I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.
STAR WARS REBELS
The New Spectres
Bar Homicide Part 2
PHILADELPHIA - 2031
Deputy Mayor Johnson was placed in the Interrogation Room with Eric while Ty and Shirley watched from outside. Mrs. Johnson was put in Lucy's office under the watch of a pair of Stormtroopers while Lucy talked to Detectives Jenkins and Allen about what they found.
"Let's start with the body in your basement." Eric said.
"What body?"
"The one that was found in your basement buried in what appeared to be recently dug grave. I will write this up as Murder One. In case you didn't know, you get the Death Penalty for that in Federal Court which is where this case will be filed since it's a Remnant matter."
"I know enough law to know that you don't have a case." Johnson said.
"Well, the warrant to bring you in said Material Witness. So, you're ours until we decide you have no more useful information or we decide to charge you with Murder."
"Do you think I had a choice?" Johnson asked Eric.
"Oh, I get it. You're being extorted by someone or there's someone bigger then you involved in this." Eric replied sarcastically. Outside, Shirley looked at Ty and attempted to hold back a chuckle.
"What's he going to do? Incriminate the Mayor or the Governor?" She asked Ty as Schultz walked in with two folders and a Remnant Officer.
"General Marlion, this is Major Oliver and this is from the Medical Examiner." Schultz said and gave Ty the folders.
"Major Oliver, what brings you here?" Ty asked.
"Reassigned from The Fleet." The Major replied.
"Well, you've walked into the middle of a Homicide investigation. This is Miss Forbes from the U.S. Attorney's Office and in there is Major Eric Schuyler. You'll also want to meet Lieutenant Colonel Carpenter when she's done with interviewing a possible witness." Ty explained as he read the Major's file.
"Carpenter? This wouldn't be the same Carpenter who made that movie about you and your friends among other exploits?"
"She is. She's also General Felth's daughter, but don't be put off by that. She's helping Eric adjust to life and career after he was transferred out of RSB. Why'd you join up?"
"Being a Power Ranger wasn't going to happen. My parents were Rangers though and everyone calls me J.J. although my first name is Jason."
"Well, welcome to Philadelphia. I have to check on Lucy, two city Homicide Detectives, and this suspect's wife. You can come with me." Ty said and led J.J. to Lucy's office. They found Lucy and the two Detectives talking to Mrs. Johnson.
"Is your husband in the business of burying bodies in your basement or is the first one that's been buried there?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know what he does with his time." Mrs. Johnson replied.
"Then why is your husband so quick to interfere with my investigation and have someone tamper with my crime scene?" Detective Jenkins asked.
"On top of the Remnant's crime scene." Lucy added.
"That second one is a Federal Offense. You and your husband are both looking at hard time in a Federal Prison for this." Ty told Mrs. Johnson.
"Excuse me. J.J. Oliver?" Lucy said and then noticed J.J. behind Ty.
"Hello, Lucy." J.J. greeted her.
"Care to tell me and finish introductions?" Ty asked them.
"J.J.'s dad was part of the Astro Megaship's crew in that battle. J.J. was in one of the many fighters that Dad organized. I forget who's squad he was with though."
"General Rawlkins was my squad leader."
"Oh, before I forget to introduce them. These are Detectives Jenkins and Allen from the Philadelphia Police Homicide Division and this is Mrs. Johnson who is quickly joining her husband who happens to be the city's soon to be former Deputy Mayor in obstructing justice and hindering at least three Murder investigations." Lucy said to J.J. as Ty gave her the folder from the Medical Examiner which she read and gave to Detective Jenkins who read it and passed it to Detective Allen.
Eventually, Ty found J.J. an office to use and brought him the file on the case that Lucy and Eric were working on. Lucy decided to charge Mrs. Johnson with three counts of obstructing justice while Eric charged her husband with Murder for the body in the basement which the Medical Examiner's findings determined was a murder victim.
"What does that accomplish?" J.J. asked Lucy.
"It makes their lives open books. This place is a lot of fun." Eric replied.
"Before I forget, J.J. Oliver meet Eric Schuyler. We got him from Remnant Security because myself and two other officers of higher rank agreed that he didn't belong there."
"I heard there's a top to bottom overhaul going on there." J.J. said.
