Waves of Murder

by J B Raphael

  Novak walked into the Precinct Captain’s office and asked if he could go to London to ‘nab’ the murdering ass-hole, Jon Weston, and told him that he had enough evidence to convict, the DNA match, the Jewish diamond dealer and the CCTV footage. “Okay, okay, but you go tourist, NYPD is almost broke, and no eating at those fancy London hotels. Do they have McDonalds over there?” he said. They laughed.

  “It’s okay, I love burgers!” Novak replied. But it wouldn’t be that easy, he would only be able to get Weston charged and taken into custody by the British Police, pending extradition.

  Terminal 2 at JFK wasn’t too busy when Lt Novak walked up to the check-in desk at British Airways. He showed his NYPD badge and said, “Is there any chance of a free upgrade, I’m 6’2” tall and need a little extra leg-room, please?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” the young British girl said, “if there is, I’ll call your name over the public address to collect a new boarding card,” she said.

  “Thanks very much,” he said. He sat in the departure lounge reading the ‘New Yorker’ magazine, looking up he saw BA 1008 to Heathrow - now boarding. Then he suddenly heard ‘Will Martin Novak please come to the British Airways departure desk’ the public address called. “There you are Lt Novak, your new boarding card, seat 6C BA World Travellers,” she said.

  “Gee thanks,” he said, “thank you, if ever you get a parking ticket, let me know and I’ll fix it!” he laughed.

  “I’ll hold you to that!” she said, laughing. He loved her accent and thought he would hear a lot more of it. He’d never been to England before, and was looking forward to the sights of London, if he had time.

  Nabbing Weston was the main reason for him being here, the airport bus took him to Victoria Coach Station. He silently blessed the BA girl for his comfortable flight. Walking towards Buckingham Palace, according to the free street map he’d picked up at the bus station, he noticed a traditional English hotel ‘The Reubens’ almost next door to the Palace. He entered, walking under the US stars and stripes flag above the door, “Hi, I’d like a single room for a few days,” he said to the receptionist.

  “Could you be more precise please, sir?” she asked. He passed his platinum Bank of America card, which the receptionist put through a machine, then handed it back to him with a registration card. “That’ll be £520, including breakfast,” she said, “but it will not be charged until you ckeck out, I hope you enjoy your stay in London, sir,” she added.

  “Thank you,” he said, as he passed back the registration card.

  His wheeled case was taken to the lift by a young hall porter who smiled, and said, “Good morning, sir.”

  “Hi, how you doing?” Novak replied. His single room was spacious with a double bed, mmm he thought, could do some entertaining! Then laughed, not on my expenses! Looking out of the window to the street below, he took in the sight of the Palace wall, the black cabs and the double-decker red buses. So this is London, he thought, nothing like New York, it’s quieter, and he was only on the fourth floor. Was it some sort of omen that he was directly above the stars and stripes flag? Mmm, he thought.

  With just two days to go, Jon was getting fidgety about Anna, tonight would have to be her time, but it would have to be in the middle of the night, about 3am. But how would he get his hands on the gems? He could take Katti back to her suite at about midnight, and then go to the casino, Anna was bound to be there.

  Katti’s phone rang, “Hi, it’s Jon,” he said, “how are you?”

  “Oh, not bad,” she replied, “Jon, I hope you don’t mind, but today I want to be on my own, perhaps we could meet for dinner?”

  “Yes, that would be nice, I’ll call for you at 7 o’clock,” he answered.

  “Thank you babushka,” she said, and hung up.

  He didn’t know what ‘babushka’ meant, but it sounded nice, he was glad that she wasn’t going to die. She would feel like death when she woke up to find that her diamonds had gone!

  “I need to win some money, I feel lucky tonight,” he told Katti after dinner, as they walked around the prom deck.

  “I have money,” she said.

  “It’s very kind of you babushka, but I have to get my own,” he said. Katti laughed at his use of the word. “What’s wrong? did I say a bad word?” he asked.

  “No, no, it’s a good word, it means ‘darling’ in Russian,” she explained.

