The Franklin Castle - Chapter 10

Table of Contents
Floor Plan






Chapter 10

Jennifer Penland, of NBC affiliate WKYC TV Channel 3 Cleveland, looked into her compact mirror and touched up her make-up and lipstick. She teased her dark hair and raised the curls higher from her head.

She angled the small mirror and looked around the room at the cast of odd characters the station assigned her to interview this evening. Two groups of people who detested each other made for fun drama if she played them off each other properly. If she managed to get the leaders of the two groups on camera together, maybe fireworks would erupt.

Jennifer planned her interview techniques in her mind as she studied the people. A make-up artist motioned for Dr. Fran to sit at her stool. He sat with his back to Sir Nolan, the corners of his mouth turned down in a prominent inverted U, and his arms across his chest in a defiant pose. Sir Nolan remained upbeat after his make-up was finished. He moved around the room, his cape swiped in the air with each sharp turn as he conversed with each crewmember. When Jennifer announced her plan to give Dr. Fran and Sir Nolan equal time on camera, Dr. Fran argued the point with red-faced fury and Sir Nolan accepted the news with upbeat positivity.

“Just act natural,” she said. “This will be a fun piece for the viewers. So, we want you to be lighthearted. People love scary stuff. Have fun. We’ll probably air this during Halloween. Ditch the t-shirts, wear something warm, and make it look like its fall. I’d like to get different perspectives here. I want to talk to the homeowner so viewers understand why he called two teams of experts.”

Dr. Fran rolled his eyes.

“I want to talk to both teams,” she said. “Not just the leaders, but also various members. I’m fascinated by the skills they all bring, and so will the audiences.”

Jennifer turned and looked at Ashley. “I would love to talk to you on the air, young lady. I’d love to know what you are doing here this weekend.”

Dr. Dunbar answered. “She’s not part of the team. She’s just along because I couldn’t leave her at home.”

Jennifer ignored him. “I would like to talk to you anyway. It might be a nice angle on the piece to get the insights of a teenager. You know, ask if you believe in ghosts. Have you ever seen one? Do you accept psychics as real? And other things like that. And it doesn’t hurt you’re very pretty.”

“She doesn’t have any qualifications to talk about this,” Dr. Dunbar said.

“Have you ever seen a ghost?” Jennifer asked him.

“No,” Dr. Dunbar said.

“Then she can’t be less qualified than you in the television viewers minds,” Jennifer snipped. She turned back to Ashley. “What do you say?”

“I’d love to,” Ashley said. Her father scowled and approached Jennifer, who turned and left the room.

***

The interviews took several hours. Dr. Fran taped his interview first. Jennifer used her interrogation skills with questions designed to stroke Dr. Fran’s ego. The strategy worked as he relaxed and started to enjoy himself. Next, she brought Sir Nolan together with Dr. Fran. Jennifer knew Sir Nolan posed an easy interview regardless of the time, and since Dr. Fran’s mood improved during her interview, Jennifer discerned it was the best time to conduct the joint interview.

The joint interview went as well as expected. Dr. Fran’s good mood allowed some good-natured ribbing between the two initially, and then fireworks erupted. The two men agreed on nothing other than the fact that Archer Ryan invited both teams to the house for the weekend to research without the others knowledge. Dr. Fran viewed the situation as an insult and an affront to his reputation. Sir Nolan viewed it as an opportunity to substantiate the worth of his team.

The discussion eroded into shouts on the topic of photographs of orbs. The cameras stopped several times to calm down the two men. The interview ended after a heated debate about the validity of EVP recordings when Dr. Fran peeled off his microphone and threw it to the ground.

Jennifer calmed Dr. Fran as they strolled down the hallway out of the dining room. She asked him about his team and the best order to interview them. They walked into the parlor where Terry sat with Ashley and Keith in front of the fire.

“Ah, Terry, there you are,” Dr. Fran said as he walked over and clapped his hands on Terry’s shoulder. Jennifer followed him to the fire. Dr. Fran turned to her. “Terry here works for an agency of the federal government, but he won’t reveal the name to anyone. His agency is a cross between the FBI and the CIA. Very top secret.”

Jennifer’s eyes widened at the mention of all the initials. She smelled a story beyond silly ghost hunters. She noticed the subtle reaction in Terry as his jaw tensed and his eyes narrowed.

“I have to interview you for this,” Jennifer said. She touched Terry on the arm and felt a thrill at the touch of his skin. She detected an air of electricity about him, the sense of invincibility. “Does the government’s involvement in this investigation add merit to the existence of ghosts? And does your presence here confirm the rumors about secret research by the CIA involving the paranormal?”

