Frozen Mothballs Ch. 02

Story Info
More cold realities as the Team continues to investigate.
9.9k words
4.81
9.3k
3

Part 2 of the 3 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 04/03/2017
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is now 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 7 - Inquiries

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded MILF reporterette from in front of the State Crime Lab building north of the University Campus at 7:00am, Thursday, February 16th. "Channel Two News has learned that recent arrests by the Town & County Police Department has led to the discovery of deadly chemicals!"

I closed my eyes and groaned as I listened. Bettina happily continued: "Sources tell Channel Two News that substances found during the arrest were tested and found to be deadly poisons! The State Crime Lab will not provide any details, and have said only that they have turned their findings over to the Town & County Police and the FBI. The TCPD has declined to make any statement, and the FBI will not confirm that they received any information from the State Crime Lab!"

I felt Cindy pat my shoulder as we listened in MCD. She had seen my face, as had the other Detectives in the room.

"The Town & County Police will not confirm that the three persons arrested are part of a nationally organized white supremacy group, nor that they were turned over to the custody of the FBI. Commander Donald Troy, who sources tell Channel Two News discovered the danger of the chemicals, has not returned repeated calls for comment."

"That's what happens when you're out of Town all dayyyyy." drawled the Chief, who had just come in. "I'm sure Bettina only wanted to ask you for a date, Commanderrr." Joanne giggled, in spite of the pall in the room.

"She's gonna get a 'date', all right, Chief." I said. "With the FBI. We have the right of free speech, but we can't yell 'FIRE!' in a crowded theater. They have their Free Press rights, but that doesn't give them the right to give out sensitive information about poison agents and scare the hell out of the Public."

"More coffee, Mr. Crowbarrrr." said the Chief. "That's the prescription. The Press is going to do most harmful thing it can, no matter what. They have no sense of responsibility to the Public they claim to serrrrrve."

"Is it a requirement of Command to hate the Press?" asked Joanne Warner. "Because I've got a headstart if it is."

"Not that big of one." said Teddy Parker. "I hate them, too."

"And none of you are anywhere close to me in hatred of the Press." I said. "So don't get your hopes up of taking my office away from me just yet."

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

"There are leaks, and then there are leaks." I said to Cindy as we sat in my office. We'd just watched KSTD's morning news report. Priya had mentioned the three perps being taken into Federal custody, but had not mentioned the poison gas mothballs... and we know she watches Bettina and reports the same things an hour later.

"How Bettina found out about that, I don't know." I said. "But for her to report that... Jesus Christ almighty! Even Priya had the good fucking sense to not mention it!"

"You're worked up about this one." Cindy said.

"Hell yeah, I am!" I spluttered. "Now we have nearly 100,000 people in this area wondering if they're going to be subjected to a poison gas attack! That was just so fucking... stupid of that bitch!"

Cindy looked shocked at my comment about Bettina. "Do I need to call your wife to take some blood samples?" she asked pointedly.

"If you want to." I said, giving it right back. "Bettina's crossed the line. I need to talk to Brick now." 'Brick' was Captain Briscoe, the Press Relations Officer.

"Ooo-kay." she said, getting up. "I'll go get some more coffee... and put on a pot of decaf for you."

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

"I have good news, and bad news." said the Chief as we sat in his office. "Wayne LaCroix served your subpoena yesterday, to appear for questioning before the Board of Inquiry this after-noooon."

"Sheesh, how about a little notice?" I asked as I looked at the document.

"Unfortunately, 24 hours is considered 'sufficient' in this matter." said the Chief. "He also sent a letter earlier, warning you about it. The good news is that I did tell your Union rep yesterday, and he's ready to go."

"Okay." I said, then remembered my manners. "Thanks, sir."

"What's on your mind, Mr. Crowbar?" asked the Chief.

"That visit to the camp and the sanitarium." I said. "I need to call Jack Muscone."

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

"So no one came and bothered you at either location?" Muscone asked as he sat in my office with me, drinking coffee.

"No." I said. "And I was halfway expecting someone to come, local Sheriff or something, just to check up."

"So..." said Jack, "did you find anything?"

