Chapter 1:

Brenda was at her desk reviewing an evidence catalog for an upcoming trial. As she worked she was nibbling on Cheese Doodles. When she noticed orange crumbs on a pawn broker's receipt she brushed them away leaving orange streaks on the paper. She licked her finger and was preparing to try to wash them away when her secretary buzzed her. "Yes, Linda, what is it?"

"There's a Father O'Rourke here to see you. He knows he doesn't have an appointment but he says you've worked with him before."

"Father O'Rourke?" Brenda tried to remember who that was but came up empty.

"Yes. He says you know him as 'Father Jack'."

"Oh, yes. Tell him I'll be with him in a minute." She licked her finger once again and rubbed the telltale streaks before setting the evidence box on the floor beside her chair. I wonder what he wants. He's always fightin' law enforcement. Then she walked to the door and smiled, "Good afternoon, Father Jack. Come on in. Have a seat."

"Thank you for seeing me, Chief Johnson. Is it still appropriate to call you 'Chief Johnson'?"

"Yes, it is," she smiled, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here on behalf of one of my employees, Doug Byers. He was arrested for possession of stolen property. But he is innocent and I'm hoping I can convince you to look into his case."

"Father Jack, that's a little outside of what I do. My job is to see to it that cases are properly prepared for trial by locatin' missin' evidence and witnesses."

"I know, but I don't know who else to speak to about this. Please, just hear me out."

Brenda heard the stress in his voice and said, "All right."

"Thank you. I need to tell you a little bit about DB – that's what we call him. He came to me when he got out on parole three years ago and said he wanted to turn his life around. Since that's what my foundation is all about, and since he had just married my bookkeeper, I started him out maintaining our building because he said he was good with his hands. He did such a fine job and was so conscientious that I hired him full time. He really did turn his life around, Chief Johnson."

"But he was arrested on a possession of stolen property charge."

"Yes, but he's innocent. I'm sure of it."

"Well, tell me about the charges."

"DB came to me one day and said that he realized our Community Center was too small. He had taken it upon himself to draw up some plans for a new wing that would house homeless parolees who want to change. And it would expand our kitchen so we could serve more people, as well as hold another large room we could use for GED classes, a gym, or whatever we need. His plans were impressive, Chief Johnson. They were practically blueprints. I approved them and put DB in charge of gathering the materials we would need for the construction. He found some good used tools we would need, but since we had no place to store them without risking them being stolen, he said we could store them in an old barn on his property. I thought it was a good idea so I gave him permission to take them."

"Were the tools the stolen property?"

"No. I'm getting to that. A few months later another parolee named Bobby Baker came to me saying he wanted to change, but he had no place to stay. We were full so DB said they had a spare room that he could use temporarily.

"A few weeks later, Parole did a surprise inspection and asked to inspect the barn. They found stolen electronics there, a lot of computers, cell phones, and several large flat-screen TVs, so both DB and Bobby were arrested. Bobby was charged with the theft and DB was charged with possession."

"I suppose that DB claims he knew nothin' about the stolen equipment?" When Father Jack nodded she asked, "How did Parole know to search the barn?"

"Bobby and another man were spotted on a store's surveillance camera committing one of the robberies and Bobby's parole officer knew he was staying with DB."

"Wasn't the barn locked?" When he said that it was, Brenda asked, "How did Bobby get access to it?"

"It was padlocked and the key was hanging on a hook by the back door. His wife gave the key to the parole officer. She didn't know anything about the stolen property, either."

"Was she charged?"

"No. Oh, they tried. They found some marijuana in a locked box in their bedroom and started to arrest her too but she had a valid prescription for it and she said she kept it locked so that no one else could get it."

"So she wasn't charged with bein' in receipt of stolen property?"

"Her name isn't on the deed to the property. Just DB's."

"Is the deed to the property the only thang linkin' DB to the stolen merchandise?"

"Yes. The other parolee they arrested said that DB was not involved in the robberies and that they waited until no one was home to get the key and stash the stuff in the barn."

"What was his name?"

"Gary Olinsky."

"If Mr. Olinsky is credible, I would think that his testimony could clear DB. What does Bobby Baker say?"

"He has an attorney who won't allow him to speak. So he either can't or won't clear DB."

"I can see why you think this is a case of mistaken prosecution, but if this case is gonna go to trial, DB's lawyer can present all this to the jury."

"I haven't told you the worst of it. You see DB has been in trouble twice before. When he was a teenager and again when he was sent to prison on a narcotics charge. So the DA wants to send him to prison for life without parole."

"So it's a third strike case."

