Cold Justice

by Rick Polad

“Where did it happen?” she asked as we reached the top of the stairs.

  I pointed to the right and started walking. The yellow tape was still strung around the pillars. As we got closer I could see the graffiti and the body outline on the floor. I wondered if Angie and her friend were upstairs. If they were they wouldn’t be making their presence known.

  She took my arm and said, “So that’s all that’s left of a man… a drawing on the floor.”

  I didn’t respond. Death was something I didn’t want to think about.

  She stopped short of the tape and looked around. “You know, there’s something wrong with this picture.”

  “And what would that be?”

  She touched the tape and shook her head. “I just can’t see Mr. Mineo and his fancy suits in a place like this.”

  “I agree, but like you said, some things are more important to some people. Maybe this was important enough to Joey to be here.”

  “Can I go inside the tape?”

  “Sure.” The police were done with this place. The tape would stay up until someone found a use for it.

  She ducked under the tape and walked to the drawing. She was about ten feet from me. Looking back at me, she asked, “And where was the witness?”

  “I’m not sure. Behind one of the pillars, I guess.” Each one was a hiding place.

  She turned away from me and reached down to her purse. When she turned back to me she was holding a gun, and it was aimed at me. I didn’t react.

  “What? No surprise?” she said.

  I just looked at her.

  She smiled at me. “You know, that habit you have of not carrying a gun doesn’t serve you well. Not that it would do you any good at the moment.”

  I shrugged and took a step to my left. “Better to be smart than armed most of the time.”

  “Don’t move. This time you were neither. You know, I didn’t learn anything from you about detecting.”

  “No, I guess not. We talked about motives. What’s yours?”

  “You’ll die wondering that, Spencer.”

  Most people liked to talk about their plans so I kept talking.

  “Not quite. I can guess at most of it. I just don’t know why.”

  “And what are your guesses?”

  “Uncle Sam. I just can’t see any taxpayer having a picture of Uncle Sam on their wall. Who crocheted that for you? Your aunt?”

  “Well, you’re not as dumb as I thought.”

  “Thanks. Sam Giancana was a thug. I’m wondering why you’ve made him into an idol.”

  “Because he wasn’t a thug to me. He was my favorite uncle who loved me more than my own father.” Her stare was lost in memories, but the gun didn’t move an inch.

  “You killed Schloff and framed Joey with that phony witness. Why?”

  “Because Joey killed my uncle.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I saw it. Uncle Sam and I were cooking sausages for lunch. He was at the stove, and I was playing behind the bar. We were the only ones home. We heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and he told me to get down. He ran for his gun, but the door burst open before he got to it. I could see past the end of the bar. Joey Mineo shot him once and he fell. Then Schloff came up and shot him six more times in the face. They didn’t check to see if anyone else was in the room.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Twelve.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to say I was sorry. “I gotta tell you, you’ve caused a lot of conversation with the bodyguard thing. Lots of theories and wondering if Joey even had one or not.” I shifted my weight from my left foot to the right.

  She laughed. “Yes, that was a plan that didn’t work out. I was sure I’d get a chance to get him, but I was never alone with him in the right spot. That guy is either holed up in that room or in a crowd. I wonder what he’s afraid of.”

  “You.”

  “But he had no idea who I was.” She brought the gun down to her side, but it was still pointed at me.

  “It’s the business he’s in. He had Sam hanging over his head, and I’m guessing he didn’t like it. If it helps you any, I’m guessing killing Sam wasn’t his idea and not something he was happy about.”

  “I couldn’t care less how happy he is. Then I figured if he was convicted of murder, being in prison would be worse than death.”

  “That’s true. So you get Joey and Schloff. What about Glunner?”

  “He was a bum. He had nothing to live for. And one of the things about a successful criminal is that they leave no one behind to talk. Which is why you have to go.”

  “But you didn’t know if I knew anything, and I didn’t know anything. At least I don’t have any proof.”

