Dear readers, I am posting the final seven chapters of this story tonight. I hope you're enjoying reading them as I am.
Jean-Claude sat on his bed glaring into space, Chase nudged me and nodded his direction.
"Is something up Jean?" I asked.
"Huh, not really. I'm just mad about stuff."
"Do you want to talk or be left alone?" I asked.
"Oh, um, It might be nice to talk, do you guys have a few minutes?"
Chase joined me where I sat on Jake's bed.
"So what's got you in this condition? We're here as long as you need us." I offered.
"It's just some stupid stuff, some of it is my parents and some is the school, and I miss home but who doesn't. Everybody's homesick here except maybe you guys that don't board full time. I can cope with that but Mom wants me to take French classes, I already speak it or at least Quebecois but that's not good enough for her. She says I'll need proper French when I'm older. What do you think?" He asked, still looking vexed, but the initial anger was fading.
"Well you know I just started taking French, I only knew a few phrases when I started but Dr. Janvier is amazing. He says as I get better with the language it will be more rewarding, but I've only spoken English up till now but I can see where speaking standard French could be useful in the future. There are former French colonies all over the world. I also intend to learn German and maybe Italian, I guess that depends on my ability to take them in," Chase contributed.
"So you don't take any languages yet right? You will eventually need at least one for your requirements. I've spoken French since I could talk, Mom taught me and she taught me to read but Dr. Janvier has opened up aspects of the language I never knew about. I needed help with written grammar and spelling rules. I still do but I'm improving at a pretty good rate. We all speak English here but we take English classes all the same. English is much more difficult than French in my opinion. Learning standard French will only help, I still retain my Bretagne accent and the teacher doesn't try to discourage me from speaking that way," I told him.
"I see what you mean, is your mom French?" Jean-Claude asked.
"No, she's American but her Grandfather was French and he farmed in the coastal region people call Brittany, I was always taught to call it Bretagne, same place but different spelling and pronunciation. I was corrected a lot when I was little. It's a beautiful place and it's still held by my family. I love it there and plan to visit again when I graduate," I shared.
"My family is actually Belgian, we live on Ile d'Orleans on the St. Lawrence, there are a lot of Walloon descended people there but the language has died out. Everyone speaks Quebecois or English. I want to learn Walloon but I can't find any classes that will do that for me. Having my mom push me to take French just bugs me. I'll do it because you make a good argument for it, and it will get Mom off my back. I just hate being pushed into something. I might like it but being forced or badgered into doing something takes away some of the joy of learning anything new. Does that sound dumb, am I overreacting?" Jean-Claud asked.
"No it doesn't sound dumb, there's that old saying about leading a horse to water and it fits. But I have an idea. Dr. Janvier is probably still in the language lab. Let's go over and talk to him about this. I'll bet he knows more than I do, but what I've read was that Walloon is basically what Gauls spoke before the Frankish invasion. But you've probably read the same stuff. Dr. Janvier speaks several languages and might know Walloon or where you can go to learn it," I speculated.
"Let's get our coats and check it out. I hope he's there and not real busy," Jean-Claude chirped. The anger had been transformed into hope and curiosity.
Dr. Janvier was drinking tea and listening to a piece by Chopin when we knocked. We hung our coats in the hall and he waved us in.
"Are you busy sir?" I asked.
"No lads, please come in and sit, would you care for tea?" Dr. Janvier offered.
I declined but Chase accepted a cup and Jean-Claud declined as well.
"How can I be of service, perhaps an introduction is due before we get to business," He suggested.
"Bonjour monsieur, Je m'appel Jean-Claude Gagne-Lefabvre."
"Ah, a speaker of Quebecois, and how may I help you young man. I should ask do you prefer to continue in English?"
"Yes please, English is fine. I have been resisting my parents desire for me to take a standard French class, mostly for written grammar but also to clear up what mama calls bad habits," Jean-Claude explained.
"But something else perhaps?" Dr. Janvier probed.
"Yes sir, I'm Belgian by heritage not French, Walloon has died out in my community and I haven't found anywhere I can learn it and maybe reintroduce it to Ile d'Orleans, that's where I live.
