Murderer's Row Page 6

  “In short we have a few drink specials and play some of New York’s best jazz. Some say it’s even better than New Orleans,” he proudly professed.

  “New Orleans,” Agnes repeated.

  “Yes ma’am, we’ve had some locals in and they swear by it.”

  “That should be nice, a great start to a Saturday,” Eve said cheerfully. “A round of Arnie Palmers would put this over the top.”

  “Of course ma’am, I will have those out right away.”

  Hector spun around and disappeared back inside to get their drinks. As he left, Eve turned and gazed around the restaurant soaking in the decadence and elaborate scenery. Outside, a couple of college-aged kids waved and whistled as they headed towards the river.

  “Hey sexy ladies!” one of them yelled.

  Eve tried to suppress a giggle, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Aw, Eve he thinks you’re a sexy lady,” Marc jested.

  Eve slapped him on the arm and rolled her eyes. Agnes squinted and gritted her teeth. She leaned forward and propped her head up with her arms.

  “Sexy lady,” she mumbled under her breath.

  Closing her eyes she thought back to a distant time, a time when she was much younger and far less clever. The year was 1971 and she’d just finished a double shift at a rundown Jazz club. Now she was walking home with aching feet and sore legs.

  She moved swiftly through the narrow alleys of Baton Rouge. It was nearly five in the morning and aside from a few drunken hoboes the streets were deserted. Agnes had walked this route countless times, but something about that night was different.

  Between her footsteps she could hear something else. A muffled clicking noise that was moving quickly towards her.

  Agnes could feel the drum beat of panic thumping inside of her chest. Her breathing sped up and sweat trickled down her palms.

  “Hey sexy lady,” a voice called from behind her.

  Agnes spun around and pulled a small pocket knife from her purse. To her relief there was no one behind her. Without hesitation she turned back around and made a run for her apartment.

  Sprinting inside she slammed the door and breathed a sigh of relief. She leaned her head back against the door and slipped the knife back into her purse. Still trying to catch her breath Agnes turned around and bolted the door. Then she sat her purse onto a small table and took a step forward.

  Something moved in front of her and she froze. There was a man standing in the shadows, staring at her intently. He crept towards her like an apparition, moving awkwardly and silent.

  Agnes wanted to scream or run, but she couldn’t find the will. She stood there, frozen in her own skin, petrified from the icy fear that crawled through her veins.

  The man moved closer and reached out towards her face. “Welcome home Agnes.”

  “Agnes!” Marc’s voice echoed in her ears.

  Agnes jumped and almost fell out of her chair. She looked around in confusion as her whereabouts slowly came back to her. A watered down Arnie Palmer was sitting in front of her. Beads of water dripped from the glass and puddled onto the wooden table.

  “Agnes,” Marc called again less harshly.

  Her eyes focused and she looked to him.

  “Are you okay? You seemed to go away for a bit.”

  “I’m fine… just got caught in a daydream. My apologies, were you saying something?”

  “I was telling Eve about some of the work you’re doing with the department over at NYU. I’ve gotta say it’s pretty fascinating stuff,” Marc said in an impressed tone.

  “Thank you Marc. That means a lot. Sometimes I think I’m beating my head against a wall,” Agnes said.

  She grabbed her drink and took a sip then cleared her throat. Hector reappeared and sat a plate of shrimp medley on the center of the table.

  “Compliments of the chef,” he said. “Shall I take your orders now?”

  Marc nodded and gestured towards Agnes.

  “I’ll just have a bowl of soup,” she said and wiped her face with a wet napkin.

  Once they were done ordering Hector hurried off to refill their drinks. Eve watched Agnes with a wary eye, not certain what to make of her just yet.

  “So I understand you had a few questions, involving a case you’re working on,” Agnes said and raised her eyebrows.

  “Yes…yes, we um, well we’re at a bit of a standstill. I can’t go into too much detail that hasn’t been released yet, but I’m sure you’ve heard about the string of murders recently. The bodies are being found on the Hudson,” Eve said and nodded towards the water.

