“I don’t know, I guess you remove it.”
“Precisely, we spring the trap, then we catch him, we may only get one chance at this.”
“Why did you divide by four on each side and count each letter after four?”
“There were four members to his circle, Parrotta, Carmen Parnassus, the man in brown, and Jackson Addler, he’s the only one left.”
“What was their plan all along?”
“We could spend all day trying to reconstruct the motives of crazy men. The important part is that three of the four are now off the streets, he knows he’s the only one left now.”
“What are you not telling me?”
“His last statement, how do you interpret that?”
“The part about seeing double?”
“Yes, that part.”
“Could mean anything, he uses ‘we’ so he’s not working alone.”
“Yes, that is what concerns me. We will take a trip to New York, we will try to apprehend him quickly, turn him over to the authorities.”
“We nearly got killed bringing the man in brown down, you nearly burned alive in that cabin, I nearly got diced up by a family of cannibals, the kid nearly got beaten to death.”
“This is the job, Chester, being a detective you walk the edge of the blade.”
“I’ve never been to New York.”
“I’ve been there before, it’s a different animal.”
The doorbell rings, Marshall, grabs his gun from his holster, Chester gets his gun too, Marshall looks at him and nods, he walks towards the front door but on the side of the frame, Marshall listens for a moment, he can tell it’s a relatively small man, then he sees the cowboy hat. “It’s Princeton,” Marshall says.
Princeton walks in and sees Chester’s gun, he draws his instinctually and sees Marshall has his out too. “Who de hell was you boys expectin’?”
“You can never be too careful,” Marshall says.
“Strange days, huh?” Princeton says.
“How’d you find us?” Chester asks.
“Marshall gave me his card, genius. I was going to call but then I figured I might as nigh surprise ya. You two look like you just saw ghosts.”
“Just working on a case,” Marshall assures him, they all holster their guns.
“That accounts for the paranoia I reckon.”
“Yes, you could say that,” Marshall responds. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Sure, you got whiskey?”
“Of course I have whiskey.”
“I’ll take some whiskey, on the rocks if you don’t mind.” Marshall pours a glass of whiskey for Princeton and one for himself.
“Chester, what do you want to drink?” Marshall asks from the kitchen.
“I’ve still got coffee, I’m fine,” Chester responds.
“So’s ya miss me big guy?” Princeton asks.
“You ain’t been gone that long,” Chester responds. “Your ‘redneck cowboy can’t talk straight act’ kept me entertained though.”
“Why thank you, but you know I ain’t no redneck, I’m just a fun-lovin’ southern boy with a mean streak and eagle eyes.”
“I don’t think you got a mean bone in your body, kid.”
“So, what do we owe the pleasure of your presence to?” Marshall asks.
“I figured I’d head north to see you before I head south,” Princeton says.
“By south do you mean you’re headed back home or elsewhere?” Marshall asks.
“Elsewhere, Mexico to be precise.”
“What’s in Mexico?”
“It’s not so much the destination detective, it’s the path. You have yours and I have mine, mine is filled with loose women, liquor, and outlaws.”
“You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you want, granted we will be traveling shortly.”
“Where are the two of you headed?”
“New York City, I have unfinished business there.”
“Another serial killer, huh?”
“Yes, for some of us the struggle never ends.”
“Just make sure you don’t get killed yourself. You won’t have me to ride in and bail you out next time.” Chester rolls his eyes. “I’m just partially jokin’, you don’t need my help but I do have a purpose for being here, Ma would’ve insisted if I hadn’t planned on doing it anyway.”
“Doing what?”
“I told her the whole story about what happened and I realized something, the treasure may have been important but once we found it, I understood there are more important things, it’s not like you can take it with you.”
“If you’re thinking what I believe you are, don’t, you don’t owe us anything,” Marshall explains.
“I insist and you’ll take it, just consider it a finder’s fee, after all without you I wouldn’t have found it, I’d be sitting on land and that gold would still be sitting in that rock vault.”
“I have ethical problems with taking Confederate money,” Chester says.
“I’ve taken care of the family, I have a trustee overseeing the rest, if you two are morally opposed to it, then you’ll have to figure that out yourselves, but the check is already made out to you,” Princeton says.
“I wouldn’t feel right, I agree with Chester. You helped us and we helped you, that gold has blood on it.”
“All gold has blood on it, in some way, besides no one will know where it came from, Ma insists and I insist.”
“Look, you helped us and we helped you, that makes us even.”
“That man, Carmen, he burned down your office before you met me, this can help you rebuild it, bankroll your capture of the next whack job you’re going after as well. It makes me feel better to know that you’re out there and I would like to contribute to the cause.”
“You already have, I don’t need any money,” Marshall says.
“The check’s made out, the two of you decide whether to cash it or not, besides they was giving me ten percent as a finder’s fee, just look at it as, I can’t take a finder’s fee because I wouldn’t have found the treasure without you, if it’s easier to look at it that way then do it,” Princeton says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the check, he unfolds it and hands it to Marshall. Marshall doesn’t reach for it, he looks at Chester, Chester looks at Princeton.
