Chapter 11

"Hey Harry, you daydreaming or something? Did you find out if there were any prints on that stuff?"

"Yea Shorty, I did and your not gonna believe whose they are. I find it hard to believe that they would have the gall to even attempt it, let alone act on it. The first recorder I found had Pinky's fingerprints on it. The one you found had the intake clerk's prints all over it. I think we better call Andy in with the prosecutor then we will all meet with Pinky and see why he did this. There were prints on the tape but they are not in the departments files. I am going to run them through the state database before we have our meeting."

"Damn, Harry, I always liked ole Pinky. Before I came here he was the undersheriff but had a falling out with the old sheriff. He decided to run the radio room and gave his position up. They never spoke after they fell out. I know you found his prints on it but I find it hard to believe he would do something like this. Let's talk to him before we call anyone else in and see if he can explain his recorder being here."

"Ok Shorty, I'll go along with you on this, but if it backfires, I am going to blame you, and demote you to the evidence room."

We both had a laugh at that and he went to get Pinky. I sat and thought about the whole thing and realized that I had to agree with Shorty on this one. I really didn't think Pinky would do this either. I wondered whose prints were on the tape and then I went to the records room and started them through the state database. I knew this could take awhile but I really wanted to know who the prints belonged to. I was still waiting for the results if any when Shorty handed me a cup of coffee and said that Pinky was in the office and he would keep him occupied till I got done. I was still there five minutes later when the computer beeped and I had a match to the prints. I looked at the results and wasn't surprised when I saw whose name popped up. I printed it out and cleared the computer and headed back to my office.

I walked in and they were laughing. It cut off quickly when I sat down in my chair. I reached out and flipped the cover off the recorders.

"Pinky, do you recognize this recorder? I found it taped to the bottom of my chair and your prints were all over it."

"That's the recorder from my desk drawer that I use for meetings with my people. I have no idea how it got under your chair. Do you think I put it there?"

"I know you didn't Pinky, but I find it odd that you have such a close relationship with Mrs. Hawkins. How come she was visiting you here last night?"

"Harry, she was my brother's wife before he died last year. She came in the radio room to talk to me about how she could bid on the uniforms for the department. I told her she was in deep enough and better just find some other line of work. She didn't stay long and left mad because I wouldn't help her. Hell, I never liked her, but I had to try 'cause my brother loved her."

"Well Pinky, I hope you don't like her too much because I am going to put her in jail. If she hadn't left her finger prints on that tape, you would have lost your job. From now on, no one is to be in the radio room unless they work there. If anyone has visitors, have them meet in the lobby. I think when the new radio room is done, the only entry will be by key card. The supervisors will have them and will let their own shifts in."

"Harry, I am truly sorry that I didn't see this coming. I never saw her take the recorder or come into your office. If you want to fire me, I will understand and won't fight it."

"Pinky, I must admit I was shocked to the core when your prints showed up on that recorder. If it hadn't been for the prints on the tape, you would have been fired. Shorty talked me out of calling the prosecutor until we could get your side of the story. Dammit, Pinky, with all the changes going on, you're going to have to be stricter with your people, and make some solid rules of conduct. You're the supervisor, so supervise. That's all, so you can go back to work now, and remember what I said about visitors."

He got up and left and Shorty and I discussed how to handle the intake clerk. He went and got his personnel file and the file I wanted on the patrol supervisors. I sat and decided when the radio room was built there would be camera's mounted in all the common areas. That would include the offices and all the entrances and halls. I wanted to have a cover if someone said we were acting unprofessionally or if someone got too aggressive with a prisoner. Shorty walked back in with a handful of files and we sat down at the table and started going through them.

"Shorty, this intake clerk was recommended by Mrs. Hawkins. I want him gone today so you better get ready to fire him. I don't know what relation to that woman he is, but nobody puts a recorder in my office and expects to keep their job."

"Calm down, Harry, he is gone as far as I am concerned and I will be glad to be the one who tells him. You need to look at the other files I brought in so we can make a decision on them."

I sat and started going through the personnel files of the men in the department and immediately saw that at least three of the patrol deputies had been convicted of domestic violence. They had to go unless they could get their records expunged. With the new federal regulations, I knew this to be almost impossible. The name Abrams caught my eye so I opened his folder and started reading. His jacket was pretty clean except for one incident that he was involved in. This was a minor misdemeanor and he had already paid his fine. I laughed out loud as I was reading and Shorty looked at me and just shook his head.

"Shorty, do you think we should fire a man for pissing on his ex wife's cat, or should we fire him for being stupid enough to be seen?"

We both busted out laughing then Shorty said something that caught my ear.

"He was only arrested because her brother was the town cop where it happened. He beat the hell out of him after he was cuffed. He was a deputy but was let go after too many complaints about his abuse towards prisoners. I wish he would come around here and let me catch him."

"I liked the way Abrams conducted himself on that murder of the woman at the casino. I hate cats myself, so we are going to keep him on. I would have shot the damn thing if it had rubbed up against me. Did he get all the evidence logged in to you?"

"Yes and I have you to thank for all the writing. I have never seen so many paper bags in all my life. He had every one of them stapled with the evidence seal covering the fold across the bag. He had them numbered, logged and all the statements clearly written. I am no field investigator, but I think he did a hell of a job and he had pictures of everything. He sent to body to Kerry county and had their coroner do the autopsy."

"Good, he acted pretty smart and was not afraid to ask questions to help himself to do the job better. I want him on the list to be interviewed for a detective's position. By the way, I have several officers coming in tomorrow to interview for jobs with our department. I think they will accept just to be able to hunt and fish without having to take vacation time off for the season."

"Man, Harry, do you ever stop working? I was going to go to the academy next week and interview several of the class that is due to graduate in a week. Do you have any objections to hiring women for patrolman? They have several that have black belts and I wanted to talk to them about working here."

"I don't have anything against hiring women as long as they can do the job. I have trained a couple that have gone far over the years. One is a lieutenant now and the other a chief of detectives. I would rather have an integrated department because it will make us receive federal grants quicker. Let's get back to these folders."

I finished going through marking the ones I was going to fire with the word terminate and handed them back to Shorty.

"Call these in starting tomorrow afternoon and we will let them go one at a time. I have to think about filling positions and I will if at all possible use some of our own personnel. You need to sit down and make a list of who we might promote and where we should put them. Tomorrow is Friday and I am going to take the weekend off, and do some fishing in my lakes. Abe told me there were some huge trout in the lakes and I plan on catching some. I also want to check with land management and the forestry department about chaining my gates so my property can't be used as a shortcut. I have time right now so I think I will call them."

"Ok Harry, while you do that I will get the list ready and then maybe we can get something to eat. I haven't eaten today and my gut thinks my throat's cut."

He sat down at the table and started going through the files and I got on the phone to the forestry department and found out the information I was looking for on the first call. I told the officer I would be at the lake Saturday and would give him the extra key then. He said the BLM manager for this area was his neighbor and he would make sure he got his key also.