News that a woman was being interviewed for the position of Chief of Police spread through the town like a rampaging wildfire. Opinion was divided, but because of the corrupt nature of the last Chief, many were willing to let her have the benefit of the doubt should she take up the post.
Nancy’s café became ‘rumor central’. Even the members of the bridge club who had been boycotting the establishment returned to the fold, much to the chagrin of Renee Cousins, who was the leader of the rebellion and owned a failing café near the harbor. Recent property developments at the wharf had taken away almost all the parking at the café. The parking situation at Nancy’s establishment had improved dramatically with the arrest of all the members of the old Police Department.
Nancy didn’t think it prudent to reveal her relationship with the candidate for Chief at that time. In her opinion, there were too many ‘ifs, buts and maybes’ to be resolved before she divulged her relationship with the new Chief.
Rumors feed on news, and after a few days, there was simply no news. Kelly and Matt were back in Colorado, preparing for Christmas, much like the whole country.
The temporary Chief had made it clear that he wanted to be home for Christmas before taking up a position as an investigator with the State’s Attorney in Sacramento. Speculation was rife that he was going to leave on Christmas Eve, along with the two temporary officers who were on secondment from Bakersfield. That would leave the town without any law enforcement cover.
Melissa’s coming out as transgender had all but been forgotten. This suited her perfectly. She carried on working at Jake’s Bar and expanding her range of menu items.
Now that Melissa was more or less settled, Ingrid began to fret about what she should do. The last thing she wanted to do was go back to school to convert her UK Accountancy qualification into one that would allow her to offer her services as a CPA, even though, according to Jake, a local CPA was sorely needed.
Ingrid twiddled her thumbs for two days and finally succumbed to the urge to talk things over with someone who wasn’t Melissa. The only person she knew who could fit that bill was the owner of the Coffee shop, Nancy.
“The usual Ingrid?” asked a smiling Nancy almost as soon as she walked into the Café.
That familiarity caused her to stop still. As far as she could remember, she’d only ordered the same drink twice in all the times that she and Sean/Melissa had visited the café.
The puzzled look on Ingrid’s face told Nancy that she needed some help.
“A medium flat white? If I recall, you have ordered that at least twice since you came to town?”
“Nancy, you have a great memory…”
“Like a barman, it pays to know what your customers like. I expect Melissa would tell you the same story.”
Ingrid smiled.
“The usual, please.”
As Nancy prepared her drink, she said,
“What brings you into town today?”
Ingrid sighed.
“I’m looking for a job. As this place is the center of gossip… I was wondering if you might have some ideas?”
Nancy smiled as she poured the hot milk into the cup.
“I do have some ideas for the longer term, but they largely depend on other factors outside of my or anyone around here’s control.”
Again, Ingrid’s expression caused Nancy to elaborate.
“You are aware that one of the candidates for Chief of Police is a woman, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. That was a hot topic for the gossip a week or so back.”
“I haven’t told anyone else, but she is my niece. Her husband has put in an offer to buy the bakery next door. That is contingent upon her taking up the position. He will be looking for help in the new year. Interested?”
Working in a store was not something that Ingrid had ever considered.
Nancy, as astute as ever, noticed her hesitation.
“I seem to remember that you did mention bookkeeping once before, but I get the feeling that you might be looking for something different?”
“I am an accountant by training, but I would need to go back to school to practice here.”
Nancy smiled.
“What about bookkeeping as an alternative? I am sure that a good number of local businesses would love to have someone local to help keep their books and prepare things for the accountants.”
“Don’t I need some sort of license to do that? It seems that you need a license to even take a breath in this part of the world?”
Nancy laughed before shaking her head.
“I employ a CPB Certified Public Bookkeeper who needs a license, but he started as just a bookkeeper. From what he told me a few years back, he worked part-time as a bookkeeper, and after a couple of years, he took an exam and is now certified.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I was his first client after he qualified as a CPB. He’s from over near Eureka, so having a partner to work here with him, approving the work, might work out. At least think about it. If you are interested, then I’ll make the introduction.”
