JUSTICE REBORN (A Charlie Taylor Novel Book 1) (16 page)

CHAPTER 22: Charlie’s Log: concern

Every week or two, my brother, Sam, visits
for breakfast.

We finish the main course and are enjoying
a coffee at my kitchen island counter. Herbie, Sam’s dog, lounges at my feet,
hoping I’ll have a spare piece of bacon or toast, anything will do; he loves my
cooking. He’s a mixed breed and, although a large dog, is a gentle creature.

I’m getting a little hot. “Jesus. You’re a
clinical psychologist, certified or whatever, surely you can provide a little
assistance.”

Sam hesitates; we have been down this road
before.  “There are numerous reasons why I’m not the best person; the main one,
of course, is I’m your brother and too close to be objective. But since you
persist I’ll give you two essential truths which will save your life. First,
have one beer, then stop because I know blackouts aren’t stopping; second,
chase the red head, I mean actually chase her and be nice.”

I smile, thinking Sam will eventually fold.
“I won’t even tell you how I screwed up with Red and burnt every bridge which
might have existed. So forget that path and listen to me. This is stupid stuff,
and I’m just asking for your opinion, no head shrink shit. Alright?”

 “Bring it on, you stubborn bastard and by
the way, I know about the spring party.”

“Forget the bloody dance. My promotion means
more contact with the Judge’s Board, and regular mixing with senior staff, like
Doug Brewster and Jacob Konahouse.  I will have to attend some of the weekly
meetings, reporting and taking questions from Division Heads or their
specialists. Senior staff often attend and are expected to participate with
probing questions and opinions.

Anyway, my concern is the amount of
additional exposure to all these people when I prefer to minimize contact.
These exchanges mean stress and you know what happens to my vocabulary and
temper when I have to deal with self-serving questions.”

I pause to give Sam some time which he
doesn’t need; it helps if you have a thorough understanding of your patient and
grown up with him. “Let me guess. You’ve allowed the feud with Jacob to fester.
This is ridiculous: two adults at odds because of an incident dating back to
high school.”

“OK true. But I also hear Doug Brewster has
his sights set on my ass.”

“Is there anyone on the Board that you’ve
not pissed off? You insult the Judge yet?”

“No, I think the Judge likes me. Not sure
about Dr. Kate and Uncle Willie. I have to..”

Sam interrupts. “Slow down, you haven’t
even attended a meeting.

To summarize you’re worried one of these
senior staff members will take a run at you and you’ll respond like a pit bull.
I suggest you let it play out and see what transpires. Unfortunately, I think
you’re right a smart individual who knows you can set it up. His best strategy
will be to trigger a hostile exchange to diminish your status and position, to
demonstrate your presence at Board meetings is not appropriate.

You’ll be alright when you’re giving a
report which you have prepared and are in control; the problems will occur when
the questions and the give-and-take start. Here you had best remember your
breathing routines and take your time in responding. Don’t rush, it may feel
like hours, but it’s only a few seconds delay and you can regain composure.
Don’t react, don’t jump.

OK?  Let’s go at this again after the first
couple of meetings. Just don’t react, when you perceive a threat or insult.
Play statute, be still. Play statue.”

“Alright, alright. I don’t like any of
this, but I want to stay in Homicide and out of Records, so I have no choice
but to attend the damn meetings. Thanks Sam.”

Sam is rather economical with words. He
says he gets paid to listen.  “No problem brother, and shouldn’t you be running
to your first Board meeting?”

“The Judge’s assistant called and said the
meeting was canceled until further notice. This is strange; the Judge keeps
canceling meetings. You know there doesn’t seem to be time to think. Today
there are twists, subtleties and nuances which almost have me spinning. If I
ever fall off the wagon, I will be gone for a long time.”

Sam doesn’t understand what I am talking
about, and I don’t explain. I don’t tell him about a cop as a possible serial
killer, about my suspicions that the Chief is trying to set me up for a fall,
or about the wild rumors the Interrogations have failed. Sam laughs, gives me a
hug and then is out the door, Herbie at his heels. 

