This wasn’t something new to me. I wasn’t a rookie and I resented him talking down to me but I managed to hold it in.
“I’m quite aware of that Mr. District Attorney. I’ve been on the force for thirteen years now and I know how the system works. Let me ask you a question. Since you have been the DA, how many warrants have I asked for that have not produced ‘positive results’ as you put it? Let me answer that for you. Exactly one. One in thirteen years. I don’t think I waste much of the judge’s good faith,” I said.
I must have had my teeth clenched because Dan was squeezing my arm so hard it was starting to hurt.
“Alright Detective Bartoni. I’ll get your warrant but I want to be there when they dig up the yard.”
“That’s fine with me. Bring the whole office and we can have a picnic for all I care. You get the warrant, I’ll provide the entertainment.”
***
It was late by the time we got the warrant and headed to Milliken’s house. When we arrived there, we found a note taped to the front door telling ‘Angel’ to meet him at the Devonshire Restaurant.
“That’s pretty crass. Just leaving a note,” Dan said.
“No one said this guy was anything but a narcissist dolt. Why would any woman want to be treated that way? Come meet me if you want my company. You have to be a total dunderhead to fall for someone like him,” I replied.
“So, to the Devonshire?”
“Absolutely.”
***
The place was pretty full for a Tuesday night. We told the hostess that we were looking for Ed Milliken and we ended up having to talk to the manager. It seems the hostess didn’t know if she should violate his privacy. Finally, the manager agreed and led up back to a booth where Angel and Ed sat all cozy across from one another, holding hands.
“Hi Edward. You remember us,” I said sliding in the booth. Dan slid in next to Angel.
Milliken’s mouth was open but nothing was coming out.
“I see, I guess you weren’t expecting a double date tonight. Don’t worry we aren’t going to stay long. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that we have a warrant to dig up your backyard, specifically, the sidewalk. Don’t worry though, we are paying for it and if I’m wrong, the city will put a brand new one down, maybe even a brick one like your driveway,” I said.
I was having way too much fun. I could actually see beads of sweat start to break out on his upper lip.
“What? You don’t have anything to say?”
I turned to the woman, “Oh, you must be Angel. I’m Detective Bartoni and this good looking guy is my partner, Detective Roberts. Were you aware that he has been married three times and each time his wife has turned up missing? Do you have any money? Like a substantial amount?”
“I…I don’t understand. Money? Yes, I guess I have some. I got a million dollars and the house in Switzerland in my divorce settlement,” she stammered.
“Wow. This is the best catch yet, Edward. You are moving right up in the world. If you can land Angel, this would bring your wealth up to around five million. Well, look, we really do need to be going. Nice to meet you Angel. Let me give you one bit of advice. Prenuptial agreement,” I said sliding out of the booth.
I laid the warrant on the table.
“Tomorrow, 8:00 a.m,” I said and we walked off.
“You know he could run,” Dan said.
“No he can’t because we are going to make sure that he doesn’t.”
“Oh man. You didn’t mention anything about watching him all night,” Dan groaned.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
We spent the night in the patrol car. Dan grumbled about nothing to eat for the first two hours until I produced some cheese crackers, followed by two Snickers. At midnight I fed him a couple Three Musketeers. By two he was starving and I was out of food.
We had taken turns checking the back yard every hour to see if Ed was trying to dig up the body. Evidently he wasn’t too worried about it because he never once went outside.
Now I have to tell you, I was just a little disturbed by Milliken’s lack of concern. Dan must have picked up on this.
“You would think that he’d be trying to do something. Run, dig up the yard or anything but just going to bed.”
“Maybe he is resigned to the fact that we have him,” I replied.
“I sure hope that’s it. We are going to have a lot of egg on our face if they come up with nothing,” Dan said.
“Thank you for reminding me,” I snapped.
“Just saying.”
“You don’t have to. I know what it means.”
It seemed like days rather than hours before the sky started to turn pink. I looked at my watch. It was 5:34 a.m. and Dan was snoring. My stomach was in knots. I just wanted to get the show on the road. I opened the door and got out and stretched. The morning air was crisp and clean. Only a couple more hours and this would be over, one way or the other.
Dan finally joined me as I was leaning against the hood of the car.
“I’m starving here, Bartoni,” he whined.
“Take the car and go get something to eat. I’ll wait here.”
“You sure?’
“It’s better than listing to you bellyache. Go,” I said.
I thought he might just forget about it but instead he started the car and took off. I was somewhat taken aback. Then I remembered that it was Dan and his stomach.
When he came back he brought me donuts and a Diet Coke. I guess all was right with the world.
I checked my watch. 7:05 a.m. Only an hour more and we would find out.
***
Around ten minutes before eight o’clock everything started to happen. The captain showed up with the DA in tow. A backhoe arrived on a flatbed truck and several workmen started unloading it. Other workers arrived and pretty soon Milliken’s attorney showed up.
I gave him a copy of the warrant and he looked it over but didn’t say a word.
Milliken made a fuss when the backhoe drove up on his driveway and they had to remove a section of his fence. No one paid any attention to him. At a few minutes after eight, we were all standing and watching as the backhoe maneuvered into place.
I did a quick count and realized there were sixteen of us watching. Even James and Wadsworth were there. Boy, if I was wrong, I sure was going to look stupid. The backhoe extended its bucket and pulled the first slab over onto the ground. It took a few minutes to reposition and then remove the next section.
It went down the length of the sidewalk until all sections were overturned. Immediately after that, several workers with shovels started removing the layers of dirt under the concrete. I glanced over at Milliken and he had that same smirk I had seen before. That was not very encouraging.
