by Luke Murphy
“The evidence we took from the office last night.”
“What are you saying?”
“At least two bags are missing. I want to know what’s happened to them.”
“Dayton, are you accusing me?” The boss did not sound as angry as he should have.
“It’s a mighty big fuckin’ coincidence that bags of evidence with names of important people vanished overnight.”
“Get out of my office! I’ll find out what happened to your fuckin’ evidence.”
“You do that.”
Dale slammed his way out of the office and rushed to dump the bags out on his desk. Jimmy didn’t say a word.
He and Jimmy skimmed the contents of Pitt’s safe, but all the good stuff was gone. What was he going to do about whoever was messing with him from inside the department? He had no clue who it was.
He wanted to make some calls, do some complaining, but he knew his superiors would ignore him and he’d be wasting needed time that they didn’t have.
He reviewed the suspects.
Ace Sanders’ alibi was confirmed by the scared employees from his casino. The household staff confirmed that Linda Grant was at home at the time in question. Shawn Grant was also at his casino. But all three of them could have hired a killer.
The only suspect without an alibi was Calvin Watters and they couldn’t even find him to question.
“Anything?” Jimmy asked.
“No!” His voice was raised. “Sorry, Jimmy. I’m still too pissed to think straight right now. Just give me a few minutes to put my thoughts in order.”
He tried to forget about the missing evidence and corrupt cops. He jotted down assignments and grabbed the files on Pitt and the prostitute. As he opened the file, he heard his name called.
“Dale, conclusion on the tread marks. Perfect matches to Grant’s vehicle.”
“Thanks, Ian.”
Confirmed: smart killer. One set of tire tracks.
Dale got up and approached his team. “Neil, you and Tim interview Pitt’s family, because your natural sleaziness will win them over.”
The men grinned as Dale moved on.
“Amy, you and Smitty talk to Pitt’s employees and business associates.”
Dale moved to less experienced detectives.
“Lucas and Sanchez, you have the hookers. Actually, scratch that. Amy, you can get more out of the hookers than those fine young men.”
He threw a black leather book onto the desk.
He gave Lucas and Sanchez a new task. “That’s Pitt’s client list. Go through every name. Pay particular attention to those with outstanding debts. That’s potential motive. Maybe Pitt was killed by a friend, but it also could have been a client back for revenge for what Pitt had Watters do to collect.”
Before Dale turned to go, Lucas asked, “What about Sanders? Derek and I still haven’t talked to him.”
“Leave him. Jimmy and I will handle that.”
Dale went to his last team. “Charles, you and Eddy see if Pitt’s business was failing according to other bookies.”
Dale and Jimmy returned to the lead detective’s desk. Dale punched a number. “Stan, it’s Dale. Anything on Linda Grant yet?”
“No, nothing. She spent yesterday expressing her grief by shopping. You want us to shut down surveillance?”
“No, I still don’t trust her. Watch her around the clock for at least today. I’ll call Harper and Elliot and have them replace you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dale hung up.
Jimmy looked at his partner. “What about Sanders? We gonna go see him?”
“Not just yet.”
“Dale,” someone called out.
He turned and saw Craig, the youngest officer in the department.
“Since her first call to Sanders after your departure, nothing else has been recovered on Linda Grant’s taps. What else can I do?”
Dale liked his initiative. “Okay…” He reached into his desk drawer. “Here’s the search warrant for Calvin Watters’ apartment. Secure the area and wait inside for us to arrive for the full search. Be very careful, Craig. This guy could have already killed three people. Call for backup if you see him.”
The young man grabbed the paper and hurried away.
Dale and Jimmy shared a laugh as they watched the excited officer exit the building.
Another folder was then thrown onto Dale’s desk. Tommy had been up late going over the phone records.
“Doug Grant’s only long-distance calls were to Atlantic City casinos and his daughter in Boston. Locally, he only made a few calls home, to Shawn’s house and his ex-wife. Ace Sanders and Linda Grant call each other all the time,” Tommy said.
Dale had been sure they had a thing going and maybe a plan too.
“Another interesting thing,” Tommy said. “That number you highlighted and wanted me to check into from Sanders’ phone? I tracked the out-of-state calls to a public phone booth in a remote area down by the docks in New Orleans.”
Dale blinked. “New Orleans? Why would Sanders be calling New Orleans?”
The officer shrugged.
Jimmy had a clueless expression.
“Tommy, call the New Orleans Police Department and see if they’ll dust the booth and see if they can place surveillance on it. Don’t expect much.”
After Tommy left, Dale shook his head and glanced at Jimmy. “We don’t have the manpower to deal with this.”
Book Three: Circumstantial Evidence
Chapter 23
Mike Armstrong arrived at Calvin’s hideout almost on time. He’d meant to be there at nine, but he decided overnight to outdo himself with the best system he’d ever assembled.
Calvin watched out the window as Mike circled the neighborhood four times before coming in—caution on the edge of paranoia and overkill that might bring notice instead of safety. Not now, but Mike needed a talking-to. “Did you get everything?”
“Not a problem. You are getting all the extras.”