"There is, my Uncle's been put in charge of RSB. Don't yell at my kid, dodge the psych eval, insubordinate yourself to superior officers, try to hijack civilian ships, or blast unarmed civilians in the back. That last one was the final straw for my Dad." Lucy explained.
"The one who did most of those things got demoted and reassigned to Russia after a court-martial because the superior officer he did all of that to was President Bridger's assistant. The civilian thing occurred after I was reassigned here and I had fun with that. I buried the RSB Agent involved with that in paperwork while I found out the full story and made sure the guy that was shot understood his rights. Every form has to be filled out in triplicate and with no Wite-Out marks. You screw up, you have to start over. I made it to that hospital, Mirandized and interviewed the guy who was shot, and came back here to find that all of the required paperwork still wasn't done." Eric added with a chuckle as he recalled the incident.
"You used their hatred for paperwork against them." J.J. said.
"It helps to know how RSB operates. Of course, I never took to their indoctrination because my parents live in Pittsburgh and I was sore at Hochster after he screamed at my mother over the phone. Needless to say, that found its way into Hochster's service record. Lucy is Philadelphia's Queen of Vindictiveness. Her favorite way of doing that is by having cars towed and then having the paperwork lost repeatedly."
"Stop screwing with my kid's lunch and I'll stop screwing with their cars or barging into their offices with Death Troopers." Lucy said as a phone rang and was answered by Eric.
"My parents never did anything like that." J.J. told her.
"Where and what?" Lucy asked Eric.
"Fatal shooting with a blaster. Bar in the Kensington area." He replied.
"Let's go. R9, you too." Lucy told the two and called for her droid who rolled after the three humans. J.J. would ride in Eric's car in case they decided that they needed to drag another bartender in for further questioning.
"What happened here?" Lucy asked a Stormtrooper when they arrived.
"Another bar bet that went sideways is my guess."
"Witnesses?" Eric asked.
"None that can be used."
"So, a bar full of Schultzes. Why make it easy for us?"
"Where's the bartender?" J.J. asked.
"In the back of a squad car for being a jerk. He says we'll all be in big trouble when his connection at City Hall hears about us detaining him." The Stormtrooper replied.
"I guess he didn't hear that the Deputy Mayor has been arrested for Murder. However, we can throw that guy in jail until their attitude has been adjusted." Eric said as he and J.J. entered the bar where they found a number of blaster marks on the walls. A Medical Examiner looked over a body on the floor while a pair of Stormtroopers tended to a passed out drunk who was starting to come out of a drunken stupor.
"I want service." The drunk said.
"Bar's closed." J.J. replied.
"I'm not leaving until I get service."
"Take him outside and get his statement. If he gives you any trouble, take him down to the office and book him for being Drunk and Disorderly." J.J. said to the two Stormtroopers who took the drunk outside.
"Looks like a gun battle took place in here." Lucy observed.
"Blaster marks, bullet holes, one dead, and everyone who stuck around has developed a case of the Sergeant Schultz Syndrome." Eric added as Lucy's phone rang.
"Add someone who just walked into the Temple ER with a blaster wound to the leg. Ty said one more violent incident at a bar in this city today and Philadelphia will be put under Prohibition until further notice. Eric, you get to do the interview at the hospital. J.J., see if that drunk who was taken out of here saw anything. R9, start recording everything." She said as the two Majors and her astromech set to their assigned tasks.
Eric arrived at the hospital and asked a nurse where the shooting victim was after showing her his badge.
"Bed 7. Some of your guys are already there." The nurse told him. Eric headed over to where he saw a man in a suit and two Death Troopers hovering over the wounded man.
"I guess my neighbor stole my invite to your little party out of my mail."
"I do not believe I know you." The man in the suit said with a German accent.
"Major Schuyler and you are?"
"Major Dietrich, Remnant Security and this man is my prisoner.'
"I'd like to see the paperwork." Eric told Dietrich.
"What paperwork?"
"Arrest warrant for starters or should I call General Marlion and tell him about you?"
"There is no need for that."
"You're right. General Rivers would make for a much better conversation." Dietrich suddenly found himself at a loss for words. Eric watched as Dietrich searched his memory. He never dealt with Dietrich during his own RSB days and it was likely that Dietrich really didn't know him. Finally, Dietrich handed Eric a folded up piece of paper.
