“Morning. How’s your brass?”

            “My what?”

            “Your brass! Is it smooth and shiny?” Deputy Sheriff Morgan chuckled out loud. “I could have asked, ‘How’s your ascot?’ ‘Is it nice and tight?’ Or, ‘Your potassium?’ ‘Is it right about where it should be?’” Such is the way that law enforcement officers usually indulge in a lot of razz-a-ma-tazz with each other and prosecutors.

            Prosecutor Bernard “Bulldog” Bassett, his nickname ascribed to him while in private practice, leaned back on his chair and wiped his prematurely balding head. “My friend, when you come into this office again, you will act professionally. This is a working office, dedicated to law enforcement conviction of crimes, not a forum for jokes in bad taste! Do you understand?”

            “Here are the files you requested,” the deputy responded curtly as he tossed them on Bulldog’s desk. He wheeled in disdain at such rejection and headed for the door. At the door, he turned around, “By the way, your predecessor was a decent guy and a great prosecutor totally interested in doing justice. Nice guy, in fact. We liked working for him. May I suggest, maybe, a different attitude than what you just displayed today!”

            Bulldog pressed his lips in defiance. “Again, this is a working office. Brownton was a weak-sister who let too many criminals off too easily. I assure you that won’t happen on my watch.”

            The deputy scowled without speaking and rolled his eyes. As he went to the door, he wheeled around one more time. “I don’t know exactly why I should want to help you out here, but I too am a professional,” the acid in his voiced etched artfully in the direction of Bassett. “You might want to look at the Jennifer Blue case there. 4J and the other J’s are involved with that one.” He stopped one more time, “By the way, good luck in your new appointment.” Even sheriffs have to be political, he thought to himself as he left.

            Bulldog was now alone in his office with the “cold case” files Deputy Morgan had just deposited on his desk and which Bulldog had requested as one of his first orders of business. The world was filled with all too many irresponsible, tender-hearted people, especially law enforcement, he muttered to himself. Bulldog intended to change this in Plymouth, Marshall County, Indiana. He would enforce the law rigidly and righteously, as it should be.

            He would start here with the cold cases.

            There were five such cases dating back to the 1950s. In four of these, the cover letter indicated, among other things, that witnesses had died, persons of interest were no longer to be found, evidence of any possible criminal act had been contaminated or had deteriorated to the point where prosecution was no longer possible, or laws had changed, making it difficult to obtain a conviction, even if a suspect was charged. Nevertheless, one of the four held promise, and Bulldog set it aside before coming to the J’s case, as the sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies had dubbed it.

            The J’s case was assigned number 80-127 and stamped across the cover file were the emboldened words: COLD CASE. This latter reference appeared to have been added sometime during the 1990s, adopting the popular vernacular of law enforcement at that time. A “cold case” is an unsolved case, but within the statute of limitations for possible future prosecution based on new evidence.

            Bulldog set aside other matters of the morning, fascinated by the prospect of the J’s involved. As a young lawyer, he had heard about this case, but not lately. He scanned the summary sheet:

            Deceased: Jennifer Blue

            Alias: Blue J

            Sex: Female

            Race: Caucasian

            Born: September 4, 1960

            Died: October 5, 1980

            Age: 20

            Address: 1120 Elm St., Plymouth, Indiana (parents)

            SSN: 420-80-9993

            Physical description: Blonde, 5'10", 135 lbs., scar on inner right arm, possible needle   mark. (A picture was included in the file.)

            Education: Plymouth, Indiana, High School Class of 1977. Two years college, Butler University, major in political science

            Marital status: Single, never married

            Work history: None, except being a paid worked on the “4J for Senate” campaign in          1980

            Interests: Runner-up for Miss America, 1979

            Religion: Protestant

            Criminal: None of record

            Drug use: No prior revealed history

            Physical history: Autopsy reveals history of excellent health and no apparent physical         problems. No controlled substances found in blood stream. No other drug use indicated.   Two months pregnant at time of death. Father of the fetus not identified.

            Cause of death: Either a suicide due to induced heart attack from unknown substance or  a possible homicide

            Place of death: Juhl compound, Lake Maxinkuckee, Marshall County, Indiana

            Suspects: Numerous, but no one of prime interest.

            Evidence: Picture of body showing mis-buttoned red blouse, picture of needle mark on inner left arm at elbow, no syringe found, no evidence of controlled substance, brown shorts, headband, panties torn and caught in front zipper of shorts, brassiere, white socks, low-heeled shoes, white towel found wrapped loosely around neck, and suicide note on plain white 5×7 paper otherwise not identified to any person or organization, which read: “I can no longer live without being with 4J the rest of my life. He is a wonderful man, but he is married, and I know he won’t leave his wife. Just call me ‘Blue J.’ Signed by typewritten form only with no handwriting as Jennifer Blue.” Trace of blood of deceased blood type found on inside doorknob of her bedroom. Reason unknown.

            “I’ll be damned!” Bulldog exclaimed out loud to himself.

            He raced over to the advance sheets of new federal laws and rapidly thumbed through the pages. There it was, the new DNA registry law, which takes effect on March 1, 2008. He noted, as he read along, that it had been signed into law by President Juhl. It required all federal employees, military persons, prison inmates, those charged with crimes, law enforcement personnel, medical providers, and other miscellaneous categories to provide DNA evidence by blood or otherwise to the new federal repository in Washington, DC, run by the FBI. He found no exclusion for a sitting president or any other high-ranking government employees. He knew that Indiana had no such independent repository.

            “We’ll wait a little while,” he allowed to himself, “and, then, we’ll see if we can catch him in Indianapolis at the convention. “Hot Damn!” he exclaimed. “Maybe we can get that phony, no-good, liberal bastard who is destroying the moral value of this country!” Bulldog nodded his head up and down in satisfaction.