Big in Japan

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is 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, racism, 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.

Note: if you try any of the whiskeys discussed in this story, please drink responsibly.

***

Part 1 – Prologue

FBI Executive Assistant Director Owen Lange went into the daycare room of the FBI offices in New York City. The caretakers recognized him, but were surprised to see him in the daycare center.

“Hello, ladies.” he said to the two women on duty. “I have a birthday card for Greta Speer from her sisters.” One of the women took him to where three-year-old Greta was playing.

“Hi Greta.” Owen Lange said. “This is a birthday card from your sisters.” He handed her the card, which he’d already taken out of its envelope.

“I have sisters?” Greta said in wonder as she looked at it, and at the photo of Carole and Tasha inside, with great interest. “Mommy, I have sisters?”

“Yes, you do.” said FBI Special Agent Sandra Speer, coming up behind EAD Owen Lange. “Sir, can I see you outside for a moment?”

They went into the hallway, and Sandra turned on her superior Agent. “Sir, with all due respect, that was wrong of you to give Greta a card from her father! He agreed not to contact her at all! I didn’t let her see the card he tried to send through Jack Muscone last year——”

“Hold up, Agent Speer.” Owen Lange said in his scratchy voice. “First, you will have to believe this, and I will also testify to it in Court, that Don didn’t know anything about this, at all. This was all Carole and Tasha’s doing. And I promised Carole I would give Greta the card, and I’ve fulfilled that promise.”

“I didn’t want her to even know she had sisters.” Sandra said darkly.

“Yes, I know.” said Owen Lange. “But she was eventually going to find out, one way or another. You’re up against something way too powerful for either of us to fight against. I just made things a little easier for you.”

“Don Troy may be the Iron Crowbar, Mr. EAD, but he is not all powerful.” said Sandra. “And he damn well better honor the custody agreement he signed.”

“I wasn’t talking about Don, Sandra.” Owen Lange said. “I was talking about Carole…”

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

Sunday, August 23d. We were at Teresa and Todd’s house for the party celebrating Mike Burke’s fifth birthday. Even Jack Burke was on good behavior, and spent most of his time talking to Carole, who to my surprise not only tolerated Jack, but played video games with him in the den room.

All my kids and their mothers were there, as were Cindy, Callie, and Betsy. And Daniel Allgood had brought Dan and Patricia. Dan played with his brother Doug a lot, while Patricia and Tasha found things to do that did not include boys. But Melina had not attended… and neither had Pete Feeley.

“I invited Pete and his parents, and Tiffany and Jennifer too.” Teresa told me and Laura quietly and privately as the kids consumed amazing quantities of ice cream and cake. “But I just got reply on the Evite that they would not be attending. Nothing personal, by voice or phone or email.”

“Tanya’s been that way all week at work, too.” I said. “Stiff and formal… with me, the Chief, Cindy, you… and even with all the Detectives. She’s doing her job, and she has answers for every question I ask… and I’ve asked a lot to keep her on her toes… but she’s definitely ‘not perky’ right now.”

Laura asked “What was the ruling on Archie Brody’s death?”

“Suicide.” I said. “We had an amazingly fast Coroner’s Inquest, in which Martha the M.E. and I both testified. Everything was totally consistent with suicide, so no conspiracies to form theories about.”

“Carole has been unhappy that she hasn’t seen Pete all week.” Laura said. “I told her she needs to be prepared to not see him as much—— oh, hello Carole.”

Carole had walked up to us. “Daddy, you gotta fix things, so we can see Pete again. It’s important.”

“Why is it important?” Laura queried our daughter, perhaps a bit sharply.

“I don’t know why, Mommy.” Carole said, standing her ground. “I just know that it is. And Daddy and Mis-ter Muscone have got to be friends again, so they can bust bad guys together again.”

“No he doesn’t!” Ian said, having come up to us, also. “Pete’s daddy is the FBI! He’s bad, so Pete’s bad! I’m glad he didn’t get to come!”

Carole turned on her brother and yelled “Pete’s not bad! He’s better than you!” She looked like she was going to attack her brother, and he was dug in to give her that fight. Laura intercepted Carole, while I took Ian aside for some remedial discussion on not holding his hatred of the FBI against Pete… which was not well received.

“Carole,” I overheard Laura tell our daughter, “you should never take someone else’s side against the family, especially your brothers and sister.” Good advice from my ‘Corleone’ wife, I thought to myself.

“Pete’s more family than Ian is… to me.” Carole said, then added cryptically: “He will be, anyway.”

I felt a vibe, and looked over to see Cindy across the room, staring at Carole. Then her ice-blue eyes drifted to my gray peepers…

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

Monday, August 31st, 8:15am. Parents of first graders were lining up along the walkway of Eastside Elementary School, forming a gauntlet for their children to walk through. My wife Laura was near the front end, as was Nextdoor County Police Chief Molly Evans. Molly was in her uniform and taking charge of the students, which reassured nervous parents.

The gauntlet of parents ended at the bottom of the three steps leading up to the the patio in front of the entrance to the school. Deputy Chief Cindy Ross was at the end of the parents’s line, with a digital camera. Waiting at the top of the steps were the Town Mayor, the County Sheriff, and Your Iron Crowbar, holding the instrument for which I was named.

Cindy and Molly were communicating by earbuds, and I heard Cindy tell Molly to start the kids through as she (Cindy) hit a button on the big boombox next to me. The Black Eyed Peas song ‘Let’s Get It Started’ blasted out and the parents began clapping and cheering in rhythm as the kids started coming through, getting high-fives or fist bumps along the way… and of course parents were taking photos of their child coming through.

The first first-grader to come through was my son Jim, followed by my son Ross. Jim came up the steps, grasped the rounded end of my red crowbar, and turned to the others and yelled “Touch the crowbar for good luck!” as his sister Carole had two years before. (Author’s note: ‘Ethical Dilemmas’, Ch. 01.) A tradition, this had become.

Ross followed Jim in grabbing the end of the crowbar. Cindy was photographing every child as they came through and posed touching the crowbar for one second. Next through was young Dan Allgood. He posed with me and the crowbar, then went over and hugged his father’s legs before running into the school building.

Young Pete Feeley came through. To my surprise, I felt some emotion at seeing him, remembering how close to death he had come as a baby, and his mother’s sacrifice for him. (Author’s note: ‘Six Degrees’, Ch. 01-02.) To my further surprise, he hugged my legs and said “Hi Mister Crowbar!” before posing holding the crowbar.

Eastside Elementary had become a ‘magnet’ school in the Town High School system, and as such had a very diverse range of ethnicities in its student body. White children, Black children, Hispanic children, and Asian children all came through. Every single one of them held the crowbar and posed with me. And every parent received a print of their child posing with me and the crowbar, courtesy of the Daniel Allgood Campaign for Mayor.

After the 20 minutes it took for every first grader to go through, the gauntlet began breaking up. Parents came up to me to thank me for being there, perhaps unaware that two of the kids were mine, so it took me a few moments to get to Laura and Molly at the other end. Laura was dabbing tears from her eyes, as she had when Carole had gone through two years before.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.” Laura said as I put my arm around her to lead her to my Police SUV. “I just can’t believe how quickly my baby boy is growing up.”

I had seen Tanya and Jack Perlman near the front of the line, but they had not spoken to me… especially Jack Muscone, who was definitely avoiding me.

Laura said “Are you going to send your mother the photos of Jim and Ross?”

“Yes.” I said. “And then I’ll call her in Apple Grove. It’s her birthday today, you know…”

Part 2 – Whisky Central

“Winter’s city side, crystal bits of snowflakes
All around my head and in the wind
I had no illusions that I’d ever find a glimpse of
Summer’s heatwave in your eyes…”
—— Alphaville, ‘Big In Japan’

10:00am, Monday, August 31st. My lovely assistant Helena buzzed me and announced two visitors. A moment later FBI Assistant Special Agent In Charge Karina White and DEA Supervisory Special Agent Dwight Stevens were sitting in the hot chairs in front of my desk. I poured them coffee and refilled my own Airborne School coffee mug, as well.

“This must be about Commander Croyle’s cousin Jen Sakai.” I said.

“Not much gets past you, Don.” Karina said with a smile. “And it’s about a lot more. We’ve uncovered a fairly large, sophisticated smuggling operation that involves both whisky products and drugs; ergo, Dwight and I are spearheading the joint task force investigating it.”

“Due to your past ATF experience.” I said to Karina. She nodded vigorously in agreement.

SSA Dwight Stevens said “Karina is our adult supervision. We’ve put together a pretty elite team on this. You remember FBI Agent Eduardo Escobar from the old Team Lazarus? He’s working with us from Texas. DEA Agent Juan Alberto Morales in Southport is working with us. And Lindy Linares has been assigned to help with our cyber and digital needs.”

