Return of the Crown Prince
Chapter 01
1.1
The lights in the restaurant were low, the music was soft and the booth was secluded. Barbara looked across the table at her dinner companion who seemed to be lost in thought. She sipped from her champagne glass and continued to watch him. It had been more than five minutes since Robert Ironside had said a word.
"I was under the impression that we were supposed to be having dinner together," she said to him as she covered his hand with hers.
Having been brought out of his thoughts, Ironside looked into her eyes and said, "I am sorry Barbara. I know I have not been very good company tonight."
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked him.
"There is nothing really to talk about. There are just some cases we have not been able to solve and some of the details are still in my head. It is hard to leave them at the office, I guess."
"Bob you have been distracted the last three times we have seen one another. I have to share you with an entire police force as it is. I really would like your attention when we are together."
Ironside pulled his hand out from under hers, brought it to his lips and kissed it. "You are right. I am sorry. You now have my undivided attention."
She squeezed his hand and smiled. "Is it really that hard for you to leave your work at the office?"
Ironside smiled back at her. "No, not always. Sometimes it can be though."
"So do you want to tell me about it?" She asked. When he hesitated, she said. "It might help to have someone to talk to about it besides Ed, Eve and Mark."
"There have been a string of high profile kidnappings across the country. The latest one happened last week."
"I have not read anything about any kidnappings."
"No, because none of them were reported in the news."
"I don't understand. If they were high profile, then how in the world were they kept quiet?" Barbara asked.
"A quarter of a million dollars was paid in each instance by the United States Government, after which the victims were released. The government kept it out of the papers." Ironside replied.
"So there was nothing in the papers regarding ransom or kidnappings," she said trying to recall anything she might have read in the San Francisco Chronicle. "Why would the government conceal it?"
"Because the government did not want the heads of states to know."
"I don't understand. Are you saying that the government paid the ransom to get these people back but concealed it from their governments?"
"That is exactly what I am saying," Ironside answered.
"But why? I thought the government did not pay blackmail or ransom?"
Ironside pondered how much to tell her. "The government says they will not pay it. If the world got wind they would, every terrorist and kook in the world would start kidnapping dignataries and Americans."
"I have had several calls from Jim Whitmore. There have been at least five of these kidnappings in the last six months."
"No one knows about it? In this day and age, I find it hard to believe they have been able to keep a lid on it."
"Never underestimate the government." Ironside took another sip of his champagne.
"And by the government, you mean President Whitmore?" Barbara inquired.
"Yes."
"Why are they covering it up?" She asked the detective.
"I don't know all the details. That is all President Whitmore would tell me," Ironside said. "He told me I was on a need to know basis. Apparently he will be in touch with me shortly."
"Bob, you are a police detective. Why in the world would he involve you in this?"
"I don't know Barbara, probably because he trusts me," Ironside answered.
Barbara shook her head. "I don't like it. You were lucky to get out of Washington alive when he sent for you to investigate his wife's death. You are not CIA or the FBI, Robert. He should not be using you for government work. He can't expect me to sit here worrying while he makes you the target of political conflicts. Doesn't he realize you are in a whee…" Barbara broke off before she finished.
"Wheelchair? Is that what you were going to say? In other words, doesn't he realize I am a cripple? Is that what you were going to say?"
She reached out and touched his hand. "Those are your words not mine."
"So you think of me as a cripple?" Ironside said withdrawing his hand.
"No, Bob. You know better than that. I think of it as a disability, one you handle extremely well. I just feel the president should be using the resources the American taxpayers provide him with. You have a job here, which you are very good at. You turned him down when he asked you to join his administration. He has no right to use your friendship to drag you in to White House business," Barbara finished with a touch of anger in her voice.
Ironside calmed immediately. He knew that Barbara's concern for him was genuine and he regretted his harsh words. Barbara accepted him for what he was….and he was a cripple. It did not matter to her. He reached out and took her hand in his. "I am sorry, Barbara. I spoke out of anger and I should not have."
She smiled at him. "Forget it Bob. Would you like to come back to my place?"
"I already told Mark I would not be back until morning," he said as he kissed the back of her hand.
"Please understand, it is because I love you that I worry about you," she whispered.
Ironside smiled at her revealing the long dimples along both sides of his face. "We are probably worrying over nothing. Jim Whitmore is probably just bouncing it off me to help him make decisions. Nothing will likely come of it, Barbara. So don't trouble yourself with it. Let's go to your place and forget President Whitmore, kidnappings and the San Francisco police department." Ironside put his hand up to signal the waitress for the check.
1.2
"Do we know when the prince will be coming to the United States yet?" The man standing beside the fireplace asked.
"Sometime in the coming week," the younger man sitting on the couch replied.
"To Washington DC?"
"No, our source in Washington said the prince chooses to arrive in San Francisco."
