captain Teresa Croyle." continued Handel. "I would've expected law enforcement officers to have cooperated far more with us, but those two fought us as hard as they could. I really fear what's going on in our great University's home Town and County..."

With that, the two men left the podium, not answering the questions being shouted at them by rabid reporters...

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

"Hey, I got mentioned by name!" Teresa said in mock celebration. "I must've done something right!"

"Suing them for subpoenaing you to appear on your wedding day is just stirring up a hornet's nest." said Cindy. " You're such a rabble-rousing trouble maker." Teresa nodded vigorously in agreement.

"And they're 'disappointed' that I didn't cooperate with them..." I said, "... when I was the

subject

of their criminal investigation."

"You're such a rebel." said Jack Muscone.

"No, Teddy Parker is the Rebel... Ole Miss." I said. "I'm a proud Wildcat."

"Why didn't they talk about the report?" asked Teresa. "I would've thought they'd have pasted Jared as hard as they could."

"Because," I said, "that report was expected to be the Big Bang, but has turned out to be the Big Fizzle."

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

Tanya had Julia Rodriguez and Roy McGhillie come to Classroom 'E'. "Okay, anything new on the Pringle case?"

"We interviewed the wife again." said Julia. "We talked to his children some more... adult children. Myron checked into the 'suicide email' he sent. Lainie went through his finances, his wife's finances, his kids's finances."

"We also talked to friends of his wife." said Roy. "Until those photos were sent, there was no discord between them that anyone knew of. Nothing between the kids and the parents."

"So, what is your conclusion?" asked Tanya.

"If it's anything more than what it appears to be, a suicide," said Julia, "then someone is going to get away with something."

"Agreed." said Roy. "No strings to pull on. It was suicide."

"I agree." said Tanya. "I let you work on it to improve your skills on the tedious but necessary aspects of Police work. You did a good job, too, and I'll be letting the Commander know that. In the meantime, wrap it up and put it to bed..."

Part 23 - Election Day

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the redheaded reporterette at 7:00am, Tuesday, November 6th. "The big day is here! Voters are lining up at the polls, ready to cast their ballots to determine the course of our future!"

"We are here with Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling." said Bettina. "Karl, what are you expecting today?"

"There was a record high number of early votes cast." said Frazier. "But we also expect a very large turnout today, as voters on both sides of the political spectrum are highly energized and eager to vote."

"What has energized these voters?" asked Bettina. "The racist policies of Val Jared?"

"That's been a rallying cry for the Democrats." said Karl Frazier. "But the orchestrated, pre-planned attack on Daniel Allgood by Gayle Tunnin, which many believe to be a false accusation, has tremendously energized the Grassroots Conservatives in our County. That was a

huge

mistake by Tunnin, and it may well cost Eldrick X. Weaver the election for Mayor."

"That bad?" asked Bettina, not even attempting to sound unbiased.

"Yes, Bettina." said Frazier. "And it looks like Sharon Marshall will actually benefit from the voter fraud by the Republican Establishment, which was done to prevent her from being the Republican nominee. The Grassroots are really angry, and they're going to take out that anger by voting today."

"Thank you, Karl." said Bettina. "And in other news, Robert Mullen released his final Independent State Counsel report, and political

experts

are calling it a 'dud'. Though the report states that Val Jared has exercised racism in his policies towards undocumented workers and women, there is nothing in the report that can lead to actionable criminal charges against Jared. Additionally, there is virtually no mention of Commander Donald Troy in the report, which stunned political observers as well as the Commander's many critics..."

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

"Welcome to Fox 8 University Sunrise!" said Catrina Pierce at 7:30am as she and Meredith Peller sat on the sofa, showing off their legs. "It's Election Day, and long lines are already forming at the polls!"

"That's right, Catrina." said Meredith. "Let's bring in Peter Gordon of Clear Call Polling. Peter, how's it looking?"

Peter D. Gordon was shown on a split-screen. "Hello, Meredith and Catrina, and congratulations on your new network! Our polling is showing that the Democrats will likely take the State House, but their current hold on the Senate is a bit more shaky, and could be a lot closer than most political

experts

are telling you. Locally in the Town & County, only a few races are of real interest, with the Mayor's race being the biggest and the closest. We have Daniel Allgood with a 51-49% win, but that is well within the margin of error."

Moments later, Catrina said "And in a news item being drowned out by the election coverage as well as being of little news value, the Independent State Counsel wrapped up their report yesterday. Robert Mullen submitted the report to State Attorney General Karl Handel, but they made few comments about it and took no Press questions. The report itself accuses Governor Jared of discrimination against minorities and women, but does not give any specific instances that could lead to the Governor being charged with any crime. Several Democrat legislators say they will still work to impeach the Governor."