The French Connection Ch. 03

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

"Wow, she's dead." said Rudistan, a bit solemnly. "Hard to believe."

"Anyone told her sister yet?" asked Teddy Parker.

"Yes." I said. "We went over last night, so that she wouldn't hear it from the Press first."

"Sir," said Joanne, "did you get the Legislators to agree on a Law Enforcement Bill?" I did not fail to notice that she was trying to change the subject.

"Maybe." I said. "And that reminds me of something I need to do." As I turned to go, I said "Good coffee this morning, Davis!"

"Thank you, sir!" said Jerome Davis. "Anchors Aweigh!"

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

U.S. Senator Bill Nunn had sent me video files of the testimony of Lloyd Feingold. I began watching them, and making observations. Just before 8:00am, Cindy knocked on my office door, and then came on in.

"Whassup?" I asked as I indicated for her sit down.

"KSTD about to broadcast." said Cindy. "Angels meeting to follow." Sure enough, Teresa knocked on my door, and came on in. I turned on the television.

"This is Priya Ajmani, Five-Alive News in the Morning!" said the beautiful Indian reporterette at 8:00am sharp, from in front of the State Office Building. "We have breaking news, just in the last five minutes, that an important bipartisan group of Legislators have worked out a compromise Law Enforcement bill! This bill will fully fund the State Patrol and give them the equipment they need. There will be major changes to the SBI, however!"

Priya went on to detail the SBI changes, which were verbatim what we'd agreed to the night before. Priya omitted only that Your Iron Crowbar was going to be the only SBI Reservist left.

"Wow, you did it, sir." said Teresa. "They compromised!"

"They were far more desperate to make a compromise than their public statements and the Media's lies would have you believe." I said. "I think Colonel Hartmann ripping them a new one, and publicly as well as privately, helped a lot."

"What about the Governor?" asked Cindy.

"Oh yeah." I said. "Him. Ladies, there will be no Angels meeting this morning. I have a call to make, to Midtown..."

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

"Yes, Governor." I said. "There's plenty of money for immigration enforcement. Let's just speak softly and carry large crowbars on that... yes, Governor, I think you can sign it... sir, they're going to curse you if you do, and curse you if you don't; they'll find a way to say bad things no matter what... you'll have plenty of time after the bill is passed to show them with 'deeds, not words'... okay... thank you, Governor." The Governor had hung up before I could say 'goodbye'.

I resumed my review of the Feingold tapes. Yep, Senator Nunn was right: this guy looked confused, like he was realizing he'd not been told everything.

I reviewed other public appearances by Mr. Feingold. It seemed he was always the one testifying, taking the arrows from Congress, taking the arrows in hostile press conferences. However, at the 'feelgood' appearances for charity, at the benign press conferences, BigAgraFoods President Mitt Bain Willis was always there. A 'good cop, bad cop' routine if ever this local cop on the beat had seen one, I thought to myself...

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

At 9:30am, I was stunned to watch on KXTC as breaking news came on. It was Dave Smigelski, 'spokesman' for the Governor.

"As you know," he said, "the Governor has vowed to veto any bill that does not include full funding for supporting immigration laws and arresting Illegal Persons and turning them over to ICE, as well as creating an SBI-ICE unit for that specific purpose. The compromise Law Enforcement Bill is totally unacceptable to the Governor's office..."

I was already speed-dialing the Governor. His personal secretary answered. "Yes, Commander, he's aware of it. Smigelski was not authorized to say that to the Press. The Governor is on it." With that, the secretary hung up on me.

As I was holding my cellphone, it rang. It was State Senator Moe Molinari...

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

"We have a problem, sir." said Captain Croyle at 10:30am. She had arrived with Lt. Hugh Hewitt of the SpecOps Teams. "Yvonne is in no financial condition to pay for Julie's funeral, and there's no insurance to cover it."

"The prison system can bury her." I said.

"Or we can get her worthless body into the ground as fast as possible." said Teresa. "Let the County bury her." It struck me why Teresa was suggesting what she'd just suggested: Teresa did not feel the same way about the late Captain Malone as I and others did, and she knew he'd want his lover Newton to receive a decent burial. If Teresa is anything, she is loyal to the last to those who've earned that loyalty.

"That means the TCPD has to provide the pallbearers." I said. "Nobody on the TCPD is going to want to do that."

"I have a solution, sir." said Hugh Hewitt. I again understood.

