“Our business for today is finished you may stay and enjoy the wine and food that are provided.” Pointing to Crystal he indicated he wanted her to follow him into the red velvet bedroom. The rest of the table asked for more wine and conversation continued. No one mentioned the soon to be death of one of their own members.
Crystal awakened from her shock and picking up her wine glass followed the White Owl into the room indicated.
“This evening may turn out profitable after all.” Crystal thought of what the White Owl owed her so far. She had never seen his face no matter how intimate they had become. He was a very practiced lover and he fulfilled her passionately. Just following him into the bedroom got her juices flowing with what just might lay ahead. She took her mask and robes off and made herself comfortable on the bed waiting for him to come to her. Surprisingly when he arrived he sat on the chair next to the bed and held her hand.
“Crystal I need you to get closer to Jake Guiliani. I want you to get to know him, find out his thoughts. his likes, his ambitions. I want you to be his confessor. I want him to need you, and if possible I want you to move in with him.” All the time holding her hand and staring into her eyes. “I want you to be invaluable to him.”
“You flatter me bucko, Jake Guiliani is just using me to let off some steam. He doesn’t need, want or even care about me so much.” She removed her hand and got off the bed, straightened her jeans and combed her hair. She applied no make-up. she used enough at night, beside when she wore her mask it was unnecessary. The White Owl was looking at her as she prepared to leave.
“Will you do it?”
“I will try, but I am not promising anything. You owe me some money. I could use it now before we incur any more debt.” Crystal held out her hand.
“Not to sound like a prima donna but Owl I can’t be a prize to these losers. Yours truly will work on Jake, my pleasure, but it turns my stomach to be intimate with the flock.”
He through her a look, then went over to the bureau and pressed a curlicue near the first drawer and a shelf slid out by the back splash. Very neatly bound by rubber bands were $l000.00 packets. He threw $2000.00 worth in her waiting hands.
“I will double that if you succeed.” Crystal gave him a thumbs up as she left the room.
The White Owl watched her leave and strolled over to the bar and poured himself a brandy. “This situation has been very lucrative, but it might be time to fly into the night with my beautiful feathered friend.”
“Jeez, what am I supposed to do, get a potion from a fortune teller?” Crystal scoffed to herself. “Love Potion #9. There is some kind of attraction between us, sure, not just on my part. He looks for me too, but if he doesn’t find me he has other choices. Am I his first choice? If I can pull it off, mucho dinero.” She thought, rubbing her hands together. “I am playing with fire. That one kills at the drop of a hat, an ice cold bastard, and no one can identify him. Maybe I should head for parts unknown. No, I will continue to play this hand until it gets to hot to hold.” The traffic was light as she pulled into the PM Suburban parking lot just in time for the early bird special.
“Hi every body.” she greeted as she made her way to her service station to stash her purse and pick up an order book.
“That’s a new look for you Crystal au natural.” One of the other waitresses commented on her no make up face.
“God, I left my make up purse home, I guess I am stuck with this face for tonight. I hope it’s a quiet one and no Jake to see me looking like this.”
“You mean your going to stay like that? I would lend you mine but your light and I’m dark.”
“Yeah, but it’s a good thing I’m a natural beauty.” Crystal walked over to the couple that were sitting at her table.
“Hi what’s your pleasure this evening.” She smiled, she had a great smile and it exploded on her plain, make-up free face.
Her customers automatically smiled back and ordered drinks. “We will finish our drinks and call you when we are ready to order.” smiling she backed away to order their drinks.
The front door of the Suburban opened and in walked Jake and his first lieutenant Xavier Murphy. Jake spotted Crystal at the same time she turned around and saw him. “Wouldn’t you know it. Everyone in the world comes in when you just don’t want to see anyone, especially HIM. Yipes.”
Jake waved and Crystal bit the bullet and walked over to him and gave him a big hug, pressing her body into his, hoping it would bring back the memory of their night together and he would not notice her unmade up face.
