All Comments on 'Pink Panther Ch. 04'

the answer is never etched in stone, TK U MLJ LV NV

Still a great read. I wonder what shape the telling of secrets will take in your world. It would be interesting to see what would happen if what is currently happening to harassment secrets were to hit Earth Crowbar.

Have great respect and appreciation for your imagination and writing skills. However after the powerful "cliffhanger" ending of "Pink Panther Ch. 03" can't help feeling this story ended a chapter or two, OR more, too soon. Maybe this jaded old man is so "addicted" to your works am requiring more and more each time. Stieg Larsson's "Trilogy" had the same captaining qualities for me. While these words are about him can't help but feel many of them could be describing you and your works.

". . . the trilogy allowed Stieg to denounce everyone he loathed for their cowardice, their irresponsibility, and their opportunism: couch-potato activists, sunny-day warriors, fair-weather skippers who pick and choose their causes; false friends who used him to advance their own careers; unscrupulous company heads and shareholders who wrangle themselves huge bonuses.... Seen in this light, Stieg couldn't have had any better therapy for what ailed his soul than writing his novels."

Look forward to each every one your future tales showcasing IC's powers of observation and deductive reasoning and all the "thrills and chills" each adventure is sure to generate.

Thanks for all the time and effort you extend/expand to entertain us.

One Day at a Time,

The Ol' Man

PS: Forgive these ramblings by an old man.

The difference between President Trump and Governor Jared is with Jared the impeachment stuff was real, until the Crowbar came along and ginned up a way to eliminate it.

With Trump the Establishment Republicans in the Congress are more afraid of getting primaried by TEA Party conservatives like Roy Moore, than getting called racists by the Democrats. Then there is the circular firing squad that exists within the Republican Party especially in the wake of the Congressional Harassment Slush Fund, while Trump may be teflon, they know they won't be if such salacious goings-on ever came out on them, unless they remain loyal to a large degree loyal to Trump and the voters back home in their districts. I talked with one Congressman and if not for Steve Bannon and President Trump, half of the GOP Caucus would have cut a deal for a smaller tax cut than what the Senate is currently debating, but because they are running scared of the GOP base in their own districts they are staying in line and most of them are sticking with the President, if only to preserve their jobs.

The fact that he got the innocent man out of prison doesn't in any way lessen the fact that he chose to become a participant in a criminal conspiracy. And a pardon - obtained through another criminal act, blackmail - is not the same as exoneration.

The pink panthers were a test of Don's dedication to truth, and he failed it.

As always, thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate the feedback.

tranzmany - funny you should mention the harassment stuff... guess what's coming next in my stories? :o) (though maybe not the way it's going on Earth One)

'Ol Man - yes, it was anticlimatic, and after such a stunning surprise to end the last chapter, it's hard to keep that going. I was glad the last story DID get such a reaction, but the price was paid in the denouement. And more stories are coming, so this one really isn't ovah...

Anon - you're very correct about what is going on with the Establishment Republicans, who IMO are a bunch of wimps. I'm embellishing things in my stories, of course, but love him or hate him, one thing President Trump has done that is good is that he has exposed the Establishment Republicans for what they really are, and now people are seeing it much more clearly. The other thing Mr. Trump has done is what I've been trying to do through my stories: expose the Media for not only bias, but deep corruption. I really am NOT embellishing what the Media is doing these days.

sdc97230 - the whole story was to put a nearly impossible ethical dilemma upon Don. No reaction to that is wrong; each person must decide what they might've done in that case. In Don's case, I made it easy: both actual perps were dead. What if Harlan and Gonzales were alive? Is it black and white? or shades gray with a little red and green splashed in?

Okay, the next story is being written. i'm trying to get as much done as I can before the awesome Conference Championships this weekend. :o)

It is NOT "a nearly impossible ethical dilemma" for someone sworn to uphold the law. Don uncovered a massive criminal conspiracy. As a LEO his duty is to lay it before whatever uncorrupted prosecutor/s he can find.

Don's primary duty is not to protect a university, a football team or even the citizens of his town and county. He swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. He's breaking it.

Seems overall to be a rather short book in 4 chapters ... but the intensity I was enthralled by it :-) This wordsmith's craftmanship approaches magic.

