a/n I don't own SOSF or Ironside: they definitely belong to someone else. No profit of any kind is being made here. Story writing continues to be for fun and skill development.

This is a 'what happens later' (about 2 years) after Rampage, a SOSF episode from season 2. This crosses over with Ironside.

Summer of Freedom

An alley in the South Embarcadero area

January, 1976

The first person Lieutenant Mike Stone saw as he surveyed the crime scene was Medical Examiner Bernie Bradley. "How does he do that? He's always one step ahead of me." Mike said under his breath as he looked out the rain spotted window of the unmarked tan police car.

Responding with only a polite grin, Bill Tanner sat in the driver's seat normally occupied by Inspector Steve Keller. Tanner, a very capable detective in his own right, also worked at the Bureau of Inspectors. His usual duties included handling legwork for Stone and Keller as well as domestic murder cases.

Today, Detective Tanner served as Mike's partner while the Inspector was away on a ski holiday. Tanner appreciated the opportunity to work directly with Mike, which at the moment brought them to the murder scene in an alley on the city's south side.

"What do you have, Bernie?" Mike asked the Medical Examiner as he approached the dumpster that hid the corpse from the main view of the alley.

The tall, balding coroner closed his notepad and stuffed it in his coat pocket. The cold damp wind caused Bernie to shudder. "A black male in his early to mid thirties. Looks like he was shot by a large caliber handgun, Mike: two bullets to the chest at close range. He was probably dead before he hit the ground."

"Can you tell when the shooting occurred?" Mike asked as he watched a uniformed police officer carefully cover the body with a white sheet.

"Not yet, but I have an idea he's been dead for well over a day, if not longer. Rigor mortis has set in and there's a bit of decay occurring around the wounds. We'll be able to tell more once I get him back to the shop."

"Any ID?" Tanner asked.

"Nothing on the man. Perhaps he was robbed."

"Tanner, touch base with the beat cops here and see what you can find out. There's always something going on in this area. See if there was a report of any disturbance in the last day or so."

"Got it, Mike," Bill responded.

"Bernie, we'll need to get a photo passed around to help identify the victim. After you get him cleaned up, have one of your boys do the honors."

"Sure, Mike. I'll get the photo out as soon as possible."

Just then, a large white van pulled behind Stone and Tanner's car. A young black man urgently exited the driver's side and opened the rear passenger door. A minute later, a wheelchair carrying Chief Robert Ironside rolled toward Stone and the ME.

"Bob?" Stone was surprised to see the Special Projects Lead and former police chief.

"Mike, good to see you," he frowned as he looked around the alley. "Although, I wish it would be under different circumstances."

"I know what you mean. What brings you here, Chief?"

"You've met Mark, right? Until a year or so ago, he was my assistant." Ironside nodded towards the van driver, who was clearly preoccupied.

Mike nodded his head. "I remember. It's good to see you again." Mike began to extend his hand, but Mark's gaze was fixed on the body behind the dumpster.

Ironside noticed his companion's preoccupation. "Mark and I heard the call on the radio. Mark is concerned it might be his cousin, so we came over."

That was Mark's cue to walk over to the corpse as both men looked on. A uniformed officer attempted to stop him, but the Chief cut in. "It's all right, officer. He's with me. He may know the victim."

The police officer nodded and carefully lifted the sheet to reveal the body. Mark knelt at his side, "Aw, man. Not you, Joe!" Mark said quietly to the corpse. "What are we going to tell Corbie?" He put his hands over his eyes and lowered his head.

"That doesn't look good," Mike commented from a distance in a quiet voice. "Must be his cousin?"

"I presume. The man's wife called Mark and said he was missing about a day ago." the Chief added empathetically as he began to roll his chair toward his aide. Mike looked over to the Chief and noticed his upper arm strength as he spun the wheels forward. In certain circumstances, Mike would have offered to push the wheelchair for the man, but this was not one of those times. The Chief needed to show his independence and strength to the other officers on the scene as well as the young man before him.

"Mark?" the Chief asked delicately.

"Yeah, Chief, it's him. It's my cousin." Mark looked down and shook his head. "He was a good man. Why would anyone do this?"

Mike stepped forward to console the young man, "I don't know, Mark. But we will do everything we can to find out."

Bureau of Inspectors

Mike handed Mark a cup of coffee as he sat at an empty desk in the middle of the squad room. The Chief stayed alongside the former assistant, now attorney.

"Mark, what can you tell me about your cousin?" Mike began. "What was his name and address, for starters?"

"It was Joplin. Joseph Joplin. He lived off of King Street near the Embarcadero with his wife and son."

The name rang a loud bell with Mike, but he couldn't quite place why. "Joplin, Joplin." Mike said as he snapped his fingers. "Why do I know that name?"

"I don't know, sir. He was a carpenter. He always worked hard and tried to do the right thing for his family."

"Bill, go run a name for me: 'Joseph Joplin'. See what you can bring up," Mike ordered.

Mark was disappointed to hear the request. "He was clean, man. Don't go assuming because he's a brother that there's something wrong."

"Mark…" the Chief stopped the young man.

Recognizing he had triggered a defensive reaction, Mike responded diplomatically. "I'm sorry, Mark. It's just that his name rings a bell with me and I can't remember why. Perhaps he filed a complaint against someone or was in the papers for something. We see people from all sides of life here."