"Not much, at least not yet." I said. "But it did occur to me who might have been using the Millwakee Camp as a hideout... a certain disgraced and now former SBI Agent who has a lot of reason to hide from my crowbar, not to mention my FBI friend whose girlfriend was thrown out of her wheelchair by said disgraced SBI Agent..."

"Ferrell?" Jack asked, his ears and every other part of him perking up at the name. "So you think he's hiding there?"

"Probably not any more." I said. "But it was a great location for a while. He could just go north to get to Waguli, then west to that facility near the Burke home. Not much traffic through there at all."

"I'll check in with my boss and see if we can put some surveillance on the place." said Muscone. "Tripwire sensors and the like. Maybe the bastard will go back... and if he does, I'll be right there to get him."

"You've got dibs on him, if I can help it." I said. "So, did you get anything new on that Federal facility north of the State line?"

"No." said Jack. "I asked Lindy to look into it, and she did. She came back with a red screen saying she was touching upon the verboten. So I had a look, got the same screen, then got a call from Homeland Security in Washington, wanting to know why we were trying to get information on the site."

"What did you tell them?"

"I told them we had two ongoing cases down here, and cases involving multiple murders, and that that facility was in the vicinity of both." said Jack. "They said it had nothing to do with the cases, and I asked how they could possibly know that. That's when they asked for my boss's name."

"And you told them?"

"You betcha." Jack said. "And he'd told me that if something like this happened, to let him know. Anyway, Homeland Security said to cease and desist inquiring about the facility, and I asked them what they were trying to hide. They hung up on me, and I called my boss... all of ten seconds before they did."

"Better double up on your armor." I said. I was not kidding.

"You got that right." Jack replied. "Anyway, my boss was called... by the Secretary of Homeland Security himself, and it generated a meeting of a lot of high level people. I still don't know what it's all about, but it's now officially above my pay grade."

"And would be above mine," I said, "except now is the most dangerous time for us... if they can eliminate us before there's any real publicity, they'll do it."

"You know, Don," Jack said to me, "It scares me the way you think, sometimes. If it weren't for the fact I actually was there when you were found being tortured by the CIA... I'd think you're a paranoid S.O.B."

"It ain't paranoia when they really are out to get you." I replied with a Chief Griswold truism.

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

"The Inquisition, let's begin,

The Inquisition, look out sin...

---- "The Inquisition", History of the World, Pt.1.

I went into the Chamber of the Board of Inquiry, attended by my Union rep. I was wearing my Duty Dress uniform with the three metal-bordered rectangles, and not wearing the Medal of Valor medal.

A three-member panel was seated up on the 'bench', and Wayne LaCroix was at the table on the other side, as if he were a prosecuting attorney. He didn't look much better than what Cindy had described of how he'd looked the other day.

As the proceedings began, my rep stood up. "Members of the Board," he said, "I am bringing an objection and a complaint to these proceedings. My client and I have not been informed by Mr. LaCroix of the nature of the proceedings, of what is to be discussed at the proceedings, and Mr. LaCroix has been evasive when directly asked for information. We have added a formal complaint within the last hour, which you may not have received yet, that Mr. LaCroix's handling of this is at best irregular and at worst and more realistically, extremely unprofessional. We ask that Mr. LaCroix be immediately relieved of any participation in these proceedings."

"We did get that complaint." said the Inquiry Board's leader, the older black man who'd been on several Boards of Inquiry in which I'd had to testify, to include Medal of Valor nominations of my various Angels. "We are taking the issue of Mr. LaCroix's conduct under advisement, but will continue with him at this time, as changing attorneys to someone who is not familiar with the situation would be ill-advised."

"Sir," the Union rep said with some anger, "WE are not familiar with this situation, thanks to Mr. LaCroix's evasiveness. For you to say it's okay for him to be informed but us to not be is a double standard at best, and a violation of my client's rights, at worst."

"I'll say this one more time." said the Inquiry leader. "We are taking it under advisement. Mr. LaCroix says he did fully advise you of the nature of these proceedings, is that not right Mr. LaCroix?"

"That is correct, Your Honor." said LaCroix.