Karina said “And from the ATF, we have Nancy Harding, who I knew from my days with them. She’s a very good Agent, and one of the good guys. I tried to get her on my FBI team, but they wouldn’t give her up.”

I nodded, understanding why I was being told all this. My rift with Jack Muscone meant that I was skeptical (at best) of all Federal Agents, and Karina and Dwight were making their pitch for this team.

Dwight Stevens: “The unfortunate thing is that the Swamp Frogs are aware of our investigations, and they tried to force DEA Agent Kevin Pitts on us. He’s not a dirty 
Agent, not like Curtis Halsey and Lindsey Black, but Jack Muscone told them in no uncertain terms that Pitts was not welcome on this joint task force.”

“Good.” I said, not letting my face show anything, feeling as well as seeing that Karina was intently watching my reactions. “So… whaddya got? And what do you need from me?”

“Any help you can give us.” Dwight Stevens said. “We’ll make all of our data available to you, and maybe you can do Iron Crowbar things and correlate bits of information that we don’t see the patterns for.”

“Okay,” I said. “Give me the Cliffs Notes now.”

Karina took a jump drive out of her pocket and handed it to me. Then she began talking: “After the incident where Jen Sakai attempted to have Todd Burke kidnapped,” (Author’s note: ‘Sugar and Spice’, Ch. 03.) “we’ve been digging into her and her husband, Sakai Hideo. He’s long gone; he went back to Japan and may have made it to Red China. But Jen was using her contacts with the Yakuza and family connections in Louisiana to smuggle distillates to Japan for making Japanese whisky.”

I said “So they basically made a form of moonshine whisky, and sent it to Japan for barreling. I would also imagine they are taking raw molasses, a by-product of sugar production, which is the basis for making rum, and sending that, too.”

Karina: “Yes, and the smuggling ring also stole some barrels meant for legit Texas whiskey producers and sent those to Japan… and even barreled some of their own whisky and rum distillates for several years and sent that over. And the Yakuza pays handsomely for finished products like that.”

“I’m sure.” I said. Then I sat back in my chair and looked at them. “But tell me… Jen Sakai and her husband had connections to the Red Chinese. Her ring in Texas, that the FBI busted up, had connections to the Red Chinese. I’m sure those that could afford it would pay huge to have good whiskey smuggled to them in China, and the Chinese Government might just look the other way because their own officials would be getting their share of it. Anything along those lines?”

Dwight and Karina looked at each other for a second, then Karina said “You’re right, Don. That’s what we’re looking at now, but we’re just starting to get any threads to pull. And we have the full cooperation of Takaki Misaki and the Japanese Government in our investigations. The Chinese Government talks a good game, but they’re not nearly as helpful when push comes to shove, probably because, like you said, the Government officials are probably getting their cut.”

Dwight Stevens said: “With your permission, I’d like to go talk to Commander Croyle, if she’s available, while ASAC White talks to you.” I called Teresa’s office. The Iron Wolf was ‘in’, and said she’d talk to Stevens.

After he left the office, Karina said “First, Don, I want to apologize for my role in helping Jack Muscone keeping you from finding Archie Brody. And I want to apologize on Jack’s behalf, and try to heal this breach——”

I held up a hand, stopping her. “I accept your apology for yourself. But not for Jack. He’s going to have to apologize for himself.”

“I get that.” said Karina. “There’s other news, too. Martin Nash opened an OPR on Jack over the Brody suicide and the events that led up to it. He may come here, to your Town & County, to interview you and other Police Officers, as well FBI Agents in this Region.”

“Hoo boy.” I said. “According to Federal Judge Landis, Muscone and the Russo BAU Team did nothing illegal. What’s to investigate?”

Karina: “It may just be taking a cheap shot at Jack. Or it could be the Swamp Frogs piling on him like they tried to pile on you over the Morelli case. Don, you have no idea how angry they are that you got that Immunity Agreement from Judge Landis on top of that pardon from Governor Jared.”

“Oh, I have a pretty good idea of that.” I replied with a wan smile. “Still, there’s nothing on Muscone to go after.”

Karina said “Unless EAD Owen Lange is right, and they’re using this as an inroad to investigate Jack for his brother’s death all those years ago…”

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

“Look,” said Teresa Croyle, “I’m not trying to avoid your questions in any way. It’s just that there is literally nothing I have to offer you in the way of information.”

She was sitting behind her desk, and DEA SSA Dwight Stevens was sitting on the sofa in front of her. She continued: “I was married to Easton Windham for less than one year, and that was some fifteen years ago. I have absolutely no idea where he went off to after we separated and had our marriage annulled. And I just found my mother’s family a few months ago, and I barely know any of them.”

Dwight Stevens said “I understand. We’re just trying to understand who Easton Windham and Weston Windham are… or were. We understand that Weston died in a plane crash four years ago, and it may be related to what Jen Sakai and her husband were doing. What I wanted to ask was if you would put in a good word with your aunt, Clarissa Esterson, for her to talk with us about that.”

Teresa said “Like I said, I’ve met her a grand total of once. I feel like I’d be imposing on her. You really might be better off just knocking on her door yourself…”

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

11:30am, Monday, August 31st. Chief Moynahan had invited me, Cindy, and Teresa to lunch at the Irish Pub, a.k.a. the Cop Bar, his treat. We were in the back ‘Command Room’, and I was having the Double Breakfast Burger Plate. Cindy was having the Fish & Chips Basket; Teresa, the Steak Caesar Salad; and the Chief was having a double cheeseburger, but with a salad instead of fries.

“How was the first day of schoooool, Mister Crowbarrrr?” the Chief asked.

“Good, sir.” I said agreeably. “Jim and Ross were ready to get started. I suspect getting away from Carole contributed to Jim’s enthusiasm, and Ross was Ross… he just deals with whatever is in front of him.”

“Jim and Carole aren’t getting along?” Cindy asked.

“They can be like oil and water sometimes.” I said. “Jim is less than a year younger than Carole, but two grades behind. And he would rather she not tell him things, and let him experience and learn for himself, while she wants to be ‘helpful’ and tell him everything. But they’re nowhere near like what Elizabeth and I were like.”

Cindy said “Molly called me after the walkthrough party was over. She said she wasn’t as emotional about it as she thought she would be, that she was just happy for Ross. Then she told me that Laura was all but bawling her eyes out when she hugged Jim and he went through the line.”

“How were Tanya and Jack about Pete?” Teresa asked.

“Molly said Tanya was a bit emotional but mostly happy.” Cindy said. “Jack was just there. Not that he didn’t care, but he just didn’t show any emotion.”

I said “I have to admit that when Pete came through the line, I was remembering that day Tanya was paralyzed after wrapping him in her armored vest. And then Pete hugged my legs. That hit me more than Jim and Ross coming through.”

“Sooooo,” drawled the Chief, “good segue: how are things with Captain Mus-connnnne?”

I said “About the same, sir. She’s doing her job, staying on top of things. But she’s keeping stiff and formal, not seeming to have fun like she used to.”

Teresa said “I have to admit… this morning I got a feeling like she must’ve been having. Dwight Stevens wanted me to contact my Aunt Clarissa and pave the way for the Feds to talk to her about my cousin Jen and also Weston Windham. It’s not that I wouldn’t do it, but I told him that I didn’t know her all that well, and it’d be just as good if he just knocked on her door himself. But I thought of Tanya always complaining of being asked to be the go-between to Jack, and the imposition of it.”

“Says the woman that bitched Tanya out at the Brody crime scene.” Cindy said cattily.

“That was totally correct to do.” I said sternly. “Tanya wasn’t just taking Jack’s side against me, she was taking the FBI’s side against the TCPD, in front of all the TCPD Officers, CSI’s, and the Medical Examiner at the scene.”

I turned to Teresa and said: “Having said that… maybe if you go tell Tanya how you felt when Dwight wanted you to intercede with your aunt, maybe that’ll be a first common-ground step to making things better——”

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

It was Teresa’s personal iPhone, and she answered it. “Hello?… hi, Aunt Clarissa, how are you?… er, you want me to come down there as soon as possible? Are you ill, is everything okay?… er, I might could come as early as tomorrow, but my husband can’t leave right now…”

Cindy said “I’ll go down there with you.” She knew I would not let Teresa go alone.

“Okay, I’ll get down there tomorrow.” said Teresa. “Okay, bye.” After disconnecting, Teresa said “Aunt Clarissa wants me to come down there as soon as possible. She said she would tell me everything about Weston Windham, and leave it up to me what to tell the FBI.”

I was staring right at Teresa, and said: “Hmmm, Todd can’t go down there with you? Any reason for that? A reason named… ‘Takaki’, perhaps?”

