Tom's morning after his arrival at the Seattle Times office carried a good deal of what he expected on a Sunday morning. The paper was still busy and there would be stories that would be going to print or to the paper's website, but there was some measure of activity that would be going on. Covering the day's sporting activities and looking around for things that might be going on, which was something that would always be there, as honest and investigative reporting never really had a "day off" as it were. The one saving grace was that his present assignment was big enough and complex enough that Tom had a lot of different interviews to schedule and take down, and this would require a fair amount of travel within the state, which meant that for the moment he wasn't facing an immediate deadline.
He made his way to his cubicle area to find a post it note sitting on his computer screen. It read: Report to me when you see this. His editor's name was signed after it. Tom gave a semi nervous sigh at this, as while he had made some good progress in scheduling some interviews and even got a few of the ones that he could contact in Seattle, he would need to check with some other departments and law enforcement agencies in the state as well. And scheduling them would then carry certain issues that would be difficult as things like travel and the various schedules these law enforcement agencies had. That was something Tom knew would take time and potentially raise issues that might interfere with his plans for the "big reveal," which had its own schedule and issues, which his editor couldn't know about, until it went up on the paper's website. But his editor was still his editor, and thus he set his things down and made his way to the office that was on the far end of the floor.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Tom spoke politely as he came into the office.
The editor looked up from his desk, shrugged at something and then said, "Yes, Herald... I've had a few things to discuss with you. First, how goes the assignment?"
"Reasonably well, sir," Tom answered, "I've been able to talk with the FBI's Seattle Field Office and they've provided some of their statistical data they have in an email. I've talked with the Seattle Police Department and gotten some answers from them on what they expect or suspect may happen. Though... you should know that already."
"And some of the state offices? Some of the other agencies in other towns?" his editor nodded.
"I've gotten some calls and emails out, though I haven't gotten confirming replies yet," Tom answered, "Possibly because I'd have to travel to some of those sites and try make my schedule work around theirs. I might have some more information by now, but I haven't had a chance to check anything yet today."
"And I'm sure playing hooky yesterday didn't help you with that," his editor spoke with narrowed eyes.
Tom blinked for a moment, "Sir..."
"You came in at your normal time and then got a call around eleven AM and left around lunch time," his editor then spoke, "after that, you never returned. Nothing was lost and we saved the work you'd done in the morning... but you still left without saying what was calling you away and never returned."
"I'm sorry, sir," Tom apologized, "someone called me and wanted to talk. They made it sound like they had something that related to the assignment. Hints of some action or something like that and they didn't give me much chance to vet anything..."
"And you just wandered off following a random tip?" his editor gave a groan.
"The call said they had important information on the table, what was I supposed to do?" Tom asked, "and as I said, they didn't give me much time to vet who they were or get possible reasons as to why they would be contacting me."
His editor only groaned at this, "did you get anything out of this?"
"Nothing of note," Tom said slowly. He couldn't reveal that two Luna Brotherhood Members, Quintus Fives and Gustavus Amehr, had called to discuss his plans for the revealing of weres to the world and had pretty much threatened him over it. Partially because of his promise not to do anything that would jeopardize the reveal to the Moon Lake City Council and partially because he was fairly certain his editor wouldn't believe that. He watched as his editor sighed and rubbed his face with his hands before speaking again. "Hey, you said this was to be big. Get something definitive that would assure people that the recent incidents with the Gambonis in Washington State, Lionel Ulysses' shootout, and the battle Dymixious Drake had with the Moon Lake Police. So I went looking for that information you wanted, as at the time I hadn't gotten anything back yet on organizing anything from the state law enforcement heads in regard to the scheduling. I figured it'd be something that I could do and handle while I was waiting for the replies."
His editor sighed and nodded, "I don't disagree with your logic... but still... there is a lot in what you're telling me doesn't sound right. For one thing, you didn't make sure to vet who called you, something you haven't done. Maybe you were in rush over something or board from a lack of replies... but still, you SHOULD have made sure you knew who you were dealing with. And at the same time, if all they gave you was worthless or too vague to reliably use and lead to nothing... why were you gone the rest of the day? I know you. You're more than willing to dig deep if something catches your attention and you honestly think it leads to something. Just like you kept pushing on the Lionel Ulysses tail issue. Something struck you as obvious and you decided to pursue it as much as you could until I told you to stop. This would mean that if this tip lead to nothing... you wouldn't have been gone ALL day."
"The initial mentions were suggestive of something more... but admittedly, he left it vague enough that by the time I could check the things he reported and found nothing, it was too late," Tom said slowly, "I'll admit to barking up the wrong tree in haste to getting something to add."
"I see..." his editor sighed, "well... let this be a lesson. A lesson a man of your experience shouldn't have to learn... but it seems you do. Vet your source first and make sure the information is clear. I know this story is big, but I'm not expecting you to have stuff printed by tomorrow. With some things it might even take a few weeks to get everything. So there is no need to go rushing anywhere because you're not getting replies. Okay?"
"Yes, sir," Tom nodded.
"Now get going," his editor instructed.