"Beautiful place, I know it well. I'm sorry you had to travel such a long way to learn your ancestral tongue but you are in luck. I speak some Walloon, not fluently but I know the basics. I've traveled extensively through much of Wallonia, Liege, Mons, Charleroi and Lovain-le-Neuve to mention a few places. However there is a class in Walloon that is held here on Saturday evenings, it is taught by Pere Fontagne from St. James cathedral. What do you know of the history of Walloon speech?"
"Not much sir, It's based on the language of Gaul before the Franks invaded for the Romans. It's closely related to archaic French and it's dying out, like Ojibuay or other first nation languages," Jean-Claude responded.
"I can tell you it is enjoying a resurgence in Wallonia, much like Irish Gaelic and other nearly lost tongues throttled by old world imperialism. But that's just the nature of humans expanding to other parts of the world. Some of it can be undone but most of it cannot I'm afraid. But if you join us on Saturdays I think it will do your heart good to know you are helping to preserve your ancestral language," Dr. Janvier smiled beatifically as though bestowing a blessing.
"How do I sign up?" Jean-Claude asked.
Meet us here after lunch ends on Saturday and Pere Fontagne will sign you in. There is a suggested donation of $20.00 but it's not mandatory," Dr. Janvier informed him.
"I can handle that, thank you sir. I was feeling sort of boxed in but now I feel good about it. Can I join a class for standard French next semester?" Jean Claude asked.
"Of course, just speak to your counsellor and let him know what you intend, and let him know that your parents are keen for you to enroll," Dr. Janvier advised.
"Thank you for your time sir, I look forward to both classes now," Jean-Claude effused.
"Thanks for the tea and for helping our friend sir," Chase added.
"Yes, thanks for taking the time to see us, we're all very grateful," I contributed.
"My students are welcome anytime, and this was a worthy cause by anyone's estimation. Thank you boys for bringing this to my attention," Dr. Janvier smiled and went back to his grading.
Jean-Claude practically floated down the steps and his face had lost all traces of the anger and frustration he had exhibited earlier.
"You guys are great," he beamed at us.
"You're pretty cool too Bud," I replied. Chase hugged him one armed and we made our way back to the dorm.
*****
Mike went to work on contacting the Latah county Sheriff's department and spoke with a very amenable Captain who was sure the Sheriff would be happy to rid themselves of that particular prisoner.
"Daniel Isusnacut here, how may I help the great county of King?" the voice said.
Mike identified himself and cut to the chase.
"Are you still holding an Adam Mitchell there?"
"I wish I could say I wasn't, but yeah he's here," The Captain said.
Adam Mitchell apparently had terrible manners, hygiene and bad breath. It was an unpleasant task to deal with him in any way. He had already lost a fight with another inmate over his bad habits but it hadn't improved his behavior, only his hygiene.
"I'm sure our prisoner transport people can deal with Mr. Mitchell. Lysol and a garden hose springs to mind and we'll be sure to provide clothing for the journey. A Tyvek suit will probably be best, it can be incinerated once it has been used," Mike suggested.
"I see you've worked your way up then, said Captain Daniel Isusnacut.
Daniel had been a Nez Perce Tribal officer and had risen over time in the Latah county Sheriff's department. He was considering running for Sheriff when the current office holder retired next year. He had explained all this to Mike as they chatted about the largely rural nature of Sheriff's departments in general.
"I will contact the county's prosecutor and let him know that a hold order is on the way, just email me a copy and send the original by Fedex and we'll keep him here until you show up to claim him. The sooner the better though, he provokes the jail staff, I fear one of my people will get into trouble over this worthless bag of skin," Captain Isusnacut stressed.
Actually I will send a team to retrieve Mr. Mitchell this afternoon and they'll have the documentation in hand for your county prosecutor and I'll email; it to you in an hour or so. I presume that will work," Mike finished.
"Even better, I was thinking days but you must really want this guy, can you tell me why?" Daniel asked.
"Homicide and sexual motivated at that, the victim was a twelve year old boy. You might want to keep that from your custody staff. I'd hate to see a good officer lose their career over a pile of crap like Adam Mitchell," Mike related.
