The Ensigns of Detection Ch. 01

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Young detectives learn as the Team continues solving cases.
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Part 1 of the 5 part series

Updated 06/07/2023
Created 04/24/2016
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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 1 - Prologue

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely Bettina at 7:00am, Thursday November 19th, from in front of University Hospital. "Channel Two News is bringing you continuing coverage of Deputy Police Chief Robert Brownlee, who suffered a massive heart attack yesterday afternoon!"

Needless to say, MCD was full of absolutely silent Detectives as we watched.

Bettina continued: "Deputy Chief Brownlee suffered the heart attack in his office at Police Headquarters. He was transported by Police to University Hospital and rushed into surgery. Celebrated cardiologist Dr. Richard Searles performed a five hour, quadruple bypass surgery, which is reported to have been successful. But Commander Brownlee is not out of the woods yet; he is in I.C.U. in critical condition."

"In other news," said Bettina, "Police are still investigating the attacks on Dr. Robin Grayson and his wife, the abduction of Assistant District Attorney Jenna Stiles, and the arson fire at an apartment complex that left a firefighter severely injured. In addition, Channel Two News has learned that ADA Stiles's assistant, who goes by the name of Gor-don and was abducted with her, has now gone missing. The Police have not responded to KXTC's calls for more information on these crimes."

As Bettina turned to Chuck Pringle for the Sports report, most of the Vice Detectives left for their own room and desks. MCD Detectives were at their desks, not chatting, and the quietness was almost depressing to me. I went to my office, Cindy Ross following.

"Good news." she said as I invited her to sit down. "Jenna's getting out of the hospital today."

"I'm surprised she wasn't released earlier." I said. "The way insurance companies are nowadays, they want hospitals to dump patients on the street the minute they stop bleeding externally."

"I hear you. But on this one, the doctors insisted she stay. They were concerned about her internal bruising healing up." Cindy said. "Or at least that's what they said. I think it's her mental state they wanted to make sure about. But she convinced them that's she's okay."

"She may be." I said. "According to my wife and also Dr. Yates, women handle these things differently. Some work their way through it, some never really do. So let's change the subject: why are the Detectives so subdued about Brownlee's heart attack? I mean, yeah, they'd be subdued if any officer had a heart attack, but it felt... strange."

"I know." Cindy said. "I'm no psychiatrist, nor am I married to one like you are, but I think people are being forced to deal with their feelings about Brownlee. Everyone hated his guts, but when he went down with a heart attack, that sort of shook them up. They don't want to be happy or look happy about someone's misfortune, though they don't miss him a bit."

"Ah, Schadenfreude." I said. "But they didn't seem to be very shaken up when I beat the crap out of him and nearly killed him on the spot after he hit you."

"That was the nature of that beast." Cindy replied. "Tell me, Don... what was your first reaction, your first feeling when you heard about his heart attack?"

"I have to admit," I said, "my first reaction was if it was natural, or if it was induced by someone."

"Mine, too." said Cindy. "And for some of those guys out there, they're wondering it, too... but wondering if the bad guys were behind it, or if good guys were behind it."

"Meaning me?" I asked. "Really?"

"Maybe not you alone, but I'm just saying." Cindy said. "People talk about Nathan Allen sometimes. Then certain people start spreading rumors about how you solve things to the point they think you know something in advance."

"Fer cryin' out loud." I said.

"We all know the truth." Cindy said. "But it will be a very good thing when this Consultant is taken down. Getting him will justify and vindicate you in more ways than you realize."

Part 2 - The Night Before

Cindy's words weren't idle. The evening before, I had gone up to the Hospital, knowing I had to do it due to my position. Brownlee was still in surgery at the time. My wife Laura also went up, since she could get more information for me as a doctor on Staff.

To my surprise, when I got there I saw State Senator Katherine Woodburn and U.S. Congressman Gerald A. Condor. Chief Moynahan was also with them, as was Captain Della Harlow. Katherine glared at me as I approached.

"So what's going on?" I asked.

"He's still in surgery, Commander." said Condor, instinctively keeping it civil, being the practiced politician that he was. "We have no details yet."