“Not much gets past you, sir.” Teresa said. “Todd is expecting for Mariko to be recalled to Japan at any time. They’re not letting it get out publicly, but Misaki-sama is more ill than they’ve been saying. Mariko is much more than just Todd’s assistant, she manages a lot of stuff for him. If she has to leave, he pretty much has to be there at BOW.”

“And when she does leave,” I said, “it is very likely that she will not come back… to America, much less BOW Enterprises. She’ll be expected to help the Takaki family business… running Japanese Intelligence for their Government.”

“Wow.” said Cindy.

“Damn.” Teresa said. “I’d forgotten that Teddy Franklin took the BOW plane to Washington. I guess I better get some airline tickets…” She fished out her cellphone, but Cindy stopped her.

“My daddy’s private plane is bigger than your husband’s.” Cindy said, a bit cattily, making me and the Chief chuckle. “Seriously, with him at home during summer camps, it’s available…”

Part 3 – Scotch On The Bayou

11:00am, Tuesday, September 1st. Teresa and Cindy pulled up to the stately Belvedere family home in their rented vehicle. “Wowwww.” Cindy said as she looked around. “This is awesome!”

“Yes,” said Teresa, “it’s a relic of older, simpler times. I’ve never been comfortable with wealth like some people are, but it’s very nice in the historical sense.”

“I know what you mean.” Cindy said as they walked up to the door, which was opened by Charles the Butler.

“Madame Clarissa is expecting you, Madame Teresa.” Charles said. He led them to the sitting room in the back of the house.

“Ah, Teresa, my dear.” the matriarch said as she got up out of her chair. She hugged Teresa.

“Aunt Clarissa, may I present my friend and colleague Cindy Ross?” Teresa said.

“Ah, yes,” said Clarissa, shaking Cindy’s hand. “Teresa told me so many good things about you on her last visit. I’m very glad to meet you. Sit down, ladies, do sit down.”

After being served lemonades and with Bessemer cookies available, Clarissa said “My apologies for coming right to the point, but I need to talk quickly before anyone else arrives. I understand that there has been some trouble regarding my daughter Jen, and also some mystery involving my niece Tessa’s husband Weston Windham.”

“Yes ma’am.” said Teresa. “On my last visit, we stumbled upon some issues regarding Jen, which drew the attention of the FBI. How much of that do you know about?”

“Oh my dear, I’ve had my suspicions for many years.” Clarissa said. “I never liked that man Jen married… Hideo, I think his name was. He had shifty eyes. No, I don’t mean slanted eyes, but shifty eyes. I never understood what Jen saw in him, but they were married, then divorced when he went back to Japan.”

“Do you know why he went back to Japan?” Teresa asked.

“I would imagine to avoid being arrested.” Clarissa said. “I became aware of the FBI looking into our family finances as well as what little of our businesses we still owned, and he and Jen suddenly stayed in Houston all the time. And the FBI suddenly lost interest in us almost to the minute after Jen told me she was divorcing him and he was leaving the country.”

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Cindy said, “you said the FBI was investigating you? How long ago was that?”

“Oh, I think ‘investigating’ us is too strong a term.” said Clarissa. “It was more like just looking into our books, and most of that through the IRS. My idea of them ‘investigating’ us would be for Federal Agents to be swarming all over the place, which did not happen. And I would’ve noticed or been informed if that had happened.”

“When was this, if I may ask?” Cindy queried.

“Six years ago.” said Clarissa. “Two years before Weston and Tessa were killed in the plane crash… which is why I asked you to come down, Teresa. I can’t show you these photos over the phone, and I don’t trust talking over these newfangled cell phones, either.”

“I totally agree about that.” Teresa said. “First, let me ask this: did Weston ever mention having a brother, or another relative, named ‘Easton’?”

“He never mentioned it.” Clarissa said. “But when he and Tessa became engaged, I had him checked out, thoroughly, and perhaps in ways I should not speak to Police Officers such as yourselves.”

Cindy smiled as she said “Oh, I think the Statute of Limitations is well past on that, so don’t worry about that or anything else you need to say.”

“Thank you, my dear.” said Clarissa. “Anyway, the results were more important than the means of the investigation. They found that Weston had a younger brother, named Easton. There was very little about Easton. He’d married a woman named Teresa—— oh, my….”

“Yes, ma’am.” Teresa said. “You could not possibly have known at the time, but that was me.”

“I see.” Clarissa said, her voice ever so slightly shakier than it had been. “That explains some things. Yes, the record showed that Easton Windham married, then the marriage was annulled about eight months later. After that, he vanished almost without a trace. His name came up in a report commissioned by a man named Henry Wargrave, and the subject of the report was a young man named Jack Burke, son of Michael Burke.” (Author’s note: ‘A Case of Revenge’, Ch. 02.)

Then it hit Clarissa: “Oh, wait… isn’t your husband Todd named Burke, also?”

“Yes ma’am.” said Teresa. “Michael Burke was Todd’s biological father, and Michael’s son Jack Burke did know Easton and me.” She did not elaborate on how well they’d known Jack Burke.

“Oh, of course.” said Clarissa. “I am a fool for not having seen that before. Anyway, this Easton Windham is believed to have been working for an oil company in Texas, doing chemical research, but disappeared. He may have remained in the Houston area.”

Having read the Wargrave report on Jack Burke, Cindy said “Jack Burke was also spotted in Texas, working for an oil company. Teresa, do you think he and Easton got back into some business together? Like a criminal enterprise business?”

Teresa said “I’m not sure Easton had it in him to be a criminal. I always figured he found a job in a library or something, and just dropped off the grid. Aunt Clarissa, what can you tell us about Weston Windham?”

Clarissa said “He wasn’t the most aggressive man, either, at least on the surface. He was hired by Bessemer Cookies, and worked in the Quality Control department. He did some research on the various cookie dough recipes, as well as bread recipes. He met Tessa and they fell in love and were married, and if I am any judge of character they were very much in love with each other. We didn’t know of your existence, Teresa, so Weston and Tessa were the family’s great hope, going forward.”

Clarissa continued: “Weston despised my son Colin and his wife Wendy, and was on indifferent terms with Tessa’s sister Clara, as was Tessa. But he was on very good terms with my daughter Jen and her husband. They often talked in business terms, and while I tried not to listen to conversations that were not my business, I heard enough snippets to believe that they were talking of possibly going into some kind of business together. That never came to pass, and Weston and Tessa died in that plane crash just over four years ago.”

“If I may ask,” Cindy asked, “what was the nature of the plane crash? How did it happen?”

“I don’t know the details.” said Clarissa. “I’m sure the NTSB has a report of it filed, somewhere, and you could look that up.” Cindy nodded.

“I can tell you this much, though.” said Clarissa. “Tessa originally wasn’t going to go with Weston on that trip. It was supposed to just be an overnighter for some business deal Weston was arranging. But then he suggested to Tessa that they stay at the Opryland Hotel and go to the Grand Ole Opry. Tessa loved Country music, and so Beatrice and Genia came to stay with me, while their parents went to Nashville for the weekend. But as you know… they never made it.”

Clarissa had a faraway look on her face, so Teresa changed the subject by asking: “Did any of the Belvedere companies go into making whiskey? Or rum?”

“Oh, nooooo.” Clarissa said, snapping out of her reverie. “Remember, my dear, that you are in the Deep South, and in a State that was deeply religious for many decades. Alcohol was considered the instrument of the Devil. In some ways that was unfortunate; we could’ve made distilled spirits and a lot of it, and it would’ve been very profitable. As it was, we sold a lot of the molasses that came from our sugar production, and it likely was to companies that made rum. But we never acknowledged that, and the cookies did well for us. Oh… do you think that is what Weston and Jen were thinking about going into business for?”

Teresa shrugged. “I have no idea. I only asked because my boss, Commander Troy, has a Chemistry degree, and he said that the cookie dough recipes could be used as mash bills for making whiskies, and the molasses for making rum.”

Clarissa nodded thoughtfully. “But not Scotch, as we are not in Scotland. And if memory serves me correctly, you and Jen enjoy Scotch as much as I do, if not more.” That made Cindy chuckle. Teresa nodded vigorously in agreement.

“Let me show you photos of Weston Windham.” Clarissa said. She took out a book of photographs. “This was when Weston and Tessa were married.”

“He’s not Easton,” Teresa said as she looked at the photos, “but the family resemblance is very strong.” She got out her Police iPhone and said “May I take photos of these photos?”

“By all means.” Clarissa said. As Teresa photographed several photos, Charles came in and announced that lunch was ready.

Clarissa said “Please do join me for lunch, ladies. Why don’t you ladies wash up, and I’ll take the rest of those photos for you.” Teresa handed Clarissa her cellphone and she and Cindy went to wash up. Moments later they met in the dining room, where cold cuts and iced tea were waiting for them…

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

2:00pm, Tuesday, September 1st. At the Lake Charles Airport, Cindy and Teresa approached the ‘The Vision’ plane with its pilot, to return home. As they neared the plane, Cindy said “Uhhh…”

“You okay?” Teresa asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Cindy replied. “I just got a huge vibe, though… that you need to co-pilot this plane, Teresa.”