“I’ve done terrible things for money before, I’ve just never helped a person and had the source of the money be an issue,” Chester says.
“You have presented us with an ethical quandary,” Marshall says.
“Good and bad are all relative, you know that better than most, you walk that line yourself, hunting down men like those, we all have our parts that we want to change, this is me doing something good for the man who helped me, for the man who is out there helping other people, even if they don’t know it.”
Marshall unfolds the check and looks at the amount, his eyes widen. “We can’t take this. Listen I appreciate what you’re trying to do but this is too much and we have no claim to it.”
“I’m giving you claim to it, now you’ve already taken it, whether you cash it or not, deposit it, that is up to you. Now my friend, we are truly even. I never got a chance to properly thank you, at least I didn’t remember properly doing it and now I have the chance to set it right, you have to respect a man for wantin’ to do that.”
“My reward is taking men like the man in brown out of the general population, I don’t expect or need this, I did well for myself in private practice but I’m the son of a cop, I come from a long line of cops, I’m not used to wealth nor do I put any importance on it,” Marshall explains.
“You’ve got outlaws on your mother’s side, that makes you split down the middle. Listen, what better way to save people than by using money acquired through the suffering of others, using that to do good in the world? This is a complicated world that we live in, I have now seen the face of evil and if that’s what you are facing on a consistent basis, I have the means to provide you with res
ources,” Princeton explains.
“I’m not sure what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just do me a favor and when you find this man you’re after, then come find me.”
“How will we know where you are other than you’ll be in Mexico?”
“You call me,” Princeton tells him, he shakes Marshall’s hand. He paces the room in his black suit, newly bought and tailored, along with a white shirt and a black cowboy hat, he looks at the floorboards. “I guess we did all right in the end,” Princeton says.
“I believe that we did,” Chester says.
“You two look me up after you find this next whack job?”
“We will contact you once it is done,” Marshall assures him.
“Then this is where I have to take my leave,” Princeton says, he shakes Chester’s hand and then Marshall’s, he opens the front door. “The world may be filled with cruel people, but I say you have to show them cruelty in kind, then they leave you the fuck alone.” He walks out to his black Cadillac, also newly purchased, he opens the door, turns the key and is off, his engine humming on into the twilight, Marshall looks at Chester, he tilts his head, then he hands Chester the check. Chester looks at the amount, he then looks back at Marshall, he smiles.
Once Marshall and Chester touch down in New York City, they rent out a room at a hotel; Marshall pulls out a map and shows Chester the location of the building. “It was rented out under a known alias of his three months ago, but that’s not all, construction was paid for on the premises but not by the landlord, it was paid for by a man with a different name.” Marshall shows Chester the building schematics as well.
“That is peculiar.”
“A New York City landlord would never condone construction on their property that they didn’t authorize, so that means the owner of the building confirmed it and allowed it to happen or he’s in on it or both.”
“Do you have his name?”
“That I do, no prior convictions, a man who works in Manhattan, stock broker, he’s the owner.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Well, we think we know where he is. I say we visit him there, but I have a plan.”
“Whatever you have planned is going to be dangerous.”
“Of course, with a man like this, there isn’t another way. Don’t worry, you won’t be in harm’s way, we’re going to let him catch me.”
“That’s just crazy, this man will kill you.”
“Not if this plays out like I think it will. He likes to take his time, that will allow us our best chance to catch him.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
They arrive at the building at one P.M., they watch and never see anyone enter, Marshall enters the building along with Chester. “It was built with a dumb waiter down in the kitchen, leading up to all of these rooms,” Marshall explains.
“What are we going to do?” Marshall sets a camera up at the top, it is small but it’s HD.
“We’ll watch it as it goes, find him within a day.”
“Within a day?”
“Yes, I have to see him and what apartment he is in,” Marshall explains, they watch the footage for the rest of the day.
“That’s him,” Marshall says, they rewind the footage and Marshall counts the floors up.
“How do you know that’s him?”
“It has to be a white man his age, look at how he’s dressed, who else would wear a suit with a red tie, nicely tailored, inside an apartment, he orders the food because no one can see him out in public, other than at his job, if one considers that public, I can tell by the contents of his plate, this is our man.”
“What do we do now?”
“We wait until he leaves,” Marshall says, he doesn’t leave and after three days, Marshall leads Chester up to the apartment, he listens intently, he picks the lock on the door, they enter and find it empty.
“Look at that pit,” Marshall tells Chester.
“Where the hell does this lead?”
“Building schematics show that it shouldn’t be here, it looks like it leads to a reservoir of some sort, I’ll test it out, this is what we came for,” Marshall explains, he shows Chester a back area that is encased in glass, they look at the shelves but there are just books, Marshall reads through the titles but they are just his books, other than the pit, there is little in the way of evidence, Marshall dusts for fingerprints, he looks at the brick wall in the corner of the encased area, he knocks on the wall and after knocking over the entirety of it, he finds a center, he looks around and underneath the metal counter, he sees the switch, he presses it, the wall slides open. “Once we see where this leads, we hit the button, you will hide in here, I will explain the plan to you once we get back to our room,” Marshall explains.