Terry slowly rotated his head to look up at Jennifer. He locked eyes with her. She tried to read his eyes. The green pools contained no menace, humor, nor contempt; they were simply devoid of emotion. A silent pall held the room before Terry’s voice sliced through.

“I’m not here.”

Jennifer blinked twice. “Pardon me?”

“I said I’m not here,” Terry said in a level voice. “And the government has no interest in this investigation. Dr. Fran should not have spoken about my profession.” his gaze shifted to Dr. Fran, and Terry’s eyes narrowed and appeared angry.

“Then why are you here? Do you believe in this?” Jennifer asked.

Terry turned his head back to Jennifer. The right side of Terry’s mouth curled up in a hint of a smile. “I’m not here, and you can’t claim I am here. You can’t even hint. You can’t run the cameras while I’m in the room just in case someone might recognize the sound of my breathing.”

“Is your identity secret?” Jennifer asked. “We can distort your face and voice. No one would know it was you.”

“You could do that if I was here, but since I’m not, you can’t.”

“But—“ Jennifer stammered. “You are here.”

“Look, I’m going to try to expound on this to make this clearer,” Terry said. “I am on vacation. If you refer to my involvement or the government’s, you will put innocent people in danger. Active projects will be in jeopardy,”

Terry paused and said the final words slower. “Maybe even worse," Terry leaned his head forward.

Jennifer also inclined forward in anticipation at the pause. “What would happen?”

Terry sighed and dropped his head back against the chair.

“Okay, let’s try it this way. If you mention any of this, on screen or off, then men dressed in black suits will come to your home in the middle of the night and take you away, and do terrible things to you, and you may never be seen again,” Terry said. “Do you want that to happen?”

Jennifer squinted at Terry for a moment. Images and ideas swirled through her head; she deliberated if she believed the man or not. She looked into his green eyes and came to a decision. Her face smoothed, and she stood up. “Maybe you should make sure to stay in this room while we film.”

“I think that sounds like a good idea,” Terry said.

“Because clearly, you’re not here,” she finished.

“Obviously.”

Jennifer walked out of the parlor.

Dr. Fran looked at Terry, and turned and exited the room.

***

“Would all that really happen to her?” Ashley asked when they were alone.

“No,” Terry said. “We are discouraged from being the subjects of television shows. Mostly, I just didn’t want to be on her show.”

“Why not?” Ashley asked

“Because they’re going to make everyone involved in this look ridiculous,” Terry said. He paused and looked at Ashley. “Except you. I think you would be the only one to come out of this looking good.”

“Really?” I asked. “Why do you think that?”

“Well, Archer will be portrayed as a spineless coward because he’s afraid of ghosts and won’t sleep in the house. Sir Nolan is, well, he is what he is, goofy. They’ll portray him as a loony who will believe anything put in front of him, including all sorts of conspiracy theories. Dr. Fran will be the stodgy academic who will not accept anything without hard scientific proof. You have the ability to offer a middle ground to both of their extremes.”


Return to Chapter 9c
Table of Contents

The Fenian Avenger – Chapter 6

Table of Contents 




Chapter 6

Following his meeting with Superintendent Costello, Inspector Liam Malone wandered the halls of the Phoenix Park Garda Headquarters. Unwilling to go to the basement holding cells to release his prisoner, he stood on the roof and looked out on the Dublin Zoon and stewed about his orders. His mind conflicted with his loyalty to Costello and the Irish people, and anger towards the corruption of the Gardaí management who wanted to him to look the other direction and allow criminals to thrive.

When Liam joined the force, he knew two choices lay out before him: go with the flow and go on the take or be an honest Garda at the bottom of the barrel. He envisioned the decision of which direction to go would be more dramatic. In reality, the situation was different. The good guys in white hats would not be there to encourage him to ignore the corrupt bureaucrats and arrest the bad guys in black.

The vein in his neck pulsed as the stress headache moved to his temples. He needed no mirror to know his face glowed a bright red. His feelings resembled a mass tangle of wires, uncertain which connection belonged to which wire. He could not trust his instincts, unsure of whom to trust. Liam knew Costello supported him and respected the detective work that went into his vocation, but now felt a sense of disappointment as his boss appeared too willing to throw in the towel to the corrupt bureaucrats. He knew Costello the shrewd politician would not stick his own neck out too far. Despite Costello’s reputation as a good resourceful Garda despite limitations of his superiors, Liam doubted his boss’ motivations.