“I’m not yet qualified for this aircraft.” Teresa said.

“I can refile our flight plan,” said the pilot, “to have you be a pilot trainee. It’ll get you the hours towards being certified, too.”

“Okay, let’s do that.” Teresa said. They got on board, and the pilot got on his cellphone and adjusted the flight plan as Teresa settled into the co-pilot seat and began going through the pre-flight checklist. Cindy strapped into the jump seat behind them.

“You might be more comfortable in the cabin.” Teresa said to Cindy, seeing the platinum blonde’s action.

“I get the feeling I should be here.” Cindy said.

They taxied out to Runway 33. “There’s a storm coming from the west.” the pilot said. “After we take off, we’ll fly at 9,000 feet under the high clouds until we clear it, then ascend to 28,000 feet. I’ll be the pilot flying, and you’ll be the pilot monitoring.”

“Roger.” said Teresa. She contacted the tower and they were given clearance to take off. The pilot revved the engines and took off the brakes, and the plane began speeding down the runway.

“V-1.” Teresa said.

“Rotating.” the pilot said. The nose of the plane ascended and the plane lifted off the ground.

“Vision Two-Niner, this is Lake Charles Departure.” said the radio from the airport tower. “Ascend to nine-thousand and contact Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) Central for further instructions. Have a good day.”

“Roger, nine thousand, Vision Two-Niner.” Teresa replied.

They flew north-by-northwest. When they got to the airspace controlled by Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, and were clear of the weather, the pilot contacted DFW Central for permission to ascend to 28,000 feet.

“Vision Two-Niner, ascend to flight level two-eight-zero and maintain course and speed.” said the radio transmission from likely the tower at DFW.

“Roger, flight level two-eight-zero, Vision Two-Niner.” Teresa replied. The pilot dialed the auto-pilot for 28,000 feet, and the plane began climbing. At 12,000 feet, they heard a noise.

*POW!*

Oxygen masks descended from their compartments above. Everyone put them on quickly, then the pilot radioed in: “Mayday Mayday, Vision Two-Niner, we’ve had sudden decompression. Descending to 9000 feet and requesting vectors for emergency landing at DFW or Love Field.”

“Roger, Vision Two-Niner, descend to 7000 feet. Contact DFW Approach when you’re ready to land, any runway will be yours.” The tower also gave vectors to land at DFW.

“Vision Two-Niner, this is DFW Approach.” the tower said after the pilot turned to that frequency. “Advise on your situation.”

Teresa said “We have decompression, but we are in control of the aircraft. Mayday mayday, request clearance for emergency landing. Vision Two-Niner.”

“Roger, Vision Two-Niner,” said the controller. “Any runway preference? And can you taxi in, or do you need runway assistance?”

The pilot said “I’ll take One Seven Right. We’re on final approach, and will taxi in. Vision Two-Niner.”

“Roger,” said the Tower. “One Seven Right is clear to land. And good luck.”

Cindy heard the automatic systems count down the distance as the plane approached the runway. “Five hundred… four hundred…” then “one hundred… fifty…”. Then the harsh bump as tires met runway. The pilot brought the plane to a good controlled landing, then taxied to a designated area as emergency vehicles convened to greet them.

“Well done.” Teresa said to the pilot.

“You, too.” replied the pilot. “You did everything right…”

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

As they got off the plane in the hanger to which they’d been directed, two men were walking up to them, followed at a distance by a third.

“Hello, I’m Hugh Gray with the FAA.” said a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, graying hair, and a gray mustache.

“I’m Darren Wheeler of the NTSB.” said a younger, taller man with black hair. “Our ‘Go’ team will be here soon.”

“And I’m Eduardo Escobar with the FBI.” said Eduardo Escobar, catching up to them.

“Hi, Eduardo!” Cindy said enthusiastically. Seeing the other men’s looks, she said “We’re Town & County Police Officers, and we’ve worked with Eduardo in the past.”

“Is that why you’re here, Agent Escobar?” asked Agent Wheeler.

“Partially.” said Eduardo. “I happened to be here on assignment, and when I heard about the Mayday and the emergency landing, I looked to see what plane it was. And I recognized my friends Cindy and Teresa.”

“Who owns this plane?” asked Wheeler.

“My father’s company.” said Cindy.

“Okay, we’ll need to get some statements from all of you.” said Wheeler. “Let’s look at the plane now.”

They began walking around the plane. A cargo door near the rear of the plane was badly damaged. “I’ve seen this before.” said Wheeler. “If the door doesn’t lock properly, the pressure inside can damage it, leading to decompression of the hold. Damage to the hold structure then causes the main cabin and galley to decompress.”

“They had no luggage.” said the pilot. “The door was secure when we left Town & County Airport, and I never opened it at Lake Charles. And there’s an indicator light in the cockpit that should’ve come on if the door wasn’t secured properly.”

Teresa asked “Did anyone work on the plane while we were at Lake Charles? And were you watching it the whole time?”

“It was refueled, but that’s all.” said the pilot. “I can’t say I had eyes on the plane the entire time, though. And I was inside it for much of the time, too, so if anyone opened the cargo door, I might not’ve seen it. But I still should’ve seen the warning light, and it did not come on.”

Teresa said “I agree, it did not come on, even after the decompression.”

Cindy nodded. “Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Gray,” she said, “one thing you need to look at in your investigation is deliberate sabotage, with the intent to bring down this plane and kill its occupants.”

“Really?” asked a surprised NTSB Agent Wheeler. “Who would want to kill you?”

“That’s where I come into the picture.” said Eduardo Escobar. “The reason I’m here at DFW is because we’ve been tracking some perps that Commander Croyle and Commander Ross likely know about. And to that point, Mr. Wheeler, go ahead and do your investigation, but confine your interview to what happened on the plane to cause the emergency landing. I’m going to need to talk to these ladies about the criminal aspects of these issues, and it’s a sensitive international investigation we’re dealing with…”

Part 4 – The Mash & Drum

“This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!” shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, September 2nd, from the rooftop of the building at Riverside and College. “Two local Police Officers are involved in an airplane emergency landing in Dallas!”

Bettina began: “TCPD Deputy Chief Cindy Ross and Operations Commander Teresa Croyle were aboard a private plane that was forced to make an emergency landing at DFW Airport in Dallas, Texas yesterday! A cargo hold door was damaged, which led to decompression of the cabin of the plane after it reached 12,000 feet altitude. The pilots and passengers were able to put on air masks and keep control of the aircraft, which landed without further incident.”

Bettina: “The NTSB and FAA have begun an investigation of what caused the aircraft to become damaged and lose cabin pressure. The plane belongs to ‘The Vision’, the self-help empire created by Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, who is also the father of TCPD Commander Cindy Ross. It is a relatively new aircraft with a spotless service record. The pilot is very experienced, with over 10,000 flight hours logged on various aircraft, including the Boeing 737 jet. Lieutenant Commander Croyle was listed as the co-pilot in a trainee role.”

Bettina: “Channel Two News has learned that the FBI has joined the investigation of the incident, and they believe there is a possibility of foul play. An FBI spokesman reached for comment confirmed that an investigation was in progress, but would give no further details, including who was possibly being targeted in the incident. The TCPD Public Relations Office issued a statement saying that their Officers were unharmed, but that they had no further details to report, and to contact the NTSB and FBI for further information.”

Bettina: “In other news, Channel Two News has learned that Republican candidate for Mayor Daniel Allgood, who many say stole the last Mayoral election from its rightful winner, Eldrick X. Weaver, will be holding a rally at The Fairgrounds on Labor Day. Again, Daniel Allgood will be holding a rally at the Fairgrounds on Labor Day. And now lets go to Jeff Hull for Sports and the upcoming college football games. Jeff!”

“That’s right, Bettina!” said Jeff Hull, every black hair on his head perfectly in place, and a lot of stage makeup on his face to hide age lines. “The college football season began last Saturday as Alabama crushed Clemson 49-28 in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This weekend there will be a full slate of games as our University Bulldogs will scrimmage against FCS school Taco State, and State Tech will go to Eastern State.”

Hull: “And after losing to Alabama in the National Title game to end last season, the Wildcats will try to put the pieces back together without Heisman Trophy Winners Jamaal Washington and Clarence Appletree. And it won’t be easy as they travel to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee to take on another SEC school with powerhouse tradition in the Volunteers of Tennessee. Sports experts are calling the Wildcats a three point underdog….”