“Hello Crystal how’s it going. You look different tonight. Have you been working out? You look healthy.” Jake said holding her at arms length studying her closely.
“You are so right, I just came to work from the gym and I feel so invigorated. What is your pleasure bar or table?” She turned to lead them to the bar and Jake pointed to a table. “Is that your station?”
“Absolutely, wherever you sit is my station and I dare anyone to interfere.” She put up her dukes and laughed. Jake laughed at her imitation boxing stance. Murphy smiled.
“When will you be getting off work Crystal? I would like to see you tonight.” Jake held her by the table before he sat down, so they stood together close and personal.
“Sorry I am on the late shift, but you can have a rain check for another time.” She smiled up at him. “Does anybody need menu’s or do you know what you want?”
“We’ll have a couple of steaks and the trimmings and a couple of cold ones, be a doll, and bring the beers and keep them coming.” Jake ordered for both.
The room was starting to fill up with early diners and the two men looked slightly out of place amongst those early patrons. A few of the females threw them glances and asked to sit close to their table.
Ever alert Murphy noticed but Jake engrossed in his notes paid no attention. “We are causing a bit of a stir amongst the ladies in this place, Chief. Do you want some action? I noticed that Crystal was busy.” Murphy leaned closer to Jake when he asked his question.
“Naw, Crystal took me by surprise, looking so fresh and, and innocent.”
Jake said looking around the room and encountering the glance of a particular bold blonde. Jake nodded to her and looked at Murphy, “I see what you mean.”
“Innocent? Not an adjective I would have used to describe Crystal, that girl oozes sex. She makes me horny just looking at her.” Murphy blushed at revealing his feelings to Jake but continued to watch her as she stood at the bar getting their beers.
“Let’s get down to cases here, Murphy. Listen I wanted to expound on some possible conclusions I’ve come to and my path to solving this case. That’s the main reason I brought you here. Out of the office and spying eyes. Plus Dr. Smith called and I have to see him later tonight, he found something in the blood sample on Cat’s shoe. Also confidential. The third thing but really our main concern is the murder of the district attorney, we have to solve his murder. I know the deaths are all related in one way or another, but his death is our priority.”
Murphy thought Jake was getting paranoid with this case, seeing spy’s or mole’s at every turn. But still he has remarkable instincts Murphy concluded, maybe he is right.
“I think,” Jake continued, “Priscilla is a major key. What an unhappy wife she must have been to put herself and Richard in such jeopardy.”
“She wasn’t alone, Carter’s wife and the mayor’s as well. How many others do you think? Oh, right the pictures. Do you think they need police protection? Murphy interjected.
Interrupting their conversation Crystal served the steaks, while leaning over Jake to bring the salad bowl closer to him, Murphy got an excellent view of her braless bosom. He let out a breath and Crystal smirked at him, knowing her impact.
The detectives asked for some salt and pepper missing from their table and Crystal borrowed a set from an empty
table near by and placed it by Murphy brushing his thigh with her leg in the process.
Murphy knew she was playing with him, but he was still intrigued with the game.
“Are you with me boy or am I talking to myself?” Jake irritated at Murphy’s lack of attention.
“Sorry Chief, Crystal was distracting me, what did you say?”
“Better not play with fire, and she is fire. She will chew you up and spit you out. Now can we get back to the case.” At Murphy’s nod Jake continued to explain his conclusions.
“We know the women were seduced by the White Owl, whoever he is and I have my suspicions, but what of their husbands. Either there is a fatal killing or the husbands are paying healthy ransoms so that no one gets injured or killed. Right?”
“So we go after the husbands, whose wives are still alive.” Murphy grasped Jake’s conclusions. “Who is first, the fire chief or the assistant governor or some wife not pictured?”
