Goose City

  When I got to the office, Dick was already there. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “I’m looking for that big blonde,” said Dick. “So far I haven’t found anything.”

  “I’ll help,” I said. “I guess two set of eyes are better than one.”

  “By the way, I checked on Nimble,” said Dick. “The kid is going to be okay.”

  “That’s good,” I said. “I’ll go by after I get off.”

  After two hours of searching, we came up with nothing. “I can’t believe we haven’t come up with anything,” I said.

  Dick stood and said, “I’m going to have a smoke.”

  After Dick left for his smoke break, I switched my search. I did more research on the Bombay Group and got the same result as before. Then again, what secret organization put their information on the internet?

  I then searched for Solomon Grundy, the Bombay Group’s henchman. It was hard to believe that his name produced no records of any kind.

  Frustrated, I slammed my fist into my desk.

  “You okay?” asked Jenny Wren as she poked her head into my cubicle.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I just can’t find what I’m looking for.”

  “Does this have anything to do with last night?” she asked as she sat in Dick’s chair.

  “Everything,” I said dejectedly. “I can’t catch a break in this case.”

  “Don’t worry something will come your way,” said Jenny. “Hopefully, when we question Bobby Shaftoe, we’ll find out what happened to Elsie Marley.”

  “So you decided to follow my suggestion,” I said.

  “Yeah,” said Jenny. “It makes sense.”

  Then my phone rang. “Hello, Detective Horner. How may I help you?”

  “Detective Horner, this is Detective Drake,” said the caller. “I may have something for you.”

  “What do you have for me Detective Drake,” I said.

  “It seems that John Watts scratched the big blonde,” said Detective Drake. “Forensics removed skin and blood from under his nails.”

  Once again the evidence gods had smiled on me. “How long will it takes to get results?”

  “About four days,” replied Detective Drake. “I hope this helps you.”

  “It’ll help a whole lot,” I said.

  “We’ll do what we can on our end,” said Detective Drake before ending his call.

  “Seems like someone got good news,” said Jenny.

  “EPD found DNA under one of the deceased fingernails,” I said. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to identify the big blonde.”

  “Good morning,” said Bookworm as he joined us. “I heard about last night.”

  “You should’ve been there,” I quipped.

  “It’s about time you got here,” said Jenny. “Where have you been?”

  “I was talking to Dick. I may be able to help you with last night,” replied Bookworm. “I have a friend in the Exeter police department. She’s a real genius with computers.”

  “How does this help me?” I asked.

  “If there were cameras in the area she can access them and maybe pull up a picture of the suspect,” said Bookworm enthusiastically.”

  “It doesn’t hurt to try,” I said. “Give her a call.”

  Bookworm and Jenny returned to their cubicle. I joined Dick outside for a smoke.

  “It’s going to be another hot day.” I said as I lit a cigarette. I inhaled then slowly exhaled. One day I am going to quit smoking.

  “Yep,” replied Dick. “What are we going to do today?”

  “We’re going to the East Foundation to speak to Mr. East,” I said.

  “Why?” asked Dick.

  “He might hold the key to the Bombay Group,” I replied.

  Dick nodded.

  “Here’s your picture,” said Bookworm from behind me.

  Turning, I saw Bookworm holding a picture of the blonde. It wasn’t the greatest picture but we could use it in helping to identify the blonde. “That was fast.”

  “Like I said, she is a genius,” said. Bookworm. “You should receive a call from Inquest in the next half hour.”

  “You are the man Bookworm,” I said. Jenny joined us and asked, “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” replied Bookworm. “Let’s go and bother Bobby Shaftoe.”

  “That guy is an asshole,” said Dick, stamping out his cigarette.

  Jenny smiled and said, “The bigger the asshole, the easier it’s for me to put a foot into it.” We all laugh.

  We wished Jenny and Bookworm good luck on questioning Bobby Shaftoe. Then Dick and I returned to our cubicle to wait for the call from Inquest.

  “You should have let me take the shot,” said Dick.

  “If you had killed her then we’ll never find out who’s behind this mess,” I said.

  “I wouldn’t have killed her,” said Dick, chuckling lightly. “I would have winged her.”

  Looking at my watch, I said, “Let’s go to the Pig.”

  “Isn’t it a little too early for the Pig?” Dick asked.

  “It’s never too early for the Pig,” I replied.

  “What about the phone call?” Dick asked.

  “I’ll have all my call rerouted to my cell phone,” I said.