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

“Bettina might as well just come out and say she wants agitators to go out and protest Allgood’s rally.” growled Sheriff Griswold as he, me, Chief Griswold, Commander Cindy Ross, Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle, Captain Tanya Muscone, and ADA Paulina Patterson drank coffee in the Chief’s Conference Room. It was a Full House coffee klatch!

“Maybe the NTSB should ask Bettina what happened to your aircraft, Cindy.” I said. “She seems to know more than anyone else about it.” The Green Crowbar nodded vigorously in agreement.

“That had to be very frightening.” Paulina said.

“Not really.” said Teresa. “Once we got below 10,000 feet, and the aircraft was responding to our controls, we were okay. I’m just glad it didn’t happen at a lot higher altitude, like the pro golfer Payne Stewart’s aircraft.”

“The pilot was very experienced and did a great job.” Cindy said. “And his co-pilot, that being Teresa, did a great job, too.”

“That’s scary, thinking of possibly losing both of you.” Tanya said. “I’m just glad you made it back safe. Do they know what happened yet?”

“The cargo door wasn’t properly sealed.” said Teresa. “I believe the pilot when he said it was sealed when he checked it. And there’s a warning light on the instrument panel that should have come on, but didn’t. I gave a sworn statement to that effect.”

“What time did you guys get home last night?” I asked casually, a little too casually.

“Just after midnight.” Teresa replied. “I thought we’d have to stay overnight and fly commercial, but after we gave our depositions, Eduardo Escobar brought us with him on an FBI plane.”

“I got the vibe that he really wanted to get us out of there and safely back up here.” Cindy added.

“I’m glad he was able to do that.” I said. “But if you guys need rest, take a few hours. Or go home earrrrrly.”

‘Yes, ladies, please dooooo.” drawled the Chief, “By the way, Mis-ter Crow-barrrr, I bee-lieeeeve Mr. Hull was taking cheap shots at your Wildcats, therrrrrre.”

“I agree, Chief.” I said. “And I suspect his reporting will be much less happy after next Saturday night…”

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

As we left the Chief’s Conference Room, I detected out of the corner of my eye a movement at the back door to MCD. As I stepped into the hallway, I heard an audio file being played in MCD. It was the University of Tennessee’s fight song ‘Rocky Top’, played by their band.

As Teresa and I walked into MCD, I saw that Teddy Parker, an Ole Miss graduate and big SEC fan, was playing the offending tune. “SEC rules the Wildcats, sir!” Teddy had the audacity to say loudly.

“We’ll see about that.” I said.

Teddy Parker continued to walk along the cliff’s edge (not really) by saying: “Friendly bet, sir? If Tennessee beats the Wildcats, sir, you have to sing ‘Rocky Top’ for all of us.”

“Now why would you want to punish everyone else’s ears?” Teresa said cattily with a gleam in her eyes.

I turned and ‘looked’ at her, and said in true Han Solo style: “Laugh it up, fuzzball…”

The audio began playing ‘Rocky Top’ again, and it was more than Joanne Warner could stand. She said “Turn that disgusting thing off!”

“What, not rooting for the SEC team, Joanne?” I asked the blonde beauty and Alabama fan.

“Never Auburn, and never Tennessee!” replied Joanne with alacrity. “Nothing sucks like a Big Orange!”

“I totally agree, especially this week.” I said. “Teddy, we’ll see who’s singing what after Saturday night, and if you’re still playing that audio.”

“If not, sir,” said Teddy Parker, “I’ll just save it for when Tennessee beats Alabama in October.”

“Sir!” said Joanne, “Detective Parker has lost control of his… mental faculties. Hoover High School in Alabama would give the Crimson Tide better competition than the Tennessee Volunteers will! Put him on Desk Duty, sir, until he figures it out!”

“Naah, desk duty is reserved for Commander Croyle if she ever gets another Purple Order.” I replied. “Or crashes an airplane she’s flying. I’d really be mad if she did that.” Everyone laughed, and then applause broke out for Teresa, led by Jerome Davis. Teresa took it in stride…

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

“Hello and welcome to Fox University Sunrise!” said Catrina Pierce at 8:00am from the KFXU studios. “I’m Catrina Pierce, and with me as always is Meredith Peller. Good morning, Meredith!”

“Good morning, Catrina.” said Meredith. “Good morning, everyone. Here’s what’s in the news. The Labor Day holiday is approaching, which will mark the beginning of the final push for the candidates going into the General Election on November 3rd. And as they scramble to get their messages out, candidates for both local and Statewide offices will be making public speeches at public rallies on Labor Day… except one.”

Catrina: “That’s right, Meredith. Democrat candidate for Governor Hoyt Stenson is not scheduled to make any public appearances on Labor Day. His opponent, Sharon Marshall, was quick to pounce on that. Roll tape.”

Tape rolled, showing Sharon Marshall addressing a large crowd, saying “My opponent refuses to debate me, he refuses to have live press conferences, and now he’s not even going to appear in public on Labor Day! Ask yourselves: why is Hoyt Stenson hiding in his basement? Why is Hoyt Stenson scared to debate me on an open, public stage? What is Hoyt Stenson trying to hide?”

Catrina: “Hoyt Stenson did briefly appear before reporters at the State Capitol after a Democrat strategy session, but it did not go well when he was asked about the Independent State Counsel investigation of his son and himself. Roll tape.”

Tape rolled, showing reporter Greg Wallace saying “Greg Wallace, for the State Fox Networks. Mr. Stenson, will you end your candidacy over the credible allegations that your son took bribes in exchange for getting access to you, and committed a felony by lying on his firearms purchase forms?”

“That’s all lies!” screamed Hoyt Stenson, his face red with fury and looking like he wanted to attack the reporter. “C’mon, man! That’s fake news!”

“So why is there an Independent State Counsel investigating the allegations?” yelled Keith Madden of the Town & County Examiner. Stenson didn’t get a chance to answer. His campaign people physically guided him away, and two security people confronted Keith Madden. Greg Wallace and Priya Ajmani began yelling at the security people for their clear harassment and intimidation of Madden as the video cut off.

Back to Meredith live: “And two Town & County Police Officers were involved in an emergency landing at DFW Airport…”

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

“Hoyt Stenson is off the rails.” said Teresa as my three Angels and I watched the broadcast in my office.

“Yeah.” Cindy said quietly and unhappily. “He can’t keep making those mistakes, and looking as weak as he just did.”

“I’m not saying this in a political way,” said Tanya, “but how can Hoyt Stenson and his Campaign believe he can win by hiding in his basement?” For some strange reason, all of my Angels were looking at me.

“They don’t really have a choice,” I said, “if what Sheriff Griswold believes is true, and Stenson is beginning to show signs of Alzheimers. My other answer is that they think Sharon Marshall is so unpopular that she can’t possibly win. They’re making the huge mistake of believing that others think and feel the same way they do, and they apparently have no idea just how strongly enthusiastic Conservatives are about Sharon Marshall.”

“So Greg Wallace is with the ‘State Fox Networks’?” asked Teresa. “What, is that some counter to the SNN Networks?”

“Somewhat.” Cindy said. “Priya told me that with her being hired by KFXU as their political reporter, and Keith Madden officially being with the Examiner but working with KFXU a lot, Greg Wallace was getting unhappy with his diminished role. So KFXU worked with Fox Midtown and the other Fox affiliates for Wallace to be a sort of free agent, reporting for any or all of the Fox affiliates in the State. He gets more work, he gets paid, and the Fox stations benefit, as well.”

“Blatantly changing the subject,” said Tanya, “I want to hear more about this emergency landing. I saw the initial FAA and NTSB reports, but they don’t say much yet. What happened?”

“Just what we said before in the Chief’s Conference Room.” replied Teresa. “A cargo door didn’t properly seal shut and was damaged, leading to the plane’s decompression.”

“And you think it was sabotage?” Tanya asked. “But why?”

“I do.” said Cindy. “Teresa and the pilot said in their sworn statements that the cargo door warning light did not come on. We also heard a ‘bang’ that sounded to my Police ears like an explosion, not just a sound of rending metal. Maybe a natural decompression does sound that way, and I hope to never find out from experience again, but it was strange.”

“I agree.” said Teresa. “I called my Aunt Clarissa yesterday, told her we were okay, then I suggested that she be very careful herself, just in case it wasn’t just an accident. She said she’d be fine… in the way of having taken precautions as opposed to being heedless of any danger. As to the motive… well, this whole Japanese smuggling thing with my cousin Jen Sakai may be bigger than we thought.”

“You don’t think your cousin tried to kill you, do you?” Tanya asked.

“I sure hope not.” Teresa said, halfway in a reverie.

“Okayyyy.” I said. “Let’s get to work. I need to talk to you, Commander Croyle. I’ll talk to you later, Captain Muscone. And I might speak to the Green Crowbar about lunch, but otherwise I’m getting out of her way. It’s Budget season.”

