While the firemen were getting control of the fire, the police were asking questions in the crowd, trying to find out if anyone knew either of the guys on the boats. We could see people pointing at Smitty. The cops made their way over to him and started asking questions.
“That your boat?” one of the cops asked.
“How’s the guy they dragged out?” Smitty asked
“We’re not sure. The firemen told us he was severely burned and he’s on his way to the hospital. I guess you know the other guy died?”
“Yeah, from over here it looked like he was dead when they hauled him out.”
“What can you tell us about the two guys?”
“Not much. The guy on my boat’s a new member of the Devils. I’ve never really met him. I don’t even know his name. If you can find Gus or in this crowd, I think he knows the guy’s name and stuff.”
“You don’t know him but he was sleeping on your boat?” the cop asked in a clear tone of disbelief.
“Yup. I’m staying at my house right now, usually I sleep aboard. I thought it’d be a good idea having someone on the boat for security. They tell me this young guy volunteered as a lark. Damn it – why would someone blow up my boat?”
“Didn’t you have a fire on the boat a week or so ago, Mr. Smith?” It was the first time I’d heard him called Mr. Smith. The cops were suddenly being very formal.
And wasn’t there a murder here a few days ago? And now your boat’s blown up. I find that very suspicious. Why don’t you tell me why someone would blow up your boat?”
Smitty kept his calm. “I wish I knew. Maybe the kid had some enemies?”
I could see that Smitty didn’t want that fire or the murder to be linked with this explosion. He wanted to avoid saying anything that would suggest our war with Carpenter.
“What about the fire last week?”
“That was probably because someone was careless with the heater or the stove. That’s a problem when you let amateurs stay on the boat overnight. We were able to get it out ourselves okay.”
“You didn’t report it for insurance?”
“You kidding? D’ya have any idea how much it costs to insure these old boats?”
“What about the other guy in the other boat?”
“Gosh, I’ve known him for over fifteen years. He’s had a boat here for at least that long. But he’s only had his boat next to mine for the last six months or so. When I say I’ve known him, I can’t really say Iknow him. His name is, was, Art, I don’t even know his last name. I know he’s divorced and has a son around L.A. someplace. You can check with the dock master’s office. They’ll have all that information for you. Poor guy. He loved his boat even though he hardly ever sailed it. Just worked and slept on it.”
The cop finally seemed satisfied with Smitty’s information and left.
As soon as the cops left, Gus came over.
“What the hell happened? You think Carpenter again?”
“Who else? But how’d they know about my boat, and why blow it up?”
I said, “Smitty, you’re too darn well known. Lots of people know you were arrested on the murder night and lots of people know you live on your boat. Anybody could find that out real easy. It’s pretty obvious to me that the dead kid was supposed to be you.”
Gus said, “we gotta start taking this guy seriously.” Just then we were interrupted by Smitty’s old nemesis, Sergeant Horning. He was positively gloating.
“Soon as I heard it was your boat, I knew you’d be involved somehow,” Horning sneered. “Then when I heard it was a bombing, I was doubly sure. I can’t wait to get the forensics and pin this one on you. An insurance scam, right?”
“You idiot,” Smitty said diplomatically. “I was five miles away when this happened and besides, it’s one of my guys that was in the boat. From what your cop told me, it was a bomb all right. But as usual, Horning, you got it all wrong. The boats not insured so you can take that theory and shove it.” Then Smitty went face to face with Horning and said, “Now get the hell off my back!”
Horning’s face turned a mottled shade of red. “You S.O.B. You’re in something up to your neck, and I’m gonna have the pleasure of turning the key on you before I’m done” And with that he walked away.
“Good riddance,” Smitty glowered. “I want to find out what really happened.”
Smitty found one of the firemen and asked him what his take on it was. When the fireman found out that Smitty was one of the owners, he opened up a bit.
“Your boat? That was definitely an explosion. Some sort of an explosive device, though we’ll have to wait for the marshals to get here for that to be definitive. But the other boat – that was really odd. No explosion, but it was definitely a set fire. There was a strong smell of booze, much more than if someone had just been drinking. Off the record, I think that guy saw something he wasn’t supposed to see and was clubbed to death. Then they used the booze was used as an accelerant to make a quick fire. They wanted to make it look like an accident and destroy the evidence, but we got the fire out so quickly it didn’t work.”
“What caused all the black smoke?”
“Real strange. The guy must have been using regular asphalt roofing tiles on the cabin top, didn’t you ever notice?”
“Musta’ been recent. I don’t remember anything like that.”
Smitty told me to stay at the docks and see what was left of theJezebel. He thought that maybe, after everyone had left, maybe I could get near her. Josie said she’d stay with me so I’d have a ride.
As he was leaving, Smitty turned back to us.
“I have to go to the hospital. God, I hope that kid is okay.”
CHAPTER 55
Josie and I grabbed a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant nearby and got back to the boat as soon as we could. The cops were gone, but two firemen were still there. One of them knew who Josie was and was willing to let us see the boat up close, and even volunteered what they’d found so far.