The many cross-references to other stories were helpful - as I would not have recognized the characters - but were probably more intended as a not so subtle hint to late entrants into the crowbar universe to read earlier books as well. I have to confess, I had redirected earlier to the first book and soon given up, disappointed. Kudos to You, Wifewatchman, with the Iron Crowbar universe Your writing skills/dedication did expand as well.

Thank You and best wishes, Simon

With more to come! Certainly pleased you include the references to refresh our memories with how the piece is assembled! Never thought this story would be so 'all encompassing!' It can certainly stand on it's own with the present political intrigue! Much better reading than following the 'real news.' Thank you, and I enjoy your prose with your devious thought process! "More gruel, please, Sir!"

want me to tell? ...or should I keep my powder dry for now?

The one thing you didn't quite make clear was:

the logistics on the dispersal of the Pink Panthers - who was driving that ship?

Laura? - if so, why?

If not Laura, then... who? ...and why would Laura have gone along with it? (as must have happened for the pink panther to be under Gonzales' body and in his hand...)

...and why, then, did Laura not just TELL Don about it all? (and if then answer to that was to avoid having Don put in the position of having to arrest HER...then why would she still want him to know all this - enough to go along with the pink panther caper?)

Yes, Laura would've been behind leaving the Panthers, or at least she gave someone else the idea. She wouldn't tell Don due to 'plausible deniability' for both of them. And she would (and did) go along to protect the University. Again, Don stated the idea that the Panthers were left for him to become aware the cases were bound together, and so he could find the secret and make his own choice regarding them. And maybe Laura knows her husband well enough to know he'd make the 'right' choice.

Yes, you should say who you think the woman is. I love everyone's guesses. :o)

Also, to sdc, I understand your side if it, but look at it this way: if Don exposes the secret, where's his proof to show the cover up? How is he going to PROVE Wellman and others knew the secret? How's he going to do so without exposing his wife? And what if he goes to the D.A. who says "I'm not going to do anything with that!" and now Don is left hanging with his drawers flappin' in the breeze. And if he goes to the Press... maybe Hardwood would try to get it out, but then maybe Hardwood gets told what happens to him... and the example is shown him using Don's head...

You have a much better question in asking why people that might've known at the time didn't say something at the time. Maybe they didn't really know. And if they did... maybe ask Penn State about all that...

Who us the woman behind the desk? Not Karen warner Harlan, elizabeth, Kathy goth girl, woodburn. She wants Sidney wellborn hurt - maybe laura's old lady handler or wellborn''s wife? ur julie newton?

One would be that he doesn't have enough proof to expose the conspiracy (yet); the other would be that he doesn't know (yet) who he can bring proof to and rely on to act on it and not be yet another conspirator. And the key word for both is, "yet."

In order to preserve Don's standing as the hero of these stories, something MUST be said to establish that his ethical failure in this story is really him trying to lull the conspirators into thinking he can be bought for the price of protecting people and institutions he cares about more than his sworn duty, and that he is really continuing to collect the evidence and marshal the trusted allies he will need to eventually rip the cover off the conspiracy, regardless of the consequences to his beloved institutions and friends. Lacking this, Don has ceased to be a hero and has just become the de facto leader of yet another corrupt faction.

There is also the difference between being personally, 100% convinced that you KNOW something is true -vs- being able to conclusively being able to PROVE IT to others.

Don now _knows_ that his wife was the coach's chief murder architect. But can he _prove it_? ...Nevermind whether he wants to or not. It's a question of being able to do so, and he can't. He also knows better than to go digging deeper for that proof in his wife's case. As for the other murders? He'd probably only take real active interest in the ex-cheerleader's case because it may just lead him to the Senator.

I don't think these decisions comprise any sort of ethical lapse (deciding whom to pursue and whom not to...you may well have a good argument there), but deciding to leave the larger hornets' nest undisturbed could equally be described under "good judgement" and "good strategic thinking".

