Soap Opera Ch. 04

Part 20 - The Drama Continues

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded reporterette from in front of City Hall at 7:00am, Monday, May 14th. "Fox Two News has learned that the appeal of Superior Court Judge Rodney K. Watts's stay of Independent State Counsel Robert Mullen's subpoena has been denied! Mr. Mullen cannot force Police Captain Teresa Croyle to answer the subpoena until Monday, June 4th. Fox Two News has also learned that the Office of the Independent State Counsel intends to issue a new subpoena for Captain Croyle for that June 4th date, to appear as a witness before the Robert Mullen and his team of investigators."

Bettina continued: "And shockwaves continue to be felt throughout the political world of our County after the devastating ads by Commander Donald Troy, excoriating District Attorney Gil Krasney for sweetheart plea deals for rapists and DUI offenders, and allowing the transfer to Federal custody of two persons charged with first degree murder. We have with us Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling. Karl, how are those polls looking?"

"Bettina," said Frazier, who was standing next to Bettina, "on Thursday Mr. Krasney was running at about 10%, with Paulina Patterson at 35%, Miriam Walters at 25%, and Jenna Stiles at 20% and 10% undecided. Last night's spot polling showed Mr. Krasney down to 4%, almost within the margin of error of having no support at all, and the undecided vote is at 15%. So Commander Troy's ads were a game changer in the D.A. race..."

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

"We're down to 32 in the Boxing Matches, Freestyle Division." announced Jerome Davis as he finished making coffee. "No major upsets this past weekend."

"No, there was one mild series of upsets." I said. "Julia Rodriguez, a Sr. Patrolman at 1st Precinct, was seeded 28th in Captain Croyle's 32-person bracket, and she beat the 5th seed, Sergeant DeLong, and I mean she tore him up. Then she beat Corporal Kirkpatrick pretty solidly. She knows martial arts pretty darn well. Y'all better watch out for her."

"Wow." said Cindy. "She's 1st Precinct's Desk Officer, essentially the Precinct Captain's assistant. We were watching her for a leadership role in Personnel & Records, but Briggs, Irwin, and now Goodwin all have said she's indispensable to them, and are fighting hard to keep her." I grinned at that one, knowing how Cindy had come to know that.

"Sir," said Theo Washington, who was quickly becoming the coffee klatch's 'trouble maker' with Rudistan promoted and at 2nd Precinct, "are you going to get in any trouble for making that political ad?"

"Legally, no." I said. "As far as stirring up a hornet's nest? I hope so... I hope so." Everyone laughed.

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

"So," I said to Cindy as we sat in my office awaiting Priya's broadcast at 8:00am, "you were looking to hire Julia Rodriguez as your assistant, and created an uproar at 1st Precinct, did you now?"

Cindy gave a wan smile and said "Yep, you got it. She has quietly made a stellar record for herself. Almost too good for her own good, if you know what I mean. They're keeping her trapped there."

"I know, and it's pissing me off." I said. "I ran into her when she almost shot me for barging in on Captain Weston a while back." (Author's note: 'Case of the Parole Officer', Ch. 02.) "She was in the military, too."

"What, she a candidate for a position somewhere?" Cindy asked. When I just shrugged, she peered hard at me. "Spill it, Crowbar 1." she said.

I smiled. "Be sure to keep this between you, me, and the crowbars: you know what a soap opera Precincts are with some Council Members." I said. "I've been talking to the Chief, most very informally at the moment, about the situation. If and when they begin forcing us to bring more lower-ranked persons into the Detective Division, we're hoping to counter it by funneling them into Vice, and only the cream of the crop from there and best Detective candidates go to MCD."

"Any Vice Detectives now ready for MCD?" asked Cindy. "I'm not sure any of them can stand up to your scrutiny."

"It's not me they should be scared of." I said. "It's Captain Perlman. And to answer your question, we do have our eyes on one candidate from Vice---"

Just then there was a knock on the door, followed by the appearance of two more Angels in my office. We settled in for the Priya broadcast...

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

"Hey, wait! You can't go in there!" I heard my assistant Helena yell out at 8:35am. The door to my office flew open, and District Attorney Gil Krasney walked in, followed by A.D.A. Ted Mason and two Deputy Sheriffs. I had reached under my desk and grabbed the red crowbar and brought it out. Now I gently placed it on my desk, visible and ready for use.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" snarled Krasney, his face plainly showing his anger and bitter hatred of me. When I said nothing, but just stared at him, he said "You better answer me, God damn you! What the fuck were you doing, making that political ad attacking me?"

