Chapter 20
Elliot and Joe approached the house on Long Island. Jet had made up a good cover story to get them in the door, but eventually the questioning would have to get to the matter at hand. Joe was hoping that Elliot's long career would help them in this situation. His thoughts refocused when Elliot rang the doorbell.
"Can I help you?" An older woman asked after she opened the door. She had to be in her sixties as her brown hair was starting to get white and gray in spots.
"We're sorry to bother you ma'am, but is your husband home?" Elliot flashed his badge before introducing himself and Joe.
"He hasn't done anything ma'am. We'd actually like to pick his brain," Joe gave her a small smile.
"Someone else doing something stupid huh? Well, you might as go bother Steve in the garage," she gave them a wink and pointed to the garage on the side of the house. The two detectives thanked her and then moved around to the garage. There they found Steve under an older Ford Mustang.
"He's lucky that we don't have a parole officer to talk to," Elliot teased Joe, loud enough that the man heard them and scooted out from under the vehicle.
"Last time I checked, I was allowed to have a personal vehicle," Steve said as he stood up and wiped the oil off his hands on an oily rag.
"You are. My partner was teasing," Joe flashed his badge and Elliot did as well before introducing themselves as auto theft detectives.
"A kidder huh? So why me?" Steve wanted to know as he leaned against the older sports car.
"Well believe it or not, we could use your help," Elliot said. That piqued the former chop shop owner's interest.
"We have a group of kids stealing older cars. Seems kind of silly since they aren't worth much, but then again, they're easier to steal. Less electronics, less likely the owner has an alarm system on them, and less likely anyone would be worried about getting them back," the elder detective continued.
"They're hoping for scrap metal before most of the vehicles went plastic," Steve figured.
"Yeah, we thought so but there was a hiccup…" Elliot frowned.
"What kind of hiccup?" The former criminal raised an eyebrow.
"Little old lady refused to get out of the car. Had a heart attack and died. As you can imagine the kids took off leaving the poor woman behind," Joe spoke up.
"Geez. Bunch of morons," Steve shook his head.
"Well, they aren't geniuses, left their fingerprints in the car. Thing is, why try and steal a car that was obviously occupied? First rule of car stealing for a chop shop, is to steal a car that isn't occupied, right?" Elliot asked.
"If I were still in the business, I would never take cars from teenagers. They're sloppy and don't have the patience to make sure of their surroundings. Last thing you'd need is to have the cops knocking on your door because they tailed some idiot right to you," Steve was still just shaking his head.
"Know anyone who'd take the risk?" It was a backdoor question from Elliot. So far, the assumption was that Ron Davidson had been snatched at work. It was regrettable that the two who had snatched the Davidson's car were dead. He doubted the question would get them anywhere.
"Probably have been out of the game too long for that. If he's still kicking, Brent Taylor. He'd have stolen a car with only three wheels on it if he thought he could make a profit," Steve told them.
"Good to know," Joe nodded as he wrote the name down.
"I hate to say this, but we could have talked over the phone. Why did you come see me in person?" The former criminal wanted to know.
"Well, this case is kind of similar to the case that got you busted. Your little helpers stole a car and the person was still inside. Poor guy was never found and your cohorts never admitted that they did something to him," Elliot got down to brass tax.
"That's because they didn't kidnap him or hurt him. They found the car that way, which is why I told them to torch it, after I yelled at them. No one was going to believe that they just stumbled onto a car with the keys on the ground and the driver's side door wide open. It was then that I probably should have closed up shop and bailed but I wasn't about to make my kids go on the run with me and make my wife a party to all of my less than legal activities. Besides, no one got hurt – except the insurance companies," Steve figured.
"In it for the money?" Joe wondered.
"It was the only way to keep my car repair place open. It wasn't smart but I was trying to pay the mortgage. They never found that guy?" The man was surprised.
"Nope. That's why we figured we'd double back. Since you gave us a lead, we'll start there with our sloppy teenagers," Elliot said, knowing that they weren't going to get more out of him. The two detectives thanked him and then left the property.
"You believe him?" Joe asked when they got into the SUV.
"I do but then again, I figured he wasn't going to be the tough nut to crack. His partner on the other hand…" Elliot trailed off as he pulled back onto the street, heading back toward the city. Joe nodded. A person doesn't just start a chop shop. You have to have connections. Steve didn't have the connections – his partner, Thomas Luling, did.
To Be Continued…
