Unorthodox Approaches

WHN to "Up, Down and Even", set immediately after "Why the Tuesday Afternoon Bridge Club met on Thursday", January 1969.
Sgt. Brown qualifies as an undercover teacher, but in law enforcement he needs coaching by the Chief…

"…But please, Bob, handle this whole affair with utmost care, will you? A scandal is the last thing we need right now."

Ironside sighed.

"Yes, Commissioner, my staff and I will do our best, as usual."

That was the reason why Randall wanted Ironside and his team on this case: they would always give their best, and this best was better than anything the rest of the SFPD were able to do. By far. Yet handling things with kid gloves was not exactly what the brilliant criminalist was famous for…

When Ironside came back to his office, his young friends were putting their heads together over the newspaper, but hearing the door open they parted immediately. Ed and Eve tried to look busy while Mark went to get a cup of coffee for the Chief.

"This isn't by chance the reason why the Commissioner wanted to talk to you, is it?" Eve asked while handing him the newspaper. All over the front page the headline talked about another victim of the drug war.

"Sounds like the kind of job the Commissioner would call you in for, right?" Ed added, dropping his unread file back onto the table.

"That's what I would have expected too. I was as mistaken as you are," Ironside was trying hard to hide his anger.

"Would you please tell us what caused your bad mood, big master?" That was Mark, of course.

The two police officers had already sat down and were awaiting respectfully what their assignment would be.

"A few weeks ago the huge, brand new conveyor belt of a refuse incineration plant in San Rafael was sabotaged before it could be put into operation. Yesterday it was ready to start again, but last night the CEO of the company operating this refuse incineration plant got a bomb threat. Now this CEO, a Mr. Burt Mallone, is an old friend of Commissioner Randall's and a generous donator to the police widows' fund."

"Ah, there is our connection to San Rafael," Mark threw in.

"Mr. Mallone wants this case to be handled with discretion. To put it bluntly: He is still not sure if the sabotage and the bomb threat were made by real criminals or if they are only boys' pranks. But as long as he can't operate the plant he loses hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a day." Ironside's poker face didn't give away anything about his feelings, but his friends knew him well enough to feel that he was not happy about the assignment.

"Why doesn't he ask the San Rafael police for help?" a practical Eve wanted to know.

"Because he is not sure if his own teenage son is – maybe – involved with the group who might or might not be behind the problems. If he is, he would not want to press charges against anybody of course."

Ed nodded. Everything fell into place: The Chief's bad mood – he didn't like accommodating people, especially not when there was more important work to do - as well as the Commissioner's desire of them helping his friend.
"Where do you want us to start, Sir?" he asked.

"Pierce Mallone and some of his friends, who may also be involved, are sophomores at San Rafael High.
Ed, you did fine as a high-school teacher the other day. I want you to go undercover again. You will teach math, Phys Ed and as a special course the history of the Marines – that should be easy for you to teach. See if these boys have something to hide.
Eve, you try to find out if Burt Mallone has any personal enemies and if there was any political resistance against the project."

"And what about me?" Mark wanted to know.

"You are behind schedule with your homework as far as I now. Catch up with it until I need you!" Ironside smirked.

Without too much enthusiasm Sgt. Brown remembered his recent experience as a teacher: kids falling asleep during class, walls of silence against teachers and the police, sneakiness in view of drugs and crime.

So it was with mixed feelings that he started his – hopefully short – career as teacher 'Edward Grey' at San Rafael High.

Yet on his first day he was pleasantly surprised: of course there were rascals who tried to provoke him, and some of the girls seemed to be more fascinated by the young teacher than by math. But he also met some very interested teenagers, and his teaching style seemed to match their needs. Among the sophomores, a small boy attracted his attention in math class. Andrew Drake seemed to be very intelligent and alert. He was the son of an immigrant family, refugees from Romania for religious reasons. Obviously the family had Americanized their names. It was a pleasure to discuss alternate approaches to math problems with Andrew.

Ed didn't delude himself though: Problems would emerge as surely as the 'amen' in church.

Eve's background check didn't lead to any direct results: The people working at the refuse incineration plant were mostly Mexicans and Orientals. It was difficult to be sure about their lives before they had come to the US. Yet there was no one really suspicious among them. Not one of them had a record in the States.

In view of political opposition there was no obvious lead either: people hoped that the extension of the refuse incineration plant would generate additional jobs and higher taxes for the town, so there was not much opposition against it. Some of the town fathers had admonished that the town might perhaps lose some of its charm with such a huge plant, but strangely enough the concession had been given unanimously.

"Don't tell me that those politicians were not bribed. But I doubt that they would sabotage the plant now. They would rather try to get more money out of it," Ironside thought aloud.

Ironside's mood went from bad to worse though. It wasn't that Eve didn't do any good detective work. But it made him angry that he was not allowed to help stop the drug war which seemed to him far more important than their present assignment.

Trying to find a different angle Eve asked: "Is there a Mrs. Mallone?"

"Yes, Mrs. Belinda Mallone, but I don't know anything about her."

In fact there was still a lot they didn't know.

"It makes no difference how we dawdle our time away. Find out if there is a problem around Mrs. Belinda Mallone."

On the second day three sophomores were late in Grey's math class – about a quarter of an hour late; Pierce Mallone was among them.

Ed knew exactly that this was a test. Personally he didn't mind. Teaching was easier without them. He had already acquired a liking to teaching in general and specifically to trying to explain complicated things in a way that even the slower students understood them. Still he was well aware of the fact that he would not be able to turn everybody into a math genius, at least not if they were not interested at all like these three. But he could not let them get away with being late, otherwise he would become unbelievable as a teacher.

"Tomorrow you will be on time," he said, very calmly, and went on with the tuition, already thinking about how he would proceed with them.

"Chief, you won't believe this!" Eve exclaimed.