“So, you think you’ve about cracked this thing. Does that mean you won’t need my help any more?”
“I don’t know about any more, and I’m not making any promises, but I’m feeling good about this, even though all I’m holding right now is a pair of deuces.
“There is one other thing I need right now. Look up in your records and give me the name and phone number of whoever owns that duplex Tom Johnson lives in.”
I wasn’t going to ask Sam where he kept his information. Then we’d get into a discussion about how Lou and I should step out of the dark ages and get a computer. A few seconds later, he gave me the information I needed, including an address, if I needed to go there.
“Well, good luck, Cy. I’ll get busy on this. Where will you be?”
“I’ll probably have to get back to you, Sam. I’ve got to grab some lunch and then get to a house here in town to see what we can find.”
“Never too busy to eat, huh, Cy?”
“A man has to live. Later, Sam.”
I called Margie Burton, the woman who owned the duplex, found her at home, explained who I was, and what I needed. I arranged to meet her there at 2:30. She was willing to let us in, as long as I could prove that I worked for the police department.
I hung up with only one thing left to do. I ran downstairs to get a print crew lined up for the afternoon. Things were in place. Our operation had begun. It was time to grab something to eat and try to end the investigation.
Chapter Thirty
We pulled Lightning behind a large dark-colored sedan, the kind of car old people drive. I rechecked my shirt for stains, cut the ignition, and stepped from the car. As we did so, a short, stout, elderly woman stepped from the car in front of us.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t show the duplex today. It’s not for rent, anyway.”
“I assume you’re Mrs. Burton.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m Lt. Dekker with the Hilldale Police Department. I talked to you earlier.”
“What’s the matter, Lieutenant? Your real car break down?”
“I beg your pardon. This is my real car.”
I was about to whip out my credentials when the lab boys pulled up.
I waved at them, then waved my credentials at a woman who thought I should drive a tank, just like the rest of the department. She seemed satisfied, but I wondered how much of her satisfaction had to do with my credentials, and how much had to do with the other men who joined us, none of whom were in uniform.
“If you don’t mind, Lieutenant, I’m going to let you in, then leave. I have another appointment. I’ll show you how to lock up.”
I was surprised. I’d already suspected Mrs. Burton as a woman who would stand with her nose as closely to our work as possible. I’d misjudged her, just as she’d misjudged me.
“That’ll be fine, Mrs. Burton. I’m not sure how long this’ll take. I won’t know until we get inside.”
Once inside, I wondered why we were there. Johnson had removed just about everything from the duplex. I could tell Mrs. Burton was surprised.
“Has Mr. Johnson given his notice, Mrs. Burton?”
“No, as a matter of fact, he’s paid through next month.”
She shook her head and left. I waited until she did and then told the lab crew what we wanted. What we wanted was anything that would help us learn more about Johnson, but we wanted prints more than anything.
Lou and I wandered around, touching nothing. As if there was anything to touch.
“Kept an immaculate house, wouldn’t you say, Lou?”
“Impeccable.”
A quick sweep through the four-room duplex told me there wasn’t enough stuff to have a garage sale. I doubted if we could sweep up enough dust to make someone sneeze. Even an empty house gathers dust. At least that’s what I had always heard.
Lou and I decided to wait in the car until the lab boys finished. There were two slices of pie left.
If either neighbor was home he, next door, and she, on the other side of the duplex, were keeping out of sight. I remembered that the woman said she worked long hours, but Mr. Simons, in the house next door, always seemed to be home. I checked the driveway. His car was gone. At least we’d been able to find him when we needed him.
Some time later, after a thorough going over inside, three men emerged. One motioned to me. Lou and I stepped from the car. We’d already removed any evidence of pie from the premises, including our premises.
“Find anything?”
“Not much. It seems like this joker didn’t want us to. We found two prints and three partials that he missed. That’s all. Still, that should be enough to identify your bird.”
“Thanks. We’ll check in later.”
+++
We were closer to Lou’s place than mine. We went inside. I called Sam.
“Just got off the phone, Cy. I should have what you want by in the morning. How’d it go where you were?”
“Ran into a cleaning freak. Even did his best to clean his own prints.”
“Rather thoughtful of him.”
“Yeah, but not thoughtful enough. He missed a couple of places.”
“Well, that’s best for all of us. Leaves the place clean, yet leaves us what we need.”
“Yeah, everything except who he really is. I hope we’re able to know real soon. Say, Sam, would you happen to know if we have any prints on file for Tom Johnson?”
“We have something on file for a couple of Tom Johnson’s, but I’m not sure if either is your Tom Johnson. Is that the guy whose prints you lifted?”
“It is. Maybe we’ll have prints on file for three Tom Johnsons.”
I hung up from talking to Sam, wondered what to do next. It was a little early to eat supper, yet there wasn’t enough time for a nap.
+++
Lou and I went over the case, discussed our suspects, and tried to see if we’d forgotten anything we needed to do before bringing the case to a close. Of course, much of that depended upon things falling into place the way I thought they would. I wondered if I was losing my mind. Many said I already had. If so, this was another move that would add to the evidence.