"I see your point, I'll keep that aspect to myself until he's safely on his way to Seattle," Daniel agreed.
Mike called the D.A.'s office next, the hold order and extradition request were transmitted to the Latah County Prosecutor and Mike emailed copies to Captain Isusnacut.
An hour later he received a reply from Mitchell Langham the Latah county Prosecutor. The email indicated that the order had been approved by a superior court judge and all was in readiness for the transfer. Mike sat back and considered the next move. He presumed that the D.A. would assign a prosecutor to deal with the case but that would depend on what they learned from talking to Adam Mitchell.
Mike ambled over to where Frank, Toni and Ron were discussing how best to pursue the cold cases that they would be dealing with.
"Adam Mitchell is in custody in Moscow Idaho, I've already taken steps to have him brought here for questioning and a formal hearing. Mr. Mitchell exemplifies the word Scumbag. During his arraignmet hearing he apparently invited the judge to engage in a sexual act. However he showed no intention of fighting extradition so he'll be here tomorrow evening if the passes remain clear. I just thought you'd like to know. Upon arrival the evidence techs will take a cheek swab and get it run and entered into the data base like any other arrestee. It will be a six or seven hour drive depending on weather but I have confidence we'll be able to interview him day after tomorrow. Also Scott has informed me that he has already ordered your new badges and credentials and they are being overnighted from the maker. So dress nice tomorrow and let's get ahold of Andy, Beau and Cal so they can be sworn in tomorrow. You four will be our Senior Inspectors and Toni will have the rank of Chief Inspector. I will make sure that our current detectives will recognize that a Senior Inspector is the same rank as a Senior Detective and that Chief Inspectors are the equivalent to a Sergeant," Mike informed them.
"So we'll be a bureau within the Bureau then Eh?" Ron asked.
"Essentially, I just don't want some arrogant detective trying to give orders to someone he or she should be learning from," Mike elaborated. I'll also want to know if anyone encounters any age discrimination or any other kind for that matter."
"Like?" Toni asked.
"Gender or sexual identity or race to start but there may be others. The age discrimination thing can go both ways. Many of the younger detectives know what they don't know and are excellent learners. I know we have a few guys still here that are just empty suits and not productive. We'll be dealing with that as the opportunity arises. We'll be starting with sixteen retirees and only half of them wish to be sworn. They'll all carry the inspector badge but only half will be armed. The non-sworn inspectors will not conduct investigations in the field without a sworn officer in their company, even if we have to shanghai a detective or patrol officer. I've checked with Scot and the Sheriff and the non-sworn inspectors can be issued zip-sticks or Asps as some departments call them. I'm speaking of the collapsible batons like the Brits carry. We can also arm them with Tasers. We need to make sure we get sizes for coveralls and plenty of Tyvek suits and booties with the S.I.D. logo on the back and the standard printed star on the left breast panel," Mike outlined.
"You've really given this a lot of thought. Have you dealt with this sort of thing before?" Ron inquired.
"Well yes, to a degree, but I also spoke to people in other departments that have similar squads and picked their brains. Also Herb directed me to a British comedy/drama featuring a group of retired detectives returning to deal with cold cases. They even had their own version of Andy Watkins although he had a lot of issues that Andy apparently does not. Unlike the TV show we'll have to deal with overflow of current cases as the need arises. The intent is to deal mostly with cold cases making use of technology and the experience of personnel who can make use of it. If we had DNA sequencing available in the seventies we could have solved a lot more rapes and homicides. We may still solve some of those from that era although we might be trying to prosecute corpses as a result almost forty or fifty years after the fact. I believe we've got a good team coming in and I have a good feeling about the mission," Mike concluded.
"Well I have to say that I'm one hundred percent invested in making the program work. We've picked the cream of the crop and as long as everyone gets along we'll get a ton of old cases closed," Ron put in.
"I believe in the team and even with just Ron and I working on it so far our closure rate based on DNA results is already outstanding. Of course once we get through the database it will get harder to close cases but there's been a few new wrinkles for processing physical evidence in the intervening decades," Toni added.
Frank just grinned, he saw this operation as his baby and felt passionate about it.