"We do know it was a bad one." growled Chief Moynahan in his gravelly voice and peculiar way of inflection.

"Commander," said Captain Harlow, "his assistant said that he was wearing his jacket and had the heat on full in his office. He also was having indigestion and felt badly in general."

"That's no surprise." said a voice behind me. My wife Laura came up. "His circulation was being cut off, which made him feel cold. People who have heart attacks and die in their beds are often found bundled up, with their pillows over their heads, as if they couldn't get warm. And many people having a heart attack mistake it for heartburn or indigestion."

"I heard police officers saying he had pain in his arms for the past several weeks." I said. "Isn't that a sign, also?"

"Yes, it can be." said Laura. "Dr. Searles is operating on him now. I was told it's going to be at least a quadruple bypass. That's pretty bad."

"You mean there's more than quadruple bypasses?" asked Chief Moynahan in surprise.

"Oh, yes." Laura said, then added "If you will excuse me... while I'm here, I'm going to go check up on Jenna Stiles." With that, she excused herself and left. Shortly afterwards, Thomas P. Cook arrived. He was very surprised to see the Police contingent... especially me.

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

At 11:00pm, Dr. Richard Searles came out of surgery. He was practically tackled by State Senator Woodburn, and it soon became clear what she really wanted to know.

"He survived the operation." said Dr. Searles. "But he may end up being a candidate for a heart transplant. To be honest, I'm surprised he survived the heart attack, even though people were there and acted immediately. He has serious coronary artery disease."

"Doctor," said Katherine Woodburn, "could this heart attack have been induced? By drugs?"

Dr. Searles looked shocked, then said "No ma'am, at least I don't think so. This one was building for a long, long time. It was a ticking time bomb, and that bomb went off today." He proceeded to explain further what had happened, and the buildup in Brownlee that led to the heart attack.

Laura and I were coming down the hall, and heard the tail end of the conversation. Katherine saw me, glared at me, and left. Thomas P. Cook walked her out. Congressman Condor stayed, thanking Dr. Searles for his efforts, then saying goodbye to Laura and myself, ever the consummate U.S. Congress-critter.

"What was that about?" Dr. Searles asked Laura and me. "They wanted to know if the heart attack was induced. They asked me to take blood samples, and keep any that we originally took."

"The Sheriff before Daniel Allgood died some years ago." I said. "He had a heart attack, and there are rumors that it wasn't really a heart attack. Ditto that for State Senator Nathan Allen. But why Katherine Woodburn would think the same of this case, I don't know."

"No, like I told them: this one was just waiting to happen." said Dr. Searles. "He's lucky to be alive. Nothing for you to investigate today, Commander."

"Good." I said. "And thank you for work, Doctor."

I informed the Chief and Captain Harlow of the situation. I knew that they'd been talking for a good while, that the Chief was getting to know his Captain of Administration... and soon to be his Deputy Chief, if my hunch was correct...

... and they usually are.

Part 3 - Assignments

Back to the present, Thursday, November 19th. I was in my office, and was preparing to bring in Detectives to discuss assignments. I'd warned their Lieutenants that this would be happening, and that said Lieutenants would be welcome to join the meetings. And I need not say that their Captain of Detectives was there... though she was mostly waiting for a phone call from the Hospital, so she could go take her fiancée home.

And then my plans were rearranged. Chief Moynahan asked me to come to the Chief's office. He still hadn't really moved into it.

"Mr. Crowbar, if you don't mind," he said, "I'd like for you to have your upcoming mee-tings in the small conference room... so that I can at-tend."

"By all means, sir." I said. And so we went into the Chief's conference room. He sat at the head of the table, I sat to his left, per his request, and Cindy was next to me. I began calling in Detectives, beginning with MCD. Lt. Perlman sat across from Cindy, leaving the chair to the Chief's right open for each Detective. First was Senior Detective Martin Nash.

"Okay, Martin, I'm going to be overloading you as hard as I can." I said. "First, you're already working with Detective Cummings on the BigPharmaCorp research case. You've also been given the arson case at the apartment complex. But there's one more thing I'm going to put on your plate."