  “Good,” he said, and kissed her soft cheek as he looked at her necklace, thinking ‘you’ll be mine soon’. As planned, he said goodnight to Katti at about midnight, then went to the aft casino, Anna wasn’t there. So he went up a deck to the mid-ships casino, ah! he thought, there she is. No seats available, he said “Hello,” and stood behind her. She was wearing most of her finery, the necklace, the bracelet, the watch and the rings.

  Tapping her shoulder, she looked up, “Ello hensom Jon, vere hef you bin? Anna has bin lonely.”

  “I’ve been comforting Katti, she is feeling very bad after the death of her father,” he answered.

  “Hef you had sex with her?” she asked, almost in a whisper.

  “No,” he said, laughing, and for once in his life, telling the truth. He noticed that she had a nice big pile of high value chips in front of her, plus a pile of big bill dollars. Wow! he thought, tonight’s going to be a big one. The chair next to her became vacant, and he sat down. Her hand went between his legs and she stroked his genitals, she smiled at him and winked, oh yes! he thought, tonight is the night! At 1.30am the casino thinned out, they were almost the only ones left. Anna gathered her chips and cash just before the croupier said ‘ Thank you ladies and gentlemen, the casino is now closing.’ She collected $10,000 at the cashier window and promptly stuffed it into Jon’s jacket pocket, “I can’t take this,” he protested.

  “You are not takin’ eet, you vill earn it!” she laughed loudly. They arrived at her stateroom, and she immediately went into the bathroom, “Five minoots,” she said, “pour a drink, I’ll have a big wodka plis, no ices.” Jon sat on the ottoman-style settee, suddenly it was deja vu, she stood in the doorway completely naked, apart from all the diamonds. Oh, he thought, she is making this so easy! “Vot do you think hensom? do you like Anna like dis?”

  Helen Smithson had done the exact same thing, “You are very beautiful,” he said.

  “Am I as beautiful as Katti?” she asked.

  “Yes,” said Jon, “but different.”

  “Now,” she said, “you owe Anna $10,000 worth of fucking!” she almost demanded as she unzipped his flies. Her mouth soon found his manhood as he leaned against the wall, Russian women seemed to enjoy pleasing a man in this way, perhaps it was the Russian winters, they didn’t want to get undressed but they could still please their lovers and husbands. His climax was noisy as he let out a loud groan. Anna went into the bathroom. Through the night, until 4.30am, they made amazing love, Anna was completely spent and laid on her back, she soon fell into a deep vodka and sex aided sleep. He lay and thought what he had touched, only the bottle of vodka and the two glasses. He slid very carefully and quietly out of bed so as not to disturb Anna yet. He dressed quickly and stood over Anna as she slept. Then the black mist came down, as if he had suddenly been possessed. He pounced, his hands had seemed to take on a super strength and her windpipe was soon crushed. She emitted no sound, but her eyes bulged and her legs kicked and her arms thrashed, but soon she was dead and just lay there, motionless.

  Now to work, he said to himself, he wrapped her in the under-sheet which could contain traces of him. No, he thought, the whole lot goes overboard, the body, the bedding, the bottle and the glasses in a pillow case. At 20 second intervals each item was discarded over the balcony, the ship had speeded up and the body and the other items were soon gone, it was a very dark night, no moon so nothing would have been seen. He spent half an hour wiping where he may have touched, when satisfied he used a towel to turn the door handle and to wipe the ‘Do not disturb’ sign. Walking quickly back to his st
ateroom he saw nobody, which pleased him. He sat on the bed and started to shake violently, Jon Weston had returned from the devil’s clutch, he started to sob uncontrollably. Four people had died at his hands, four innocent people killed for their possessions. He sobbed for a good fifteen minutes. Drying his face, he poured himself a very large brandy, he emptied his pockets and spread the diamonds on the bed. They were fantastic, the sparkle was caught from every source of light and reflection in the room. Another large brandy helped him sleep, his calculation of his night’s haul was $250,000 including jewellery and cash.

