Political Stuff & Highway Patrol Stop: #22 of the Agent Amanda Story

Good Morning Ted and Jody:

Nancy is still on track.  She gives me strange looks when I ask if she has taken her meds.  No matter, she needs  not to get hit with the vertigo again. I’ll keep asking.

Yesterday morning when I left to go into my morning appointment, I stopped to get the paper.  Our sidewalk is used by walkers.  As I was getting the paper an older man walked up.  He was not wearing a rain coat or carrying an umbrella, I asked him if the thought he would make it home (down Hall Road) before the rains returned.  He replied he thought so as the weather forecasters said the rain was over for the day.  He went on, “But maybe not because they lie.  They don’t lie as bad as Trump.  He says something and then before his words leave the room he denies he said it.  Watching the news he said something at the beginning of the news and he denied it before the news was over.  He is going to be the death of Democracy.  He is after the press and another group.”  He paused, “I can’t remember the other group but they are part of democracy too.”  I responded and he then said, “It will just take a petition, like with Clinton, to impeach him.  Bring a petition around and I will sign it.”  I thought it strange, for I had not really start this nor say anything to stimulate this from him other than ask him about getting home before it started to rain again.

Yes, I watched the pestilence’s speech last night.  I think the Republicans seemed very happy he did not foam at the mouth and came close, for the first time, to appearing to behave.  I haven’t seen the fact chekers’ summaries.  I did find it interesting that the Republicans cheered for a number of programs he mentioned that they have consistently voted down.  But the, they have advanced word on his budget priorities (which seem, other than the military stuff, to decry what he called for in a number of cases).I looked,  There is a petition on line to impeach him.  Got to find that old man and tell him about it.

We are off to Portland today to see if I can get my hearing aids to produce less mushy output.

Stay happy, healthy and warm.

Warmest regards, Ed

022  Highway Patrol Stop

Fiction in 1072 words by T. Edward Westen, 2016

 

Highway Patrol Officer Simon Amberly noted the seventh two tone maroon RV in less than three hours. ‘There must be a convention of them headed west,’ he thought as he entered the plate number in his computer.  Looking back at the computer screen, ‘Bingo!  Gotcha’ as he turned on the lights and siren, turned over the engine and hit the gas.

 

After a mile on the tail of the two-tone maroon RV, the vehicle’s driver refused to pull over, or even alter his 48-mph speed.  Finally, Officer Amberly pulled alongside and motioned for the driver to pull over.  Officer Amberly could see the driver had on a set of earphones. ‘Dammed fool, could get killed with that music blasting in his ears,’ Officer Amberly thought.

 

When the two-tone maroon RV finally pulled to the side of the road with Officer Amberly pulling in diagonally behind with the cruiser’s lights still flashing, Officer Amberly could hear the ‘BOOM, BOOM, BOOM’ of the trash his teen-aged daughter listened too at full volume in her room.  He sadly shook his head.”

 

Officer Amberly got to the RV’s door just as it opened and a five-foot, three-inch man in his late 80s stepped out accompanied by a blast of sound. The old man quickly shut the door and removed his ear phones, pointed to the vehicle, “Noisy as all get out in there since Maggie and I got this thing with built in stereo.  She thinks its hip to listen to that crap. ‘Our grandkids like it Frank’ she says.  Hell, I thought we were traveling so we didn’t have to listen to that noise. You married?”

 

Patrolman Amberly inwardly was sympathetic.  He completely changed his opinion of a driver trying to keep the damned noise down. But, rules are rules. Then too there is the APB.  “I need to see your license, registration and proof of insurance.”

 

Frank jerked his thumb at the RV and said, “It’s in there.  What did I do?”

 

“Please, Sir, ask the music lover to turn it off so we can think, and perhaps talk, and get your license , registration and proof of insurance.”

 

Frank opened the RV’s door, stepped in and shouted “MAGGIE TURN THAT OFF WE’VE BEEN BUSTED.”  With that the door shut.

 

After a minute the sound stopped.  The constant Doppler noises of a busy highway reminded Officer Amberly that quiet is a relative term.  When the RV door opened and a woman haranguing Frank emerged, Officer Amberly’s conclusion about quiet being a relative term was strongly reinforced.

 

“. . . told you a hundred time to watch that turn signal and never change lanes without using it.  I told you Frank, how many times did I have to . . .” Maggie abruptly stopped and smiled at Officer Amberly, “Good Morning Officer,” she said handing him Frank’s driver’s license, and the vehicle registration and their insurance card. “He won’t do it again, Officer, I will see to it.”

 

Taking the paper from her, Officer Amberly said, “I need everyone out of the RV, Mam.  Would you please fetch the little girl and her mother.”

 

Frank looked at Maggie and asked, “You been having a party back there without telling me.  Let me smell your breath.”  Instead of smelling her breath as she shook her head in a violet ‘NO. ’ Frank turned to the Officer and said, “If they are in there I’ll gitum.”  He went back in the RV for a few minutes.  Officer Amberly and Maggie could her him calling “Come out, come out, wherever you are” and, “Ollie ollie uptee all in free.” Finally, Frank came back out of the RV, spread his hands palm up, shook his head and said, “No one else in there, Officer.”

 

Officer Amberly, said, “Sorry, but I have to check.  I got an All Points Bulletin for a woman and a child she abducted in an RV with your plate number.  You two please stand in front of the vehicle while I search it.”

 

Remarkably, neither Frank nor Maggie said anything.  Maggie tugged Frank’s arm to get him to move faster to get to the front of the RV.  Once there she looked at the font plate. ‘Yup,” she thought, ‘that’s our vehicle plate.’ 

 

Officer Amberly saw Frank and Millie stoop donw at the front of the RV through the windshield.  He went back out to where they were and asked, “What are you two looking at?

 

Millie, pointed to the plate and said, “:It is our plate officer.  You sure you got the number, right?

 

Officer Amberly looked at the plate and said, “Follow me.”

 

He led them to the back of the RV and pointed to the plate on the back, “That one surely isn’t.”

 

Millie, turned to Frank and said, “Did you trade plate with someone one, you silly old fool?”

 

“Why would I do that?” Frank asked.  “I may be silly and I may be old, but I am not that stupid, you old teenager you.”

 

Detective Philipson explained to Edith Gunderson 

and the couple in her office that Edith said were from out of state, “I thought we had her this afternoon when the first report of a two-tone maroon RV with Sylvia Chu’s plates came in.  But then a second report came in.  She ran into a motor club at a state park of two-tone maroon RVs and switched her plates and every other plate on any kind of vehicle in the park.  So far we have tracked down 35 vehicles with switched plates.”

 

Brice asked, “How do you do that?’

 

Detective Philipson said, “When we find one, we get the registration of the one it is on and it tells us the plate that should be there, so we add that to the list of vehicles we are looking for.  For plates from states with front and back plates that produces two more vehicles to find. For states with one, only one more to find.  Since she switches some out to cars and with cars, that makes it more difficult, as cars do not stand out as much as RVs do.  But, we will find her RV sooner or later.”

 

Amanda asked, “What about Alice and Jessica Ann?”

 

Detective Philipson shrugged his shoulders and said, “If it is later, my guess is they will have left the RV and either gone to ground or changed into another legitimate vehicle.”