With the aid of a ramp and a trolley, they rolled in a backup generator and a backup for the backup. Calvin did most of the heavy lifting. Mike assured him that the generator was not loud and would not attract attention to the house. It was only for emergencies.
Once they had all of the equipment inside, Mike disappeared up the stairs for a couple of minutes and then returned. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
He set up monitors and cameras for every inch of the two-story house and motion detectors with camera feeds to multiple viewing screens.
No system had value unless used expertly, so Mike briefed him on how to take out any threat before it became serious. At least that was the plan.
They’d arrived at the bank later than they’d hoped, but Dale hadn’t anticipated that there’d be so much to do at the station first. He had obtained the legal authorization from the sergeant through a circuit of phone calls and Jimmy had already called his wife to confirm with her manager. With the key found at Grant’s office, Dale and Jimmy entered the Sun West Bank at 5830 West Flamingo Road.
Tina met Dale and Jimmy just inside the door. “The manager said you can go ahead in.”
“Thanks, Tina.”
Dale had to act before lawyers or the Feds would demand access to Grant’s safety deposit box and whatever it contained. He prayed that Linda didn’t know anything about the box.
He followed Tina into the back room, gave her the key and waited. He didn’t have access to a number or password, so Tina looked it up on the computer, brought the box back and set it on the table.
“If you need anything, let me know.” She winked and left the room.
When the key slid in the lock, Dale’s heart began to race. He lifted the lid and peeked inside at a stack of black-and-white eight-by-ten-inch photographs. He picked them out and spread the pictures across the oak conference table. The photos were professional and showed Sanders and Linda doing what could only be referred to as the “nasty.”
Busted!
As stupid as attempting to grab both things was, he could see why Sanders wanted Grant dead so that he could have both the girl and the casino. Then he remembered the financial motives. With Grant dead, Linda would get much more money than she would as an ex-wife. Unfortunately motive wasn’t proof.
The photos alone did not tie them directly to the killing. But now that he knew all the players a bit better, he could not be sure who was really playing whom. Did Linda fool Grant and Sanders? Did Sanders fool Linda?
The detective put all the photos inside his coat pocket, closed the empty box and left.
Ace got to his office after working the casino floors for hours. He was delayed by a bimbo he’d had sex with in a variety of interesting locations in the club. She seemed to need a little flattery to calm her down—every once in a while a girl threatened to sue him before he had one of his beefy security people talk to them in clear terms.
“Excuse me, Mr. Sanders?” The pretty redhead’s voice quavered and the glasses on the tray she held clinked.
“Yes,” he said, in no mood to talk with this dimwit.
“I just thought you should know.” She glanced around the casino.
“What is it…” he looked at her name tag, “Samantha.”
“The police were in here yesterday asking about you.”
“Really?” Now she had his attention. “What kind of questions?”
“They said they were conducting an investigation on the Doug Grant murder.”
He relaxed. “Thank you, Samantha. Don’t worry, the police questions are routine procedure because Doug Grant was a local casino owner. I’ll look into it further.”
“I can’t lose this job, Mr. Sanders.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry, nothing will happen. I promise.”
He double-timed it to his office. He couldn’t help being a little disturbed. Maybe the cops were not quite as stupid as he assumed.
He was sure that the police must have done the same questioning at his other casino. What bothered him more than the questions was that he’d heard nothing about the cop visit from the Midas and Golden Horseshoe staff. Overpaid idiots! Heads were going to roll! Maybe the redhead wasn’t just a good lay. Maybe she had half a brain too.
He brushed past his secretary. “Hold my calls, Sylvia.”
The more he thought about it, the madder he got. He had been buying off cops since he was a teenager. What had gotten into them now?
The truth was that he had anticipated such questioning, but he didn’t like it and would have stopped the police at both casinos if he’d known. Now, it was time for damage control.
Rather than using his secretary, he dialed a number and a calm female voice answered.
“Mayor Casey’s office.”
“Yes, I would like to speak with Mayor Casey, please. Tell Paul that it’s Ace.”
“One moment, Mr. Sanders, while I put you on hold.”
The mayor came on the line without making him wait for more than a minute.
“Ace, it’s been a long time.”
“Hi, Paul. Yes, it has. Too long.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I need a favor.”
“Shoot.”
“Yesterday, the police interrogated all the employees at both the Golden Horseshoe and the Midas. I was away chairing a meeting with the board of directors and none of my miserable executives told me when the cops came in. I just found out this morning. The cops and their questions are making my people think that maybe I’m a murderer and it’s shaken them up. It’s an outrage and abuse of police authority.”
“I’m sorry, Ace. I had no idea. Why would they suspect you, anyway?”
“Oh, it’s no deep secret that I did not like Grant and wanted to buy the Greek. Listen, I know you’re a very busy man, but this hurts my business. It’s a public humiliation.”
“I understand,” the mayor said. “I’ll call the chief of police and make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
“Thank you, mayor.”
Ace felt calmer. But what if a gung-ho cop didn’t know when to quit the investigation?
Chapter 24
The detectives hadn’t sat down before the sergeant hollered at them.
“Dayton! Get in here now!”
Dale hustled in.
“Shut the door and sit down.”