  Novak had a good steak dinner in the hotel restaurant. The hotel had a Scottish theme, the decor was mainly tartan, and Scots battle pictures were in profusion around the walls. The ground floor bar had a military decor, he sat with a scotch and ice for about an hour and a half just people-watching and listening to their different dialects of English. He then decided to go for a twilight walk down to the Palace with his new digital camera. Wow! he thought, the Captain didn’t know what he was missing. The Palace was magnificent, it was beautifully lit and he took about 12 shots! The guards, the crowds, the police on the gold-tipped gates, and of course the huge statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Palace.

  After a ham and eggs breakfast he went to the reception desk and asked the young lady,” What’s the best way to get to New Scotland Yard?”

  “If you go around the corner to the left, into Victoria Street, then turn left again, it’s about a ten minute walk, it’s down on the left, you can’t miss it.”

  “It’s that close! gee thanks!” he said. Walking down Victoria St reminded him a little of 5th Avenue with the stores and shops, but he noted that the buses and cabs were all on the wrong side of the road! he laughed, crazy brits! He introduced himself to the reception officer at Scotland Yard (why is it called that when it’s in London, England?) crazy brits! he thought again. He showed his badge and ID, “I’m here to see Chief Inspector Lloyd,” he said.

  “Yes, sir, I’ll call his office . Hello sir, there is a Lt Novak from NYPD to see you, yes sir, I’ll tell him,” he said, “ the Inspector is on his way down,” he added. He was a very tall grey haired man, but old-school, old for a sargeant, Novak thought.

  “Hello Lt Novak, welcome to London,” Lloyd said, holding out his hand, Novak took it with a firm shake, he liked that. Lloyd was a shorter man than Novak, but broader than him, “C’mon up,” Lloyd said. His office was spacious and comfortable, with winged leather chairs, not like the plastic rubbish at the 30th Precinct he was used to. “Well, let’s see how far we’ve got with this Jonathan Weston. He’s currently on his way back from a Carribean cruise, according to his girl friend. I’ll put a man down at the gate quayside at Southampton to apprehend him when he disembarks. By then we will be down there to question him,” Lloyd announced.

  “Chief Inspector, that is music to my ears, I’ve got evidence here to nail that evil murdering bastard,” Novak blurted as he patted his brief-case.

  “Good,” Lloyd said, “we’ll get him back here as soon as possible.”

  Jon wrapped the diamonds in a towel and packed them carefully in one of his two large cases and marked it near the handle with a cross scratched deeply with a knife into the leather trim. Then he put it near the door, for a fast exit!

  Novak thought, twenty four hours and I’ll nail him, take him back to New York and send him up the river for life. He laid back on his bed and watched ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’, he thought it a good quiz show. He dozed off.

  The dinner was terrific in the hotel restaurant, salmon salad, with ice cream in three colours, to follow and a large French brandy and coffee to finish. Fabulous! he thought, and good sized portions. His phone woke him, “Hello Novak, C I Lloyd here. Weston’s ship docks at noon tomorrow, I’ll pick you up at your hotel at 8.30am, is that all right?”

  “Sure, Chief Inspector, as I said, music to my ears!” Novak replied.

  Jon had the task of dealing with Katti, one he didn’t relish, but then again he was only going to get her drunk and take her diamonds. She would be the only one to survive, and not go over the side of the ship ......... like Anna! “Hello Katti, it’s Jon,” he said, “dinner tonight, yes?” he asked.

  “Yes Jon, that will be very nice, thank you,” she said.

  “I’ll pick you up at 7 o’clock,” he replied, and hung up. “It’s our last night,” Jon said, “so we must make it special, champagne, dancing and possibly some special dessert!” he said, laughing as they walked towards the restaurant. After a sumptuous dinner which had started with champagne cocktails, Jon just took tiny sips of his to every full glass of Katti’s, they went to the night club and danced almost every dance. Jon had a bottle of Dom Perignon brought over to the table, earlier he had ground up six paracetamol and had the powder in a small poly bag in his pocket. A lethal cocktail with alcohol. He chose his moment when she went to powder her nose, and emptied the powder into her topped-up glass.

  She returned and laughing, said “I’m having a lot of fun tonight, thank you babushka, thank you!” She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth, then giggled.

