{"id":2524,"date":"2023-11-29T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2023-10-17T11:24:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T11:24:14","slug":"chap-56-the-deal-is-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2524","title":{"rendered":"Chap. 56 – The Deal Is Cut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 56<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Deal is Cut<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Levi Jansen, the<\/em> District Attorney, met us at the reception desk, and ushered us to a no-windows conference room saying, \u201cYou understand all this will be taped and no promises about how, if ever, the tape is used, correct?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cCorrect,\u201d Steve said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     And as we entered the room, Jansen continued, \u201cand of course you understand, given what I know about your story, we need the FBI in on this . . . I\u2019d like you to meet, Mr. J. L. Stover, head of the local Bureau.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cNice to meet you,\u201d Steve said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cLikewise,\u201d said Skip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Jansen and Stover were two different looking men, Jansen pudgy and Stover gaunt.  (Later Skip joked, \u201cI was thinking of calling them Laurel & Hardy if things started to go wrong.\u201d)  Things did not start well.  After everybody made themselves comfortable, coffee, taking off coats, loosening ties (Skip sans<\/em> tie \u2013 but he did remove his baseball cap), Jansen began with a sly smile, surprising us with, \u201cI think I\u2019ve heard about you guys \u2013 you\u2019re the traveling Rumpkins, pulling antics all over the country \u2013 or at least that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOh shit,\u201d Skip blurted out, and continued despite Steve\u2019s trying to hush him up, \u201cEvery god-damn thing I\u2019ve done in my life \u2013 elected to office 18 years \u2013 and no one, not one goddamn person, has ever had reason to doubt my honesty or come to distrust me.  Now look Mr. D.A., I\u2019m going to tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth \u2013 choose to disbelieve me at your own risk.\u201d  At this, Steve gave Skip\u2019s foot a tiny kick with a wink that said \u201cthat was good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     After about ten minutes doing the outline part, without names and details, Skip stopped and Steve said, \u201cOkay, next we provide all the information, evidence, witnesses, details, everything you need to know, to catch the bombers red-handed before the bombs go off, prosecute the hell out of them and anybody else you can implicate, but first . . . but first a little favor for me that you\u2019ll probably really want to do . . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWhat the fuck,\u201d Stover jumped in with.   \u201cThere\u2019s a bomb going off somewhere in New York maybe today, this week for sure, and you want us to take time doing favors?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cRelax,\u201d Steve said.  \u201cIt will take less than ten minutes.\u201d  Steve then proceeded to explain how Jansen and Stover should love the PR for taking down one of the nastiest international sex trafficking rings in existence.  \u201cJust a simple phone call to a Vancouver law office will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cYou\u2019re shittin\u2019 me, right?\u201d Jansen said.  \u201cThis is the April Fool\u2019s Day part, where you get your Rumpkin antics in, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cHere\u2019s the number,\u201d Steve said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ten minutes later D.A. Jansen returned from his private office where he\u2019d gone to make the call.  As he swung himself into his chair, Jansen said, \u201cYou were right.  The lawyer out there has a sworn statement from this Shadya Warsame fellow and the Vancouver Chief of Police got on the line and said Warsame\u2019s statement checks out.  So yeah, I told your lawyer buddy, I\u2019d do the favor of placing a call to the British Columbia Ministry of Justice and recommend leniency for your man Warsame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOkay,\u201d Steve said with the utmost confidence.  \u201cWe\u2019re off to a good start.  Here are the conditions to be agreed upon, before<\/em> you get everything we know about the terrorist cell and the impending bombing \u2013 I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a one you\u2019ll find a deal-breaker.\u201d  We then gave Jansen a copy of our neatly typed list of \u201cdemands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cYeah, I think you\u2019re right, no deal-breakers here,\u201d Jansen said, \u201cas long as everything else you\u2019re telling us checks out.  Maybe some details we\u2019ll have to hash-out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOne more thing, Mr. Jansen,\u201d Steve said with a smile, \u201cyou were right about there being a Rumpkin antic somewhere in this.  Last thing before we spill everything we know:  We have to be included in the media conference announcing the busts \u2013 and in whatever way we <\/em>choose.  You can have the first ten minutes, or however long you want, but then we get to finish it, and you just walk away, saying loud enough [this was Patty\u2019s work] so the microphones pick it up, \u2018These crazy Rumpkins \u2013 but God Bless Them!