Gary S Brayshaw

The Consummate Fix Gary S Brayshaw

When NYPD forensic specialist, Isaac Sawicki, hears of President Reginal Courtenay Bealdric's death, he suspects foul play. Isaac remembers meeting a Jill Norse and an Effie Cummings while vacationing, a supposedly chance meeting that turned out to be a setup to establish themselves as a threat to President Bealdric without saying anything against the law. Isaac now finds their actual names are Maggie Wayne and Sue Wotten, recent founders of a murderous offshoot of the National Organization for Women, calling themselves Level Playing Field (LPF), a group determined to give women the jobs and the pay they deserve, now. LPF informs the Deputy Director of the CIA, Alexandra Locke, that thirteen of her male department heads will be assassinated in the coming week and every week thereafter, until the CIA replaces every second male department head with a qualified female of their choosing. Each week the CIA loses thirteen more of their department heads and Locke receives another letter. To confirm their resolve and effectiveness, they also claim to have poisoned President Bealdric, and refer Locke to NYPD forensic specialist, Isaac Sawicki, for confirmation. Meanwhile, Isaac and his friend Juda Levy, a Virginia police lieutenant; along with Secret Service Agent, Audrey Cabot, have circuitously tested the contents of Bealdric's stomach, Isaac finding the presence of a virtually undetectable poison. They then discover that a waitress at The Krebs in Skaneateles, NY, a Linda Reynolds, left shortly after Bealdric ate his last meal there. Stymied by the limits of their secret investigation, Juda calls a friend in the CIA for help in tracking down Reynolds and is startled to find that the CIA is searching for Isaac. At a subsequent meeting with Locke, Isaac shares having detected potassium cyanide in Bealdric's stomach. Locke suggests they join forces. The intercalary chapters of this novel are Isaac's notes supporting his personal belief that the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a coup d' e'tat. These chapters develop the story's theme of political murder as the consummate fix, the irony being that the power elite responsible for the murder of JFK are now the targets, having themselves always looked out for their own interests, maintaining their power of advantage extending back to the days of the robber barons.