Last Thuggie Book III: You Will Pay (3)

by Jamal Shakur

  “I spent thousands of dollars in renovations to this place, show me what you’re talking about,” she said as she stepped from behind the counter.

  “As you can see Miss, if you closely look there’s the problem.”

  She stepped forward and looked intensely at the wall and tried to see what he had seen but couldn’t and that was the last time she would investigate anything. He whipped out a long clothe with a knot tied in the middle and wrapped it around her neck and began to strangle the life out of her.

  He positioned the body in a missionary position placing the arms folded in front and set a get well card alongside the body; something maybe for Lomax to ponder, it didn’t mean anything but it would no doubt give him a sleepless night. This was fascinating stuff he said to himself, the whole scene reinvigorated him. It was the excitement that he longed for and to share it with others was something that he was not looking forward to.

  I was enjoying the lack of the crazy’s committing unspeakable acts when low and behold I received the call of the relenting bad news carrier, my phone. “Hey Lucky I’m at the Dew drop inn. There’s been another killing and it’s doozy,” said my medical assistant.

  The tea house / coffee shop had existed in Rittenhouse Square since the 60’s; it was a known hippie haunt. We rushed there with sirens blasting and rushed to the scene, I was the first senior detective to arrive on the scene. The body was placed in a position that was quite different from the other killings and curious placement of a good well card left alongside and very near the vic. The card had the usual treble about getting well but it wasn’t signed and didn’t seem to have anything to do with the killing now. He was trying to keep up the illusion of the previous murders that was committed nationally and internationally, I guess he was trying to give his actions some kind of unity of madness. The movement of the body and placement thereof exemplified the actions of a different killer, for one thing the missionary position and the hands folded in the front show the feeling of sorrow and empathy from the perp for committing the act but the setting of the card was an attempt to utilize Feng Shui . Omar overheard my explanation to detective Miles and exhibited a skeptical look on his face. I explained my reasoning , “ The original use of Feng Shui was as a compass some three thousand years ago before the event of the magnetic compass but it was also used for the location of burial sites in the grave yard and that’s what I think I perp is doing.” I went on further to say, “However, I believe the whole thing is meaningless, it is a ploy to keep us searching while he continues to do his thing.”

  Sinclair was home laughing to himself at the keystone cop state he had left the police in. Chinese mysticism, body locations; this was all in his plan to confuse and the only one probably to recognize the whole thing was Lomax. He had acquired Lomax cell number which was easy in this techno world, every bits of info was up in the air to easily grab, he rung the phone for about five rings and it was finally picked up, Lomax answered “hello” with a deep low tone to his voice. “Hi, Lucky, you know what, it was Sun Tzu who once said, "The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent," said Sinclair with a loud roar.

  “So that’s what you’re trying to do to me confuse me by using abstract philosophy that doesn’t have anything to do with the case.”

  “Yeah, and I plan to keep doing it also.”

  Lomax looked surprised and with anger said to one of his police cohorts, “Did you get the trace; he talked for a long time that should be enough to trace the call.”

  “The trace failed he had used ping and had us tracing him as far as China and Paris.”

  Ch 33

  It was a new dynamic to this whole affair I reflect, just by the new voice that was on the phone and to make some kind of sense of this I had the voice analyzed against the other voices of the killer. It was obviously a different voice. That could mean this last guy speaking could be the leader of the killing crew that’s been involved with all the recent murders. If it was any example of the new signature killings than it would be a new murder that would be performed most likely and the probable destination would be in some type of eating establishment a coffee emporium of some sort, the possibility of a private home was slim only if we were to pressure them to go underground. But that’s the chance that we would have to take, I had to inform the public of the unsubs and give them a profile of the killer or killers in our mist, if I didn’t I could be accused being incompetent.

  It was an unusually warm day and we decided to give the profile to media on the steps of the police station, this method hadn’t been done in a long while, and it was usually given inside. I was at the podium with, detectives Omar and Miles. I started off by saying that, “The murders that exist today are similar to the past homicides that I have informed you of but the new thing is that they are more of a group slaying and like before however we are asking that women who are in the prostitution profession to partner up and be careful, are there any questions?”

  Sara Cage was the first to throw up her hand; it might be politically incorrect to say but she didn’t have to perform that action because she was the most attractive reporter on the tube bar none and asked, “It seems that the homicide department has an inability to capture these murderers, have you given thought perhaps of calling in the FBI for help.”

  “You weren’t aware of it but it wasn’t our obligation to inform you of our investigative techniques, however the BAU has been involved in this case from the very beginning and I must say, I have been on similar cases such as this before in my twenty years in homicide and it’s not a new experience,” I answered her questions with a sort of disparagement in my voice which I hoped was not detected by her or the other reporters. My answers were partly true the Feds were only partially involved in our investigation but she didn’t have to know everything and that’s the truest part of my statement to the reporter. My phone began to ring as usual and before I could answer I signaled detective Omar to begin a trace on his phone, I had a feeling that it might be the unsub gloating over all the attention he was receiving. And sure enough it was, “My man Lucky, that was a very good profile of me and my staff but I wish you stop belittling my intelligence and until you tell the people that you are dealing with a genius I will kill more and multiples of more, is that a correct English statement, but who cares you get the message.”

