Return of the Crown Prince

Chapter 04

4.1

Ironside brought his van to a stop at the curb in front of Barbara's apartment. He wheeled into the lift and pressed the button. He was immediately lowered to the ground. After taking a quick look around the neighborhood, he wheeled to the front door of the building. He pulled the door open and pulled his chair over the threshold by placing his hands on each side of the doorframes, and wheeling forward.

He wheeled to her door. Putting his hand out but stopping just short of ringing the bell, he sat for a moment remembering how upset she had gotten when he told her there was a possibility President Whitmore would ask for his help with the kidnappings. Of course that was before he knew he would not have to go to Washington D.C. He hoped that would keep her from flying off the handle.

He again reached out; only this time he rang the doorbell. Within a matter of a minute, the door opened. Barbara smiled and opened the door wider so that he wheel his chair into the living room. "You are early, Bob. I was not expecting you for at least an hour. Dinner is not ready yet."

"Early? It is rather late," Ironside said as he wheeled further in to the living room.

She looked at him with a slight smile. "That is not because of me. I could have gotten dinner ready much earlier."

"I could not get away from the office. Something has come up."

"Could it have to do with the crown prince?" She asked, already knowing the answer to her question.

"You don't miss anything do you?"

"It is all over the news. It is just a bit hard to miss. Do you want to switch to a more comfortable chair?"

"Thank you but no. I would just have to switch back to the wheelchair for dinner. I will wait until after we have eaten."

Barbara went into the kitchen and pulled down a bottle of bourbon from the cupboard, along with two glasses. She opened the bottle and poured its contents into both glasses. When she brought them into the living room, Ironside was turning up the sound on the television.

"We have it from a very good source that Officer Eve Whitfield, a member of Chief Robert T. Ironside's staff will be leaving the San Francisco police department to marry the Crown Prince, Miguel Boodaris. The crown prince will be visiting Miss Whitfield here in San Francisco. His highness will be arriving the day after tomorrow. Neither Officer Whitfield nor Chief Ironside could be reached for comment. In other news….

"They have been covering it all afternoon," Barbara said as she handed one of the glasses to the detective. "She is not really going to marry him, is she?" She asked as she took a sip of the bourbon.

"No," she isn't."

"Then why all the publicity about it," she asked, as he took a sip of his own from his glass.

"It is part of the plan to catch the kidnappers," Ironside said, watching her closely.

She set her glass down on the coffee table. Ironside knew that look on her face. She was already beginning to become upset. She headed toward the kitchen. "I have to check on dinner," Barbara snapped.

He turned his chair around and followed her into the kitchen. "He asked me to help. What would you have me do?"

With her back to him and tears threatening to escape, she attempted to control her voice. "When are you going to Washington?"

Ironside wheeled directly over to her and took her hand. "I'm not," he informed her.

Surprised, she turned and looked at him. "But I thought you just said he asked you to help?"

"He did. In fact he formally asked for my services through Commissioner Randall."

"Then I don't understand," Barbara said confused.

"Three out of six of the kidnappings took place right here in San Francisco. The president believes and I agree with him, the next attempt will be the crown prince. We also believe whoever has been doing these kidnappings has a connection in the state department. So we are going to try and find out who is doing it from here."

Barbara was instantly flooded with relief. The tears began to fall. He kissed the hand he was still holding. "It's alright baby. Nothing is going to happen to me. You know what they say, only the good die young. I could hardly be considered good." She moved into his arms and he held her. "Is that beef stew, I am smelling?"

She looked into his eyes as he wiped the tears away. "I promise you I will never take any chances that are not necessary. You have to stop worrying yourself sick over me. This is my job. It is what I do. Trust me to know what I am doing. He ran his thumb along her chin and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

When they separated, she smiled at him. "I do trust you. It is the maniacs you deal with I don't trust, Bob. I am glad to hear you will not be returning to Washington. And yes, that is beef stew you are smelling. I better get it out of the pot before it is not fit to eat."

During dinner, Ironside engaged her in conversation making sure he kept her away from the subject of the kidnappings. He wanted her to have a pleasant evening to help her forget her concerns over his safety. They retired to the living room where she put soft music on. They sat on the couch. His arm was around her. She intertwined her fingers with his. "Can you stay tonight?"

"I don't see why not. Do I have a shirt, suit and tie to put on in the morning?" He asked.

"With Eve's help, I always make sure you have what you need here."

"Alright, than I will call Mark and tell him I will not be back tonight. I will have to talk to Ed. He is checking into a witness that saw all three of the kidnappings."

"I guess I can allow you one interruption, but only one." She squeezed his hand. Barbara's phone rang.

"Don't answer it," Ironside said.