  “I did,” Agnes declared with a stone face. “Very unsettling things.”

  “I’m working a lead, we think some type of paralytic drug might have been used.”

  “What makes you say that?” Agnes leaned forward.

  “They found meta…metabol—”

  “Metabolites,” Marc finished for her.

  She smiled at him thankfully. “Yes, metabolites, but we don’t have much else to go off of. All of the victims were drowned and none show any sign of struggle. We believe they were paralyzed before being drowned. Although we can’t prove it, but if that’s true finding the drug used would go a long way to finding the killer.”

  Agnes pursed her lips and rubbed her chin. She opened her mouth and closed it again then reached forward and took a chip from the plate.

  “Sux,” she mumbled as she crunched the chip in between her teeth.

  “It sucks?” Eve asked.

  Agnes giggled and shook her head. “No, sux…succinylcholine. That’s probably the drug you are looking for. It would be the easiest to get.”

  Marc nodded and Eve’s face lit up with optimism.

  “It’s a short term muscle relaxer,” Agnes continued. “It’s used quite frequently for intubation; most EMT’s would carry it.”

  “But would that work, I mean you need ventilators and the whole nine yards,” Marc added.

  “Well you need that to keep the patient alive. I assume your murderer isn’t really concerned with the victim’s well-being. Sux is convenient because of its quick onset. The effects are almost instant,” Agnes said casually and grabbed another chip.

  “But it wears off quickly, five minutes tops,” Marc said.

  “More than long enough to drown someone,” Agnes countered.

  Eve watched them go back and forth, working through the lethality of the drug Agnes referred to as sux. It seemed like the perfect murder weapon and the sewers provided the perfect vehicle to dispose of the bodies.

  “So they would be paralyzed, would they feel anything?” Eve asked.

  “Oh yes, they’d feel everything. Succinylcholine is simply a paralytic. It doesn’t have any sedative properties.”

  Eve covered her mouth and gasped. She envisioned the last victim having his penis severed while he was fully awake. “Barbaric,” she mumbled.

  “There are other drugs though, that have similar effects. But I’d start by looking for signs of sux.”

  “What should we be looking for?” Eve asked.

  “Well, you’ll never find any traces of the actual drug, it breaks down too fast. There are enzymes that you can check for though. Those are the metabolites that you guys found. I can work up a list of which ones to look for.”

  “That would help us so much Agnes.” Eve said enthusiastically.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Marc waved his hand toward Hector. “Another round please,” he said.

  Eve grabbed her drink and finished off the remainder. As she sat the glass down her cell phone suddenly rang.

  “Hello? Hey Sal, what’s up?” Eve asked and turned away from the table.

  Hector sat the drinks onto the table and grabbed the empty glasses. “Your food should be out shortly. Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked politely.

  “Fuck me!” Eve suddenly blurted out.

  “Eve,” Marc said bashfully.

  “Sorry,” Eve sa
id and jumped up from the table. “I have to go, they found another body.”

  CHAPTER 10

  EQUAL EMPLOYMENT

  “This last victim brings the total to eight in two months,” Henry said with a greedy smile on his face. “The NYPD’s ineptitude to keep the city safe seems to be growing by the hour.”

  “I’m gonna kill that guy,” Sal grumbled.

  “Let him be, we got bigger fish to fry,” Eve replied. “Captain says the mayor is on his way down.”

  Henry was standing next to a stream of yellow caution tape only yards away from the river. Sal and Eve were on the other side of the tape, talking to one another while the forensic team canvased the scene.

  It was a little after two in the afternoon and the bit of cool air had been chased away by the sun’s scorching rays. Sticky sweat collected into a tiny pool in Henry’s palms. A nervous excitement tingled through his fingers.

  “Looks like he’s drunk,” Sal said and shook his head.

  “I wish I was,” Eve frowned and shook her head.

  Henry grinned and straightened his tie. He hadn’t bothered with begging Sal and Eve for details this time. He hadn’t even spoken to them since arriving at the scene.