“Yes. Yes it is.” Cindy said. “And the Town Assembly is acting like the Council moved the date up to October 1st, not 31st, so they’re pushing us to get our proposals in. And I’m pretty much doing the EMS budget as well as the Police Department’s.”

As Cindy got up to go and Tanya drove out, I heard Cindy say “Why don’t you come into my office and we’ll go over the figures for the Detectives?” Tanya drove into Cindy’s office as Cindy closed my office door.

Now alone with Teresa, I said “Anything you want to tell me that you didn’t want to say in front of Tanya?”

“Uh, no sir.” Teresa said, a bit surprised. “It’s not like the Feds aren’t already all over this, and I can’t think of any secrets we’re trying to hide from them. Why? You think there’s something going on?”

I nodded as I sat back in my comfortable Command Chair, grateful for the lumbar support to my back. “Well, as Cindy got a vibe about, Eduardo Escobar was already at DFW when you landed, and he was right behind the NTSB and FAA guys. Inference: he was very interested in what happened, as he knows you and Cindy well; but more, he was there because the Feds likely were doing something at DFW, and he was making sure you didn’t interfere with that operation by accident, to the point he flew you back home.”

Teresa said “You’re right. Eduardo didn’t say a lot, but when I told him why Cindy and I had gone down to Lake Charles, he said that it fit that our presence might’ve spooked someone, who took a shot to get rid of us (air quotes) ‘just to make sure’. Eduardo said Jen Sakai is in Houston, still, and they think she’s laying low until she can get out of the country.”

“I’m stunned she isn’t in Mexico already.” I replied. “From there, it’d be a lot easier for her to get to a South American country that has good relations with Red China, and she could get a flight to China with relative ease. And from my own research… mostly asking my wife… as well as information from the Takaki clan, Jen is well trained as a spy.”

“Then… why?…” Teresa started as gears began turning in her head.

“Exactly.” I said. “My idea is that by sitting in Houston, she is causing the FBI to watch her, and therefore not watching something else that is going on. But Eduardo is no fool, and he’s a really good FBI Agent, so he’s watching that ‘something else’ that’s going on from Dallas.”

Your Iron Crowbar: “And to the point of Jen Sakai possibly trying to kill you, I’m inclined to believe against it. It would be amazingly fast for her to get wind that you were visiting her mother, then arrange for your plane to be sabotaged… a Vision plane, not a BOW plane, I’ll add. And she’s long known, at least since you visited Louisiana the first time, that you know or might learn family secrets… yet your Aunt Clarissa is still alive, you’re still alive all this time, and so forth and so on.”

Teresa said “So who sabotaged the plane? Elements of this smuggling ring that the FBI, DEA, and ATF are investigating?”

I replied “Let me answer by asking you this: who specifically was the person the saboteur trying to kill, or at least get out of the way?”

Teresa said “I’m the most logical answer.”

“Yes. You.” I replied. “And why?”

Teresa said ‘Obviously someone was worried that I learned something or know something that the saboteur doesn’t want known. But like you said, Jen has been aware of my presence for months now.”

“Yes.” I said. “So… whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. And what remains, in my mind anyway, is that someone saw or became aware of your arrival in Lake Charles, and was spooked… because you, and only you, represented a threat to that person.”

“But… who?…” Teresa started, then leaned back in her chair in a full-blown reverie…

Part 5 – Malt Musings

Information began trickling in. I went into the Intel Branch room, which sounded like an old-style newsroom, what with the tactile clicks of keyboards. Lieutenant Mary Milton was among those busy Officers typing away as she stared at her monitor screen.

“Oh! Sorry, sir, I didn’t see you come in.” Mary said as she realized I was standing next to her.

“Good, that means you’re busy.” I said. “What are you guys working on?”

“If you’ll give me five minutes, sir,” Mary said, “I’ll come to your office with a full report…”

Ten minutes later, Mary was in my office. I shut the Levelor blinds over my window, as the bright sunlight was hurting her eyes after being in the dark room for so long.

“We’re working on several things, sir.” said Mary, glancing at notes she’d quickly taken. “First, I personally have been working on the McCombs-Hatch situation, at the request of Commander Orosco of Internal Affairs. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to tell. After everything with McCombs broke out, Hatch has gone virtually dormant. He hasn’t talked to anyone on his phone, other than calling in to the Duty Desk for assignments. He’s spent no money other than for groceries, gasoline for his car, just the basics.”

Mary: “Hatch has had no inflows of money into his account other than his Police pay via direct deposit. If he’s still getting paid under the table, he may be hoarding the cash. Also, we’re tracking his movements, and since the McCombs admission to you happened, Hatch has gone nowhere but to the grocery store, the gas station nearest his home, and to work, currently at County Jail as a hallway monitor.”

Mary: “Officer Justin Hendricks is a different story. He’s been assigned to things like street-crossing duty at Sharpton Elementary, but that entails having a Patrol cruiser, and he does go on loops of the Southside before going back to 2nd Precinct Headquarters. He also stops at various convenience stores, where he buys snacks and sometimes beer. But there are no unusual inflows nor outflows into his back account.”

I said “We’re letting him have that Patrol cruiser under the concept of ‘giving him enough rope to hang himself’. He’s going to fuck up one day, and I intend to be right there to barbecue his fat ass.”

“Yes sir.” said Mary. “And in other news, we’ve wrapped up our investigation into Archie Brody. There is simply nothing there to show nor suggest he did anything but act in good faith when McCombs had him plant that device in Captain Muscone’s wheelchair. If there is more, it’ll be up to the Feds to find it… or plant it. Not the first time they’ve tried to frame someone.”

“All right, all right.” I said, knowing that both myself and Mary’s father-in-law had been previous victims of abuse at Federal hands. “Yeah, just drop that, don’t spend any more time on it. What else do you have?”

Mary said “Penny Scott, who has the security clearance, has been looking into any Town & County connections to this drug and whiskey ring, since someone possibly connected to it tried to take down Commander Ross’s plane… with Commander Croyle and Commander Ross in it. So far, Penny has found nothing on it.”

I said “Tell you what, let’s hold off on looking into that until we have more data, like the NTSB report, and more from Eduardo Escobar of the FBI. If there is a connection, we’ll hit it at the right time.”

“With respect, sir,” Mary said, “the NTSB report could take months, even years to complete…”

“That’s normally true,” I replied, “when there’s a plane crash, and pieces of the plane are everywhere and all the people are dead. In this case, it was just an emergency landing, the plane is intact, the pilots and witness alive and well. They’ve already secured video from the Lake Charles Airport, as well…”

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

Teresa invited me and Cindy to lunch at the Cop Bar. As the Sheriff and his various Department Chiefs and Sheriff’s Chief of Staff Oswald were in the ‘Command Room’, we sat at a table in the regular back room.

After ordering, Teresa said “I looked up the NTSB report on the plane crash that killed Weston Windham and his wife Tessa Bessemer Windham. Care to guess what the cause of that crash was?”

“Decompression of the cabin, after a cargo door wasn’t secured properly?” Cindy astutely guessed.

“I’d say… explosive decompression.” I said.

“As usual, nothing gets past you, sir.” Teresa replied. “You’re both right. Let me first give you some background. I checked into the Payne Stewart plane crash. It occurred on October 25th, 1999. The plane, which was a good bit like the Vision plane we were in, took off from Orlando, headed for Love Field in Dallas. It climbed to over 36,000 feet when radio contact was lost. And instead of turning west, it continued flying straight, which was northwest.”

Teresa: “Fighter jets that were scrambled to intercept the plane and check it out reported that the windows were dark or frosted, and they could not see inside. They also reported seeing no external damage on the plane. The plane finally ran out of fuel and crashed in South Dakota at nearly Mach 1. The plane totally disintegrated, so the NTSB couldn’t figure out exactly why the plane suffered decompression. One thing that came out of that crash was that the emergency instructions were changed to masking first, then figure out what went wrong, which we did on our aircraft.”

Teresa: “There was another incident, involving a Boeing 737 jet belonging to Helios Airways in Europe in 2005. The plane took off from Cyprus, bound for Athens and then Prague. There had been a test of a cargo door, and the auto pressurization was not reset properly. The plane decompressed, and everyone fell unconscious. One flight attendant, named Andreas, was able to get into the cockpit and tried to save the plane, but he was unable to, and it crashed.”

Teresa: “On June 12th, 1972, American Airlines Flight 96 from Detroit to Buffalo, a DC-10 aircraft, suffered decompression and near-fatal loss of rudder and an engine, but the pilots were able to land the plane, and no one died. The accident happened because a cargo door that appeared to be secured actually wasn’t. A part of that design flaw was that the cargo door warning light didn’t activate, either. On March 3d, 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981 from Paris to London, also in a DC-10, suffered the same cargo door blowout, and they were not so lucky; the plane crashed with the loss of all aboard.”