  “The unsub loves it, the more attention he gets the more murders he will commit until he’s finally captured, it is a catch 22, profiles to the public increases his thirst for blood but sometimes other than luck we will catch him by this method,” I said, letting my voice trail off for a serious effect that I often did to let my men know how severe this whole affair is.

  Sinclair gathered his men and women to a conference to evaluate their strategies on dealing with the public and how to use murders as a political weapon which could manipulate those who adhere to his new religion, one that worships him, it shouldn’t be too difficult, all the new members seem like a bunch of misfits with mental problems, the women were mainly looking for a father figure to be a leader for them and the men were in this for blood lust. It was easy to direct them to the new religion which was basically Khali with a god head that included Sinclair. He used the bible verse John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends-The emphasis lies not on "friends," but on "laying down his life" for them; that is, "One can show no greater regard for those dear to him than to give his life for them, and this is the love ye shall find in Me."

  In a broader sense this was about self sacrifice and giving all to the cult, he made them memorize it and recite it as a mantra. It was a masterful plan people who were weak to the sentiments of the outside world, he would only have to snap his finger and they would kill at the drop of a hat. No one could control them or defeat them, it had been proven during WWII with the Japanese who followed the code of Bushido, they would lay down their lives for the emperor, and no one could really control o
r easily defeat a people who were adamant about giving their lives up for a cause. This would be their first test, he would send out his first squadron of men who were trained by his military leaders, they were former military men who he controlled. Squad X as he called them would be instrumental in doing the most damage than the individual killings that he had normally been known for.

  It was a normal spring day in Philly but isn’t this the time it seems that something horrendous would always happen when everyone is care free and happy. Squad X moved down the street scattered and wearing normal street clothing which was in contrast to the military fatigues normally worn, this was done so as not to draw attention. They were ten in their number. They enter the police precinct that Lomax worked and proceeded up the stairs to homicide where they went unnoticed, they had forged Identifications around their necks and looked like they were on some sort of official business.

  One man was stationed at the two exits of the floor, each was armed with a Glock 44, and the rest of the crew had grenades and Mac 10’s. The head of the group minister Kahlo was the first to announce; “I represent the New Found Order of Khalli, you are all about to leave this world and be reunited with the next.”

  I was sitting near him when the man made his crazy announcement. I slowly reached under my desk where I reached for the compact automatic shotgun with the pistol grip that I kept under my desk since the last terrorist incident that occurred there. I raised the weapon and began to fire at the leader , it had 12 shots and fast recoil , the first shot hit him dead center in the chest which blew a slight hole in his chest the impact of the blast caused his body to fly a foot in the air , the other men were surprised and traumatized , this was all I needed , I used their momentary shock to shoot the next four men without a response, the miniature shotgun with automatic precision did the job as I turned in a 360 degree movement and shot all the men in sight. Not only were the intruders astounded but my own men were stunned also. No one knew that I had this weapon but my men also responded in kind, it wasn’t hard to contain what number men who were left which at this time were only four, Omar took his Glock 44 and blasted one in the shoulder area and cold cocked the second one, Detective Miles pulls out her weapon which was a Glock 50 and much larger than anyone else’s weapon and shot the last two dead. All in all it was a good day, no jury trial, just street justice.

  Ch 34

  This whole scene was wearing me out but it didn’t destroy my morale, I was still up for anything that came my way. Killing these unsubs gave me a minute of pause but that’s all, I was ready for more. The bodies and blood were cleaned up from the office and everything was coming back to normal but some of us were kind of shaky. Omar was still his stalwart self , he looked over at me and said, “ Hey home boy there’s something on channel 6 news , I think it’s one of the leaders of the group . “

  A tall figure draped in a black hood and mask was at the podium on TV, he started his statements as if he were some type of statesmen or Politian and spoke, “I have delivered a message of blood and lust and the killing of both singles and multiples to my most favorite detective, Lomax and I have only three words to deliver ‘You will pay’.”

  I thought that was very unusual, it was like he was giving us a declaration of war but it wasn’t necessary after you have sent an armed squadron it wouldn’t be necessary to make such a statement. However, the whole affair wasn’t for me but for the attention of the public he has blossomed into an exhibitionist and soon I bet some or all of the killings would be intensely public instead of private as they normally have been. Sinclair wasn’t sentimental about losing men in this endeavor but the reduction of his manpower was something he worried about so he decided to return to the individual single units which would save manpower, military incursion was too costly a procedure at this time.

