Moonlight Shadow Ch. 01

"Absolutely." said Cindy. "By the way, any missing persons reports called in?"

"No." I said, having checked the duty logs, as I did every day. "Not yet, anyway."

"So how did your meeting go?" asked Cindy.

"It was the IG and his puppy dog lawyer." I said. "About the use of a helicopter to lay down fire in order to rescue our wounded Officers." I recounted the details. Cindy looked somewhere between shocked and nauseated.

"Good grief." she said. "Are they trying to get a handle on it now, before Harlow starts attacking you over it? Or trying to help her out?"

"Depends." I said. "IG Wellman may be getting ahead of it, and so might the Chief. But Mullen may be out for my blood."

"What's with that guy?" Cindy asked. "Why doesn't he just get the facts, instead of going on these witch hunts?"

"May be his politics." I said. "Or maybe ambition. If Jenna wins the D.A. race, for example, Harold Bennett will need a State Attorney for this region. Or if the Democrats win the Governorship in the next cycle, he might be eyeing the Attorney General slot or some other high State position... and trying to bring down the Iron Crowbar would make him very popular with the Haters."

My phone buzzed, and Helena said that Myron Milton wanted to see me. I had him come in, and he sat down next to Cindy.

"How's fatherhood?" I asked.

"It's awesome, sir!" Myron said, his eyes lighting up. "Everything she does is so cute. Even the 2:00am feedings are awesome, just looking at her as I feed her. Oh, and thank you for the diaper advice."

I grinned. "Yes, being a father is an amazing thing. Congratulations to you both." I saw Cindy looking at me strangely. "Myron, explain the 'diaper advice' to Captain Ross."

Myron said "Commander Troy advised us that whenever Mary or I change Louise's diaper, and we lay her down on her back, we should put a diaper over her belly area, if you get my drift. Sure enough, if we hadn't she might've hit the ceiling with a fountain of pee."

"Oh my goodness!" Cindy said, laughing.

"And I got that tip from my mom when Carole was born." I said. "Seems she learned the hard way from my bad, bad sister Elizabeth." Cindy laughed some more.

"So, Myron, diaper safety aside," I said, "what do you have for me?"

"Just some information on our murder victim." said Myron. "The phone number in his hat belongs to a cell phone number belonging to a 'James Cialis'. Lives at 234 Pine Street. He's married, has no children. Age 31 years old. Local pharmacist; currently works at the Kroger Pharmacy near the Mall, and has been there since late July of last year. Has two credit cards, one Visa, one Mastercard, pays them off every month. His wife's name is May, they've been married ten years. And that's all I have so far. It was... surprisingly difficult to get this much information."

"Why?" I asked.

"Just... nothing really there, sir." said Myron. "I have his State Pharmacy License record, but I can't find the University he graduated from, at least not from my first glance search. Tax records show he's at Kroger, but I couldn't find anything going further back. I can press with the IRS and State Tax Authority for more records, and will likely get something back, but it may be a couple of days."

"Well, we have a name and address." I said. "I understand that his prints didn't come back?"

"That is correct, sir." said Cindy. "The FBI didn't have them on record, nor did the State or County. Not necessarily unusual, but do you think he might be in Witness Protection or something?"

"Could be." I said. "But there should be fingerprints... that's a requirement when someone is applying for a Pharmacy license." After a moment of thought, I said "Myron, go share what you have with Jerome Davis, and all of MCD for that matter. And hold off pressing the IRS or State Tax Authority for the moment."

Myron excused himself and left the office. When the door closed, I said "Yeah, another 'strangeness'. They're beginning to pile up around this case. Okay, let's go see if the wife is at home."

"Before we go," Cindy said, looking at her Police iPhone, "I have an email from your wife. She wants us to check out a Florida car tag."

"Send it to Lainie." I said. "Ask her to run it and email my wife back..."

Part 4 - Last House On The Left

10:45am, Friday, April 6th. 234 Pine Street was a modest ranch-style home in a modest neighborhood, and it was the last house on the street before it dead-ended. Jerome and Teddy Parker pulled up in the unmarked Police car that the Detectives often used, and Cindy and I pulled up behind them in my Police SUV. A Patrol cruiser carrying Lt. Irwin and Patrol Officer Lydia Green was parked down the street.

