Cold Justice

by Rick Polad

  We picked up sandwiches on the way back to the office and ate with Carol. Joey had called twice wanting to know when I was coming. I knew going in that I’d have to babysit Joey, but I was hoping it would be interesting, and it had been so far. The puzzle was waiting for me to put the pieces in the right spots.

  Carol asked what happened at the range, and we all asked questions that had no answers while we filled her in. The big one was whether or not we had identified Joey’s bodyguard, and if so, why was she such a secret? Carol suggested that Joey wouldn’t want the world to know he had a woman bodyguard. That seemed logical. If she was, it also seemed logical that Jamie and Marty had met each other at the range and one thing had led to another. Marty would appreciate someone who could shoot better than he could, dress or not.

  Rosie was picking me up at two. That didn’t leave enough time to pay a visit to Joey. He’d have to settle for a phone call, so I called. But there wasn’t much I could tell him. We had discovered things that might or might not be important and things that probably were none of his business, like that Mike was handing envelopes to a certain woman, or that Marty had more than an ice cream relationship with one of the customers. Or that maybe that customer was more than a customer. But then, if she was, he already knew that.

  The phone rang a little after one. After answering, all I heard Carol say was okay, thanks, and goodbye. She came into my office a minute later.

  “The address on Belden?”

  “Yes.”

  “The ownership is in a trust. Denver says I should call him back if you want him to dig deeper for the usual fee.”

  I sighed. “Damn. It’d be nice if something was easy for a change. No, odds are he wouldn’t find anything but red tape. Thanks, Carol.”

  She smiled. “I think you’re in the wrong business for easy.”

  “You think right.”

  I called Joey and wasted the next twenty minutes trying to convince him that we were doing something without telling him what exactly that was. That we were watching select people didn’t satisfy him. He wanted to know who and what we had seen. He wasn’t happy that I wouldn’t tell him. I appeased him a little by telling him I’d stop by in person tomorrow. He ended by telling me he expected more then and hung up. He wouldn’t get any more, but that gave me time to think of something else.

  At a little after two the back door opened, and Carol said hi to Rosie, who entered my office and asked if I was ready.

  “Yup. Where’s your shadow?”

  “Detective Clements is keeping the car warm. And don’t sell him short. Did you know there are only four angels identified in the Bible? Gabriel is one. He was a big deal.”

  “Pardon me if I don’t see the connection,” I said in my best surly tone.

  “No connection… just saying.”

  “Who’re the other ones?”

  She smiled. “Hey, you’re the detective.”

  “Like I don’t have enough trouble. Let’s go.”

  Carol told us to have fun. I wasn’t putting my money on fun.

  Chapter 15

  The sky had turned gray, and a few snowflakes were in the air, but not enough to use the wipers. During the ride, Gabe—he asked me to call him Gabe—said he had heard a lot about me and tried to make conversation. I tried to be polite. With youthful good looks, he looked like he could still be in high school—very angelic. Rosie shot me a few looks, pleading for me to be nice.

  There were plenty of parking spaces next to the warehouse, and Gabe parked next to a snow pile that we could hop over. The three-story brick building took up half a block of wasted real estate. More than half the windows were boarded up, and the front door was padlocked. There was no yellow tape and no crime scene notice. This was still a secret. Rosie had the key but had trouble getting the door open. I could have picked it faster and would have if Gabe hadn’t been there. I didn’t want to set a bad example. The rest of the neighborhood wasn’t in much better shape. There were only a few buildings on the block with lights on. While Rosie was fumbling with the key a gust of wind blew off my Cubs ball cap.

  The body of Max Schloff had been found on the second floor, face up on the concrete. We had to walk through the offices to get to the stairs. The rooms were bare except for a few metal desks and file cabinets with some of the drawers half open. An assortment of trash was everywhere.

  “I wonder when this place was abandoned,” I said.

  Gabe answered, “About ten years ago is what the records show. It was a clearing house for office supplies. The owners—”

  “Okay, I got my answer.”

  Although Rosie was leading the way, I was pretty sure about the look on her face.

  Another doorway brought us onto a large, open floor space that extended in both directions to the ends of the building. Rosie dropped back and let Gabe lead us to the stairs.

  “Jesus, Spencer, lighten up. He’s just trying to help. I don’t know what your problem is, but if you keep this up we’re leaving.”

  “Okay. Got it.”

  She shook her head and followed Gabriel up the stairs.

  With a concrete floor and a high ceiling with square, cement pillars every fifty feet or so, the second floor was just like the first except for less office space. Large, horizontal, crank-out windows filled the walls above six feet. The big difference was a section near the south end where the pillars were wrapped with yellow tape. Near the middle of that section was the chalk outline of a body. It wasn’t the first time I had seen a chalk outline, but the effect was always the same. It was so impersonal. Max Schloff had lost his life there, and all that was left was the chalk outline.

  I asked about Glunner, knowing that Gabe would answer. He did, and Rosie gave me a warning look.

  “Glunner came into the station at eleven at night saying there was a body here on the second floor. Patrol officers found the victim lying face up in a pool of frozen blood. The temp was twelve that night.”