Liam worked out in the weight room. He pushed his body, and knew his muscles would scream at him the next morning. Each exercise station decreased his anger. He showered in the damp dungeon that passed for a locker room, deserted this time of day, which allowed him to spend time under the hot water stream. The hard water hit his head and soothed his nerves. Rational thoughts probed the veil of anger that covered his brain. Liam would trust Costello; he did not have much choice unless he wanted to pursue another line of work.

Liam dressed and shuffled down the wide stairs to the basement holding cells, which also resembled a medieval dungeon. He calmed his nerves to start the release of his incarcerated prisoner. The name of the loan shark boss was John McMillan. For the last month, Liam tracked street level operations up to him. When Liam arrested McMillan earlier, he found the brazen thug as he shook down a single mother of five in the light of day on Parnell Street at the busiest time of day. Even after he identified himself as an officer, the smug McMillan ignored Liam and continued to beat on the woman. Liam found he enjoyed it when he applied a bit too much force. The arrest surprised McMillan, and he howled in the back of Liam’s car on the way to Phoenix Park. The thug threw around the name of Kieran O’Dowd and how this would be the end of Liam’s Garda career. If Liam were unaware previously of the connection to O’Dowd, he knew now.

Following Liam’s meeting with Costello, Liam understood McMillan’s reaction.

The main problem Liam had with McMillan was the bugger just made him nutty. The smug look on his face along with the pathetic pencil thin mustache above those narrow lips infuriated Liam. He could take this loser apart in an alley fight in no time. He looked like someone picked on in the schoolyard, not a criminal boss. McMillan was a tall drink of water and his clothes ill fitted him and hung on him as if they were on a wire hanger. Liam wondered how McMillan came to power. He was not tough enough to intimidate anyone, and fit no profile for a crime boss. However, once Liam put the pieces together with Kieran O’Dowd’s support, the picture cleared.

As Liam came around the corner to the booking desk, he saw McMillan at the counter.

McMillan turned his head towards Liam and started to laugh. “Come to let me out, have you now, fella? Well someone got ‘ere first.” McMillan said as he walked towards Liam. “I didn’t want to bolt without letting you know that all yisser ‘ard work was fer nothin’.”

McMillan brushed against Liam’s shoulder as he started up the stairs. A rush of adrenaline rushed up Liam’s body and his body boiled. Liam grabbed the back of McMillan’s collar and slammed his face into the stone block wall of the stairwell. “You think you won now, but I’ll be watching for you,” Liam shouted into McMillan’s ear, feeling his words stutter with the anger that coursed through his body. Each syllable punctuated with a new thrust of McMillian’s face into the wall with a dull thud.

Liam let go of the crime boss and stepped away. McMillan turned around, his body shaking and his hands touched his face and came away with blood. His nose and front teeth covered with blood, dripped down to McMillan’s shirt.

McMillan looked at his hands in shock, then up at Liam. His mouth moved, but no words came out of his mouth. His eyes would not meet the eyes of Detective Liam Malone. Uniformed Garda officers rushed to McMillan’s side and dabbed his bloody face with paper towels. Two detectives grabbed Liam by the arms and pulled him away.

With Liam restrained, McMillan’s confidence returned and he walked up to Liam.

“Bought yourself a bleedin’ suspension dere, fella,” McMillan said to him. “You better watch it or you’ll git worse.”

Liam lunged at McMillan, but with his arms restrained, he was not able to hit McMillan. Even so, McMillan flinched away from the detective.

McMillan turned and ran up the stairs from Liam, now in hand cuffs.

Go back to Chapter 5b
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45 Days of Halloween Movies, Books, and Music - Masters of Horror: The V Word (2006)

Masters of Horror: The V Word (2006) – One of the entries in season 2 of the cable TV series where famous horror directors produce an hour long entry. Ernest Dickerson directs in this case – a famous master horror director? At this point in his career he had directed Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (hardly the Citizen Kane of horror movies). He would later go on to direct many episodes of The Walking Dead and become a respectable horror director, so I am being too harsh here, but only to say that in 2006 he was hardly yet to the level of Master of Horror.


It wasn’t a bad show, again, more on adventure and less on dread – which I like. Not much to it – two teens break into a funeral home after hours. Okay, pretty weak intro. I’ve done some crazy things as a youth, but entering a funeral home was not my idea of fun. Back home it was against the law to enter a cemetery after dark. We scaled graveyard fences after midnight on many occasions. And guess what? We never saw ghosts, never were chased by vampires, I never once had a fight with crazed serial killers or mad scientists robbing graves. They were just boring places with a lot of things to trip over in the dark.

