[Lady Justice 10] - Lady Justice and the Book Club Murders

by Robert Thornhill

  Then he turned to Ox, “Any message that you can see with this latest novel?”

  “Well, it certainly has a serial killer in it, but I think this is more of a play on words this time,” he said pointing to the sign above the door. “You know, Planned Parenthood --- The Killer Inside Me.”

  “That’s just sick!” Blaylock said. “Tell you what. I want to know what that Roach character was doing last night. Pick him up.”

  Oscar had been expecting the two cops, but when he saw them, he put on his best ‘surprised’ face.

  “You two again. What now?”

  “Same drill as before,” the big one said. “We need to go downtown.”

  Oscar protested mildly to show his indignation, but went quietly.

  When he was in the interrogation room, he decided to go on the offensive. “I don’t know what you guys are after now, but I’m getting pretty tired of this harassment. I’m not saying anything without my attorney present.”

  He could tell that he had really pissed off the detective.

  It was an hour before his attorney, followed by the detective returned.

  “Why are we here, detective?” she asked.

  “There was another murder last night and we’d like to know the whereabouts of Mr. Roach between eight and ten thirty.”

  Oscar whispered into the attorney’s ear.

  “Go ahead, Mr. Roach,” she said. “Tell the detective what you just told me.”

  “I went to the movie --- Batman --- down on the Plaza. Hell of a flick. Then I went to the Cheesecake factory after it was over.”

  “Were you alone?”

  “Yeah,”

  “Of course you were!”

  “Hey, if you don’t believe me --- wait a minute --- I think I saved them --- Yes!” he said pulling some paper out of his pocket.

  “Here’s my ticket stub and the register receipt for my cheesecake. Now can I go?”

  “Not so fast. You could have purchased that ticket and just left. Is there anyone that can verify your story?”

  “Well, I didn’t have no date --- but I sure tried. There was this girl --- she was one of those usherettes at the theatre. I tried hooking up with her, but she blew me off. Her name was Lauren. I saw it on her badge.”

  “You’re not leaving until I check this out,” he said stomping out of the room.

  “You heard the guy,” Blaylock said. “Find this girl and see if his story checks out.”

  We went to the theatre and the manager said that Lauren Green worked the evening shift and he gave us her address.

  We knocked on the door and a pretty young girl answered. I could see why someone would try to hit on her.

  “Are you Lauren Green?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m Officer Williams and this is my partner, Officer Wilson. We’d like to ask you some questions.”

  “What’s this about? Am I in trouble?”

  “No, nothing like that. We’re just wondering if you have seen this fellow,” I said, holding up Roach’s DMV photo.

  “Oh that guy. Yeah, I saw him last night. Is he in trouble?”

  “Not that we know of. We’re just collecting some information. So, you saw him last night?”

  “Yeah, he was going to the Batman flick. He tried to pick me up, but I told him I wasn’t interested. He was persistent though. After the movie, he asked me again. Something about getting some cheesecake. That’s the last time I saw him.”

  We thanked her and headed back to the cruiser.

  “Blaylock isn’t going to like this,” Ox said.

  “We were all so sure we had a bead on this guy,” I replied. “Maybe he’s not our killer.”

  “Well, one thing’s for sure,” Ox said. “The Librarian’s still out there, he’s still murdering people and we don’t have a clue who he is!”

  CHAPTER 18

  Oscar couldn’t help but smile as he left the police station.

  The detective had almost dropped a load when his lackeys came back having verified his alibi.

  The icing on the cake was when his attorney threatened to file suit against the department if the harassment of her client continued.

  You could just see the cop’s blood pressure hit the roof.

  Although Oscar figured that he had gotten the police off his back, at least temporarily, he knew that he would remain a person of interest as long as the Librarian was still at large.

  Although he didn’t want to stop, he thought it might be wise to lay low for a while.

  Let the cops follow him around if they wanted to. He would give them nothing to arouse their suspicions and they would soon tire.