  Good, Jon thought, the champagne is having its effect, she’ll be legless after the next drink, just right for me to lift those little beauties from her. He lifted his glass and said, “Cheers!” and made a big gesture of drinking the entire contents in one go, which was actually not very much.

  She followed suit, and finished the glass in a few seconds, then laughed nervously, “Am I a naughty girl?” she asked.

  “Yes, but it’s good to see you enjoying yourself and happy.” About ten minutes passed and she said she felt dizzy and she turned a very pale colour and suddenly slid down in her chair.

  A crew member came over and asked if he could help. “Yes,” he said, “just help me to get her back to her suite.” She was just about able to stand. “It’s quite a way to her suite,” Jon said.

  “Don’t worry, sir,” the well-built youngster said, “we’ll get her there, she doesn’t weigh much.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Jon said, as he fumbled in her clutch bag for her key card.

  “You’re welcome, sir,” said the helper, and walked smartly down the corridor.

  Jon laid her as gently as he could, on to the bed. He lifted her eye-lid, she’s gone he thought, for a long time! He started to remove her jewellery and wrapped them in a face flannel, putting it in his trouser pocket. For good measure, he mixed another cocktail with some whiskey spirit and another four paracetamol. Lifting her head, he said, “Drink this Katti, it’ll help you sleep for a long time.” She coughed and spluttered a little, but the lethal mix was swallowed and she just flopped back on the pillow. It was now 2.30am, the ship docked at 9am, he would pay his outstanding account as soon as he could, and be the first to disembark.

  Happily, the ship arrived half an hour early, the half hour could be useful, he thought. He made a joke about leaving early, saying that he would be late for work! “Thank you, sir, I’m afraid it’s a bit high, £2,035,” she said.

  “Okay, what’s that in US dollars?”

  She calculated it and said, “$3,050, at today’s exchange rates,” she said.

  “Thanks,” he said, and peeled off $3,100 and passed it across the desk, “keep the change,” he added as he walked away.

  “But sir, I’m not allowed to accept gratuities.”

  “That’s okay, I won’t tell anyone,” he laughed over his shoulder.

  A porter came up to him with a trolley, “Can I take the bags, sir?”

  “Er, yes, down to the gangway, please,” Jon replied, and followed, keeping his eye on the case with the ‘cross’. He was off the ship in ten minutes and had retrieved the Golf in twenty minutes. The M3 was easily accessed from the city and he was soon on his way. The Golf GTI was soon eating up the miles back to London. His bladder was somehow weak, it must be nerves, he thought. The matrix ahead announced ‘Services - one mile’, good he thought, I’m dying for a pee. He pul
led into the car park and ran into the main building, making straight for the gents. Ooh I needed that, he said to himself. On the way out he noticed a set of public phones, he felt in his pocket for some English coins, there were none. He also noticed a ‘Bureau de change’, “I need some pounds,” he said, passing $100 across the desk through the glass gap.

  “It’s $1.40 to the pound,” the girl said, “okay?”

  “Yes, that’s fine, and I also need change for a phone call.”

  “Yes,” she said, “is a pounds worth enough?” she asked.

  “No, can you make it two pounds, please?”

  “Yes, of course,” she replied.

  He collected his cash, thanked the girl and went to the phone. He dialled Vicky’s number, “Hello, 8822,” her voice said.

  “Vicky, it’s Jon.”

  “You keep away from here, you evil bastard, don’t come anywhere near me. Lorna’s told me everything, just keep away. The police are looking for you, I repeat, just get out of my life, forever,” she said with a sob in her voice. The phone went dead. Panic went through his body like a streak of lightening, he sat in the car and tried to think logically. After ten minutes, he began to think clearly, right, I’ll go back to London, keep away from the flat, get the Merc and go over to the Continent.

  Detective Constable Davison was caught in traffic just north of the dock area in Southampton. When he arrived, passengers were already disembarked and carrying luggae hither and yon. He pushed his way up the gangway, showed his ID and went straight to the reception desk, “I’m looking for Jonathan Weston,” he said.