Ingrid nodded.
“I think that would be great. At least I can see how things stack up. If we get along, then it might be a solution.”
[Author’s Note]
From here to the end of this part, it should only be read once you have read ‘County Sheriff up to and including part 23, which ends with the death of Ma.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/99562/county-sheriff-...
[27th December]
The normal post-New Year lull was evident in the last of customers at Jake’s Bar and Nancy’s Café. Nancy, in particular, was bursting to spread some gossip. Not just normal gossip but really ‘Hot Gossip’.
The news of the appointment of a woman as Chief of Police had spread around the town rapidly. Jake had closed his bar on Christmas Eve and had not planned on opening up until the 29th when there was a 49ers game on TV, but the arrival of a steady stream of regulars was enough for him to open up a couple of days early. Once he’d served the first of the regulars, he went into his office and put in a call to Melissa.
“Can you come into work?”
“I know that it is two days early, but the regulars want a drink to drown their sorrow over the appointment of a woman as Chief of Police. For some of these guys, having a woman in charge of the cops is a step or three too far.”
“Oh, I didn’t know. Can you make it tomorrow?” replied Melissa, who was lying through her back teeth.
“Ok, after two would be great. See you then.”
Jake went back into the bar and broke the bad news to his customers.
“Sorry, guys, there won’t be any hot food today. Melissa is down in the city and won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon.”
There was a noticeable groan from at least half of the customers. Several of them preferred to eat Melissa’s food rather than the TV dinners that they’d get at home. He wondered how he’d get on when Melissa went to work at the bakery. She could not be in two places at once.
[the day of Ma’s passing]
The sudden arrival of the County Coroner’s wagon and the State Bureau of Investigation in the town and at Nancy’s home caused a lot of gossip. Nancy didn’t open up that day, so the bakery became ‘Gossip Central’. A lot of hot air was exhaled without much progress. All they knew was that a relation of the new Police Chief had died and that she’d recused herself from any part in the investigation until a cause of death had been determined.
The consensus was that it was a good sign and that the previous chief would not have done that.
Her actions were supported by the temporary officers who worked for her. In her short time at the helm, she had impressed them with her professionalism and her plans for the department. So far, they hadn’t had a big case in their area. Despite the death of Ma, Kelly was in her honeymoon period as Chief.
The fate of the Mortensens hung over the whole district. As a family, they had fingers in a lot of pies, many of them illegal or verging on being criminal. The people in Sacramento were keeping their cards close to their chests. All the Mortensen clan and relatives were remanded in custody because of the flight risk.
Two days before Ma’s funeral, the talk of the town changed to one about ‘Eminent Domain’. It had been revealed by court filings in Sacramento that they had planned to ‘acquire’ all of the property from just beyond Sean’s/Melissa’s home right up to the wharf by stealth or, in legal terms, Eminent Domain and then to build a private resort with 20ft high walls to keep the riffraff from the town out. They would even fence off the beach and let that fight go all the way to the SCOTUS. They had that idea from a similar fight about a beach south of San Francisco. Jake’s bar would be right where the grand entrance to the resort was planned to be. Further plans were revealed for the harbor area. The word ‘Condo City’ was soon coined. Even the historic buildings would be bulldozed, and more than 500 condos would be erected in their place. The marina would be for condo owners only. The Mortensens had wanted to destroy the town. Most of the locals breathed a huge sigh of relief.
All this was revealed in a treasure trove of documents that were found at their home and the offices of their lawyers in San Francisco. Those lawyers were also under indictment for property tax fraud. The state bar council suspended the licenses of all the lawyers employed at that firm. That made the media sit up and take notice. The scale of the corruption was soon broadcast across the state.
Kelly heard about the news from one of her deputies, Sam Coltrane.
“Thanks, Sam. Anything to take the gossip mongers ‘hot topic’ away from Ma the better.”
“Chief,” said Sam.