Detective Davis took the lead, knocking on the front door. There was no answer, and as he knocked again, I made hand signals to Cindy to have the other Officers observe the back yard to make sure no one was trying to escape.

After another couple of knocks, we finally heard a woman's voice behind the door: "Who is it?"

"Town & County Police, ma'am." called out Davis. "Please open the door. We need to ask you some questions."

The door cracked open, but was chained on the inside. "What do you want?" asked the woman. She was 5'7" tall in her high heel 'Mary Jane' shoes, and was wearing a dress that reminded me of '1940s Radio Hour' for some reason. Her black hair was more than shoulder length, and drilled into curls. Her face was pale white, helped by her makeup, and her lipstick was bright red, inviting attention. Her eyes were peering and wary, but had a strangeness to them... as if they were dead to all emotion.

"Police, ma'am." said Jerome Davis, exhibiting his badge. "Does James Cialis live here?"

"Yes." said the woman. Her eyes flickered for a second upon mention of his name.

"Is he here now?" asked Davis.

"No, he's not. What's this about?" the woman asked.

"Are you his wife?" asked Davis.

"Yes." said the woman. "Again, what is this about?"

"May we come in and talk to you, ma'am?" asked Davis.

"Not until you tell me what this is about." said the woman. "And I may still demand you produce a warrant before coming into my home."

At that point I came around from the edge of the door, holding up a piece of paper. "I am Commander Troy of the Town & County Police Force, and this is a warrant to search your home. Open the door, ma'am, or we will force it." Yeah, you better believe I'd stopped by the Courthouse to get the warrant before we went to the house...

The woman closed the door and undid the chain. I handed her the warrant as we went inside. I was on the phone, calling for the Crime Lab team that was waiting down the road to come on in.

"Are you May Cialis?" I asked as I escorted her back into the den area, observing along the way that the house was perfectly appointed with the expected furniture, but there was nearly nothing else: no magazines, very few books, no personal effects strewn about. The kitchen was perfectly clean, as was the rest of the house.

"Yes I am." said May. "Again, Officer, what is this about?"

"I'll tell you in a moment, after I ask some questions." I said. "When was your husband last here?"

"Last night." said the woman. She elaborated no further.

"When was the last time you heard from him?" I asked.

"Last night." she said.

Just then, my Police iPhone rang. I answered it as Jerome and Cindy attempted to talk to the woman. "Troy." I said as I stepped into the hallway.

"This is Sheriff Allgood." said Daniel's voice. "I need you to come to my office at City Hall right away, as in 'drop everything and come over right now' right away."

"Sheriff," I said, "we're interviewing the most important person in this morning's murder case--"

"Let your Detectives do that." said Allgood. "You come to my office right now. Immediately, Commander." The line went dead.

For crying out loud, I thought to myself. I went to the door of the den and crooked my finger for Cindy to come over, and she did.

"I've got to go." I said. "Sheriff, this time. Look, this woman knows something. You can take her to Headquarters under the warrant if you feel you the need to."

"Wilco." said Cindy. A moment later she heard the wail of a siren as a very piqued Police Commander burned the lightbar and siren...

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

"Mrs. Cialis, you're not exactly being helpful in your answers." Jerome said.

"You're not telling me what this is about." the woman replied. "I'm on the verge of asking for a lawyer before answering further questions."

"You have that right, and we'll respect it." Cindy said. "In fact..." She took out the card from her pocket and read the woman her Miranda rights. May said she understood the rights.

"Ma'am," Jerome Davis said, "do you know where your husband is now?"

"Yes." said the woman. "He's in the morgue, where your Officers took him last night. And at this point in time, I want that lawyer."

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

When I got to Sheriff Allgood's office, the secretary was going to do the 'formal' thing again. But my redheaded impatience got the better of me. I blasted past her and straight into his office. Inside the office was the Sheriff, Chief Moynahan, and Chief Griswold.

"Do come in, Commander." Daniel said sarcastically.

"We were interviewing the wife of the dead man we found this morning." I said severely. "She's a possible suspect. Now what in the... world... is so important that you made me leave that scene and come here?"

"First of all, Commander," said Allgood, "if your Detectives cannot handle that, then I would say it's a failure on your part to adequately train them--"

"Now just a minute, Sheriff!" Chief Moynahan interjected, seeing my face flush to a darker red than my hair. "You know damn well we have excellent Detectives, but even if they're Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, it's better for our cases if the Iron Crowbar is there to help."

