A Killer Past Read Free

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    ‘I wanted to catch you two before you headed home, see what the status was with those teens from last night.’
    ‘You mean the ones in the shoot-out at the trailer park?’ she asked, slipping off her leather jacket.
    ‘No.’ That gang fight had been on the eleven o’clock news. ‘County boys got that, didn’t they?’
    ‘We offered our services,’ Stewart said. ‘They said they had it under control.’
    ‘Glad to hear that. No, I’m talking about the mugging on Archer Street.’
    ‘They’re not pressing charges.’ Stewart walked back to Jack’s cubicle and dropped into the chair next to Jack’s desk. ‘Neither one of them. They’re now saying they simply tripped and fell.’
    ‘You tell them you didn’t believe them?’
    ‘We told them,’ Jennifer answered, her voice easily carrying in the near-empty building. ‘I asked the one with the dislocated shoulder if he was always that accident prone. He just glared at me.’
    Jack looked at Stewart. The officer was at the end of an eight-hour shift, but he looked like he’d been up for days. ‘You getting enough sleep?’
    ‘Not yesterday. Had to take my kid to the doctor.’
    ‘Anything serious?’
    ‘Asthma attack. Valerie thinks we should move somewhere warmer.’
    Jack knew Stewart’s wife didn’t like Michigan winters and had been pushing him to apply for a job with one of the police forces on the west coast. Once the economy picked up and the job market opened, Rivershore would probably lose him.
    ‘Go on home,’ he urged. ‘You can write up your report tonight.’
    ‘I think I will.’ Stewart yawned as he pulled out a notebook. ‘Here’s what we have so far. Names of the two victims are Manny Ortega and Carlos Perez. Ortega is the one with the dislocated shoulder; Perez has the broken nose and dislocated knee. Both age nineteen; both new to the area. Ortega had a green card. Perez said he was born in LA, and he does have a California driver’s license. No warrants for either, as far as I could tell.’
    ‘They say why they were in that area late last night?’ Jack asked.
    ‘Said they were looking at a house, thinking they might buy one,’ Jennifer said, coming over to stand beside her partner.
    Stewart glanced up at her, then looked back at Jack. ‘One of the neighbors we interviewed said the two had been sitting on the steps in front of the house for at least an hour, smoking weed.’
    ‘Maybe that’s why they tripped and fell.’ Not that Jack believed that story.
    ‘Yeah, right,’ Stewart scoffed. ‘By the way, they had a couple of “friends” visiting them when we arrived at the ER to interview them. Those “friends” left as soon as we stepped into the room.’
    ‘Fellow gang members, I’m sure,’ Jennifer added. ‘No one said as much, but both had the RB tattoos and blue scarves.’
    ‘Which explains why the two aren’t pressing charges,’ Jack said. ‘They’re going to take care of this situation without our help.’
    Jennifer nodded in agreement. ‘Worst part is, we still have no idea who the woman was or even if it was a woman. I interviewed Mrs Black, the woman you talked to.’ She chuckled. ‘You said you smelled liquor on her breath… . Well, she was absolutely out of it by the time I got to her. Best she could give me was “It looked like an old woman, she wasn’t very tall, and she limped.”’
    ‘Did she say if the woman was white or black? Color of hair? Anything?’ Over the years, Jack had learned every detail could help.
    ‘She said with that street light out and the person walking away from her, she couldn’t really tell, but she thought the person had dark hair. That or she was wearing a dark hat. Mrs Black was sure the woman had on a dark-colored jacket, dark slacks, and shoes.’
    Jack leaned back in his chair. ‘We need to find that person.’
    ‘Radio and TV newscasts are asking anyone with information to call.’ Jennifer rolled her eyes. ‘But you know how likely