Code of Deceit: A Mystery/Detective novel (David Mason series)

by John Foxjohn

  An older, distinguished-looking man answered the door. He had grey hair cut into a flat top and wore small, wire-rimmed glasses giving him a studious appearance. Large, but not fat, in his mid to late sixties, he was in good shape.

  “Yes, may I help you?”

  “Sir, I’m David Mason from the Houston Police Department. I wondered if I could speak with Gail.”

  “As you know, Officer, this isn’t a good time to be conducting an investigation.”

  “Sir, I’m not here to conduct an investigation. Ronny was my best friend, and Gail asked me to come by.”

  “I see. Would you mind waiting a moment?”

  “No, not at all, sir.”

  He closed the door and left for a few minutes.

  Beth reached over, caught David’s hand, and held it tight.

  “Please come in, David. Gail’s in the living room.”

  When they entered, Gail was sitting on the sofa, but jumped up and rushed to hug him. They both cried.

  She hugged Beth and told them to sit with her, and introduced them to her mother, father, and Ronny’s parents, too.

  “Are you the David Ronny always talked about, the one he called the little shrimp?” Ronny’s mother asked.

  “Yes ma’am, he called me that.”

  Tears trickled down her cheeks from bloodshot eyes. “I’m glad to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Ronny. He thought the world of you.”

  He dropped his head, having trouble controlling his emotions. He couldn’t tell them what Ronny had meant to him. He shook hands with the men and hugged Ronny’s mother, Agnes. He introduced Beth.

  “Are you two engaged?” Gail’s mother asked.

  Before David said anything, Beth answered. “We aren’t engaged, but we’re getting married. David just doesn’t know it yet.”

  Ronny’s father winked. “Men never know it until it’s too late.”

  “Wonderful,” Gail said. “Ronny would be happy.”

  Beth and David hadn’t talked about marriage, and her bold statement surprised him, until he realized she’d spoken up for his benefit, more than to announce a wedding engagement. She was saying, “I’m here for the long haul.” He hadn’t realized till that moment how much he loved her.

  They talked for a while, but not about the murder. David looked around the spacious living area. He’d been here many times, but now it seemed different. His eyes stung, looking at family pictures adorning the walls.

  “David,” Ronny’s father asked, “who’s investigating my son’s murder?”

  “Sir, there will be several people working on the case, but I’m heading the investigation.”

  “You are?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m glad, David. I know it’ll be hard on you, but this is what Ronny would want,” Gail said. “He considered you as the best homicide detective on the department.”

  Others in the room nodded in agreement.

  “Ronny had a tremendous respect for you. I’m sure if anyone can find the killer, it’ll be you,” Agnes said.

  “Are you going to question me?” Gail asked.

  “Gail. Don’t be absurd,” her mother said.

  Gail lowered her head. “Mom, I’ve been a policeman’s wife long enough to know the procedure.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll need to, Gail, but it can wait.”

  “I understand, David. Better you than someone else.”

  David nodded. “Can you come by the office sometime Tuesday?”

  “Yes, I’ll be there.”

  “There’s one thing I’d like to ask you.”

  “Okay.”

  “Did Ronny take his gold pen to work with him?”

  “Oh yes. He wouldn’t go to work without it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She frowned. “I’m positive. He almost left without it. He came back and stuck it in his pocket.”

  “Thank you, Gail.”

  ***

  In the same Italian restaurant, the waitress seated Beth and David at the exact table they had the night the sniper shot him. He sat and a shiver shot through him.

  Subtle flirting passed between the two, and they ate, talked, and laughed. They decided to go back to David’s apartment for dessert. David rushed to pay the bill, and they stepped out onto the wide porch, with a chill in the air.

  Déjà vu flooded David’s senses. This time he looked at the window on the second floor. His heart almost stopped. His chest tightened. He looked into a rifle’s big round bore. Trembling, his pulse sped faster than he thought possible.

  Above the rifle’s black hole sat a scope with an eye looking at him.

  He tried to move but couldn’t. Looking down at his feet, they were normal, but nailed to the boards.

  As he glanced back at the eye, the pupil dilated, and a huge grin spread across the shooter’s face. Horror gripped David’s throat. He had to get Beth away, but his gaze transfixed on the black hole. A mushroom of flame burst out.

  Everything stood still.

  Quiet controlled his soul as the bullet sped toward him in slow motion.

  He counted lands and grooves on the lead, thinking a right quarter turn.

  Something hit him with a gigantic force and he fell into space.

  He spun in air, falling down a large dark well. He screamed and flailed, trying to grasp the well’s dark brick wall. As he looked down, a faraway light beckoned him, coming closer.

  Screams tore from his throat when the light turned into the eye he’d seen through the scope, and it grew bigger.

  Someone at the bottom of the well screamed his name, but he hit the wall, reaching out to grasp the bricks again.

  He bolted upright in bed, soaking wet, shaking uncontrollably.

  Beth sat beside him with her hands on his shoulder, a horrified expression on her face. He had trouble breathing, and his throat was raw, but Beth held him for a long time until he stopped trembling.