Barbara removed his arm from around her and said, "It could be one of your staff. We can't just not answer it." She got up and went over to the phone. Picking it up, she said, "Hello." She listened and looked back at Ironside. "Bob, it's for you." She brought the receiver to him and handed it over.

"Ironside," he barked.

"Chief, it's Eve. Ed had not reported in. Mark and I were starting to get worried so we called his car phone, his cell phone and his home phone. Chief, he is not answering any of them."

Ironside let what Eve said sink in. His detective sergeant should have reported in hours ago. He had just assumed Ed did not want to disturb him because he was with Barbara. He figured soon or later Ed would break down and call him. "Did you have a patrol car sent over to Simom Carmell's apartment?"

"No sir. We did not want to panic. We thought maybe he had reported directly to you," Eve answered.

"Well he hasn't," Ironside barked. "Get a patrol car over there at once!"

"Yes sir," she said.

"Give me the address, I will meet them, and you there." Ironside hit the button that terminated the call. "I am sorry Barbara, but I am not going to be able to stay after all. Ed did not report in and no one can reach him."

Disappointed, Barbara accepted his explanation without question. "I'll help you back into your chair."

4.2

"What the hell did you bring him here for?" The man yelled.

"I did not know what else to do with him. He walked in on me wasting Carmell."

"Why didn't you just plug him and be done with it?"

"Do you know who he is?"

"No. Why should I care?"

"I'll tell you why you should care. I checked his identification." He handed Brown's badge and id to him. "He's Sgt. Ed Brown. He works for Ironside. Do you really want me to kill him?"

"Ironside! Damn it! George is not going to like this."

"So that's his name, huh?"

"Yea, George Washington. That's what I call him. I don't know who he is. He never gave me his name. When he finds out we are holding Ironside's number one man, he is going to hit the roof. Are you sure he saw you?"

"No, he didn't see me, at least I don't think so. I hit him from behind. He turned his head when I did so I didn't want to take the chance. What are we going to do with him?"

"How the hell should I know? Where is he?"

"In the basement. I tied him up and blindfolded him."

"This is just great, just great. What in the hell are we going to do with him?"

"We can't kill him. Ironside would come after us with a vengeance. He would not stop until he found us."

"How could he find us? He doesn't know who we are. Maybe we should just kill Brown and dump the body in the bay."

"You are not from here, obviously. You don't kill one of Ironside's staff and then walk away. I am telling you he will never quit looking for us. He's a smart cop. He will find us if we kill Brown. Besides, I am not going to do it."

"You are getting an extra twenty five thousand dollars to handle this kind of thing. You will kill who you are told to."

"Not Ironside's boy. No way. I am not dealing with that crippled cop. Nobody in his right mind crosses Ironside. He's dangerous." He was shouting in agitation.

"Alright, calm down. We won't kill him for now. But you are going to have to take care of him." His face lit up.

"I don't like it when you get that look in your eye."

"Why not demand ransom for him? We can hold him here and demand, say fifty thousand extra. If Ironside is heading the prince's security then he will demand the government pay for Brown's ransom as well. He will want his boy back. This might not be so bad after all."

"You're crazy! Did you hear what I said? You don't mess with Ironside."

"Relax, Ironside will never see us. He will never even know who we are. Just quit worrying. If he becomes too much of a problem, we kill him too."

4.3

The chief slammed on the brakes in front of Simon Carmell's apartment. The vehicle screeched to a halt. Eve and Mark were already waiting for him when he lowered his chair to the ground.

"Where's Ed?" Ironside asked.

"He's not here, chief." Eve's face betrayed her calm composure with worry all over it.

"Where the flaming hell is he? That's his car over there," Ironside said as he pointed to the dark blue Ford.

"He is not here," Eve repeated.

"Who's in charge?" Ironside asked.

"Carl. He heard the call for all available units and showed up after Ed's name was mentioned. He took over immediately when he got here."

The chief felt a little relief knowing Carl was there. Besides Ed, Carl was the chief's choice to head up important cases. "Let's get inside."

Eve, Mark and Ironside proceeded to the door of the apartment building. Duffy, one of the chief's favorite police officers was guarding the door. "I would say good evening, chief but I know it is anything but, under the circumstances."

"You got that right," Ironside replied. "No sign of Ed at all?"

"I would not say that, sir. However, the signs that point to Ed are not good," Duffy told him.

Ironside did not like what he just heard. Duffy opened the door and Mark wheeled his boss into the building. When they arrived at the door of Simon Carmell's apartment, they were met by Lt. Carl Reese. "What's the story, Carl?"

