Justice in Slow Motion by Patrick Kanouse

Author:Patrick Kanouse [Kanouse, Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: crime, Mystery, detective, Hard-Boiled, hardboiled, Police Procedural, Urban, chicago
Publisher: Walter Glenn Publishing
Published: 2018-07-13T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

At Central, Drexel reviewed his notes about Ricardo’s background and reading more in depth the documentation around his three arrests since Ricardo left the Latin Cobras. The 2012 incident seemed to be a simple road rage incident that, fortunately for both Ricardo and the victim, Jesse Sebastian, the chef threw a single punch only. A witness, Ja’won Harding, to the accident from his truck, called 911 and then hovered around the screaming Ricardo. When Ricardo threw the punch, Harding stepped in and separated the two.

The second arrest Drexel agreed with Daniela, the victim—Scott Quibly—had called Ricardo a “tacohead.” Besides being a slur, it also must have touched the chef vein in Ricardo. The incident started with either Scott or Ricardo—contradictory accounts from the witnesses made determining the truth of that evening impossible—cutting in line to order drinks at the popular bar Neon Nights. Accusations flew. Quibly shouted the slur. Ricardo throws a punch and gets a few more in before bar security pulls them apart. Quibly insisted the police be called. The police convinced him to drop the matter once all were at the station.

The third one occurred at Ricardo’s restaurant, Tastes of the World. One of his cooks, Mike Staukus, had overcooked the mussels twice in a row. Ricardo screamed at Mike for several minutes, an explosion of invective heard in the dining room, before shoving Mike off the line. Mike pushed back, and Ricardo let fly a punch. Mike was fired despite dropping the charges but had since filed a lawsuit against Ricardo and Tastes of the World. The suit was still in pretrial discovery.

Drexel leaned back and rubbed his ear. Violent tendency. Accusations of plagiarism. Ricardo knew Vickie. Did it add up to murder? He looked up Tastes of the World on the computer and headed to its website. The restaurant was at the corner of 26th Street and Christian Avenue, in the heart of La Villita, and a few blocks west of David Hussain’s The Village Eatery. La Villita was part of South Lawndale and was currently the hub of the Mexican-American presence in Chicago.

From the pictures on the Tastes of the World’s website, the place seemed casual. Drexel clicked the About page, which opened with a picture of Ricardo in a black chef’s jacket and a Chicago Fire baseball cap. In a classic chef pose, he had his arms crossed against his chest. The angle was tilted about 20 degrees, giving it a modern flavor. The description read:

Inspired by his travels in Colombia, Turkey, Korea, Lebanon, and other magnificent places, Chef Ricardo Gonzalez brings tastes of the world to La Villita. Come in and try his spin on the street food of the world: kebabs, empanadas, hot dogs, gimbap, and many others. Menu changes daily.

Hours were daily from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. A number of one-liners from customer reviews appeared below the description. “Amazing. I could eat here every day” by Daaaaave01 and “The empanadas are to die for” by fuze023. And several other reviews in the same vein.

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