by Gene Epstein
The conversation was totally turned around when Bill Spaulding inquired as to how their investigation was going and was there anything that he could do to aid them?
Without discussing the case, Detective Simpson simply asked Bill Spaulding what he did with the 22-caliber pistol that he owned.
"I have over a dozen handguns but do not own a 22-caliber,” Bill Spaulding responded. They are so small and ineffective that I find they have no use. If you want a handgun for protection you should have a 38 caliber Smith & Wesson Chief’s special.”
Detective Simpson left and then contacted Robert Snyder and asked where he could meet with him.
“I'm in Center City,” Robert responded, “is there a place that's convenient for you?”
“Pick a place" Simpson said. “I can be there in 30 minutes.”
“How about if we meet at the new McDonald's on Broad Street near Girard Avenue?”
“I'll see you there in a half-hour.”
Robert was there before Simpson. He ordered a coffee and sat down at a table. About fifteen minutes later, Detective Simpson arrived apologizing that there was an accident holding up traffic on his way there.
"That's not unusual. Living near Center City I see it every day. How about a coffee for you?”
Detective Simpson ordered a large black coffee and brought it back to the table.
“In doing background checks on everyone that had access or worked at Mrs. Moore's property, we found that you owned a 22-caliber pistol. Where is that pistol now?”
“Wow, Detective. You're certainly doing a thorough job. It has to be nearly ten years since I've even seen it. I kept it under my pillow when I was hanging out with two other unsuccessful actors sharing a small apartment. I didn't know either of them personally, I was just paying one third the rent for about six months until I moved out. Then one day I needed some cash and I sold it to a pawnshop for $25.”
Robert continued, “What's happening with those two burglars? Did they have the gun that killed Mrs. Moore?”
Detective Simpson could only give his canned speech. “This is an ongoing investigation and we cannot reveal the details at this time.”
Detective Simpson headed back to his office after leaving a message for Victor, the groundskeeper, at the last property where he was working, to contact him.
Simpson then sat down with Detective Harrison to discuss what they have to do next to move forward with murder charges.
“We have the body. We have the ballistics report and the bullet. We do not have the gun. We should discuss this with the DA since we don't want to hurt our murder case,” Detective Harrison suggested. “I don't want to be embarrassed at this point in my life.”
Harrison placed a call to the district attorney Harold Mazor going over everything that they had and telling the DA that his gut feeling is that these two committed murder during a burglary. He explained that they do not have the murder weapon but they do have positive identification of the personalized trophy that was awarded to the husband of the deceased and was found in the trunk of the stolen vehicle driven by the two defendants.
“Number one, we have a purported felon with an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Number two, he was driving a stolen automobile. Number three, the stolen automobile had a stolen license plate. Number four, and probably the most important, is one of the stolen goods that has been definitely identified as coming from the scene of the homicide, was found in the trunk of the vehicle driven by Thompson and accompanied by Young.
“As far as I'm concerned, Detective, you did a good job and I don't think that there would be a judge that will not let us proceed to trial. We certainly can show probable cause. Then the real kicker is William Thompson’s tape recording where he admitted to committing the burglary even though he was smart enough not to mention anything about a homicide.”
The district attorney continued, “The only thing that doesn't add up is the timeline. He admitted to a burglary that he claims happened 15 minutes before the police caught him. To date, there has been no one reporting a burglary of the items found in the possession of Thompson. Why was he driving around for several months after the homicide with incriminating evidence in his trunk? I need you, detective, to gather more information to support that the stolen objects were stolen the day of the murder of Mrs. Moore.”
“Mr. Mazor. I really don't know what else, beyond what we have done, we can do.”
“Get a search warrant for his Philadelphia address and check every single thing possible. Hopefully, you’ll find the murder weapon. In the meantime, I will place a call to the court clerk to ask the judge to give us another week. They won’t object.”
“I’ll do that immediately, Mr. Mazor. We will come up with something," Detective Harrison assured the DA.
“Simpson, get me somebody in the DAs office in Philly to see if they can get us a cooperative judge to issue a search warrant for Billy Thompson’s residence. Tell them that we have William Thompson in custody and that when we're done with him we will gladly escort him to Philadelphia to appear for his outstanding warrant but it looks like he will be staying here in prison for a long time.”
***
That Friday Detective Harrison made a compelling argument to a Philadelphia Court Judge the Honorable Seth Clayton stating that there is an open warrant for William Thompson for his arrest from the City of Philadelphia for burglary. The same William Thompson had also burglarized a home in Gladwyn and admitted it. William Thompson was apprehended driving a stolen Ford sedan with a stolen license plate affixed to it. One or more articles that were stolen from the property and discovered in the trunk of the stolen vehicle was later positively identified as coming from a home on Monk Road where several months prior one Mrs. Jacqueline Phyllis Moore was shot in the head with a 22-caliber pistol. Detective Harrison requested a search warrant limited to finding the murder weapon, a 22-caliber pistol, from William Thompson’s last known address: a second-floor apartment on Dounton Street in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
At 3:45 p.m. The Honorable Seth Clayton issued a search warrant for the second-floor apartment occupied by William Thompson limited to seizure of one 22-caliber pistol and any items known to have been stolen.
