Crescent City Detective

by Vito Zuppardo

  This was the first time Zack was alone with Dave all day. He still had questions regarding Dave’s chat with the doctor.

  Dave’s observation was that the doctor liked to bet on the horses. He had a box seat that held eight people in the Club House. He did a little background check and found the doctor owned several horses over the years and presently had two that were boarded and trained at a farm in Folsom.

  Folsom, a small town on the North Shore of New Orleans, had several prominent horse farms. Dave felt he hit a nerve with the doctor the minute he said he’d made a living at the racetrack—the doctor’s eyes lit up.

  Zack was puzzled. He’d thought he knew everything about his roommate.

  Dave explained he had a life before Riverside most people didn’t know. He was a bookie for years. He’d sit at the race track all day and take bets from a group of men. He had a lot of customers during football season, but after December, football dried up. Gamblers wanted to be in action, so Dave kept box seats and his friends waged with him. If you bet at the track, you had to put the cash up front on every wager. With Dave, it was a debit and credit system, and he paid or collected once a week on a Monday. They got the same odds the track offered. It didn’t matter who the player bet with. The key was using a bookie like Dave so they didn’t have to come out of pocket with cash every day.

  Zack was puzzled. “So a few of your friends bet with you,” he said, sitting on the bed.

  “Not a few. I had two boxes next to each other. I had sixteen people betting with me.”

  Zack was impressed. “Sixteen? So win or lose, at the end of the week they all paid you.”

  “Now you get it,” Dave said. “Dammit, for a cop, you sure are slow.”

  “Isn’t that illegal?”

  “Of course it is. That’s why I’m called a bookie,” Dave said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Anyway, that doctor, he’s a player. He jumped all over the fact that I made a living at the track. He just didn’t know I was the bookie and not a better.”

  Zack pulled a leather bag from under the bed and flopped it on a chair in the corner of the room. Then he took some weapons and laid them out.

  “So much for no guns,” Dave said, picking up a stun gun.

  “Look, I had one wife that worried every time I left for work. I don’t need my lady friend telling me what I can and can’t do,” Zack said.

  Dave snickered. “Girlfriend?”

  “Shut up. What are you, sixteen?”

  They looked through the weapons and decided they both were taking a 38 Smith and Wesson handgun, vest, and a stun gun.

  Dave was concerned they were bringing too many weapons for just looking after the house. But, Zack the ex-cop, felt you never went to a gun fight with a knife. The look on Dave’s face revealed he had no clue what Zack was talking about.

  “It just means you’re ready for anything. We’re not going to need any of these weapons. It’s just a precaution,” Zack said. “Let’s get some sleep.”

  David tossed and turned all night. He’d thought he could handle the excitement of a stakeout, but after seeing all the weapons, it made the situation a lot more dangerous than he expected. While he was sure it wasn’t Mario-approved, there was no talking Zack out of bringing some protection.

  The alarm went off at six a.m. sharp. Dave and Zack jumped out of bed like two soldiers in training. Taking turns in the bathroom, they both threw some water on their faces and brushed their teeth. They got dressed and were both heading to the dining room within minutes. The kitchen had just opened, and a variety of pastries were the only items available to eat at the buffet. The real breakfast food didn’t come out for another thirty minutes. They got a cup of coffee and a few of those donuts the kitchen made and were on their way to the stakeout.

  Zack had borrowed Andrew’s pickup truck the night before and gotten gas and cleaned the windshield. Andrew used the vehicle mostly for gardening, and it looked every bit of a work truck. From the fast-food wrappers and newspapers on the floorboard to the trash left in the bed of the wagon, it wasn’t much cared for over the years.

  The morning work traffic was starting to back up on the entrance ramp of I-10 heading to the Central Business District. Zack took a few side streets, and in no time they were on Saint Charles Avenue. He parked on the side of the house facing the avenue, giving him a view of the side of the home, garage, and rose garden as well at the front of the house facing the avenue. It was only a few minutes before seven, and they were in position—as promised.