\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cYou guys are<\/em> crazy, but I like you,\u201d Jansen said.  \u201cIt\u2019s always nice to be in the company of a state legislator and a well-prepared lawyer.  All right, let\u2019s have it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Steve gave Skip the high five that was the signal for Skip to start in with everything that we knew, everything except Jane\u2019s run for her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     An hour later Skip and Sterve walked out of the D.A.\u2019s office, leaped into the air, clicked their heels, and gave each other big hugs, exclaiming, \u201cWe did it; we did it; we did it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Enjoying a celebratory lunch at a nearby deli they found, both men breathed easier, and Skip\u2019s conscience was finally starting to ease.   It had now been two months since he felt right with the world.  Ever since the night of the Dodger Stadium bombing, he had been having ghastly nightmares about him<\/em> leaving a bomb somewhere, rendering children maimed and bloodied, screaming \u201cPlease God, let me die.\u201d  For two months, he had awoken every day in a quandary: \u201cShould I turn Ken in?  Should I turn Gordy in?  .  .  .  but . . . but if I do and those guys don\u2019t come clean, the cops will have so little to go on \u2013 the bombing and carnage might actually happen \u2013 so maybe the best thing is<\/em> to go along with their damned double-agent plan.\u201d  Well, that part is over, he thought to himself, enjoying his pastrami sandwich.  \u201cIt\u2019s out of my hands now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This despite the nagging feeling that he had waited too long, that he had over-trusted Ken, and, in turn, Gordy and Jane \u2013 Gordy, whom he hardly knew, and Jane, whom he knew not at all.  One thing he did feel better about:  tomorrow he could look himself in the mirror and no longer feel like a hypocrite every time someone mentioned the need for a united stand against terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Steve broke into his reverie, \u201cYou know we weren\u2019t perfect.  Kind of on purpose I think we forgot the part that Gordy wanted \u2013 no details on the time and place of the bombing until<\/em> three<\/em> hours<\/em> before<\/em>, so they don\u2019t jump the gun on us and Jane loses her chance to escape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cI thought about that,\u201d Skip responded.  \u201cThey\u2019ll start checking things out immediately, but I\u2019m betting they\u2019ll want the drama and PR of catching them red-handed minutes before the bombs explode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cYou\u2019re probably right.  How do you think Ken and Gordy will take the news that Jansen said he couldn\u2019t promise anything out in California, that he couldn\u2019t speak for another jurisdiction, as to what charges Ken and Gordy might face?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cI think we\u2019re okay there too.  Remember Jansen did say, \u2018There\u2019s generally always immunity for everything said on the witness stand\u2019 \u2013 isn\u2019t that what you call the \u2018fruit of the poisonous tree\u2019? \u2013 the doctrine you explained to me yesterday: They can\u2019t use what you say on the stand to convict you, nor use other evidence they follow up with from your testimony, to charge you with something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAnd actually, I like the result we got for Jane,\u201d Steve added.  \u201cYou remember Jansen saying – while looking straight at Stover, \u2018Not chasing down your Nancy Drew lady, I can\u2019t promise that \u2013 but Stover here, he knows how to prioritize his limited resources.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cLet\u2019s head up to Westport \u2013 I think the others are already up there, or on their way.  Phyllis can pack our stuff when she comes.  Can\u2019t wait to share our success story!  Feel like we’re finally <\/em>done with this all,” Skip said with a huge sigh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Well, yeah, but we\u2019ve got to start preparing for tomorrow \u2013 another big day you know,” Steve replied with only a slight chuckle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Catching the New Haven Line train leaving Grand Central station with a stop in Westport, they were musing together: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be interesting to learn if our hypothesis proves correct:  That the posse comitatus Proud Boys in Boulder found common cause sex trafficking with the Jihadis in Vancouver \u2013 for the purpose of making money, the Jihadis financing their war of terror selling girls to the posse.  Then the posse decides to eliminate the middlemen \u2013 thus the killing of Abdul and the presence of the posse in Vancouver . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . .  but then what?  The posse becomes copycat terrorists?  Angry about what? The stolen election?  There are still things we don\u2019t know . . . \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 56 The Deal is Cut      Levi Jansen, the District Attorney, met us at the reception desk, and ushered us to a no-windows conference room saying, \u201cYou understand all this will be taped and no promises about how, if … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2524"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2825,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions\/2825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}