Razzamatazz (A Crime Novel)

by Sandra Scoppettone

  Colin felt a twinge of irritation that Mark had forgotten their agreement about him covering the murders. "We'll talk later, okay?"

  "Right."

  "Don't forget to call Sarah."

  "Yeah. And thanks for covering for me."

  Colin waved a hand in answer, but didn't say he wasn't going to go on lying to Sarah. Now he had to be a reporter, a goddamn crime reporter. Again.

  LOOKING BACK—50 YEARS AGO

  On Tuesday noon a large sedan carrying four people fell into the excavation on the former R. Young property, corner of Main and Center Streets, and although the heavy sedan ended up in the deep cellar, no one was injured and the only damage to the car was a bent fender. The machine, a Buick sedan, was the property of Fred Goodwin of Seaville.

  TWENTY-ONE

  A special emergency meeting of the town board was called for the afternoon of Joe Carroll's murder. Colin sat in the audience waiting for the meeting to begin, still shaken by the scene he'd encountered at the funeral parlor that morning.

  By the time he'd arrived, the mortuary was packed with people. Schufeldt and Hallock were screaming at one another while the lab technicians popped their flashbulbs and made their measurements. Buzz Gormley from Newsline was on the scene because he'd been in the area on another assignment.

  In the far wall of the prep room, a closet door hung open, grotesquely exposing the nude body of Fred Turner, who was wedged inside on an angle between floor and side wall, arms hanging forward limply like a huge inflated doll. On the table Joe Carroll lay dead, his shirt ripped open, a carving on his chest. Only this time it wasn't an A. Now there was a new symbol, more complex, more mystifying than the other.

  Colin flipped the pages of his notebook and looked at the copy he'd made of what the murderer had carved into Carroll's chest. He had drawn it speedily and now he ran his pen over it, making the markings thicker, darker. And then he studied it:

  Schufeldt had insisted it was a swastika, but Hallock had pointed out that although it resembled a swastika it was not one; the characters were backwards. A loud argument had ensued, then escalated into a shoving match, Hallock and Schufeldt having to be separated by Charlie Copin and himself.

  The way Colin saw it, it could either be a swastika drawn by someone who didn't know what one looked like, or it could be an arcane symbol. But whatever it was it had completely blown Hallock's theory about the A being an initial of a name and had made the women's two-and-a-half-days' work totally useless.

  The Town Hall was a new building. The meeting room was large, with orange and yellow plastic chairs, tan drapes, and an orange carpet of indoor-outdoor material. Fluorescent lighting was recessed into an Armstrong ceiling and spilled out in a depressing glow. In the right-hand corner of the room was a large American flag and on the nearby wall a photograph of the president of the United States. At the front of the room was a platform supporting a long, desk-type piece of furniture where the mayor and board members presided.

  Word about this emergency session had leaked and now a number of townspeople were filing in. Hallock and Schufeldt sat in front, ten seats separating them.

  A few board members, Phil Nagle one of them, had already taken their seats when Jill Townsend, town clerk and the only woman on the board, joined them. Colin watched Gildersleeve as he climbed the four steps to the platform and assumed his place in the middle. He removed his sunglasses and surveyed the room, his small mouth tightly closed in an unyielding line. He wore a seersucker suit, white shirt, red striped tie. A handkerchief in a breast pocket showed three neat points.

  The room was filling up. Colin was surprised to see Fran Hallock seated in the back with about eight other women. She looked tired. Burton Kelly came through the main double doors. Colin slid down in his seat, not wanting to talk to Kelly.

  The last councilman arrived just as somebody tapped Colin on the shoulder. He felt a rush when he saw her. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

  "I'm a citizen," Annie said smiling.

  "Sorry. I didn't mean—I don't know what I meant," he laughed. "Why don't you sit here?" He indicated the chair next to him.

  They brushed shoulders as she sat, and Colin felt as if he'd touched a live wire. She was wearing a lavender button-down collar oxford shirt, and a khaki skirt. He thought she looked terrific.

  "What do you think will happen?" Annie asked.

  "I think we're going to see a lynching, figuratively speaking."