"Why, I would think it was obvious." I said in a very condescending tone. "I am doing everything I can to get you destroyed at the Ballot Box on Election Day in November. And your lapdog Mason had better be careful, or I might just make an effort to get him defeated for Solicitor, as well." Mason looked uncomfortable, and he paled upon hearing my words directed at him.

"You fucking little shit." growled Krasney again. "I've told you before to mind your own god-damned business. I'm the District Attorney, I make the decisions on who to prosecute or to transfer to Federal custody. You----"

"And you'll answer to the Voters for those decisions." I said, deliberately interrupting him. "And I'm going to help sway their decisions as much as I possibly can."

"You will pay for this." snarled Krasney. "And one more thing: Do not call Franklin Washington again for anything but a pure Vice case. I've already written him up, and he knows he'll be fired if he steps outside the lines again. He's on notice... and you're on notice, Troy."

What Krasney had not noticed was that Helena had called for reinforcements. Lieutenant Hugh Hewitt now had several very heavily armed and armored SWAT Team members in the anteroom to my office and the hallway. I stood up slowly, partly to show deliberately measured movements in the face of Krasney's vitriolic hatred, and partly because my back would not allow me to move faster.

"I am afraid, Mr. Krasney," I said, "that in the course of this less than interesting conversation, I am not fulfilling duties where I am needed. Lieutenant Hewitt!"

"Sir?" asked Hewitt.

"Escort Krasney and Mason to either the Chief's office or out of this Headquarters building." I instructed. "Have two of your men stay here, while I have a moment of conversation with these Deputies. Goodbye, Mr. Krasney, and the next time you want to talk to me, make an appointment through my assistant."

Krasney was shocked into stunned immobility. He was all but physically pushed out the door. I turned my eyes upon the Deputies. "Gentlemen," I said to them, "why are you here?"

"Sir," said one Deputy, "we were asked to come with Mr. Krasney. He said he feared you would physically attack him."

"Just remember one thing, gentlemen." I said. "You work for the Public Safety Department, not the District Attorney's Office. You answer to your superiors in the Sheriff's Department first, but after that you'll answer to me far earlier than you'll ever answer to Krasney. I'm sure you will not make this near-career-ending mistake again. Dismissed." The stunned Deputies were escorted out.

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

Chief Sean Moynahan was in a place he didn't like to be: between two walls about to crush him. One the one side was his boss, Sheriff Daniel Allgood. On the other was one of his Officers that he felt bound to stand up for, that being me. Commander Cindy Ross and Sheriff Dept. Chief of Staff Charles T. Oswald were also in the Chief's Conference Room at 1:00pm, Monday, May 14th.

"No, Krasney shouldn't have barged in like he did." said Allgood. "But Commander Troy did that to Krasney a little while back. The problem for me, and for the Public Safety Department, is the hostility between the Police and the D.A.'s Office, as well as the political fallout. And then there's Commander Troy dressing down my Deputies..."

"Let me stop you right there on that one." said Moynahan. "The Commander was right to do that. I'm still considering writing up those Deputies myself. They should not have listened to Krasney, and they definitely should've avoided barging in on a superior Officer in the Public Safety Department."

"And it's my job to discipline them, not the Police Chief's nor the Police Commander's." replied Allgood. He exhaled hard, then said "Look, the issue here is working with the D.A.'s Office... you must do that for our System of Justice to work properly. What do you propose to do about that, Commander Troy?"

"Our System of Justice is not working properly now, Sheriff." I said. "Two murderers have been essentially set free by Krasney, and that following the patterns of an undeserved plea deal for a Senator's son and an attempt to plea down charges against rapists. And that is all on Gil Krasney, all of it."

"Even so," said Sheriff Allgood, "why don't you be the first to set a new tone, and apologize to D.A. Krasney for that political ad you made?"

It was the dead silence of the room that might've been Daniel Allgood's first clue that he was in another universe than ours. I just stared at him, hardly able to believe he'd even suggest it, and also knowing that it was an attempt to trap me into a subordination situation. Cindy remained silent for the same reasons.

"Sheriff," said Chief Moynahan after a long moment, "you know that is not going to happen."

