“That may be but be forewarned, she is going to go after you for that little demonstration today.”
“That and bellybutton lint are two really big concerns of mine. I can handle Kelli,” I replied.
He was still frowning when he walked off. I think the bellybutton lint comment was still rattling around in his brain.
“He is right,” Dan said.
“Don’t you start. She isn’t a reporter. If she worked for me I would fire her so fast her head would still be spinning when she was out on the street,” I replied.
“Then again, she doesn’t work for you.”
“There is that I suppose. That is all beside the point now. This is now a homicide and we need to start looking at it differently. We need their rap sheets, to talk to their parents and stay on the DA not to plea bargain this down to something less than manslaughter one. You know he will.”
“Please, tell me you are not going to go barging in and calling him a wuss again,” Dan pleaded.
“Absolutely not.”
“Good.”
“Unless I have too.”
“Awe Angie,” Dan whined.
He should be ashamed. He is too big to whine.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Angie, what do you really think about this case?” Dan asked.
“I think we have a job to do and we will do it to the best of our ability,” I replied.
“Now nice. Now cut the crap and answer the question.”
“I’m torn. I mean those gang guys killed that old man just to prove they were tough. How pathetic is that? If it was up to me, I would consider it first degree murder. The penalty? I would give the family baseball bats and let them beat the hell out of them.”
“Wow. I guess I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, really it’s okay. This was totally senseless. Hitting an eighty-five year old man. How could they think that made them tough guys?”
“Yeah, I got that part, I’m talking about the guy who shot them,” Dan insisted.
“I have mixed feelings. Shooting them to stop the attack would have been justified I think. Shooting them the second time, that I don’t know about.”
“You think it could have been justified?” Dan asked shocked.
“I’m just saying that in the heat of the moment, I can see how he could have overreacted.”
“Angie, Angie. This so unlike you.”
“I guess, but the truth is, just arresting these guys wouldn’t have really done much good. If Mr. Waters had lived they would have gotten off with battery. This is the fourth time for these guys so…”
“So just shoot them?”
“Come on Dan, you are oversimplifying the entire situation. Why did the judges in the prior cases let it get reduced to simple assault? Why weren’t they put away when they did it the second time? Did that stop anything? Instead, they did it a third time. Well, they are stopped for sure now.”
“You can’t mean that Angie.”
“Probably not all of it, but some of it.”
“What part to you believe?”
“Sorry, I’m not telling.”
“Man,” was all Dan said.
I wasn’t exactly telling the truth but I wasn’t totally lying either. Part of what I said was how I felt.
When I got home that night, I had half a bottle of Merlot and tried to sort out my feelings. I knew that we can’t have just have people taking the law into their own hands. The fact that he wasn’t the one attacked was also a big factor. On the other hand, the courts were not taking this violent trend seriously. They were treating it like a minor inconvenience that they had to deal with. I see this whole thing as indicative of what is wrong with the legal system today. We spend days and days tracking down criminals and the courts are more concerned with just getting it cleared off their docket. They proceeded as though it was to hell with the victims and their rights as long as they can reduce their caseload.
Actually I was starting to think that maybe fourteen years was long enough as a cop. It wasn’t getting any better. It was the first time I had felt disillusioned about my work. Ah well, tomorrow is another day.
***
Charlie Stein and Benny Taylor had been playing chess at the Lincoln Park for the past fifteen years. Every Saturday morning, Charlie would bring the chess set and set it up and Benny would bring coffee. They would play a little chess and mostly talk about the old days and insult each other when the chance arose.
Today was slightly different. They had been playing only a few minutes with four Hispanics came up to the table.
“Hey old man, gives me yo money,” one of them said.
Neither bothered to acknowledge them and they went on playing.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” he said and shoved Benny’s arm.
“Go away. We don’t have any money.”
“Don’t you lie to me. Hand it over and no one will get hurt.”
“We live on Social Security. We don’t have any money,” Benny insisted.
“I ain’t gonna’ ast’ you again,” he said.
“What part of no don’t you understand? We don’t have any money,” Charlie said starting to get up.
He was shoved off the seat and onto the ground. The gang member raked his hand across the table throwing the chess set across the lawn. Just as Charlie was starting to get up the gang member kicked him in the ribs causing Charlie to cry out in pain.
“I ain’t tellin’ you again old man, give me you money or I stomp you in the ground.”
“No you won’t,” a voice said behind the gang member.
Three of the four turned and looked at the man standing there.
“You need to mind you own business.”
“I am.”
“Yo, Kemo, get this guy out my face,” the leader said.
“Gonzo.”
“What?”
“Uh like man you should look again.”
The one called Gonzo turned and was looking into the barrel of a revolver.
“You gonna’ pull that thing you better be ready to use it,” Gonzo said reaching behind his back.
The huge revolver fired, catching Gonzo in the throat, almost separating his head from his shoulders. Just as quickly the man shot the remaining three. He turned without another word and walked away leaving the four Hispanics lying on the ground.