  "Waldo?"

  "Between Gildersleeve and the state trooper, old Waldo doesn't have a chance. But the people will do it for them, you'll see."

  "I can understand how they feel. Four murders in two weeks is a lot of people to deal with, Colin."

  He liked it when she said his name. "That's not Waldo's fault."

  "No, of course not, but he's in the office of chief to protect the people of Seaville."

  "And he's not doing a very good job, is that what you're saying?" The last thing he wanted was to fight with her.

  "I'm not saying that, but it's what the people are saying. I had a lot of calls today after word got out about Joe Carroll."

  "What kind of calls?"

  "Angry calls, scared calls. Everybody feels very vulnerable, and they are," she said thoughtfully.

  "I can't argue with that but Waldo's doing the best he can, Annie. He's got practically nothing to work with. Whoever's doing this is very smart, very cagey."

  The gavel sounded and Gildersleeve rose. "We'll begin this special meetin' of the town board, as usual, with the salutin' of the flag."

  Everyone faced the flag and placed their hands over their hearts. When they'd finished the pledge and resumed their seats, Gildersleeve banged the gavel once more.

  "Councilmen, members of the audience, this special meetin' has been called to determine what action the town of Seaville should take in relationship to these unsolved murders. As you all know, there have been four terrible killin's since Saturday, May Twenty- third. That is to say, the discovery of one murder," he coughed and scratched an ear, "and then the brutal killin's of three of our own citizenry. One of them a darlin' little girl, Mary Beth Higbee."

  Along with the rest of the audience, Colin followed Gildersleeve's mournful gaze and found himself looking at the broad back of Chuck Higbee. The man's shoulders heaved and Sally Higbee leaned closer to her husband, a hand sliding up his arm. Colin felt disgusted by Gildersleeve's theatrics. He wondered if Russ Cooper was in the audience, then spotted him two rows from the back. None of the Carrolls was present.

  "... and so," Gildersleeve was saying, "we intend to take action today. There will be no more so-called privileged information. Every citizen in this township will know everything he or she wants to know about these killin's."

  Colin shook his head. "What an idiot," he whispered to Annie.

  "Don't the police purposely hold back information to trap the killer?" she asked.

  "Exactly."

  "... it is our duty. We will now hear from Councilman Philip Nagle."

  "Swell," Colin said sarcastically.

  Nagle pulled his microphone closer and adjusted his aviator glasses. He was wearing a light blue linen jacket, gray creaseless trousers, a white shirt, and a dark blue tie. When he bent his head to read his prepared statement, the light shone on his thinning hair, revealing a pink scalp.

  "This guy is the pits." Colin said. "Do you know him?"

  "I've seen him around."

  "He was Gloria Danowski's lover."

  "No kidding?"

  "But he's innocent."

  "... and members of the Council. I am here today to propose the immediate dismissal of Chief Waldo Hallock. In the past weeks, Chief Hallock has failed to uncover one shred of evidence, not to mention that not one suspect has been detained. Why? Because Chief Hallock has not been able to come up with a suspect. Why? Because Chief Waldo Hallock is incompetent and ill-suited for the responsible and difficult job of chief of the Seaville Police. I urge you, Council mem
bers, to vote for removal of Waldo Hallock from his present position. Thank you."

  Colin made some notes on his pad. "He probably thinks he should be chief, the creep."

  Annie said, "I'm getting the feeling you don't like him."

  "Hey, you're one sharp woman."

  "You have to get up early to get something past me, fella."

  Colin laughed.

  Gildersleeve wiped his face with a handkerchief and leaned toward his microphone. "Thank you, Councilman Nagle. We will now hear from Special Agent William Schufeldt."

  Schufeldt, his broad shoulders straining the jacket of his green leisure suit, looked around for the standing microphone. It was in the aisle, near Colin. When Colin made no move to bring him the microphone, Schufeldt's fleshy face began to turn the color of raw beef.

  Colin heard the scrape of a chair and footsteps behind him, then saw Burton Kelly carry the mike to the front. Coming back to his seat, Kelly gave Colin a dismissive glance.

