Family Secrets

On a dark and dreary evening, the wind was blowing hard outside Theo Kojak's office. The lights flickered off and on. A big storm was coming. He sat at his desk flipping through an old book.

Captain MacNeil knocked on the door and walked in. "Theo what do you have there?"

"It's photos and drawings of the New York City police department back at the turn of the century. It's ghostly Frank like old Civil War pictures. I can't take my eyes off it."

"Really? Where on earth did you get that?"

"I found it on my desk this evening. I don't know who left it. Looks like a year-by-year album of the force. Look at this Frank. They could get everyone in a single picture." Kojak chuckled. "We couldn't get half of the Manhattan South detective squad in a single picture today and we'd have to leave Stavros out."

"Why would someone leave that on your desk? I'd be concerned someone was trying to tell me something and it wasn't' something I wanted to know."

Kojak shrugged. "I don't know. Rizzo probably found it in a flea market. He's trying to butter me up because I'm doing evaluations. It's always something with Rizzo."

"Yes," Macneil nodded, "sounds like Rizzo."

Kojak yawned.

"It's getting late Theo. Why don't you go home. That's what I'm going to do. Crocker and Stavros are still out there working on a backlog of yellow sheets. Sometimes I do feel sorry for those guys. They work so hard, and they get constant abuse from you.

"Me? And what is that you do? Sing them lullabies?"

Frank rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Okay, so maybe my own guilt is eating out my heart like a worm."

"Ugh. I don't like that simile boss. Have a good evening, Frank. I'm goin' to take a quick nap and finish this stack of evaluation reports."

"Yeah. Goodnight. Want the light off?"

"Sure."

Theo Kojak woke up in the dark shivering with the cold. The wind was shaking the window trying to get in and sirens were blasting like an announcement of the end of the world. The smell of a cigar that he didn't recognize drifted towards him. "Shit. No one can sleep around here." Lightning lit up the room and Theo got a glimpse of a seated man. It spooked the Greek. "Whose there?" the Lieutenant shouted as he swung his feet to the floor and sat up quickly on his couch. Theo could see the red end of the cigar burning in the dark. It was a thin cigarillo, so he thought someone was helping himself to his stash, though the smell was throwing him.

"A friend," a deep voice replied. "You don't need to get up. Get your rest."

Theo wasn't sure of the voice; it sounded like Crocker, but it was older and Crocker wasn't a smoker. Besides half the men in New York City sounded like Crocker. How did this guy get into his office without someone yelling?

Theo stood and stumbled over to his desk. He grabbed his blazer and pulled it on with a shiver. He flipped on the desk lamp. A man sat in deep shadow before him. Theo didn't recognize him. He walked over and flipped on the overhead light. What he saw made the hair on his arms quiver. This was no ordinary man off the street. He was dressed in an old wool police uniform that Theo had seen in the old picture book he had looked at earlier. He started to open the door to yell at the guys for letting a stranger into his office unannounced, but he couldn't open the door.

The stranger gazed at him. "Sorry, just a precaution. Don't want to change the course of world events." The man smiled

'Excuse me," Theo said, "I'm not in the mood for games."

"Neither am I," the man growled as he stood abruptly. He was eye to eye with Theo. Theo took a step back. Woah, wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley. He wore a navy- blue uniform, a baton at his belt and sewn name tag over his front pocket which read "R. Crocker."

Theo's anger arose. He turned toward the door and yelled, "Okay, enough with the stupid Halloween trick! For this I'm going to make you work every weekend for the next 4 months. God, you guys are so juvenile!"

"I gave you the book as a way of introduction," the stranger said.

Theo banged on the door. "Crocker!, Stavros! I know you're out there. Open this damn door right now!" Theo gave the door a swift kick for good measure and immediately regretted it. "Ouch!"

"They can't hear you, Lieutenant Kojak. Let me introduce myself. I am Captain Robert J. Crocker of the 10th precinct of the Metropolitan Police. I mean you no harm. I just need your help."

"Why in the world would you need my help? Get it from your own precinct."

"Well, I'm a little hampered by my….condition."

"Your condition?"

"Yes. You see, I'm dead."