  While finishing their coffee and donuts, Zack explained what you looked for during surveillance. He pointed out a lady in a blue jogging suit running on Saint Charles Avenue.

  “She is probably jogging to Audubon Zoo. A lot of ladies meet there in the morning, and run as a group around the park,” Zack pointed out.

  Dave gave him a look. “I’m glad you told me she was a jogger, because she looked suspicious to me. I might have used the stun gun on her.”

  “Okay, smart-ass. I’ll point out something that isn’t normal when it happens.”

  Mario came out the side entrance to the house. He backed his police cruiser out the driveway and pulled on the side of Zack’s truck. “You on your own. You have the radio?”

  “We’re ready, and the radio is on your channel,” Zack said.

  “Call me if anything looks suspicious. Don’t hesitate. Let me decide if we should respond,” Mario said, giving him a thumbs up.

  Zack sat in the truck, carefully watching the surroundings while Dave concentrated on just watching the house, shifting his eyes from the front entrance walkway to the side door and even the garage entrance.

  It was a little after nine in the morning, and all that they saw were a few woman joggers and a paperboy throwing newspapers from a bicycle earlier. And too many streetcar trolleys going up and down Saint Charles Avenue, making a squeaky sound every time they stopped at the corner to pick up or unload passengers.

  The side entrance door to the house opened, and both Dave and Zack saw Kate appear in the doorway. She walked down two wooden steps to a cobblestone walkway leading to the rose garden. Right behind her was Amelia, mostly for conversation, but also to help Kate if needed. Kate had recovered well and strolled up to the front of the house.

  Something caught Dave’s peripheral vision, and he quickly turned to focus on the side street where they were parked.

  “Didn’t a paperboy walk by earlier?” Dave asked.

  Zack didn’t turn his head away from watching Kate but answered, “Yes, a young kid on a black bike.”

  “We have another paperboy on foot crossing the street,” Dave said.

  Zack saw the guy crossing the street heading up the sidewalk directly in front of Kate. “That’s not the same kid, and he’s on foot.”

  “Oh shit!” Dave fearfully said. When the kid stopped in front of the gate, Zack checked his shoulder holster, knowing his gun was there, but it was a cop’s reaction making sure. They both jumped out the car and walked briskly. Zack pointed Dave to a direction on the sidewalk that led to the front of the house while he cut through the rose garden and planned to come up behind Kate.

  The man opened the gate and handed Kate a newspaper and got in a car that was waiting for him one house down. Zack waved to Dave to abort and return to the car. Neither one was noticed by Kate or Amelia as they rushed back to the truck.

  Zack picked up the radio. “Mario, come in.”

  Mario responded fast. “What’s up, Zack?”

  “A second paperboy came by the house. This one was on foot and walked right up to Kate, standing by the front gate, and handed her a morning newspaper.”

  “Zack, you’re on edge. So what?”

  “It was strange he didn’t throw any papers before Kate’s house or after. He handed her a paper and jumped into a car that was waiting.”

  Mario paused. Like he was giving it some credence. “What kind of car?”

  “A blue Ford Crown Vic,” Zack said.


  “All right, calm down. That is the son of Ora Mae Jefferson, the lady that sits with the judge’s wife next door. Her son drops her off at the judge's house in the morning. That is the guy with the Atlanta cap with the questionable logo.”

  “He had a red ball cap on but I couldn’t see a logo,” Dave said, talking on the radio Zack held in his hand.

  “I think it’s okay. That’s the same two guys I saw yesterday,” Mario said. “Call me if you need anything else,” Mario said as both radios went silent.

  Mario sat at his desk and ran the radio conversation through his head. Why two paper delivery boys?Why give Kate a newspaper, then jump in the Crown Vic and leave?

  “Mario? You okay? You’re mumbling,” Truman said, sitting across from his desk.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about a case,” Mario said as he snapped out of a daydream that he knew would worry him all day.

  Nothing more eventful happened the rest of the day. By mid-afternoon, a lot of women were out strolling babies, some towards the park, and others returned with children from the nearby elementary school a few blocks away.