  With the Christmas holiday just a few weeks away, the police couldn’t keep patrolling the Northeast area for long. They were already spread too thin.

  Yes, the best plan was to let things die down and when the heat was off, he would return with a vengeance.

  Ox and I had just delivered the bad news about Roach’s alibi to Detective Blaylock and were headed back to our cruiser when I saw Maxine and a dozen other women huddled together in the station waiting room.

  It was quite obvious that all of them were working girls, so I figured that vice must have orchestrated a sting of some kind.

  “Maxine, what’s up? Did you gals get busted?”

  “No, nothing like that,” she said with a big smile. “We’re here for a class.”

  “What kind of class? Who’s your teacher?”

  Both Ox and I were totally caught off guard when she pointed down the hall to a smiling Judy DeMarco.

  “Hi guys,” Judy said. “I’ve been looking for the two of you.”

  “What’s going on?” Ox asked. “You didn’t tell me you were teaching a class.”

  “It came up kind of sudden,” she replied. “After word got out about the third woman that was murdered, I got a phone call.”

  “Who from?” Ox asked.

  “From Willie.”

  “Willie Duncan?” I said, surprised. “My Willie?”

  “Yep. You know that he and Maxine are close and he’s been out on the street almost every night. Well, he’s worried sick about the girls. He said that he and Louie couldn’t be everywhere, every night, and knowing that I had combat training in the service, he thought that maybe I could give the girls some tips on self defense.”

  “That sounds like Willie.”

  “I ran the idea by the Captain,” Judy continued, “and he thought the idea had some merit. If it would save even one life, it would be worth it. So here we are.”

  Suddenly, I put the ‘we’ and the ‘I’ve been looking for the two of you’ together.

  “Well, we’d better be going. Good luck with your class.”

  “Not so fast, Buster,” she said with a mischievous grin. “You’re all mine, both of you. Captain’s orders.”

  “Oh, crap!” we both said at once.

  “No grumbling. Let’s go to the PT room and get started.

  The PT room! The ‘PT’ stands for physical training, and at the ripe old age of 69, it’s a place that I avoid like the plague.

  I almost didn’t get on the force, not only because of my advanced years, but also because of my diminutive stature. I’m not what you’d call an imposing figure.

  In my three years of service, I’ve never even tried to subdue someone with my brute strength --- mainly because it’s just not there.

  Instead of physical prowess, I have relied on my razor-sharp wit and charming personality.

  While Ox can flex his muscles, stick out his barrel chest and intimidate the heck out of people, I have to be more subtle.

  Since physical intimidation isn’t in my bag of tricks, I’ll usually just pull my weapon and say, very convincingly, I might add, “Look, buddy, if you don’t put that knife down, I’m going to have to shoot you. It’s going to hurt like hell and you’ll bleed all over the place. Then I’m going to have to fill out a shit load of forms saying why I shot your ass. Neither one of us want
s that, so why don’t you just put down the knife?”

  That usually works. If not, I have also become very proficient with a taser.

  All that being said, ‘PT’ as in physical training, just doesn’t apply to me.

  If ‘PT’ meant ‘potty trained’, I could go with that. I’m definitely potty trained, even though I miss once in a while.

  Or ‘PT’ could mean ‘product taster’. I love sampling the little bits of fruit and cheese they give away on toothpicks at the grocery store. I can even relate to the process. I spent one afternoon undercover at a BuyMart cooking sausages that looked like little boogers on a stick.

  But physical training just wasn’t my thing and I cringed as we entered the big room with padded mats on the floor.

  Judy lined the girls up on the edge of the mats.

  “Some say that women are the weaker sex,” she said. “Don’t you believe it! You don’t have to be intimidated by any man if you know what to do. Walt, come over here.”

  Reluctantly, I obeyed.

  “Okay,” she said, “I want you to take a swing at me. Don’t hold anything back. Go for it.”

