CHAPTER ONE

“I told him he need to wait until we finished these other cases. I never should have let him leave the office.”

“Becky, I would like to have seen you try to stop him. He is the boss after all. Not to mention hard headed, determined and prideful.” Sparky stated.

“None-the-less, I should have tried.” Becky lamented.

“7^th Avenue coming up, you need to make a left.” Sparky told her.

“They took him to Walker Hospital? That place is a dump!”

“I agree, but it was the closest one. You saw the photos of the scene, it is amazing that he…”

“Hush! Peter isn’t you, but he is tough. I am more worried that the butchers at Walker, don’t kill him.” Becky said in an angry tone.

Becky parked the car, as she was getting out a call from Lieutenant Brown came over the radio.

“Go on up, I know you are anxious to see him. I will fill you in later.” Sparky urged her.

Becky was torn, She had fought hard to not get second or third hand information on a case, but Sparky was right, she was more concerned about Peter’s life. She nodded her head and went in the lobby.

The Lieutenant had a lot of information on the case to relay to Sparky. He was very glad that Becky had gone on in. That way he could selectively give her the information. Not that she had to be spoon fed, but she was still working on controlling her temper, especially when it came to ones she cared about. He was sure that some of what he heard would have made her go into the ‘Shoot first, and ask questions later,’ mode”

She was surprised to see to police officers stationed outside Peter’s room. She showed them her ID. And went in. She was not prepared for what she saw.

She had seen some brutal beatings before, but she was still shocked to see his condition. Thankfully, Sparky had let her come up ahead of time, that way she didn’t have to try to control her emotions. She managed to get a grip quickly and was reading his chart when Sparky came in.

“He is so heavily sedated, it will be days before we can even hope to speak with him.” Becky said sadly.

ONE WEEK EARLIER

“Peter, Becky is on the phone” Margaret called out.

“So, what did you and Sparky find out? Well, how long is that going to take? No, a week is fine, it is just we had another big case come in, and I will need you two back as soon as you wrap that up. What? Yes, it is the Nancy Woodall case. Yes, I am sure it was in all the papers, look Becky you or I don’t have the time to debate this. You and Sparky finish up and get back as quick as you can!”

“Margaret, get Lieutenant Brown on the phone for me, will you?”

Peter looked over the contract he had signed with Nancy Woodhall’s agent to look further into her death. The agent willingly paid the highest retainer fee that Peter had ever charged, but only if he did not reveal any details that he found to the police before he told him first. He had refused those types of demands in the past, but that was when his investigation was parallel to the police investigation. In this case, the police has closed the case. Ethically he could make that agreement, but it still raised flags for him.

“Peter, I have Lieutenant Brown on the phone.”

“Ah Lieutenant, I was wondering If I could get a look at the Woodhall file. What? Since when has there been a waiting period on a closed case? Orders from how far up? Wow, did he say why? No, I suppose you didn’t ask. I will check back with you then.”

Peter hung up the phone and shook his head.

“Something tells me that this is going to be a very interesting investigation.”

“Well, as always, if you want information now, you go speak to Walter.”

Peter grabbed his hat and coat.

“Margaret, I am taking no new cases until next week, and unless it is Sparky or Becky. Just take a message.”

“Yes Sir, um what if it is Sparky, or Becky?”

“Becky hasn’t taught you how to patch it to the car radio yet”

“No sir”

“Okay, get a number from them, and tell I’ll call back tonight.”

“Yes Sir.”

Peter had rented a car while Sparky and Becky were away, so without Pops equipment, it took him a bit to locate Walter. Walter was one of many that Peter used to get information. Walter was the most expensive, but also the most reliable.

Walter had many enterprises, from shining shoes, to running hot dog stands, and several in between. These “business” got him all around the city, and his biggest asset was he knew how to get people talking. Well, to be more accurate that was his second biggest, first was he knew who and when to sell what he had heard,

This particular day, Walter was really feeling lucky. Everyone was talking about Nancy Woodhall’s death, and as usual some had more interesting theories than others. Walter had his shoe shine business set up on the corner of 5^th and Vine. Peter parked the car and stood around waiting his turn. While he was waiting, he noticed a lot of other people simply milling about. One thing about the streets of Chicago, they were always busy, but people were always in a hurry with not much time to chat. The group that Peter was observing was definitely out of place. He also noticed that when it was his turn to have his shoes shined, the group moved closer to where they were.

“So, Walter, how do you think the Cubs will do this year?” Peter asked in a louder voice than normal.

“What’s with you James, I ain’t deaf you know.” Walter replied.

“No, but you are not dead yet either,” he said in a softer tone and flashed his eyes toward where the group was now standing.

Walter got the hint and proceeded to do a twenty-minute breakdown on the coaching, pitching, batting, and fielding of this years Cubs team. When he was finished with his analogy and his shine of Peters shoes, Peter paid him for the shine.

“So, I will make sure you get my bookings on the games this year, but I’d not give out anymore insights than that to anyone else for a while,” Peter added in a lower tone. He then whispered,

“I will be back in an hour.”

Peter walked past the group and got a pretty good look at some of them. He went into a nearby book store. Five minutes later he heard the chime of the front door of the book store ring. Peter glanced up to see three of the five that were together enter the store. Peter made his way to leave, when one of the men stepped in front of him.

“You Peter James?” The man said in a gruff voice.

“That depends on who’s asking.” Peter said and tried to sidestep the man.

He blocked his way and stated,

“You make all your bets with a two-bit shiner?”

Peter shook his head and laughed,

“Gentleman, sports gambling is illegal in this city. Arnold and I just wager. He wins, I shine his shoes, I win, I get a free shin,” Peter replied.

“Right, well let me give you ten cents worth of free advice. The case you are working on is closed, and it would be in your best interest to leave it that way.”

“Look Mr., um Mr.??”

The man did not answer.

“Well sir who ever you are, I am not on any case right now, and even if I was, If I am paid to do a job, I will do it,” Peter said firmly and pushed his way passed the man. As Peter opened the door, he heard the man say,

“That would be a bad decision.”

Peter noticed that Walters chair, rags and polish was still there on the street, but Walter was not. The two other men walked passed Peter and met up with the three that had just came out of the book store. All five headed down the street in the opposite direction. Peter was concerned about Walter. Informants always ran the risk of talking to the wrong person, but Walter had been at this for a long time. Peter was almost to his car when he heard a quiet moan. Peter stopped and listened. He heard it again but could not see any place where it might be coming from. He noticed a trash can that was tucked in a small space between two buildings. He reluctantly went over and opened the lid. There Walter was stuffed, severely beaten. Peter did his best to gently get him out several passers-by shook there heads, thinking he was a drunk who had been rolled. Peter got him in the car and took him to the hospital. He then went to see Lieutenant Brown.

“Peter, you should know better than anybody that people like Walter have things like this happen to them all the time. As long as he has been at it, he is really lucky to be alive.” Lieutenant Brown said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Yes, but don’t you find it strange that part of that same group is threaten me to lay off a case, that your department had considered closed?”

“Look James, I would like to help you, but as you said, this case is closed.”

Peter slammed his fist on the Lieutenants desk.

“It looks like this case is not the only thing that is closed!”