"Yes. And it's not right, Chief Johnson. DB wasn't involved in stealing those things, and he didn't know they were on his property. Talk to his former parole officer, Orlando Ortega. He'll vouch for DB."

"Who is his current parole officer?"

"Marshall Kearney. He was DB's parole officer for less than four months and he's the one that conducted the raid."

"He's entitled to inspect any and all property of a parolee, Father. It's part of his job. But tell me, which DDA is prosecutin' this case?"

"DDA Kleinmann."

"I still don't know if there's anythin' I can do, but I will speak to my boss and see what he says."

"When will that be? He's already been in jail for over a year."

"He couldn't make bail?"

"The court never set bail. You know my people tell me that the Los Angeles courts are called 'Kangaroo Courts' because all they do is bounce defendants around. It takes forever to get anything done."

"I know the delays can be maddenin'."

"I'll tell you what's maddening. The two men who actually committed the crimes are facing sentences of fifteen or twenty years. But DB, a good man who has straightened out his life and had nothing to do with the robberies, is facing life without parole. That's what's maddening."

"All right. DA Corning is out of the office for the rest of the week but I have a meetin' with him next week and I'll bring it up then."

"That's all I can ask for. Thank you, Chief Johnson."

"You're welcome. I promise I'll take this to the DA and I'll let you know what he says. But don't get your hopes up. There might be more to this than you know about."

Father Jack nodded, thanked her again, and left.

Saturday morning Brenda and Fritz were at the mall. Their noses led them to a kiosk where a man was conducting a cooking demonstration and giving out samples so they stopped to watch.

"… And you can learn these delicious recipes and techniques which will improve your cooking skills at the Easy Gourmet Cooking School. We offer a variety of classes and, as you can see, the prices are very reasonable considering that you will learn skills which will improve your cooking and your enjoyment of food for the rest of your life."

On cue, a woman stepped up and began handing out brochures to the people who were watching.

After the demonstration, Fritz began reading the brochure. "Here's a basic cooking class for couples. It's six sessions and it meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings."

"You have your meetin's those nights."

"I can go to meetings on other nights. I think we should take this class."

"Hmmph. I read that a university is workin' on a 3-D food printer that'll create gourmet dishes. I'd rather wait for that."

"I'm serious, Brenda. All that takeout we eat has too much salt and fat. And you know, at my last physical the doctor said I should lower my cholesterol and blood pressure."

"I don't have time to take cookin' classes."

"You're getting home earlier now and there are only three weeks of classes. Two to two and a half hours each class. It's something we could do together and we'd be home early enough."

"Do you think the FBI is gonna let you leave a stakeout in order to attend a cookin' class?"

"I haven't been on a stakeout in over a year. I think I can manage three weeks."

"I can't believe you really want to do this. You've never been interested in cookin'."

"I think it would be fun. And it says everything we would need is included. And we get a book with all the recipes and techniques we used."

"Well, Julia Child, I'll think about it."

Brenda grabbed her notepad and headed toward the elevator for her case conference with DA Steve Corning.

"Good afternoon, Miriam."

"Good afternoon. You can go on in. He's expecting you."

After listening to Brenda review her unit's functioning and problem cases, he asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, sir, there is. Father Jack O'Rourke came to me last week with a troublin' situation involvin' one of his employees and the DA's office." She presented the information Father Jack had given to her.

"Have you looked into this?" Steve asked.

"No, sir. I don't know who in this office would look into it. It doesn't sound like any laws, or even DA policies were broken. And since I only heard one side I don't know what other relevant information might exist. So I decided that the best thang to do would be to bring it to you."

Steve nodded, "Let me think about this."

"There may be nothin' amiss but I keep thinkin' about what Father Jack said: that the men who committed the robberies are facin' fifteen or twenty years, but Douglas Byers is facin' life without parole. On a technicality."

"I agree that it's troubling." As he spoke he noticed Brenda glancing at her watch and asked, "Am I keeping you from something, Chief Johnson?"

Brenda smiled in embarrassment. "No, sir. It's just that I promised Fritz that I wouldn't stay late tonight. He's decided that we need to attend a cookin' school and the first class is tonight."

"Is Fritz a connoisseur of gourmet food?"

"No, he thinks prime rib with extra sour cream for his baked potato is a gourmet meal," she grinned. "I think he's just tired of eatin' takeout all the time."

Steve chuckled, "In that case I'd better let you go. I'll get back to you about the Byers case."

Brenda nodded and rose, "Thank you, Steve. Good night."

"Bon appétit."

To Be Continued…

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