Teresa: “Newer planes have better safety features to ensure cargo doors are properly secured, and for the damage to be minimized even if they do blow out, as well as for the aircraft controls to not be damaged so easily. And that brings us to Weston Windham’s accident. That plane took off from Lake Charles, bound for Nashville, Tennessee. It ascended to 36,000 feet, then dove to the ground and impacted at high speed in the Delta National Forest, just north of Vicksburg, Mississippi.”

Teresa: “The NTSB determined that the plane had decompressed, and the co-pilot was found to have collapsed onto the controls, which put the plane into the dive so it didn’t just fly on until it ran out of gas. Like Payne Stewart’s plane, Weston’s plane disintegrated on impact, so they never found the exact cause of the decompression.”

Teresa: “But there were two notes in the NTSB report of Weston’s crash: someone noticed that a piece of the fuselage had strange burn marks that were not really consistent with a plane on fire or the fuel exploding. He had it analyzed, and there were traces of mercury fulminate.”

“Ahhhh.” I said in a falsetto voice. Then I said in a normal voice: “Just to ‘mansplain’ and as a teachable moment, the fulminate ion is a carbon-nitrogen triple bond with an oxygen attached to the nitrogen, which is the unstable part. As you know, many nitrogen compounds are explosively unstable. As an interesting side note, at least to me: silver fulminate and silver cyanate have different properties but the same chemical structure.”

Teresa said “Yes sir. The second piece of data was that someone had called into the airport and said there was a bomb on the plane. But it was too late; by the time that message was relayed, the plane had taken off and had already crashed. That and the fulminate discovery led the NTSB to bring in the FBI on account of the possibility of a malicious act that brought the plane down. But the FBI closed their investigation rather quickly, with no resolution of the case. Don… Don?”

I was in a reverie, looking at the ceiling. “So they knew then…” I said to myself, then woke up and realized I was not alone in the room.

“Who knew what when?” Cindy asked.

“The FBI knew Weston Windham’s plane was taken down by an act of sabotage.” I said, my voice still far away. “And Eduardo was right there at DFW…”

“You don’t think the FBI had anything to do with either sabotage, do you?” Cindy asked, her voice connoting her disbelief.

“Oh, no… no, no, no, nothing like that.” I said. “My thesis, admittedly with very little data, is that the FBI was on the lookout for possible plane sabotage, at either DFW in Dallas or George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston… and trying to prevent a catastrophe.”

“What catastrophe?” Cindy asked.

“Teresa,” I said, “if I’m right, then Jen Sakai was not trying to kill you. Someone intended to kill either her or someone else, and only went after you at the last minute. And all that leads me to the deduction that the FBI is trying to turn Jen Sakai, and get her to defect back to the US.”

“Oh, wowwww…..” Teresa whispered. “That explains why she hasn’t left Houston yet…maybe she’s already agreed to turn.”

“But isn’t she in Houston?” Cindy asked. “Certainly she’s not in Lake Charles, nor is the FBI… that I could see, anyway. And…” She suddenly stopped, then took a bite of her food.

“And… what?” Teresa asked.

“No. It’s nothing.” Cindy said. “Just me being a blonde airhead again…”

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

When we got back to Headquarters, Teresa peeled off and went to her office. As I went into my office, I saw Tanya sitting in Cindy’s office, working on something. “Come on into my office.” I said to Cindy. She followed me in, and I shut the door and we sat down.

“You are a blonde, but you are not an airhead.” I said. “I’m getting a ‘vibe’ that the thought you had that you wouldn’t say out loud… is that you were wondering if Teresa’s Aunt Clarissa might be behind all this.”

“And now we know from where Carole inherits her mind-reading powers.” Cindy replied.

“Oh, I’m nowhere near you nor Carole in your powers of the mind.” I said. “But yes, it does logically hold that Clarissa would potentially have motive, means, and opportunity to protect her family interests, and her financial assets, by taking out Jen Sakai and even luring Teresa down to arrange for that plane accident on the way back home.”

Cindy said: “It struck me that Clarissa could have known all about Easton and Teresa being married, and about Jack Burke. She also could have been behind Weston and Tessa’s plane crash. On the flip side of that is my vibe: I got nothing from Clarissa except genuine surprise when she connected the dots about Teresa, Todd, Jack, and Easton. If she could fake that, and so cold-bloodedly kill members of her family, then she’s far more formidable than I’ve given her credit for.”

I said “Yes, it’s something we have to consider, but there are some things in favor of Clarissa being one of the good guys, too. For example, if she’s smart and cold-blooded enough to do all that, then she’s smart enough to figure out she doesn’t need to lure Teresa down to Louisiana to kill her… she could have that done up here, and nowhere near her, Clarissa. Likewise, if she wanted her daughter Jen dead, Jen would’ve been dead a long time ago.”

Cindy said “Still, the data we have does support the theory, or at least doesn’t rule it out. Ditto that for Jen being the possible assassin.”

“Or other possible theories.” I said. “And one very obvious suspect.”

“Who?” Cindy said. “I don’t see anyone else.”

“Don’t you?” I said cryptically. “Oh, and one more thing. If Clarissa is not the bad guy in this, why did she have Teresa go down there to see her? In spite of her protestations, she could have emailed or texted the photos of Weston Windham.”

“You’re just strengthening my case for me.” Cindy said.

“Am I?” I replied. “Well, I don’t insist upon it. Okay, I need to speak with Commander Croyle, and borrow her Police iPhone to download those photos…”

Part 5 – The Whiskey Dictionary

“This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!” shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Thursday, September 3rd, from the roof of the building at Riverside and College. “Divisions within both Parties grow as the races heat up!”

Bettina began: “Channel Two News has learned that Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Ruby Russell, daughter of the late Senator Samuel Russell, turned down offers to appear at campaign appearances with Sharon Marshall, the Republican candidate for Governor. Sources tell Channel Two News that Ms. Russell does not want to be associated with the racist White Nationalism of Sharon Marshall and deeply unpopular Val Jared.”

Bettina: “Ms. Russell is ten points behind State Senator Corey Coons in the Lieutenant Governor race. The Russell campaign is planning a series of ads as well as public appearances to boost their sagging poll numbers, and sources tell Channel Two News that the ads will focus on the contrast between Ms. Russell’s ‘compassionate Conservatism’ positions and Senator Coons’s positions promoting Critical Race Theory being taught in our schools, and defunding the Police..”

Bettina then smiled brightly as she said “And Channel Two News has been informed that Senator Corey Coons will be in our Town & County on Labor Day! He will be making appearances with candidate for Mayor Eldrick X. Weaver, who many say was defrauded of his rightful win in the previous Mayoral race. Senator Coons will also be calling for the ridiculous, racist charges against Breonna Bryant to be dropped…”

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

“Corey Coons wants to defund the Police, yet his Campaign has demanded Police protection during his visit here next Monday.” said Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle witheringly as she, Commander Cindy Ross, ADA Paulina Patterson, Sheriff Griswold and Your Iron Crowbar drank coffee in my office.

“And what are you going to do?” Cindy asked.

Teresa replied “I’ve had very little trouble getting Officers to volunteer to work Monday, seeing as they’ll be getting double time. We have to have a large contingent for the rally at The Fairgrounds hosted by Mayor Allgood, as the Intel Branch tells me they’ve gotten wind of agitators planning to protest there, possibly violently. But I told the Coons Campaign that we’d give them some extra security beyond what we were normally going to provide for Weaver.”

“It’d be nice if all those agitators would just go cheer for Senator Coons and Mr. Weaver,” said Cindy, “instead of creating a scene and getting arrested interfering with the Mayor’s rally.”

I said “I heard that that’s why Coons decided to come up here. Black violence has helped the Conservative law-and-order candidates, which is why KXTC and the SNN Networks aren’t covering the violence anymore. He’s hoping to draw agitators to peacefully support his appearance and Weaver’s campaign.”

“What about Ruby Russell’s campaign?” asked Paulina. “Sharon Marshall is wiping the floor with Hoyt Stenson in the polls right now. Isn’t Ruby’s only shot to win is to run alongside Ms. Marshall?”

“You’d think so.” growled Sheriff Griswold, “but the Establishment Elitist Republicans hate true Conservatives more than they dislike Democrats. Ruby Russell would rather lose to Coons than work with Sharon Marshall.”

“That’s stupid.” said Teresa. “Ruby is cutting off her nose to spite her face, so to speak.”

I said “Ruby and her Campaign truly believe that if they run ads contrasting Establishment Republican pro-Illegal-Immigration ‘compassion’ (air quotes) and a pro-business, tax-cutting agenda against Corey Coons’s far-Left agenda, she’ll win the race.”

