Miles, you’re probably right. I guess I’m just getting sick and tired of always drawing from a short deck. You know what I mean? We’re out there day after day, breaking our humps and what do we get? We get to have our asses reamed. Tony and Max just go through the motions while being on Jew Cohan’s payroll and they draw the same pay as us. Does that seem fair to you?”
“No, of course not. But, like it or not, that’s the way it is. Nothing’s gonna change. Let’s get a cup of coffee and go over the case files in the conference room, maybe something will click.”
“Yeah.”
We walked over to the coffee table and Miles poured out two cups of the high octane. From the corner of my eye I noticed Mavis Poladin making her way over to us. Mavis was a junior detective, relatively new to our department. She was a big boned girl, strong of both stature and will. Her brown mousy hair was closely cropped, her build boxy, not fat but sturdy. In truth, there was little that was feminine about her, even her tone and gait was straightforward and manly. Tony and Max had been undermining her ever since she joined the department; taking cheap shots behind her back. Speculating that she was a lesbian. Of course, when they talked about her, they commonly used the words dike or he/she. I’m not quite certain that Mavis knew they were talking about her but Miles and I did and neither one of us appreciated it. As far as we were concerned, it was no one’s business but her own. The only thing we concerned ourselves with was how she did her job; and on that front we had no complaints. We knew about her past record as a police officer, the way she had worked her way up from the streets. She’d spent six years on foot patrol in a tough district, and we knew first hand that was a tough road. The only time Miles and I had occasion to work with her was six months ago, during a nasty hostage situation on the roof top of Papa Who’s bar over on the south side. Unfortunately, while Miles was trying to negotiate with the deranged man, an over eager member of the SWAT team took a pot shot at him, hitting the very person we were there to save. From there the situation escalated and got out of control. Miles and I were pinned down in a corner of the rooftop with little cover. When the bullets started flying Mavis did her job and more. She shimmied up an old rusted fire escape and somehow worked her way behind the abductor.
Clinging perilously from the roof top with one hand holding onto the top ledge, she somehow managed to get off a shot. Luckily for Miles and I, her aim was true. If not for her, Miles and I may well have been shot or worse. We owed her.
“Hey guys, what’s up?”
“Damn red necktie murders. Miles and I were just going to the conference room to go over the files.”
“My shifts over, do you mind if I tag along?”
“Certainly not, we’d both be glad to have you, Mavis. Maybe a new set of eyes will see something we haven’t.”
“I don’t know about that, you guys are pretty thorough. Oh, by the way Mooney, your girlfriend Hope called when you were in with the chief. Said she had to fly out of town tonight on business, asked if you could meet her over at the Shady Cage around 8 p.m. down on east 29th Street for a quick drink.”
“Did she leave a number?”
“No, she said she was leaving the office.”
“Damn it, of all the places to pick. The Shady Cage is off limits for us, besides we’ve got to be out on the street tonight.”
“Don’t be ridiculous we’ve got plenty of time. Besides I want to meet this mystery girl, the hell with the ban on the Shady Cage. For Christ’s sakes you’ve got a right to say goodbye to your girlfriend.
“We just won’t tell the chief.” Miles said laughing, “What’s the worst that could happen, we see Slick Tony and Max and they rat us out to the chief. What’s the chief gonna do, give us a slap on the wrist.”
“Yeah, all right. You talked me into it.”
“Wasn’t too hard, was it Mavis?” Miles said as his eyes danced mischievously in her direction.
Mavis looked back at Miles with a full smile as the three of us made our way down the hall and into the conference room. It really wasn’t much of a conference room to speak of: just an old eight foot table, six old oak chairs, a map of the precinct on the far wall and an old weathered brown bulletin board that covered the near wall with all the victims’ vitals and crime scene pictures from the red necktie killer murders.
Mavis was the first to speak up, eagerly asking the both of us, “What have we got?”
“Not much,” Miles responded.
“Come on Miles, poor attitude. There’s got to be something.”
“All right Mavis, just for you I’ll go through it again. The first killing was five weeks ago on Saturday night in the upper section of the precinct in Mooney’s building, the Seven Star Apartments. The second was four weeks ago, again on a Saturday night. Down on the lower east side by the old Star Cinema. The third was three weeks ago on the west side by the intersection of Lennox and East Third Street.”
“Miles, isn’t that right by Starbucks?”
“Yeah Mavis, it’s…”
“Hold it Miles. STAR.”
“What are you talking about Mooney?”
“STAR. Every murder scene you’ve mentioned has a business near it with star in its name. You think this bastard is playing a game with us?”
“No, just a coincidence. The last murder scene doesn’t. The last one was on the east side. I don’t know a damn thing over there with star in it.”
“Excuse me gentlemen, I’ve lived in this precinct my whole life. The old planetarium was right around the corner.”
“Give me a break Mavis, that old place has been boarded up for the past eight years.”
“So what. I think Mooney’s onto something.”
“Thanks for the support Mavis. Now, Miles look at the map. Draw a line from murder scene to murder scene in order. What have we got?”
Miles took out a grease pencil and starting connecting the pins. The first line went down and to the right, the second half way up and far to the left, the third was straight across to the east side of the district. “Okay, what the hell does this prove?”
“Do you see what I see, Mavis?”
“I think I know where you’re going.”
Regarding Mooney, “I don’t see shit,” Miles said.
“Finish it Miles. Pretend your drawing a star, just like you did as a kid.”
Miles, drew the forth line down and to his left on a forty five degree angle equal to second line and then up to the first murder scene.
“I’ll be damned, it’s a star. Mooney you magnificent bastard. I’m really impressed, this is a brilliant piece of police work. Let’s get the chief and show him what we’ve got.”
“I don’t think so Miles. It’s still pretty thin. I’d prefer we stake that area out tonight and see what shakes out.”
Mooney
