Chapter 21
"So, what do I owe this visit to?" Thomas Luling wanted to know after the detectives introduced themselves. He was sitting in a wheelchair, one of his exploits, after he'd served his time for the bust with Steve, had gone sideways and left him paralyzed from the waist down. He'd recently been moved into an assisted living facility despite being in his late sixties. There were other health issues that came from his condition and he could no longer live entirely on his own.
"Mostly getting some ideas. We know that you stayed in the chop shop business for longer than you probably should have," Elliot said as he sat down at the kitchen table in the small apartment. It was a nice place that didn't require a lot of internal maintenance, but it also didn't have a lot of homey touches. Made the elder detective wonder if Luling didn't have much family left.
"The chair give it away?" Thomas wondered.
"Hard to show kids how to steal cars when you can't get into one without a production," Joe took a seat next to Elliot at the table.
"Agreed. Always had to get one last score. Finally, someone decided that I had better learn my lesson," Thomas smirked. He didn't seem to be as angry as Elliot might have suspected he would be.
"Well, someone didn't learn their lesson. Poor little old lady died when a couple of teenagers tried to steal her car with her in it," the elder detective told him.
"Bunch of idiots. First rule of car stealing – no witnesses. Or at least as little as possible. Gotta give yourself time to get away," Thomas shook his head.
"We know you're not in the game anymore but thoughts on who would tell them to try something like that?" Joe asked.
"Oh, I can think of a few but as you said – I'm not in the game anymore. Hard to say anyone I did business with, still would be. Should be nearing retirement," Thomas said.
"They should be but humor us," Elliot told him. The former criminal nodded and the first name that came out of his mouth was,
"Brent Taylor. He was a crazy bastard. I tried to stay away from him as much as I could but sometimes your paths cross when you're aiming for the same thing."
"Anybody else?" Joe wondered.
"Don Hampton and Harold Wellington. Though I don't remember them being dumb enough to hire teenagers. How'd the old lady die?" Thomas wanted to know.
"Heart attack. Why?" Elliot raised an eyebrow. The former criminal shook his head.
"You were thinking it was something else?" Joe pressed.
"Look, I know, that you know, what happened on that last deal I tried to make before this all happened," Thomas flared his arms out, indicating the chair and the room they were in.
"Both the guys who stole the car are dead, but I know for a fact that the guy wasn't in the car when they got there," he continued.
"Just because they said so?" Elliot gave him a look.
"If I were to say 'yes' would you believe me? Truth is, I don't know what happened to the poor guy. All I know is, I got a call and I sent them out to the lot," Thomas admitted.
"A call? That happen a lot?" Elliot was starting to wonder why Luling brought Ron Davidson up, since they hadn't gotten there yet.
"Not a ton. Mostly calls came from someone who owed me. They'd give me a car or the location of a car that could be stolen and I would call us even. I figured after we got busted it was because that call was a setup, but I could never figure out who knew we were the ones boosting cars from the factory lot," the former criminal said.
"You got busted because the guys who stole the car got caught on security cameras dumping and lighting the car on fire. The cops followed them right to Steve's shop. Would one of those guys you mentioned, want to set you up? Sounds like one of them might have no qualms about doing it since this poor little old lady died too," Elliot was hoping that this might be a lead. There was nothing in the file about a phone call. Though he honestly questioned Thomas's motive. Was he deflecting? Why did he bring this up?
"Well, someone was lying to me then. My lawyer told me that the cops wanted me to give up the guy who called me – there was a deal on the table. When I couldn't give it up, because I didn't know, I got no favors from the DA," Thomas told him.
"Who was your lawyer?" Joe spoke up.
"Anthony Taglietti," Thomas said. Joe kept his cool but, on the inside, he was ready to blow a gasket. This guy had been in the precinct, right in front of them.
To Be Continued…