Chapter Two - Without Shield

Sam Mitros was the only Hispanic cop on our force. He was a good man and also my ex-partner.  We’d been through some of the worst of cases this town had ever seen.  I was sitting on my front door steps when he arrived minutes later.  He got out of his car and began to walk toward me.  He wore a brown leather coat and jeans.  I stood up slowly, but my legs felt like wet noodles, and I crumbled into his arms.  I could tell that he was in shock.  He’d never seen me this way.  No one had.  In between my breaths of tears, I told him to go upstairs and that I would soon follow.  I told him what had happened, exactly the way it did.  I also told him about the frame trail I created for the intruder, so forensics wouldn’t pin the murder to me.

“If you were anyone else, I’d say you were loco man.”  He said.

“But I trust you, man.  If the roles were reversed, I would’ve killed that son of a bitch with my bare hands too.”  Sam continued. 

“Thanks.”  I knew he was sincere, but that didn’t help me rest any easier.

“We need to call the coroner and forensics Marty.”

“I know.  I don’t want to be here when they get here.”

“You don’t have a choice man.  They’ll need to question you.  Running away now only makes you look like a suspect.  You know that.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.  But there’s something else.”  I said.

I handed him the envelope that I had recovered from the study.

“What’s this?”  He asked.

“I don’t know, but I think it’s a key to what happened here.  I need you to hold onto it for me until they’re done questioning me.  Meet me at the Lounge around 2.”

The coroner and forensics team arrived a little while later.  I explained to the investigators about what happened.  That I returned home late from my shift and saw a man attacking my wife.  Most of the team knew me.  They all kept looking at me like I was broken and in need of repair.  I hated the looks, but I didn’t care.  I looked across the yard to the coroners carrying my wife’s body out of the house.  My stare followed her in disbelief.  This couldn’t be happening.

“Martin, I’m very sorry for your loss.”  A voice said.

I didn’t blink.  My eyes were still following the coroners.  I recognized his voice.  It was Mitchell Raines.  He was probably the lead investigator assigned to my case.  He was a very loud, obnoxious man who never hesitated to bark orders at the people beneath him.  Most of us hadn’t liked him since he became Captain.

“Lieutenant!”  He said louder, obviously trying to turn my attention toward him.

“Thanks Mitch.”  I said, without even looking at him.

“You know we’ll still have to take you down to the station for a statement, right?” 

“Yeah.”  I said. 

“C’mon, I’ll drive you.”  He said.

The coroners closed the doors to the van.  I turned away slowly and glanced at Sam.  He gave me a nod as I got into Mitchell’s car. 

The interrogation room was dark, cold and had little color.  There was a light on table in front of me.  I stared down at my hands waiting for someone to come in.  They were shaking.  I tried to interlock my fingers more tightly, hoping that would stop the quiver.  I waited for what seemed like hours.  I thought of Jeniveve.  Thinking of her brought me certain warmth that ended in sorrow.  I was alone, again.  I decided to light a cigarette.  After my first drag, Mitchell walked in.

“You know you’re not supposed to smoke in here.”  He said, sitting down.

I just ignored him, staring down at the table.  I’m sure he noticed the shake in my hands.

“Martin.  This won’t take long.  Now, do you have anything you’d like to add aside from what you’ve told us already?” 

“No.”  I said.

“So, just so we’re clear, you came home after your shift.  You walked through the front door.  You heard your wife scream, so you ran upstairs.  You found your wife being attacked by a man you didn’t recognize?”

“Yep.”

“Then what happened?”  He asked.

I let out a sigh and looked up at him.

“I pulled him off of her and threw him back against the closet doors.” 

“Forensics noted the broken closet doors.  Go on.”

He kept looking back down at my case file as if he wasn’t really listening.

“My wife was barely alive.  She moved slightly.  The perp got back up.  I came at him and…I didn’t stop.” 

“You beat him to death, never having drawn your weapon?”  He asked.

I hesitated for second.  Hearing those words actually said out loud brought a grotesque feeling of guilt upon me. 

“Yes.”  I said, looking back down at the table.

“Well, I’m sure the autopsy report will reflect that.  Let me ask you this Lieutenant, did you and your wife have any marital problems of any kind?”

“No we didn’t.  At least not any more than any other cop’s marriage.  I see where you’re going with this Mitch, and it’d be in your best interest to stop.”  I said, growing angry.

“Have you talked to your mother at all lately?”

“Mitchell, you know I haven’t spoken to her for many years.  I don’t know even know where she is for Christ’s sake.”

“Don’t you find that odd?”  He said, in sneering voice.

“She and my father divorced a long time ago.  She was an alcoholic and suffered constantly from depression.  She was a loose canon.”  I said.

“A loose canon who is still missing.”  He said.

“Is someone really missing even when you’re not looking for them?”  I said.

“You tell me Lieutenant.”

“My mother was a psycho, alright?  She never knew Jeniveve.  There’s no motive there.  And she certainly wouldn’t have the resources to pull something like this off.”  I said. 

“Look, I’m just trying to piece together what happened tonight.”  He said.

“So am I!  I came home from work to find a guy raping my wife!  What the hell would you have done?!  My back door was kicked in and several things in the house were broken!  Did you ID the attacker yet!?”

“Yeah, we did.  His name is James Darren.  Sound familiar?”  He said.

“No, should it?”  I said, without hesitation. 

“We’re trying to establish a connection.”  He said.

“Jeni never mentioned him.  What do you have on him?”  I said.

“Virtually nothing.  We have guys checking out his house now for a lead, but so far nothing.  Is it possible he was one of Jeni’s clients?”

“No.  If that was the case, I’d remember him.  I’ve never seen him before in my life.”  I said.

