DEAD MAN'S JUSTICE - A Place of Evil (Stone & McLeish Thriller Series of Stories Book 2) (17 page)

Chapter 39

Every few minutes Eduardo Ramirez couldn't help himself from checking the street outside his house to look for a parked car or anyone lurking around suspiciously or anything unusual. He had insisted on taking his daughter Conchita to school in the mornings and also collected her at the end of afternoon lessons. His wife Maria was surprised that her husband had decided to take a few days leave, it wasn’t like him at all, she thought, although it was nice to have him around. He usually worked so much she had forgotten what it was like.

He couldn't relax.

He’d checked the security alarm at least ten times, he’d put extra bolts on the front and back doors and Maria had mentioned a number of times about him keeping his weapon in his shoulder holster whilst at home, telling him it wasn’t right when Conchita was at home.
‘Force of habit’
, he told her.

He was lying.

Ramirez was terrified that Maloof would carry out his threats to harm his family for his failure to get Stone off the street and he had to be ready.

His cell phone rang, he jumped a mile, his heart was pounding in his chest but calmed down when he saw who was calling, it was Jerry Tamola, one of his old partners at the precinct. Loyalties go a long way back and he and Jerry watched each other’s backs. Tamola was ten years older, in his mid fifties, a tall, tough and reliable cop who trained Ramirez when he was a rookie. Ramirez, despite the hard man image, was a good cop and was well respected around the force. His methods were a little unorthodox, but they got results.

Usually.

All the guys, Tamola especially, knew that his suspension was a bum deal and they wanted to make sure that Lt. Grolnik gave him another chance before Internal Affairs got to work on him.

Tamola had heard chatter around the office about Stone being picked up for another murder and he knew that he and Finch weren’t exactly bosom buddies. Tamola was giving Ramirez the head’s up, telling him that Stone was being held over at 108th precinct on 50th Avenue.

‘Where’s Finch,’ he asked.

‘He’s not back yet, been on a B&E over in Laurelton.’

‘I need to get over there. Jerry. Look there’s something I haven’t told you, I’ve told nobody, someone’s putting the squeeze on me, trying to get me to do things. They’ve threatened Maria and Conchita, I’m not proud of it but that’s why I’ve been canned. I have to...’

‘Who is it Eddy? Tell us who it is and we’ll...’

‘I can’t, not yet, I’m in too deep, if I can just get to Stone before Finch, I might be able to get this guy off my back.’

‘What d’ya need Eddy? Say it.’

‘Could ya put a man on my house while I’m out?  Just for a few hours?’

‘Sure Eddy, it’s done, you leave it to me. If Finch gets in I’ll stall him as long as I can.’

‘I owe ya Jerry .’

‘Forget it.’

Ramirez made good time and arrived at the 108th precinct before Finch and luckily the guys there hadn’t heard about his suspension. If colleagues know you they don’t ask to see badges. He managed to talk to Ortiz and Buzzetti and told them about the ongoing investigation on Stone for the Guy Randall murder. They bought it and allowed him access to Stone and Mac who were being held in one of their interview rooms. He was seconds from reaching the room when Finch arrived on the scene.

‘What the ...what are you doing here Ramirez?’

‘Button it Finch, I need to do this, I can’t tell you why, just trust me will ya?’

Finch played things by the book, he was relatively inexperienced, that’s why he was put with Ramirez in the first place, he knew that to squeal on him could affect his career. Loyalty and respect was considered more important than right or wrong when it came to your senior partner.

‘Off the record, I want you to know that I think you're doing the wrong thing, I know you're in a tough place right now but...’

‘Save it Finch, I’m going in there.’

Stone and Mac were sitting in the interview room wondering when all the bullshit would end. First Guy Randall, and now Bloom.
‘Things usually come in threes,’
he said to himself,
‘who’s next?’

Neither of them was supposed to be in
New York. Mac had had to cancel a visit back to the U.K., even though it was winter, he’d thought about catching up on some skiing with his sister in France. Stone had already cut short his precious time with Laura and was anxious get back up to see her. He’d promised to be there for her T.V. interview. Each day and each crazy diversion robbed him and Mac of their time.

Their faces dropped and their eyes couldn't believe who walked through the door of interview room three. Ramirez stepped in with a smug smile on his face, followed by Finch who looked like he could kill Ramirez.

A guard officer stood by the door as usual and Ramirez threw a file onto the table as he sat down. In his hurry to leave the house and get over to the precinct Ramirez hadn’t had time to put on a suit, he was dressed casually in jeans and a T shirt, the matchstick was nowhere in sight, and he had forgotten that he’d left a cigarette by his left ear.

‘On holiday Ramirez?’ Stone got a shot in first. It was not going to be like the last time he promised himself.

‘Never mind about that. Can’t keep out of trouble can you, there’s no smoke without fire Stone. I knew you’d screw up sooner or later. Guess you’d
kill
for a good lawyer, hey Stone?’

‘Funny, very funny. You going to switch the machine on Ramirez? I want all your wise cracks on tape.’