  As we headed out, we overheard a mother at the front desk weeping about her missing daughter. Another child was missing in Goose City. That was ten in the last three weeks. It appears as the boys in the missing person department had their work cut out for them.

  Chapter 37

  In minutes, we were in the Flying Pig enjoying black coffee with toast, fried eggs, and bacon. Greasy but good.

  "I still can't get Lucy Locket out of mind,” said Dick out of the blue. “I really bothered by the fact that Emperor will get away with murder."

  "He's not going to get away with murder," I said. "We just need to be careful how we approach the situation."

  Dick pushed away his plate and stared out of the window.

  "From this day on, we need to be careful how we approach certain situations," I said.

  Then my cell phone rang. “Detective Horner.”

  “This is Inquisitor Muffet of Inquest,” said the caller. “The photo we received from your department doesn’t match any known suspect.”

  “Can you run it again?” I asked.

  “Yes,” said Inquisitor Muffet, “however it is my opinion we’ll get the same result.”

  I ended the call. Looking out of the diner's window, I said, “It’s a no go on the photo. Every time I think I’m getting close, another roadblock pops up.”

  Then our morning was interrupted by the call of another dead prostitute founded in Pippen Hill.

  “Molly put this on my tab,” I said as we hustled out of the Pig. Molly smiled and nodded.

  Getting into the Coachman, we headed to 4th and Jefferson in North Pippen Hill. It was an area of abandon public housing and shops. This area of Pippen Hill was just another playground for drug dealers and prostitutes. Black and red Bombay Group signs littered the area. Whoever they were, they were buying up all of the abandoned properties. They were also forcing people out of Pippen Hill.

  In about ten minutes, we were at the location. As usual, the media was present with our favorite media figure in the front. “How do they get here so fast?” Dick asked.

  We quickly made our way to the scene without being seen by the newshounds.

  When we got to the scene, Detective L. B. Blue greeted us. Uniformed officers were combing the grounds for evidence.

  L.B. was old school. He wore suits from the fifties and the sixties with a fedora. He was on the force with my mother. Somehow he had managed to stay around way past his time. Every year for the past five years, has been his last year.

  “Good morning young bloods,” said L. B. as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what is going on with this city. Back in the day, it was just bank robbers, gangsters, and bootleggers. Now, it’s just murder and more murder. I’m
getting too old for this shit. Follow me.”

  We followed L.B. into an abandoned tenement and up to the second floor. He said, "An anonymous caller tipped us to the exact location of the dead prostitute."

  In a chair sat a dead naked prostitute. Someone had done one heck of a number on the girl. They mockingly carved a crucifix on each breast. She had multiple stab wounds to the abdomen in the pattern of a cross. Her head was shaved and face painted like a clown. Just like Lavender Blue, the body was cleaned.

  “What kind of sick fuck would do this?” asked L.B. as he covered his nose and mouth with a monogrammed handkerchief.

  “The kind who thinks he won’t get caught,” I said.

  Dick moved in for a closer inspection of the victim. “Whoever did this has anger issues.”

  I agreed with Dick then asked L. B. “Did the caller say anything else?”

  “He clearly stated that he wasn’t finished,” said L. B. as he removed his gray fedora.

  Finally, my favorite forensic tech showed up with her team. “When are these girls going to learn?” asked Polly Harrow as she looked at the victim. “One of them is getting killed every week and the others aren’t catching on.”

  She was right. They were like sheep. Getting into cars with a stranger and being slaughtered.

  We stepped back and let Polly and her team get to work.

  Looking at us, L. B. said, “I’m going outside, give me a call if you find anything.” As he turned to leave, all of our radios beeped followed by: “We have officers down. I repeat, we have officers down.”

  It was the one call no cop wanted to hear. Looking at us L.B. said, "Go."

  In seconds, we were in my car with lights flashing and siren blaring. We were on our way to St. Ives. We were on our way to the Shaftoes’ residence.

  ####

  About Linwood Ellsworth

  Linwood D. Ellsworth was born and raised in Courtland, Virginia. He served in the United States Army for ten years. He served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). He resided in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota for eight years where he attended Argosy University and Concordia University-St. Paul. He is a registered and licensed imaging professional. He now resides in Hanau, Germany with his wife and son.

  Other titles by Linwood Ellsworth

  Pictures from the Pretty Side (2013)

  A Hard Road Home (2013)

  A Father’s Folly (2013)

  Eli Morningstar (2014)

  Eli Morningstar: Book II The Hunted (2015)

  Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to send me comments at mailto:[email protected]?subject=Comments

  Thanks!

  Linwood Ellsworth