  I had been looking around. There were signs that someone had sheltered here—ragged blankets, empty bottles, cardboard on the floor, even a shopping cart. Boarded up or not, there was always a way into an empty building, and even a bed of cold concrete was better than outside in the wind. I bent to look closer at the floor.

  “What was Glunner doing here?”

  Gabe answered. “He said he used to live here when he was on the street. He came back to check on his friends.”

  I nodded. “Any sign of the shooter?”

  “We—” Rosie started, but Gabe interrupted.

  “They had a team in here—”

  Rosie looked at him and held up her hand, stopping Gabe from continuing and me from giving him a piece of my mind. Gabe walked off toward the north end of the warehouse.

  She turned back to me. “No. Not a thing.”

  “A phantom shooter. A lot of that going around.” I stood up. “Entry?”

  “No help. There are several broken windows that could have been used. Probably how the street people get in.”

  “Did they find anyone to interview?”

  “Nope, the place was empty.”

  “Not surprising, given the temperature. Did they get anything from neighbors?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not the lead on this.”

  “Right, you’re just babysitting Gabriel.”

  I got a stern look. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”

  “Just breaking in a new partner.”

  I took a deep breath and didn’t say what was on my mind. “Right. He’s pretty pushy.”

  “He’s just trying to learn, Spencer. Maybe he’s a bit… energetic, but he’s smart and will be a good detective.”

  “Okay, we’ll call him energetic.”

  I stared at the outline some more. “Face up.”

  “Yup.”

  “Two shots?”

  “What?”

  “Schloff. How many times was he shot?”r />
  “Right… two. From a distance. Nine millimeter.”

  “I bet the second shot was a waste of a good bullet.”

  “If by that you mean the first was enough, then yes.”

  “Lots of that going around too.”

  She looked to the north. “I wonder where Clements has got to.”

  “Even when we’re alone he’s on your mind.”

  She glared at me with her hands on her hips and her lips pressed tightly together. When she relaxed a little, she asked, “Are we done?”

  “I don’t know… are we? I bet the women are jealous of you, spending so much time with him.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I shrugged. “He’s good looking and available.”

  As she turned and started to walk away, she muttered “Jesus” under her breath.

  I followed ten feet behind her, and we met Gabe just before the stairs.

  Since I hadn’t answered her the first time, Rosie asked again if we were done. I was pretty sure she had meant with the warehouse.

  “I’d like to see the third floor.”

  Gabe looked excited and started to say something, but Rosie cut him off.

  “I’ve seen it. Third floor is just like the second floor and the first floor. Nothing there.”

  “I haven’t seen it,” I said. “You two do whatever it is you two do. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Don’t leave without me,” I added with a laugh.

  “Don’t bet on it,” said Rosie, without a laugh.

  I didn’t blame her—if the roles had been reversed, I would have left.

  The third floor was just like the second… same signs of being lived in. I wandered aimlessly, not looking for anything in particular. The shooting had happened on the second floor, so I didn’t expect to find anything, which is the best time to find things.

  There was still a bit of late afternoon light, and as I was walking back to the stairs, I thought I saw a shadow move to the side of one of the pillars. I gave it a wide berth and came up on it slowly from the side. There was a person hiding behind the pillar. I saw him before he saw me.

  “Excuse me,” I said softly, not wanting to scare him. Despite that, he jumped and turned out not to be a him, although it was hard to tell. Her clothes were dirty, and she was wearing a shabby coat that didn’t look real warm. A scarf was wrapped around her head.

  I held my hands up in front of me. “I’m sorry to bother you. I don’t mean you any harm.”

  She backed off a few feet, looking scared.

  “My name’s Spencer. I’m a private detective. I’m looking into the shooting.”

  She still just stared, wide-eyed.

  I lowered my hands and asked, “Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

  She shook her head slowly.

  I walked a little closer. “What’s your name?”

  “Angie,” she said hesitantly.

  “Hi, Angie. Do you live here?”

  She nodded.

  I kept walking slowly. “Are you the only one here?”

  “There’s me and Slim. There used to be more, but when it got cold they all went to a shelter. If it wasn’t for Slim I’d leave too. I don’t want to be by myself.”

  I stopped when I was five feet from her. “I can understand that. Were you here when the shooting happened?”

  She shook her head violently. She was lying.

  “It’s okay if you were, Angie. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  She shook her head more slowly. “It’s not okay. Whoever killed him would kill me too.”

  “I won’t tell anybody. And whoever it was is long gone. Did you see it happen?”

  “No. I saw him, after he was… lying on the floor, looking right at me.”

  “Had you ever seen him before?”

  “No.”

  “Did Slim see him too?”

  “Yes.” She looked around nervously.

  “Did Slim know him?”

  “No. He wasn’t a… like us.”

  I felt sorry for her. I of course knew there were homeless people, but standing next to her and talking was different from just knowing.

  “Why didn’t you go to a shelter?”

  “Shelters won’t let men and women stay together. We go and eat and then come back here. Are you going to tell the police?”

