The Murderers

by W. E. B Griffin

  And anyway, the word would get out who’d done the hit among the people who mattered. That was what mattered.

  He knew he’d done the right thing, not keeping the clipping, when Tim McCarthy, who ran Meagan’s Bar for his father-in-law, called him up and told him that a couple of cops had been in the bar, asking about him, and giving Tim some bullshit that one of them was a cousin from Conshohocken.

  What that meant, Frankie decided professionally, was that his name had come up somehow. That was to be expected. He drank at the Inferno, and he had been in there the night he’d made the hit. The cops probably had a list of two hundred people who drank in the Inferno. They probably got his name from the bartender. Which was the point. He was only one more name they would check out. And the bartender, if he had given the cops his name, would also have told them that he had left the Inferno long before the hit.

  The cops didn’t have a fucking thing to connect him with the hit, except Atchison, of course, and Atchison couldn’t say a fucking word. It would make him an accessible, or whatever the fuck they called it.

  He hadn’t been too upset, either, when Sonny Boyle had called him to tell him two detectives had been to see him about him. He had been sort of flattered to learn who they were. One of them was the cop that had caught up with the guy who shot the Highway Patrol captain, and the other detective was the guy who had shot the pervert in Northwest Philly who was cutting the teats off women. What that was, Frankie decided professionally, was that the ordinary cops and detectives was having trouble finding him. He didn’t have no record, for one thing, and the phone was in his mother’s name. So when the ordinary cops couldn’t find him, the hotshots had started looking for him.

  Well, fuck the hotshots too. They would eventually find him—it would be kind of interesting to see how long finding him took—and they would ask him questions. Yeah, I was in the Inferno that night. I go in there all the time. I been talking to Mr. Atchison about maybe becoming his headwaiter. Where was I at midnight? I was home in bed. Ask my mother. No, I don’t have no idea who might have shot them two. Sorry.

  The dinge ahead of him in line finally figured out how to get his time card punched and Frankie stepped to the time clock, punched out, put the card in the rack, and walked out of the building.

  He had gone maybe thirty feet down the street when there was a guy walking on each side of him. The one on his right had a mustache, one of the thin kind you probably have to trim every day. The other one was much younger. He didn’t look much like a cop, more like a college kid.

  “Frank Foley?” the one with the mustache asked.

  “Who wants to know?”

  “We’re police officers,” the guy with the mustache said.

  “No shit? What do you want with me?”

  “You are Frank Foley?”

  “Yeah, I’m Frank Foley. You got a badge or something?”

  The guy with the mustache produced a badge.

  “I’m Detective Milham,” he said. “And this is Detective Payne.”

  Frankie took a second look at the kid.

  “You the guy who shot that pervert in North Philly? The one who was cutting up all them women?”

  “That’s him,” Milham said.

  “I’ll be goddamned,” Frankie said, putting out his hand. “I thought you’d be older. Let me shake your hand. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.”

  The kid looked uncomfortable.

  Modesty, Frankie decided.

  Frankie was genuinely pleased to meet Detective Payne.

  This guy is a real fucking detective, Frankie decided, somebody who had also shot somebody. Professionally. When you think about it, what it is is that we’re both professionals. We just work the other side of the street, is all.

  “Detective Payne,” Milham said, “was also involved in the gun battle with the Islamic Liberation Army. Do you remember that?”

  Payne looked at Milham with mingled surprise and annoyance.

  “The dinges that robbed Goldblatt’s?” Frankie asked. “That was you, too?”

  “That was him,” Milham said.

  “Mr. Foley, we’re investigating the shooting at the Inferno Lounge,” Matt said.

  “Wasn’t that a bitch?” Frankie replied. “Jesus, you don’t think I had anything to do with that, do you?”

  “We just have a few questions we’d like to ask,” Matt said.

  “Such as?”

  “Mr. Foley,” Wally Milham said, “would you be willing to come to Police Administration with us to make a statement?”

  “A statement about what?”

  “We’ve learned that you were in the Inferno Lounge that night.”

  “Yeah, I was. I stop in there from time to time. I guess I was there maybe an hour before what happened happened.”

  “Well, maybe you could help us. Would you be willing to come with us?” Wally asked.

  “How long would it take?”

  “Not long. We’d just like to get on record what you might have seen when you were there. It might help us to find the people who did it.”

  The smart thing for me to do is look like I’m willing to help. And what the fuck choice do I have?

  “Yeah, I guess I could go with you,” Frankie said.

  “We’ve got a car right over there, Mr. Foley,” Matt said. “And when we’re finished, we’ll see that you get wherever you want to go.”

  Frankie got in the backseat of the car and saw for himself that the story that went around that once you got in the backseat of a cop car, you couldn’t get out until they let you; that there was no handles in the backseat was bullshit. This was like a regular car; the handles worked.

  He got a little nervous when he saw the two detectives having a little talk before they got in themselves. They had their backs to him, and talked softly, and he didn’t hear what Detective Milham said to Detective Payne:

  “This asshole thinks you’re hot shit, Matt. Sometimes that means they’ll run off at the mouth. When we get to the Roundhouse, you interview the sonofabitch. Charm the bastard.”