"My second point," said Sheriff Allgood, staring at me, "is that in my judgement, this is more important, at least to this County's future. Look... have a seat."

I didn't move. "Sit down, Crowbar. Take a load off your back." said Chief Griswold, trying to keep the situation from exploding. I slowly sat down next to him.

"Here's what's going on." said Allgood. "The IG's lawyer, Robert Mullen, is saying that you were uncooperative in his interview of you about last night's incident with the helicopter. The IG himself has contradicted that, saying that you did answer the questions you were asked, and the IG has relieved Mullen of his duties pertaining to this investigation."

"So why doesn't the IG, or you, fire that bastard Mullen completely?" I said venomously. "This is the second time he's lied publicly about me."

"Let me tell the rest of this." said Griswold, to the Sheriff. He turned to me and said "Don, there is what I believe to be an orchestrated effort by people to call and harass Council members, the Mayor, and the Sheriff about the use of the Cobra. They're trying to make it sound like the whole County is against what you did, and while we know that's not true, it's still enough for some of them to use this incident against you and the Police."

Chief Moynahan took it up. "I delayed the scheduled press conference until 2:00pm, at which time I will attempt to explain the truth of the matter: that we had two wounded Officers, that your fire was surgical and well-placed, and only bad guys were hit with no real danger to civilians."

"However," said Daniel Allgood, "the SBI-OER is announcing that they are accepting our request to investigate the matter, and the Board of Inquiry will be early next week. Also, I'm going to announce that while I am Sheriff, the Police will have to get my explicit permission to use the helicopter gunship. Yes, it's your helicopter, and you can fly it around all you want... but not on official Police business without my permission, and if you fire any weapons on it, there could be an inquiry about that. Is that clear?"

"You took me out of a critical point of a murder investigation to tell me this?" I asked, allowing incredulity to be heard in my voice. "You could not have sent that in an email?" Daniel was stunned, and getting angry.

"Commander," he said, "I don't think you understand fully just how critical this is. Harlow is already making ads about this. Whether any of us like it or not, my candidacy for Mayor and Chief Griswold's candidacy for Sheriff are directly tied to our support of you. Our enemies are trying to make that into as negative a thing as possible. This incident is not helping."

"Are you kidding?" I gasped, almost flying out of my chair.

"Easy, Crowbar." quietly growled Chief Griswold.

"Go tell Barker and McGhillie that this so-called 'incident' was 'not helping' while they were laying there bleeding!" I practically shouted at Allgood, worn to serious anger now.

"Yes, we know that." said Chief Moynahan. "And that's what's saving us on this, that you acted to rescue them and evacuate them to medical attention. I'm on your side on this, Commander. As the Bible says, 'and it came to pass', and this too shall pass... but we have to navigate carefully so that it passes advan-taaaaa-giously."

"And you pulled me out of a murder investigation just for this." I said, still disbelieving and incredulous.

"You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about that." said Allgood.

"You damn right, I do!" I shouted. I caught myself, and calmed my voice as I said "For God's sake, Sheriff, would you please let me do my fucking job for the next few months? Did you really need to call me in here, and you couldn't wait until I was finished with that suspect?"

"Would you rather be suspended, and unable to do any Police work at all?" replied Allgood. "That is what Mullen wanted to do, and he has complained to the Council and the SBI that you're not suspended or restricted... yet."

"Don't threaten me with that shit, Sheriff." I said. "Either do it or don't. Either suspend me or leave me alone to do my job. And once again... this could not have waited until we were finished interviewing the dead man's wife? I question your judgement in calling me away from the investigation."

"In my judgement as your boss's boss," said Daniel, "no, it could not wait. And if you don't like it, you can--"

"Daniel," said Griswold, stopping Allgood from saying something very stupid, "we are past the point of meaningful conversation, here. May I suggest you let the Iron Crowbar go back to the work he does so brilliantly, and we politicians will handle the public shit?"

"Yeah." said Allgood sourly. "Go, Commander. Go back to your God-damned suspect. Get the fuck out." I complied. As fast as I could.

"What's he going to do," Daniel Allgood said after I'd left, "if Della Harlow wins the Sheriff race?"

"He's not the one I'll be worrying about if that happens." said Chief Griswold. "If the People of this County truly want that, then they will get exactly what they deserve. Exactly what they deserve..."