The teens soon find the entire staff of the funeral home dead. They are attacked by a man named Mr. Chaney, who is a vampire. One of the boys is bitten on the neck. The two boys escape from Mr. Chaney, but Kerry, the boy who has been bitten, is dealing with the fact that he is going to become a vampire and a series of cat and mouse games between Mr. Chaney and the boys.

Following the ham handed opening and obvious eye-rolling reference in the title to the L-Word cable series about lesbians that I never watched (in which he directed one episode, a really obscure wink at his own resume perhaps, if I hadn’t of looked it up, it would have been lost on me). This episode pays off pretty well with a vicious vampire chasing the hapless, stupid protagonists around in the dark. Escapist fun.

Ratings:
Me: 3.0 out of 5.0

The Franklin Castle - Chapter 9c

Table of Contents
Floor Plan





Chapter 9c

Other than the deposition, which did not surface for many years, the public did not hear tales of the house until the American Socialist Party sold the house in 1968. James Romano, his wife, and six children moved into the house. Mrs. Romano loved the gothic ambiance of the house a perfect draw for a restaurant. She admired the house her whole life and jumped at the chance to purchase the house when available.

The admiration for the mansion was short lived, and it did not cool due to the scope of the restoration effort.
Their first day in the house, Mrs. Romano gave her children milk and cookies and sent them up to their room on the third floor to play while she worked. Soon, the children came back downstairs and asked her for another glass of milk, as their new friend, the little girl in the long white dress, cried in the upstairs bedroom.

A curious Mrs. Romano followed her children upstairs but found no mysterious new friend. She found the children very sincere, not just on this occasion, but on many other instances when their friend came to play.

Many other events unnerved Mrs. Romano. She often woke in the middle of the night to pipe organ music in the house. I found no records that showed a pipe organ ever existed in the house, not to say one did not exist at some point.

When Mrs. Romano walked onto the second floor landing to the ballroom, she heard the soft sound of voices and the clink of glasses. When she walked through the doors to the ballroom balcony, the sound stopped.

Heavy footsteps stomped through the halls at night and stopped when they opened their bedroom door. She noticed the sound at its loudest on the second floor, where her two grown sons resided. At first, she thought her sons made the noise to trick her. However, even when out of the house the event continued.

A friend visited for dinner one night. After the meal, the women sat in the circular section of the parlor. Through the open doors to the foyer, they witnessed a wisp of smoke on the first landing of the stairs. A strange thing, it was summer and the fireplace closed and unused for the season. Neither the Romano’s nor their guests smoked. They ascended the stairs towards the cloud, just before Mrs. Romano reached it, the mist moved up the stairs to the second floor. With her confidence buoyed by her friend’s curiosity, they followed the apparition up the stairs and down the hall towards the rear of the house before the independent stroll through the house ended. The incident amazed Mrs. Romano. The incident also planted a firm notion in her mind; this was an intelligent entity and not random knocks. She wondered if she there was anything to be concerned about, perhaps this was simply a harmless spirit.

Mrs. Romano’s resolution appeared short-lived. The mist began to move again, passed through her friend’s body, and disappeared into the wall behind her. Her friend’s face turned a grey color and she fainted and fell to the ground.

The feeling as the entity passed through her body so frightened her friend, not only would she not visit the house again, she also never spoke to Mrs. Romano again either.

A practical family, the Romano’s could no longer ignore the signs. They believed their house possessed by an evil spirit. A Catholic priest visited to bless and exorcise the house. The priest spent a half hour on premises unaccompanied and emerged from the house after he completed only a partial exorcism. He claimed the spirits were too powerful and evil, and he was not strong enough to vanquish them. He advised the Romano family to leave the house and never return.

The two grown sons wasted no time and left right away. Mrs. Romano learned later the ghosts tormented her sons every night, and left them exhausted. Each night something pulled the covers from their beds while they slept and violently threw them to the ground.

The family attempted to rid the house of the terrors a last time. They contacted the Northeast Ohio Psychical Research Society. NOPRS agreed to research the house, just as we are doing tonight, except without the fancy equipment and the high attitude. Before the first night ended, half of the research team left the house. Before one of the psychics left, she told the Romano family she connected with the spirits who slammed the doors on the third floor. She identified the ghosts as the mother, Luisa, and the youngest daughter, little Emma.