Tom nodded and quickly returned to his cubicle. He didn't like lying or at least "bending" the truth, but he had made promises to help for the sake of the "big reveal" and he would keep them. And for the moment, his editor at least accepted the explanation, though he also figured that it would further keep him on thin ice. Which could mean negotiations with Moon Lake's City Council to put the plan together might have to face some postponements. A lot that would depend on what the responses would be. That was the first thing he intended to check before making any further calls. He'd then proceed from there.
It took a little while for his computer to boot up, but once it was up he went quick to both his email and setting up his calendar. He planned to check both and then mark down if there were any updates. He found that there were a few replies to some of the emails and calls that had been sent. The first one actually came from Fort Wolfe, where he'd sent an interview request with both the head of the MPs there and with the base commander, mostly in relation to the fact that they had caught Albert Gamboni there before Halloween. At that time, Tom had thought it minor, but with the present assignment. The reply was positive, but they would only schedule thirty minutes with the head of their MPs and fifteen minutes with the base commander, with 0900 and 1330 being the listed times for them, on Monday.
"That might take some work with Google Maps, but I think I can manage it," Tom commented as he flipped over to his calendar and marked the next day as "9 AM Forth Wolfe MPs" and then "1:30 PM Fort Wolfe Commander." He also privately noted to stop by his and Alice's apartment on the way back to Moon Lake later when his work day was done, as while Fort Wolfe largely served as a sort of logistical base with regard to any sort of deployments that would go from California to Alaska and thus didn't have the combat capability or the prestige of other military instillations, Tom also knew that the military would prefer some things looking a bit more formal than what he could get away with otherwise. Some of that struck him as bit much in the way of pomp and pageantry, but it was what it was. He swiftly made his reply accepting the time.
The next came from the Marshall's Office from Seattle. They were willing to accept the special interview and provided a list of acceptable times. The first was listed for the previous day at 3PM, making Tom curse a bit as at that time he was handling the packing and moving of things from his and Alice's apartment to Moon Lake because of the threats that the two Luna Brotherhood agents. The second was later in the day at 12:30 PM. Tom was quick to reply that he'd been busy the previous day but could handle the 12:30 appointment. The second was from Washington State's eastern district for the Federal Courts, which ran the Marshall's offices there in Spokane. They offered Monday or Tuesday at 10 AM. He replied that Tuesday at 10 would be fine. The next came from the state police and their main offices in Olympia with the only slot offered being that afternoon at 2:30 PM. Tom knew that was a rush, but also knew that given some of the time he'd had to wait with some of the requests with regard to these interviews and that his present assignment went beyond questions on specific cases, he really couldn't complain. He replied to the email that he had a scheduled appointment the Washington's Western District for the Federal Marshalls at 12:30, but he figured he might be able to make it to Olympia by 2:30.
"It will be the interstate, after all," Tom sighed to himself.
The last two were actually from Moon Lake. Aside from the Seattle PD, they were the only city police unit to respond to his request, so far. He'd sent requests out to many of the state's major cities, Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, Olympia, Vancouver, Kennewick, Yakima, and Spokane, which he figured would then give him enough alerts and links that if they thought some criminal group was a threat and was moving in, they'd be able to provide him with enough information to know on who to ask next. From what he'd gotten from the Seattle PD and the FBI's Seattle Field Office, while things like the Lionel Ulysses case were surprising in the oddity of the circumstances of the arrest, the arrest was not to far beyond what the Seattle PD had dealt with before and was not a drastic increase in crime. It gave him some hints that some of the worry that he'd been tasked to investigate was more imagined to the rapid succession of major criminal acts before the past Halloween and then after it... from the Gambonis killing a Park Ranger, Lionel Ulysses being found and caught near the warehouses at Seattle's harbor, and then the battle at Moon Lake with Dymixious Drake. The crimes in and of themselves may have been major, but they were not connected and thus didn't openly indicate anything... at least that was what Tom could draw on so far. Though he might need more, just to make sure he had all the information he could use.
And Moon Lake was the first of the cities that he'd sent messages to that had actually responded. He opened the first email that had arrived. He soon gave a groan as it did accept the interview request, but suggested it to be yesterday at 1 PM, and the email arrived either just before or just after Fives and Amehr had called him to lunch. It meant that he missed the email coming in and was busy with Fives and Amehr when the scheduled interview was supposed to take place. The second came in at 1:45 PM the previous day and was pretty much a standard letter stating the invitation was rejected along with admonishment for Wasting Police time and an attached ticket for $50. The last came in shortly after Tom remembered leaving the Moon Lake Police Station after reporting Fives and Amehr's actions.
The last email read: "From what has been reported to me, it would be clear that the incident you reported to us occurred at a time that probably was the reason you could not attend the meeting you asked for. While we would still advise you to keep up to date on checking your email, particularly given your present situation, the rescinding of our acceptance of your interview request is rescinded. And Chief O'Hara will speak with you regarding your editors concerns at Six PM. You may present this email to the desk officer and things will go from there. Though you will still be responsible for the fine." Tom gave a groan at that, but at least now he had a further schedule for the day... 12:30 PM with the Federal Marshalls' Washington State, Western District Office, 2:30 PM with the Washington State Police, and then 6 PM with Moon Lake. It'd be a busy day, and for Tom, it wasn't even 10 AM yet.