  “You think he did it?”

  “This fucker is crazy. Let’s see what he has to say.”

  * * *

  STATEMENT OF: John Francis “Frankie” Foley

  DATE AND TIME: 5:40 p.m. May 22, 1975

  PLACE: Homicide Division, Police Admin. Bldg. Room A.

  CONCERNING: Robbery/Homicide at Inferno Lounge

  IN PRESENCE OF: Det. Wallace J. Milham, Badge 626

  INTERROGATED BY: Det. Matthew M. Payne, Badge 701

  RECORDED BY: Mrs. Jo-Ellen Garcia-Romez, Clerk/typist

  I AM Detective Payne. This is Mrs. Garcia-Romez, who will be recording everything we say on the typewriter.

  We are questioning you concerning the murder homicide at the Inferno Lounge.

  We have a duty to explain to you and to warn you that you have the following legal rights:

  A. You have the right to remain silent and do not have to say anything at all.

  B. Anything you say can and will be used against you in Court.

  75-331D (Rev.7/70) Page 1C. You have a right to talk to a lawyer of your own choice before we ask you any questions, and also to have a lawyer here with you while we ask questions.

  D. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, and you want one, we will see that you have a lawyer provided to you, free of charge, before we ask you any questions.

  E. If you are willing to give us a statement, you have a right to stop anytime you wish.

  1. Q. Do you understand that you have a right to keep quiet and do not have to say anything at all?A. Yeah. I understand.

  2. Q. Do you understand that anything you say can and will be used against you?A. Did I miss something? Am I arrested or something?

  3. Q. Do you want to remain silent?A. No.

  4. Q. Do you understand you have a right to talk to a lawyer before we ask you any questions?A. Yeah, but what you guys said was just that you wanted to talk to me.


  5. Q. Do you understand that if you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, and you want one, we will not ask you any questions until a lawyer is appointed for you free of charge?A. Yes, I do.

  6. Q. Do you want to talk to a lawyer at this time, or to have a lawyer with you while we ask you questions?A. I don’t have nothing to hide.

  7. Q. Are you willing to answer questions of your own free will, without force or fear, and without any threats and promises having been made to you?A. Yeah, yeah, get on with it.

  75-331D(Rev.7/70) Page 2(Det. Milham) Frankie, to clear things up in your mind. That’s what they call the Miranda questions. Everybody we talk to gets the same questions.

  A: Am I arrested, for Christ’s sake, or not?

  (Det. Milham) You are not under arrest.

  A: You had me worried there for a minute.

  8. Q. For the record, Mr. Foley, state your name, city of residence, and employment.

  A. Frank Foley, Philadelphia. Right now, I work for Wanamaker’s.

  9. Q. Mr. Foley, were you in the Inferno Lounge the night there was a double murder there?

  A. Yeah, I was. Just before midnight.

  10. Q. What were you doing there?

  A. I stopped in for a drink. I drink there every once in a while.

  11. Q. That’s all? Just for a drink?

  A. I been talking with Atchison, the guy who owns it, about maybe going to work there as the headwaiter.

  12. Q. Does the Inferno have a headwaiter?

  A. Well, you know what I mean. I’d sort of keep an eye on things. That’s a pretty rough neighborhood, you know what I mean.

  13. Q. Oh, you mean sort of be the bouncer?

  A. They don’t like to use that word. But yeah, sort of a bouncer.

  14. Q. You have experience doing that sort of thing?

  A. Not really. But I was a Marine. I can take care of myself. Handle things. You know.

  15. Q. When you were in Inferno, the night of the shooting, did you talk to Mr. Atchison about your going to work for him?

  A. I guess we talked about it. When I came in, we went to his office for a drink. I don’t remember exactly what we talked about, but maybe we did. We been talking about it all along.

  16. Q. You went to his office? You didn’t drink at the bar?

  A. Mr. Atchison don’t like to buy people drinks at the bar. You know. So we went downstairs to his office.

  75-331D (Rev.7/70) Page 317. Q. Was Mrs. Atchison in the Inferno when you were there?

  A. No. He said she and Marcuzzi went somewheres.

  18. Q. You knew Mrs. Atchison?

  A. Yeah, you could put it that way. Nice-looking broad. Had a roving eye, you know what I mean?

  19. Q. You knew her pretty well, then?

  A. Not as well as I would have liked to.

  20. Q. Tell us exactly what you did when you went to the Inferno?

  A. Well, I went in, and had a drink at the bar, and then Atchison came over, and asked me to go to the office, and we had a drink down there. And then I left.

  21. Q. How long would you say you were in the Inferno?

  A. Thirty minutes, tops. Ten minutes, maybe, in the bar and then fifteen, twenty minutes down in his office.

  22. Q. We’ve heard that Mr. Atchison used to keep a lot of money in the office. That he used to make loans. You ever hear that?

  A. Yeah, sure. He did that. That was one of the reasons we was talking about me working for him. People sometimes don’t pay when they’re supposed to.

