The Next Morning
Mike was feeling his years as he walked through the hallway of the police station. It had been a long night, but he felt obligated and determined to make progress on identifying and capturing the shooter. Rudy saw him slowly approaching with a somber look.
"Mike, how's Steve?" the captain asked. "You don't look like you've slept a wink."
"I was at the hospital for quite some time last night," Mike looked worn through. "But I finally went home and got a few hours of sleep. Steve had a setback, but was doing better when I left."
"Oh, no. What happened?"
"Well, he's developed an infection which still could become serious. In trying to treat it, they found that he's allergic to penicillin. And not just a slightly allergic - he's full blow allergic to it," Mike held his thumb and forefinger close and then swept his arms for effect. "He went into anaphylactic shock and stopped breathing."
"Good Lord. But they caught that and he's okay, right?"
"Yes, they caught it quickly, so I don't think more harm has been done. The bad thing there is that he's on a breathing tube and will be for the next forty-eight hours. They don't want to see a relapse and instead want the medicine to work its way completely through to be sure. But, it's hard to see him like that."
"Where is he now?"
"I called this morning and he was still in ICU. They are going to keep him stabilized and lightly sedated until the breathing tube is out and his fever breaks. Before, he was in a lot of pain, and with that and the fever, the doctor is still concerned. There could be a complication with the wound in his side. He may need to go back into surgery."
"Mike, I'm sorry to hear this. I know you said at one point that he doesn't have any family. I know the guys here will have no problem in taking turns staying at the hospital and keeping vigil until he's turned the corner."
Mike nodded as Rudy wondered silently what he could do for his long time friend. The two men had shared good and bad times for over thirty years. Rudy was there for Mike's important milestones: his marriage to Helen, Jeannie's birth and his promotion to detective. He was also there when Helen died from breast cancer a half dozen years earlier and when he lost his first partner, Gus Charvnoski just a short time ago. Rudy prayed that Mike would not lose another partner, especially someone whose life was mostly in front of him.
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Mike entered his office and was quickly joined by Detective Bill Tanner, who provided a current status of the investigation after inquiring about Steve.
"We have an APB out based on the description that you provided. We also have a couple of witnesses who saw a late model dark blue Buick leaving the scene hurriedly after the shooting. No plates, but we are checking the rental car companies."
"Good," Mike nodded.. "It's a long shot, but it's with the try."
"We're also making a second sweep of the area now."
Mike listened and then shook his head. "The fact that the shooter called me by name," Mike continued, "puzzles me. I didn't recognize him at all. And he was so bold to shoot and then run like that. He had no fear of being recognized."
"It was professionally executed. The guy knew whom he was going to hit, had the distraction lined up and had a way out. He just didn't count on Steve pushing Spagnozzi out of the way. What did Steve see, Mike, that tipped him off?"
"I don't know," the older detective replied. "I hope to be able to ask him that at some point."
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It was just shortly after noon when the call came through. A housekeeper at the Stratton motel found a body in the tub, apparently electrocuted. A description matched that of the shooter.
Mike grabbed Tanner and they headed over to the motel. Mike had a strange feeling about this turn of events. He called over to one of his other men, Detective Dan Healy. "Healy, get a hold of Officer James Foster. He should be at home recovering from the shot in his hand. See if he can meet us at the Stratton motel."
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Tanner pulled into the motel parking lot. An ambulance was there along with several police and rescue vehicles. Looking up at the balcony of the second floor, it was clearly apparent which room had the activity. Near the outside door, a visibly shaken housekeeper was delivering her statement to police. Several other policemen were combing the area around the room.
Mike entered first and saw a stretcher with the victim under the blanket. A police officer recognized the lieutenant.
"We just pulled him from the tub, but not before the lab boys got pictures. They are taking samples from the water too. No ID or wallet, but we did find other personal belongings."
Mike nodded and walked over to the stretcher. He took a deep breath before lifting the blanket from the victim's head. Viewing a dead body was not anything Mike got used to. It always made him queasy simply because he knew that underneath was someone's son or daughter.
Upon viewing the body, Mike had to think. The man he saw the day before was fully clothed with a hat. This body was nude with wet matted hair and blue lips. But he saw the facial structure, which was the same. He flashed back and remembered coming face to face with the would-be killer.
Mike remembered back and recalled the gunman's brown eyes as he spoke directly to him the day before after shooting Steve and Spags. Mike shook himself into the presence and lifted the eyelids of the corpse. He could see a partial of the eyes that were now rolled upward. They were the same brown.
"This could be him," Mike said, somewhat shocked, as he replaced the blanket.
Minutes later Jim Foster arrived. "Jim," Mike called out. "Take a look and tell me what you think," he said as he motioned toward the corpse.
Officer Foster walked to stretcher and lifted the same blanket. He went pale as he nodded to the senior officer. When lifting the blanket, Foster cringed. "I think that's him. Wait a minute…," Foster stopped. "When he had his arm around my throat, I remember now, that he had a thick copper bracelet on. Have we found that?"
"You mean, one like this?" Tanner came walking out of the bathroom with the bracelet precariously balanced on the edge of a pen.
"That's it!" Foster replied.
"Well," Mike commented, "looks like we got the shooter. Question is: who got him?"
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Mike and Tanner interviewed the motel clerk and the poor, shaken housekeeper. The room was rented to a John Smith, which was clearly an alias. The clerk said she saw two men enter the room after they checked in and one of the men was clearly the decedent. This led the detectives to conclude that there definitely were two involved in the crime. One monitored each of the two entrances to the courthouse. Depending on where Spagnozzi and the police entered, the other man would provide a distraction and drive the getaway car.
"Did you get a license plate number on the car when they registered?" Tanner asked.
"I'll check the registration card," the clerk responded. Moments later she returned with the card. "No license plate, but they did write down the make and model of the car. It's a blue Buick Century. They wrote the state, but no plate number."
"Thank you both," Mike responded with a kind smile.
As they walked out of the motel lobby, Mike patted Tanner's shoulder.
"So, what do we have?" Mike asked aloud and then answered. "We have undoubtedly the dead shooter, but no name or identity as yet. We have some personal effects, including a copper bracelet. And we've got a car description that probably matches several hundred cars in the bay area."
"We can take prints from the body and see if we can run it against records. Maybe even try to match it against the FBI database. We might get some prints from the motel room or his personal effects that are the other guy's. Or we might be able to match the shooter to our mug shots. Chances are this guy has a prior arrest record." Tanner added as he got into the car.
"All right, then, let's get back to the station. We'll have Healy working on the car lead and you can see what you can get on the prints," Mike reasoned wearily.
Tanner looked at the older detective and could see something underlying his expression. "We can stop by the hospital on the way back to the station. It's right on the way," Tanner suggested helpfully..
Mike looked down and nodded his head. "I'd like that, Bill. Thanks."