CHAPTER THREE

Peter and Sparky took pictures of the old maps of the abandoned subway lines and headed back to the office. He and Sparky had just developed the film when Becky knocked and opened the door to Peters office. Before she could speak, Lieutenant Brown shoved his way past her.

“Watch it buddy, I would hate to have you take you down in front of your friends.” Becky said as she shoved the Lieutenant and shut the door.

“So, did your old lady kick you out again Lieutenant? I can’t think of any other reason you would come into this ‘Dump of an office.’ As you called it.”

“All right smart guy I will get right to the point. I know you two have been snooping around front street and have gotten maps of the subway systems. What are you up to and if I find that you are holding back any pertinent information on the Rudd case…”

"Whoa there Lieutenant. If you sources you have spying on me were as effective on finding true criminals, I might be out of a job.”

“Look James!”

The Lieutenant pounded on the front ledge of Peters desk.

“No! You look. We have been through all this before. I have client confidence privileges. I have given you a number of opportunities to collaborate with me. Now if your clowns don’t back off spying on me, I will file harassment charges against you and your precinct.” Peter said in a serious tone.

He then smiled broadly.

“Besides, my partner and I are looking to make some investments and there are a lot of good opportunities on front street.”

“Bologna!” I am serious about this James!”

Peter stood up and pointed at the Lieutenant,

“So am I!”

The Lieutenant stormed out of the office.

After he left, Becky came in.

“Mrs. Ford is tiring of getting my general run around answers.” Becky stated.

Peter thought for a moment.

“Make an appointment for her for a week from tomorrow, Call her and tell her I will have a lot of answers for her then.” Peter told her.

After she left, Peter turned to Sparky.

“You need to go charge up, we will be do doing night work.”

Sparky headed upstairs, and Peter went in to talk to Becky.

“The next time the Lieutenant muscles you, if you don’t deck him, I will.”

“I doubt either of us could beat that wrap, but thanks.” Becky told him.

“Sparky and I will be going out late tonight, so if we are not here when you get in, don’t be surprised.”

“Boss, just in the short time that I have been here, I have learned that there is nothing that you do surprises me.” Becky stated.

“Oh really? Hum, I am going to need to work on that.” He said with a smile and went back into his office and shut the door.

As soon as it was dark, Peter and Sparky left and headed towards one of the precincts favorite donut shops. Peter parked his car around the corner and waited for the pair of officers, that he knew had a reputation for taking longer breaks.

Everything went according to plan except, just as he and Sparky hotwired the car, another patrol car pulled up to join the officers in the donut shop. When the two in the shop flew out the doors, they jumped in the other patrol car, and the chase was on.

“Never a dull moment.” Sparky stated.

“Shut up and tune in to their frequency,” Peter told him.

Sparky complied.

“As of right now there are no other units in the area.”

“Well, I wanted to recreate the scene, but not with all the drama,” Peter said as he began to try to lose the patrol car that was in pursuit.

“Two more units are headed this way, but they are still a safe distance away.” Sparky told him.

“Okay partner, here we go,” Peter told him as he made the turn onto front street.

Peter hit the gas and headed towards the subway entrance. The patrol car went air born, scraped the side walls twice and easily “crashed” through the "projected" brick wall. When it did, the car bounced twice on a nice smooth ramp and head towards an open area. Peter slammed on the brakes and made a sharp left turn.

When Sparky opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that if he were inclined to, he would not have been able to open his door, because his side of the car was inches from a real wall.

“You did it again, didn’t you.”

“We will discuss that later, right now we need to know what we are dealing with here,”

Peter pulled the patrol car into an area away from the ramp and away from the neatly renovated subway line. They found an old tarp and covered the car.

“This is unbelievable, The amount of work that has been put into this is incredible, Peter stated.

“I find it hard to believe that no one has noticed our un announced entrance,” Sparky stated.

“I agree, We need to be prepared for whatever kind of security measures they have in place. Do you notice anything?”

Sparky adjusted his lens and looked around.

“Surprisingly, I see nothing.”

“Well stay sharp, we do not want any attention to ourselves. It could very well be that this has been in operation for so long that they are over confident about it being discovered.”

 Peter pulled out the map that they had pieced together from the photos they had taken.

“If all these abandoned entrances are the same as the one, we came through, then these fright elevators over here has to be where they get the car back on street level.” Peter stated pointing to the map.

“What is the building that is directly above this elevator?” Sparky asked.

Peter pulled out his flashlight and looked at the faded-out print.

“L.T. Fruit Market. That went out of business back in the twenties, who owns that now?” Peter mumbled.

Sparky checked the address.

“#220, 6^th Street? That is now the F&D moving and storage company.”