On the surface it seemed ridiculous to proceed in the manner I proposed, without any idea who our murderer was. But in another way, under the circumstances, it seemed like the best way to proceed. Maybe we’d know more when we found out something about the fingerprints, but I doubted if that alone would lead us to our murderer. My guess was that the prints in the duplex, and those in Olive Grove, New York City, and California wouldn’t be prints we’d have on file, prints of a convicted felon, or a fugitive from justice. Still, in my way of thinking, the more we knew, the less we still had to find out.
We hadn’t set a time yet to round up the unusual suspects. We didn’t want to rush things. Our mass roundup might seem like overkill, but something told me it was the best way to proceed.
Lou knew me like a book, and he knew never to interrupt me when I was deep in thought. I mulled over the case and the steps I planned to take. When I’d convinced myself that more thought would add nothing, I turned to Lou.
“Well, did you have time to read a book while I was gathering my thoughts?”
“Is that what you were doing, Cy? Why did it take you so long? Word around the department is that you don’t have to travel far to gather your thoughts.”
“I know, Lou. Jealousy is a terrible thing. One of thee days, I’ll retire for sure, and four people can replace me.”
“What about me?”
“Oh, we can find someone to replace you, too.”
“Very funny. Haven’t you heard about us strong silent types?”
“Funny, I’ve never known you to be strong or silent. You hide both well.”
+++
I deposited Lou in front of his apartment building, watched him waddle up to his front door and headed for home. I thought of hanging around and watching him do his exercises, but I was in too much of a hurry to get home. There
were no dogs waiting for me when I arrived. No witches, vultures, or vermin anywhere in sight. Maybe I was about to embark on a weekend I’d remember for some time.
I put on my slippers, leaned back in my recliner, and cuddled up with Henrie O. Well, not in the physical sense. As far as I could tell, Henrie O. had a few years on me. If I were going to step out, I’d do so with a woman so young and beautiful that it’d make the other guys in the department jealous. If only I could find someone young, beautiful, and stupid. I smiled as I remembered things some friends had told me, but refrained from looking up Blondes Dating Service in the phone book, nor did I check any local sorority.
Chapter Thirty-One
I woke Friday morning a new man. Okay, so I awoke, and upon further examination, I found out I was the same middle-aged man I’d been for the past couple of months or so. Still, it sounds good to say I awoke a new man. The middle-aged man I’d become stumbled from the bed, arrived at the bathroom without stubbing any toes, and turned to face the mirror. I looked at the man I saw in the mirror. Not the fairest of them all, but at least the fairest for two houses, even when one of the houses contained an out-of-town guest. As I stood there, I considered plastic surgery. Not for myself, but for my next-door neighbor. Considering that plastic surgery does nothing to hide a personality, I decided to hook her up with the Witness Relocation Program instead. I kicked myself for not owning a computer. People have told me that you can find anything on a computer. My choices for my neighbor were a leper colony and an island inhabited by cannibals. I felt the second was a better choice. I had nothing against lepers, and once the cannibals recovered from the indigestion my next-door neighbor might cause them, they’d either move on and look for their next meal, or become vegetarians. When Heloise Humphert was a child, I imagine that her parents had dreams for her, dreams that would land her picture on the side of a milk carton. I, on the other hand, would proudly display a picture of my neighbor in a large boiling pot with nearly naked men wearing make-up and carrying bones as they danced around.
I shook my head to rid it of thoughts about my neighbor. I didn’t want God to punish me by letting all my suspects leave town.
It was a big day for me. It was time to get on with it. I took off my clothes, stepped into the shower, and did the best imitation I could of Niagara Falls running over a barrel. Okay, you can only do so much on a small budget. Still, I thought I was remarkable as the barrel. As for the part my shower played of Niagara Falls, I decided to cut back on production costs, in case there is a drought later this year.
I refrained from drying myself doggie style, and used a towel, instead of shaking myself into traction. I brushed my teeth, dressed, studied what God wanted me to know that day that Lou was not going to share with me, and ambled over to the phone. Just before I got to the heavy black instrument, it rang.
“So, which one of you riffraff is calling me so early?
“Oh, hi, Chief. I thought it was someone else.”
The chief and I spent a couple of minutes with our heads together, so to speak, and arrived at a time of 3:00, when we’d assemble the troops at the station and make plans for Operation Shakedown, or Dekker Prevails. Since time was limited, I didn’t share the possible names of my project with the Chief. Otherwise, I might’ve been a part of Operation Shakeup, as in the Chief throwing a party to introduce everyone to the new head of homicide. Before we hung up the Chief informed me that he was already on the job, at the station. I told him I was going over my plans for the day. I refrained from sharing with him that so far my plans were breakfast, lunch, and supper.
I hung up the phone, breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to pick up the obtrusive instrument, when it rang again.
“Yes, Chief. Forget something?”
“Cy, that Chief thing is okay in public, but when it’s just the two of us it’s okay to call me Sam.”
I knew it was never too early in the day for Sam to enjoy a good laugh, so I let him know how I answered the phone on the previous call. I was right. It wasn’t too early.
“So, Cy, who should I call instead?”
“Instead of what?”