Part 5 - Suspicions and Clues

"We brought her in." Cindy said just as soon as I stepped into the hallway from the passageway to the side door to the fenced-in parking lot. "She's in Interrogation-A. She called a lawyer in the City and he's on his way. Nathan Masterson, of Gresham & Mason."

"He didn't get busted when we took down Superior Bloodlines last year?" I asked as we walked down the hall to my office.

"Nope." said Cindy. "They're still the law firm of choice for the power elites of Politics and Big Business."

"The twin brothers of corruption in this world." I replied.

As we sat down in my office, I said "Cindy, I need to let you know something. This is twice in one morning that I've been called away from this murder case. It's possible if not likely that they're going to keep fucking with me over this helicopter thing to the point that I cannot give you and the Detectives the support I want to and that you have every right to expect. So y'all double down on it, and see if you can solve it yourselves. I'll try to help where I can, but it's getting..." I did not finish the sentence as I went into a reverie.

Cindy nodded, then peered at me. "The politicians have messed with you before, but I didn't feel the vibe from you that I'm feeling right now. What's different about this?"

"My level of patience, I guess." I said. "Okay, what happened with May Cialis?"

"She knew her husband was dead." said Cindy. "And at that point she asked for a lawyer before answering further questions. I said it would be advisable to protect her rights as well as our investigation by having her come to the Station, and here we are."

I nodded. "Okay, let me know when the lawyer gets here. I'll watch from the anteroom."

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

Nathan Masterson, the young-looking lawyer from Gresham & Mason, P.C., arrived at Police Headquarters from the City just before 1:00pm, and immediately went into private conference with his client. Meanwhile, I talked to Cindy and Vice about the NS-14 gangsters we'd busted (and shot up) at MLK Park.

"Most of them are from Los Angeles." said Christopher Purvis as we sat in Vice around his desk. "They're well known to Claire Michaels and the LAPD. They all asked for Public Defendants. They'll have their hearings Monday."

"Los Angeles, eh?" I asked, partly to myself, as I went through the file Purvis had compiled of the perps. "So any of them at all from around here? Surely they did not come from LA to sell drugs to themselves in our County."

"Especially with the Iron Crowbar ready to pounce upon them." said Purvis. Cindy peered at him, then went into her own reverie as Purvis continued: "A couple of them, including one of the dead men, have not been positively identified. They may be from around here, or maybe the City or Southport. The Hispanic Gangs have been trying to come into our County, but either the Police have kicked their asses or T-Square has taken care of our lightwork for us. They've struggled to get a foothold here."

I nodded. "Let me ask this: how did you guys get the intel on this?" Yeah, I'd already heard it, but I wanted to go over it again.

"Grubby Paul got an anonymous tip earlier this week." Cindy said. "Mary went into labor, so we didn't really consult with her. She'll be back Monday after next, by the way. McGhillie and Purvis here confirmed the tip through C.I.s, and we planned the raid and executed it. Successful, too, except for Barker and McGhillie getting wounded."

I nodded again, deeper in thought. "Does. Not. Make. Sense." I muttered.

"Sir?" asked Purvis. I 'woke up' out of my reverie.

"This whole thing. It does not make sense to me." I said. "Purvis, what is your evaluation of it?"

"Sir," said Purvis, "it may have been a transfer of drugs for distribution, but my sense is that was a set-up to draw in Police and ambush us."

"That's my sense, too." said Cindy, nodding vigorously in agreement.

"Me three." I said. "Where were the drugs and cash and guns put?"

"The guns are in the Evidence Room downstairs." said Cindy. "The drugs and cash are in the Evidence Warehouse on the grounds of County Jail."

"Purvis," I said, "call the K-9 Corps and have them take Sergeant Seymour down to sniff the drugs and cash... see if any explosives are embedded in the packages of drugs or in the cash." Purvis went to his desk and got on the phone.

Just then, J.R. Barnes of the Crime Lab came up the hallway, so I caught up to him and had him come to my office. The Green Crowbar was right behind us.

"Martha is wrapping up her autopsy," said J.R. as we all sat down, "but she told me to tell you that she recovered two bullets. We measured them before sending them to the State Crime Lab. They're nine millimeter bullets, for sure. But the rifling looks kind of strange to me, so I'll defer further comment until the Crime Lab brings us some data."