“Charlie, you okay?” his friend asked, snapping out of it.
“I think he broke my ribs. You got your phone on you?”
“Hell no. I don’t have one of those daggone things.”
“I got one in my pocket. Get it out and call 911.”
He fished the cell phone out and dialed.
“What about that guy?” Benny asked.
“What guy?”
“The one that shot there four robbers.”
“I never saw him. I was down here. I didn’t get a look at him.”
“Come on Charlie. He was standing right there,” Benny said pointing to a spot less than five feet away.
“Sorry. I was hurt and holding my ribs. I didn’t see a thing.”
“Is that what you are going to tell the police?” Benny asked.
“Absolutely. Never saw him. Don’t have any idea what he looked like. I just heard the gunshots. I thought I was being shot.”
“You know they will never buy that,” Benny insisted.”
“Benny, you do what you think is right for you. I am comfortable with what I am going to say. There isn’t a damn thing they can do about it so I intend to stick to my story.”
“Even if you are under oath?”
“Benny, listen carefully. I intend to say nothing to help them get the man who saved my life, yours too. If he hadn’t showed up what do you think would have happened to us? I’m just glad he happened along when he did.”
“Charlie, I don’t know if I can go along with that,” Benny told him.
“Do what you think is best, that’s all I can say. I think you’re a damn fool for looking
a gift horse in the mouth but if that is what you feel you have to do, it’s fine with me.”
***
“Bartoni, Dan, we have another gang shooting at Lincoln Park. Two elderly guys were playing chess when four Hispanics started hassling them. They hurt one of the men and then all hell broke loose. Get over there and see if it is related.”
“Same MO?”
“Not sure. These guys are DOA.”
“Okay, we are on our way,” I said, grabbing my vest before the captain could chime in. I knew he was watching so I made a show of putting it on before I headed down the stairs.
“What do you think?” Dan asked.
“Not sure yet. It would be a heck of a coincidence if it isn’t related. I mean how many strangers have just showed up suddenly and shot gang members. Usually it’s the gang bangers doing the shooting.”
“If it is the same guy, he has upped his game.”
“That’s a frightening thought. I just hope this one isn’t related,” I said.
“I can tell you this; the press will already have linked the two together and will come up with some cute little name to call the guy. I can see it now, ‘The Avenger’ strikes again.”
“I would like to tell you that you are full of it but unfortunately I suspect that is exactly what will happen. Someone, someplace will tag this guy and then we will have a real mess on our hands. I can tell you thing for sure. It is only going to make our job a lot harder.
“Then we had better catch this guy darned quick,” Dan said.
“Wow, why didn’t I think of that?” I replied.
“Yeah, why didn’t you?”
“Don’t push it buster.”
CHAPTER SIX
I saw Doc Sorenson as soon as we pulled up. He was stooped over one of the bodies looking down at the guy. There was no mistaking that the dead man was Hispanic.
“Looking for your contact?” I said coming up behind him.
“Damn it Bartoni. You keep sneaking up on me like that and you are going to end up in one of my refrigerators.”
“It’s not my fault if you can’t hear anymore.”
“Dan, nice to see you. This twit you have with you is holding you back. You need to get a new partner,” Sorenson said, ignoring me.
“You think so?”
“No doubt about it. I mean, you got what, three thugs shot, twelve witnesses besides the three vics and you still have no idea what this guy looks like? Some lead detective. Do yourself a favor, distance yourself from her while you can still salvage your career,” he said.
“Doc, I see you are on that new bologna diet. You seem to be full of it,” I shot back.
“Not to change the subject but what do you think?” Dan asked.
“They’re dead.”
“See Dan, I told you he was the best. He caught on to that in just a few minutes.”
“Gonna’ be a fifth one if you keep being so cheeky Bartoni,” Sorenson said.
“I have real work to do, you stay here and figure out what killed them. Given another couple of hours you can probably do that can’t you?”
“Dan, can I barrow your gun?”
“Oops, time to go,” I said hurrying off.
Dan and I went to talk to the two elderly victims.
“Are you guys okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Well I damn sure am not,” the other one said.
“You are?”
“Charlie Stein. That creep just about broke my ribs.”
“Has the EMT looked at you yet?”
“Is it gonna cost me?”
“No sir.”
“Then get him over here. I feel like crap.”
Dan went and got the EMT while I stayed at talked to them.
“Can you tell me what happened?’
“We were playing chess just like we always do and those hoodlums come up and start giving us a hard time. Said we had to give them money. When I started to stand up he shoved me to the ground and then kicked me in the ribs.”
“Which one kicked you?”
“That guy there,” he said pointing to the one with his head hanging on by a few tendons.
“Where were you Mr…?”
“Benny. Benny Taylor.”
“Where were you Mr. Taylor?”
“Sitting across from Charlie.”
“Did they shove you as well?’
“No. Just poor ole Charlie. There was no reason to shove him and it was even more mean to kick him while he was on the ground like that.”