"Your Honor," I said, even though the Board leader was not a judge, "I would like Mr. LaCroix to make that statement under oath. If he won't, you should regard his statement as a falsehood. I will testify under oath that LaCroix has not properly informed me of the nature of this proceeding; he only subpoenaed me to attend."

"I'll testify likewise, sir." said the Union rep.

"This is starting to get out of hand." said the second board member. "Let's bring this to order and get on with it."

"At the expense of my client's rights?" said the Union rep. I have to admit it was refreshing to see a Union guy so strongly taking my side, for a welcome change.

"Okay, okay," said the presiding Board member. "Mr. LaCroix, would you now state the nature of these proceedings?"

"I intend to determine why Commander Troy did not pursue an immediate investigation of the Walnut Prep Academy when evidence arose that teachers and students were having sexual relations. Furthermore, Commander Troy later recused himself from the investigation of that matter, and I want to determine why he did so."

"Now you know." said the Board leader. "Can we proceed?"

"No." I said. "I wish to confer privately with my Union rep before continuing this hearing."

"I object to that." said LaCroix sanctimoniously. "Commander Troy does not need to confer with anyone. He needs to get on the witness stand and answer my questions under oath."

"Mr. LaCroix," said the third Board member before I or my rep could say anything, "you really are beginning to violate the Commander's rights with that statement. Maybe you're just trying to coerce him into taking the Fifth, but we're not going to play that game here. Gentlemen," he said to the other Board members, "I believe we can give the Commander and his rep a few minutes."

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

We where shown into a small room near the Board chamber. As we sat down at the table, the rep began talking.

"This is the craziest thing I've ever seen, Commander." he said. "I know you and the Union have been at odds at times, but I've never seen anything like the violation of your rights taking place here."

"Yeah, I know." I said. I instinctively reached inside my jacket pocket and switched on my anti-bugging device as I said "Even the Board members can see LaCroix is shredding the Constitution as he goes along. The question is 'why?' of course. I get the idea that LaCroix----"

Just then, we were totally shocked when the door flew open and LaCroix barreled in, followed by the Sheriff's Deputy that had been in the Chambers for the hearing. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, looking around at the ceiling.

Bus-ted.

He must have bugs in the room, was trying to listen in, then my device blacked them out, I realized. Before he was aware of it, I was up and moving, and now had the door blocked. What's more, I'd pressed a pager, and Cindy Ross was now at the door, as well.

"Okay, LaCroix, you are busted." I said. "Captain Ross, handcuff Mr. LaCroix.

"What is going on?" asked the Deputy.

"I'm arresting LaCroix on suspicion of bugging this room." I said.

"You can't do that. I order you to let him go!" shouted the Deputy. I confronted him.

"YOU are ordering ME?" I said menacingly. "Do you realize how far I outrank you? Not to mention you can be arrested for conspiring with LaCroix if you try to help him any further?" That last part was a stretch, but it didn't matter; the intimidation worked, and the Deputy conceded.

I began searching. My bug-detector device, the second half of the my pair of gold discs, found a bug under the eaves of the table. Two more were found in the fluorescent light assembly. They were bagged and tagged as evidence.

"Take him to Headquarters and book him, Ross." I told Cindy.

"Rudistan and Morton are on their way, sir." Cindy replied.

"What the hell is going on?" asked the lead Board member as he and his fellow panelists came to the door. I showed them the bugs, now sealed in evidence bags. (Oh, I might note that Cindy and the Union rep both videoed the whole thing with their cellphones.)

"LaCroix tried to listen in on privileged conversations." I said. "He gave himself away when he came in to find out why the bugs weren't working. He is now under arrest."

"I want my hearings right now." said LaCroix. "Take me to Judge Nance now."

"Oh, how about a Federal judge, LaCroix?" I threatened. "Bugging a Government building at any level, for the purpose of listening to privileged conversations? That's a Federal rap in addition to a State charge. And your buddy Judge Nance won't be able to help you in Federal Court. But thanks for telling us who your marked card is." For the first time, LaCroix looked like he was going to shit in his pants.

"The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me, Commander." said Sergeant Rudistan as he came in. "But I think Mr. LaCroix here gets bonus points."