No one else knew that I'd turned on the anti-bugging device as I said "Martin, you know we've been after someone we call the 'Consultant of Crime'. We also know he has henchmen, assistants in his efforts. The late Henry Wargrave was once his top lieutenant, as an example."


"But there is someone else." I continued. "You may remember the 'Pink Lemonade' case, where SBI Agent Reubens was killed. There was a man in disguise there, that participated in that murder. This man also approached the Kroger executive about setting up a smuggling pipeline."

"Yes sir, I remember that." said Nash.

"We're going to start looking for that man." I said. "It won't be easy, but you and Lieutenant Perlman have some starting points. I will also be available to help you in any way you need. If we find this perp, we might be a long way towards cleaning up some of the dirty work going on in this County."

"Let me ask this, Commander." said Chief Moynahan. "Would you say we have any chance of solving the arson case?"

"Yes sir." I said. "I expect that the apartment manager will be interviewed, and I hope he will give us some clues."

"Sir, you said he was hostile to Police." said Cindy Ross. "Do you think he'll willingly help us?"

"Probably not." I said. "Which is why we're going to observe and deduce as we watch him and ask him uncomfortable questions."

"Sounds like you're going along for that ride, Commander." Tanya said, that cherubic grin on her face.

"Smart Lieutenant, you are." I said with a grin.

"Well, my point of ask-ing," said the Chief, "was that searching for this Dis-guise Man should become a priority, especially if you develop leeeeeds. The arson case? It would be nice to put a pyro perp in jail, but getting a killer of State agents off the streets would be much better."

Next came Detective Joanne Cummings, bright and happy and very pretty. Seth Warner must be laying some good pipe to her, I thought to myself rather wickedly.

"Okay, Detective Cummings." I said. "You have been assigned to the BigPharmaCorp research investigation. This one is going to be tough; we're not even sure a crime has been committed."

"Yes sir." said Joanne. "I am concerned about the level of cooperation the company will give us."

"And you're right to be concerned." I said.

"If I may..." said Chief Moynahan. "Detective, BigPharmaCorp is a huge company, and that means that by default they are a very political organization. They have a lot of money, and a lot of power with the politicians that rule our liiiives. If you are okay with it, I would like to help you with this, as I have learned a thing or two about politicians over the last few dec-ades."

"That would be awesome, sir!" Joanne said happily.

"We may have to play a bit of... good cop, bad cop, if you know what I mean." said the Chief. "I believe the Iron Crow-bar fulfills that role admirably. If anyone gives you trouble, let me knowww, and I will have him back you up with the power of the Crowbarrrr."

"Thank you, Chief." said Joanne. "You too, Commander."

The Chief then surprised me by asking Joanne: "So, Detective, if memory serves me corr-ectly, you were holding that crowbar when I came into the MCD room the other day... how did that crowbar feel in your hands?"

"Uh," said Joanne, "I kind of liked it." Cindy and I both grinned at that.

"Gooood." said the Chief, cryptically. He then dismissed her and we moved along.

Next in was Theo Washington. I said to him "So right now you're following up on leads related to the Stiles kidnapping?"

"Yes sir." said Theo. "I've been tracing those perps that died in the rescue. They were all ex-cons, all ex-military, and all recently paroled from State Prison. I'm working to see if I can find any financial or other strings related to them that I can pull on."

"Yes, good, keep that up." I said. "There is something you're going to need to add to it. Jenna's assistant Gor-don has disappeared. Completely disappeared. I am going to need you to work hard on finding him, dead or alive. You can work with the FBI's Missing Persons bureau, and I'll introduce you to the right people to get that going. If you need any other State-wide or Federal support, let me know."

"Yes sir." said Theo. "By the way, my brother Franklin is with the District Attorney's office, and he says he's going to be taking some of Ms. Stiles' case work until she recovers and comes back to work. After that, Franklin wants to work with us more on drug-related crimes in the Tenderloin District."

"Okay." I said. "You guys keep it going." After Theo left, I said to the group "I suspect that Theo is going to be an FBI Agent before all is said and done, and his brother Franklin will be a U.S. Attorney."

"Hmm, now that is interesting." said the Chief.

"Why do you think that?" asked Tanya.

"The way Franklin is positioning himself." I said. "But if they're smart... they'll stay right where they both are. They don't realize how good they have it in this County..."