“Where are you going to be?”
“He’ll place me here,” Marshall says as he looks over the pit. “We need to see where the pit leads as well, Marshall drops a tracker down it, he looks at Chester.
“Why would he not have a security system on the property if this is where he kills people?” Chester asks.
“First, this is just one of many locations where he has killed. He never bought one for this property, I checked the records, he is so confident that he feels he doesn’t need one. But that wall is how he gets out unnoticed,” Marshall says.
Once they have fully inspected the place, Marshall and Chester head back to their room, Marshall outlines the plan they will follow. “This is crazy,” Chester tells him once Marshall is done explaining what they will do.
“It will work,” Marshall assures him.
“He could kill you before I get to him,” Chester reasons. “Or he could kill me while he’s escaping.”
“Don’t let him out of your grasp, he has to go down quickly, he probably has training, he definitely has training, do not give him an inch.”
“He will not get away from me,” Chester explains.
“Then this is how it must happen,” Marshall says and continues to explain how he plans to get caught and how Chester must time it.
“You are on the wrong side of history, detective. You apprehended Parrotta, you murdered Carmen, and now you’ve apprehended the man in brown. You should have been content with your accomplishments yet you were not, you got greedy and you took the bait. Now I can’t fault a man for greed or ambition for as you know I value both. I’m a man of fine tastes but in the future men like me will be studied, held up as heroes, every living person on this planet has considered murder at some point, the brave ones act on it. Men like you will not be remembered for your fight is a futile one, for every one of us you lock up, news ones are born every day. We are future celebrities; it’s already happening now. Imagine what they’ll find when they study me; they can look at that camera and my tapes and learn more about the human condition than any university could possibly teach them. That camera has captured every intricacy, every subtle emotion, it captures the true personality of a person,” Jackson Addler says as he points at his camera in the corner.
“There is nothing heroic about you,” Marshall responds.
“Do you want to know the most frightening thing to regular people detective?”
“What’s that?” Marshall asks, he knows he just needs to keep him talking, he looks down into the black pit, then he looks at Jackson Addler in his black suit, white shirt, and red tie.
“A man that they should trust being evil, it’s their worst nightmare in this country. And who do they trust? Well they trust cops and look what Carmen Parnassus became, they trust the man next door, the so-called normal neighbor who’s a regular church-goer and look what Paul Parrotta became, now the man in brown well no one trusts a cult leader but that was his thing, however they do trust hippies and he sure did attract those, in fact when I knew him, that’s what he was and look at what he did, then you take a man like me, wealthy, educated, none of them have any reason to suspect what I am.”
“And what are you
?”
“I am my own god, someday men will worship me, now I can get them to work for me but a monkey with money can get people to work for them; no, in time, they will tell stories about me.”
“And what is your profession, what makes you so trusted?”
“Do you really think I would admit that to you, I mean you’re in no position to tell anyone but how do I know that recorder in your pocket doesn’t feed to a computer?”
“I’m not exactly in a position to do anything about it.”
“Whatever you believe me to be, do not make the mistake of assuming I’m not smart, in fact you know I am, how else would I be free for this long while the rest of them are in jail or dead?”
“I’m not questioning your intelligence; I’m just explaining the gravity of the situation.”
“Was that a pun?”
“Partially but really, you’re going to cut my vitals out and show them to me, I know what you do, people are your playthings, you feel no remorse for your actions, you prey mostly upon prostitutes, did one of them give you something and that’s why you decided to start killing them?”
“Do you seriously expect me to fall for your line of questioning? You are not in a positon to question,” Jackson Addler yells out violently, it reverberates down the pit like a guttural snarl.
“However long you have been doing this, I found you and you know if I did, then others will surely follow.”
“Who, like the police? They couldn’t find their dick in the dirt, you used to be one of them, in a way you still are, you still follow the law, you can’t change what you are, I can’t change who I am. As long as this dichotomy persists, were our interactions to continue which they shall not, but if they did, you would always be chasing me and I would always be one step ahead of you, because the criminal always has the advantage. The trick is I always know where I’m going and there is always a plan for every scenario.”
“Every scenario? That’s mathematically impossible.”
“Then all the likely scenarios, you may be smart detective, I’ll give you that, but no amount of talking will spare you any longer,” Jackson Addler says as he picks up his knife again, he puts his dark apron on. “Don’t worry, this will take awhile, we’ll see if you’re so talkative then.” Marshall had been watching Chester gradually move from the back room to five feet from the Addler, Marshall was amazed he could sneak so quietly for a big man, Marshall begins laughing, he looks at the Addler and continues to laugh.
Detective Tumbler and the Man in Brown (Detective Tumbler Trilogy Book 2) Page 26