"Chief," said Allgood, "we are already catching flak for the ad. Some groups are filing complaints and threatening to sue, saying it was illegal. I could suspend Commander Troy now, citing an investigation of it."

"Don't be ridiculous, Sheriff." said the Chief. "It was perfectly legal in every way; Commander Troy did not wear a uniform, his badge was never visible at any time during it, he did not identify himself as a Police Officer. And he has First Amendment rights, just like everyone else."

"I'll just say this." I said. "I intend to file a lawsuit against any complaint, and countersue any of their lawsuits. I actually hope they try something; this is my chance to get back at them, get discovery on them and who is funding them."

"And the D.A.'s Office?" replied Allgood. "What about them? We've got months before January 2d."

"The District Attorney will either do his job, or he won't." I said. "It wouldn't hurt if the Public Safety Department's elected official, the Sheriff, came out with a statement supporting the Police side of the... 'System of Justice'. It might even help you win the Mayor's job more easily."

"The last thing I want," said Daniel, "is political advice from you, Commander. All right, I can see everyone is dug in, here. Oswald, are you staying to meet with Deputy Chief Ross on the O.I.L.?" Cindy and I had to refrain from laughing at Daniel's use of the 'civilian' term for the Official Inventory List.

"Yes, Sheriff." Oswald said. With that, Sheriff Allgood got up and left.

"Let's go to my offff-isssse, Commander Troy." said the Chief.

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

"We-el, Commander," said the Chief after he and I were seated in his office, "as you like to say: 'The party never stops in our Town & County'."

"I'm not sure what to say about this one, Chief." I said. "I really don't get Krasney's decisions, especially the recent ones."

"I can tell you what some of it is." said the Chief. "People like Krasney want to be top dog. He wants to be the one in the spotlight, the one receiving the adulations. He hates you because you're the one solving crimes, or swerving your De-tec-tives into the solutions, and he's not getting the spotlight that he wants."

"Don, the Chief continued, "You're the flip side of that coin. You don't seek the spotlight and adulation, but you're not afraid of it, and you use it properly when you need to. Chief Griswold gave me a great piece of advice when I got here: he said to just sit at my desk and be Chief, like he did, don't try to be the one in the spotlight, and just let you drive. And Grizz was right. Krasney never could, and never will, be able to get the round of applause you got at the Cop Bar the other night after that ad aired. And he resents that like holy hell."

"Is that Sheriff Allgood's problem, too?" I asked.

"I don't think so." said the Chief. "I'm not sure what his issues are. Okay, what's on your agenda today?"

"Solving crimes and running your Police Department, Chief." I said. "Oh, and getting my formal uniform ready for Saturday. I cannot afford to fail to have my uniform as sharp as Captain Thompson's at the wedding."

"Heh heh heh heh." chuckled the Chief. "That is going to be one hell of a spectacle."

I had intended to wear a tuxedo like all the groomsmen when giving Teresa away at the ceremony, but she would hear none of it. "Don, it's not just you giving me away as family." Teresa had said. "The only family I've ever had since Alexis died was Amy and this Police Force. I want you to give me away not only on your behalf, but their behalf, as well."

That, I could do. And I wouldn't have to wear a frickin' tuxedo...

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

"So, Chief Oswald," Cindy said to the Sheriff Department's Chief of Staff, "XO to XO, what's really going on with all this?" Oswald nodded. They both knew the inventory lists were not an issue right now, but would be at the end of the month. And the Police Deputy Chief was wasting no time getting to the crux of the issues at hand.

"I'm not sure." said Oswald. "I thought the Sheriff would relax after he won the nomination for Mayor, but he still seems to be very on edge about things."

"Commander Troy?" Cindy astutely asked, "Or problems at home?"

"Could be that." said Oswald. "I'll just say this: after he was elected Sheriff, he seemed just fine, and he was doing a good job as Sheriff. Talking to the right people and the right groups, taking care of business with the Council and the Assembly. Then... something changed. He began being uptight about things, worrying over seemingly small things. And the Council, or certain members of it, began pressuring him about things, especially about Commander Troy."

"Why?" Cindy asked. "I'm probably too close to Don to see the forest for the trees, but to me he has done nothing but good for this County and this Police Force."