The timing was not conducive for a search of the apartment since 4 o'clock was the shift change for local police in Philadelphia. Detective Harrison, hoping to get back to the office in time to check out himself, requested two Philadelphia police officers meet him with a battering ram at the premises exactly at 10 AM that Monday.
Everything was arranged and Detective Harrison drove back to his office in Upper Kellington with the search warrant, first entering the evidence room using his access key. Moments later he exited and placed the search warrant in the top drawer of his desk, locking it. He then contacted DA Mazor to inform him that Monday he will execute a search warrant along with two police officers. After that, he went home to relax for the weekend.
***
From the moment he left Upper Kellington Township Theo Harrison, as much as he tried, was unable to clear his head of all the thoughts about Billy Thompson being the killer of Mrs. Moore. He knew his instincts were correct almost every time, so he knew he didn’t want this case to fall apart. As far as he was concerned, he had to look no further knowing that they had the murderer in their custody. His concern was this young seemingly naïve public defender Reilly.
When Monday came he was ready to call the office telling them that he was heading straight to Philadelphia when he realized he had to go back to retrieve the search warrant in his desk. Even with heavy traffic, he was still there by 8:45. His secretary brought over two messages for him and after reading them he returned one call.
Shortly after finishing his cup of coffee, he left for his 10 o'clock appointment with the search warrant.
Expecting to find two patrolmen he saw two highway patrol cars outside on Dounton Street instead and approached one of them.
“I'm Detective Harrison; you gu
ys have the battering ram?”
The two officers wearing bulletproof vests and protective headgear exited the car. The one holding the battering ram said, “Detective, please show me the search warrant before we enter.”
Harrison obliged.
“Let's go!” he ordered.
Harrison followed the two officers to the front door and knocked. To his surprise, an elderly woman opened the door.
“Can I help you officers?” she graciously asked.
“Yes ma'am. We have a search warrant for Billy Thompson's apartment on the second floor,” Harrison told her.
“You got to bust in his door?”
“Yes. Unless someone opens it,” Harrison replied.
“Don't do that. You’ll damage the door and I can't get any help to fix anything. How about if I give you the key? Where’s Billy been? I haven't seen him for over a week. He's such a sweet young man.”
Detective Harrison explained that Billy Thompson is being held in custody in Montgomery County and the search warrant was to his apartment on the second floor.
It turned out that the elderly woman has been living there for over 50 years and for the last decade has been renting out her second-floor apartment.
Harrison took the key she gave him and, with two of the officers, went to the second floor and knocked on the door first not knowing what to expect. No one answered. They waited about 15 seconds and knocked once more, stating they were the police with a search warrant for the apartment Billy Thompson. No one answered so Harrison simply used the key to open the door.
Once inside with one officer standing in the doorway, Harrison instructed the other officer to check out the bedroom and bathroom while he checked out the kitchen and living room. Systematically, each one took apart one drawer after the other looking in cabinets, closets, even tearing a bed apart and lifting up carpets. Harrison suggested that they switch places to be sure nothing was missed.
Harris looked through the bedroom again while the other officer checked out the living room and kitchen.
The police officer yelled, “I got it!” He held a 22-caliber pistol by a pencil in the trigger guard.
“Where did you find that and how did I miss it?" a puzzled Harrison asked almost embarrassed not having found it himself.
“It was behind the second drawer in the kitchen cabinet.”
“That doesn't make sense. How did the drawer close all the way if the gun was behind it?”
The police officer then opened the drawer and showed Detective Harrison that the drain from the sink had a serpentine curve and that the drawers were made shorter by 3 inches in order to close properly. The apartment previously was just the second floor in the house with no kitchen and later fitted out as an apartment. The two lower drawers were modified during installation to accommodate a drainpipe.
Elated, Detective Harrison placed the gun in a plastic bag and thanked the woman and the two officers then drove back to his Upper Kellington office.
Once he returned, he looked like a kid that was just given the keys to a car for his 16th birthday. He entered smiling, held up the plastic bag, and announced, “Someone's going to the electric chair.”
He looked around and asked if Captain Erickson was there or at some function.
“No, he's out with some of the commissioners again,” said someone behind a cubicle.
“Will someone check this in?” said, still holding the gun for everyone to see.
“Use your key, Theo. I’ll witness the check-in,” Simpson offered.
Excited, Harrison then placed a phone call to district attorney Harold Mazor informing him that the search warrant yielded the 22-caliber pistol that they were seeking.
“You should be proud of yourself, Detective. You did a thorough job. Adding a murder charge will be my pleasure. In the meantime, get in touch with ballistics so they can match it to the bullet extracted from the victim.”
About 2:30 that afternoon Detective Harrison received his almost daily phone call from Robert Snyder as promised. This time he had great news to give Snyder.
“Mr. Snyder, we just found the murder weapon hidden in Billy Thompson's apartment.”