Mark looked down and nodded.

Mike continued his questioning. "Didn't the Chief here mention that someone called and told you he was missing?"

"Yes, his wife called and was frantic. She said that he didn't make it home the night before last."

"Any enemies?"

"None that I'm aware of, but if it was a mugging or robbery gone bad, it could have been anyone," Mark replied.

"Did your cousin typically carry a lot of money or valuables?"

"Joe? No, sir. He was very careful with what he did. He and his family lived a modest life. Corb…," Mark interrupted himself. "Chief, someone needs to tell Joe's wife."

Ironside knew the best way for the young widow to hear about her husband's death would be from Mark. "Mike, I'm going to send Mark and Sergeant Brown to speak with Joplin's wife and break the news to her. I know this is your beat here, but I want my team assist you in anyway possible with this case."

Mike hesitated for a moment, but knew that the case would be in good hands, "That's fine, Bob. You can have your team work with Detective Tanner. He's been talking with the responding officers and the local guys to see if there's been any problems. I'll have him bring over anything that he's found."

"I appreciate that, Mike," Ironside nodded his head. "Come along, Mark. We're not going to do much good here. We'll brief Ed on the situation and await Detective Tanner."

A couple hours later….

Bill Tanner walked back to Stone's office with a file in hand. "Hey, Mike, I have a profile on Joseph Joplin."

"Excellent, Bill. What did you find out?"

"Well, he's been clean for well over ten years. He's married with a child and has worked as a carpenter since college. Nothing at all exciting, except for this." Bill led.

"What?"

"He has a police record in Mississippi. The authorities sent the file over via telex. It's for assault with a deadly weapon back in 1964. He was sentenced to 1-10 years. You want to read the name of his victim?"

Mike looked at the file and then gave Bill an annoyed glance. He hated guessing games. He didn't know anyone from Mississippi, yet there was something about this case that was very familiar. Now here it was in black and white as Mike read the file:

"On June 10, 1964, Joseph Miles Joplin, 23, was arrested for the assault of a white male, aged 19, at a disturbance outside of Jackson. Joplin was found to have started the fight and punched the victim numerous times in the face and body. He then produced a switchblade knife and stabbed the victim in the arm. The victim suffered multiple contusions and a laceration requiring fourteen stitches."

Mike pulled the picture of the victim and stared at the image. He squinted for a moment as he processed what he saw. The black and white photo showed a teenager with short hair, a bruised eye and swollen jaw. There was also an oddly defiant look on the face which seemed incongruent to a young man who had just been assaulted. "Bill, would you look at that?"

Bill didn't know how Mike would react to the finding, so he kept his comments to himself.

"Buddy boy," Mike smiled proudly before remembering the gravity of the case. "Of course! Joe Joplin. He was Steve's friend from Berkeley. They went down to Mississippi as part of the Freedom Summer in '64. They had heard about how the local authorities were causing problems with the voter registrations that were happening throughout the state. Sometimes it went as far as police brutality, so some of the college kids decided to see first hand what was going on. Joe clobbered Steve in order to get arrested."

"Looks like it worked," Bill commented dryly. The mug shot of Joplin, along with a picture of his colleague after the beating, were included in the file.

"Yes, Steve told me about it a couple of years ago while we were working a case in Joe's neighborhood. I met him and his wife then: good people. Joe's murder is going to devastate Steve. He was very fond of Joe." Mike continued to study the file. "Would you look at that picture? I thought he looked like a kid when I first met him, but this takes the cake."

"It's the short hair. No wonder he wears it longer now," Bill smirked as he looked at his coworker's picture and then became serious when he thought about what was going on in the mid-sixties. "What a time that was back then. I had graduated the academy and just started out as a patrolman. I remember thinking that I had more opportunities here in California than I could have had down south. It wasn't a perfect situation, but I certainly didn't have anyone preventing me from voting or forcing me to sit in the back of the trolley."

Mike nodded at the detective. Bill Tanner, along with Lee Lessing, had been one of the first black homicide detectives in the Bureau of Inspectors. Mike felt that having a diverse squad room was long overdue and couldn't think of finer candidates than Tanner or Lessing. Mike knew that not everyone had been so accepting of integration within the department, but those who hassled men like Lessing and Tanner weren't long to stay.

Mike finished reading the file summary aloud:

'The victim, Steven Keller of Modesto, California, was treated at the local medical center (Lincoln Hospital) and released the next morning. It was discovered that both men traveled together as part of a college group from near San Francisco. The victim did not press charges, but Joplin was tried, convicted and sentenced to 1-10 years in Yazoo City Medium. The sentence was reduced to time served three months later.'"

(tbc)

a/n - In "Rampage", Steve crosses paths with a former college friend, Joe Joplin. At one point, Mike mentions that Joe and Steve went down to Mississippi as part of the 'Freedom Rides'. The 'Freedom Rides' were an important part of US Civil Rights history - where people came to parts of the South to ride mass transit in order to purposely break the segration rules that were put in place to prohibit blacks and whites sitting together.

The main year for this was 1961 (before Steve's college time) - but the rides continued to a lesser extent until 1968. However in 1964, several students from Berkeley went to Mississippi to help with voter registration for the upcoming presidential election. That was known as the "Freedom Summer" and seemed very plausible for the canon.