"Did you forge a General's signature on this? It is the oldest trick in the book." Eric asked as he unfolded the paper letting his faux-German accent slip out which caused Dietrich to look at him in confusion again.
"I assure you, the signature is not a forgery." Dietrich said.
"We shall see. Is this why you didn't want me to call General Marlion? Because then he would find out that you forged his signature and report this to General Rivers where it would surely find its way to General Felth's desk resulting in you being court-martialed, demoted, and reassigned to some duty that would not fit a man of your talents. Eh, Major?" Eric asked as he saw what was clearly a forgery of Ty's signature on the paper. Dietrich now had the look of a deer in headlights as he now realized that Eric knew the RSB Playbook and could easily find himself facing a very annoyed Ty or worse The Felths and even worse then that, a court-martial board.
"Come." Dietrich said to the two Death Troopers and left. Eric turned to the patient in the bed.
"Now that he and his troops are gone. I'm Major Schuyler, I just want to know how your leg got injured. I'm going to guess that you were at a nearby bar when a shootout occurred." Eric said in his normal voice as he put the forged paper Dietrich had given him in a pocket. He would let Ty decide on any forgery charges against Dietrich.
"I was just having a drink when it happened. A laser bolt grazed my leg. I thought nothing of it, but then it felt like my leg was on fire and I came here."
"You should have stayed and told us that. What else did you see?"
"The fool that started it was the one firing lasers. Nearly got hit by a stray bullet too though."
"What was Major Dietrich's interest in you?"
"He didn't say." Eric took out Dietrich's paper and looked it over again before putting it away. There was nothing on it of note about what RSB's interest in these two cases was, although he could only assume that it had something to do with Deputy Mayor Johnson's and the body that he and Lucy found in Johnson's basement. He would let Ty or Lucy grill Dietrich about that too. After taking the information along with a statement about what happened from the patient and ordering a Stormtrooper to stand guard in case Dietrich returned, Eric called Lucy and then called Ty who was not impressed by or happy with Dietrich's forging of his signature and said he'd refer that matter to General Rivers and that if they ran into Dietrich to let him know that Dietrich was wanted front and center in Ty's office.
Ty assembled his three officers in his office while he conferenced with Marty, Steve, A.J. Rivers, and Tevin Felth about the case, the increase in violence, and Major Dietrich.
"The guy that I talked to after he was given the attitude speech was no help at all. I think he was passed out drunk during the whole thing." J.J. said.
"Mine gave me a full statement. Luckily I got there before Dietrich had him hauled out of the hospital never to be seen or heard from again." Eric added.
"That will be another victim of whoever started this fight." Tevin told them.
"As for Major Dietrich, file the right forms and I'll bust him as low as I can." A.J. said.
"That will be all the way to a Buck Private reassigned to a post in Russia."
"Dietrich? I dealt with him once when I was stationed in San Francisco. Let's just say, Forgery and Witness Tampering are two of his vocational skills. Major Schuyler's witness is lucky he got there before Dietrich was able to do anything like what he did to a witness to a multiple homicide I had in San Fran. Steve, you remember when SFPD told me that they fished that witness out of the Bay with a hole in the head." Marty explained.
"That's because Eric knows the RSB Playbook." Tevin told Marty.
"And I made no secret of it to Dietrich, Sir. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized that I knew what he was trying to do to our witness." Eric said.
"They pull this crap and then RSB people go and complain about how Landon and Lucy ended up outranking them. Given that you've tied the Deputy Mayor to some of this, I'm tempted to send Mackey down to Philadelphia to deal with Dietrich in case the next incident somehow involves him and his men now that I know he has a habit of silencing witnesses." A.J. told everyone.
"On that note, Major Schuyler keep walking that witness down Memory Lane and Lucy show Major Oliver how things work there." Tevin said.
"Already showing J.J. what needs to be done here Dad." Lucy replied.
"You got Tom Oliver's kid there?" Marty asked.
"He showed up as the Deputy Mayor's wife was in the middle of obstructing justice and hindering multiple murder investigations that centered around her husband." Lucy replied.
"He told us about being in your squad during that battle." Ty added.
"Well, keep me informed." Tevin told them and left the conference.
"I'll let you know if I decide to send Mackey down again. If Major Dietrich shows himself at your office, feel free to arrest him and let me know if you do." A.J. added and left.