  “But ---?”

  “Do it!” she ordered.

  I rared back and gave her my best round house.

  She easily parried my blow and the next thing I knew, she had slammed her toe squarely into my crotch.

  The pain radiated through my body and I crumpled to the ground.

  “See,” she said triumphantly, “all it takes is one well-placed kick to bring a guy to his knees.”

  All I was seeing was stars. I’m definitely a meat and potatoes guy, but I don’t want my potatoes mashed.

  Judy ignored my twitching and moaning and continued on, “It doesn’t matter how big the guy is, if you know what to do. Ox get over here and make a grab for me.”

  Ox looked at me curled up into a fetal position and had second thoughts.

  “I --- I don’t know.”

  “Don’t give me any lip or you’ll be sorry,” she said. “I think you know what I mean.”

  Evidently he did, because he lunged at Judy.

  The next thing I knew, Ox was in the air, ass over elbows, and landed squarely on his back next to me.

  “Before the day is over, ladies, you’ll know how to take care of yourselves. No more intimidation from the Neanderthals in your life.”

  Maxine and the girls clapped with glee.

  Ox had just got his wind back when he wheezed, “When I see your friend, Willie, I’m gonna strangle him.”

  “I’ll help!”

  Judy pulled us to our feet, thanked us for our assistance and sent us packing.

  Out in the hall, I noticed that Ox was limping badly.

  “You, okay?”

  “My 230 pound body was just flipped into the air and came crashing down on the floor. How do you think I am?”

  “You’ve probably been better.”

  He noticed my hand gently cradling Mr. Winkie and the boys. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ll live, but it hurts when I walk.”

  “Let me get you some ice. I’ve heard that it helps.”

  When Ox returned, he was still limping badly.

  “I think I’d better go see my chiropractor, Dr. Crusher. Do you want to come along?”

  I had seen my chiropractor a few weeks ago, but I figured, ‘what the heck’, I could go along for moral support.

  On the way to the doctor’s office, Ox said, “I’ve been seeing a lot of Dr. Crusher since I’ve been dating Judy.”

  “Oh, really? How so?”

  “Well, let’s just say that Judy can be --- uhhh--- aggressive.”

  I put two and two together. “A real tiger in bed, eh?”

  “You have no idea,” Ox said. “Turns out, I’m more of a sprint kind of guy and Judy, well, Judy’s into marathons. It’s taken some adjustments for both of us.”

  “Hmmm, I can see that it would.”

  “She can also be real creative. She calls it the ‘sex Olympics’. She damn near killed me the first time she tried the pole vault --- and I don’t even want to talk about the shot-put.”

  Thankfully, we pulled into the doctor’s parking lot. I didn’t need to know more.

  A little bell tinkled when we entered the office.

  A gray-haired fellow a bit younger than me came into the waiting room.

  “Ox, good to see you. Judy again?”

  Ox nodded, “Flipped me on my back. Think I threw something out.”

  “I’m all for intimate relations, but I think you two should dial it back a notch.”

  “Oh no, this was at work.”

  “Interesting relationship,” he said, then he turned to me. “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is my partner, Walt. Judy kicked him in the nuts.”

  “I see. Well I can certainly adjust your back, but I never touch those things. You might try some ice. I hear that helps.”

  “Go ahead,” Ox urged. “Since it was my girlfriend that crumbled your cookies, it’s only fair that my chiropractor tries to help.”

  I climbed on the adjusting table and felt the doctor running his fingers down my spine. He stopped and applied some pressure. “Tender there?”

  “Oww, yeah.”

  He did some manipulations and seemed satisfied. “On your back, please.”

  I rolled over and he gently cradled my head in his hands. I felt a slight tap of his fingers and the next thing I knew, I heard a ‘snap’ and saw stars for the second time today.

  He pulled me up into a sitting position, “That should help,” he said, “and don’t forget the ice.”