The Romanos lived in fear of the house. Towards the end, Mrs. Romano refused to step foot on the second and third floors. She forbade the children to play up upstairs, and they were not to associate with their spectral friend anymore. The clan began to sleep downstairs in the ballroom.

The house mystified her in other ways. Mrs. Romano, a certified electrician, found the house needed constant re-wiring. She fixed one electrical problem, merely to find the same issues resurface a day later. Light bulbs burned out in a few days and fixtures caught fire.

The final Halloween in the house, Mrs. Romano received a call at midnight. The voice shook her to the bone. She described the voice as “other worldly” and froze her in a grip of fear. The chilling gravel voice asked her if he could sleep with her tonight. Keep in mind, the public still had no knowledge about the events that happened in the house. The call may have been a prank. Afterwards, she refused to answer the phone again.

A few nights later, Mrs. Romano awoke in the middle of the night on the floor in another part of the master bedroom. As she started to get up, she heard a mumble close to her ear. She recognized the voice as the same voice from the telephone call.

Prior to their move to the Franklin Castle, Mrs. Romano’s health never concerned her. However, during her stay, she her health declined with symptoms of lethargy, headaches, and ulcers.

After six years in the house, the family gave up.

The Romano family sold the house to Sam Muscatello. He intended to turn the house into the Universal Christian Church. It did not take long before he experienced things first hand; the earliest was the sight of a woman in a long black dress on the stairs. He claimed he heard constant chatter of strange voices in the house. Objects moved often. He set his keys down in one spot, only to find them in a different part of the house later.

Sam Muscatello researched the history of the house. He concluded Hannes and his dead family haunted the house, based on the alleged crimes perpetrated in the house. As he needed to raise money for his church, Muscatello began to publicize the history of the house and conducted tours. People suggest he enhanced the legends to increase profits.

To increase the foot traffic of his tours, Muscatello brought in a local radio and television stations to broadcast a live Halloween show in the house. The live portion of the show lasted ten minutes before all the transmission equipment mysteriously fell off the table and smashed to the ground in front of their eyes. The crew filmed the movement of a chandelier that twirled on its own, stopped, and turned the other direction.

During the evening, the radio personality walked up to the second and third floors alone. After several minutes, he returned, visibly shaken. He said he heard a woman’s voice, and she called his name. When he reached the top of the stairs, he found no one. He climbed to the third floor, where something happened to him. He refused to talk about specifics to what happened.

In 1978, Muscatello sold the house to the Cleveland Chief of Police, Richard Hongisto. I have little information about his stint in the house. He sold the house a year later to George Mirceta.

Mirceta lived alone. Because of the all the publicity Muscatello received, Mirceta subjected himself to many interviews about this home. He claimed nothing paranormal every occurred in his house. However, Mirceta offered tours of the mansion. At the end of each tour, he asked the patrons to write down anything that happened during the visit. Many people wrote they saw a woman in black in the turret room, others wrote of a woman in white. Some heard the sound of children, others felt breezes, and some were unable to move. Many accounts detailed the how the chandelier swayed and doors slammed.

The house has changed hands several times over the next twenty-five years, with no one living in the house for more than two years before they vacated or sold. The stories continued to exaggerate as the years pass.

Most recent, the house remained vacant for several years before Mr. Archer’s purchase. I spoke with a friend of mine on the Cleveland police force. He said Cleveland is like many other large cities and have problems with empty rundown buildings. These husks become crack houses or a haven for homeless to live.

My friend on the force posed a fact that interested me. In all the time, the house sat empty, the homeless never took up residence and the drug dealers never used the house for business. A few homeless people told him they tried to squat, but no one stayed.

Not even the homeless could live with the spirits in the Franklin Castle.




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Return to Chapter 9b
Table of Contents

45 Days of Halloween Movies, Books, and Music - The Scrubs by Simon Janus

The Scrubs – Simon Janus


I found this quick little Novella pick-up for my Kindle for 0.99. I’m trying to write shorter works these days in addition to my diet of my two novels that I’m publishing in this blog. So when I find novellas or short stories at my fingertips in Kindle, I try to consume them as well.

This story takes place in London at Wormwood Scrubs Prison. The prison administration finds themselves in possession of an inmate with a powerful sixth sense. They open a project called the “North Wing Project” that pumps this prisoner full of hallucinogens where he creates an alternative world called the Rift where the souls of his victims live. People are able to enter this prisoner’s world through a computer link, and other prisoners are offered pardons for doing so. The prison warden believes he has a gold mine with this inmate, if he can only control the world.