"We better get back to what we were doing. I'm going to find out where J.J.'s fighter is being parked and have it sent to join the three you have there since I know you guys keep Red Five unarmed most of the time." Marty said.
"See y'all around Memorial Day or sooner." Steve added as Marty closed the connection. That left Ty with his three officers.
"You have a guard on this witness?" He asked Eric.
"Yeah, until he's discharged two Death Troopers are at the hospital room door and a squad has been placed around the building in plain clothes. They're dressed as orderlies and janitors. I told the Sergeant in charge of that detail to arrest Major Dietrich on sight as per your orders. Two can play that General's authorization game." Eric replied as Ty gave him a look.
"Now it is an official order from two Generals." Lucy said.
"The bartender said what to us?" Ty asked her.
"Before or after I threw him in one of our Attitude Adjustment Rooms?"
"Your what?" J.J. asked.
"He's sitting in a holding cell while he thinks about what he saw or heard or who he served that he shouldn't have. That reminds me, I have to call the Health Inspector about something. Maybe the Building Inspector too. Might as well call the Fire Marshall too." Lucy explained.
"Then there's the Liquor Control Board, the IRS, and having the locks changed after it's been seized as a Public Nuisance. I have Schultz checking for any Police calls to that place in case there's a history." Eric added as everyone looked at him.
"Eric, talk to your witness again and stop mocking Lucy before she hits you. J.J., talk to the bartender, maybe sitting in a holding cell has made him a bot more cooperative. Lucy, watch that interrogation. I'm going to see if I can help Marty find J.J.'s ship." Ty told the three as he began typing into his computer.
Eric stopped by the hospital where his witness was recovering from a bacta treatment to his leg.
"How's the leg?" He asked.
"They soaked it in something and saved it. That other guy hasn't been back yet." The witness replied as Eric sat down.
"Major Dietrich is in a heap of trouble with a number of Generals. Did you remember anything else after we talked before?"
"Yeah, the guy who started shooting was that guy Dietrich. That's probably why he wanted to see me when I got here."
"Why did he go there in the first place?"
"Don't know. Maybe the guy who ran out the back knew." Eric called Ty as quickly as he could operate his phone.
"Schultz, get the General or Lucy. It's important. Sir, my witness said that Dietrich shot up that bar and whoever he's in town looking for is out there somewhere. We need to find Dietrich before he finds his target. Lucy's Uncle offered to send his Number Two down. We're going to need him. Yes, Sir. I'll see if I can find out." Eric ended the call as a nurse walked into the room.
"How are we today? The Doctor ordered another bacta treatment and then we might be discharging you." She said.
"I wanted to talk to you about that." Eric told the nurse and showed her his badge.
"At least you're nicer then the other guy who thought armed commandos was good enough. He took his goons and left when Donna threatened to call her husband on him." The nurse explained to Eric who was surprised to hear that Ty's wife worked at this hospital. Two orderlies who Eric identified as members of the plain clothes detail he had ordered came to move the witness to the Bacta Treatment Center while Eric followed with the nurse and the two Death Troopers. Donna Marlion greeted them at the Bacta Room.
"Eric Schuyler. He's not under arrest is he?" She asked Eric.
"Just a witness to an RSB-involved shooting. He didn't tell you about that shooting near here? I just found out that RSB was involved myself."
"I didn't know this was connected to that. Explains why that other guy and his goons tried to snatch Mr. Peterson out of the ER."
"Well, Major Dietrich is probably facing a court-martial for shooting up that bar and then forging the General's signature on an official document. Lucy's Uncle and Dad were not thrilled to hear about that or the witness that Marty lost to Dietrich in San Francisco some time ago."
"Let me go get Mr. Peterson ready and I assume that you'll be here when he's done."
"These troops aren't leaving until Mr. Peterson is discharged." Eric said as Donna went to go do what she needed to do with Mr. Peterson. A few hours later, Donna emerged with Mr. Peterson and the two Stormtrooper-orderlies and joined the group as they went back to Mr. Peterson's room where they found Major Dietrich going through the contents of the room.
"You've got a set on you." Eric snapped at Dietrich.
"This man is my witness." Dietrich said.
"He's my patient and you can debate that with Lucy's family." Donna told Dietrich.
