Starsky vs Hutch
Chapter 6
The three detectives gathered up their files and reports and headed for Captain Dobey's door. Hogan knocked and they entered at Dobey's growl. Hutch returned to the squad-room to snag a chair thus avoiding the one where Starsky usually sat.
White and Hogan had little to show for their day trawling the streets other than confirmation that there was a new dealer called Charlie who appeared to be intent upon taking over the whole city. No one had seen him, but he was undercutting all the other suppliers so users were flocking to his pushers. He already had a reputation that made anyone they spoke to talk in hushed tones, as though afraid he was listening to their conversations.
They had managed to get an ID for the second dead man, Christopher Landers, a well-known pusher for one of the bigger dealers in Bay City. The other man's identity was still a mystery. Autopsies of both men showed they had been badly beaten although the actual cause of death was a stab wound which had penetrated the heart. John Doe did not display any signs of defensive wounds and Landers very few, which led the detectives to believe both had been taken completely by surprise.
Hutch's report had Dobey sitting up straighter. He and Minnie had discovered that Bay City was not the first city to be hit by Charlie. In fact there was a trail from Portland, nearly five years previously, to Bay City via Eugene, Eureka, Santa Rosa, Fresno and Bakersfield.
The MO was always the same and when the police got too close, Charlie's operation closed down. Only now was it becoming clear that Charlie had moved on and set up again each time. And now he had arrived in Bay City.
"Why were we not made aware of this?" Dobey grumbled.
"I don't think anyone had made the connection before now," Hutch said. "There was a body left behind which the investigating officers assumed was Charlie. But Minnie and I think it may have been the person who was doing the dirty work...he had signs of having been in several fights. And on reflection, would the big chief get his hands dirty? We think he hired a street fighter and then disposed of him when he was no longer needed."
Dobey nodded. "Good work, Hutch. So what's our next move?"
The three detectives and their captain spent the next hour discussing their options and formulating a plan. Hutch missed bouncing ideas off Starsky but appreciated White and Hogan's contributions, although they weren't as instinctive as Starsky and himself. He and Starsky were known for being unconventional but they got results, as did White and Hogan in a different way.
Having finalised their plans, all four men left for the night and Hutch finally got the full night's sleep his mind and body craved.
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Starsky had also slept well. Although his body ached slightly, a hangover from his exertions the night before, he enjoyed the pampering he received to restore him to full fighting fitness. Charlotte kept him close to her during the day but he was locked in his basement room every night.
Deep inside he knew what he was doing was wrong but that little part of him was hidden away in the deepest recesses of his mind, unable to force its way out.
Now he was at full strength, he spent a lot of his time exercising and honing his physique. He had always looked after his body but now he was even more muscled and strong.
He lay face down on the table as Charlotte applied oil and began to massage his shoulders. Neither spoke for several minutes as Charlotte's strong fingers worked their magic on his tight muscles. Starsky felt himself relaxing and his eyelids growing heavier.
"I have another job for you," she said eventually.
Opening bleary eyes he mumbled "Already?"
Charlotte's eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't question me!" she snapped. "If I say you have another job, you have another job."
Starsky rolled over and sat on the edge of the table. He grabbed his shirt from the back of the chair and began to shrug into it. "When and where?" he asked. He never knew their names and never asked.
"Tonight," she said. "I'll take you as usual."
Starsky ran a hand over his head. Charlotte had had his hair cut close to his head. He had glared angrily at himself in the mirror when he had first seen his new image. The effect was as menacing as Charlotte had hoped.
The 'job' went without a hitch...another pusher, another alley. Sometimes he wished one of them would fight back. It was really too easy but hey, he was being well looked after so he shouldn't complain, right?
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Hutch was patrolling alone when a call was patched through to him. White's voice came through the radio. "We've got another one, Hutch. One twenty-eight Preston. In the alley between the laundromat and Maria's Coffee Shop."
"I'll be there in five," Hutch acknowledged, slapping the mars light on the roof and activating the siren as he executed a one-eighty degree turn Starsky would have been proud of.
Pulling up outside the laundromat behind Hogan's white Ford, Hutch sprang from the car and strode down the alley towards White and Hogan with long, purposeful strides. Hogan was in conversation with two of the forensics team.
White spotted Hutch and waved him over to where he stood with a short Hispanic man. "This is Carlos Mendoza. He and his wife, Maria, own the coffee shop. Apparently our guy was a regular customer."
"Did you see or hear anything?" Hutch asked.
Mendoza glanced around nervously before answering quietly. "I hear a noise...banging and crashing...so I open the door and I see a man running away. He jump into a black car and drive off towards Lancaster. Then I see Chippy on the ground so I ring the police and ambulance."
"Can you describe the man?"
Another fearful glance and a shrug. "Sorry, no. It was dark."
The detectives waited patiently. "He wear black and it was dark."
White looked at Hutch. "Would you take Mr Mendoza's statement, Hutch? We'll work the scene here."
Hutch felt a flash of irritation which he quickly suppressed. As the lone detective it was obvious that he would be the one to carry out the more mundane tasks. And of course it was White and Hogan's case originally.
Hutch nodded. "Come this way, Mr Mendoza. I want you to tell me everything you can remember."
Hutch and Mr Mendoza headed for a table towards the back of the café where Mrs Mendoza brought them some coffee. Hutch took out his notebook and patted his pockets for a pencil, giving Mrs Mendoza an embarrassed smile as she passed him one from her apron pocket. However, although Mr Mendoza was keen to help, it was clear that he had seen nothing useful.
Hutch was just closing his notebook when Mr Mendoza suddenly said "I think the driver was a woman."
Hutch blinked. "The driver? He had an accomplice? A woman?"
"Yes, sir. A woman."
"I need you to come to headquarters as soon as possible to make a formal statement, Mr Mendoza. Thank you for your cooperation." Hutch gave the man his card and went in search of White and Hogan to give them this startling piece of news.
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Four weeks and five bodies later, Charlotte paced the floor angrily, aware that Jackson and Whitman were watching her apprehensively. Word had reached her that the police were looking for a black sedan driven by a woman and with a black-clothed passenger in connection with the 'alley beatings', as the press had dubbed them.
She realised that the net was beginning to close in already. The Bay City Police Department had moved much more swiftly than she had expected and she could not comprehend how they had discovered so much about her operation so quickly.
"Who are the cops in charge of the case?" she demanded.
"White, Hogan and Hutchinson," Jackson replied in a surly tone.
"Hey, here's the good part," Whitman smirked. "Hutchinson was your David's partner." He and Jackson laughed.
Charlotte looked pensive. "We need to take them out," she declared.
Jackson and Whitman stared. "You want us to kill three cops?" asked Whitman incredulously.
Charlotte pinned him with a glacial stare. "I want you to kill two cops," she said. "I think it might be amusing to let David dispose of Detective Hutchinson himself."
TBC