Theo was struck silent for a beat. "Well at least you're willing to admit it." Theo limped back to his desk and fell into his chair. Rubbing his painful knee, he reached for a cigarillo but couldn't find his matches. He didn't believe for one minute he was talking to a dead man.

"Lieutenant, there was a murder a century ago that went unreported." The man pulled a metal object out of his pants pocket. It looked like an old bronze coin. "Here, allow me." He flipped open the device, flicked a wheel and offered Kojak a light."

"I'm going to be sorry for this, but pray tell why did it go unreported?" Theo accepted the light. He sniffed. It smelled a little funny, like naphtha.

The captain closed the lighter and tossed it onto the desk. "Well, it happened during a riot. Very common back in those days. You see, the bad guys had the upper hand back then. We were greatly outnumbered."

"We don't do historical detective work here, sir."

"Oh, I do not need any detective work. I know exactly what happened. The problem is that the deceased was buried in the basement of this building. The building was replaced, and the basement was paved over. I want him dug up and placed in a proper grave with a proper headstone."

"That is still not something we do, sir."

"I know it is an unusual request. I would have handled it myself but… I was killed in that same riot. The deceased was a police sergeant named James P Lambert. I want his descendants to know what happened to him. I was buried with full honors but for him there was no funeral, no body to bury."

Theo took in the agitated man before him. He was handsome with dark hair in a short neat cut, a short beard and a mustache. 50ish in age. He was smartly dressed in a long two- button breasted navy coat with a cinched leather belt, a brass belt buckle, brass cufflinks, brass buttons... a brass shield at the left breast, and a brass watch chain hung from a waist pocket. He had a cap tucked into his belt. Theo appreciated the care this man took with his appearance, even though he thought it a little over the top with the brass. Could someone get that look from a costume shop down on Broadway? Sure they could. Theo was fuming.

"Lieutenant Kojak, I can see you still don't believe I am who I say I am so I will give you a small demonstration so that we can get to the task at hand."

The man stepped to the door that led to the squad room, he looked back and smiled at Kojak then he stepped through the closed door! He then put his arm back through the door and waved at the startled Greek. He stepped back into the room and seated himself. "I pray that settles any question you may have about my authenticity?"

Kojak blew out the breath he had been holding. "I'm in a nightmare and can't wake up."

"The next task should settle that", the stranger said. "I need you to follow me to the basement and bring some chalk. Hopefully, you fellas still have that on hand?"

Kojak opened his drawer and picked up a piece of white chalk. The disturbed lieutenant thought this might be a way to end his nightmare. Someone would grab this guy, and the trick would be revealed. "Okay I'm game. To the basement, sir."

The ghost placed his hat on his head, led Kojak to the corridor, down the stairs and down to the basement and no one paid them any mind. They passed Rizzo and Saperstein who were just arriving to work and half a dozen uniformed police including the sergeant at the desk and no one said a word, or even looked at them! That actually scared Kojak. Was he dead too? Either that or some goon could just walk in and kill them all and not meet with even a questioning look.

In the gloomy dark basement, the phantom walked to the back corner of the damp cold space, behind the boiler. He put his hand out for the chalk, and Kojak placed the chalk in the outstretched hand. Crocker bent down and drew a large rectangle on the floor. He wrote "head" at one end. He handed the chalk back to Kojak and he brushed the chalk off his hands.

"Most extraordinary Captain Crocker."

"Yes, isn't it? In the morning, sir, you will find my marking here and that will tell you where the body is located. I am certain you can find someone to break up this concrete and extract the body. Your common gravedigger perhaps? I suspect you will need to acquire a permit. The body must be handled with respect and given a proper burial."

"Yeah. And how do I explain this encroachment on this basement to those who must know? I can't just order someone to dig down here."

"You have a suspected dead body here sir. It will be obvious once it is uncovered. The name will be on his coat, just like mine. He will have his shield, with his shield number. Your forensic fellas will be able to ascertain how old he is, when he died, how he died and his identity. All I want is that he is removed from this makeshift grave and placed in a proper grave with a proper headstone. You will be able to find his surviving family."

"I can hear it now IAD telling Captain MacNeil that Lieutenant Kojak needs a mental evaluation."

"Possibly." Crocker stroked his beard. "I will write a note and draw a map and fold it into that book I left you. You can use that as the evidence as to how you found out about this."