  He lay awake a long time after Beth went back to sleep, the eye flashing before him.

  ***

  Dressed in his black suit, David arrived at the office at seven-thirty Monday morning. He felt like he was in a rut and didn’t know how to get out. Boiling fury hovered close to the surface. He tried to suppress it, but it wouldn’t go away. He was afraid what he’d do when he found the killer. He hadn’t encountered these feelings since Viet Nam.

  He thought back to the night Lenny Franks had died. Mortar rounds had hit close and ripped Lenny open like an old barrel left out in the rain for months. He hadn’t been able to help Lenny, leaving an ache for revenge, as he had now.

  Inspector Patterson left him a message about the public information officer coming by to see him at ten. Henry came in a few minutes later and handed him the autopsy report. “I stopped by on the way. I knew you’d want it this morning.”

  “Thank you. Did you look at it?”

  He nodded. “I glanced over it. Not much there.”

  David skimmed over the report, flipping back and forth. He rested his elbow on the desk, his chin resting on a thumb, frowning. When he looked up, he asked Henry if he’d call doc and arrange to speak with him, today.

  “I’ll call. What’s the matter?”

  David didn’t answer right away. He tapped his lips as he read the report. He took a deep breath. “Few things. I’ll explain later. Let’s get patrol to pick up Carlin and bring him in.”

  “What reason do you want them to give him?”

  “Investigation of capital murder on a police officer.”

  Henry picked up the phone and called dispatch. He requested officers to pick Carlin up and bring him in, and let them know the minute he arrived.

  “Let’s listen to the call tape,” David said.

  Henry put the tape in the machine. It began when the shift started at eleven-thirty. They stopped it every once in a while, but it had been a quiet night. At one Ronny checked out at the Hot Spud—an all night restaurant on Bison. Five minutes later, a lieute
nant checked out at the same location.

  “Who’s the lieutenant who checked out with Ronny?” David asked.

  Flipping through the duty roster, Henry said, “Lieutenant Steve Jones.”

  “Let’s get him in here this afternoon sometime,” David said.

  “What time?”

  “About three or so. We have that idiotic press conference.”

  “What do you mean by we? Do you have a mouse in your pocket? Chief said, you.”

  “We’re partners. If I need to be there, you need to be there.”

  Henry rolled his eyes. “Thanks a lot. I’m still wondering if it’s too late to get a newbie.”

  David forced a smile at Henry’s attempt to cheer him up. He didn’t think anything could cheer him up until he had Ronny’s killer.

  As the tape rolled, they heard Ronny and the lieutenant check back into service thirty-two minutes later. They didn’t hear Ronny on the radio again.

  At two seventeen, an almost hysterical voice blasted on the radio, “This is unit 2137,” the voice yelled. “There’s an officer down in the grocery store parking lot on West Hawkins. Send back up in a hurry.”

  Subdued until the frantic call, the radio went berserk. David had to stop and restart the tape several times to understand what everyone said.

  People yelled, and conversations started, but as soon as one officer released the mike, someone else interrupted.

  At two nineteen Officer Benton’s panicked voice filled the airway. “I can’t find a pulse, please get me an ambulance here.”

  When they stopped the tape, Henry checked Benton’s statement. “He didn’t lie.”

  David rubbed his face with both hands. “Didn’t think he did, but there was an error in his statement.”

  Chapter 24

  Henry frowned. “What’s that?”

  David leaned back. “He said he panicked a little. Heck, he made a mess in his pants.” David would’ve done the same, he thought, in his place.

  “We can cross him off our list,” Henry said.

  David reached to restart the tape. “Three million more to go.”

  At two-twenty, Sgt. Hal Parker checked out at the scene. With professionalism, he got the units who arrived to cordon off the location. He showed no panic.

  At two twenty-four Lieutenant Elton Perkins checked out at the scene and took charge. That’s when the circus began. Moments after the lieutenant took control, a captain arrived and wrested control, and the precinct captain took it from the other captain.

  David shook his head at the total mess the crime scene became. Like evidence, a crime scene has to be preserved. If they’d left Parker alone, they wouldn’t have this problem now. He stopped the tape.

  “Well, Benton’s and Parker’s statements match the tape,” Henry said.

  “Did you expect them not to?”

  “Nope, I figured they would, but it sure would be easier if they didn’t.”

  “We’d have a starting place,” David said. He looked at Henry. “This isn’t going to be an easy one.”

  Henry nodded.

  “Information officer will be here in thirty minutes. Would you check and see who waited on Ronny and the lieutenant in the Hot Spud and get them in here? Also run down Ronny’s brothers and brothers-in-law and see if we can get them here for a statement.”

  “What about Gail?” Henry asked.

  “I went by yesterday. She’s coming in tomorrow morning. If you’ve a chance, check and see if Ronny has an insurance policy besides the one with the department. If he does, find out the amount and the beneficiary.”

  “Okie Doe. How long do you think it’s going to take with the info officer?”

  David shrugged. “Not sure. I want to talk to doc soon.”

  “It’s going to take me awhile to run down all these people. Why don’t we meet back here about one-thirty?”