Finch, as per norm, said little, Stone and Mac couldn't have known why, otherwise they would have refused to cooperate, but they knew he was a decent cop and left him out of the banter. Finch got up to leave the room without telling Ramirez why.

‘Where are you going?’ he asked.

‘The John’ he said as he was leaving the room. He returned a few minutes later.

‘Now,’ said Ramirez. ‘Another day and another dead guy. Suppose you tell us what happened. Try the truth, it saves time.’

‘Okay. Fine. I’m going to tell you exactly what happened, then in ten minutes time, we’re going to walk out the door, we haven’t been charged yet, you know why? You have nothing, just like the last time.’

‘Get to it Stone.’ Ramirez was losing his patience already, he was fired up, Maloof’s threats were never far from his thoughts.

‘At four p.m. we met Bloom at the Chase Bank. We were asked, that’s Mac and me, to collect something for Mrs. Randall. Bloom insisted on coming with us, we had no idea why...’

‘What was it? What did she ask you to fetch for her?’

Stone hesitated for a second, knowing it would give Ramirez possible motive.

‘One million U.S. dollars. Her husband had had it stashed there for him after the kidnap.’

‘She trusted you two to get that for her? What kidnap?’

‘Forget about that for now. Anyway as soon as we had access to the safety deposit box, Bloom took the money out of the box and transferred it to his attaché case. He then left the bank in a big hurry leaving us behind, saying nothing.’

‘Just like that?’

‘Yeah. Just like that.’

‘And...’

‘There was nothing we could do so we headed for home.’

‘So how come you were found standing over Bloom’s dead body?’

‘He called me, he sounded like he was in a bad way, he said he was in some dark back street and that he could see a bridge, somehow we figured out where he was and when we got there... it was too late, he was dead. Then Officer Dibble turned up.’

Stone’s sarcasm was pushing Ramirez to the edge.

‘That’s it? That’s your story?’

‘It’s not a story.’

Ramirez stood up. He stretched the moment thinking he was making Stone nervous.

‘Let me tell you how I see it Stone. I think you wanted the money for yourselves. Bloom spoilt your plans. He got you pissed when he disappeared on you. Probably had a right too, being the Randall’s lawyer and all.’ He paced around for dramatic effect. ‘You followed him...’

‘No,’ chipped Stone.

‘You ran him down and forced him into a dark road where you knew there’d be no witnesses.’ Ramirez leaned onto the table and raised his voice further. ‘You told him to give you the money, and when he resisted, you shot him.’

‘So what did we do with the money? The officers searched our car and found nothing. Where’d we hide the weapon? You won’t find it. You know why?  Cos we didn’t have one,’ said Mac.

‘You had plenty of time to hide the gun and the money; we haven’t finished searching the whole area yet. And you Stone, you have his blood on your sleeve.’

‘Stone hadn’t realized they’d seen it, he lifted his arm and checked his shirt, the officers had noticed the blood at the scene.’

‘You have opportunity and you certainly have motive. You disposed of the means, but we’ll find it.’

‘You’re wasting your time Ramirez,’ said Mac.

There was silence. Stone thought it was useless to try to justify their position. He decided to let the police prove their case. He was close to walking out.

Ramirez’s confidence was growing; he thought it was just a matter of time before they found the weapon that was used to shoot Bloom. He left the interview to call Maloof, he was desperate to stop him carrying out his threats.

Chapter 40

Ramirez closed his cell phone. He let out a yell and hit the corridor wall in anger. He had had trouble persuading Maloof that he really had Stone this time, he pleaded with him to give him just a little more time. Maloof relented and gave him twenty four hours to wrap up the new murder charge or... Ramirez couldn't listen to what he said next.

He was sweating, his hands were shaking, the pressure was becoming unbearable, he had to close this case out, he had no alternative. Ramirez had seen firsthand how Maloof had exacted revenge on anyone who crossed him, even his own men. Ramirez’s professionalism had all but gone and his judgment was askew, he went back into the interview room to finish the job.

As soon as Ramirez entered the room Stone stood up and told Mac that they were leaving.

‘We’ve heard enough. We’re out of here,’ said Stone.

‘Sit down. There’s been a development.’ Ramirez was still sweating. Sweating because he knew he was lying. Finch looked at him with incredulity; he knew they were innocent, yet again.

‘Officers have found the murder weapon at the crime scene.’ Ramirez still hadn’t sat down. ‘Brad Stone. Ewen McLeish. You’re under arrest for the murder of Anthony John Bloom on or about
4.45 pm this evening. You will remain in custody. Read them their rights Finch.’

Stone decided he would play his trump card, ‘This charade has gone on long enough. You shouldn’t be here at all on police business, you’re suspended.’ Stone moved as if to leave the room. Ramirez stood in front of him and put his hand on his chest to stop him. ‘Who are you working for Ramirez? It can’t be the police you don’t even have a badge.’

Ramirez looked rattled. He had to keep going, for the sake of his wife and daughter. ‘You don't know what you’re talking about. Read them their rights Finch.’ Ramirez was shouting at Finch, he was close to losing control.