  Dave observed the women pushing strollers. “A few of these women should join up with the joggers in the morning. Some could lose a few pounds.”

  “All this time I thought you picked up on observing people. Look at the women, what nationality are they?” Zack asked.

  “Those two look Hispanic, perhaps from Latin America. You have the two African Americans. And the other one crossing the street—I don’t know, maybe Asian,” Dave said.

  Zack laughed and described his observation. He believed the heavyset woman were the nannies. The mothers were the skinny women that jogged in the morning. Nannies didn’t have time to exercise; they were too busy taking care of other people's children. The mothers had a full-time job keeping their bodies in shape, meeting friends for lunch, and being the perfect wives for their rich husbands.

  “Well, I did learn women jog in the morning and men jog after four p.m.,” Dave said.

  “Excellent. That was a good observation.”

  The radio beeped. “I’m a block away,” Mario said. “Go ahead and pull out before I get there. I don’t want anyone noticing we’re switching out.”

  “Copy,” Zack said. Then slowly pulled forward from the curve. When he stopped at the corner street sign, he saw Mario turn into the driveway.

  “Good job, guys,” Mario's voice said over the radio.

  CHAPTER 30

  It was time for Mario to pull the plug on Zack’s surveillance at Kate’s parents’ house. She was feeling better and getting along by herself. She had expressed a few times to Mario that Amelia meant well but was working on her nerves, always wanting to help her get dressed, cook another meal, or make a dessert. Kate had gotten a lot better and just wanted to be left alone.

  Mario’s condo in the French Quarters was the perfect place, with a doorman twenty-four hours a day. There was absolutely no possible way for a solicitor or anyone to come to your front door unannounced. If you were not known by the doormen as a resident, you would be asked for identification when entering the lobby. Then the homeowner would contact the resident by phone before allowing anyone to enter the elevator.

  Zack and Dave met in the dining room and were joined shortly after by Howard.

  “Good morning, gents,” Howard said.

  They nodded their heads. “Good morning.”

  Howard was called in for assistance on their last day of surveillance since Andrew had to use his truck for picking up replacement flowers for the garden.

  Dave stuffed another donut in his mouth then dusted the glaze off his lips. “Our last day and we get to work out of a limousine, now that’s a first-class stakeout.”

  “Just till noon. Then I’m taking Kate to Mario’s condo,” Howard said.

  They finished breakfast, and the three of them got into the limo and headed to Saint Charles Avenue. Zack directed Howard where to park the limousine for the best view of all the entrances to the house. They were a little early, and the street traffic was moving fast. Other than the annoying streetcar sound, it was quiet.

  Howard drove with Zack in the front passenger's seat while Dave relaxed in the back, but with the best view of all of them. The wraparound tinted windows gave an open look.

  Within a half hour, they all had a lot to watch as the street and foot traffic picked up noticeably. A few joggers were about, and nannies were walking children to a nearby school.

  Mario came out the side door by the rose garden. From the limo, Howard had the best view of Kate standing in the doorway. She smiled and gave a wave. Mario picked up the newspaper in the driveway and went back up the walkway and handed it to Kate.

  Mario backed his police cruiser out and gave a slight wave to the boys in the limo as he drove to the corner and made the turn. It was ten in the morning, and the clock on the dashboard clicked as the hand landed on the hour—something Howard meant to get fixed but never seemed to find the time.

  “Okay, let's be alert. Kate is going for her morning walk in the front yard,” Zack said, watching Kate come from the side door of the rose garden.

  Howard focused his binoculars on her. “She alone?”

  “Yes,” Zack said. “I heard Amelia, the housekeeper, and Kate had a little tension between them. That’s one of the reasons she is moving to the condo.”

  “Hell, if I had a cook and a personal assistant doing everything for me, it would take a lot of aggravation to make me want to leave,” Dave chattered from the rear seat, and suddenly paused. “Guys, we have a visitor coming up the side street. The paperboy.”

