Swift Justice: The Southern Way (14 page)

“Well, there’s a problem. They’ve told me that you’ve escaped even though I don’t believe them. So now that I found you, I might have a certain legal obligation to turn you in.”

“Wait a minute; I don’t want you turning me in. Come on man. You’re supposed to help me.”

“Just hang on a second. I’m just thinking out loud here. This is a complicated matter.” Goldstein paused. “So now that I found you, I kind of have an obligation. I know what I’m going to do. I am going to leave here. You guys continue to hide, and I will call them separately, or I will even go to the police station. In fact, that’s probably better. I’ll go to the police station because I want to get my other guys out of jail. I want to get your brothers and your dad out of there because clearly they didn’t do anything. The police have them locked up. I need to get them out of jail, and tell the cops that I know where you are. Because they tried to kill you, I’m holding you in protection until the FBI gets here. But they’re going to go ballistic. And they may even threaten to put me in jail. Um, I’m just going to have to figure out what to do if I get to that point.”

Deron spoke. “Okay, should I just stay hidden here?”

“Yeah, and don’t tell anyone else that you’re here. You’ve told your mother, but I told your mother not to tell anyone else. Let’s keep this hush hush, and Deron you have to hide better. You’re sitting up there on the second floor. They’re going to be searching all over, so find a better place to hide.”

Deron remembered that he still had the gun in his pant pocket. He figured he needed to alert the Pastor and Mr. Goldstein about the gun. Deron slowly pulled out the gun and showed it, without pointing it at them. “Hey y’all, what should I do with this?”

Both Pastor Bryant and Goldstein looked at Deron in shock.

“Where did you get that?” asked Goldstein.

“I took it from one of the dead guys for my protection.”

“Damn, what should we do with the gun?” asked Pastor Bryant.

“This complicates matters,” responded Goldstein. “I have to think about this.” Goldstein paused. “If they find you here with the gun, they will use that against you. In fact, they’ll probably hang you on the spot.”

“Whoa,” said Deron.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Goldstein. “I didn’t mean to be so harsh. It’s just that these guys are nuts down here.”

“Yeah, I know. You don’t have to tell me.”

Goldstein paused to consider the situation. “Look, you have enough protection here with the Pastor and his shotgun. Probably the best thing to do is to give me the gun, and I will turn it in when I think it is appropriate. Besides, who knows, I may need it for my own protection. I’m not exactly the most liked guy in town. I’m sure they would like to kill me too.”

“No, I want to keep it myself. I have to protect myself.”

Goldstein sighed heavily. “Okay, but make sure the police don’t find it on you.”

“All right, but how do we communicate with each other while you’re away?” asked Deron.

“That’s a good question,” replied Goldstein. “Pastor, why don’t you give me your phone number? Then, we also need a special code for when I come here, so you know it is me.”

The Pastor wrote down his phone number for Goldstein and handed it to him.