"You were an Army Ranger, weren't you, Hewitt?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said Hugh. "We will take care of it." I approved the plan, and dismissed them both.

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

"Listen up!" said Lt. Hewitt as he addressed the SpecOps people in their office areas on the other side of HQ, near Classroom 'J' and the gym. "Who in here was in the Rangers?" Four hands were raised.

Hewitt explained about the funeral detail. "We Rangers do the dirty jobs, we do the bad and hard things as well as the good things. I know you Rangers will do your jobs along with me."

"Yes sir!" said one of the SpecOps, also a former Ranger.

"I'll do it with you." said another guy, followed by one more. They had enough pallbearers to do the job required of them.

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

Governor Valnius Jared stepped up to the podium at the State Capitol, flanked by Senators Molinari, Cerone, Woodburn, and Stockton. He said to the gathered Press "Thank you for coming. I am here to clear up some confusion. The words you heard earlier by my former staffer were not correct, and were not authorized by me. And while the Law Enforcement Bill is not perfect, I will accept it in its current form."

"Are you going to fire Colonel Hartmann?" yelled out Tim Sioban of KSB News.

"No." said the Governor. "He took care of his State Patrol Officers. He was frustrated. I can understand that, what with the constant barrage of False News reporting from you in the Press."

"Aren't you going back on your word?" yelled Lester Holder of KXTC. "Why are you capitulating when this bill doesn't meet your demands for immigration enforcement?"

"That's your opinion, not the actual facts." said the Governor. "Immigration enforcement will continue in cooperation with ICE and other Federal Government agencies. This State will continue to be a State where the law will be fully applied to Illegal Persons."

The Press hatred of Jared was building up. "Senator Woodburn!" shouted Brian Jennings, political reporter for KSTD, "is is true that Commander Donald Troy wrote this bill for you, that you Legislators could not do this yourselves?"

"Obviously we're the ones that make the bills and vote on them." replied Katherine. "We were happy to have Commander Troy's insights, as well as those of State Patrol Colonel Hartmann."

"It would serve you in the Press very well," said Moe Molinari, with what was as close to anger as anyone had seen from him in some considerable time, "to learn to respect Commander Donald Troy. You have no idea of what he is capable of, of his abilities. None."

"John Hardwood sure does." snarled Lester Holder. The Press Corps fell silent. The unspeakable had been spoken.

"I think that'll conclude this press conference." said the Governor. He left, followed by the Legislators. The Law Enforcement bill would be voted on that afternoon, and signed into law by the Governor that evening.

Part 16 - Truth and Consequences

On Friday, March 30th, Lieutenant Norm Chow of the SBI-OER and Earl Drake, legal counsel for the SBI, interviewed Your Iron Crowbar in the Main Conference Room of TCPD Headquarters.

"Where were you between 7:30pm and 12:00 midnight last Wednesday?" asked Chow.

"I was at the State Capitol from about 3:30pm until midnight." I said. "Non-stop meeting with Legislators." I named the Legislators. "Colonel Hartmann of the State Patrol was in there, too, but left earlier in the evening. And pray that you never have to endure eight hours with this State's Legislators."

"We've still got jobs, thanks to you doing that." said Chow. "But you didn't hear me say that. Earl?"

"We've already confirmed this with several of the Legislators." said Drake. "As to Ms. Newton, we know you discovered her sister was put in Supermax in her place, and you rescued the sister. Did you have any idea at all where Ms. Newton was?"

"I could get snarky," I said, "and tell you that if I knew where Julie Newton was at any time, I would have gone and arrested her. But seriously, no. I had no idea where she was until I was called and told that her dead body had been found."

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

Detective Joanne Warner was called into the Conference Room.

"Where were you between 7:30pm and midnight last Wednesday?" asked Drake.

"Having dinner with Melina Allgood, Sheriff Allgood's wife." said Joanne. "Then we went to her house and chatted, waiting for her husband to get home. He ended up working late, so I was at her house when the call came in that Newton's body had been found. We took her children to her sister's house, then went to the crime scene."

"And her sister is Commander Troy's wife?" asked Drake.

"Yes sir, that is correct." said Joanne.

"Thank you for your time, Detective." said Chow, dismissing Joanne. After she left, he said "Well, they'll be each other's alibi, as if they need one."

"True." said Drake. "Warner is a suspect because her mother-in-law was killed at that same location, and she got her Purple Order by being in that building trying to make arrests when Westboro blew it up. But unless we get something solid, her alibi is going to hold up."