"San Francisco? Why in hell is he arriving in San Francisco?"
"I don't know sir. I only know our source says it is so."
"That bothers me."
"Why should it bother you that the prince is arriving in San Francisco?"
"Come now, were you in a cave during the president's trial? He was defended by California's most celebrated attorney and the president himself asked for his brother, the San Francisco police detective to do the investigating."
"You are talking about Ironside?"
"Yes, Chief Robert T. Ironside to be exact."
"But sir, what does Ironside have to do with us?"
"If the prince is going to arrive in San Francisco, just who do you think President Whitmore will ask to have in charge of his safety?"
"Ironside, more than likely."
"Exactly. He will make it very difficult for us to carry out our plan. I don't want to tangle with that damn crippled cop. He's dangerous."
"Look boss, I know Ironside has this reputation for being a great crime buster but surely a good deal of that reputation must be glorified. He can't possibly be the super hero he is made out to be."
"The criminal element would disagree with you. So would you like to stake your life on that?"
The young man showed certain discomfort. "No….of course not but there has to be a way to keep him from becoming a problem."
"That is going to be your job. Ironside is your problem. Make sure he does not become my problem. As soon as you know when the prince is coming in, call me."
1.3
The waitress set a steak dinner down in front of Detective Sgt. Ed Brown. A big grin spread across his face. Eve and Mark look at one another with smiles. "I can't believe that the chief actually sprung for dinner tonight," Ed said as he cut the steak to check to see if it had been cooked medium rare.
"Oh come now, Ed." Eve said. "The chief has bought our dinner on many occasions."
"Yes, but never before has he handed us his credit card and told us not to spare any expense," Ed said.
"I would be careful about how much you put on that credit card if I were you," Mark suggested.
"Oh Mark, don't warn him. I would love to see Ed explain that steak to the chief," Eve said as she bit into her cheeseburger.
Mark who had also ordered a cheeseburger smiled as he brought the cheeseburger to his lips. He looked at Eve whose expression had changed. "What's the matter Eve?"
"Actually, I don't think the chief would say a word no matter how much we put on his credit card," she said.
Ed stopped cutting his steak. "Why do you say that?"
"Oh, I don't know. It's just a feeling I have."
"Here we go, Ed. I think we are about to be served up a bit of woman's intuition," Mark said.
"Oh boy," Ed said.
"Now stop it both of you," Eve scolded. "I think you should hear what I have to say.
"Do we have a choice," Mark asked.
"No, you don't," Eve said.
"Alright since we have no choice give us a bit of that woman's intuition," Ed sighed.
"Something is bothering the chief."
"Something is always bothering the chief," Ed said.
"But it is different this time," Eve countered.
"Here we go." Mark said.
"Mark, you are with him more than we are. Have you not sensed something is bothering him?"
"He's been quiet but he is often quiet when he is trying to figure out a case."
"No Mark, if he is troubled about a case, he engages us in conversation. We share our thoughts with him. Then a light turns on and he solves the case. He is not asking us for help. If fact, today he received a phone call and when he found out who it was, he sent me out of the room."
"Eve, he has sent us all out of the room at one time or another. It doesn't mean anything at all except that he wanted privacy," Mark said.
"No, when he got done with that call, it was as if he was trying to hide something from me. After that, he was distracted all day. It is not the first time he has been distracted like that with a phone call."
Ed drank down the last of his beer. "Even if what you say is true, Eve, you know the chief, he is not going to tell us anything until he is ready."
"Something is up with him, Ed. I just know it."
"Ok for sake of argument, let's say something is up with him," Ed said. "Just exactly what do you propose we do about it?"
"The three of us could sit down and talk to him about it."
Mark and Ed were shaking their heads. "No way is this cat going to do that."
"Me neither," Ed said.
"Alright than I will do it myself, you cowards," Eve said. "I will go back to the office and talk to the chief."
"You can go back to the office but you will not talk to him," Mark said.
"Why not?"
"Because before he left, he told me he would not be back tonight. He and Barbara went out to dinner."
"Then I will talk to him tomorrow."
Mark and Ed looked at one another. "Woman's intuition," Ed mumbled.
1.4
Darkness had fallen on Washington DC and President James Whitmore was still in the oval office. He looked out the window and watched the leaves blow in the breeze. He wondered why he had wanted this job. So far it has brought him nothing but heartache. Losing his wife had been in major blow but being accused of her murder was devastating.
He had never dreamed when he ran for president his adversaries would be so ruthless. When he'd been accused of murdering his wife, he turned to his longtime friends, Perry Mason and Robert T. Ironside to help him. They were relentless in their defense of him. They had risked their lives to find the real killer. Whitmore had felt so guilty having to ask them for help when he knew his enemies would not hesitate to kill either one of them. Yet both men prevailed.
