“What in the purple hell has gotten into you Burns,” Jake asked interrupting his diatribe. “Have you gone off your rocker, like your boss? By the way who Is the Keeper of the Keys, although you probably don’t even know… a lowly member of the organization as yourself would not be privy to that information.”
Jake held his breath waiting to see if his reverse psychology worked on this diseased mind.
“Joe Carter is the Keeper of the Keys and I am his second in command.”
“Did you get that Murphy?” Who was taking notes furiously during the session.
“Okay put this guy on ice, and call his attorney after 24 hours are up. But I don’t want anyone to get near him, so organize a guard no, two guards around the clock. Get a search warrant to go through his house, his car and everything. Follow up with a search warrant for Joe Carter all out search as well. Get Carter’s warrant first.
“Got it, but what are you going to do?’
“I am going to pick up Joe Carter, Keeper of the Keys and his pet owl”
“What must I do now? My restaurant was raided, my congregation arrested,
my whole organization blown to hell. They are probably coming for me as I speak. Minerva help me, save me.” Joe Carter was out right crying now, talking to the Chestnut tree where he last saw Minerva, her golden cage empty.
“You are sniveling again,” the owl said as she descended from the tree. “How many times do I have to tell you that they can not charge you with anything, just go about your business as usual. They have nothing on you.” The owl swiveled his head looking for a tasty morsel in the garden.
“That is bull shit, your giving me bull shit. They are going to throw the book at me. McCane has recovered. I have it on good authority and he will testify against me for a reduced sentence, like not burning in the electric chair. Do not forget my second in command, I don’t know what he will do, he is so completely entrenched in our philosophy, might is right, greed is strength, and evil will triumph over good, that they will probably put him in the looney bin and throw away the key. What is that you say? You are whispering and I can’t hear you, speak up.” Exasperated, the owl flew off for a bit and then came back and sidled up to Joe Carter’s ear.
“There is another way, but it is dangerous, life threatening. But you can escape forever. You would have to listen to me and trust me implicitly if we want this to work.” The bird fluffed out his feathers.
“I do trust you, you have been my mentor in all things. Tell me what to do, to make me disappear.”
“First of all you have to put the pearl collar you devised around my neck and then you will have to bring the pearl blanket with us, and here is the tricky part. You must give the blanket to Priscilla for accidentally murdering her husband. A botched up job not to our standards. Third you have to bring the loose pearls that we collected and had no time to sew onto the blanket in your tuxedo pocket, yes you are changing into your tuxedo, this is a very formal occasion, so get started. Oh yes you are right, the money. You must make restitution, so fill your valise with the money and put a note on the top of the valise to Chief Detective Jake Guiliani, he will know what to do with the money.”
In a hurry now Joe gathered all the money he stashed under his bed and threw it into the valise, then he entered his wardrobe and started dressing into his brand new tuxedo, looking very handsome he thought to himself. (The bird heard him and started to laugh) “Quiet you,” but he had to smile in spite of himself, He felt better than he had in a long time and he actually whistled as he retrieved the pearl studded blanket and made his way down to the garage and Daphne’s Mercedes convertible. Joe started the engine and backed out of the garage into a fine sunny day and the owl landed on his shoulder as he drove toward the Warwick Hotel on Broad Street to deliver the blanket of pearls to Priscilla.
It would take at least an hour for Murphy to assemble the teams and get the necessary warrants to make both search’s legal. Jake was at the house now hopefully before Carter could vanish along with the bird and the loot.
“Hmmm all quite on the home front. I better knock louder. This is not working, don’t tell me I am too late.” Jake ran back to his car and called dispatch. “Put out an all points bulletin on Councilman Joe Carter, he may be armed and he is dangerous. Try to capture him alive and if he has a big white owl with him, see that the bird comes to no harm, over and out.”
Jake finished his call and decided to wait for Murphy and enter the house with the team. There was nothing else he could do at the moment, no sense crying’ about it now, so Carter left the house but he won’t escape he won’t get away, and he would pay, big time.
With the blanket of South Sea Pearls folded over his arm the Keeper of the Keys, Councilman Joe Carter knocked on the door of Priscilla’s room and waited impatiently for someone to answer.
“Priscilla, lovely to see you. I come baring gifts.” Joe said entering the suite.
“Joe what a surprise, and in a tux, so formal but you should have called anyway. I was just going out.” She said dismayed.
“No problem, this will only take a minute. I want to make restitution for the death of your dear husband, a ghastly mistake.” He handed her the blanket of pearls and she gasped looking at him.
“What are you talking about? Why are you giving me such a treasure? You said because my husband was killed by mistake. God then you’ re the White Owl, Keeper of the Keys. You were going to kill or have me killed and God, you are standing here in a tuxedo, right in front of me, you murdered Daphne, your own wife. This is crazy.” Priscilla looked around for her guard who was no where to be seen.