  “I had a feeling. And I knew you’d keep digging until you found what you were looking for.”

  “That’s what I do. I must say, the way you got the job was brilliant. You got Marty to ask you, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah. He’s good with numbers, but not too smart when it comes to life. I played him for months. It was set up so well I just had to wait for him to ask.”

  “Which makes nobody suspect you of anything. You’re just a woman who can shoot a gun.”

  She nodded again and raised the gun. “That’s all the questions you get, Spencer.”

  “Then how about a last statement.”

  “Sure. I’m not in a hurry.”

  “There are three things that a successful criminal needs to pull something off.”

  She moved to her left and took the gun in both hands. “Okay, I’ll bite.”

  “No witnesses, no emotions, and no little mistakes.” I let that sit for a few seconds. “You took care of the first, but the last two are your downfall.”

  She kept moving slowly. I turned to face her.

  “I agree with you, but I don’t see the downfall.”

  “You let your feelings for Sam get in the way. Granted, the wall hanging isn’t a picture of your uncle, but it’s odd, and it caught my attention… and I’m not stupid.”

  She shrugged. “So what. Your attention isn’t my downfall.”

  Through this whole thing her eyes hadn’t changed. They were cold and showed no emotion. The only thing she cared about was revenge for her uncle.

  “No, but it added a piece to the puzzle, and I like pieces to fit. The downfall comes in the third.”

  She just looked at me.

  “The fact that the second shooter used a rifle was not made public.”

  She kept looking and twenty seconds later said, “And given that, you walked in here without a gun. I hope you didn’t think I put my arm around you to be romantic. And bottom line is, none of that matters, does it?”

  “It matters to me,” said a voice from off to the side.

  Jamie turned toward the voice and fired. The roar in the empty space was deafening. But the voice had the protection of a pillar. Jamie was out in the middle of the floor. The return shot hit her shoulder. As she dropped the gun and knelt on the floor, Rosie stepped out from behind one of the pillars and walked toward us. She keyed the mic attached to her shoulder, reported what had happened, and asked for an ambulance. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another person step out from behind a pillar on the other side of us, and Gabriel joined us. His gun was pointed down at the floor. We nodded to each other. Everyone was silent for a good half minute. It was such a sad, strange situation.

  Jamie just sat on the floor on her knees holding her left shoulder with her right hand. There must have been blood, but I couldn’t see it through her heavy coat.

  With her gun still pointed at Jamie, Rosie asked Gabriel to cuff her. He holstered his gun and started toward Jamie. In one quick motion, she reached back into her boot and pulled out a knife. A split second after it was visible, Rosie shot her in the chest, and she slumped to the floor. Gabriel froze wide-eyed with his right hand on his cuffs.

  I knelt down and touched her arm. She was trying to say something. I leaned in close and faintly h
eard her last words.

  “I… win both… ways. I either get… you… or you get… him.”

  “How do we get him, Jamie?”

  “If you… knew what you were… walking into… you’d be re… cording what I… said. I hope he rots… in…”

  Her head rolled to the side. I reached out and felt for a pulse. It was faint, but it didn’t last long. She was dead in ten seconds. I took a deep breath and said, to no one in particular, “What a bizarre ending to a bizarre story.”

  “And the next story is just beginning,” Rosie said.

  “What story is that?” asked Gabriel.

  She pulled the tape recorder out of her pocket. “We now know who killed Sam Giancana.”

  “Would her confession be enough?”

  “Probably not,” I said. “But it will make Joey’s life hell for a while.”

  Rosie called back in and told dispatch not to hurry on the ambulance.

  Help had been staged just up the block and a few minutes later the place was full of cops and medics.

  “You okay, Spencer?” Rosie asked.

  “Sure. Just hot.” Part of that was adrenaline, and part was the bulletproof vest that Jamie hadn’t felt under my bulky coat.