Ironside and Mason not only cleared him of the charge of murder but also brought to justice the individual behind his wife's murder. Several others had been arrested as accomplices. Yet the personal cost to him was higher than he could be bare at times.
Now once again he had to turn to his detective friend. There was no one in Washington he trusted to handle the job. Whitmore, no matter how sure he thought he was about people, he simply did not trust anyone... that is except Robert T Ironside.
He hated using their friendship in order to impose upon him but he simply had no choice. Ironside was the only one he trusted to handle this. He wished Bob had accepted his request to serve in his administration. Ironside's sharp mind and his ability to read people would have been invaluable.
The fact that Bob had once before protected the crown prince made him the logical one to run this operation. Whitmore found out that Ironside and his staff had prevented an international incident.
The crown prince had decided to have a night out on the town his last night in San Francisco. Sgt. Brown and Officer Whitfield were assigned to follow him. After an unsuccessful attempt to cause an international incident, a flat tire prevented Sergeant Brown from continuing his surveillance of the crown prince. Eve Whitfield took over as his guide.
Members of the crown prince's own embassy paid a man to provoke him into slugging a man at a dance club called The Light House while he was there dancing with Eve.
Although they had been successful in photographing the incident, Chief Ironside and Mark were successful in retrieving the film.
Whitmore knew that someone in his administration leaking information to the kidnappers in order for them to know exactly where each dignitary could be found. He had decided to trust no one, as he did not know whom with leaking the whereabouts of the kidnapped victims.
Whitmore had known Chief Robert Ironside for many years. He knew he was an honest, incorruptible cop. He also knew he could trust him. He only hoped that Bob would be willing take on the case. He would know soon enough. He would be contacting Commissioner Randall in the morning. If Randall agreed, he was sure Bob Ironside would help him.
1.5
Ironside wheeled to the breakfast table. Barbara placed waffles in front of him. She poured him a cup of coffee.
"I happy you decided to come home with me last night," she said with a smile.
"So am I," Ironside said. "It is just what the doctor ordered."
"Bob, doctors order rest or vacation, not what we did," she laughed.
"Well they should. Relaxing with you is just what I needed," Ironside said.
"You call that relaxing?"
The San Francisco detective grinned. "I slept like a baby."
She laughed at him and said, "you better finish your breakfast or you're going to be late for work."
"I am the boss. I guarantee no one will even mention it."
"Since when do you not care if you're late?"
"You are a bad influence on me." Ironside wheel away from the table. "However, I do have to be getting to work."
Barbara walked him to the door. "I have a job to get to myself." She bent down and kissed him on the cheek.
Ironside cradled her chin between his thumb and forefinger and kissed her goodbye. She watched as he wheeled to his van. Barbara stood at the door until the van disappeared down the street.
1.6
Ironside wheeled his chair into the office and down the ramp. All three members of his staff sat at the main table drinking coffee. Mark set a cup down in front the chief.
"Thank you, Mark." Ironside took a sip of coffee. Looking around at his defectives who were drinking coffee, he snarled, "This is a working day, isn't it?"
"Commissioner Randall called," Eve said. "He told us to stay here until you arrived. He wants to talk to all of us."
Ironside looked at Eve. "Did he say what about?"
"No, only that he wanted us all here when he did so."
Ironside hoped that Commissioner Randall was not about to dump some major case in his lap. Their caseload was already heavy and he had a nawing feeling it was about to increase without the commissioner's help.
"Chief," Eve said. "There is something we would like to talk to you about."
Ed and Mark groaned. Ironside looked at each member of his staff. When nothing further was said, Ironside in his usual gruff manner said, "Well, are you going to tell me or am I supposed to read your minds?"
"Our only saving grace is you can't do that yet," Mark said.
"Let me give it a try. Lately I have been distracted and have been receiving mysterious phone calls for which I have been sending you out of the room and have refused to discuss them with you and you think something is bothering me. Is that about it?"
With amazement on his face, Ed chuckled. "There goes our only saving grace."
"How did you know?" Eve asked in bewilderment.
"I am a detective," he barked. It is my job to know. Besides Eve, you have a lousy poker face."
Eve waited for her boss to elaborate. When he did not, she said, "well chief?"
"Well what?"
"What's bothering you and what are all the mysterious phone calls about?"
The door to the office opened and Commissioner Randall walked in. He looked at them. Once he was satisfied that they were all there, he sat down beside Chief Ironside. "Mark, is there anymore coffee?"
"Get the commissioner a cup of coffee, Mark." Ironside said raising his voice. Mark got up and headed into the kitchen.
"Dennis, if you are here to add to our caseload, we are already overworked, overloaded and I might add underpaid."
"I am not here to give you anymore cases. In fact I am here to wait with you," Randall said.
"Wait for what?" Ironside growled.
"For a call from the president of the United States."