  Ox got his adjustment, and on the way home, I actually did feel better --- except for Mr. Winkie --- he was still pouting and I’m sure he had a black eye.

  I was walking bow-legged up the sidewalk when Dad threw open the door. He and Jerry had watched me painfully get out of the car.

  “Jesus, Walt,” Dad said. “You look like crap!”

  “Yeah, little incident at work --- nothing serious --- just came from Ox’s chiropractor.”

  Jerry, of course, was ready with his favorite story.

  “A woman walks into the chiropractic office and says, ‘Doctor, please help me. My husband thinks he’s a satellite dish.’ The doctor kindly lets her know that he probably can’t cure that. She tells him, ‘I don’t want you to cure him, I want you to adjust him, so I can get HBO.’”

  I continued gingerly up the steps.

  Dad noticed my hesitation. “Problems with the family jewels?”

  “Yeah, got whacked pretty good today.”

  “Ice,” he said. “Try ice. It works wonders.”

  “Thanks.”

  Maggie met me at the door and noticed my predicament right away.

  After I related my misfortunes, I saw a mischievous smile on her lips.

  “Too bad. I had planned an evening of hot, steamy sex.”

  Just the thought made my hiney pucker.

  Women can just be cruel sometimes.

  CHAPTER 19

  Oscar Roach was growing restless.

  The Librarian had once again slipped to the back pages of the paper, being replaced with sappy Christmas stories and pleas for donations to Toys for Tots.

  He had been on the lookout for surveillance teams, but had not seen anyone watching him.

  This downtime had not, however, been wasted. He had delved deeper into the stories of other serial killers, and at last count, had researched over two hundred.

  It was interesting that the majority of them had targeted the homeless, prostitutes or young boys as their victims.

  Based on his own experience, he could see why --- they were easy prey --- almost too easy.

  He had actually almost grown bored with his last hunts. He needed a greater challenge.

  He also noticed that none of the more infamous serial killers had targeted cops as their victims.

  Yes, cops! They would be the ultimate challenge --- trained k
illers themselves --- fit and strong and ready for a fight.

  It was like his first kills had been rabbits and squirrels, and now he was ready to go after the big game.

  He had seen film of hunters being charged by Cape buffalo, rhinoceros, or a lion. It was the hunter being stalked by the hunted.

  If the Librarian could pull this off and not get caught, he would indeed be in a class of his own.

  Ice does help.

  I started with a bag of frozen peas between my legs and it felt so good, Maggie borrowed a real ice bag from Bernice.

  Naturally, the octogenarian wanted to know what it was going to be used for. Maggie, without really thinking, told her I was putting it on my nuts, to which Bernice replied, “Never heard of that. I like my nuts warm. Tell Walt to stick them in the microwave for about fifteen seconds.”

  Maggie passed the message, but I declined.

  When I got out of bed the next day, I was relieved to see my usual morning woody. It appeared that I was going to live and things were getting back to normal.

  Ox seemed genuinely concerned when we met in the parking lot.

  “Are you okay, partner?”

  “Well, it may be a couple of days before I’m ready for the sex Olympics, but I’ll survive.”

  “Judy said to tell you that she’s really sorry. She just takes her job so seriously. The good news is that Maxine and the gals learned very quickly and by the end of the day, they were ready to kick some butt.”

  “Good to know that my pain was not in vain.”

  “In fact,” Ox said, “she feels so bad about the whole thing, we’d like to take you and Maggie out for dinner --- a real nice dinner --- on us.”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “We haven’t taken the time to enjoy the Plaza lights yet this year, so we figured maybe a steak at Ruth’s Chris and then a buggy ride.”

  “Holy crap, Ox! Did you win the lottery? We’re talking three hundred easy!”

  “No, I just want to make it a special evening. Are you saying your nuts aren’t worth a c-note?”

  “Well, since you put it like that --- yes, Maggie will be thrilled.”