The Pastor spoke. “Why don’t you go to the back door, knock three times softly on the window, then four times, then five times, then repeat the three times and so forth.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Goldstein. “You hang in there until you hear from me.”

~~~~

As soon as the annoying threesome left the crime scene, the Sheriff instructed his men to search the town for an average-height man wandering the streets looking suspicious. “Question any Negro on this side of the tracks,” the Sheriff had ordered. “There shouldn’t be any Negro at this time of the morning on this side of the tracks.”

He instructed Officer Henderson to put up yellow police tape across the front and guard the crime scene. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again. He ordered him not to let anyone inside except for the local police and the coroner. Henderson stood outside the warehouse guarding the crime scene. The Sheriff also radioed in to have the coroner come out.

Meanwhile, Junior and the Sheriff went to work analyzing the crime scene. The Sheriff needed to do a better job than at the last crime scene. The Sheriff was numb. He felt like he was having an out-of-body experience because the tragic events over the last two days were so unbelievable. The Klan was supposed to kill two niggers. Instead, five white guys were brutally murdered and another one shot. Oh, that reminded him that he needed to speak to Paulie some more to get some more details from him. This was not supposed to happen. Was the Klan losing its influence? Were niggers not afraid anymore?

“Dad, what do you want me to do?” asked Junior.

“We got to do a better job at this crime scene than we did at the other. We made a lot of mistakes.”

“Okay,” replied Junior.

The Sheriff couldn’t stop yawning. He had now been awake for more than twenty-four hours. “Okay, the first thing we’re going to do is to make sure we have an officer guarding the crime scene at all times,” said the Sheriff. “Second, we’re going to do a more thorough job of investigating this crime scene.”

“All right,” said Junior, “let’s analyze the situation.”

The Sheriff was so sleepy and not thinking straight that he thought he would delegate the initial analysis to his son. “Okay, Junior, what do you think happened here?”

Junior approached his dad and spoke quietly so no one could overhear them. “Okay, let’s start off with what we know. We know that you dropped off Deron. Did you handcuff him to the table?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Okay, and we know that our guys were hidden in the back, and they were supposed to wait about a half an hour for you to establish your alibi. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“So, based on what I see here, our guys came around and were probably facing Deron because of where their bodies are located. Now, what did Paulie say to you?”

“Paulie said that someone shot them from behind Deron. It was a guy. He couldn’t recognize him. He says he was about average height. The guy missed Paulie at first but got him on the way out the door.”

“Okay, this is good,” said Junior. “I mean, I shouldn’t say good, but it’s a start.” Junior paused. “Hey, what do you think happened to Deron?”

“I have no idea,” replied the Sheriff. “He must have gotten the keys somehow from the guys.”

Junior spoke. “Well, the keys are right there.” Junior pointed to the table. “But how could he have gotten the keys? They certainly wouldn’t have given it to him.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I had him locked down good. There was no way he could have gotten out without the keys. The keys are there. That’s how he got out.”

“Well, the shooter must have given him the keys,” said Junior. “It’s got to be a nigger. Why would a white guy help him out?”

“That’s true, Junior, but we really don’t know if it is a nigger or a white guy. Who knows, maybe it could be that Goldstein character.”

“Yeah, Dad, it could be anyone.” Junior paused. “So Deron’s gone. What do you think happened to him? I mean, I don’t think he’s dead. I don’t see any blood by his seat, and plus the keys are by the cuffs.”

“He’s probably hiding in his neighborhood, or maybe he went to some different town. I don’t know.”

“We’ve got to find Deron before someone else finds him,” said Junior.

“Yeah, we got to find Deron. We also need to call the Judge and the rest of the boys as soon as we get back. We need to strategize with them. I already told the state trooper and the others that Deron escaped.”

“What!” Junior said. “Why did you say that?”

“Hey, watch your tone, Son. I didn’t know what else to say. We have to blame someone.”

“How are we going to say he escaped?” asked Junior.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to figure out something soon, but first I want to keep investigating this crime scene.”

“We need to check to see if there are any footprints over back here somewhere.” Junior pointed back towards the racks and started walking that way with his dad following.

“Okay, let’s check it out,” replied the Sheriff.

They walked back and started inspecting the area by the racks. After a few moments, the Sheriff yelled. “Here, I found a gun shell.” The Sheriff held up a gun shell.

“Okay, let me see if we can find any others,” said Junior.

Junior eventually found three more gun shells and handed them over to the Sheriff.

“Shit,” the Sheriff said. “I just remembered that we are walking all over the place, and our footprints are probably ruining the shooter’s footprints. Hurry, take off your shoes.”

They both took off their shoes and inspected the area by the gun shells. The Sheriff noticed that the polished cement was very dusty, which could leave a footprint. He continued to inspect the area and then noticed what he thought was a decent looking print. He shined his light on the area. “Son, look here, in the dust. There are some good footprints. The shooter must have been standing here in this spot. We need to seal this specific area off. Go get some tape from Henderson outside.”

Junior and the Sheriff continued to investigate the crime scene. They finally left when the coroner showed up to take the bodies away. As part of their investigation, Junior took numerous crime scene photographs.

The Sheriff wondered who could have killed the Sawyer boys and Lucky and his crew. He realized that it couldn’t have been the guys locked up and probably not Deron. There had to be another shooter that wasn’t part of Leon’s immediate family. It had to be another Negro. It couldn’t be a white guy. Or could it be?

