Liam looks at Tina saying nothing as he turns and leaves the condo, walking slowly toward the Cruiser.
Tina watches as Liam gets into the old Cruiser and drives off. She shuts the door and turns to Sandy and says, “Your eyes aren't the only ones talking. I can't seem to catch my breath when that man is around.”
Chapter 5
PLEASE COME TO BOSTON
LIAM DRIVES AWAY FROM THE CONDO headed toward Interstate 95, northbound to Boston. He looks at the passenger seat and sees several past murder books that he has retrieved from his storage unit at Hank Swank's. He looks down at his watch and sees it indicates eight o'clock at night. He predicts he'll be in Boston the following day by six p.m., or close to it. He opens the murder book of Lonnie Jackson. The first page is a crime and incident face page written by him. He looks at the date of the investigation, June 1990, and sees the name Detective Gordon Zimmer. Liam closes the murder book and continues to drive. He recalls the first time he met Detective Gordon Zimmer…
d
“Come in,” says Lieutenant Mahoney. “It's nice to have you in Homicide. I've heard good things about you and your time in the Sexual Assault and Abuse Investigation Unit. I pulled your file and was impressed with your street patrol experience.”
“Thank you, sir,” says Liam.
Liam enters the office and sits in a single chair positioned directly across the desk from Lt. Mahoney. “Did you know Liam, your father and I worked the streets together for many years?”
“Yes, sir. He told me how you two Southies had some run-ins with the Irish and Italian mobsters from time to time, back in the day,” says Liam.
“Your father has quite a reputation on the streets. He's one tough Irishman,” says Lt. Mahoney.
“I fear no other man, sir!” says Liam, laughing. “Lt. Mahoney, he told me you held your own out there as well.”
“Yeah, but Joseph and I were able to move around the docks and other places freely because of Joseph's relationship with Francis Salvador Pennilli,” says Lt. Mahoney.
“Uncle Pennilli and my father were friends as kids, and then they also served in Korea together. To this day, I call him my uncle, even though I know he's not,” says Liam.
“Sal and his father had a lot of pull on the streets back then. Maybe even more so now,” says Lt. Mahoney. “Liam, I saw you play against Army in '77,” says Lt. Mahoney.
“Well, sir, we were up big, so I got in for a quarter or so,” says Liam.
“Your old man loved to watch you play. He talked my ear off about you being at Boston College. I heard you got hurt in the U-Mass game,” says Lt. Mahoney.
“Yes sir, that ended my football career,” says Liam.
“Well, enough bullshitting, Liam. I'm partnering you up with Zim... Gordon Zimmer. His friends call him Zim for short, but you should call him by his first name until he tells you otherwise. Do you know Zimmer?” asks Lt. Mahoney.
“I've heard of him,” replies Liam.
“I bet you have,” laughs the lieutenant. “Here's what I expect from you. Zim has worked thirty-two years in this department and has one year left before he plans on retiring.
He's had a long and distinguished career, and I want to see him finish,” says Lt. Mahoney. “But what I need you to know is that Zim likes to drink. He has a limited vocabulary, and hates most people, especially the brass in this department. His ability to investigate homicides and to testify in court now concern me,” says Lt. Mahoney. “Now, having said that, you can learn a few things from him, if he likes you. I want you and him out of the office by eight-fifteen in the morning, and don't return back to the office until quarter till five. You do all the driving. You get called out at night, you do the driving. You pull a case, you write the paper, and if at all possible, you do all the testifying in court. Zim doesn't know it, but he's retired. Now, is this fair to you? No, and I don't give a damn. I picked you for this unit because you're smart, you know the streets and can navigate your way within this department. That's the deal. Take it or leave it. What will it be?”
“I'm in, sir,” says Liam.
“Okay, then open the door behind you, Liam,” states Lt. Mahoney.
Liam opens the door, and Lt. Mahoney yells out, “Zim, get your sorry ass in here.”
Gordon Zimmer walks toward the door as Liam looks and sees a thin, gray-haired man wearing black framed glasses and a sixties-style black suit walking toward the office. Liam notices several mustard stains on his jacket and white dress shirt.