"It's not good, chief. We found the keys to Ed's Ford. He must have dropped them when he was taken." Carl pointed out blood on the floor in front of the door. "It is probably Ed's," Carl said.

"Have it checked against Ed's blood type."

"It is already in the works," Carl said.

"What about Carmell?"

"He's in the bedroom. He's dead. Shot in the chest. It looks like Ed may have walked in just after it happened."

Ironside's face was granite hard. To most it would appear that he was showing no emotion what so ever but to Eve and Mark, they could see worry etched in his handsome face. "Eve, talk to the neighbors. Find out if they heard or saw anything. Carl, I want to see Carmell's body."

"This way chief." Carl headed to the bedroom as Mark followed him, pushing Ironside's wheelchair. The police officers in the room clear a path for the ex-chief of detectives.

Simon Carmell was sprawled across the bed on his back with his legs and arms extended. His chest was covered in blood. Ironside wheeled toward the dead man. He looked at the damage to the man's chest. "He was shot at close range. There are power burns on his shirt."

"That is what I figured as well. It was someone he knew," Carl said.

"The evidence points that way?" Ironside said.

Carl pulled a plastic bag out of his jacket. It contained a thirty eight gun. "This was found tucked in the waist of his slacks. If he had felt threatened he would have pulled the gun."

"He let whoever it was in. If he was worried about his safety, he would have found out who it was before he opened the door," Ironside said. "He must have trusted whoever it was, let him in and allowed him to stand very close to him. I agree, Carl, he must have known whoever killed him. Have this place dusted for prints, especially the door and the knob."

"It has already been done," Carl told the detective.

"There is no sign of a struggle in here at all," Ironside observed.

"None. Like I said it looks like Ed was clobbered as soon as he entered the apartment."

"Did you locate his service revolver?"

"Sorry chief. It was nowhere to be found."

"Why would they remove him from the apartment? If they had killed him, why not just leave him here with Carmell?" Ironside wheeled back over to the door where they had found the blood. If it were not for the fact that Carl was a trained detective the blood could have easily been overlook since the carpet was very close to the same color. "This could have come from a head wound. If they had shot Ed, there would have been a lot more blood then this."

"That's exactly what I thought. They must have dragged him out of here. There should have been a trail of blood out the door and down the hall but none was found," Carl said. "I would say Ed is still alive."

"At least he was when they took him," Ironside said grimly.

Eve re-entered the apartment. "Either the people in this building are the most unobservant people I have ever met or they didn't see anything."

"They are probably scared, Eve," Carl said. "Or they just don't want to get involved."

"No one would talk to you?" Ironside asked,

"Only one elderly woman. "She said a man entered the apartment. From her description, it was Ed. But she did not see him leave. What she did see was a man closing the trunk of a red sedan. She did not know the make or model, just the color."

"When she saw this man, how long after Ed entered the building?" Carl asked.

"She was not sure but she seemed to think it was within minutes," Eve answered.

"Alright, take her downtown and have her look through mug shots and see if she can identify him," he ordered. "Mark, drive Ed's car back to headquarters. Eve, I want you to go back to the Lighthouse and talk to the employees. Find out if any of them saw Carmell talking to anyone before the kidnappings took place. On second thought I'll go with you."

4.4

Sgt. Ed Brown slowly regained consciousness. The room he was held in was dark and damp. Ed surmised he was underground, perhaps a basement. He shook his head attempting to clear the fog that had overtaken him some time ago. It was then he realized he was blindfolded. How long ago he was brought here, he did not know. Was it the same day? He tried to remember where…..oh yes, the chief had ordered him to talk to Simon Carmell. Ed remembered arriving at Carmell's apartment and knocking on the door. It had opened and he had drawn his service revolver. When he entered the apartment, everything went black. That was the last thing he could remember.

Someone had hit him over the head when he entered. Why? All he was there for was to interview Carmell. Why would Carmell clobber him? If he had thought that Ed was breaking into the apartment, he would have called the police after he had knocked him out. Why would Carmell abduct him?

Ed attempted to call out. He could not utter a sound. Tape covered his mouth. He could feel his hands were bound behind his back. His feet were also bounded. Ironside's sergeant tried to break his bonds to no avail. Whoever had tied him up had done the job well. He could not budge them.

He attempted to stretch out his long frame, his legs cramping. The rope apparently was tied around his hands and run down to his feet. Ed was unable to stretch out. The cramping in his legs was becoming painful. He continued to struggle against the ropes but he soon accepted it was hopeless. He would have to wait until his captors came down to tell him what they wanted from him.

Ed laid there for what seemed like hours until sleep overtook him. Just before he drifted off, his thoughts were of his boss. He knew he was in great danger. The chief was resourceful but Ed wondered if he would find him in time.