  23. Q. And you were going to help him collect his bad debts.

  A. Not only that. Just be around the place. Keep the peace. You know.

  24. Q. When you were in the Inferno, did you notice anything out of the ordinary?

  A. No. If you’re asking did I see anybody in there who looked like they might be thinking of sticking the place up, hell no. If I’d have seen anything like that, I would have stuck around.

  75-331D(Rev.7/70) Page 425. Q. You said Mrs. Atchison had a roving eye. Do you think that what happened there had anything to do with that? Was she playing around on the side, do you think?

  A. Well, she may have been. Like I said, she seemed to like men. But I don’t know nothing for sure.

  26. Q. When you left the Inferno, where did you go?

  A. Home. It was late.

  27. Q. Have you got any idea who might have robbed the Inferno and killed those two people?

  A. There’s a lot of people in Philadelphia who do that sort of thing for a living. Have I got a name? No.

  28. Q. That’s about all I have. Unless Detective Milham…?

  A. (Det. Milham) No. I think that’s everything. Thank you, Mr. Foley.

  29. Q. (Mr. Foley) Could I ask a question?

  (Det. Payne) Certainly.

  (Mr. Foley) When you shot that nutcase who was cutting up the women, what did you use?

  (Det. Payne) My .38 snub-nose.

  (Mr. Foley) And on the dinge who did the Goldblatt job? Same gun?

  (Det. Payne) Yes.

  (Mr. Foley) You got more balls than I do. If my life was on the line, I’d carry a .45 at least. You ever see what a .45’ll do to you?

  (Det. Payne) Yes, I have. But we can carry only weapons that are authorized by the Department.

  (Mr. Foley) That’s bullshit.

  75-331D(Rev.7/70) Page 5(Det. Payne) Off the record, I agree with you.

  (Mr. Foley) Sometime maybe, I’ll see you around, we’ll have a beer or something, and we can talk about guns. I was in the Marine Corps. They teach you about guns.

  (Det. Payne) I’d like to do that.

  (Det. Milham) I think that’s all, Mr. Foley. Thank you for your time and cooperation.

  (Mr. Foley) That’s all? I’m through?

  (Det. Milham) That’s all. Thank you very much.

  75-331D(Rev.7/70) Page 6

  * * *

  NINETEEN

  “Frankie’s in love with Matt,” Wally Milham said. “He wants to buy him a drink and tell him about guns.”

  “Jesus Christ!” Matt said.Jason Washington raised his hand somewhat imperiously and made a circling motion with his extended index finger, as a signal to the waitress that he wanted another cup of espresso.

  They were in Café Elana, a new (and rather pretentious, Matt thought) Italian coffeehouse in Society Hill.

  “That sometimes happens,” Washington said, returning his attention to the table. “I think it has more to do with Matt representing authority than his charming personality. You might find it interesting, Matthew, to discuss the phenomenon with your sister.”

  “In this case, it’s because Matt shoots people,” Milham said. “Frankie found that fascinating.”

  “Frankie found a kindred soul, in other words?” Washington asked, nodding. “Let’s think about that.”

  “There’s something wrong with that guy,” Matt said.

  “There’s something wrong, as you put it, with most people who commit homicide,” Washington said. “Or did you have something special in mind?”

  “He seems detached from reality,” Matt said. “The only time he seemed at all concerned with having been picked up and taken to a Homicide interview room was when I went through the Miranda business; that made him worry that he had been arrested. But even that didn’t seem to bother him very much. As soon as Wally told him he wasn’t under arrest…”

  “Matthew, you realize, I hope, that the moment he was told that he wasn’t under arrest, all the ramifications of his being informed of his Miranda rights became moot.”

  “I thought going through the routine might unnerve him,” Matt said. “And I didn’t get anywhere close to asking him about his involvement in either the robberies or the murders. I just asked him if he was in the Inferno, what he was doing there, and if he saw anything out of the ordinary.”

  “No harm done in this case,” Washington said, “but you were close to the edge of the precipice.”

  “Matt asked me before he gave him the M
iranda.” Wally came to Matt’s defense. “It made sense to me. He’s right, there is something wrong with this guy. I agreed that it might shake him up, and I told him not to get into the murder itself. Either the Inferno murders, or Kellog’s.”

  “Then, Wallace,” Washington pronounced, “the two of you were teetering on the precipice, in grave risk of providing a defense counsel six weeks out of law school with an issue that would cloud the minds of the jurors.”

  Washington let the criticism sink in for a moment, then went on: “Having said that, it was not a bad idea. Professor Washington just wanted to make the point in his Homicide 101 Tutorial for Detective Payne that there are enormous risks in dancing around Miranda. In my experience, the more heinous the crime alleged, the greater the concern from the bench about the rights of the accused.”

  “I didn’t turn Matt loose, Jason,” Milham said, his annoyance at the lecture visible and growing as he spoke. “And he wasn’t a loose cannon. I was prepared to shut him off if he was getting into something he shouldn’t have. I didn’t have to.”