Part II-Chapter 11: THREE MESSAGES

 

Chapter 11

Three Messages
(Ó 2009)

Three Hours Later

The size of the crowd had diminished significantly. David stood in the now empty side alleyway of the apartment building with the others still trying to comprehend what had taken place earlier. The initial investigations through interviews with the first officers on the scene, as well as any witnesses, had produced a strange scenario. Whomever it was that attacked Carlito Garza had somehow entered the apartment. The attacker also somehow remained unseen and undetected not only to Daisy Humene while in the apartment, but to those in the entire building and neighborhood as well. And to make things even stranger, during the search of the bedroom where Carlito was attacked, Noel had discovered that the bedroom window had been forced open … from the outside. This had even led to the even stranger notion that the attacker had entered the apartment through this window, which was three stories up from the pavement of the side alleyway with no balcony.

David looked up to the bedroom window, which was located at a far distance from the entry of the alleyway. “Well, it is pretty dark, dark enough anyway, especially if the attacker was in dark clothing. Which I highly believe he was.”

“And who’s going to be looking up in that direction anyway?” Celia said.

“Let’s go in the back.” David said.

Ernie then said with a protesting tone, “Again?”

“Yeah again, I think that I just may have got this figured.” Everyone then followed David to the far end of the alleyway which led to a service alley which was large enough for all service and utility trucks to pass through. Located here were the large garbage bins where the refuse from the tenants of all the buildings was placed for collection. Also all the back door entries for large delivery vehicles and moving vans could come to park and let their crews do any of the jobs they needed to do. These alleyways also were very dimly lit. David stepped over to the corner of the building where there was a drainpipe that was attached to the side of the wall that led upwards all the way to the roof. David grasped onto the pipe with both his hands and then using his entire body he began pulling violently on the pipe. He then looked and saw the old collapsible fire escapes on the back side of the buildings and took a mental note.

When he finished his examination he said to the others, “Yeah, they made these old buildings to last back in the day. You see the brick here? You know what’s underneath this layer of brick? Another layer of brick, that’s what. Who knows, maybe even a third. You could crash you car into this and I guarantee that you‘re going to lose. This pipe here, it allows the rainwater to drain from the roof and onto the pavement. They didn’t go cheap on this shit either back in those days, that’s some thick assed gauge on that pipe.” David then stepped to the center of the back alley and looked in both directions. He then turned on a flashlight that he had in his possession and used it to see down through the darkness. “Yep, they built all the buildings the same back then in the good old days. One set of blueprints for about eight buildings, here and across the street.” He looked further down in both directions, “Gets even darker as you go down.” He said. Then he looked upwards to the building and said, “I hate to do this to you all, but we have to go up on the roof … again.”

There were moans of protest, but Captain Xiang quickly quelled them. So then the group re-entered the building through the front doors and began the four story trek up the stairwells and onto the buildings rooftop. Here too it was very dark. After resting a moment for all to catch their breath, David then turned on his flashlight again and began to step to the side of the building where the bedroom window of Carlito Garza was located. He looked over the side of the building to see the location of the bedroom window, and then he turned around and explored the rooftop area directly behind him. There, a few feet away, was a set of pipes coming up from the rooftop, bending around a short distance, and then re-entering the base of the roof. David placed the beam of the flashlight on these pipes and then approached them. He then began to examine them closely. He crouched down then began to examine the first pipe, which appeared to be the strongest of the group and looked over the entire length of it. It didn’t take long for him to discover something. “Ski!” he called out, “Take a look at this.”

Noel stepped over to his partner, closely followed by all the others. The party gathered around David and looked down to where the beam from his flashlight was pointing to. David also pointed with his finger where the section of the pipe curved when the threaded end met the coupling. The pipe itself was painted grey and there was some residue of corrosion where the two pieces met. The rust was disturbed as if something had been rubbing against it and it left an imprint into the paint. Noel then spoke, “Yep, looks like a rope mark to me.” He then stood and looked behind him to the ledge of the rooftop and he then stepped over to it. He looked down to the bottom of the alleyway and then upwards to the third floor window that was Carlito and Daisy’s bedroom. Then he looked down to the ledge itself and saw what appeared to be rope marks there also. “Got the same here Dave.” With that the entire entourage came over to where Noel was standing to see the marks that he had found.