“First of all I want to put a tail on Tony McCane and I don’t want the tail to be invisible. I want Tony to suspect he is being followed but not sure, I want him to sweat. I want a team to bug his telephones and also set up a twenty-four-hour surveillance both at the studio and at his home. I want to know who he calls and who calls him, instantly.” Jake pushed his plate away and took a last drink from his beer, “I want you to get back to headquarters and make sure you send our best people to stake out and secure McCane. I would take care of it personally but I have to see what Dr. Smith discovered. He is excited about something.”
Murphy stood up and looked around for Crystal and made a gesture for the check. She raised her hand in acknowledgement and went to her station to add up the tab. Jake signed the check and asked for a receipt as he walked toward the door. Murphy went out to organize the car. Crystal looked after him.
“What am I about? Murphy is not in the picture, I have a job to do and I don’t feel like getting killed.” She turned on her heel and put her money in the tip jar.
Priscilla did not have to wait for Jake but she was unhappy by the way he left her. He treated her like she was a common criminal, so abrupt. Babs left also, and said she would be back in the morning. Priscilla saw that Annie was still in the squad room and said she was available if needed.
“I just want a place to take a bath and a bed to collapse on, not to mention a change of clothes. Where is Jake and when will he be back?’
“Hi Mrs. Smith,” Murphy said entering the squad room. “the chief asked me to make sure you got to your hotel if you were still here.” He stopped talking as Priscilla raised her hand.
“I am exhausted and I want a bath and a bed. Where am I going? I don’t want to go to my home, I am afraid for my life.” She shivered and clutched her jacket closer.
Annie walked over and put her arm around her, “Please don’t worry yourself, we can check into the hotel together and Murphy will arrange a uniformed officer to stand guard, right?’
“Right Annie, let’s go now and I’ll call the chief on his radio phone and tell him your leaving for the night with Annie, to the Warwick hotel on Broad and I’ll have a car pick you up in the morning. If you give me your house keys, [not that I’ll need them, no door yet.} I’ll have an officer, with some fashion sense, pack a bag with the necessities and deliver them to your room, okay?”
“Thank you both. Can we go now?” Priscilla started walking toward the door. Murphy held it open for the ladies and commandeered one of the on-duty police officer’s to accompany them to the hotel and his partner in blue, to go to Priscilla’s house and gather her clothes etc. Murphy asked Burnsey if he would follow McCane and stake out his home with one other officer.
“No problem I will follow him and arrange for the stake out, I’ll find some one. You can count on me.” He saluted mockingly.
With everything squared away and the office empty of ladies Murphy reported to Jake by radiophone as to the safety of Priscilla and the dispatch of Burnsey and one other officer to stay on McCane. He then called it a night himself.
The morgue was ice cold and dark and Jake was hunting Dr. Smith who had called him to come take a look see. Dr. Smith found incriminating evidence against one of Jake’s suspects. “Now if I can only find him, maybe the case will have a solution before someone else gets killed.” He thought opening office doors calling Dr. Smith by name.
“Chief, over here in the pathology lab.” The doctor yelled from the door to the path lab.
They greeted each other and Smith led him over to a bottle laden table with two microscopes all set up for his edification.
“What we have here are two microscopes. One microscope shows normal red blood cells; the other microscope shows the sample taken off the shoe of our first victim. You can see that sample is pale in the center compared to the normal red blood cells on the first slide.” Smith pointed to the difference.
“Yes, I can see that the second slide looks washed out.” Jake said interested.
“And that’s how the person who belongs to that blood feels. Washed out and anemic. Possibly with a bacteria infection as well. If his problem is left untreated he could suffer a major life threatening situation.”
“Do you think he knows he is sick?” Jake asked still studying the slide.
“Maybe, but at this point he probably thinks he is overworked and under nourished. Still it is a condition that we can recognize if we get a sample from all the suspects. On the other hand, we have in this vial the sample of semen and saliva that we took off the bed clothes from Natalie’s bed. If it were a match to the blood sample from the shoe, it would show under the microscope, since all bodily fluids in one person are identical. The sample’s match. They are from the same person”
“So basically what you are telling me is that the murderer is sick and could get worse. Can he pass it on to another person, is he contagious?” Jake asked trying to get a clearer picture of what he was up against.