“Wow! That's great, Detective.” Robert felt relieved. “I can't wait to let everyone know. Can you tell me what's next?”
“Right now it's up to the DA. He’ll contact the court to get a date for the hearing to show cause and there will be no one better prepared than him,” Detective Harrison happily said.
Chapter 21
Totally relieved, Robert Snyder immediately called Amanda to tell her that the murder weapon was found in the apartment of the burglar. He left the message on her answering machine. He then called his friend, attorney, and former agent who was not at the office. Darlene, the agent’s new secretary, told Robert that he left early today to relax and work on one of his favorite cars. Robert assumed that he was at his garage on Fitzwater St. but the secretary said he was at his home in Bala-Cynwyd.
“Even with all the help he has at his garage when Mr. Spaulding gets stressed out from his workload, the only way he seems to relax is by working on one of his antique cars by himself.”
“Do you think he'll mind seeing me? I have some great news for him.”
"Not you, Mr. Snyder. He always talks about you.”
***
Leaving his apartment on Fairmount Avenue, Robert drove to the Schuylkill Expressway and stayed on it until he reached US 1 then turned left heading to Bill's English Tudor styled home nestled in the center of a 5-acre wooded lot off of Monument Avenue. Over the years Robert had been there several times and always admired the home that was built in the early 1900s. The immediate grounds surrounding his home were impeccable and the large woods gave Bill the privacy that he so much needed. A well-paved driveway meandered through the wooded lot into a Y. Taking it to the right brought you in front of the house and to the left, the drive led you to the garage behind it. A large swimming pool was to the rear of his house but positioned so that the trees would not interfere with the sun nor drop leaves in the pool. About 75 feet to the left of the pool was a stone two-car garage in the same English Tudor style. A flagstone walkway adorned with English boxwood on both sides connected the house to the swimming pool and the swimming pool to the garage.
Robert entered the driveway slowly and respected the cast-iron sign requesting ‘10 MILES PER HOUR.’ He took the left lane which brought him to the garage where Bill's car was parked outside. Both garage doors were closed. Robert saw the lights were on and went to the door to the right. As a courtesy he knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Bill asked.
“It's me, Robert. I have some great news.”
“Come in but be careful I'm under here, working on the brakes.”
“Bill, are you crazy? With all the help you have you’re getting yourself greasy working under this Gullwing? You have a brand-new car lift downtown, but you are using these antique jack stands?”
“It's my only relaxation. And you know how much I've always loved this car. I want to get it ready for a car show. I don't have much time to work on this but I find some excuse to leave work. I get great satisfaction doing this myself. What's the good news?”
“They found the murderer and the gun that he used to kill Mrs. Moore. It seems as though there were two people. One was an accomplice while the other went through the house to steal silver and killed her.”
“That is great news. Exceptionally great.” Bill maneuvered himself from beneath the automobile lying on a wooden mechanic’s roller creeper. He got up and went to embrace Robert but stopped before he ruined Robert’s clothing with his greasy hands. On the wall behind Robert was a container of Go-Jo hand cleaner and on the table alongside was a pile of rags. Bill squirted the cleanser onto his palms and rubbed his hands, then wiped them using a clean rag. He hugged Robert.
“When did you find out?”
“Just today. About every other day I put a call into the detective that's been workin
g on this case trying to get any updates since they found some objects that were stolen from Mrs. Moore's house. They have two people in jail now who admitted burglarizing the home and I identified a trophy that was awarded to Mr. Rodney Moore for his golfing prowess that they found in the suspects’ possession. Today, when I called in, was the first time that the detective felt positive that they have the murderer and his accomplice in custody." Robert continued, “They got a search warrant for one of the guys that they have and they found the 22-caliber pistol that they were looking for.”
“They killed a sweet and caring old woman who was helpless strictly to rob her house. I hope they get executed,” Bill exclaimed.
“Me, too. It can't be quick enough.”
“By the way, I have some more news,” Robert rattled off. “I went to Temple University to see if I could get my credits from the first year of law school since I've decided to go back and get a law degree. They informed me that it's been so long that I'd have to start again but I really want to and I figured that I have just enough money to get by until I graduate and get a job. Maybe with a firm like yours?”
“You’re full of good news today. I'm thrilled to hear that you're going back to get your law degree. And if you keep your grades up the way you did in the past I'm sure my partners and I would agree to give you a position here. Or I can recommend you to a judge for a clerkship. Either way, I’m very proud of you.”
“If it wasn't for you, Bill, I would still be dreaming about becoming a famous actor but the reality is that I finally have come to my senses, albeit ten years late. I will be a good lawyer. No one's going to study harder than me.”
Robert looked at his watch and wanted to tell the news to Amanda in person. He said his goodbyes to Bill and could not stop thanking him. Once he got into his Buick sedan, he picked up the handset to call Amanda in her car since she should be leaving from work and heading home. The phone rang several times with no answer. There was an accident on the Schuylkill Expressway, so Robert sat in traffic for about 30 minutes until the tow truck pulled off one of the vehicles. Once the traffic was cleared up he was on his way to 1700 Rittenhouse to see Amanda.