  With the smuggest look he could muster, Henry stared into the camera and cleared his throat. He gave a quick glance back to Sal and then started to speak. “While we don’t know this man’s identity we can now tell you he fits the same profile as all of the other victims. Hot News Channel 9 has confirmed that all eight of the victims were in their mid to late fifty’s with strikingly similar features.”

  Benny held his thumb up and then moved the camera closer. He grinned anxiously and stared at Henry like he was the second coming.

  Henry cleared his throat and lifted his chin. With the most pretentious look he could muster he started to speak. “We have also discovered the identity of the last victim, who is none other than Mayor Ronald Greenberg’s brother, Adam Greenberg,” Henry projected loudly.

  Sal suddenly flipped and tore across the caution tape. “You son of a bitch!” he yelled.

  Although he was a bit of an overweight officer, he suddenly moved like a cheetah. He grabbed Henry by the collar, knocking the microphone from his hands. In a clump they tumbled to the ground as Sal started to wail on him.

  Benny didn’t bat an eyelash. He kept the camera rolling as Sal pommeled Henry on live television. “This is great,” he mumbled to himself.

  “Shut that off!” Eve said, lunging at Benny.

  She smacked the front of his camera and he almost dropped it. Scrambling to grab the handle, Benny dropped to his knees. He barely caught it before it hit the ground.

  “Lady, are you nuts?” he said furiously.

  “You and that camera get the hell out of here or you’re gonna find out just how nuts I am.”

  “Freedom of the press lady,” Benny said defiantly and propped the camera back onto his shoulder. “I’m filming an obvious abuse of power. The city doesn’t take too kindly to police brutality.”

  “What the fuck!” Harper exclaimed as he ran under the tape and stopped short of the ensuing mayhem.

  “Get Sal off of him,” Eve yelled back. “You take that camera and move it. Now!” Eve shoved Benny and got in his face. “Your boss is gonna be brought up on charges of interfering with an active police investigation. Unless you want to join him in the back of a patrol car I suggest you head back to your shitty little van.”

  Benny glared at her. He bit his lip and cut his eyes. “Bitch,” he mumbled under his breath and stormed off.

  Eve whipped around and headed towards Sal. “What the hell are you thinking?” she blurted.

  Sal was doubled over huffing greedily. Henry was across from him nursing a bloody lip. Harper stood between them both with a confused look on his face. His hair was ruffled and he had his arms extended, ready to keep Sal at bay should he ever catch his breath.

  “Sal, have you lost your damn mind?” Eve was standing in front of him now.

  Sal looked up to speak, but his lungs demanded he remain silent. He lowered his eyes and made a grumbling noise.

  “And what the hell was that Henry? I’ve given you tons shit to run with and this is how you repay me! That name should’ve never been said, the last thing we need is a state of panic.”

  Henry frowned and looked away.

  “Fuck…him…” Sal managed to sputter before gasping for another mouthful of air.

  Eve shook her head and turned to Harper. “I got it from here. Check with Tony to see if they’ve found anything.”

  “Will do, but somehow I doubt it,” Harper said and walked back towards the river.

  “Who told you that name?” Eve asked and turned back to Henry with anger in her eyes.

  “Freedom of the press Rosario, you ever heard of it?” Henry said defiantly.

  “Don’t you start that shit,” Sal said and finally stood up. “Aint no freedom of the press for you, you sneaky shit.”

  “Give me a break Sal. I’m doing my damn job, maybe you should do yours.”

  “Okay…enough, both of you. Henry you should know better, you can’t go broadcasting unconfirmed rumors.”

  “It’s not unconfirmed and it’s not a rumor,” Henry said defensively.

  Eve shot a look to Sal and bit her lip. She turned back to Henry and simply stared at him.

  “It is true. I knew it,” Henry declared.

  “Where’d you hear it from?” Eve asked again.

  “Sorry detective, I’m not giving up my source. And frankly, I don’t understand why it matters.”