  “No. If you didn’t see the person who did it, it wouldn’t do any good.” I knew that wasn’t true. They’d definitely want to talk to someone who was at the scene. She knew that wasn’t true also, and why should she trust me? She just wanted to be left alone. I couldn’t think of anything else to ask, and I knew if I came back tomorrow, she and Slim would be gone, and I would be the one responsible for them leaving a place where they felt safe.

  I took my money clip out of my pocket, pulled off the clip, and held the money out to Angie. I didn’t count it but knew it was around eighty bucks.

  “I don’t take charity.”

  “It’s not charity, Angie. It’s for helping.” I stepped closer.

  She reached out and took it. I thanked her and wished her luck.

  She just looked at me with empty eyes. As I walked back to the stairs, I felt just as empty and a little guilty.

  ***

  Rosie and Wonder Boy were chatting in the office by the front door.

  “That was more than a few minutes,” Rosie said.

  “Yeah, my apologies. Angie and I were chatting about old times.”

  Gabe jumped on that. “Somebody’s up there? Let’s go get her! She needs to come to the station and—”

  “Slow down, kid. She wouldn’t go. She was scared enough just talking to me. And she told me all she has to tell.”

  “But she might be a witness. We need to—”

  “We need to go, Clements,” Rosie interrupted. “If Spencer says she has no more to say, she has no more to say.”

  It was nice to know she still had faith in my detective judgment. But I was sure she questioned my relationship judgment.

  “I have one more question before we leave,” I said. “Gabe, what’s on the pillar to the left of the body?”

  He looked confused and flustered. “What?”

  “The pillar twenty feet from the body. What’s on it?”

  “Well, I don’t know. It’s just a pillar. Just cement.”

  I nodded. “Rosie?”

  There were questions in her look, but she wasn’t flustered. “A raised red fist. The Prophets’ gang sign.”

  I nodded some more. “Now why did Rosie notice that and not you, Gabe?”

  Now he looked embarrassed. “I don’t know. I guess she’s been doing this longer.”

  “Yes, she’s more experienced. It takes a trained detective to notice the little things. Now, do you think Glunner, seeing someone with a gun and probably hiding behind one of the pillars and then seeing someone killed would notice that?”

  “I…”

  I shook my head. “No. He wouldn’t. But he said he did. Does that make you wonder? It does me.”

  The sidewalk was covered with less than an inch of snow, and Gabe brushed the windows. He did come in handy for something. The ride back to the office was quiet. Not one word was spoken until Gabe pulled into the alley.

  “Thanks for the tour,” I said.

  “Sure,” said Rosie. “We’ll talk later.”

  I wasn’t looking forward to that. She’d have things to say she wouldn’t say in front of company.

  “See you, Spencer,” said Gabe.

  “Probably,” I said, knowing he wasn’t going anywhere soon.

  I didn’t waste any time out in the cold and was inside before they backed out. There was one message on my desk, a reminder from Joey to see him tomorrow. I had pleasantly forgotten about him.

  I was hungry and considered three options… something frozen at home, dinner with Stosh, or dinner at McGoon’s. I needed some company which was guaranteed with Stosh. There was always Jack at McGoon’s, but he wasn’
t really company, just somebody to talk to. Now, Jamie would be company with her red lipstick and lips to go with it, but there was no guarantee she’d be there. I ruled out a frozen dinner and flipped a coin. McGoon’s. But I didn’t always listen to the coin. I called Stosh and asked if we could switch our Wednesday gin and dinner night to tonight. No problem. I told him I’d pick him up in a half hour.

  Chapter 16

  Saving me getting out in the cold, Stosh came out when I honked. Saturdays were sandwiches at his place. Weekdays we ate out. We had been doing that since Mom and Dad died. We decided to drive down to the near north side to Gino’s East for deep-dish pizza. It had been Dad’s favorite pizza place. We had been going there since its opening in the mid-sixties. We had to wait fifteen minutes for a table, but I remembered nights with Mom and Dad when we had waited an hour.

  As we drove, the conversation turned to the leaded gas situation in Chicago.

  “What are you going to do if the city’s ban on leaded gas holds up, kid?”

  I finished a turn and answered. “I guess I’ll have to buy gas in the burbs. But I gotta think over two thousand angry station owners will have something to say about this.”

  “Yeah, lawsuits have been filed. And remember the courts ruled against the same ban in New York ten years ago.”

  “Yup. But I have mixed feelings. It would be inconvenient, but the reports say lead is really bad for the environment. And the guy who added lead to gasoline developed lead poisoning.” I pulled into the parking lot.

  “Who knows what we’re doing to the environment in the long run?” Stosh said. “All I know at the moment is there’s no lead in Gino’s pizza.”

  After we ordered the supreme with sausage, onion, mushrooms, and peppers, and our beer was delivered, he asked how the trip with Rosie went.

  “Which part would you like?”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Well, there’s the Spencer Manning detective part, and then there’s the Spencer Manning romantic lover part.”

  “Since I’ve already counseled you about the romance, and you don’t listen to me, get to the detective part.”