"If she had committed the murder, it'd be kind of stupid to kill Newton at that same location, wouldn't it?" asked Chow.

"You're making too much sense, Lieutenant." said Drake. "Okay, we've still got to talk to a lot of Police today; every single one of them technically is a suspect..."

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

Saturday, March 31st. In the early morning hours, I drove down to the World Headquarters of 'The Vision'. Dr. Eckhart's acolyte Tommy escorted me up the elevator to the large round office of the founder and great leader of the self-help empire.

"Ah, young Donald." said Eckhart happily, getting up from his desk as I came in. He came up and warmly hugged me, and I returned it. "How are you, my young nephew?"

"Good, Uncle Harvey, and you?" I replied.

"Couldn't be better." said Eckhart. "Oh, come on in, Cindy." Cindy came in from the other side as Eckhart went to his desk. "My friend, the Police Superintendent in Paris, sent me an interesting package, wouldn't you say?" He brought out a leather sleeveless jacket, blood-stained, with armor lining in the back. I recognized it; Goth Girl Kathy had been wearing it when she died.

"Armored in the back, but not the front." said Eckhart. "An interesting choice of garment, wouldn't you say, my young nephew?"

"Carefully chosen, I would say." I replied, knowing full well what Dr. Eckhart was intimating.

"Let's have some breakfast." said Eckhart. He led us to the dining table, which was on the side opposite his desk. The windows near the table looked out east, over the parking lot and grounds that were former vineyards and groves of fruit trees leading towards the University-Midtown Highway. The sun would come up on this side, I noted.

"And we have our other guest." said Eckhart as we came to the table. I saw someone come out from the far side... it was my sister Elizabeth.

We all sat down at the table. I made sure to sit with my back to the window so that Elizabeth, sitting opposite me, was facing the sunlight that was about to appear. Elizabeth had not failed to notice that, and gave something of a smirk.

Dr. Eckhart was at the end of the table, to my left, and Cindy came and sat next to me. We poured coffee and had bagels and cream cheese (yum!), and would later partake of a breakfast buffet. But now was the time to talk.

"I do want to thank you, baby brother, for Paris." said Elizabeth.

"Well, it did not go very well." I replied. No one present was fooled.

"Quite the opposite, mon petit frère." said Elizabeth, her eyes boring into me. "That silencer on Melina's rifle actually transmitted a signal when she fired, that my little receiver picked up, so I knew exactly when to fall down as if I'd been shot. The French Police were kind enough to escort me to the Israeli Embassy, from where I was able to get back to the United States."

"Yes, we had many helpful friends." said Dr. Eckhart.

"And Kathy died a hero." said Cindy, working the 'vibe' she was having. That caused Elizabeth to look at me very hard, like she did when we were kids and she was about to attack me.

"You knew, didn't you?" my sister said, seemingly accusingly. "What am I asking, of course you knew. Truly nothing gets past you anymore. I only ask how did you know?" I knew what she meant: that I had observed and deduced Kathy's fatal condition.

I sipped my coffee then set the cup down. "I had three chances to observe Kathy, with time lapses between: first, when she shot Mr. C. in the back with an arrow, in a very timely manner, I might add; second, on Christmas Eve, when you both visited Carole and Teresa in the hospital; and third, in Paris. I would be a dull Detective indeed to not notice with the time lapse that she was increasingly gravely ill, and was getting much worse when I saw her in Paris. I don't think she would've made it to June, as the doctors said she would."

Elizabeth nodded. "I saw her every day. She tried to hide the pain, and that she was deteriorating..." She became introspective. I'd rarely seen that look of sadness for another person on my sister's face.

"I didn't attend this party." said Cindy. "Clue me in."

"Cindy knows what happened." I said. "I told her the details, but not the background of it."

Elizabeth nodded, then said "At first, I though my baby brother had made a miscalculation, and that Kathy had died as a result of Waddell already being up on the balcony with Melina. And then... I realized that you did not fail to realize that... and you let Kathy go up first, so that she could sacrifice herself."

All eyes were on me. I did not say one word. Of admittance, nor denial.

"You... you gave her the chance to die. Honorably." said Cindy, understanding. Dr. Eckhart nodded, a little smile on his face.