  “After we get this wrapped up, we’ll probably have to spend an hour with the lieutenant. Then I’m buying dinner, just you and me,” said Rosie.

  “Sounds good. But why don’t you invite Gabriel?”

  “What?”

  I smiled and put my arm around her. “I’m thinking the three of us should spend some time together so I can see that I’m not as big a jerk as I think I am.”

  “I’ll pretend I understand that.”

  “Good luck. And I’d like to invite Ben. He’ll want the story.”

  “Sure. We’ll make it a party.”

  “I’ll bring the hats.” Before we ventured back out into the world I took off the vest and handed it to Rosie. “Glad we didn’t need this.”

  “Me too.”

  As the Mustang warmed a bit I called Carol. I liked listening to the way she answered the phone. It still sounded good—“Spencer Manning, private detective.”

  “Hi, beautiful. Anything you need me for?”

  “Not a thing. Anything you need me for?”

  “Everything. But for the moment, call the gang off. We’re done. Tell them to figure their time through the rest of the week and stop in for their checks.” I gave her the short version, ending with me still being here to talk to her, and told her I’d give her the long version tomorrow.

  Chapter 28

  We spent two hours with the lieutenant. The state’s attorney’s office was already talking about the confession.

  Ben was waiting for us at McGoon’s. I found him in the bar. I told Rosie and Gabe to get a table, and we’d be there in a minute. Ben was talking with Jack as the televisions over the bar ran the story of the shooting in the warehouse.

  “Hey, Spencer,” said Jack.

  “Jack.” I slapped Ben on the back.

  “Looks like you have one less admirer,” said Jack. “Strange.”

  “More strange than you’ll ever know. Those kinds of admirers I can do without.”

  He laughed. “I always thought you could use all you could get.”

  “Nice. Ben, let’s take our business somewhere else.”

  “Don’t piss off the king, Jack,” Ben said. He put a ten on the bar, and we headed for the dining room where Jane was chatting with Rosie.

  Rosie introduced Ben to Gabriel as a retired state’s attorney. I was anxious to get his input on Joey’s new predicament. Ben listened through my telling of the story, accompanied by great food. Ben and I had bangers and mash, and Rosie had shepherd’s pie. When Gabe ordered the vegetarian Irish stew Ben gave him a sideways look. I laughed and shook my head. Irish brown bread topped things off nicely. Gabe was nursing a Harp while the rest of us were on our second Guinness.

  As I soaked up the juice on my plate with the bread, I asked Ben for his opinion on Jamie’s confession and what would happen to Joey.

  He shrugged. “The confession is pretty worthless. He said she said. Unless Joey breaks down in tears and confesses, he just has to live with the fact that everybody knows.”

  “Not that he’s going to care about that as long as he stays out of jail. The only thing he’ll care about is that he doesn’t have a bodyguard. And he’ll blame all this on Marty.”

  Gabe, who hadn’t said anything up until now, set his glass down and said, “The good thing is, we have a bunch of dead criminals.”

  “Except for Mr. Glunner who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” I said.

  Jane convinced us to order dessert. It didn’t take much.

  “There are some answers we’ll never get,” said Ben. When no one responded, he continued. “Like how did Jamie know where Glunner was, and how did she get him in front of that window when she happened to be set up in the room?”

  “Maybe she kept a journal,” said Gabe.

  “I doubt it,” I said. “If she was willing to kill the people who knew anything about this, she sure wouldn’t write anything down. But I’ve thought about that. She was taking a chance on all of it. And if it didn’t work out, she’d find another way.”

  “Probably a leak somewhere on the force,” Gabe said.

  “Probably not,” said Rosie.

  “Then how else?”

  “That’s what I mean by chance,” I said. “I’m thinking she told Glunner to find a way to call her once he was placed. If he couldn’t call she’d plan something else. Glunner took advantage of a Reynolds pee break.” I took a long drink. “And the other was even more chancy. She had to have a vantage point to set up with a phone. She would have told Glunner to keep in touch when he could, and when she had the apartment she gave him that phone number. We know the second call was to the apartment across the street. She got lucky on so many counts. But if that didn’t work she would have done something else.”