  “Okay, but keep your beeper on in case they bring in Carlin.”

  ***

  The information officer arrived at ten on the dot, and they spent several hours going over what David should and should not say. He told David the press would ask him questions and he had to answer them, but not reveal anything at the same time. When David asked how he would do that, the I.O. shrugged. They spent a long time on questions the press could and would ask, and he did give David some ideas on how to answer these questions.

  “What happens if they ask me questions you haven’t gone over?” David asked.

  “You’ll have to come up with answers to them. One good thing to say is it’s an ongoing investigation and you can’t release information at this time. You could also tell them you can’t compromise an ongoing investigation by answering that question at this time. They’ve heard all these before. They shouldn’t push you.”

  “Are you going to be there?”

  “I’ll be there and I’ll help you as much as I can. Remember, you’ll be by yourself when you get behind the podium. Have you ever held a press conference before?”

  “Nope. This is the first.”

  “It comes with the job, sergeant.”

  “It comes with your job, not mine. I’m a homicide detective. I don’t know anything about all this press conference stuff. And don’t want to.”

  “Let’s go over it all again.”

  David felt like soft metal someone had hammered, bent, and twisted after they finished. He considered what it would be like to have a mundane, boring job like this. It would’ve driven him crazy in a week’s time.

  At two they were in the police briefing room on the first floor. Feeding time at the zoo, David thought as he looked over the media packed into the room. It looked to him like someone had thrown meat into an aquarium with piranhas, and a feeding frenzy started. He was the meat.

  When the I.O. rose to the podium to speak, the crowd became quiet.

  “May I have your attention, please? I’ve a brief statement to make, and the police chief will make a statement. At two-seventeen, Sunday morning, Patrol Sergeant Ronny Hemes was discovered shot to death in the Save-U-A Lot parking area on West Hawkins. At this moment, we don’t have anyone in custody in the shooting. I’m going to turn this over to the chief.”

  Pores stood and approached the podium to a brief spattering of applause.

  David frowned, wondering why they clapped.

  He stood tall and straight at the podium without a prepared speech card like the information officer had. He wasn’t comfortable with this.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m a police officer who happens to also be the police chief. I’m not an information officer, and I’m not used to all this sh… stuff.”

  Laughter rippled around the room.

  “What I have to say will be a lot briefer than you’re used to. As you already know, we had an officer killed while on duty. This isn’t the first one this year, but it’s the first one where we haven’t caught the suspect within hours. I can’t reveal too much to you, and I’m not going to say much on this. When Inspector Patterson, our homicide chief, notified me, I told him I wanted the best homicide detective in this city to investigate and find the killer. I also told him I didn’t care how long it took, or what means the investigator employed. Just bring the killer to justice.”

  As a buzz of conversation passed from one reporter to the next, Pores drummed his fingers on the wood top, and talk among the news people trickled to a stop.

  “I’d expected Inspector Patterson to take it since he has the rank and can go over people’s heads in the divisions. However, he chose Detective Sergeant David Mason to head this investigation. I brought up the fact he was a sergeant, and Inspector Patterson told me, ‘Mason’s the best. If you want the best, he’s it.’ I concurred with the inspector’s analysis. I also believe Sergeant Mason’s the best we have, and he’s heading this investigation. Do you have any questions?”

  “Chief, do you think there’ll be any problems with his rank on this investigation?”

  “No. There aren’t going to be
any problems. Everyone’s going to cooperate to the fullest.”

  “What’ll happen if there’s a problem?” another reporter asked.

  “There’ll be no problems, but if there are, the next day Sergeant Mason will out-rank the person who gave him a problem. I’m going to turn this over to Sergeant Mason.”

  David stood, embarrassed by the applause. He’d never realized how nerve-wracking it was standing up there as cameras flashed and tape rolled. The I.O. hadn’t told him how to handle applause.

  “I’ve never done this and don’t know where to begin. Since you already know what’s happened, I guess I’ll start this off with questions.”

  Hands shot up at once, and he pointed to a young reporter close to the front.

  “Sergeant Mason, have you experienced any higher ranking police officers who haven’t cooperated with you?”

  “No, and I don’t expect there will be any.”

  “Do you think they’ll be afraid of the chief’s threat?” another asked.

  “First, it didn’t sound like a threat. To me it sounded more like a promise. Second, rank has nothing to do with this. We’re all police officers. Our goal is to find the killer, and bring him to justice.”

  “Do you think there could be more than one?”

  “We don’t know anything on this at the moment.”

  He pointed to an older male close to the back. “Sergeant Mason, a source inside the department tells me you and Sergeant Hemes were best friends. Will this in any way hinder your investigation?”

  David hadn’t expected this question. He hated this, ‘a source told me” crap. Why couldn’t the idiots keep their mouths shut?

  He took a deep breath, not sure how to answer the question. “Ronny Hemes and I were good friends. I’ve known him since my first days on the department. He trained me, but I don’t think this will hinder me in the investigation. It should help me.”

  “How will it help you?”

  “I know him. I know how he reacted. How he thought.”

  David pointed to a woman on his left. “Detective, where was the sergeant shot?”