When Teddy Parker was brought in, we discussed how he was helping Nash with the arson case. I said "Parker, you're going to be taking a lead role in that, and I'm going to be working with you on it. But there is something else you're going to be doing. I want you to become my crime scene expert. You will go to crime scenes, you will investigate for clues. You will do your best to outdo Lt. Perlman... which is going to be a damn near impossible task."

"Yes sir, it will be." Parker said.

"And the good news, Parker," I said, "is that you have one of the best teachers in the State in our new Chief. I want you to pick his brain and drain every bit of knowledge out of him that you can."

"That's right." said Moynahan. "I will be working with you and Ms. Cummings and the Uniformed officers at the crime scenes. With all due respect to all of you, there are some things I believe we can do better, and I've been talking with 'Coldiron'... er, Lieutenant Wes Masters, about that."

"I for one will be glad to see that happen." I said. "And I might show up at crime scenes just to learn a few things from you myself. Lt. Perlman, what about you?"

"I'll be there." said Tanya, who then added "As long as you don't try to put me in the Crime Lab again."

"I'd rather fight Captain Ross in the Police Boxing Matches than do that." I said. Tanya grinned happily. Cindy's ice-blue eyes bored right through me, and I stared right back. Game on, Cindy, I thought to myself. Game on.

Part 4 - Apartment Compartments

Cindy got the call to go get Jenna and take her home, and of course I excused her to do just that. I took the opportunity to go with Detectives Nash and Parker to the apartment complex. As we went to the manager's office, I could see the destruction that had been three apartment buildings the week before.

The apartment manager was medium-to-short, average build and gaining weight, with a receding hairline of brown hair and a droopy mustache. Although all three of us were in plainclothes, he immediately knew what we were.

"Get a warrant or get out." he said immediately.

"Sounds like you've got something to hide." Martin Nash shot back.

"I respect the Constitution." said the man. "And I expect you to follow it."

"You don't even know why we're here." said Parker. "We just want--"

"Are you police?" the man snarled.

"Yes we are." said Nash, showing his badge.

"Then show a warrant, or get the hell out. Right now!" shouted the man, his face red with anger. I was a bit disappointed that my Officers looked back at me, their faces showing that they did not know quite how to proceed.

I walked up to the man as he stood behind the desk/counter. "My name is Commander Troy." I said, showing my badge. "I want to--"

"You heard me! Get out!" shouted the man.

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME AGAIN!" I yelled into the man's face. He practically jumped out of his skin. "*I* am doing the talking here!" Staring hard at him, I said more quietly: "Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Keep it up with me, and I'll just arrest you and we can do this at County Jail."

The man said nothing.

"Okay," I said, more calmly. "We are investigating the arson of your buildings. I want to know which apartments were empty in the buildings that burned down."

"Get. A. Warrant." the man said. "Arrest me if you want. I'll sue your ass off. But I'm not helping you."

I played the trump card and took the warrant out of my trenchcoat pocket. "Here's your warrant, and it's actually for all of your books, financial records, the names of every person renting from these apartments, as well as your own personal records as a person of interest in the arson case as well as a drug-related case."

"I'll have to have my attorney examine this to see if it's genuine." the man snarled. "You'll wait until that happens."

"Like hell I will." I said. "Detective, arrest this man for Obstruction of Justice. Full booking at Police Headquarters."

"What the hell?" the man asked. Nash was already on the move and came up to him. "Sir, put your hands behind you." The man was in shock as handcuffs were affixed to him.

As Nash was about to take him out, I leaned over and whispered to him "You know, it didn't have to be this way. But I have the full power of the Government behind me, as you're about to find out." Then I said more loudly, "Detective, make sure to read him his Constitutional rights."

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

We were in Interrogation-1 at Headquarters. The apartment manager's lawyer was from Chase, Lynch & Berry, P.C.

"This is ridiculous." said the lawyer. "You didn't even give my client a chance to cooperate with the warrant."

"Yes I did." I said. I was at the table with Martin Nash, with Parker and the Chief watching from the anteroom, and Patrolman Hicks also in the room due to the 'Ikea Rules'.