“Until I get a good look at the perpetrator I can’t be sure if the low blood cells are a symptom or the disease.” The doctor answered truly. “Also, we now know from the blood and semen that there is one murderer so far. We are closer to bringing justice to those unfortunate women.
“Thanks Doc you have really made a breakthrough, this should make my job easier. Keep up the good work.’
“Keep finding the clues Jake, your hard work and man hours will solve this case.”
“I am surrounded by good people that don’t give up when the going get’s tough. They sacrifice their personal lives to dedicate themselves to this job. I don’t have to tell you Doc, you are an integral part of the team.” Jake shook hands, grasping the doctor’s hand longer than just a good bye to show his sincere appreciation for his good work and left that cold, dimly lit, lab.
Dr. Smith waved Jake out of the lab and retuned to studying the microscopic evidence.
What I have here, Smith surmised to himself, is one possibly two perpetrators. A murderer for each victim. Can I say that? Dr. Smith staring at the microscopes ruminated to himself.
Let’s see, Katerina; blood on her shoe, one potential assassin, Daphne; no evidence, so it could have been the same killer. The modus operandi are the same; the same dresses, shoes, make-up and careful set preparation, so the same killer in my opinion, but no evidence as such for Jake or Babs Babinsky. Natalie; killed at home, semen on her sheets and robe, a different method but the same murderer did in both Natalie and Caterina,, microscopic evidence does not lie.
A slab in the morgue held what little was left of District Attorney Richard Smith, did the same person kill both Natalie and Richard, if not we are up to possibly three killers. A GANG!
The evidence so far is strong that one murderer killed both Natalie and Caterina. We do not know who murdered the district attorney, and we do not know for sure who murdered Daphne Carter even though dressed the same and orchestrated in a tableau. Mos
t likely they are connected. All connected.
Dr. Smith left his perch on the stool and put the lights out in the lab, ‘Jake has his work cut out for him on this case. What is that old phrase, ‘Murder Most Foul, yeah that’s it, most foul indeed and by a gang or a consortium in my opinion, the chief will whittle down the odds? My money is on him.
CHAPTER 12
The two black robed henchmen unloaded the unfortunate murderer from the trunk of the car and propped him up against the suspension bridge guidelines to steady him. He was a quivering mass of fear, “Don’t do this to me, I was just following orders, you can see that can’t you?” He begged, gusty winds blowing his words away because of the high elevation.
“Sure we can and we are taking these restraints off your wrists and ankles to prove it to you. See, Carl is taking off the hand cuffs now.”
“Your letting me go?” Shaking and crying with relief he staggered as his bonds came off his ankles. He held on to his captors to steady himself and they looked at each other across his large body and with a nod they quickly and deftly hoisted him up and over the side of the suspension bridge.
He desperately tried to clutch hold of his captors but they were too strong and the fabric he managed to grab was to thin. His outcry, “Noooo” split the air with an extreme terror-filled scream as he plunged to his death, holding on to the fabric in a death grip, and then silence as he hit the black water of the Delaware river far below.
“Did you put the suicide note in the plastic bag and tuck it deep in his pocket Carl?”
“Sure boss, just as you ordered. Do you think he will surface after a fall like that? He ripped my favorite shirt, look. You guess he’s fish food?”
“Don’t worry about it you can’t even notice the rip.” The men left the suspension bridge and made their way back to the church to await further orders,
“No way he’s fish food.” They continued their conversation. “The water is too polluted for fish to live. He will float to a sand bar or wash up on a shore somewhere and the cops will find the note and that will be the end of the D.A.’s murder investigation. What an idiot. He had everything going for himself and one screw up and he’s food for the fishes. Let’s get out of here and report back to the White Owl.”
The Cult of the White Owl Page 12