"This man knows too much about Remnant Security operations."
"Right, and I don't." Eric said with an eyeroll as Lucy and J.J. showed up along with Ty, Colonel Alex Mackey, and more Death Troopers.
"Dietrich, you're under arrest for murder and forging my signature among other things." Ty snapped at the Major.
"Get on your knees and assume the position." Lucy said as J.J. put handcuffs on Dietrich.
"Is this how you do it when you kill the witnesses to your crimes? Make them get on their knees before you shoot them in the back of the head. You're looking at a court-martial and possible execution." Alex asked Dietrich.
"Give him his Article 31s and get him out of here. If he tries to escape, just shoot him." Ty called after Alex and the Death Troopers as they took Dietrich away.
"Should I have dinner waiting?" Donna asked Ty as Mr. Peterson was wheeled into the room.
"I'll grab something from a Wawa. I still have Nolte's to deal with."
"Just charge the Deputy Mayor with two more murders and call it a day." Lucy suggested followed by a beep from R9-D2.
"Don't tempt me. He threw his weight around enough to earn every charge we can file on him in addition to the murder he's already charged with."
Lucy invited J.J. and Eric to dinner at her house since she wanted to introduce Darius to J.J. They were also joined by Detectives Jenkins and Allen.
"I heard one of yours was involved with one of these incidents." Jenkins said.
"He's being escorted back to New York for court-martial. Facing a needle since we have a witness that we caught him trying to tamper with twice." Eric told him.
"What's going to happen with Nolte's?" Darius asked.
"Justin, take Caleb upstairs." Lucy told her brother who took Caleb upstairs.
"We found the murder weapon. It had the bartender's prints all over it. Charged him with the murder we had there. Are you guys going to do the same with yours?" Detective Allen replied.
"Probably. That's up to Forbes and the D.A. how they want to do that. As for the owner of that place. He's not getting his bar back and he's been laundering money through there for the Deputy Mayor. We're looking at RICO and seizure of other assets too." Lucy explained.
"I hear you have famous ancestors too." Darius said to J.J.
"My parents were Power Rangers when they were younger. My dad's more well known then my mom though. He was there with Andros Khayman and my Uncle Adam when we took down the First Order Fleet. I was Halo Four. Halo Two and Halo Three were Colonel McKnight's cousins. They're trying to find my ship since it's been a year since I last saw it." J.J. told Darius.
"We do qualifying flights on a yearly basis here. Keeps us fresh on our ships in case something happens. Speaking of, Admiral Vanto signed off on you for another year." Lucy explained sharing the last part of that with Darius.
"Josh Myers and I were dealing with Darth Sidious when all that was going on. Lucy's job was to run interference while we dealt with that. At least that was the plan until they destroyed a planet. Then Dad decided that their fleet had to be destroyed before any more planets were destroyed and showed up with his own much larger fleet. By the time Josh and I got out of there, most of their ships were pieces of flaming wreckage." Darius said to everyone.
"Thrawn said that General Pryde let his Pride get the best of him." Lucy added.
"What does he do these days anyway?" Eric asked.
"Thrawn? He's doing something for President Bridger. I forget what though." Lucy replied.
"Mr. B. put him in charge of developing military training protocols or something like that. It's the best use for his talents since he passed on the Supreme Commander's position in favor of Mike Piett." Darius said. After everyone had left, Justin gave Caleb his bath while Darius prepared Caleb's lunch for the next day and Lucy finished sending a report to New York about Dietrich's conduct and charges.
"Dad's pushing for the Death Penalty on Dietrich. As far as I know he's going to be presiding over the court-martial unless he finds someone else to do it."
"Like who?" Darius asked.
"Maybe Darnell Hollister. Unless Ezra has someone else in mind like Thrawn or Dietrich ends up in a Civilian Court."
"Well I say Good Riddance to that trash." Justin said as he joined them.
"I'm sure we'll hear the details soon since Eric's one of the key witnesses."
"Eric, Mr. Peterson, Ty, Marty if they add that San Francisco thing to the charges, and anyone else that Dietrich went after like this. It's going to be an interesting case." Lucy told the two as Darius finished making Caleb's lunch and reached out with The Force to find Caleb had fallen asleep with the stuffed Loth-cat and Mace watching over the family as usual.