  Zack saw him and told them to relax. It was the same guy from yesterday that handed Kate the newspaper then jumped in that Crown Vic. Nothing to worry about.

  Howard kept an eye on Kate. “I’m locked on her. She is close to the front gate. That blue Crown Vic is parked on the avenue.”

  Zack slipped out the passenger’s door, opened the side gate, and walked up the rose garden as a precaution. The paperboy made the turn on the corner.

  Dave and Howard stood outside the limo in case Zack was wrong about this guy.

  “Good morning,” the paperboy said as he approached the gate. He had a newspaper in his hand and opened the gate.

  Kate was standing only a few feet from the entrance. “I’m not sure why we are getting two papers in the morning,” Kate said as she reached.

  Kate put her hand around the newspaper, but the man held tight. All in one motion he grabbed Kate and put a cloth over her nose and she went limp as a noodle. A black van stopped sharply at the curve, and the paperboy tossed Kate into the truck through a side door.

  Zack was moving through the rose garden with his gun drawn. There was no need to shout to Dave and Howard, for they saw everything happening before their eyes too. They were all on the move with guns pointed towards the black van.

  The van door closed and the paperboy ran to the Crown Vic. The truck pulled out fast then slammed its breaks on in the middle of Saint Charles Avenue. Coming to a screaming halt, the driver faced Howard standing in the street with an AK-40 ready to launch a round of bullets into the windshield.

  “Get out the truck!”

  The driver kept his hand on the wheel, staring at Howard.

  “Is today the day you die? I promise you’ll have a closed casket—I don’t miss,” Howard said as he walked around to the driver's door. “Make a move. One round of bullets will cut through your skull like a hot knife through butter.”

  Dave ran with a 38 pistol in hand and came up behind the blue Crown Vic, pointing the gun at the side of the driver’s head. “Make a move—I’m pretty sure I can kill both of you with one bullet. If not, I have five more chances.”

  “We have a kidnapping in progress,” Zack shouted into his radio, standing at the gate not believing what was going down in broad daylight.

  Mario responded quickly. “You’re sure?”

  “I need backup
. Now!”

  Howard approached the driver of the van cautiously and demanded he steps out. The door slowly opened, and a white man in his mid-thirties stood with his hands up. With a gun pointed at his back, he walked around to the sliding door of the van. He spoke with an accent, and Howard picked up on it immediately. He knew a lot of Russian immigrants growing up in the Ukraine and retained some of their speech. These weren’t Russians, more like New Yorker thugs, maybe Brooklyn—he wasn’t sure. The door slowly glided open, and Howard pointed the gun ready to fire. If a shootout erupted, bullets would surely hit the driver detained by the back of his shirt collar standing in front of Howard.

  Zack ran over, pointing his gun and checking both kidnappers for weapons, but didn’t find any. Both men were placed face down on the grass. Dave marched the two men from the Crown Vic. Finding one gun on the man that grabbed Kate, he had them both lay face down on the lawn next to the Russians.

  You could hear the police sirens screaming from a distance, coming from the zoo area and downtown. It was different-sounding sirens, which meant to Zack it could have been a SWAT Team along with the police.

  Zack checked Kate while Howard kept the gun on the four lying on the ground. She was coming around but still lightheaded and unstable. Zack held her hand and waited for Mario.

  Howard could see the flashing lights from police cars about three blocks away. He took the nose of his AK-40 and stuck it in the back of each one of the guys on the ground.

  “Make a move, and you’re dead. The good news is you won’t know what hit you.”

  Howard grabbed the guns from Dave and Zack without saying a word. They were very reluctant to give them up—then realized his plan. Howard ran with the firearms through the rose garden into the garage, walking out the garage empty-handed just as the first police car slammed on its breaks, blocking the intersection. Within seconds police surrounded the kidnappers.

  Mario’s car came flying up the side street and stopped at the corner. He ran to the crowd of police officers and saw Kate sitting on the edge of the truck cargo door.

  When everything calmed down, and the four guys were secured in the back of police cars, the first officer started taking statements. “Your name, sir?”