“If you are looking for your guard, I sent him for some cigarettes and I told him I would watch out for you till he returns. But if he doesn’t return soon I am afraid I will have to leave you anyway. I am journeying to a different realm Minerva my white owl is my spirit guide and I won’t be back. So this is good bye, I am happy you survived. Minerva said your death was not in the cards and that you will have a long happy life with a new husband and many children. So I believe the blanket will insure your future and theirs as well.
Do not tell anyone you have it, they will confiscate it as evidence, and you know how evidence disappears. Sell the pearls one by one in different locations as needed but never reveal the source. Good bye and good luck my lady, it would have been a pleasure to get to know you more intimately then the one night stand on the red velvet bed.” He winked as he started to head for the door.
She stopped him in mid-stride, “That was you!” The pearl robe dropped from her arms and when she raised up from retrieving the blanket, he was gone. “Oh my God, oh my God, what do I do now.” The first thing she did very craftily was stow the pearl blanket in her luggage never to be released, talked about or revealed in her lifetime. She felt that it was her legacy for what she’s been through, the death of Richard, and her near assassination. “I better call Jake.”
She did not reach Jake at the station but she left a message with the sergeant at the desk that Councilman Joe Carter was in the Warwick Hotel on Broad Street and he just left her suite.
CHAPTER 31
A frustrated Jake Guiliani left the house; a vacant house, an empty house, a house with no sign of life and except for the suitcase with a note addressed to himself taped to the top and a few memorabilia related to Daphne dead in her grave these many months, there were no signs of a human inhabitant, nor the owl. The team did confiscate the cage in the garden, but no bird. Both gone.
“Damn and double damn where in the hell could that bastard be now.”
“Chief we just got a buzz on the radio phone that Joe Carter just left Priscilla ‘s suite. He is in the Warwick Hotel on Broad Street.”
“That was a quick response” Jake thought, “How about a million dollars? Oh well pardon me for trying.”
His car drove up and stopped by Jake’s side. “Hop in Chief
I will bring the suitcase and get us there in a New York minute,” Jake got in the car and Murphy put the suitcase on the floor next to him.
“What do you think is in the suitcase? Do you want me to open it?” Murphy’s curiosity was getting the better of him, but Jake ignored the question his mind on the apprehension of Joe Carter and the White Owl.
He felt his adrenalin spiking at the thought of confronting Joe Carter as the Keeper of the Keys, The White Owl.
“Step on it we need to nab this guy, on so many levels. Once we get him we have a solid case for conviction, two eye witnesses, Tony McCane and Burnsey. Poor demented fool, Burnsey. Some people are more susceptible to suggestion than others. He really fell for the party line.”
“There’s the Warwick up ahead and a lot of commotion from that crowd and the policemen trying to push them back. What’s going on I wonder?”
“I don’t care if it is a nudist colony parade get us to the lobby door and grab some of the beat cops that are trying to look involved over there,” Jake said pointing, “to follow us into the hotel and do a complete search.” Jake was on the edge of his seat now trying to propel the car forward.
“You can’t see as well as I can from the back seat Chief, but I think we better check out what ‘s going on in front of the hotel before we do anything else.”
Murphy came to a screeching halt in front of the hotel and the police pulled the crowd back to make room for the chief to exit the car, which he did with some speed Murphy following quickly behind him.
The scene confronting Jake and Murphy, the assembled crowd and officers was horrendous. A scene of death and vengeance. The end of Joe Carter, Keeper of the Keys. The realm he entered was not the realm promised by his mythical bird but the grim reality of human body hitting hard concrete.
The crumpled figure of Joe Carter dead from what must have been a fall from one of the high balconies of the Warwick hotel. He lay in a pool of his own blood, South Sea Pearls scattered around him like confetti. His tuxedo and his body were uncrushed in the front that you could see, so the contorted smile on his face was glaringly visible. The most surprising aspect of his countenance was a perfectly round bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.
Jake and Murphy just stared at the dead body unbelieving that he had got away from them after all. “It Isn’t fair.” Jake thought after all the months of police work and effort to have him escape the Chair just like that. What am I thinking, I am being selfish he got his payoff maybe in a more fitting way, he had a plan for his departure that was interrupted by a bullet in his head.
It was a glorious day in Philadelphia and flying in circles above the chaos below was a single white owl glowing golden in the sunlight. Murphy following Jake’s gaze, “what about the bird.” He asked worried for her safety.
“She is innocent, just a pet. My guess she will go back to her garden and the Chestnut tree. I think that has always been her home, before Joe Carter made her the star of his cult. The Cult of the White Owl.”
“Do you think she talked to him and it was the bird who gave him his orders? Murphy questioned Jake, while they waited for forensics and the ambulance to take Joe Carter for his last ride.
“Tony McCane implied that it was, but in reality I think Carter lost his mind when he saw his wife in the arms of Alain Kosonov. It was to much for him to bear. Although ‘there are many things in heaven and earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’
“Do you think he was trying to commit suicide, jumping off that balcony?”
“My personal opinion, after talking to Priscilla, he thought he was going to another realm.”
“Which he did.” Murphy interrupted.