“So what were the other three doing?”
“Just laughing. One knocked all the chess pieces off the board.”
“Then what happened?”
“Some guy came out of nowhere. That one there, pointing to the leader, said he was going to stomp me into the ground if I didn’t give him my money. Then this guy says ‘no you won’t’ or something like that.”
“Go on,” I said.
“I don’t know what happened after that. I was on the ground and couldn’t see. I was lying on my side holding my ribs, trying to protect myself.”
“So you saw nothing?”
“That’s right.”
“Mr. Taylor?”
“Well it all happened so fast. I mean I was looking down at Charlie and starting to go see if I could help him. Then I hear bam…bam…bam…bam, just like that. Not fast, just like the guy was taking his time and knew what he was doing. By the time I looked up, he was walking away.”
“Wait a minute, you are both telling me you didn’t see the shooter?”
“Just the back of him.”
I just looked at them. What the hell was going on? Did people suddenly just lose their vision? I knew darn well they weren’t telling the truth.
“Mr. Taylor. You surely looked up when the first shot was fired,” I insisted.
“Heck no. I ducked my head. I didn’t want to get hit. I kept my head down until it was over. By then the guy was twenty feet away.”
Dan was back with the EMT and they went to work on Charlie. I filled him in on what the two had told me.
“You mean they are both saying that they didn’t see the guy standing ten feet from them?”
“I’m just telling you what they said,” I replied
“You know that isn’t true. They are covering for this guy. What the heck is going on here?”
“I don’t know but I have a feeling we are looking for the same guy,” I told him.
“We need to talk to the guys some more and see if we can get something useful out of them.”
“Do you want to take a run at them?” I asked.
“Couldn’t hurt.”
I decided to go harass Doc Sorenson while Dan was talking to Charlie and Benny.
“Anything I should know about?”
“Nothing so far. Want to help me roll them over? Careful with that guy, his head is only held on by a few threads,” Sorenson said.
As soon as we rolled him over you could see a gun tucked into the back of his pants. No wonder the guy didn’t do much talking. We rolled the other three over and it was the same thing. All four of them had guns.
“Did your older guys get a description of the shooter?” Sorenson asked.
“According to them, they never looked. The one was on the ground in a ball and the other was ducking when the shots went off.”
“They saw nothing?”
“That’s what they are telling me,” I replied.
“Boy, you must be losing your touch. You used to could charm a confession out of Hannibal Lecter if you tried hard enough.”
“Yeah, well, time marches on,” I said.
“Yes. Yes it does.
Dan came back a few minutes later.
“Get anything?”
“Not much. The one guy, Benny said he thought the guy had on a hoodie and jeans but he didn’t get a look at his face. He also thought he might be on the tall side. I pressed him for a better description but all he said was between five-f
oot ten and six-foot one. That’s a pretty wide range.”
“Weight?”
“Neither ventured a guess.”
“So we basically have nothing again.”
“That pretty much sums it up,” Dan responded.
“How is Charlie Stein doing?”
“EMT is having him go to the hospital. He thinks his ribs may be broken,” Dan said.
“So what kind of creep just picks on a couple of old guys? I mean, what is the point?”
“Angie, you are wasting brain power on an unanswerable question. They are just punks, hoods that aren’t really tough so they have to act like they are.”
“Do you think this shooting was done by the same guy? He didn’t kill the other three but he just drilled these guys,”
“These guys had guns. The others didn’t, at least not that he saw. If it was the same guy, he wasn’t about to take the chance of getting into a gun battle. No one was shot in the back so my guess is that he saw them start to reach for their guns and he just popped them.”
“Benny said he was methodical. He didn’t really rush it, just pow...pow...pow...pow and walked away.”
“He is cool, we have to give him that,” Dan said.
“If it is the same guy.”
“There is that. I would to hate to think we have two vigilantes running around shooting people,” Dan replied.
“Maybe we can get a match on the bullet,” I said.
“Don’t think you will get much,” Sorenson said.
“Why is that?”
“Used exploders probably. They fragment when they hit something. I can just find bits and pieces. Damn big bore as well. A lot of force. Something like a .44 magnum. Maybe even a Desert Eagle. Look at that guy’s neck. Any regular bullet would have gone in and blown out the back of his throat. This guy has hardly anything left,” Sorenson told us.
“Not exactly an easy gun to conceal,” I replied.
“Maybe he doesn’t try,” Sorenson said.
“Now there is a thought,” Dan replied.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I once read a report by a famous physicist that said, in essence, there are no really bad people. They may be misguided but with proper treatment they can be cured of their anti-social behavior. He went on to say that everyone basically wanted to be good but circumstances forced them to make wrong choices. It was the failure of society to recognize the signs and to have them seek the proper help. Of course he went on to tell everyone that they could find the answers in the new book that he was promoting.
Victim's Advocate: Angie Bartoni Case Flie # 12 (Angie Bartoni Case Files) Page 3