“Zim, I'd like you to meet your new partner, Liam O’Connor.” Liam puts his hand out for a handshake. Zim reaches out and shakes his hand.
“Lieutenant, are you giving me my very own lucky charm?” asks Zim.
“Zim, I've already talked with Liam about what I expect from him. What I expect from you is your best effort at work, and from what I'm seeing, you're not doing so good. You look like shit and smell like whiskey,” says Lt. Mahoney. “Go to the Goodwill and get some new suits. Suits with color, suits with style, suits from this decade. You two get the hell out of my office.”
Zim and Liam leave the office and walk toward the homicide desks of the detective division. Zim turns to Liam and says,
“My desk is near the window. From here I can see all the ladies coming and going. You'd be surprised what I see, with or without the binoculars. Take the desk across from mine. It's not prime territory, but you won't be here that long. I bet you're gone in less than a month.”
Liam looks at Zim and says nothing. He looks at Zim's desk and sees a daily calendar that features a Boston Red Sox fact of the day. Liam sees he's a Red Sox fan. He spots a photograph of Zim and Lieutenant Mahoney inside Alumni Stadium of Boston College.
Liam begins moving items from his desk in Sex Crimes to Homicide. A clerk from Crime Reports stops in front of Liam's and Zimmer's desk and asks if this is his new assignment.
“Julie Santora, let me introduce you to my partner, Gordon Zimmer,” says Liam.
Julie turns to Zimmer and says, “Nice to meet you, sir.”
While all the time she's staring at his suit, flattop haircut, and mustard-stained white shirt. Liam smiles and watches as lovely Julie walks away.
“O’Connor,” says Zim, “you might last longer than a month. You don't talk much, do you?”
“Quiet people have the loudest minds,” says Liam with a grin.
Liam continues to place all of his belongings from his desk in the Sexual Assault and Abuse Investigations Unit, to his new desk in Homicide. His partner, Detective Gordon Zimmer, sits at his desk just looking at Liam. He wants to ask Liam the Red Sox fact of the day.
“Liam, let me test your baseball knowledge with the Red Sox trivia question of the day.”
“Okay, Zim, fire away. Baseball is not my main sport, but I'll give it a shot,” says Liam.
“Okay, here we go. Let's make this interesting. If you get the answer right, lunch is on me today. If you get it wrong, you buy lunch.”
“Deal. Fire away,” says Liam.
“Carl Yastrzemski leads most every Red Sox offense category except triples and homeruns. Who leads in all-time homeruns?”
Liam just smiles, because his dad's favorite baseball player was Ted Williams. He knows the answer to Zim's question is Ted Williams, but having looked at his mustard-stained shirt and the grease stains on his jacket, he thinks Zim's likely in need of a free meal more than him. Besides, since it's his first day working with Zim, it's only right to pay some dues. He delays his answer for a few seconds, and then tells Zim, “It's Jimmie Foxx.”
“Wrong, sir. The Red Sox fact of the day is that it was actually Ted Williams who leads in all-time homeruns. Sweet, lunch is on Liam. I feel my luck a’changing. Who knows, maybe you are my lucky charm,” says Zim with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Zim, O'Connor, get your sorry asses in my office now,” yells Lieutenant Mahoney from his office.
What now? wonders Liam.
“Second time in o
ne day I'm being called to the lieutenant's office. What the hell did you do now?” asks Zim.
Liam and Zim walk back from their desk toward the lieutenant's office, and all the time Liam's thinking, I should have gotten Zim out of the office.
“Sit your asses down.” Both men sit as ordered. “Zim, Liam, I need you to go see the on-duty desk sergeant downstairs, Sgt. Perez. He has a lady at his desk who wants us to check on her ex-husband. She believes he's killed his current girlfriend and may have committed suicide.”
“Lieutenant,” says Zim, “can't you send the kid? I mean, I'm always getting these crackpots coming to the station, wanting to tell me outrageous shit, sir.”
“Liam, take that partner of yours out of here and check this out,” replies the lieutenant as he stares and shakes his head at Zim.
Liam and Zim get up from their chairs and walk out of the lieutenant's office, and start to walk downstairs. Zim looks over at Liam and says, “Lucky charm, my ass!”