"Oh he has, he has." said Oswald. "And the Police Force loves him and they follow him unreservedly. But some people just hate people who do good, simply because they are doing good. Harlow is a prime example of that. But to answer your question, I don't think Commander Troy is the real reason the Sheriff has become such a PITA. I don't know if it's problems at home; I see his wife on occasion, and she looks at him like he's her hero, and he looks at her as if she's the only important thing in his life. No, they are still very much in love."

"Does he regret running for Mayor?" Cindy asked.

"No, but..." said Oswald, pausing then saying: "Keep this between us Deputy Chiefs, don't even tell Commander Troy I told you this: Sheriff Allgood once muttered to his assistant that he would be very happy to no longer be Sheriff, and that being Mayor would be much better for him. He didn't say why, or what it is about being Sheriff that he doesn't like now, but that is apparently how he feels..."

Part 21 - Legalities

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, May 16th, from in front of the Courthouse complex. "The political climate has spilled over into the Courts!"

"Fox Two News has learned that District Attorney Gil Krasney has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission and the State Elections Board over the political advertisement by 'The Friends of the Town & County', which featured Police Commander Donald Troy attacking Mr. Krasney over recent decisions by the D.A.'s Office. Krasney states that the ads were illegal, as they showed an active duty Police Officer making a political ad about another Officer of the Court, that being the D.A."

"Also," continued Bettina, "the group Citizens For Police Accountability joined the FEC and SEB complaints, as did the group 'Committee of Concerned Citizens'. Additionally the CFPA filed a lawsuit to force the suspension of Commander Donald Troy until the FEC and SEB conclude their investigations."

"In retaliation," said Bettina, "Commander Donald Troy has filed a countersuit against the CFPA, and lawsuits against CFPA spokesmen Jay Swenson and Ken Eidex, as well as against the Concerned Citizens, citing slander and defamation as well as a deliberate attempt to financially harm him. Troy's lawyer, Mike G. Todd of the Madison and Ives Law Firm... again, that's Mike G. Todd of the Madison and Ives Law Firm... has also issued subpoenas for all financial records of the Citizens For Police Accountability, Jay Swenson, and Ken Eidex..."

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

"Read it and weep." Cindy said as she came into the coffee klatch at 7:15am. She handed me an official document. "It's my subpoena from Robert Mullen. At least he didn't try to force me to come in on Teresa's wedding day... nor my own."


"Whaa?" asked Joanne Warner, wondering if she'd missed something. "Have you set a date?"

"No, and that's part of the joke." Cindy replied.

"Robert Mullen is the joke." Theo Washington snarled.

"He's no joke." I said. "Nor is the danger that the Governor and I are in. Norm Chow's lawyer negotiated May 25th as his appearance date, and Mullen didn't put up much of a fuss. Who is your lawyer, Commander Ross?"

"Cy Hart." Cindy said. "He does legal work for my father, and practically begged my father to let him represent me. He was going to do it pro bono, but my father insisted upon paying him a retainer, so that Mullen can't charge me with taking a bribe as a Police Officer."

"Your father is family, ma'am." said Teddy Parker. "How could Mullen charge you with taking a bribe?"

"Oh, he would try." I said. "We definitely have to watch our legal steps around that corrupt bastard..."

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

At 10:00am, Wednesday, May 16th, I was in the office of Mike G. Todd.

"No," said Mike, "we haven't heard any word at all from Mullen. I thought about calling him, but we'll let that dog lie in the shade for now. I'm in touch with Norm Chow's lawyer, Gill Haroldson, and Cindy Ross's attorney, Cy Hart. I'll be talking to Agnes Spires, as well, but she wanted to wait until after Teresa's wedding."

"Good enough." I said. "But I'm sure you realize that Mullen has declared his intention to play dirty. Subpoenaing Teresa on her wedding day was just an asshole move, but it was designed to agitate both her and me. I guess they're hoping she'll go off and do to Mullen want she did to Dean Allen... to... Dean... Allen..."

No doubt about it, I was off reverie land... more like I'd dived deep into Reverie Lake. When I came out of it, Mike was openly staring at me. "I've always wondered what that reverie was about." he said jokingly. "But keep doing it; it's just billable hours on my time." He grinned, letting me know he was somewhat joking. Besides, he was on retainer...

"Yeah, I just thought of something." I said. "And Mike, I'm anticipating something else is going to happen. Here's the lawsuit I want you to draw up the papers for..."