~~~~

The Sheriff parked his squad car in the back of the police station at about half past five in the morning. He and Junior got out and entered the police station from the back entrance. Officer Finley, who was manning the police station, radioed the Sheriff that Goldstein was there demanding that his clients be released. Goldstein was there along with the state trooper and the reporter.

The Sheriff did not want to speak to them again until he had chance to run it by the Judge. He slid into the back and up to his office, and Junior joined him. He called the Judge at his Dodge County residence and hoped that he would answer at this early morning hour. After about ten rings, the Judge answered sounding groggy. “Hello.”

“Judge, this is Jefferson. We got a major problem.”

“What’s that?”

The Sheriff sighed. “Well, two of the Sawyer boys have been killed.”

“What! You have to be kidding. What the hell has happened?”

“Okay, Cueball and Stevie are dead. Paulie got away but got shot. He’s in the hospital but should make it. He was just shot in the shoulder. We’ve got to check with him.”

“What happened? What happened to our plan? Fill me in.”

“We don’t know that much. All we know is that I dropped off Deron, locked him up, cuffed him to the table, and he’s gone. We don’t know where he’s at. He got away from the cuffs somehow. One of Cueball’s guy had cuff keys, and they were on the table. It looks like Deron used them to free himself. Paulie said that there was a guy who came there and shot his two brothers and tried to shoot him.”

“Was it a nigger?” the Judge asked.

“Um, he doesn’t know. I suspect it is. I don’t know. He couldn’t see the guy; it was too dark.”

“Damn, what are we going to do?”

“Well, here’s the problem. That pain-in-the-ass state trooper came by with that annoying reporter and that Jew boy lawyer, and they started asking questions. And so … I told them that Deron escaped, and Deron was probably the killer.”

“You did what? Why did you tell them anything?”

“I know. I didn’t know what else to say, so our story right now is that Deron killed them, is on the loose, and is the number one suspect.”

“Damn, you created a whole colossal fuck, here.”

“I know. I know, but Judge, what do we do? Right now, Goldstein, that Jew lawyer, is here at the police station with his entourage, and they are demanding that I release these niggers. What should I do?”

The Judge paused. “Damn, we need to have a meeting on this, Jefferson. I don’t know what to do. Can you stall them?”

“I guess I could try to stall them. I’m not sure what to say. What can I say to stall them?”

“Say, hey, you got to think about it. You’re still investigating. Both crimes have just occurred. You need more time. Just stall them.”

“Okay, I’ll try that.”

“Okay, Jefferson, but we have to arrange a meeting, right away. You need to call the guys and try to get Paulie to come. We need to find out what he saw. Tell everyone it is an emergency meeting at the Social Club and everyone needs to go there immediately.”

“Okay, I’ll have Junior arrange it.”

~~~~

As soon as the Sheriff hung up the phone with the Judge, he directed Junior to make the necessary phone calls and arrange the meeting immediately.

“What are you going to do with the Jew lawyer and the rest of them?” asked Junior.

“I’m going to stall them and tell them nothing.”

“Sounds good.”

The Sheriff dreaded the upcoming confrontation. He was tired and hungry for that matter, and now he had to deal with those pain in the asses. He walked down to the first floor, opened the small door attached to the counter, and approached the entourage.

“I understand that you wanted to see me,” said the Sheriff.

“Yes, are you going to release the prisoners?” asked Goldstein.

The Sheriff noticed that the reporter had his annoying writing pad out with his pen ready to write. “No, why would I do that?”

“Because they’re innocent. You know they’re innocent, and you know they couldn’t have possibly committed the crime tonight.”

“That’s tonight—what about last night?” asked the Sheriff.

“Sheriff, come on, there’s a real killer out there, but it is not the guys in your jail or Deron,” said Goldstein. “You know it.”

“I know shit,” yelled the Sheriff.

“Okay, then what are you going to do?” asked Goldstein.

“Look, I can’t release them right now. I have to think about it. We still have more time for the forty-eight hours. We’re still investigating. We’ve not made a decision.”