The story is a bizarre story to say the least. It immediately challenges the reader’s ability to not only suspend their disbelief, but throw it out the window. If you had a hard time accepting the premise of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, where it spent two and a half hours convincing you of a person’s ability to do it naturally, then The Scrubs will be a little hard to accept that a computer can do it.

I was able to set aside that disbelief, and accept the strangeness of the world inside the prisoner’s mind. It was an odd place, but not as strange as I felt it could have been. There felt to be a very strong tether to the real world and I never felt too far away (as I did watching The Cell). To my surprise, I found myself liking the criminal they sent in better than the non-criminals that were running the project. I didn’t expect that to happen, I was anticipating an HBO-style story where I wouldn’t like anyone, but the author delivered, and I liked that. The criminal was regretful of his crimes, and made to relive and face what he did in the Rift world. The author threw a pretty cool twist at the end, and I appreciate that.

Ratings:
4.0 out of 5.0

45 Days of Halloween Movies, Books, and Music - Silver Bullet (1985)

After taking a holiday from my two web fiction series - The Fenian Avengers and The Franklin Castle - which are starting back up this week - I am also jumping back into the saddle with a little series I'm calling 45 Days of Halloween Movies, Books, and Music. In this series over the next 45 days, I do a quick summary on thoughts of Halloween themed books, movies, and music that I experience between now and Halloween. Perhaps I will do a quick summary every day, maybe not.

Silver Bullet (1985) – (Television version) – I loved this movie when I was younger. It’s also Stephen King (story and screenplay) and is more adventure story, which fits my style of horror story. I don’t always care for what has become the contemporary horror movie, all gore. I like a sense of fear, but I really like a sense of adventure. We learn quickly that the monster is a werewolf, and see the skinny, awkward limbs associated with the monster pretty early on. If you know Stephen King and the type of person he often has it out for, there should be little surprise as to the identity of the werewolf. This is my first time watching the program in twenty years, and the first time watching with my children. We did go for the sanitized television version that I DVR’d last year.

Ratings:

Me: 3.5

Devin: 4.0

Lexi: 4.5

Ava: too scary, would not finish watching

The Fenian Avenger - Chapter 5b

Table of Contents





Chapter 5b

The Gardaí Serious Crime Squad occupied a corner of the open detective pit. The section consisted of a number of desks and one small office. From inside his office, Superintendent Jimmy Costello leaned back in his chair and surveyed his kingdom. The office chair protested the movement with a series of screeches and pops. The cramped office, just big enough for the scratched metal desk and visitor chair, appeared cluttered. To get to his chair, Jimmy turned sideways and squeezed past the desk. Scattered papers and file folders covered most of the desktop. Buried under desk clutter lay an assortment of items, such as a model of the Eiffel Tower, a lava lamp, a dead plant, and framed pictures of his wife and children. The warped wood-paneled wall resembled Costello’s desk with a mish-mash of items hung or taped, such as a framed photograph of Costello and Gardaí Commission Brian McGuiness, several photographs of famous rugby teams and players, and numerous newspaper articles related to famous cases handled by the Serious Crime Squad.

The warped plastic windows that faced the squad room made distorted everything like a fun house mirror. The department replaced the smashed original glass on the windows several years back after a nasty brawl broke out in the squad room. The stink of the fight arose because it involved not criminals or suspects, but started between three detectives who argued over the World Cup. Today the window reminded Costello of how things went wrong from innocent circumstances. Scratches and dents covered the plastic windows, which now displayed a hazy grey color. Rumors placed Jimmy Costello as the fourth member of the famous brawl. Being the political mastermind, Jimmy managed to purge his name of all involvement. Instead of a reprimand for the brawl, Jimmy Costello ascended to the top of the Serious Crime Squad and straightened up his act. He managed the unit with efficiency and steered the fine line to handle cases in the face of corruption in the greater Gardaí that grew every day.

Costello leaned back in his chair. He squinted as he read the sheet of paper in his hand, his glasses no longer strong enough for his aged eyes. He propped his feet on the desk and exposed a timeworn pair of shoes with holes on the soles. In recent months, he noticed his hair started to show streaks of silver fibers in his once auburn mop. A new goatee adorned his face, much greyer than his hair. Unused to the beard, he often stroked the hair on his chin, too aware of how wicked itchy the beard was. Jimmy Costello’s appearance sent a message he was lax in his job and life overall. The mistake many people made is when they missed the sharp glint in his eye under interrogation. Adversaries who made this error found themselves in trouble. Those who knew Jimmy Costello knew of his razor sharp mind. He commanded the respect of the squad and his peers for as a nimble politician who did not compromise his soul in the process.