"It will be on new paper with a new pen. Forensic won't buy it."

"The ghost pulled a pad of paper from his jacket pocket with a small pencil. You've seen this before, I'm sure? I'll help you at the appropriate time."

Kojak turned to leave the basement. He was anxious to get back to the company of his men, for his men to say 'Good Morning.', to know he was still alive. He looked back. He had been imagining his detectives jumping out of the dark and laughing at him. Falling for a prank was the most humiliating thing that could happen to a cop, especially a commander. But since that wasn't happening, he had to reevaluate the situation. He felt a pang of remorse for the dead man. A deep sadness came over him. "Captain, how did you die?"

"I was beaten to death with sticks, bricks, police batons and anything they could get their hands on. Right in my own squad room. The men tried to stop it, but they were outnumbered. It was very violent. At some point the rioters carried my sergeant off to the basement. No one saw that. The last command I gave my men was 'Save yourselves, run." I loved those men. They were dedicated, loyal public servants."

Kojak winced, dropped his head and nodded. "Okay so that was trauma times 10."

"Yes, it was," the captain said. "I recommend you retire if at all possible."

"That's my plan, but I got a few more years. Are you related to my detective Bobby Crocker?"

"Yes, Bobby is my great great great grandson. I know what you're thinking, Lieutenant. He's not why I'm here and I'm not the reason he's a cop."

"Okay."

Kojak turned back to the stairs. When he turned at the door and looked back, the apparition was gone. When he opened the basement door, Rizzo was standing at the sandwich machine kicking it. Kojak walked over, opened the door and said, "Rizzo just take whatever you want."

"Sure thing Lieutenant. You want anything?"

"No thanks." Kojak walked up the stairs thankful that he was recognizable and acknowledged. The experience with the ghost had made him feel like he was possibly no longer alive.

In the squad room he found Crocker and Stavros at their desks.

"Did you fellas go home last night?"

They looked up at him and shook their heads, no. Stavros said, "Captain MacNeil told us to not disturb you for any reason. So, we didn't, but…

"But you wanted to?" Kojak asked.

"A funny thing happened last night. The building got crazy cold all of sudden. It was colder in here than it was outside. And then just like that, the heat came back." Stavros shook his head. "Really weird. Must have just been a malfunction."

Kojak said, "Sure, a malfunction. Listen fellas, why don't you go on home and get some sleep? Just take the rest of the week off. I'll see you on Monday."

The men stared bewildered at their commander. "You alright boss?" Crocker asked.

"Yes, I'm alright. Am I not allowed to be nice now and then?"

Crocker shrugged "Whatever. Come on Curly let's get out of here before he changes his mind."

Crocker grabbed his coat off the rack and headed out the door.

"Right behind ya, bright eyes." Stavros said as he trotted out behind Crocker.

The door to Kojak's office was open with the lights on. He looked inside and found no visitor but there was the faint smell of that funny cigar. The gifted book was lying on his desk. Just to humor himself, he opened it and flipped over a few pages. A piece of paper fell out on his desk. It was folded in half. Opening it, there was a note describing a body and a map of the basement. Kojak was astonished. It wasn't a dream. At that moment, Captain MacNeil walked into his office.

"What you got there?"

"A note from a phantom." Theo chuckled and waved the paper like it was a ghost flying by.

"What?" MacNeil frowned. "That's not funny."

Theo handed him the note. MacNeil's eyes grew wide as he read it. "Theo this is saying there is a body buried in the basement of this building. That goes along way towards explaining why someone left you that book."

"Yeah. What do you want to do about it?"

"Well, this is highly suspicious." MacNeil turned the note over and back again. Should we have forensic date this?"

"If you want Frank," The captain walked towards the door with the clear intention of asking one of the guys in the squad room to handle it. Theo grabbed his arm.

"Why don't we keep this between ourselves, Frank, until we know what we're dealing with."

"Right. Someone might decide we're crazy and maybe we are."

"Exactly. I'll call forensics and I'll deliver it to them personally."

The captain handed the note to Theo.