‘He won’t. He’s a proper cop. He does things the right way. No get out of my way’

The officer on guard had his gun half out of his holster as the situation grew tense, he was confused to hear that Ramirez had been suspended, but until advised differently, would support him to the hilt.

Finch protested at last and shouted back at Ramirez, ‘Senior Detective Ramirez, I’m ordering you to leave the room.’

Ramirez was visibly shaking, he still had his hand up trying to hold Stone back, he wouldn’t give way, there was too much at stake for him personally.

‘What’s going on here?’ A voice bellowed out from the open door. No one had heard or noticed it had opened. Lt. Grolnick was waiting for an answer; Finch hoped that Ramirez would offer an explanation as to why he was conducting an interview with suspected felons whilst on suspension. Ramirez was stupefied at the sudden appearance of Grolnick.

He dropped his hand and started to speak, ‘Sir I can expl...’

‘Ramirez outside now. Finch, you come too. Officer, stay where you are. I’ll be back in two minutes. The officer remained in position on guard by the door.

Stone and Mac sat back down.

There were raised voices coming from the corridor just audible through the interview room door, Grolnick’s was the loudest, Ramirez tried to stand his ground and only served to make matters worse. No one could understand why. He was escorted out of the precinct, Grolnick upgraded the suspension. He was now on a charge of gross misconduct.

Grolnick came back into the room and apologized to Stone and Mac. For reasons he couldn't go into, Ramirez was out of line, he said, and he asked them to excuse his error of judgment. It seemed like Grolnik was trying to avert a possible claim for improper conduct and the inappropriate questioning about the murder charge.

Stone looked at Mac and they made another one of their telepathic agreements by an almost imperceptible nod between each other and a twitch of their mouths. ‘No problem Lieutenant. So. Where do we stand now?’

‘You’re free to go. You’ve got Finch to thank for calling me in when he did. He also had your cell phone call logs examined and your story checks out. In the short time between the witnesses call to 911...’

‘The guy at the window?’ asked Mac.

‘Yes. The witness heard a shot and called 911 at 4.40pm and your call with Bloom which lasted...’ Grolnick read from a piece of paper that he brought with him into the interview room, ‘...two minutes and twenty three seconds, was triangulated, putting you two miles away at the time.’

Stone sat back and relaxed for the first time during the interview. ‘Thank you Finch,’ said Stone.

‘Furthermore when the witness was questioned by officer Ortiz, who went back to see him, he said that right after hearing the shot, a single shot, he looked out of the window and saw three men. One was lying on the ground, and two were standing a few yards away. One was...’ he started reading again, ‘a medium height guy who he thought could have been oriental...’

‘Chang,’ said Mac.

‘...and the other...’ Grolnick continued but Stone interrupted.

‘Was a tall, thickset black guy, Shadow.’

‘Shadow?’ asked Grolnick as he looked up from the paper.

‘Chad Loman Sir,’ said Finch. I’ve seen them both in action already.

‘Lieutenant, perhaps I can just say that, you now have two murders to solve. Guy Randall and Anthony Bloom. They were killed by the same man. Shadow. He needs to be found, and quick, before he kills again.’

‘That’s our job Stone. Finch is on the case now full time.’

Grolnick stood up and offered to shake hands with Stone and Mac and said they were free to leave. He told them that their car had been towed into the precinct; he said he would get it brought out front.

They all shook hands and they left the station.

‘We’ve failed Mac.’

‘How d’ya mean Brad?’

‘We didn’t get Mrs. Randall’s money.’

They were driving back to the Delicatessen apartment. The roads were quiet. It was the lull between the afternoon exodus of workers leaving the city and the early evening invasion of theatre goers and restaurant diners flooding into the center looking for a good time. They’d both been quiet, hardly talked at all for most of the journey since leaving the precinct. Stone had been deep in thought. He was sick of the gangster Shadow interfering with his life. It was only a matter of time, he thought until their paths would cross again and an alarming thought flashed into Stone’s mind, he was astonished that it hadn’t occurred to him before.

‘He won’t stop till he gets what he wants,’

‘But he has mate. He’s got his money.’

‘No. I mean yeah, he finally has it, after all the dirty work in
Trinidad and today’s callous rubbing out of Bloom. He knew we were going to the bank. He must have been tipped off by someone. The only people who were in on the plan were at Mrs. R’s yesterday. Me, you and Bloom. Bloom must have told someone. Someone who knows Shadow.’

‘Rachel.’

‘Exactly. Let’s concentrate on Shadow first. He’s the one to be worried about. He threatened us as he left Trinidad. He knows we were a witness to Guy’s murder. He tried to kill me at the funeral. And now...he must have seen us at the bank with Bloom.’

‘What do we do?’

‘You got his address right?’

‘Yeah. We pay him a visit?’

‘I want to keep our end of the bargain with Mrs. R. She’s been through enough. We’ll get the money back and track Shadow’s movements. Then we let Finch take over and nail him.’

‘Sounds like another plan.’

‘Tomorrow’s Saturday. It will be quiet. We’ll check out his office.’