“Your right but the bullet interrupted his journey, and he wound up in another realm altogether. My guess is damnation, Hell. The more important question in this time zone or our reality, who fired the bullet that killed him?
I have an opinion to that question as well. Here comes Dr. Smith and his team.
Murphy, let the good doctor get on with his investigation and you and I will go over to that bank building across from the Warrick and reconnoiter.”
“Shall I call in the boys at the precinct? It will make the job faster and easier?”
“Just you and me for now, lets see if there is any evidence against any one we can identify.” Jake said cagily.
There is something going on with Jake, Murphy thought. He is being very sly, so why? Poet and I don’t know it.
They crossed Broad in a hurry and entered the bank building stopping by the reception desk where the officer on duty looked up from his paper work.
“What can I do for you Chief?” He asked recognizing Jake immediately.
“I was just wondering if any of my officers were in your building in the last hour or so. He would have been in plain clothes?”
“Absolutely, he showed me his deputy badge and his rifle. He said he was on a stake out and he needed access to the roof.”
“I pointed him to the farthest elevator, express you know, come to think of it I did not see him leave as yet.’
The officers were out of ear shut and on their way to the farthest elevator, apparently the only one that went to the roof. They looked up at the lighted dial and it showed that it was still on the 30th floor. They pushed the button and the elevator made its way slowly down to the lobby.
When the elevator stopped and Jake stepped on the roof followed by Murphy the expanse was bare and deserted. They could not see any movement at all. Above them the white owl was still flying, only much closer to where they were standing.
“Look at the bird Chief, it almost looks as though it wanted us to follow her to the other side of the roof.” Murphy said pointing in the direction the owl was indicating.
Jake had already seen the owl’s flight path and was heading toward the back of the roof, his pant legs blowing in the wind gusts.
“Hold onto your hat Murph or you will lose it. It is much gustier in the back of the building. I don’t see anything it looks as empty as the front.”
“The bird is hovering right there, look over the side maybe there is something in the alley she wants us to see.” Murphy ran to the edge of the roof and looked down into the alley. Splattered in an awkward position in the alley far below, was the figure of a man and the remnants of a rifle.
“Let’s get down there!” They both sprinted for the elevator and hit the lobby running. “Call the police and the coroner to get here on the double, in the back alley.”He shouted to the guard at the front desk. “Where is the door to the alley?”
On the phone making the requested calls and a little rattled by Jake’s tone of voice he could only point.
The body of the man lay as they saw him from the roof, quite dead. His rifle was scattered in pieces all over the alley from the fall. Jake found the barrel and sniffed. It had been recently fired. The man was face down on the ground and Jake would never move him until the coroner took care of that chore. So they waited. Murphy went to the head of the alley to wait for his team plus the coroner. Jake knelt down by the body avoiding the pools of blood and went through his pockets searching for the badge the guard at the desk mentioned.
His fingers grasped the hard metal object clearly marked Deputy and he put it quickly away in his coat pocket as Murphy came back down the alley with the Coroner.
The men stood back as the stretcher bearers arrived and turned the body over to place on the stretcher for transport to the morgue, when they stoppe shocked. The eyes of the man were gone. Clawed out, or bit off or both. There was very little left of his face but the eyes were definitely the work of an outraged bird. Looking up they saw the owl gleaming in the sunlight wearing a collar of magnificent South Sea Pearls very obvious to all as he made a flying pass at Guiliani, regained altitude and then vanished before their eyes.
The men stood transfixed their mout
hs open but Jake was all business.
“Get this man to the morgue and try to get an I.D.” He ordered, then turning to Dr. Smith, “I guess this wraps up the case of the Cult of the White Owl.
“You have that right my esteemed colleague. Now back to the mundane.”
Jake patted Dr. Smith on the back and said, “The scut work is in the hands of Babs Babinsky to rap it up with a ribbon. See you around. Let’s go Murph.”
EPILOGUE
Jefferson hospital’s waiting room was crowded with husbands waiting to be fathers and Jake and Murphy were no exception. Their wives went through child bearing and now child birth together and the men always close became even closer, they suffered all the pangs of becoming fathers in lock step.
“What do you think we will have Chief.” Murphy asked , always curious.
“Either a boy or a girl.” Jake answered tongue in cheek.
“Wait, here come the Ob/Gyn men.” They stood up together as the doctors entered the waiting room and with perfect timing Annie’s Mom and Dad came into the room with coffee cups in their hands purchased from the cafeteria, which they nearly spilled seeing the doctors.
Both doctors addressed Jake first, “Chief I have very good surprising news for you. Your wife gave birth to twins a boy and a girl. The girl was a little shy and we missed her all these months, she was hiding behind her big brother. Both children are in good shape. Annie has been through a rough time of it and we medicated her to give her some rest.
“You called it Chief a boy and a girl.” Murph was laughing at Jake’s chagrin.
Jake asked the doctors when he could see his wife and is she in any immediate danger?
“No sir she is just worn out and we felt it was in her best advantage to rest, she said she wanted to breast feed the babies.”
The Cult of the White Owl Page 27