“We have your back. You are a good chief.”
Kelly smiled.
“Thanks, Sam. It is a bit early in my tenure to be heaping praise on me. I’ve not really done anything.”
“Chief, what you have done is by the book, and we appreciate that. Go to Ma’s funeral. We will look after the town for you while you grieve.”
“Thanks, Sam. I know that you and Jeff are good officers. It beats me why your old Captains were so keen to send you here?”
“Chief, and this applies to Jeff as well; we were not part of the good old boys who took backhanders from local vested interests so that the cops would turn a blind eye to small-time drug and prostitution.”
Kelly smiled.
“That aligns with what the people in Sacramento said about you. It appears that they know about the RICO going on at your former posting. Unofficially, I heard that a Grand Jury was at work. You all know what that means. Being here keeps you out of that morass.”
“Thanks, boss. Now get home and get your family ready to say goodbye to Ma.”
At the Coffee shop, the gossips were out in force, wondering if the properties in the town that were owned by the Mortensen family were at risk. The two words ‘Eminent Domain’ put the fear of God into many of the town residents. The ability of the government to seize property for the ‘public good’ was solidified in the 5th Amendment, but exactly what the ‘public good’ was best left to the courts. Two of the more recent residents to arrive in the town had direct experience of having their property seized by a city, only for the city to sell it to developers for a pittance. Corruption at its best.
This was at the core of the rumors that were seemingly everywhere in town. If someone in the county could be ‘bought’ by the Mortensens for their planned exclusive resort, it was unsettling. If, by some chance, they could escape the myriad of state and federal charges that they had been indicted for, then everyone was sure that revenge would be high on their list of things to do. If eminent domain could be used for their resort, then what was to stop them from trying to take the whole town from the residents?
No matter how much ‘it won’t happen because they won’t get off all the charges’ was said, people were very sceptical. That was until most of the family took a variety of plea deals in return for much lighter sentences.
At the end of January, notices were attached to the gates of their compound. The state was turning the tables on the family and selling off the family silver as part of the deal with the state.
Conversations turned to who was going to buy their 25-acre estate. Nancy kept her mouth firmly shut, but she had a good idea who was going to be at the head of the queue to buy it.
Ingrid, for once in her life, could not decide what to do next. Matt, the husband of the new Chief of Police, had completed the purchase of the Bakery and was in the process of taking it over. He’d negotiated a three-month-long handover period from the previous owner, but the ‘Help Wanted’ notice on the front showed clear intent that he intended to expand the operation. Melissa was talking to the new owner about selling some of her quite delicious cakes in the shop. Her problem was that she didn’t have any premises that would pass inspection by the health inspectors.
Jake was willing to let her use the kitchen at the bar temporarily, but she would need a permanent place for the long term.
Ingrid was sorely tempted to apply for a job at the bakery, but the lure of bookkeeping kept tugging at her soul.
“Why not see if you can do both?” said Melissa one evening.
“What do you mean?”
“Why not see if you can work in the bakery part-time, and that would give you time to do some bookkeeping?”
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Then you know what to do, then?”
Ingrid laughed.
“What is so funny?”
“I was just wondering what the people back in London would think of us now?”
“Think of me, you mean?” questioned Melissa.
Ingrid shook her head.
“No, both of us. They all thought that I was mad to want you to be my date for the Summer Ball.”
“Well, you were mad, weren’t you?”
Ingrid gave Melissa a long, passionate kiss.
“I was in a way, and I still am, and I don’t mind being called mad one little bit as long as you are here with me.”
“I am so glad that you would not take no for an answer. It is you who have allowed me to become the person that I hid from the world.”
“Then together, we can have our own ‘summer ball’?”
Ingrid didn’t like Melissa’s pun and gave her lover a severe rap on the knuckles before following it up with a kiss.
[the end]
[Author’s Note]
Some loose ends (especially what happens to the Mortensens) deserve to be tied up. A final chapter (or two) of ‘County Sheriff’ will do that.