  I was sitting in my cubicle at homicide after a little work at the morgue , I decided to cut my hours in half and put all my attention and endeavor into the major case that was in front of me , I wish I could say that it was my decision but it was actually my captains direct order. It was then that it began again; we had received four calls from patrolmen that had a homicide on their hands at four different

  locations. I couldn’t go to all four so I went to the one nearest me which was on Chestnut Street and had the other three locations communicating by text and phone cameras. My murder scene was reminiscent of the past murder scenes but with a slight difference , this killing was quite public and bloody , the killer didn’t hide behind a mask or use an alley way as a subterfuge , he just simply walked up to a young woman at the counter and slashed her throat. It was amazing but all three photos that were delivered to me were the same type of murder and the same type of establishment which was a coffee shop as usual and four women with the same physical characteristics. It was obvious that the unsub was using a blitzkrieg in the hopes of thinning out the response to his crime but also to get as much attention to satisfy his new found exhibitionism which probably got him off sexually .

  We were back at the precinct comparing notes and Detective Miles bought up a good point, “I don’t have a lot to say but in each case all of the women again were prostitutes but they were killed out in the open.” As malicious as his crime was the unsub was a genius, I thought to myself, I couldn’t announce to the women of the night to partner up and take precaution if the unsub is killing them openly and as his new public personae has announced, he had opened up with his signature response to every killing he now has performed. There was a package on my desk, I opened the package up and surprise, surprise it was a DVD. I popped the DVD into the player and pushed play, the unsub was dressed in his all black attire as before from which he made a brief statement ,“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” That was brief but it says volumes about this maniac. The constant correspondence and direct communication with the homicide investigative team was something that killers often utilized, they desired with intense passion to be a part of the investigative process. But this person had added to his signature; he wanted everyone to know what he had done and the intelligence that went into performing the act. We were in luck; one of the witnesses at one of the murders recognized the unsub. I started off the interview with the witness by being very cordial, he was a heroin addict but he was functional addict, meaning that he held down a job to feed his habit which was one of the benefits of the drug, unlike crack we probably wouldn’t be able to get anything of importance from him. “So Mr. Koon, I see you are regular at the Splendor Coffee House, could you tell me what you seen while you were there and include the name of the perpetrator, “I said with authority. “I saw Crip who I know from cross-town on 12th Popular Street, he just walked up to the girl and with one thrust slashed her neck and she fell down with blood spurting out of her throat.”

  “This Crip do you know his real name.”

  “Yeah, I went to elementary school with him, his name is John Wallace.”

  I got out the mug book and let him look at the pictures of other criminals to identify the perpetrator to get a face on which we were looking for; not leaving that to chance, we ran his name through the computer and looked at DMV records and prison records also. We found his driving license and Mr. Koon also found his mug shot they matched. “All right ladies and gentlemen we have a match and an address, the unsub lives at 1219 Popular Street, lets mount up and get him,” I shouted at the top of my lungs loudly but also very calmly .

  Ch 35

  We headed to the area , the area has changed in the last ten years ; all the projects have been torn down along with the dilapidated row homes and replaced with low income town houses. We went in force to his residence; Swat, the FEDS and two police squad cars followed our one single vehicle. The lookylu’s were in force we had to maintain crowd control, I was the first one to approach the home and knocked on the front door, “This is the Philadelphia Police force, and I have a warrant for John Wallace open up please.” The door slowly opened and an e
lderly woman opens the door. “I haven’t seen that boy in weeks. “

  “Sorry ma’am but could you tell us where he is at this moment.”

  “Look officer you look like you have an honest face, if I tell you where he’s at , please don’t hurt my son.”

  “You can trust me ma’am.”

  “Alright, he’s normally around the corner at Sara’s Soul Food House.”

  Great I thought to myself, I decided to take a walk around the corner with Denise , to give an appearance as being a couple instead of the police, I wanted to take him down with as less problem as possible. Sure enough she was telling the truth; John Wallace was sitting in the back booth devouring ribs drenched in hot sauce. He didn’t even look up; we entered the restaurant. I motioned to Denise she slowly pulled out her weapon and then I raised mine. I pointed the Glock to his head and stated, “John Wallace don’t move; you’re under arrest.” He nearly choked on his delicious morsel that he was devouring, I could see in his face the meal was almost like his last meal before an execution which might be the case because he had committed murder. We put him in the interrogation room and hoped he wouldn’t lawyer up. I came in with a couple coffee’s and a soda to break the ice, “So what will you have coffee or soda, I put the cream and sugar on the side, help yourself.” This might have worked with the uninitiated but with a career criminal like this it would be useless , he knows all the tricks of the trade and has probably been interrogated a number of times. He smiled at me and didn’t reply, I had hoped he wasn’t about to ask for a lawyer and end the discussion but to my surprise he began to open up. “It’s your dime, what do you want.” He said as if he had the upper hand.