Consider what happened with the Penn State situation - once the hornets' nest was cracked open - everyone scurried to the dark corners and under the cover of lawyers, and it too literal YEARS to begin to unravel the truth and bring those most responsible to any sort of justice. In that process a good man, a veritable legend had his reputation trashed in largely undeserved measure (yes, he could have done more, but he operated under the presumption that those above his pay grade would do their duties - hardly something to be so badly smeared for - so he put his focus back to what HE needed to be doing once he did his duty under the rules and regulations in place for him at the time). The point here is that it instantly became a circus - both in media and more "official" channels. It became all about how everyone involved was "seen" and much less about determining the actual truth of things. Sacrifices were made in that effort, and bad things happened to good people while less bad things happened to those that deserved much more while yet others managed to get away scot free.

Don, in deciding not to open the hornets nest, was very much in keeping with his past "preserving the crime scene" mentality - only this time the "crime scene" was a highly political one. Deciding to preserve that landscape is a better choice if you are still investigating the details of the conspiracy to ferret out the necessary proofs of things to bring at least some culprits to justice _later_ - with enough evidence to convict them...rather then allow some/many of them to scuttle away under convenient rocks and/or shove more innocent parties out into the spotlights amidst the larger uproar (while many other innocents suffer the ramifications).

I believe your "lady" is none other than Catherine Woodburn.

I think she's about as devious as The Consultant was and she plays the part of the radical liberal as a sock-puppet-like cover for what she's _really_ up to (and has a ton of fun doing it). Her character has been often hinted at as having deeper motivations for her actions, and this would perfectly fit the mold of your storylines and characters (as did the "Pastor"/Consultant).

Don had proof. He used it to force Jared to sign the pardon. You could make the argument that it was more like the Pentagon Papers than Nixon's Oval Office tapes (politically damaging but not trial usable), but the whole "ethical dilemma" chapter is founded on Don having enough to blow the lid off the coverup and at least some of the conspirators and having to decide between exposing it or becoming one of them, and choosing the latter by compromising an innocent man's full exoneration for just getting him out of prison.

One things that people not involved in law enforcement don't realize that law enforcement IS a gray area. Don't agonize over the IC's decisions. There is no one to prosecute for the murders! Even though we know who arranged the murders, there is no evidence.

The whole murder conspiracy was probably started by President Wellman. He reached out to sen. Russel who had Rusty and Selena killed. Joanne and her crew did the museum burglary but didn't kill coach Butch. Someone went with them probably the senator's people. Laura coordinated all of the killings for Wellman

My vote for the mystery woman in the Intendant. In ch. 2 the IC made note that she got more power in her hands from the new chain of command and she wants to dominate Laura in bed.

Does Don's kid with the mobsters wife show up in the next series?

I hope I got all the names correctly.

there is bad on the good and good on the bad, TK U MLJ LV NV

Whether the material Don has in that folder is real evidence of crime or just politically damaging information, he used it to force a pardon for Clint Danielson out of Val Jared. Which means that as of this point in the series, Don has committed extortion. And he even did it in front of a witness, although Griswold is probably more of an accomplice and is unlikely to turn on him.

So for his own legal protection as well as his status as the hero of these stories, Don must establish, in contemporaneous records and statements to reliable witnesses, that what he did here was just a stopgap measure to prevent Danielson from being assassinated in prison while he continues the search for Fulmer's safe deposit box, and that he is still working to find and prosecute the hired killers and those who paid them and fully exonerate Danielson, because getting the poor guy a pardon that leaves a cloud of guilt still hanging over his head for the rest of his life just doesn't cut it.

have not forgot it .. any news on the fight of the iron crowbar

I'm not finished with everything, but I'm going ahead and getting the first parts of the next story up. Hopefully they'll be published soon. Enjoy.

It cannot be Catherine Woodburn because she mentions her by name on the last page and also John Hardwood would have recognized her when speaking with her.

Think the only person we know it might be is Julie Newton. However, it could be someone Don knows quite well already such as Susan Wellman or even the Intendent, but guessing Don already knows they're not an angel?

Other commenters have taken a guess whom is the woman behind the desk. They all named most of the suspects who are based in TC county. Now if I was running criminal operation of statewide importance I wouldn’t be based in the northwest border area in the state. Goth Girl , Elizabeth, Karen Harlem are now at end of this series in Europe. The only person left is Julie Newton. She has Westboro organization the political network and would hate IC for killing Westboro. I’ll have waitand see.

*****Exciting ending. Thanks for sharing.