Chapter 5
828 Words
Chapter 5
When he got to the station, next morning, Keplar walked in and announced, “Only 16 minutes late, better than yesterday.”
Trish was at her desk, “You're getting the hang of this.” Trish is a middle age mother of three who keep her running. Her hair is short and blonde, whereas her stature is tall and full. She is always dressed nicely in either a tight fitting skirt and blouse or full dress. She had at least three different sets of pearls that she rotated. Her ear rings were either gold or silver loops, depending on her mood. She was always upbeat. “Too much running around at night,” she added grinning from ear to ear. “When do I get to meet her?”
“What, are you my mother?”
“Just playing the role. She called yesterday and we had a nice talk,” taking on a mocked serious tone.
“Oh brother,” he said walking into his office. Trish followed him with a smile. “Any messages?”
Trish laid a note on his desk, “Some reporter called and said she needed to talk. Her number is there,” she said pointing at the note.
“Thanks Trish, please stop talking to my mother.”
“Like that's going to happen, somebody needs to keep an eye on you,” she said spinning on her high heels and walking out.
Shaking his head he picked up the note and called Rose. She answered as he slammed his office door with his outstretched foot.
“Hi Rose, you called?”
“Yes, I got the victims name.”
Jumping up, “How did you do that?”
“I called the M.E. I've gotten to know him from my covering the court house. It was like pulling teeth and I had to promise that I wouldn't divulge where I got it,” Rose said talking fast. “I'm going to dig around a little.”
“Be careful. I don't want you ruffling the wrong feathers.” Pausing, “Well, you gonna tell me?”
“Oh yeah, Joe Center is his name.”
“Do you have access to police files?”
“Usually, We'll have to see. What are you going to do?” Rose asked.
“I'm going to call Knutson and see what he has to say.”
“Okay, dinner tonight at my place, sevenish?
“I can't pass that up. Let's keep in touch during the day if we find out anything,” Keplar said. “Gotta go.”
“See ya tonight.”
He immediately called Knutson. “Good Morning Detective, Chief Keplar here. Wondering if there has been any progress on the murder investigation.”
“Listen Chief, I told you I would handle this. I'll fill you in when I have something.”
“I want the victims name,” Keplar said forcefully. “This murder took place in my jurisdiction and I want the name now.”
Knutson was taken aback. He thought Keplar would back off. “I would rather not divulge that just yet.”
“In that case, I'll tell you, Joe Center.”
“Where did you get that?”
“Not important, I have it and will be investigating. I expect to be kept up to date from your end and I'll return the favor. I'll be in touch,” he finished and hung up. He felt refreshed and now had a sense of purpose. Later that day, after conferring with his small police force, he directed them to cover all normal patrols even though that would mean some overtime that he would have to justify to the council. He would concentrate on the murder investigation for a while. He hopped in his cruiser and drove over to the murder scene again. Standing on the waters edge he watched sunfish swim around reminding him of the many days he spent fishing near here when he was young. He wished these were the things he would dream about. Not coming up with anything new he walked back through the trees to the road and leaned against his car, thinking. Not much else to do, he resumed his regular patrol for the rest of the day.
That evening after another great dinner, Rose pulled out the file on Joe Center.
Laying it out on the coffee table in front of them, Rose said shuffling through the papers, “This is what I could find. After Joe Center came home from the war, he got married and in two years had two children. He bounced around from job to job not finding one he could stick with and his family suffered the consequences. Apparently, unable to provide for them the way he thought he should he got caught up in the underworld.”
Mick studied the papers as Rose laid it out. “How do we know he was involved with the mob?”
“He was named in an investigation in Minneapolis. According to what I was able to find out by talking to a couple of investigators, he was being watched, but he dropped out of sight two days ago.”
“That's solid?”
“Seems so. It was his involvement with the mob that led to this file on him, otherwise we would probably know nothing about him.
“I assume you have an address for his family.”
“I do, it's,” moving papers around, “Here it is, 4939 Zenith Ave. No.”
“I bet Knutson has already talked to them,” Mick said.
“I'd be surprised if he hasn't.”
“I'll go see them first thing in the morning. It will be interesting to see if Knutson contacts me with what he learned.”
“What would you like me to do?”
“Dig around, see if there is anything else on him,” Mick said.
“Okay, but there are a couple other stories I need to follow up on first.”
“Do what you can and maybe we can meet for lunch.”
“I'd like that.”
- Writer