“We’re positive it was some sort of an incendiary device,” he told us. “The stove’s propane and propane floats if there’s a leak. We always suspect a gas explosion if it’s a gas stove, but that’s not the case here. All signs point to a fairly powerful explosive originating just inside the cabin. In a way, it’s lucky it was placed where it was. If it had been placed on the floorboards or in the bilge the boat would be sitting on the bottom right now.”
I walked all around what was left of the boat. I could see both sides and her bow, but couldn’t see her stern. The more I looked at her, the more I agreed with the fireman. Maybe Smitty’s luck had turned for the better, for a change. The explosion had mostly gone upward, destroying almost everything above deck. But the hull was largely undamaged, and it didn’t appear to be taking on any water. There was a lot of water in the cabin from the fire hoses but it wasn’t increasing.
I turned to Josie. “I don’t know if she can be salvaged and rebuilt, but we need to get her out of the water and on the hard pretty damn quick.”
The fireman overheard me and told me they were through with it. The fire marshals had been there, taken lots of pictures and released the boat.
I turned back to Josie. “Why don’t you call your dad and tell him what I think,” I suggested. “Maybe he can arrange to get her out today.”
Josie shared the phone with me so I could hear Smitty’s side of the conversation. He was relieved to hear that theJezebel wasn’t completely destroyed, and said he’d get on it as soon as he got off the phone. “There’s a lot going on today, Josie,” he went on. “I need you two up here as soon as you can make it. See if you can hire one of the other guys on the dock to keep an eye on her. The last thing I need now is looters.”
I’d been dreading Smitty blowing his stack all morning. He loved his boat. It had to have been a crushing blow to have it blown up like this. I asked Josie why he seemed so calm about this.
“Probably because there were so many people around. The firemen, the police, the crowds.
Dad’s pretty good at concealing his emotions,” she explained.
Back at the house, it was bedlam. The guys were really pissed off. They couldn’t understand the violence that Carpenter’d unleashed. They were all sure it was Carpenter again, and were all for immediate and harsh retribution.
All of a sudden guns appeared. Everyone there was just about ready to jump on his bike and head to Carpenter’s house, guns and all. All hell was about to break loose. Smitty’s boat was sacrosanct. It was the last straw.
Gus walked in. His timing couldn’t have been better. Quickly taking in the state of things, he got to work defusing the situation. Once he got them simmered down several degrees, he said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Smitty’s got a plan – Smitty always has a plan,” he reminded them. “And we gotta wait till he gets back from the hospital. A short time later, thank goodness, Smitty did get back
Ignoring the gang he backed Josie and me into a corner and whispered, “Get the hell out of this thing.”
Josie said, “What?”
“It’s getting too dangerous. You should both go home and let us handle this thing by ourselves from now on.”
“What does that mean,” Josie demanded to know. “You planning on doing something drastic to Carpenter?”
“Doesn’t matter – you’ll be out of it.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Josie said, standing her ground. Suddenly I could see a lot of Smitty in her. “And I’m not going let you forget your promise to Mom. And Casey’s not going to either!”
That was news to me.
Smitty stood there, silent for a space, then finally, reluctantly, agreed to let us stay.
Gus joined us, put arm around Smitty’s shoulder and said, “Smitty, I’m proud of you. You handled that asshole Horning like a pro. gotta tell ya, I was worried about your reaction to the boat burning,” Gus said, shaking his head.
Josie wanted to know about the boy in the boat.
“He’s in intensive care. Massive burns over a large part of his body and a broken leg. The only thing the doc would say was that he was holding his own. Apparently he’d been sleeping in just his shorts when the explosion occurred, which was too bad. If he’d had clothes on, he probably wouldn’t have been burned so badly. Part of the cabin caved in on him and broke his leg.”
Gus suggested we brainstorm where we stood so far. “Case, earlier you said you had a couple of new ideas.
“Yeah, I was thinking the chief’s apparently going to meet with his friend at the FBI fairly soon.”
Gus nodded. “Yeah?”
“Okay. Think about some of the papers we found in Carpenter’s house. The stuff about being a pedophile. An underage girl. Interstate travel. Evidence he’d been blackmailing pedophiles. That means he knew of pedophiles and had concealed the knowledge. The FBI and the public would eat it up.
Maybe the chief could get Carpenter arrested and labeled as a child molester. Think that’d be humiliating enough for Smitty?”
Gus said, “He’ll love it.”
CHAPTER 56
Our plan had already been partly agreed to by the chief. He’d been willing to approach the FBI with a vague sort of “what if” scenario. We needed to convince him that he should tell the FBI everything, including his malfeasance. He’d have to take his chances that the Bureau would overlook his lapse of judgment.
The chief had struck me as being sincere about resigning, but I figured he’d grab at the chance to clear his record without having to resign. Problem was, could he figure out a way to tell the FBI what he knew about the murders, kidnapping, arson plus blackmailing? Everything he knew to date was from us and was, as he kept reminding us, tainted. ‘Including the old hidden information about concealing a pedophiliac record.
“We need to find a way for the chief to know about all of Carpenter’s crimes but leave us out of it,” I summed up.
“Didn’t Dad go to him as a private citizen and ask him if he knew he had a blackmailer in his city and ask for help?” Josie asked.