David looked again over the ledge and around the alleyway below, he then looked at the buildings directly beside the one he was on as well as to the structures across the street that were exact duplicates of the one that they all now stood atop of. All the rooftops were level with each other. He then asked, “Hey Ernie, in your opinion, do you think that anyone who has somewhat of any athletic ability would be able to jump from this rooftop to any of the ones next door?”

Ernie Adams stepped over to the edge of the rooftop and looked. He pursed his lips, nodded and answered, “Sure, I had to do it myself just a few weeks ago and look at me, I ain’t no Michael Jordan.”

David looked him over up and down and said sarcastically, “No, no you ain’t. Well then, just think how easy it is then for some guy who is like Jordan, maybe even better.” He then looked over past Ernie’s shoulder to the back corner of the building, and then motioned to them all, “Here, Come with me.” With that they all followed him to the back corner where he again stopped at the edge of the building and looked down to the view of the back service alleys. There he looked over the side of the building to see the drainpipe that came up from the alley and up the side of the building close to where he was standing. “Okay, here’s what I think went down, first of all, as with all the times before, he’s been watching this place, and he’s had to have been watching it for quite some time.”

Noel then said, “And I’ll bet our pensions that he’s even been inside this building many times.”

 

“It’s my pension you’re betting, and I’d let you do it.” David said, “Anyway he felt comfortable or just waited for the most opportune time to come, whatever it was. But like I said, in the old days they built these buildings to last. That pipe is strong enough for all of us to climb up on, plus the old fire escapes there. A man of great athletic ability, plus the fact that he has no fear, could have easily scaled the side of the building using the drainpipe here, because it would be the most quiet way to come up here.” He then looked back to the direction from whence they all came, “He then proceeded over to those pipes over there, where he used them as an anchor for the rope he had, which he then threw over the side and used it to scale down to Carlito Garza’s window.”

Noel then intervened, “Where he then jimmied the window open, and waited.”

“Yep.” Said David, “A skilled climber could have hung there for some time, and seeing how dark it is, and with the right skill, he remained there totally undetected.”

“He’s been coming in and out of this building probably the whole time since Gem P’s debacle, maybe even longer, that shows how skilled he is at going undetected.” Noel added.

“Right,” David said, “and from the time frame that we know of, he was in and out of here tonight in a matter of minutes.” David then stepped back to the area where he believed the attacker lowered himself down. “With what we know from the past, he traveled here very light, a rope and a knife were all that he believed he would have needed. Once he got in, he did what he did, he went back out the window, scaled back up, gathered his rope together …”

“As well as any other package he may have taken and brought with him.” Celia added.

“Yes, along with what ever he took here from Carlito.” David added, “He then tossed the package onto the next rooftop, then jumped over there himself and probably continued on to the next as well to where the service alley is darkest. I think he then scaled down the length of that building, again using the drainpipe. Once he hit the ground, he just walking away calmly like someone without a care in the world.”

“Yeah,” Noel said, “This time using the chaos and confusion to cover for him. Everyone in the building responding to that crazy bitch and her screaming. Think about it, he could have even stayed up here on the roof for a while. As the commotion grew down there, it kept everyone’s attention there also. With all eyes looking elsewhere, he slips away easy up here and then down the street.”

Ernie then added, “Yeah, he could have even been in that crowd for all we know.” David and Noel both looked at Ernie, “Seems you two are starting to think like him.”

“We are,” David said, “and it’s nothing so great let me tell you. We had to start putting ourselves in his head but all we can get is how he does it, the ‘why’ part is the mystery. But, the ‘why’ part is coming to light a bit. Considering all this other shit we’re coming across. But that too seems to have a wall set up, there’s more to the ‘why’ part, and that’s what gets to the both of us.”

Celia then asked, “You guys both still believe that he’s trying to communicate with you two?”

“Yeah we do.” David said.

Then Ernie spoke up, “Well then what do you think the message is this time?”

David sighed, smiled slightly and then answered, “Well, actually, three messages have come mind for me.”

“Three?” Ernie answered surprised, “What are they?”

