Murder in the Raw (Prologue Books) by Gault William Campbell

Author:Gault, William Campbell [Gault, William Campbell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781440539824
Publisher: F+W Media, Inc.
Published: 2012-01-15T06:00:00+00:00

9

I CURSED MYSELF for not having brought a gun, as I’d planned. Running down the alley, toward the light at the corner, I looked for cover I could use in case Red Nystrom stopped running.

I came to the street end, and hesitated.

Then I heard the sound of straight tail-pipes blasting and the screech of a souped car getting underway under full gun. I came out to the street just in time to see a chopped and channeled ‘34 Ford coupe go screaming around the next corner. I couldn’t make out the license number.

I came back into the bar the front way, and a woman pointed at me and screamed, “That’s him, that’s him — ”

The bartender shouted, “Shut up, all of you! I’ve phoned the police. This man’s a cop.”

A man near the doorway who’d lifted a chair set it down again and smiled shakily. I went to the phone and asked for the West Side Station.

Pascal wasn’t there, nor Caroline, nor Trask. They were off duty. Captain Apoyan happened to be in, and I finally got through to him.

I told him what had happened, and suggested he call Trask. I finished the call as the uniformed men from the prowl car arrived. They were followed, a few minutes later, by a detective from the Venice Station. By the time Trask and Pascal got there, the ambulance had come and gone.

The patrons had been shooed out by this time, but they were still outside and blocking traffic. The barroom was filled with photographers and reporters.

Flash bulbs popped and reporters yacked and the cops grumbled. Pascal and Trask took me into the room where Sue Ellen had died.

“You’d go into court and swear it was Nystrom?” Trask asked me.

“I didn’t see his face. I saw that build of his and the red fringe on top. There aren’t many men who look like he does.”

“That still wouldn’t be enough. How about the car?”

“I didn’t get the license number. It was a black ‘34 Ford coupe. Chopped and channeled, with twin tail-pipes.”

“That’s the kind those two hoodlums drive,” Pascal said.

“And dozens of others,” I said. “It’s a popular model. I thought you guys had a tail on Nystrom.”

Trask didn’t answer that. He shook his head and rubbed one cheek tiredly. “We know it’s Nystrom. But we can’t sentence people. Will the judge accept it, or a jury?”

“I haven’t told you all of it,” I said. I went on to tell them the story Sue Ellen had given me before she’d died.

Dave Trask looked less tired. “Well, now, that’s a little better. We take that into court and — ” He looked at me meaningly. “ — your memory gets a little better, we’ve got a case. You saw his face, all right, didn’t you?”

I shook my head.

Pascal said contemptuously, “A square we’ve got, Lieutenant. We all know it’s Nystrom. We’d all stake our lives on it. But Callahan, he likes to see guys like that run loose. What’s justice to a hairsplitter like Callahan?”

I looked at Pascal.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.