These goddamn Board meetings, on and then
off, then a canceled emergency session. Stir in grave doubts about the
Interrogations, combine all this with my two serial killers and I feel like I’m
breaking the speed limit on the freeway and chaos has just merged in from the
on-ramp, a potential collision at any moment. This last sentence is my attempt
to avoid some more basic terms like shit and fan.

                                                    
# # #

I’m up and pacing at 2:00 am in the
morning.

We’ve very little on that bastard
rapist/killer. Karen and I both know it’s only a question of time before his
next strike. He won’t stop. We’ve issued a warning to the public, but earlier
in the evening I cruised some of the target neighborhoods, the hot spots. From
what I saw it appears our warnings are being ignored. The streets were busy,
many girls on their own, looking for adventure, easy pickings for a psychopath.

I feel I’m not much help to Karen. Does it
mean we have to wait for one more rape/killing and hope he makes a mistake or
is spotted? A helluva way to solve a case.

Jesus, the house is empty, only the hum of
the refrigerator for company.

I’m nervous. I can feel a tremor in my
hands. My imagination?

Finally, I get to attend a Board meeting.
And just my luck I run into Jacob Konahouse, head of the Prisons Division. He’s
a nasty mouth, and he starts on me immediately.

 “Charlie….Charlie.  World famous detective
and shit disturber. Hope you can behave yourself for a solid hour, and don’t
embarrass your Chief.”

I know what Jacob is hoping, and it isn’t
for my good fortune. I give him a shot.  “Jesus, Jake, you’re out. I see the
hospital reinstated day parole. You must’ve been a good boy. It’s always nice
when they let sex offenders out for a few hours. Just remember to take your
meds.”

He ignores me and goes to his seat. The
Chief sees me in the doorway, waves and points to a chair next to him. It’s a
large rectangular room, arranged to accommodate the four Divisions with chairs
and tables for all in attendance. The front is reserved for the Judge and his
assistant. There is an emergency exit at the side and a series of large windows
filling the east wall. The other walls are covered with some type of wood
paneling, elegant, impressive, an intimidating scenario.

The Judge and the Division Heads are all
comfortable with each other, the rapport obvious, the Judge first welcoming all
the seconds and deputies who are in attendance. I try not to look over at Emma,
who is with Dr. Kate. Since our rather hostile discussion at the Chinese
supper, I have learned something else about Emma. Her empathy for the less
fortunate runs deep, and she is quick to take umbrage with comments which
exhibit a hostile or unsympathetic attitude toward the underdog. Her stance is
often seen as naïve and not realistic for a professional in the modern world.

I scan the room one more time, nodding my
head to acknowledge people. I know everyone but have never seen them perform in
front of the Judge. There is Doug.  I’m sure he remembers the time I almost
grabbed the pipe out of his mouth; the guy is smart but is always calculating
the next move in his career.

And of course, there is Jake. Jacob as he
likes to be called.

We have a long belligerent history. Money
and ambition rule his life; law and order are only a means to an end. He has
built an extensive political network. A persistent rumor is: the Judge never
selected him, but he was forced on to the Board by the political masters.

 Next, is my boss, Chief Duncan, who
promoted me for some strange reason, well maybe not that mysterious.  He likes
rules and order; he would have had a great career in the military where life
revolves around a solid core of regulations for all occasions. The Chief does
have a fierce temper, most of the time under control.

 The last Division Head is Dr. Kate. She’s
a great looking lady and possibly the hardest worker of the lot. I think she’s
the star of this group; she has worked long hours to get her team ready and
thoroughly familiar with the tools and chemistry of all three Interrogations.
On occasion, I encounter low-grade gossip:  Kate and the Judge used to play
house, but if true it must have been many years ago.

 This could be a creepy meeting. Hope I’m
not asked to report.

