Billy’s Case Files
By Ermintrude
See part one for disclaimers
Part 13
After Brunettes Are In November 12, 1984
Again, Billy sat reviewing case files at his desk. He sighed. Mrs. King's latest mid-level courier assignment certainly took a turn that nobody expected. A vital microdot stolen by a thief, fronting for a slavery ring. Slavers! In this day and age!
But it all turned out well, they recovered the microdot in time, saved Tripod and broke up the slavery ring. Her other assignments had gone better. Billy chuckled as he remembered Scotland Yard's assessment of her interview of Connie Barnhill. Yes indeed, Amanda had a style all her own.
Billy briefly wondered why Amanda would have mailed him a resignation—but as he had never officially received it—it wasn’t his business. He figured Lee and Amanda had had another of their legendary arguments—and she had gotten fed up with him once and for all—but then she thought better of it. He was surprised she hadn’t tried something like that before this. Or at least requested she not work with Scarecrow anymore. Lee was more considerate of his partner lately, but he still could be rough on her when he was upset. The man had to learn to deal with people! And hopefully some of Amanda’s people skills were rubbing off on her partner. Only time would tell.
And then there was Operation Sandstorm. That wasn't really Amanda's fault. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, nothing was blown, so it ended well.
It was perfectly natural that as she branched out into more active assignments on her own that she would make a few mistakes. Maybe it was time to see if she could move up. Station One was scheduled for a class in a few weeks—he could let Amanda go through the class and assign Scarecrow to be the ringer.
Billy knew better than to put Amanda in the class without letting Scarecrow be there as well. His protective moves toward her were generating gossip. Ever since her date with David Benson, the mole, it was commonly known among the male population of the Agency that Mrs. King was off-limits. Ignore that warning and face Scarecrow's wrath. Rumor had only a couple guys roughed up and threatened—no bloodshed or fistfights. But only because the other guys had backed down. Rumor also had it that Mrs. King didn't know about Scarecrow's warnings. God help him if she ever did find out. Still, Scarecrow was actually suggesting he work with his partner. He chose her to work with him on the Internal that caught Nightlight—David Benson. He suggested she help at the Cumberland after Francine ended up with a toothache. And Emily Farnsworth certainly was complimentary of her abilities. Emily had requested Amanda's help and without Amanda's insight those defense talks would have been thoroughly compromised.
And Mrs. King was the key in the Jerry Perrine case. She got Scarecrow into the charity event when the Agency, with all its resources, had struck out. Yes, Amanda King was definitely an asset for Billy Melrose's unit and the Agency in general. And add to that as Scarecrow's partner she helped keep him in line and on track. And they still had an impressive solve rate. Now if Scarecrow could just lay off and let her have a personal life...
They still argued and disagreed. But they were also working together more as a team. And the betting pool on her telling him to go to hell and refusing to work with him anymore had largely died out. Billy briefly wondered where the money had gone, but officially he didn't know about the pool in the first place, so it probably didn't matter.
Yes, definitely. He put Amanda King's name down for Station One and assigned Scarecrow as the ringer. He and Francine would be assisting so it would be a good way for him to observe Mrs. King in the field, as it were.
Before Our Man in Tegernsee November 19, 1984
Early Thursday afternoon, Billy was with Amanda in his office. He was going over her latest courier assignment again before she left for the airport. "Now Mrs. King, all you need to do is carry these documents to our contact in Munich. Establish contact with the code phrase, wait for the response, give the counter response, and then hand them over. After that, you will be free to do a bit of sightseeing before you catch your plane back home."
"'The trains usually run on time', is my code phrase, he'll answer with 'but weather can cause delays', and I reply with 'unless the tracks have been cleared beforehand.'" She smiled at her successful repetition of the phrases.
"That's right. Now you have your passport and plane ticket?"
"Yes, everything is right here." She held up her carry-on bag.
"Good. Here are the documents—put the envelope in the side pocket. That way it will be accessible when you hand them over."
"Sir, I just want you to know that I appreciate your confidence in me. I won't let you down. I'll get these documents to our man in Munich."
"I know you'll do fine, Amanda. Should anything go wrong, don't hesitate to call here. But you'll do fine."
4:42am Friday Morning
Lee was rudely awakened by the phone. "Hello?"
"Scarecrow—I need you go get in here right away."
"Awww Billy—I'm on vacation. I took a long weekend—I'm going to the Poconos with Gillian..."
"Cancel your plans. You're booked on an early flight to Munich."
"Munich? Why the hell would I go to Munich?"
"It seems one of our couriers was arrested for counterfeiting, and I need you to go over there and straighten it out."
"Why me? You have lots of other people you can call in for something like this."
"I need you because you're familiar with this courier, and I think your expertise will be needed to get her out of this mess."
"Her? Oh no, Billy, it can't be Amanda..."
"Yes it can. It seems she made the delivery fine, but while she was shopping for gifts for her family, she passed a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. The shopkeeper spotted it and she was arrested shortly thereafter. She called me from the police station, and now I'm sending you over there to straighten this mess out. After you come in here and we talk about it."
"What do we have to talk about?"
"I want to talk to you about this little mishap. So come in here, and you can take the first flight out to Munich."
"Great Billy, but I want my vacation day back. Not that Gillian will ever want to see me again..."
"So find someone else to take to the Poconos. Now get your butt in here. You don't have a lot of time before your plane leaves."
After Our Man in Tegernsee November 19, 1984
Billy was finishing up the report on the Hollinger case. He felt a bit guilty. He had chewed Scarecrow out when Amanda had been arrested for counterfeiting. It wasn’t Lee’s fault—it wasn’t even Amanda’s fault. But Billy had been pushing Amanda to take more courier assignments, and unfortunately her track record there was not stellar. He sighed heavily, and sat back in his chair.
‘I guess I’m expecting she’ll be as good solo as she is with her partner. And she doesn’t have the training to support that. She does as well as some of our other couriers, so I should be pleased. Still, I’m setting higher standards for her. When she’s partnered with Scarecrow—they manage to solve the case most every time. And they thrive in their partnership.’
‘But Amanda has a knack for finding trouble. Scarecrow’s right about that—but I’ll never admit it to him. So when she is out on a courier assignment, if anything can go wrong—it probably will. Maybe I should cut back on using her for those. Just keep her in the field with her partner, and try to slip in as much training for her as I can. But the courier assignments are training, as well. I just don’t know if my stomach can stand many more of these complications.’ Billy downed a couple antacids and chewed thoughtfully.
‘I’ll wait, and see how this falls out. She’s at the bottom of the courier roster right now—so it will be a while before her name comes up again. Time will give me a better perspective on this.’ He sat forward and finished his task, secure in the knowledge that he would be able to make a better decision once he had distanced himself a bit.
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