David answered, “Well one, he’s telling us this, ‘Look! Just look at what I can do.’ He outdoes himself every time. This time he broke with any and all M.O. he had, he did this in the middle of the week, when usually he would do so on a weekend. And really, just look at what he can do. He comes here, and attacks some high ranking shithead, in his own house, with everyone in it, in a matter of maybe seconds, and then maybe takes a shitload of cash, then slips out, all unnoticed. Now that takes some skill, that takes some balls.

“Second, the message is the same as the others; all this shit here is NOT the real story. There is something else going on here that we all have to figure out. There is more to this than just another dirt bag with a broken back. We know this because there has been some talk of this missing cash. Unfortunately we’re not going to know anything more about that for the next few days after they get Carlito stabilized. Speaking of all that other shit, how you guys coming with Stillwater?”

Ernie answered, “Well, we did manage some time ago to get a couple of operatives in her office. It took some time but they both got in the good graces with everyone there. Both our people tell us that there has been some tension there for some time. One of the plants even got promoted you might say, she’s working in the financial office, she told them she’s got no accounting skills, but they told her not to worry that they train her. But from what they both hear, some money is missing from the campaign funds. Some big money.”

“I’ll guess about three million bucks worth?” Noel asked.

“Yes, could be that much. Our plant says that they are not really saying much around her, but she picks things up.”

Noel then asked, “So it looks as though Dee Dee never left the 4-S, she could be making some serious cash on the side through her funds there.”

“Looks that way, it’s all circumstantial right now.”

Then David added, “Circumstantial as well as coincidental. Sounds as if the good alderwoman is using her clout and may be using her office for some drug trade. Great cover for her, I bet she’s running the 4-S, and has been all along. Gem P is just a front.”

“Looks that way,” Ernie, “ain’t that like good old Chicago politics. Shit man, nothing’s really changed since Capone.” Ernie then said, “And like the days of Capone, it’s going to be hard to nail that bitch.”

Noel then said, “Maybe not.”

“What do you mean?” Ernie asked.

“If there is another large amount of cash missing from here, then again, the rats are gonna scatter and the cockroaches are going to surface. As with Stillwater, we‘ll have something come to the surface here, then the meltdown could start. Hell old Dee Dee doesn’t even know anyone is onto her yet, right?”

“Right.” Ernie answered, “Our ladies on the inside don’t even meet us to update us, they each have one of those new portable phones that they keep in their homes, and they call us from there every night and fill us in. We have scheduled times that they call. So far it’s worked out great. Everyone down at Stillwater’s office just think they go home at night, the plants have no phone service in their apartments and use a pay phone there in their building to call the good alderwoman’s headquarters. These two girls we got in there, they’re good, real good.” Ernie paused for a second and then asked, “So, what’s number three?”

“Pardon?” David asked.

“Three. Number three. You said that there are three messages from you guy here.”

“Oh yes, that.” David said, and then he smiled and asked, “Are you a Cub fan?”

“Yeah,” Ernie answered, “I like the Cubs. Why?”

“Then you know the third message, you guys say it every September. With the timetable the vigilante is practicing, he’s now telling us what all you Cub fans say. ‘Wait til next year.’ Yeah, ju---uust wait until next year.” - - -

- - - He opened his eyes again to see the ceiling fan spinning in its monotonous motion as he lay on his bed in the dark. He had been drifting in and out of his sleep since his arrival to his home just after midnight. Whether it was from the excitement of the evening, or his body was still in the effects of the adrenaline, he had trouble getting to sleep.

It went well; it all went so well, this latest mission. It was as if he were back in his former life. And the speed of which it all happened. In and out in less than sixty seconds and the only one hurt was the target.

And, he believed he saw them also, those two police officers, he believed he saw them as they sped past him as he strolled down Fullerton Avenue with the package he retrieved from the mission. The package that contained what would have given the target power. What they needed to continue be what they are. Now, the two policemen soon will find what the neutralized target will lead them to.

He knew they would, it will just take some time and effort on their part. For he watches them as they progress and they always get on the right track.

Yes, he thought to himself, they will learn everything soon, for they are like him. They will learn and they will do what must be done. They will do this, for he has total faith in them.