The sergeant sat on the edge of his desk. Dale could smell his coffee and cigarette breath from two feet away. His eyes were red, as though he’d gotten no sleep.
Dale opened his mouth but the sergeant put out his arm. “Don’t speak! Just sit there and listen.”
Dale sat still. He hadn’t grabbed a spit cup and had to swallow the tobacco juice, which was not going to sit well with his stomach.
“Guess who I just got off the phone with?” The boss asked with a sarcastic sneer. “I just had a one-on-one with the lieutenant. He just got off the phone with our dear mayor, not a personal call either. It seems that some members of our department, your team, Dayton, were harassing Ace Sanders’ employees yesterday.”
“Sir—”
“I’m not finished. You know how much money Sanders contributes to the mayor’s campaign? Does that take detective work?”
“No, sir, it doesn’t. I told you yesterday that we’d be investigating all the casino owners and what we had on Sanders. I told my team to be particularly courteous when questioning Sanders’ employees at the Golden Horseshoe and the Midas and I’m confident they were. I hope you have that same confidence in them because you assigned them to me.”
The sergeant opened and closed his mouth, then picked up his already-lit cigarette and smoked in silence for a few moments.
“Dayton.” The sergeant sat back. He pressed his hands together in a triangular position and brought them close to his face. “I’m going to say this one time. You are to leave Sanders alone. Do you understand the phrase ‘leave alone’? If I hear about surveillance, indirect questioning, or a whisper in the squad room, you are done. Get that?”
“Yes, sir. But I found something under warrant.”
“What? Where?”
“Jimmy has them.” Dale opened the sergeant’s door, yelled for Jimmy and signaled him to bring the photos.
Dale and Jimmy watched in silence as the sergeant went through the photos one by one, his face reddening by the second. “Jesus H. Christ. What a fuckin’ mess,” he finally said. “This case is going to kill me. Does anyone else know about these photos?”
“Not yet, sir,” Dale said.
“Well, keep it that way for now until I figure out what to do. And Dayton, if this case blows up, I am not the one who will get caught. You’re on a very short leash.”
Dale and Jimmy weren’t surprised that Sanders had used the mayor to take the heat off nor that he had moved so quickly. But he was bound to have made a mistake somewhere.
Dale took some small comfort in knowing that at least all of Sanders’ employees had been questioned without direct interference from Sanders himself. Ace was smart enough to know that Dale and his team would still be watching him, even from a distance.
“What do we do now?” Jimmy asked.
“Now,” Dale said, leaning back in his chair. “We have to get around Sanders and get around our bosses too.”
He went down the team list.
“Has anyone heard from Craig?”
He got a head shake from everyone in the room, even though Craig was late in reporting in. Even Jimmy shrugged.
Dale dialed Craig and got his voicemail. He shot out the door with Jimmy.
They reached Watters’ apartment and saw no signs of forced entry.
Dale picked the door lock, careful not to make any noise or alert anyone who might be inside. He unholstered his weapon and popped his head inside. He searched the room and saw nothing.
“Kid?” He called out.
The detectives went in and started a room-by-room check. They found the officer stuffed into the closet.
He knelt next to the body, trembling, as Jimmy confirmed that the rest of the apartment was empty. Tears blurred his vision. Craig’s skull had been half blown away.
This was the fourth time he’d had to kneel beside a dead body in a little over twenty-four hours. Four murders in a day and a half, and now there was either a new killer, or the same killer had completely changed his M.O.
Oh, goddamnit!
Jimmy came back and knelt beside Dale. “Rooms are cleared. No sign of anyone.”
“Okay. Call it in, Jimmy.” The bitterness and anger in Dale’s voice was obvious.
Jimmy grabbed his phone and made his man-down report. He looked at the bloody corpse.
Dale knew every murder investigation was given top priority, but a cop-killer made a police force go crazy.
“Good God, Calvin Watters, what have you done?” Jimmy said.
“We don’t know Watters did this,” Dale said quietly. “Sure, it’s his apartment, but it’s the last place I’d expect him to return to. We don’t even know if he’s still in Vegas. Do you think he would kill a cop here? That’s the only reason I sent Craig. I thought there’d be no risk at all and he would feel important, but not get into any trouble.” He stopped and closed his eyes. “I was wrong. I fucked up.”
“Bullshit! It’s not your fault, Dale.” Jimmy put his hand on Dale’s shoulder.
Dale stood up and angrily shook Jimmy’s hand away. “Of course it is! It was too dangerous. I should have known that.”
“Dale, you gave Craig direct orders to use extreme caution and not make a move without backup. I heard you say it.”
“I know I did, Jimmy, but come on, we both know Craig. He was looking for advancement and making his own bust would be the move to put him over the edge. That kid had never even drawn his gun in the line of duty before. He wasn’t prepared.”
“That’s not your call. We need to refocus while the trail is still hot. So, if Calvin Watters didn’t do this, then who did?”
Dale nodded. “You’re right, sorry. All I know is that we have four murders and no forensics or leads.”
Jimmy continued. “We know the killer’s strong enough to control victims with one arm and slash their throats with the other.”