“Hey Zim, I guess that lunch will just have to wait. Tough break,” laughs Liam.
Liam and Zim meet Sgt. Perez at the front desk.
“Sarge, how can we help you out?” asks Liam.
Sgt. Perez points to a Hispanic lady and two kids seated on the bench in the waiting room. He says, “The lady believes her ex-husband killed his current girlfriend.”
Zim asks, “Does she speak English? Because I don't speak Spanish.”
“That's okay, Zim. I speak Spanish, if that's a problem,” says Liam.
Sgt. Perez just laughs and says, “She speaks English, so maybe Zim shouldn't talk to her.”
Zim and Liam introduce themselves to the lady and ask if she would like to step into a side office where it's private. Liam asks if she would like something to drink, or maybe something for her four- and six-year-old children. Mrs. Angelica Hernandez tells Zim and Liam,
“Thank you, my children and I are fine for now.”
“Ma'am, the front desk sergeant said you came in here today concerned about your ex-husband,” says Liam.
Mrs. Hernandez tells Liam and Zim that she got a call from her ex-husband last night, at about 9 o'clock in the evening. She says that she and her ex, Jesus Hernandez, also known as “Chuy,” have been divorced for the last year. He pays child support and has been coming by to see the kids every week. Mrs. Hernandez tells Liam, as Zim looks on, that Chuy called last night and told her he wasn't going to be able to see the kids for a while. He said he's done something stupid, and to tell the kids that he loves them. She says he sounded strange and told her she was his only true love. She asked him what was going on. He told her he got into an argument with Irma, but wouldn't tell her anymore. She says early this morning, around 6 a.m., he called her again and told her he had killed Irma, his girlfriend, and he was going to kill himself. She tried calling him back several times, but got no answer. Mrs. Hernandez says that's when she came to the police station.
“Ma'am, where does your ex-husband live?” asks Liam.
“He lives in the projects on Lenox Street in the South End. He lives in apartment 210, with his girlfriend and his sister.”
“Does Chuy own a gun?” asks Liam.
Mrs. Hernandez says, “I don't think so. He works in construction, he has so many tools and stuff. I don't believe he has a gun. I mean, he's never been in any trouble. He's always been a good provider for me and the kids.”
“Okay, ma'am. We're going to drive over to the projects and see if we can locate Chuy. We'll just see what's going on, if anything,” says Liam.
Liam and Zim escort the children and Mrs. Hernandez back out to the front desk area. Zim asks Sgt. Perez if he could have a patrol unit drive Mrs. Hernandez home, as she came to the station by bus. He tells Sgt. Perez,
“Please let us know if she calls and speaks to her ex-husband from the station. Liam and I will be en route to check on this guy's welfare.”
Liam and Zim walk out to the parking lot and locate their unmarked detective vehicle. Zim starts toward the driver’s side, and Liam says, “Can't have that Zim, I'm under orders to drive.”
Zim looks at Liam and shakes his head. “My own driver, too! I'm getting my lunch paid for, I'm being driven around like I'm brass or something, and I have my own lucky charm...Let's eat, I'm starved,” he gripes.
“Gordon,” says Liam.
“Kid, it's Zim to you! No one, I mean no one, calls me Gordon,” says Zim.
“We're going to check this out now. It's probably nothing. If so, it's lunch time,” says Liam.
The two drive across town to the South End and locate the projects on Lenox Street. Zim and Liam walk upstairs to apartment 210 and approach the front door. A man opens the front door and steps out, just before Liam and Zim can reach the door. He looks at the two detectives and seems surprised. Liam asks the man,
“Sir, is your name Jesus or 'Chuy' Hernandez?”
He looks at the two detectives and says, “Yeah, who are you?”
“We are Detectives Zimmer and O'Connor of the Boston Police.”
“What do you guys want?” asks Chuy.
“Well, your ex-wife, Angelica, sent us over here. She was pretty worried about you, and so were your kids,” responds Liam.
“Do you mind if we come in and talk to you for a little bit?”
Chuy replies, “No, it's okay. Come in.”
Chuy, Zim, and Liam walk back into the apartment and are asked to sit down at the table.
