The Knave of Jacks Ch. 01

Chief Moynahan said "I asked the Sheriff to come in and meet with us about the Command structure. Sheriff?"

"Yes, thank you, Chief." said Daniel. "I understand there's been some discussion about your roles, particularly yours, Captain Ross. While we appreciate you stepping up and helping Commander Troy, especially while he was recovering from his injuries and was helping the FBI, the need for some formal streamlining has been brought to my attention, and will have to be brought to the Council's attention. This meeting is to get our ducks in a row so that the Chief and I can present a united front to the Council. I might add that I'm doing similar things with the Fire Department."

"You do realize this is going to cost you an extra box of doughnuts, don't you Sheriff?" I quipped.

"I was thinking of buying you guys lunch for our next meeting on this subject." said Daniel. We all nodded at that. "So, Chief, what are our options?"

"My option is to exercise my privilege to defer to the Police Commander." said Moynahan. Daniel looked at me.

"We have three major options on this." I said. "The first is to 'do nothing'..."

Chief Moynahan laughed heartily at that. "That's an old Army joke." he explained. I smiled, glad that someone understood.

"Second," I said, "is to make the Council re-authorize the Captain of Uniformed Officers position, assign that post the responsibility of overseeing the Precincts on the Commander's behalf, then filling that position with the right person. Third is to basically elevate the Captain of Detective's role to essentially be an 'Assistant Commander'... unless you want to make a separate, formal position for that."

Daniel smiled. "I wouldn't mind doing that, but the Council will never go for it. By the way, who is in charge of Headquarters Precinct?"

"Headquarters is not a Precinct, Sheriff." said the Chief.

"Sheriff," I said, "Commander Harlow, and Captain Aaron subordinate to her, are in charge of the physical building, as they are in charge of the physical Precinct buildings. The Uniformed Officers assigned here are technically assigned to MCD or Vice, and therefore are under the Lieutenants of those Divisions, then up to Captain Ross, then to me."

The Sheriff nodded. "And that is what the Council wants to change. So, Don, which route would you recommend?"

"A Captain of Uniformed Officers again, or whatever you want to call it, as a direct line between me and the Precinct Captains." I replied. Cindy nodded; we'd discussed this already.

"And who would you put in that slot?" asked Allgood.

"There are a few choices." I said. "We could brevet or promote Masters to Captain; he was running that job before, and quite well. Or we could promote a Precinct Captain to Captain... we can't brevet that, by the way... and then get a new Precinct Captain. Or we could go outside the box and brevet or promote a promising Lieutenant to Captain."

"I can tell you now that the Council doesn't want to brevet anyone to Captain." said Daniel. "Creates Union problems. So... name some names..."

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

My next meeting was at a place I was not sure I was wholly welcomed: Fire Department Headquarters. I was escorted to the office of the Fire Chief, Patrick Quinlin. His most redeeming feature was that he also had red hair, though it was a bit darker than my own titian hair.

"Hello, Chief." I said as I came in. "How are things with the Fire Department?"

"Not bad." said Quinlin. "The Sheriff is pushing me to name an Assistant Chief, but I'm really not happy with any of the candidates, and he's trying to discourage me from going outside to bring in someone. I think the Sheriff is being pressured by Council Members to suggest Fire Marshal Singer. But that would be a lateral move, and she's in a better spot as Fire Marshal, as it is. She herself has said she's not interested in making that move, so I'm not sure why the Council is pressing."

"It's probably Malinda Adams that's doing the pressing on that. They go along to keep her from getting too agitated. I agree that Zoe is perfectly positioned as Fire Marshall." I said. "Meanwhile, please tell me that they are not bringing up Robert Brownlee's name."

"No, he's not under consideration." said Quinlin. "The Council is trying to force him into the Public Health Department, and he has a lawsuit going to force him back into the Police Department, which I'm sure you'd just love..." I could see that Quinlin was teasing me with that last comment.

"No, I'd not love that... though my red crowbar would." I replied. "But can you imagine what these female candidates for public office would say if they moved or demoted Della Harlow? It'd be a feeding frenzy for the Media."

"What do you think will happen?" Quinlin asked, sitting back in his chair.

"Oh, I dunno." I said. "I think the Brownlee lawsuit gets pushed back past the election, so it might depend on what happens with Loran Michaels and the Council seat."

"That brings up another question." said Quinlin. "Can we trust Scott Peterson?"

"You might can." I replied. "I don't. Personal water under the bridge, there. But enough about that. You asked me to come over, so what can I help you with?"

"Oh, yes." said Quinlin. "I did want to get the 'scoop' from you about what's going on in Public Safety. I know you and the Sheriff are friends, but since you took Westboro down, he's been acting a little... strange, for lack of a better term." I felt him watching me, so I just nodded as if absorbing the information.

"The other thing is that my daughter Leanne is here, and she wanted to talk to you in a way no one else would know. I'll call her in now, if that's okay."

"Sure." I said. Quinlin got out his cellphone and sent a text. A moment later, Leanne Quinlin Gonzalez came in. She was the real estate agent that had sold the Cabin to me and arranged Laura's various real estate transactions. She had red hair like her father and smoking hot legs, and she was married to a younger man, a Cuban who was reputed to be a well-hung stud.

As she came in, I got up to greet her, shaking her hand in a subtly flirtatious way, which she seemed to like as she greeted me. After a moment of chit-chat, including her complimenting my rebuilding of The Cabin, she got to the point.

"Commander," Leanne said, "I wanted to very quietly let you know something that's going on. I just rented out a house in the Heritage Cloisters subdivision. It's the house that Hamilton Myers lived in. As you know, he passed away a couple of months ago. He'd been sick since his wife died shortly after you busted her."

"Yes, I heard about that." I said. "So you rented out his home?"

"Yes," said Leanne, "and it was kind of strange. Thomas P. Cook recently bought the Wargrave estate in that subdivision. Unfortunately for me, that was a direct purchase, so no commission for me. And because Mr. Cook had bought the Wargrave home, it was weird to me that the company renting the Myers property is called 'Silver Enterprises Network', and they're partly owned by Northwest Properties Management... Thomas Cook's company."

"That is interesting." I said. "I appreciate you bringing me this. So... can I take the two of you to lunch?"

"I better not." said Leanne. "I've got an idea that we shouldn't be seen talking to each other... especially if Thomas P. Cook is involved. That guy is sleee-zeee."

I chuckled mirthlessly. "I totally agree with that. Okay, we'll do it another time. If you will excuse me, Chief, I better get back to Headquarters." I made my goodbyes and headed out.

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

Back at Headquarters, I did not even bother to go to my office. I just stopped at Lt. Croyle's door. Knocking, I was admitted, and Teresa was surprised.

"Just wanted to give you a heads-up." I said. "I got some information that the Hamilton Myers property in the Heritage Cloisters subdivision was rented out by a group called 'Silver Enterprises Network', with a connection to Thomas P. Cook. Do I need to say anything further?"

"No sir, you do not." Teresa replied with alacrity. She took note of the name. "Mind if I borrow Mary to look into this?"

"Why are you wasting my time asking instead of doing it already?" I replied with a grin. Teresa gave what was for her a laugh and picked up the phone...

To be continued.