"That doesn't get him much in my jails, Sergeant." I replied. "Take this piece of filth to them."

Part 8 - Frozen Hornets

"Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow." said Chief Moynahan quietly as we sat in his office, along with Della Harlow and Cindy Ross. It was now 3:30pm, Thursday, February 16th. "You have really torn the lid off this time, Mr. Crowbarrrr."

"Yes sir." I said. "Folsom has specifically prohibited Nance from having any part of LaCroix's hearings, nor can Nance be part of anything to do with Walnut Prep now. Folsom said LaCroix's comments were sufficient grounds to question Nance's impartiality."

"How did Nance take that?" asked the Chief.

"I don't know sir," I said, "but Nance is pretty wily. I imagine he just said 'okay' and went about his business."

"And LaCroix?"

"I haven't gotten to interrogate him yet." I said.

"And you won't." said the Chief. "Sheriff Allgood has relieved that Deputy of his duties, pending a full-scale investigation of his involvement with LaCroix. The Deputy has already asked for a lawyer, but I understand it's with the idea of figuring out where he stands and what kind of deal he can make. But the Sheriff also said he wants you to take a background role in this from now on. Let your people ask the questions. Prep them if you want, but you won't be the one in therrrrre."

"No problem, Chief." said Cindy Ross with an all-too-happy smile on her face. "I get to play Iron Hornet today, and stir up that little nest in LaCroix's head."

"Hoo boy." said the Chief. "Out of the frying pan, into the fire." I laughed, knowing the Chief was joking. It took Cindy a few more seconds to catch on.

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

Inside Interrogation-2 sat LaCroix and his legal representation, Mr. Garner of Succup & Payne, P.C., personal attorneys. Mr. Garner had been the late Nathan Allen's attorney in the past.

Captain Cindy Ross and Detective Jermaine Davis entered I-2, and Patrolman Morton was the Uniformed presence. The Chief and I were in the anteroom, watching through the one-way glass. Ross and Davis sat down and, before saying any other words, Cindy read LaCroix his legal rights.

"Do you understand the rights?" she asked at the end. LaCroix didn't answer, so she held up the card to the video camera and said "Let the record show that his rights were read to him, and he does not have to consent out loud for my duty to have been done. Okay, this is Detective Davis, and I am Captain Ross. You are being charged with attempting to listen in on privileged conversations, and conspiracy to bug a Government office that was meant to be used for private and privileged conversations."

"Why don't you send the Iron Crowbar in here?" snarled LaCroix. "Let that asshole question me himself."

Cindy turned to Jerome. "This is an example of a perp trying to create a legal loophole, Detective Davis. Commander Troy is being held back because he was an involved party that led up to the charges against Mr. LaCroix, here. His finding the bugs is perfectly admissible as evidence, but we won't help Mr. LaCroix's legal representation by having Commander Troy directly involved in the questioning."

Jerome nodded. LaCroix's lawyer looked resigned. LaCroix looked furious... that his ruse didn't work.

Cindy went on: "Before you formally invoke, Mr. LaCroix, you need to understand that corresponding Federal charges are going to be sought in Federal Court, and you may be transferred to Federal custody in conjunction with the filing of those charges and a Federal indictment. Once that happens, there is little I can do to help you in any way, nor will I have any inclination to help you. However, you should consult with your attorney now about discussing with us who put you up to this, who gave you the bugging devices to use, and also why you were abusing the process of the Board of Inquiry."

"I'll add more." said Jerome, as instructed to do. "The Iron Crowbar? He can be vindictive. He's not letting this waste of his time go unpunished. He intends to have you disbarred, Mr. LaCroix. He intends to make sure you never work in the legal profession in this State again. And he does intend for you to see prison time, if you don't come correct on what you've been trying to do through the Board of Inquiry process."

"I need to talk with my attorney." said LaCroix.

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

"You did great." I said to Jerome. "I think he got a little intimidated when you told him what I intended to do."

"Thanks, sir." said Jerome.

"He did get intimidated." said Cindy. "I could feel the vibe. He got nervous when we started talking about the Feds. He got outright scared when Jerome started talking about disbarring him."