In a few days, there was a team of body exhumers in the basement, noisily tearing out concrete, covering everything with dust. There was just a patch of dirt after the concrete was removed. "Dig down with your shovels, gingerly," Kojak said. As the men worked, they let out excited yelps and guffaws as the body was slowly revealed. It was a white skeleton in an old navy-blue police uniform. The name tag and the shield were present. It even had a small cap on its head. The medical examiner's team photographed the find and bagged the remains carefully and rolled it out on a gurney. The ME stood and watched with Kojak. "What's the story on this, Theo?"

"I don't know. I just know he needs to be identified and given a proper burial. Do you think we can manage that?"

"I guess so. Highly unusual."

"Yes, it is."

"If the press gets hold of this…"

"Don't let the press get hold of this!" Kojak yelled.

"Okay, okay," The ME held up his hands as if he thought the lieutenant was going to attack him.

After the grave diggers and the ME had left, Theo lingered in the basement. As he expected, a whiff of cigar floated by and his new friend R. Crocker walked up from behind.

"How the hell do you do that?"

"I don't know. Thank you, Lieutenant Kojak. You're a good man."

Theo raised his eyebrows. "Ah… I'm a haunted man, you're the good man."

"Sorry for the scare." The man smiled and Theo was surprised to see a resemblance to his young detective Bobby Crocker. A young Crocker who knew nothing about what had transpired with his ancestor.

"Captain, don't you want to meet your descendant?"

"I think it would be very disturbing for him."

"It was disturbing for me. But I'm over it."

Captain Crocker laughed. It sounded like Bobby's laugh.

"Does he not know about you?" Theo asked.

"Yes, he knows. I'm just part of the family lore. I've seen that picture you have on the wall behind your desk. Is he not an important personage in your family history?"

"Yes of course."

"Why do you have that picture on your wall?"

"I want to make him proud, to honor him. I'm proud of him."

"You never met him, right?"

"That's right. He died long before I was born."

"Would you want to meet him?"

"Well…. Theo rubbed the back of his neck. "I see where you're goin' with this."

"Turning a legend into a real man can be disappointing. Lieutenant, I know Bobby. I'm proud of him for sure, I love that boy, but I don't want to ruin his life for the opportunity to tell him that. He doesn't need that from me. Do you understand? He needs that from you.

Theo rubbed his hand over his bald head as he marveled over the fact that he was talking to a dead 100 year old Crocker. He had never been fully comfortable with being a role model but he wanted to assure this man that he took his role relative to young Crocker seriously. "Captain, I care for Bobby. He's one of my best men…at a very young age." Theo thought about what MacNeil had said earlier in the evening. He was just a bully to his men. Never apologizing when he's wrong, shaming them if they got too cocky. "Our work is so fast paced and busy, I don't often get the opportunity to tell Bobby I'm proud of him. But of course, I am proud of him, I've taught him everything he knows."

Captain Crocker smiled. "You'll do the right thing at the right time, Lieutenant."

"Maybe. I hope you're right about me."

"I know I'm right about you," the Captain said with a grin.

"Say, are you a permanent haunt here, or just a temporary visitor? You could be our secret weapon."

The captain chuckled. "You'd appreciate it if I appeared in your hold and scared a few of your guests into confessions. I can see the fun in that, but I can't do it. I can't explain how I'm here either. It just happened."

"You know I didn't like you much when you appeared uninvited in my office, I wanted to pick you up and throw you out."

"You could have tried," the Captain said with a wry smile.

"Yeah, you would have gone right through that closed door." Kojak laughed. "Hey, you can come back if you want, just give me a little warning, so I don't jump out of my shoes."

"I would love to do that but I'm not in control here."

Theo nodded. "You sure fooled me. Your commanding voice is as scary as a mean hound dog. "

"Well, we had to be loud and ominous back in my day. It's hard to shake that habit."

"Hey man that hasn't changed. I'm going to miss you," Theo said.

"You've got Bobby."

"Yeah. Sure. I've got Bobby." Kojak laughed.

The ghost turned and walked toward the wall.

Theo wanted to stop him, to keep him present. "Happy haunting."

The captain turned his head and smiled. He tipped his hat. "Goodbye Lieutenant Kojak. Take care." He turned back to the wall and walked through it. Theo was expecting that, but it still gave him a shock.

Later, Theo found the old antique lighter and a tin of antique cigarillos on his desk. He said out loud to the empty room, "The payoff is a little light Crocker, but I'll let it go this time." He chuckled and pocketed the lighter.