They continued to dig the entire length of the sidewalk. They went down a foot at first and then two. By the time they got down to the third foot I was feeling pretty nauseated. I knew I had gambled and lost.
I turned and looked over at Milliken and he winked at me, put his hands around his throat and stuck his tongue out. I wanted to smack him into next week but that didn’t seem like the right thing to do.
“Bartoni?’ the DA said.
“I know. It doesn’t look good.”
“Do you want them to go down deeper?”
“I don’t think so. I doubt that he would bother going any deeper than he had to,” I said dejectedly.
“Maybe you should let them go one more foot,” the captain added.
“I honestly don’t think so. I was expecting to hit something in just a few inches.”
“You sure?’
“I’m sure.”
Milliken’s attorney came over and said, “You are going to pay for all of this damage and we are going to sue you. You can count on that.”
I didn’t bother to answer but something prompted me to go talk to James.
“Otis, when you took the sod out of here, did you take everything?”
“Sure. I sell
the sod or use it on another project.”
“I mean was there any dirt left over and did you haul that off as well?”
“Oh heck no. Mr. Milliken had me put it in his garden. That area over there,” he said pointing to a small garden at the back of the yard.
The garden. It was under a tree. Nothing was ever really going to grow there. I found Wadsworth and asked him the same question.
“I put it in that garden. It’s a might bigger now but that’s where I put it.”
I was rushing to find the captain when the DA stopped me.
“Bartoni, we are going to have to talk about this back at the office.”
“Wait. I know where they are.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake, I am not ripping out the man’s patio.”
“No, you don’t have to. They are there,” I said pointing.
He looked from the garden to me and back at the garden.
“Bartoni.”
“Peters, both the guys that did the work said they put all the extra dirt back in the garden. Look where it is located. In the corner. Hardly any sunlight gets to it and the tree covers most of it. No one would put a garden in a place like that.”
“Why not look?” the captain asked when he came up.
“Let me look at the warrant again,” the DA said.
I handed him a copy and he read it over. Finally he handed it back.
“Alright, but that’s as far as I am willing to go. The warrant covers the back yard and that falls within in the scope of the intent. Grab a couple of guys and have them see if there is anything there,” the DA said.
Three men started walking toward the garden with shovels. I looked over at Milliken. The smirk was gone and he was about two shades paler than he was just a few minutes ago. I put my hands around my throat and stuck my tongue out. I don’t think he saw the humor in it.
***
The three bodies were laid out side by side. Doc Sorenson was going over each one.
“Blunt force trauma?”
“Yep. All three of them. He bashed their noggins in.”
“Noggins? Is that a medical term?” I asked.
“I have to keep it simple for simpletons,” he replied.
I don’t know why I even try. It’s like a kid playing chess against a Grand Master. I’m pretty caustic but nothing like Doc Sorenson. I sure do love that old fart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Milliken was charged with four counts of first degree murder. When they tore his house apart, they found the missing cassette that Kimmi Coleman had kept. He had told her that he was glad to finally get rid of each of the bitches. They also found a body suit that had traces of blood from all four women. He never did divulge where he hid Kimmi’s missing body parts.
He also continued to profess his innocence, never once expressing any remorse for what he had done. He was held without bail until his trial. He hired two relatively famous attorneys from Chicago to represent him.
They tried to persuade the jury that anyone could have buried the women in the back yard after they had abducted and killed them. After all, no one saw him actually place the bodies in the garden. There was reasonable doubt that he had done it.
The DA ate them for lunch. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Edward Milliken guilty of the murders of Beverly, Janet, Melissa and Kimmi. Since the trial fell under the death sentence ruling, he would have an automatic appeal. He was going to cost the taxpayers a great deal of money.
I didn’t care. I felt like Dan and I had done our job. We had represented the murdered victims. Ex-detective Donner stood trial about the same time. He was found guilty of ten felonies, including the most serious of attempted murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced to thirty years. He lasted two days in prison before an inmate that he had put away for life, shanked him in the showers.
I was sad to hear that. I wanted him to rot in prison for the next thirty years, not get off the easy way.
Oh, by the way, I found a Girl Scout selling Thin Mints, bought six boxes and sent them to Mr. Wadsworth. I felt it was the least I could do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marshall W. Huffman began writing novels when he retired from teaching. He started with a trilogy based on a cataclysmic event. His first trilogy is THE EVENT SERIES and consists of THE END, THE BEGINNING, and THE REVELATION. Encouraged by THE EVENTS SERIES’ success, he decided to write a second trilogy that is a frightening look at the events that could lead to THE SECOND CIVIL WAR. It is made up of: Book I – A NATION DIVIDED, BOOK II – A NATION AT WAR, and BOOK III – A NATION HEALING.
Marshall was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and grew up in Indiana. After spending eight years in the Navy, he attended Ball State University, earning a B.S. degree in Business.During and after college, he was involved in the restaurant business and spent the next twenty-five years in all types of venues, eventually owing his own fine dining restaurant. After years of long hours, he decided on a career change and attended Eastern Illinois University earning a MBA. Because of his business background, Eastern Illinois University asked him to teach in the hospitality management program. He was recruited from Eastern to Parkland College and soon took over as the Program Director for the Hospitality Program. During his tenure there, he became a chef and had a local television show called Cooking around the World with Chef Marshall . He taught a series of Gourmet cooking classes for Continuing Education as well.
Professor Huffman retired from teaching along with his wife, Dr. Susan Huffman, to Tampa Bay Florida.
You can find his books under: MARSHALL HUFFMAN at Amazon.com.
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