The Judge is in control. He doesn’t waste
any time with small talk. “I called this special meeting and requested other
senior personnel attend because we have important issues to deal with this
morning. First, I want to address the problem we encountered at the last
meeting and will ask Dr. Kate to report on the situation. Kate, please proceed.
And, for reasons which will become obvious I am declaring a Condition
Confidential for this meeting.”

“Thanks Judge, during the White Rock Prison
project we encountered some cases of multiple memory pockets for the same
event. The concern was: possibly the brain was not capturing the event as it
occurred but was interpreting events and logging any number of different
versions. Another theory was:  when individuals relived or remembered the
event, they unconsciously modified their memory. If either theory were correct,
it would destroy the base of our reformed justice system.

We have finished our analysis of all the
White Rock data and confirmed for some events, or points in a person’s history,
multiple copies of memory streams do exist. Comparisons were conducted to
determine if the copies were duplicates or different versions of the same
event.  Fortunately, we discovered existing software to do the bulk of the
comparisons but for a couple of brutal crimes we also conducted a manual frame
by frame comparison. After an extensive review, I am pleased to announce that
the multiples are true duplicates. By this I mean the sequence of events, the
individuals, the action, in other words everything of significance, are the
same in all the memory streams.

 The differences are entirely irrelevant;
the differences are inconsequential, minor variations such as a switch to a
black and white stream, some unusually lighting or shading or images morphed
into sepia monochrome. We have no idea why this is happening or why there are
duplicates. All questions for the future. More food for the next research
project. Bottom line: S3 interrogation is a valid test of guilt or innocence.”

I look at the Judge; he’s trying to
suppress a smile. I’m sure she briefed him before the meeting, but with this
announcement it is understandable he is having trouble with his composure. I 
wondered if he and Kate ever did get it on; there certainly seems to be
something special between them, but then maybe I’m sex-deprived or
beer-deprived or both, a case of faulty judgment.

The Judge interrupts.  “Kate since many
people in the room aren’t scientists may be you could provide a short
explanation of how the duplicates impacted the 45 minute limit of the memory
scanning.”

“Yes, I was about to get to the second
problem. The duplicates were causing Sector 13 to exceed the 45 minute limit
for a number of the convicts. In the problem cases, after a probe was
repositioned a copy might appear on the monitors. The screen was displaying an
event that Watchers had already viewed; both the Watchers and the Scanners were
confused.

The Scanners scrambled to make adjustments
because they thought the scanning mechanisms had malfunctioned and the Watchers
were confused, thinking they had provided the wrong instruction to the
technician.  It might not sound like much but when many of these duplicate
packets were encountered it quickly added up. And 15 to 20 extra minutes are
too much, particularly for a difficult search.

These duplicate packets surface during the
final stages of Dr. Armstrong’s pioneer work but were deemed an operator error
or equipment limits. The solution: software to analyze each memory stream
before it displayed. If any packet proved to be the same as a previous flow, it
was discarded. 

When Sector 13 started at White Rock
Prison, a redesigned scanner, which used a computer to control the movement and
position of the probe, went into operation. Since operator error was
eliminated, the software filter was not installed on the new scanners. And, of
course, the duplicates started to reappear and cause all the confusion for
Sector 13.

Emma has been able to install the filtering
software into the redesigned scanner. This means we will be using the software,
which over the years has been maintained and upgraded, to stop the duplicates
from appearing. We’ll still dump these memory pockets to archives in case there
are ever any future challenges; however, I’m extremely pleased to say: Fort
Green death row can be scheduled for interrogation.”

A standing ovation from the crowd, except
for those of us who were never aware of the problem existed. The Judge is in a
hurry and pushing.

“Thanks Kate, excellent and you know what a
relief all this is for us. I’m going to ask the rest of you to hold any
questions until the end of the meeting. We have to move on. I apologize for
this abrupt shift. More drama is not what we need but there is no alternative.
We have a situation which has the potential to explode on us. To repeat, this
issue has the potential to severely shake the system.