“Are you sure you and Jeni haven’t had any problems recently?”

“Look Mitch, you need to mind your business about Jeni, alright?  How about a little professional courtesy here eh?”  I said.

“I’m just looking for an answer Lieutenant.”

“So am I.  So, stop wasting my time and let me get back out there and find you one.”

I could feel the tears in my eyes beginning to resurface again.  I couldn’t hold them back.  I couldn’t quite define the emotions that were overwhelming me.  It was a sense of guilt, sautéed in anger.  Mitchell could see that.  He could see that I was about to crack wide open. 

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you for your badge and your gun Lieutenant.”

I glared at him.  For a moment I thought I’d just walk out.  But that wouldn’t help my case any.  I grabbed my sidearm and my badge and slammed it on the table and stood up. 

“Are we done?”  I said, wiping my nose.

“Almost.”  He said.

         I stood in front of him waiting for a further response.

         “Did you know your father showed up at the house after we left?”

         “What?”  I said.

         “He said he was there to give you condolences, but we had already moved you down here.”

I thought for a moment about what Jeniveve said. 

“I just thought you should know.”  He continued. 

I stood for a moment in the doorway.

“I’ll keep you posted on anything we find.”  He finished.

“Thanks.”  I said. 

I arrived at the Lounge around 2am.  Sam was there waiting for me already. 

“How’d it go with Raines?”  He asked.

“Same as always.”  I said, sitting down.  A waitress walked up to our table.

“Can I get you something?”  She asked.

“I’ll take a beer, whatever’s on tap.”  I said.

“He took your shield didn’t he?”  Sam asked, knowing my response.

“Yeah, and my piece.  Did you bring the envelope?”  I asked.

“Yeah, it’s right here.”  He slid the envelope to me across the table.

“What is that?”

“I found it in my wife’s study, taped underneath a drawer.  She told me to look there right before she died.” 

“I’m assuming you didn’t tell Raines about this.”  He said.

I just looked at him with a blank stare.  He understood.  I opened the envelope once again and laid out the pages in front of us.  Sam took notice to the same photo I did.

“That’s Turnovsky.”  He said, looking up at me.

“I know.”

“What’s he got to do with this?”  He asked.

“I don’t know.   None of this makes sense.  Why would Jeniveve collect this stuff?” 

“Let’s start at the top.”  Sam said.

“The first page has a photo of your father clipped to it.  He’s not on the force any more, but he was when Turnovsky was arrested and sentenced.”

“I know.  Raines told me he showed up at the scene after I left for questioning.”

“You don’t think he’s got something to do with this do you?”  Sam asked.

“I don’t know.”  I said, rubbing my head. 

“Marty, I know you and him haven’t been on good terms, but do you really think he’s capable of murder?  What reason would he have to kill Jeni?” 

“Somehow he knew what went down.  How could he have known that she’d been killed, and to show up at my house?” 

Sam hesitated.

“Look, he probably still has friends inside in the department.  He probably found out that way.” 

“Maybe.  Jeni was trying to tell me something before she died.  She said I needed to know the truth and that my father was somehow connected.” 

Sam looked back down at the page and photo.

“This is just a copy of his record and contact information.” 

“What else we got?”  I said.

“Well, there’s the report you wrote from Turnovsky’s wife’s death with crime scene photos.  The death order, and his arrest record.  He got the death penalty for the murder of his wife, remember?”

“Yeah.”   

“There’s also another photo of your father with Turnovsky before he was arrested.” 

“Turnovsky knew my father?”  I said, looking at the photo.

“Apparently.  There was a rumor going around back then that he and your father were tight.  But your father denied it.”

I sat back in my chair and thought for a moment.

“What if my father was still sour from Turnovsky’s death and hired the attacker to kill my wife, and frame me for the murder?  That’s motive enough right?”  I said, sitting back up.

“That’s a stretch man.  And besides, why would he have waited so long?”  Sam said reaching for the empty envelope. 

“Wait a second, there’s something else in here.” 

Sam held the envelope upside-down and a small key tumbled out onto the table.

“What’s this?”

“It looks like a safety deposit box key.”  I said, picking it up.

“It’s inscribed with ‘Lloyd’s Commerce Bank.’”

“That’s downtown.”  Sam said.

“Look, there’s another sticky note on the top page.”  Sam continued.

“Key – 8685.”

“I’ll check it out tomorrow morning.  Maybe it’ll give us another clue.”  I put the key in my pocket, and pulled out the cell phone that I had nabbed from the Jeni's attacker.

“I also got this off the perp before forensics got there.”  I said, showing Sam the phone.

“Jesus Marty.  You got anything else I need to know about?”

“No, this is it.”  I said, handing the phone to Sam.

“Raines ID’d the perp as James Darren.  See what you can find on him too.”  I continued.

“I’ll run the numbers on the phone and do a work-up on Darren. Maybe it’ll turn up something.”

“In the meantime, I think I’m going to have a chat with my father.”  I said.

Just then, Sam looked up in surprise.

“You won’t have to look far, he’s right out there.”  Sam pointed to the parking lot through the window beside me.  I could see my father’s face through the glass.  He was driving by slow in his car.  I got up and ran to the door.  The car’s tires let out a screech and he sped off.  Sam and I stopped outside the door.  I quickly decided I was going to pursue him.  Before I could open my car door, Sam grabbed my shoulder. 

“Marty, you’ve had a rough night.  Why don’t you get some rest and we’ll figure this out tomorrow.  You need a clear head.” 

I knew that he was right.  I was exhausted and full of energy at the same time.  There were too many questions flying around in my head.  I needed to quiet the voices. 

“C’mon, you can crash at my place.”  




Coming up next:  Chapter 3 - The Fallen Gumshoe