"Like Takaki Taichi." I replied quietly. "Kathy had the choice, and she made it." I looked at Elizabeth. "She did not fear an assassin's bullet. She feared going blind, and of being a burden to you, or to her family. She chose to die saving another person's life, rather than having her young sister see her die in darkness and in pain. She knew, as I know, that you would've cared for her to the end, but she preferred death to that, as well."

"Thank you for that." said Elizabeth. She then sucked it up and steeled herself. "Well, I'm going to be leaving soon. As I said at Christmas, it would be a good idea to get out of your way. Very far away."

I smiled. "I'm sure wherever you go, you'll be of great help to our Uncle Harvey, here." Eckhart laughed.

"Not much gets by you, young Donald." he said. "And I'm equally sure that some people are going to regret very badly what they tried to do to your sister."

Some time later, Elizabeth hugged us all goodbye. "Thank you again for Kathy." she whispered as she hugged me. "She's at peace now. No more pain."

"She died well." I replied. As Elizabeth headed for the elevator, I called out "Shalom!" Her eyes crinkled in amusement as she nodded her head. Then she got on the elevator, and was gone.

"What was that about?" asked Cindy.

"She's converted to Judaism." I said.

"How did you know that?" Cindy asked.

"That Star-of-David pendant on her necklace was my first clue." I said. "I saw her wearing it in Paris, and saw it under the neckline of her blouse today..."

Cindy looked at her father and shrugged. "Nothing gets by him, Father."

"Fortunately for all of us." replied Eckhart, his eyes also crinkled with amusement...

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

As we drove home in my Police SUV, Cindy was simply agog at what she'd learned.

"So that's why she wore the vest with armor only in the back." my cousin said, partly to herself. "So that the bullet wouldn't come out her back and hit Melina."

"Yes." I said.

"And instead of dying blind and helpless," Cindy said "she died a hero, with a Flag on her casket and a star in the wall at Langley. You really do take care of your people, Don. But... Kathy was no friend of yours. She helped Ned set you up at Ward Harvester."

"She also shot Mr. C. in the back with an arrow to save my life." I said. "And she gave the CIA valuable information while working with Elizabeth... valuable until they changed Directors."

Yes, for right or for wrong, part of my plan was to give Goth Girl Kathy the chance to die honorably, and she took it. My reasons why? I could say it was for taking out Mr. C., I could say it was for helping Elizabeth arm the Jews and give info on the Islamists to the authorities, and actually being a good and loyal CIA Agent.

But my first reason was deeper than that. I was remembering that standoff with Ned in the Ward Harvester warehouse, walking into his trap to save the baby he'd kidnapped. (Author's note: 'Trilogy: The Dawn's Early Light'.) It had been Goth Girl Kathy that had cared for the baby, and protected the baby from Ned doing it harm, and I had not forgotten that.

A little bit of bad in the best of us, a little bit of good in the worst of us. I may have been bad in planning for Kathy to die, but I chose the good and honorable ending for Agent 'Darkwave'. She had died, but her sacrifice would live forever...

Part 17 - Epilogue

I did not attend Julie Newton's funeral, which was held in the chapel of the Frank Freeman Funeral Home. There were not many people there. Yvonne Newton was there, some of her friends from the Public Library where she'd worked, a number of people from First Baptist Church, loyalists to Pastor Westboro and his memory.

"You're not going to believe who is here, and who is leading the interment service." Teresa whispered, having called me on my Police cellphone. She was watching from a distance, having led the traffic patrol for the funeral.

"Don't keep me in suspense." I said.

"Della Harlow is here, as are Kelly Carnes and Malinda Adams." said Teresa. "And leading the service... SBI Chaplain Steven Ikea!"

"No surprise there." I said. "Birds of a feather."

Teresa later told me that after the service was over, Chaplain Ikea, Della Harlow, and Kelly Carnes had talked for considerable time. "I don't know what it's about," she said, "but I don't need Cindy's vibes to know that something ain't right about it."

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

6:50am, Monday, April 2d. I was sitting in my office reading Duty Logs before the coffee klatch, when my Police iPhone rang. I answered it to hear a near-babbling man on the other side. It was Myron Milton.

"Mary just gave birth to her, Commander!" Myron was all but shouting. "She's a beautiful little girl..."

At 6:55am I went into MCD for the coffee klatch and to hear Bettina's broadcast. But I had news first.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I called out loudly, "I am very happy to announce that Mary Milton just gave birth to a daughter, named Mary Louise Milton! Mother and daughter are doing very well, grandpa Marvin Milton is very excited, and daddy Myron is absolutely beside himself."