  Schufeldt adjusted the mike. "Mayor Gildersleeve, and Councilmen, I thank you for this opportunity to put my problems before you. Since I have come on this case four days ago I have had no cooperation whatsoever from your chief of police, Waldo Hallock. I would have to say that he has gone out of his way to be obstructive. Time after time when I asked him to give me certain information he refused."

  Colin looked at Hallock, saw the muscle jumping in his cheek.

  "Each new line of inquiry I wished to pursue was met with disapproval and insubordination. I am not familiar, as you can imagine, with this township. Therefore, I needed the help of the chief to clue me in to the various criminals, their records, and that. On several occasions he told me that that was unnecessary, and even went so far as to steer me wrong about things."

  Hallock's head snapped up. He wore an expression of puzzlement that quickly turned to understanding, then finally faded into a bemused smile.

  "And last but not least," Schufeldt went on, "I happen to know he pursued lines of inquiry that he did not make me privy to. There is no way that I can work with this man and bring this case to a swift conclusion. I urge the Council to dismiss Chief Hallock from his present position. Thank you." Schufeldt sat in his chair with a thud.

  "Schufeldt's right up there with Nagle for the sleazeball of the year award," Colin whispered.

  "I'm glad I don't have to choose between them," Annie said.

  "Thank you, Special Agent Schufeldt. Now, would you like to make a statement, Chief Hallock?"

  "No, thank you. No, wait. Yes, I would." Hallock, in his summer uniform of short-sleeved white shirt and lightweight dark blue trousers, gun holstered on his right hip, walked slowly past Schufeldt, eyes straight ahead, shoulders squared. He bent down, not bothering to adjust the mike.

  "Mr. Mayor, Miss Townsend, Councilmen. I wish to respond to the charge Special Agent Schufeldt made against me of deliberately steering him wrong. I am guilty of that charge."

  There were murmurs in the audience.

  "I willfully and deliberately steered Special Agent Schufeldt to Whitey's Dockside Restaurant with full knowledge that the food is lousy and the prices exorbitant. Thank you." He walked back to his seat.

  A burst of laughter filled the room and Gildersleeve rapped the gavel. Colin could see that Hallock was trying not to smile and almost losing the battle.

  Gildersleeve hammered the desk, his small eyes shrinking with anger. "Quiet. Quiet, people!" Slowly the laughter subsided and Gildersleeve resumed control. "This is not a laughin' matter, there's not one thing funny about this."

  A male voice from the back called out, "Whitey Barnes ain't gonna find it funny, that's for sure."

  This time there was a trickling of laughter, but the sound of the gavel sliced through it, cutting it off before it could build.

  "We are here today to discuss serious business, and I'm shocked to see that our own chief of police would intentionally try to reduce these precedin's to such a trivial level. I think that action speaks for itself. The forum is now open. If any of you would like to say anythin' before the Council takes a vote, this is the time." He nodded his head for emphasis, his jowls wobbling. "The chair recognizes Rita Sherr."

  She was a tall woman who had long dark hair streaked with gray. Near the front, she had only to walk a few steps to the microphone. "I've been in business here for six years. By Memorial Day my jeans shop is packed and it doesn't let up till after Labor Day. But not this year. So far, this year has been a disaster. I say, why? A. The economy is in better shape than it's been for a long time. B. This area was written up last year in The New York Times as a swell place to vacation. So why is my business off by over half?" She shrugged and stretched out her hands as if waiting for the answers to fall into her palms.

  "I'll tell you why. Because nobody wants to come to a place where they might get murdered. And I say, who can blame them? The thing of it is, and I'm sorry to say this, if the chief of police can't do his job then we got to be ruthless. We got to put somebody in charge who can."

  The audience applauded enthusiastically.

  Gildersleeve said, "The chair recognizes Elbert Palmer."

  "I had to let go the boy I hired for the summer," the barber said. "Couldn't afford to pay him no more. I still got my usual customers but nobody new 'cause there ain't nobody new around here. Leastways, I ain't see no new heads."

  Jake Hicks was next. "This kind of thing don't hurt the mail— rain or shine, you know. But what it's doing to me and my family is making us stay home nights. Feels like it's February and I can tell you, me and the wife've got cabin fever."