 I will start this explanation, and Doug can
finish as required. About a week ago, Dr. Grovernor, CEO of Allied Scientific,
requested a meeting.   I know Dr. Grovernor from various charities and similar
event, but we are not friends. Given all our problems I was not anxious for a
meeting, with no particular purpose; however, considering his position in the
community, I decided to honor his request.

A furious Dr. Grovernor demanded immediate
action. The reason for his anger: his 15-year-old daughter’s relationship with
a man. Grovernor claims the seduction occurred when she was 14 years old, and,
therefore, is statutory rape. His high profile family will ensure this will
dominate the news for weeks.

He continued and the accusation exploded.
The reason: Dr. Max Armstrong is the accused rapist, our Nobel Peace Prize
winner, designer of the various interrogation drugs and protocols we are
currently using.”

There is shuffling and a variety of sounds
coming from around the room, as people try to absorb the accusation. Jacob is
the first to speak.  “Judge, we can see this will be a bit of a nightmare, but
we should acknowledge celebrities are always getting into trouble and within a
few months the press is going after someone else. I don’t understand why this
is an agenda item for an emergency meeting.

Surely this will blow up and then die down
and as long as Dr. Max expresses his regret and behaves, it should be out of
the public mind rather quickly. The good Dr. Max already has a reputation of
chasing many skirts at the same time.”

The Judge looked over at Doug Brewster,
head of the Legal Division, and Doug started. “Yes, I concur with your
analysis; however, as we researched all the parties and their backgrounds,
details surfaced which make this significantly more complicated.

 First, when Dr. Max was in Grade XII, and
legally an adult, he connected with a 14-year-old girl, and they had sex on a
regular basis. The girl didn’t complain, but her parents laid the charge. The
presiding judge was very sympathetic. Max already had his university
scholarship, without a doubt the best student in the district. The girl was
very mature, in every sense, and was very much on Max’s side. The future Ph.D.
got off with community service and a stern warning.

 Throughout his university career Max
chased, and caught many girls. One summer when he was finishing up his Ph.D.
thesis, he earned extra money by working for one the chemistry profs. The job
included mostly lab work and that’s where Max was when the tour group arrived.

The touring crop consisted of numerous
graduated grade 12 students; the intent was to provide early orientation about
life on the campus, the location of the parking lots, the use of various
buildings, and all the rest. Love or lust discovered one tall blond prospective
student and Max. And soon they were engaged in many sexual romps.

It appears Max is unlucky in love. Although
mature and sexy, the tall blond had never seen the inside of a grade 12
classroom. This girl, only a grade nine student, had been allowed to tag along
with her sister. When Max found out, he backed away as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, the young teenager loved and missed Max, the result a teary
confession to her mother.

A different judge heard this case.
Fortunately, a man was known to be tolerant and lenient.  Max already won
almost every academic prize the university offered and apparently slated for a
brilliant career. The girl’s family admitted they allowed her to masquerade as
a grade 12 graduate, and, again, the girl pleaded for Max and stressed her part
in the romp. The legal system exercised its wisdom and Max returned to
community service for statuary rape.”

Most people in the room were beginning to
understand where this was going and why a Condition Confidential had been
declared at the beginning of the meeting.

“Under our existing legislation you all
know about the escalating punishment for repeat offenders, in particular, those
dealing with sex and minors. All previous convictions, regardless of the
penalty imposed and regardless of when they occurred, are counted. This means
Dr. Max is a classified as a repeat offender of sex crimes with a minor. And,
if found guilty of the statuary rape of the Grovernor girl, this will be his
third conviction.

He is not a routine repeat offender. Sex with
minor means one less chance to rehabilitate. The death sentence is mandatory
for the third offense. This is the reason Dr. Max was excluded from Kate’s
research on the duplicates.”

The entire room is in shock, too much to
absorb, the implications profound. I’m aware of Dr. Max’s reputation with women
but this one is hard to believe. My mind is spinning and I think: we are
looking at the possibility of the death sentence for a Nobel Peace Prize
winner, an international celebrity.

Jesus Christ.