  “Revenge,” said Rosie, as she finished the last bite of pie. “It consumed her, and look where it got her. She spent all of her happy teen years plotting revenge. She’s dead, and Joey will be just fine.”

  “And she took two other people with her,” I said.

  “Yup, it’s a dead end path with no other solution.”

  “Well, there is one other,” I said.

  “And what’s that?” she asked.

  “Forgiveness.” I raised my glass. They all followed.

  Chapter 29

  The sun rose Wednesday in a cloudless sky, but the bright sun didn’t help my mood. I wasn’t looking forward to the day, which would start with a meeting with Joey. I didn’t want to see the smug look on his face. I was tired of him. But I mostly wasn’t looking forward to the afternoon appointment with Mr. Gillery. Ralph was bringing Spot at two, so Billy would have some time before Gillery arrived.

  ***

  I parked in the restaurant lot at ten and walked across the street. As I opened the door I glanced up at Jamie’s window. The curtain didn’t move.

  Mike pointed at the door without taking his eyes off the Tribune, and Marty let me in. Joey was on his throne with a drink in his hand. I was right about the smug look.

  “Well, Manning, looks like you earned your money after all.”

  “I always do, Joey. But I’m not always happy about it.”

  “You’re not happy I’m not behind bars?”

  A part of me wasn’t. “I’m not happy so many had to die along the way. There’s four people, starting with your buddy Giancana.”

  “Momo? What do you care about him? We could spend hours telling you about the people he had killed. And that crazy broad…” He glared at Marty. “Imagine making up that story and going to all this trouble to frame me.”

  “If it is a story,” I said.

  “What are you talkin’ about? Who are you working for?”

  “I’m not working for anybody at the moment. And we’ll
never know if her story is true or not, luckily for you.” I paused and stared right at him. “But I figure it is true. I figure you were just carrying out orders. And I figure you weren’t happy about it, and it’s been eating at you ever since.”

  “That’s a lot of figuring, Manning. If I did do it, what makes you think I’d care?”

  “You gave up your gun.”

  He just stared at me.

  “And there’s Mr. Glunner. He had nothing to do with this except he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Yeah, well the cops talked to me and my lawyer for hours. They got nuthin’ and they know it. Read the papers, Manning. People getting shot every day in this city who had nuthin’ to do with nuthin’. It’s a disgrace. Somebody oughta do somethin’.”

  I agreed and said goodbye. I was glad to get out of there. Mike didn’t look up from the paper, and Jimmy didn’t look up from drying glasses.

  ***

  When I got to the office I chatted with Carol for a few minutes, threw a few darts, settled into my chair, and called Stosh. The evidence team had only found one thing of any interest in Jamie’s apartment. Inside the back of the Uncle Sam hanging was a photo of Sam Giancana with his arm around Joey.

  After finishing my notes on the case, I gave them to Carol who started at the typewriter while I went to the deli for sandwiches.

  Always punctual, Ralph arrived at two with Spot, who ran to Carol with his tail wagging and then sniffed at the bed that was in front of her desk. After enough sniffing, he circled a couple of times and lay down. I invited Ralph to stay, but he had a date with a pool cue. He gave Carol his time sheet and his phone, and she wrote him a check.

  Billy arrived a little after three with a big smile on his face when he saw Spot. Carol had explained the situation and given Billy the choice. He wanted to see him, even knowing he’d probably have to say goodbye.

  When Gillery arrived a few minutes before four, Billy and Spot were playing catch with a rawhide bone. Both boy and dog were happy. Gillery introduced himself and bent to pet the dog. Billy didn’t take his arm from around Spot’s neck.

  I led Gillery to my office and closed the door.

  “Looks like you’ve made a home for Spot, Mr. Manning.”