Liam Malone slipped into Costello’s office and mumbled the obligatory “sorry” for no reason as he sat in the visitor chair. The newest detective in the Serious Crime Squad, Liam Malone caught Jimmy’s attention while at the Academy. Liam continued to impress after graduation with stellar performance in his first year as a Garda uniformed patrol officer. He added to his CV when he worked undercover in drug and crime cases, and excelled as his work dismantled of one of the most violent gangs in Dublin. He adapted to his new life as a married man, he wished to spend time with his young wife and son. Liam sat for the Inspector’s exam, which qualified him for the Interview Boards.

He skipped the rank of Sergeant, a supervisory level in the uniformed Gardaí. Liam spent his compulsory one-year stint on the OCU (Organized Crime Unit), and applied for a position in the Flying Squad, which dealt with armed robbery, and spent two years the unit. A patient man, Jimmy monitored the career progression of the young star on the rise. He took Liam to the club often. When Liam racked up enough service time under his belt, Jimmy invited him to join the Serious Crime Squad.

Once under Jimmy’s wing, Liam did not disappoint with his work in the SCS. Liam approached every case with enthusiasm. Jimmy loved his attitude and honesty.

However, honesty led to a problem in the Gardaí climate.

Back in the Stone Age, young Garda Jimmy Costello noticed a disturbing trend in its infancy. Any organization dealt with a certain amount of corruption along the fringes, a given when wealthy criminals, low-paid law enforcement, and ambitious bureaucrats come together in the same brew. This trend, however, became more prevalent with each passing year of the country’s depression. Today, an officer not on the take was uncommon. Crime, business, and politics infiltrated the Gardaí. In Jimmy’s opinion, the Gardaí was no longer on the up and up and corruption no longer the exception but the norm. Many corporations expanded into organized crime, as sin took the lead as the only profitable business left in Ireland. These corporations found if they influenced decisions at Phoenix Park, their ride smoothed. The days when the Gardaí valued an honest detective were over. Reprimands slapped the wrist for those exceptional detectives who arrested the wrong criminals. An honest detective was a liability.

Jimmy’s distasteful duty on this day consisted of reining in his finest young detective. This job tested Jimmy’s skills with people. He did not want to break Liam’s spirit. Deep down, Jimmy respected an honest Garda, although the politics made it no longer prudent to advertise the fact.

Jimmy returned his attention to the piece of paper in his hand. He re-read the header, an interoffice memo from Brian McGuiness, the Garda Dublin Metropolitan Assistant Commissioner and the Big Cheese in Dublin. The memo addressed one of Liam’s cases that investigated an efficient and organized loan shark operation. Liam deftly worked his way up the hierarchy of the organization and, not only identified the boss, but also the corporate connections. The mistake Liam made no secret as to the identity of the corporate executive involved.

There lay the first plank in Liam Malone’s coffin.

The young detective sat across the desk from Jimmy. He looked so eager and naïve. In his eyes, he showed no realization of the circumstances he found himself. Liam became a dangerous man to the Gardaí establishment. The boyish hair, the gleam of his blue eyes, and the near skip in his step betrayed a juvenile nature in Liam Malone. Jimmy Costello knew Liam would not take the request to step down from this case well.

“Let’s talk about your loan-shark,” Jimmy offered, unable to look his detective in the eye.

“Yeah, sir, funny you should bring that up, I wanted to talk to about this,” Liam said and opened his file folder on the desk. “I’m not certain just how to proceed. Sorry I haven’t come to you sooner. I thought I had the case in hand, but now I’m a little over my head. I’ve found the boss, but he has ties to KOD.”

Jimmy sighed. He dreaded this task. So much energy and talent, and no idea what he walked into.

As the largest corporation in Ireland, KOD, Inc. Founder Kieran O’Dowd acted as both Chairman of the Board and CEO. O’Dowd, as ruthless as he was charismatic, ruled business in Ireland with a quirky media personality and sense of humor. KOD had a hand in so many industries and ventures in Ireland and Europe that a conversation about what the conglomerate did not touch proved easier.

In addition, it was an unwritten rule not to touch anything associated with KOD or Kieran O’Dowd. Liam did not know this yet.

“Liam, I’m sorry to tell you this, now,” Jimmy said. He sat up and smoothed his hands on the rough surface of his desk. “Kieran O’Dowd is a generous benefactor of the Gardaí, and a critical individual to Ireland. KOD carries the Irish economy on its own. We exercise caution in how we use his name and his company’s name in conjunction with any alleged crime.”