“Like Ms. Croyle said, that’s stupid.”growled the Sheriff. “And it’s not like you didn’t tell them that that won’t work, Don.” (Author’s note: ‘Sugar and Spice’, Ch. 03.)

“I give, and I give, and I give.” I said with mock sadness, making everyone chuckle.

I continued: “But in one way, I’m glad Ruby Russell turned down Sharon Marshall’s generous offer to campaign together. Marshall’s campaign, which is killing Hoyt Stenson right now, might really have taken a hit by associating with Russell. And Sharon Marshall can’t save Ruby Russell, either.”

Just then the door to my office opened. “Good morning, everyone.” said Chief Sean Moynahan. “The local chapter of the FBI has requested a meee-tinnng with us. I’ve invited them to join us in Classroom ‘E’, and they’ll be here at 9:00 a.mmmm….”

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

Just before 9:00am, we all went into Classroom ‘E’ to get the best seats before the Feds got there. The Sheriff, Police Chief, Deputy Chief, Police Commander, Operations Commander, Captain of Detectives, MCD and Vice Lieutenants, and Detectives Julia Rodriguez and Joanne Warner, who had security clearances, were present.

As Captain Tanya Muscone drove in in her wheelchair, she looked around and said “Where’s Mary Milton?” The room went silent. Blood transfusions were needed, as my stare at Tanya was more than enough to freeze blood… everyone in the room’s blood.

Chief Moynahan rescued Tanya by saying “She’s ex-cuuussssed, Captain. Let’s just worry about who is heeeeere.”

A moment later, the Federal Agents arrived. I was not surprised that Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone arrived, nor was I surprised that he barely said hello to anyone and definitely not to me. He sat down next to Tanya.

Also coming in were FBI EAD Owen Lange, FBI Assistant Special Agent In Charge Karina White, DEA Supervisory Special Agent Dwight Stevens, FBI Supervisory Special Agents Melina Allgood and Eduardo Escobar, DEA Special Agent Juan Alberto Morales, FBI Special Agent Tim Jenkins, and a woman I did not know. I need not add that Cindy’s ice blue eyes lit up upon seeing Tim Jenkins, and she made room for him to sit next to her.

Karina White said “For those who have not met her yet, this is ATF Agent Nancy Harding. I’ve known her a long time, and she’s a very good Agent.” Nancy Harding was dark haired, and her ‘big boned’ but not fat body reminded me of former TCPD Detective Gayle Tunnin.

“Hi, Agent Harding!” we all said in unison.

“I can see that this is going to be a fun group to work with.” Nancy Harding said.

“Nice to meet yooooo, Ms. Harding.” said Chief Moynahan. “O-kayyyy, let’s get started. Mr. EAD?”

“Go ahead, Karina.” Owen Lange said. Karina White called upon Eduardo Escobar to give a report on the plane incident.

Eduardo said “The NTSB sends what they call a ‘go team’ as the first response to a transportation accident, be it aircraft or trains, or even Government vehicles if the situation warrants. They’ve already released their initial findings for Vision Flight 29.”

Eduardo: “Two places of sabotage were found. First, the cargo door’s locking mechanism was rigged so that it didn’t set off the warning light in the cockpit, but it wasn’t completely secure. And second, the remnants of a small explosive device was found. It caused the incompletely secured cargo door to blow open, and also blew out a safety ventilation screen that normally keeps the passenger cabin from being decompressed if the hold decompresses. That caused the cabin and cockpit to decompress.”

Eduardo: “The explosive device, believed to be a fulminate compound though we haven’t gotten lab confirmation yet, was designed to damage itself when it exploded. We’ve found remnants, and it looks like there was a timer that set it off——”

I raised my hand, then said “Is it possible that it was an altimeter that set it off?”

Eduardo said ‘They’re still analyzing it, as it was badly damaged by the explosion. But the face of it could possibly be an altimeter instead of a clock face timer. Why do you think it might be an altimeter?”

I replied “It would just makes more sense if it was. For example, if there was any delay in the aircraft taking off, a timer might go off while the plane is still on the ground. Also, the idea would be to blow the cargo door when the aircraft reaches an altitude above 10,000 feet, whereupon hypoxia could set in and knock out the crew. A timer can’t guarantee that like an altimeter could.”

“My only counter to that, sir,” said Teresa, “is that the explosion happened at about 12,000 feet. It would’ve been much worse for us if it had exploded when we got to 28,000 feet or more.”

“You’re right, it would have.” I said. “So what does it infer that it went off at 12,000 feet especially if it was meant to go off at that altitude?”

“We don’t even know for sure yet that it was an altimeter and not a timer.” said Jack Muscone.

“No, we don’t.” I said. “But work with me and let’s use our imaginations a bit. If it was an altimeter… and I think that’ll be found to be the case… and if it was indeed set for 12,000 feet, what does that tell you?”

“Oh, I get it.” said Julia Rodriguez. “It says that whoever set the device may not have been trying to guarantee the deaths of the occupants. If they do die, well and good for the perp. But if not, they’re diverted to an emergency landing.”

“Exactly.” I said. “Good job, Julia.” As murmurs began cropping up, I continued: “Yes, it has occurred to me that Commander Croyle here was the target, but the perp did not necessarily want her death… but just to distract her and waylay her. And it worked.”

“You just made the mystery bigger,” said Cindy Ross, “unless you know something we don’t, and you’re holding it back.”

“You’ve seen everything I have.” I replied. “Even more, in fact.”

EAD Owen Lange said “Your hypothesis is interesting, Commander, and doesn’t disagree with what we know to be going on. And I’m sure you’ve figured out a lot of it out already.”

I said “Yes sir. Neither my Angels nor myself failed to notice how quickly Agent Escobar arrived at DFW Airport, suggesting he was already on the scene. I’d be stunned if he knew in advance that Teresa and Cindy had gone to Louisiana, as it was a sudden, last-minute thing. And of course, their plane might’ve landed at Love Field or other airports in eastern Texas instead of DFW.”

I continued: “Soooo, we’ve accidentally intruded upon a Federal operation and stepped on your toes. I’m guessing that Eduardo’s wife Rosalyn was at George Bush Airport in Houston, doing similar things to what Eduardo was doing in Dallas, and that she’s running the continuing operation down there while you’re up here, Eduardo.”

“Good grief.” ATF Agent Nancy Harding gasped. She was not used to me yet, obviously. Eduardo was; he just smiled and kept listening.

“As to what the operation is,” I said, “I have no idea, and it could be any of several things. I do suspect it involves Jen Esterson Sakai, who is Teresa’s newfound cousin and also the ex-wife of known Red Chinese spy Hideo Sakai. And I’ll just stop talking now, lest I get myself in trouble.”

“Too late!” said a chorus of TCPD Officers and Federal Agents. Sheriff Griswold laughed merrily at that.

“Oh, don’t stop now.” growled EAD Owen Lange.

“I’ll just ask this, and then say no more about it.” I replied. “Does Ichimoku Industries have a plane similar to the one owned by The Vision that carried Teresa and Cindy to Louisiana?” EAD Owen Lange rolled his eyes, probably regretting having asked me to continue.

“It’s a bit bigger, but to answer your question, yes.” said Karina White. “And it’s still at Love Field in Dallas.”

“Decoy?” asked Teresa, who was catching on. Karina nodded.

“But no way the perps mistook that plane for the Vision plane.” Tim Jenkins said skeptically.

“No, they didn’t.” I replied. “But the point is that they were ready to sabotage an airplane. And for some reason, they diverted to Lake Charles to sabotage Teresa’s plane rather than continue with their plan to sabotage the Ichimoku Industries aircraft.”

EAD Owen Lange said “I know that a lot of you are not seeing the gaps here that the Iron Crowbar has clearly worked through. So Dwight, why don’t you give us your report now.”

“Yes sir.” said Dwight Stevens. “As you know, after the attempt to kidnap Todd Burke, the FBI began seriously investigating Jen Sakai. That led to the discovery of s drug and alcohol smuggling ring being run by the Yakuza, the transnational organized crime ring originating and still centrally based in Japan, which led to this joint DEA/ATF/FBI task force.”

Stevens: “The Yakuza has traditionally left Takaki Misaki, the head of Japanese Intelligence, and his family alone, somewhat out of respect for what the Takaki are doing for Emperor and Country, but also because they don’t want the retribution that would follow. The only thing worse for them would be to attack the Japanese Imperial Family itself.”

Stevens: “However, that recently changed as we began following the links of the chain of this smuggling ring. We’ve found that it’s much larger and more sophisticated than we originally thought… and that if we can truly bust it, we’ll make a huge, if not fatal dent in their operations in North and Central America. This ring is almost as sophisticated as what Henry Wargrave had set up to run arms, and Elizabeth—— Don’s sister, had going in Europe for a while.”