Peter looked at him in amazement.

“You have every business address memorized?”

“You doubt my storage capacity?”

Peter gave him a sideways glance,

“Okay smart guy, the owners names?”

“Terry R. Ford, and Charles T. Davis.” Sparky said smugly.

“Why does that not surprise me?” Peter mumbled.

“What? No thank you?” Sparky said in a fake hurt tone,

“Can it Sparky, we need to get to the bottom of this.” Peter said as he put away the map.

“Why does that not surprise me?” Sparky now mumbled.

“So, what’s the plan?” Sparky asked.

“We get back to the office and tomorrow pay a visit to the F&D moving company.”

“How do you figure on leaving?”

“All these old subways have emergency exits to the street.”

Peter looked at the map again and found the nearest one to where they had parked his car.

“This way.” Peter pointed and headed off that way.

“What about the police car?” Sparky asked.

“I will consider it a bargaining chip.” Peter said with a smile.

When they got to the exit, Peter picked the lock on the door and the two of the hurried up the stairs. Out on the sidewalk, they swiftly made their way to their car. As they were leaving three more police cars went roaring by with their lights flashing.

Peter shook his head.

“Lieutenant Brown is going to have a very hard time explaining why he needs a new patrol car.”

The next morning when Peter came down stair to his office, Lieutenant Brown was sitting in the outer office waiting for him. Peter went and unlocked his office door.

“You know you do not have unlimited free office calls.”

“I have had about enough of you James!” Where is my squad car?”

“I would hope it is right outside, were you parked it, unless you walked here.” Peter stated as he poured himself a cup of coffee.”

“You know I should, and I still might have you hauled down town and thrown on your head in jail.”

“On what Charge?” Peter asked.

“Theft of City property.”

“What did I supposedly steal?”

“Dog gone it James, I am trying to go easy on you, just tell me where my squad car is, and I might be able to just forget about this matter.”

Peter sat as his desk as Sparky made his way down the stairs.

“Hey boss, how am I supposed to get a full charge, when you start your debate classes early.”

“Look Lieutenant, you know you do not have a shred of evidence connecting me to anything. You also know I do not pull pranks. So, here’s the deal. Give me two days and be prepared to make yourself famous.”

The Lieutenant had heard those words before, and Peter James had always followed through on his word. However, it always came at a price.

“Alright James, what is it you want,”

“Two days, and I will send you a list.” Peter stated.

“Two days. Brown repeated, then started to leave.

“What about my squad car?”

“I am pretty sure you will recover that along with a bundle of other stolen items. when this thing is done.” Peter said with raised eyebrows.

As the Lieutenant was leaving the front door, Becky was coming in.

“The job of receptionist is taken.” She said, as he brushed past her in a huff.

She went over to her desk to put down her purse, then went over to shut the door to Peter’s office. She looked at him.

“I doubt he would come in early to bandage your arm.” she quiped as she shut his door.

“So, you think you are going to be able to wrap this case up in two days?” Sparky asked.

“Actually, it should only take one, but poor Lieutenant Brown is going to need two, in order to put together enough officers for the raid.” Peter said with a smirk,

“I already have put my list of needs together to give to our favorite Lieutenant. We will drop it off on our way to F&D storage.” Peter stated.

Twenty minutes later they were heading out the door.

“Oh, I am expecting a package soon, If it comes in today make sure it goes straight on my desk.” Peter told Becky, before he shut the door.

They dropped off the list to Lieutenant Brown and left before he had a chance to raise all his usual objections. Once back in the car, Peter handed Sparky a list.

“What is…”

“Just memorize it. I will keep everyone occupied while you get your list done, and I hope to get mine done while I am distracting them.” Peter stated.

The front office of F.&D. was remarkably busy when they arrived. This gave Sparky more freedom to explore without having anyone taking notice.

Posing as an admiring potential customer, Sparky was able to get a good look at the packing and storing process. Peter was also able to discover that if he wanted some “special” packages sent, what it would cost him, with no questions asked.

As smoothly as everything seemed to go, as they were leaving, the mystery women that had shot Peter entered the building. Peter was not sure if this woman had gotten a good look at him or not, the evening of the shooting, but he certainly did not want to take any chances. He ducked into a corner of the building and whispered to Sparky what was going on.

Make up some excuse to get close to the counter where she is and see if you can pick up any more information, while I try to get out of here before she recognizes me,” Peter whispered.

Sparky had learned a lot from Peter, including how to distract. He also learned how to be a fly on the wall, in order to gather information.

By time he joined Peter in the car he felt (almost) Like he was the sleuth, and Peter was his sidekick. A feeling that Peter was quick to fix.