Zim asks, “Is everything okay with you and Irma?”
Chuy starts to cry. Liam asks, “Chuy, would you mind if I look around the apartment?”
Chuy says, “No, I don't mind. I'm the only one here. My sister and her kids left yesterday and are staying at her boyfriend's apartment.”
Zim asks, “Where's Irma?”
Chuy again says nothing and just looks at Zim. Liam starts looking through the apartment. He asks, “Do you have your own room, or where do you sleep?”
Chuy points to his room and says, “That's my room. My sister and her kids stay in the other room, down the hall.”
Liam sees the apartment has two bedrooms, a center hallway, and a kitchen just off the living room. The front door opens up into the living room.
Liam confirms the first bedroom down the hallway is Chuy's room. He opens the closed door to the bedroom and walks in. He sees a large pool of blood on the carpet floor next to the bed. Liam also sees there are dozens of hand tools, power saws, and a large compressor in the room as well. He looks down at the pooled blood and sees a carpenter's belt with a hammer and a single 9 millimeter shell casing resting in the pouch full of 16d nails. The belt also holds a tape measure, carpenter's pencil and level. Liam looks at the wall and can see a hole about the size of a 9mm bullet, along with blood spatter. Liam continues to look through the room. He sees a photo of Chuy's wife, Angelica, and their two children next to the bed. The picture frame has been broken and the glass shattered. There is blood on the front of the picture, and what Liam believes is brain matter on the wall. Liam continues to look through the room.
He notes, near the closet, a caulking gun with white caulking compound loaded in the gun. Liam walks down the hallway and finds the door to the second bedroom closed and locked.
“Chuy,” asks Liam, “is this bedroom your sister's?”
“Yeah. She's gone, so she always locks it when she leaves.”
Liam doesn't enter the room, but continues on with his search, now heading toward the kitchen. After searching the kitchen, he walks over to where Zim and Chuy are seated. Zim looks at Liam and says, “He won't say anything when I ask him about Irma.”
Liam asks Chuy to stand up. He stands up, and Liam says, “You're under arrest for murder.”
Liam then places the handcuffs on him.
Chuy turns to Zim and Liam, and starts to cry.
“Okay, I'll tell you everything,” he says.
Liam tells Zim that he'll have to get a telephonic search warrant for the apartment.
>
“To cover our asses, Zim, I'll just get a warrant before I see what's in the locked bedroom.”
Zim suggests he take Jesus Hernandez down to the station and speak to him about Irma.
“We'll have a nice little chat, won't we, Chuy?” says Zim.
Zim takes Chuy from the apartment and walks him downstairs while Liam contacts the on-duty judge by telephone and requests permission to search the entire residence. Detective Gordon Zimmer drives Chuy to the headquarters and places him in a locked and secured interview room. He leaves Hernandez there alone, crying.
Liam is granted a search warrant from the on-duty judge, which now allows him to search the entire apartment and its contents. Liam forces open the back bedroom door to the sister's room, expecting to find a dead body. He searches the room, closet, and adjoining bathroom, but finds no body or evidence of a crime. Liam goes back to Chuy's bedroom and once again begins to search. He finds, hidden underneath the top mattress and the box spring, a Ruger semi-automatic, 9mm caliber handgun. The gun is loaded with six additional rounds in the magazine. He doesn't locate a body. Liam searches for a crawl space, but finds none. He walks out into the living room and sits down on the couch. He wonders if each of these apartments have a small storage unit outside. He looks through the kitchen again, but locates no additional items of evidence. He sits in the living room and looks back at the bathroom. He walks down and re-checks the bathroom, but finds no blood in the sink or bathtub.
Liam walks from the bathroom toward the living room, when he notices a piece of black plastic beneath the couch. As he walks towards the couch, he sees the plastic sticking out the sides of the skirting of the upholstered couch. He reaches under the couch and lifts it up. He discovers two large black construction-size plastic bags. The two bags are about 6 feet in length, and are wrapped around something that is about 5 to 6 feet in length. Liam notices that the second black plastic bag is wrapped over the open end of the first bag. The objects inside are completely wrapped in plastic, securely kept in place by gray duct tape.
The Key to Betrayal Page 5