  "It's a disgrace," said Carolyn Dobbs. "This should have been stopped right in the beginning. You don't let a thing like this get out of hand. I say Chief Hallock's had long enough to show his mettle, and he just isn't up to snuff."

  "The chair recognizes Reverend Ann Winters."

  "I've never been close to a murder case before, but I can't believe that Chief Hallock isn't doing everything possible. If you don't have anything to work with, you can't simply make up clues or arrest people without reason. I feel we should stick by the chief and give him all the support we can."

  There was a smattering of applause, but the boos and hisses drowned it out. Annie sat down, shoulders sagging.

  Colin said, "Good for you."

  "I don't think it helped much."

  "It'll mean something to him."

  After Annie there were six more speakers, five against Hallock, one for. And then Gildersleeve recognized Julia Dorman.

  The microphone was hustled up the aisle by a youngish man Colin didn't recognize and placed in front of the cool blonde who had risen from a seat next to Fran Hallock.

  "Thank you, Mayor. I believe what I have to say refers to the lines of inquiry Special Agent Schufeldt was kept in the dark about. Three days ago, I and four other women were enlisted to help Chief Hallock pursue an idea he had pertaining to the murderer."

  Colin saw Fran's face fall. She reached out a hand toward Julia Dorman as if to stop her, then let the arm drop back to her lap.

  "We were all glad to help because we, as you can understand, wished the murderer to be apprehended as soon as possible, and if we could do anything to help gain that end, well, then we were more than willing to give our time. However, in light of the murder this morning and a certain fact that has come to our attention, we now feel that Chief Hallock has not only wasted our time but his own as well, thereby slowing down an investigation that needs to move rapidly forward."

  "Could you please tell the Council what Chief Hallock asked you gals to do?"

  Julia Dorman's mouth twitched. "Certainly. Chief Hallock believed that the A that seemed to be a trademark of the killer's was either his first initial, his last, or his middle."

  A bark of laughter came from near the door. Colin saw that it was Jim Drew, his hand now covering his mouth and his glance darting from person to person as if to ask for forgiveness for his inappropriate laughter.


  "Go on, Mrs. Dorman."

  "Well, we had to go through the local phone book, marking off any names that fell into that category. And then we began phoning these people, asking a series of questions meant to narrow down a list of suspects."

  "Hey, I got one of them calls," a woman cried out.

  "Me, too. Got one this morning."

  Others joined in, and Gildersleeve rapped the gavel for silence.

  "I'm very sorry," Julia said, looking ashamed, "for anyone who was inconvenienced. We were just trying to help, not realizing what a total waste of time it was. At any rate, we women believe," she swept a hand to her right indicating Fran and the others, "that Chief Hallock has totally bungled this investigation. Thank you."

  It didn't take long after that. There were a few more statements, mostly against Hallock. Colin wanted to speak for him, but as a newspaperman he could not take sides publicly. The vote was predictable and unanimous.

  Gildersleeve announced, to no one's surprise, that Special Agent Schufeldt would be in charge of the case and that everyone was expected to give him their cooperation.

  When the meeting was adjourned Colin and Annie approached Hallock, who immediately shook Annie's hand and thanked her for her support.

  Colin said, "Sorry, Waldo. You don't deserve this."

  "Maybe I do," he answered softly. "Maybe I do."

  "The hell with that," Colin said. "You've done your best. That asshole Schufeldt isn't going to solve this thing."

  "That's what really bothers me."

  "Maybe you can still work on it," Annie suggested.

  "Think so?"

  "Why not? Who can stop a private citizen from doing a little investigating?"

  "You might be right," he acknowledged, a dim light in his eyes.

  "Let's talk, soon," Colin said.

  Annie hugged Hallock.

  He tried to smile and failed.

  Colin saw Mark near the door. He hated board meetings, and Colin wondered what he was doing here.

  "Don't look so surprised, pal. This is the biggest story of my career in Seaville. I don't want to miss anything. Hi, Annie."

  "Sarah was looking for you this morning," she said.