  Eve threw her hands into the air in exhaustion. Before she could react Sal had crossed the few steps and grabbed Henry by the arm.

  “Sal!” Eve screamed.

  “Get in your van and get the hell out of here Henry. And if I see you at one of my crime scenes again I’ll shoot your ass,” Sal demanded and shoved Henry away.

  Henry took a few steps then turned back to Sal and fumed. He gave Eve a sheepish look then made his way towards Benny who was waiting in the van.

  “Let’s see what Tony’s found,” Eve said and waved her hand, dismissing Henry.

  Tony was down near the water. He was scouring the shoreline with the other techs searching for anything that might have been overlooked.

  A body covered with a white sheet was lying in the grass. Eve looked down on the silhouette and grimaced. A firm hand patted her on the back.

  “We’ll get em kid,” Sal said.

  “Yeah, when? How many more bodies are we gonna find first?”

  “Detective, your buddy is back,” Harper interrupted them.

  Eve turned around and saw Henry making his way towards her, but he wasn’t alone. Several other news anchors trailed behind him, trotting to keep up. They were practically running with their microphones and cameras in tow.

  “Who the hell called the damn media?” Eve said with a shocked look on her face.

  “Do you need to ask?” Sal growled as he shot daggers at Henry.

  “Shit, here comes the captain,” Eve sputtered.

  “And the mayor,” Sal finished.

  Eve’s mouth fell open as she soaked in the ridiculous antics that followed. The rush of chaos was like a scene from a movie. A mob of reporters followed the mayor around like he was some kind of prophet. He waddled as quickly as his little legs would take him, his weight and tiny stature making excessive speed impossible.

  A podium was erected only yards away from the crime scene. Several men scrambled to hook up microphones and piece together wood slats to make a platform. The whole ordeal took less than five minutes, but the result was a setup that looked like it had been planned for days.

  Without as much as a glance in Eve’s direction, the mayor stepped onto the platform and arrogantly walked up to the podium. The captain stood behind him causing the mayor to look like a garden gnome in a suit.

  A frail blonde-haired man cleared his throat and leaned into the microphone.
“The mayor has prepared a statement.”

  “Are you serious?” Sal mumbled under his breath. “This is a crime scene. What is this clown thinking?”

  Eve shrugged her shoulders and let out a long breath. She turned towards the platform and braced herself for whatever the mayor might have to say.

  With an entitled look the mayor stepped up to the microphone and waved. “Thank you all for gathering on such short notice. I know this is rather odd, but here we are at yet another crime scene, another life ended prematurely. I want to reassure you all that we are doing everything in our power to put an end to this madness,” the mayor said adamantly.

  He spoke eloquently, but there was always an arrogant tone to his words. Eve rolled her eyes and grunted at everything he uttered from his mouth.

  “We are creating a task force and working the FBI to bring this deranged fugitive to justice. And I want you to rest assured no officer will sleep until this culprit is apprehended,” the mayor wrapped up his speech and stepped away from the podium.

  The skinny man lurched forward again. “The mayor will field a few questions.”

  Hands shot up as the reporters erupted into a flurry of unintelligible noise. Somehow above it all Henry’s voice rang through the crowd as he shouted his question as clearly as if no one had been talking.

  “Mayor is it true that the last victim found was your brother?”

  Everyone fell eerily silent. All of the color washed from the mayor’s face and he teetered back and forth. He opened his mouth then closed it then opened it again.

  “I…I, uh,” he began to stutter.

  The captain was furious. He clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. The department had a long reputation of leaking sensitive information to the media, and this wasn’t going to help their case.

  Eve and Sal were still stone-faced. Everything happened in a blur and they had little time to make sense of it.

  “The last victim identified was my brother, yes,” the mayor said as he found his voice. “This senseless tragedy has touched us all in some way and as a community we must come together.” The mayor turned his head and stared directly into the camera. “We will find you,” he said sternly. “We will track you down and bring you to justice. There is nowhere you can hide and no place we won’t go to get you.”