“Sorry, sir, I understand he is well-respected,” Liam said. “And that is why I’ve come to you first about this.”

“Fabulous work, Liam. You are heads and shoulders above any of other inspector in the department. This lesson should come in time, but we don’t have that luxury. As detectives in the Gardaí, we need wisdom on how far to push a case. You were right to alert me, but it should have been much sooner, lad, and been quieter about the task. You need to understand the people to not mess with. Now, I’m sorry to be telling you this, but it’s for your own good.”

“Are you’re saying I should back off because of Kieran O’Dowd?” Liam asked. “If he’s involved in a crime, doesn’t he need to investigate and punish him? Or even if he’s wrongly connected, we need to investigate so we can clear him. Or least we need to advise him to choose his allies better or stop people who leached off of him.”

“Lad, I understand the desire to save people and bring the wicked to justice,” Jimmy said. “As inspectors, we use discretion and wisdom. You can no longer work like a beat Garda. Remember what Assistant Commissioner McGuiness said just a few weeks ago at our luncheon? If we enforced every health code, there wouldn’t be a restaurant in all Dublin still open. Well, the same goes here. Kieran is a public figure, and he takes a lot of criticism and is under a great deal of pressure as a visionary person. However, what he does is critical to the country and we have to be careful of what we do with information. We live in times when our country needs the top employer to put as many Irish to work as possible and continue to fulfill the vision to make Ireland a better country. What is more beneficial to Ireland? Is it Kieran in jail or in court over what someone in his organization may have done without his knowledge, or would we rather have KOD move full-force to advance Ireland? It is not about liking or disliking Kieran, which is not our job. Sometimes we have to help and protect loathsome people if they help the greater good. We must trust the bigger picture beyond what we can see from our positions.”

“This is nothing personal against Kieran or KOD,” Liam protested.

“Good, you’ve learned another lesson about detective work: Be impartial,” Jimmy said. “Let’s run this up and see what action they want us to take.”

“Sir, I’m going to proceed with this in the way you think best, please understand,” Liam stated. “I just would like to know, for the sake of my wisdom and how I should handle myself in the future. Is the Gardaí under the control of Kieran O’Dowd and KOD? I see their executives in here all the time, I hear references to agreements made with them, and Kieran often speaks at and attends our meetings. But, I also see crime bosses roam the street unrestricted and that drives me crazy. Now I have found a link between the two, which disturbs me.”

Jimmy Costello raised his voice and his eyes narrowed into slits. “Son, I am not on the payroll of KOD and I don’t take orders from them, nor am I in the pocket of organized crime,” Jimmy stood up and his metal chair hit the wall. “I can’t attest for all the Gardaí. I am simply giving advice to help your Gardaí career.”

“Yes, sir, I apologize if I said anything to offend you,” Liam said.

Jimmy snorted a quick breath and stretched his neck. When he spoke again, his voice softened. “I would be disappointed if you did not ask these questions and many men here in this department would not have asked such questions,” Jimmy said. He inhaled a breath and sat down. “Tell me, now. Does what I have just said sour you on the Gardaí?”

“Sir, I would be lying if I told you the idea of looking the other way while someone commits a crime isn’t distasteful,” Liam said. “But, I trust enough to believe you are looking out for my best interest.”

A pang of guilt hit Jimmy as he lied to his detective. “My bosses will react less benignly than I, so I would suggest you forget any information that connects Kieran,” Jimmy said. “I will tell them you came to me with this information and asked for advice, which you have, and that will make them happy.”

“And the gang boss I have in custody downstairs?”

Jimmy looked down at his desk. He spoke with pain in his voice. “Release him.”

Liam sunk in his chair. He appeared to deflate at the statement.

“Sorry, son, I know how you feel,” Jimmy said. “Each day gets harder to stomach, but this is of vital importance to your career. Don’t get too upset about the thug downstairs. Someone else will let him out if you don’t.”

“He’s just so arrogant,” Liam said. He stood up, opened the door, and shook his head. “Apparently, he has reason. He has more pull here than either you or I.”

Liam looked like a puppy with his tail between his legs as he left the office. Jimmy knew Liam was immature to assume no corruption in the Gardaí existed. Jimmy imagined how the lad must feel when his boss requested he turn his back on the people he wanted to help.

The boy would take the edict in one of two ways. He would accept the decision or fight the decision.

Deep down, Jimmy knew Liam Malone would not ignore his conscious for long.

Jimmy Costello knew he had to plan on how to protect his prodigy.


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