“I mean, who’s your replacement. I’ve got the info on those fingerprints.”
“Very funny. I merely lost the use of the Chief’s condo in the Azores.”
“The who?”
“The Azores. It’s a group of islands.”
“I know that, but do you have any idea where they are?”
“Of course. They’re like any other group of islands. They’re out in the middle of the water. But enough of this diatribe, what did you call to tell me?”
“I just wanted to let you know that Bauerman is Bauerman is Bauerman.”
“Is that another way of saying that the fingerprints in all three locales match?”
“It is.”
“Thank you, my servant. I was sure that they would.”
“Then why did you have me go to all that trouble of making sure?”
“One, you needed something to do. Two, it always helps if you know rather than perceive.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to perceive, Cy. It might be dangerous.”
My stomach growled and I put an end to such an enlightening conversation.
+++
I was getting cocky, but I didn’t want Lou to know, so I asked him the clue of the day.
“Kind Hearts and Coronets.”
“Do what?”
“Kind Hearts and Coronets.”
I lost my cockiness. I had no idea what my partner was talking about. Maybe we’d solve the case anyway.
+++
Lou and I figured that time would pass more quickly if we occupied our minds. So, after breakfast, I dropped Lou at his place, returned to mine, and finished reading my first Henrie O. mystery. Unlike some of the other authors where I liked one series much better than the other, I enjoyed both of Carolyn Hart’s series. Well, at least I enjoyed the first book in each series and hoped to get to the second book in each series soon.
It was almost lunch time by the time I finished reading. I called Lou, and he too had finished reading Dead Man’s Island. Over lunch, the two of us would discuss the book we just completed and contemplate what book to read next. Why hadn’t we discovered reading mysteries earlier in life? Both of us found it so much fun to solve a case without working up a sweat. Although we found that solving murders in print are much easier on the constitution than solving them in real life, although Lou and I had stumbled from a perfect record in print.
+++
Since our minds were on food, I called Antonio’s to order food for everyone in the department who would be working that night. Lou and I would pick it up and distribute it to each officer at his or her post. After taking care of that, I called the Blue Moon to see if they would provide breakfast for everyone the next day. After Rosie realized I was serious, she checked with the cook and both agreed to come in early to prepare a feast for our suspects, witnesses, and officers. Lou and I didn’t want to go without food, and we didn’t expect others to do so either. With all of that taken care of, I drove the two of us to the station to prepare for bringing the case to a conclusion.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Word had filtered throughout the department that Lou and I were working to solve a murder case where a friend of ours was the victim. Few of the men knew the Colonel, even remotely, but most of them knew us, and wanted to help in any way they could. It wasn’t mandatory that everyone participate, but our good friend Lt. George Michaelson had rounded up a good number of men to help us. Even Frank Harris, the medical examiner, agreed to help unless he had an autopsy to perform.
We allowed a few minutes for late arrivals, and then at 3:05, I stood up to deliver the state of the union address.
“First of all, let me say that Lou and I appreciate your help. With the Chief’s blessing, we’re proceeding with this case in a way I think will help bring it to a conclusion. I’ll be honest with you. I’ve no idea who our m
urderer is, but I believe it’s one of the people you’ll be rounding up.”
“So, you’ve been working on this case for a while, and you don’t have any idea who did it. I thought you said there’s something different about this case.”
The group roared and tension was relieved.
“Ladies and gentleman, we have now heard from our friend George Michaelson, the perfect example that if you hang around long enough, you will be promoted to Lieutenant. And finally, at age eighty-two George received his promotion.”
Again the group laughed. While laughter was necessary, the men and women who joined us that day didn’t come to be entertained. So, I returned to the business at hand.
“Let me share with you what we need for you to do. We are gathering all the suspects, no matter how unlikely the possibility that they murdered Col. Hardesty. Altogether, there are eleven of them. This will not be the highlight of some of these people’s day. Some of them may even get ugly about coming and being a part of a lineup. A lineup. We all know that there’s no reason to have a lineup without someone to point out the guilty party, and that a lot of police departments have dispensed lineups altogether. But I feel that a lineup is the best way to bring this case to its conclusion. So, in addition to our suspects, we are inviting three witnesses to join our party. Believe it or not, I think our witnesses will be as reluctant to attend as some of our suspects. The reluctance of these individuals is where you come in. I believe that some of these people will want to stay away so much that they might try to flee. We plan to deliver our invitations this evening, but we will not require their attendance until tomorrow morning. Therefore, we need two to three officers to watch each house overnight. One residence houses five of our suspects, and one of our witnesses lives next door, so we will not need two or three officers for each witness or suspect. Five officers should be sufficient for those two adjacent houses. One other residence houses two suspects. If you’re posted at a residence, under no circumstances are you to allow anyone to leave that residence. We believe that our murderer is a master of disguises. Man or woman, young or old, all are required to remain inside. That might create a handicap at one residence, because all who live there are college students, and this is Friday night. You will not be required to keep everyone in the building at home, just everyone who lives in that apartment. We will post one officer at the front door of the apartment, and another under the window. Under no circumstances are you to leave your post at any time before another officer replaces you.
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