“Yeah, he did.”
“Wouldn’t it be logical for the chief to start an investigation, based on that citizen complaint?”
“Josie, that’s it! He could start an investigation today. Using what we already know, he could get his own facts in a day or so. We need to go see him, right now.”
“You’ve talked to him the most and you told him you’d be back with more ideas,” Gus said. “You should call him and get an appointment to see him as soon as possible. Tell him Smitty suggested it.”
The chief was more than agreeable. He said the first appointment he’d been able to arrange with his friend at the FBI was for early next week, but he could see us today. I told him we were on our way.
Gus drove and Josie and I sat in the back seat. I tried to put my thoughts in order. He didn’t help my thinking much when he said, “I’m sure glad you’re gonna be talking to the chief, I wouldn’t be comfortable doing it.”
I was more than a little worried about Gus putting the whole load on my shoulders. Josie glanced at me, gave me a big smile and patted me on the knee.
“Dad would probably never admit it, but he admires you and your ideas. He told me ‘Casey’s been a lotta help. Direct quote”
“Did he really?”
“Well, not exactly a direct quote. What he actually said was, ‘that little son of a bitch has some pretty good ideas, don’t he.’
I felt like Daniel entering the Lions’ den, real nervous. I had to convince the chief that it would be legal and logical to investigate Carpenter. Then we had to figure out a way to make what we’d found usable. Then the chief had to get that to his friend at the FBI and convince him. Then his friend had to convince his superiors. On top of that, I wasn’t totally sure that the Chief wouldn’t yet simply decide to resign.
CHAPTER 57
At the station, Chief O’Meara was outside, waiting for us. He told Gus that Smitty had called and told him why we were coming to see him.
“We’re going to a restaurant nearby,” he said. “I’ve arranged for a private room so we can have an uninterrupted lunch and talk this whole thing out.”
We quickly agreed to his suggestion. Actually, the way he put it plus the fact that he’d already made reservations really left no room for discussion anyway. I asked if he’d like to ride with us. He suggested that we go with him in his official car.
Around in back, the chief led us to a brand new Buick with no police markings.
“The city council wants me to use the city car as my personal vehicle,” he explained.
“That way when I’m off duty, I’m still on duty. Inside, it’s got everything our marked cars have. On the outside it’s just a plain sedan, except for the antenna” I could see a portable red light and a siren attachment fixed to the dash. A little more ominous was a strapped-in shotgun next to the passenger seat.
He suggested that Gus sit in the front. I bet he figured that since Gus was the eldest, he’d be doing most of the talking. Wait until he finds out the young whippersnapper in the rear seat will be carrying the brunt of the conversation.
On the way to the restaurant we took turns bringing the chief up to date on everything that’d happened in the last two days. He hadn’t heard about the explosion and fire.
“What makes you so sure Carpenter was behind it?” he wanted to know.
“Several things, Chief O’Meara,” I answered.
“Enough with the Chief O’Meara,” he said, still talking directly to Gus. “Let’s just make it Chief!” Even my family calls me that.”
“Casey, you better answer the chief’s questions. After all, most of this plan is your idea.” Gus replied.
From the back seat I listed our reasons.
“One. The kidnapping, the attack on the house, all these things started happening since we got hold of his papers.
“And two, things like this don’t happen to the Devils. There’s no rival gang stuff going on. It has to have been someone from out of town. Someo
ne who doesn’t understand the reputation the gang has.
“Okay. The restaurant’s just ahead, we’ll talk inside.”
Looking ahead I could see the restaurant, a conspicuous tile-roofed, two-story building, painted a bright red, white, and green. As we pulled up to the front door, it swung open and a middle-aged man with an apron around his waist came over and opened the chief’s door. He looked Italian to me. Wonder where he got the name Jerry?
“Hey, Chief!” he said cheerfully. “Your room’s ready and waiting.”
The chief led us upstairs to a cozy private dining room set up set up for four. As we seated ourselves he said, “One thing I want to get straight right now.”
Now what, I wondered.
“I’m paying for the lunch,” he said solemnly. No one argued. It certainly was easy for me to agree. I hardly ever argue with a police chief. Besides I didn’t have much money.
He continued. “I took the liberty of ordering the lunch special for everyone. It’s one of Jerry’s specialties. If you like Italian food, you’ll be more than satisfied.”
Before we could settle down to talk, Jerry came up to see if everything was satisfactory. We assured him it was. As he was leaving, he paused at the door for a moment, looking a little nonplussed.
“What, no wine on your table? Italian food without wine? I’ll send some up.”
And with that he closed the door and was gone.
As soon as he was gone the chief split his gaze between the three of us and said, “Okay. What’s so terribly important?”
I took the bull by the horns, cleared my throat and tried to marshal my thoughts. Inside I was a mass of jelly, telling a police chief what we wanted him to do.
“Smitty and I think what we’re proposing is entirely in your best interest.”
“I hope so. So what is it?”
Brusque, but he seemed interested.
“Okay, first question, Chief,” I said. “Were you really serious the other day when you said that you were considering quitting because of the blackmailing issue?”
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