The End of the Beginning by Carl Douglass

Author:Carl Douglass
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Publication Consultants

Chapter Eight

The RCPD SWAT captain finished his count “…four, five.” The front and rear doors shattered from the SWAT battering rams. Noise from two dozen cops, two brilliant flash bangs, and an impenetrable cloud of smoke filled the first floor of the new house. The sole occupant screamed and huddled on the floor. He was not nearly the fire-breather who had faced down the two private detectives earlier in the day. Lt. Burger rode in the ambulance to the San Antonio Community Hospital on Milliken Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga with Henk van der Hoef. Although the thoroughly cowed Dutchman probably did not need restraints, Burger kept handcuffs on him for the entire ambulance ride and during his stay in the ER. That stay was brief; the only thing wrong with him was a pair of ringing ears and slowly improving snow blindness.

Burger and Grizzly drove Henk to Parker Center and ungently sat him down on a hard metal chair with his hands and feet cuffed to steel rings on the table and the floor.

“Time to talk, Henk. You don’t mind if I call you Henk, do you?”

“It’s my name, ain’t it?”

“Well, Henk, as we say out here in the West, you are in a heap of trouble. First of all you took a shot at two citizens just going about their work. That’s attempted murder. And it gets worse. We did a little look-around in your house. Guess what we found?”

“I give up. Is this some kind of a stupid game?”

“No game. No, Sir, nothing fun or funny here. We found a pawn ticket from the Pawrump, Nye County, Nevada Dollar and a Half Pawn shop. Signed by a Mr. Axelrod. Any of that ring a bell, Henk?”

“Maybe, what of it?”

“There’s a bit more. We looked around in some kinda hidden drawers in your new place. We found some fancy lady’s jewelry there. Now, you don’t look like the type to wear such expensive and feminine bling; so, we did a little investigating. Lo, and behold, we found out that all of that jewelry was stolen. Am I getting through to you, Henk?”

“Whatta you want outta me?”

“Before I share that with you, I have one more thing to let you know about. It seems that the jewelry was part of a major heist during a murder—a particularly nasty murder. I’m about to ask you a couple of more questions, but every question it takes to get to the full truth is going to go against you when I make my recommendations to the DA. So, anything you want to tell me?”

“Maybe, I oughta get a lawyer.”

“Maybe so, but as soon as you do, we can’t make any offers. You know that, right?”

“I guess so,” Henk said, a little less confidently.

“How did you get that jewelry? Don’t waste my time with denials. We have you cold on personal possession and for selling the stolen goods. At the very least we have you on felony murder.”

“What’s that? I thought murder was a felony period.

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.