The Case of the Crime King

Chapter 29

The following morning when I checked in I found Frank frowningly examining the wall map. There were now six pins in it.

“’Morning, Joe,” Frank said. “You know, I don’t think that May twenty-second pin ought to be in there.”

“No?” I said.

“Throws the whole thing off. Other five are all supermarkets. Last one’s a payroll truck.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I mean, they had to hit the markets where the pins are. Supermarkets don’t move around. But that truck had a four-and-a-half-mile run from the bank to the plant.”

“Yeah.”

“They could have hit it anywhere. Pin could be quite a distance from where it is if they’d hit it at another spot.”

“Bothers you, huh?” I asked.

“Yeah, it does.”

“Know what I’d do, Frank?”

“What?”

I said, “I’d take it out.”

Frank looked at me with pursed lips, then shrugged and removed the pin. He frowned at the map again.

“Know what, Joe?”

“What?”

“Doesn’t help a bit. Thing still doesn’t show any directional trend.”

During the next few days no hits were made by the gang. Not only did no new leads develop, but there were none of the usual reports from private citizens that they had seen members of the gang in various places.

Any time criminals receive wide publicity, particularly if their descriptions or pictures appear in the papers, they are reported seen in a wide variety of places. Some of these reports are by well-meaning citizens who honestly believe they have spotted the suspects. Others are by cranks seeking publicity.

Ever since we had released publicity on Operation Statewide, we had been flooded with the usual number of tips. Most of these checked out as false alarms. In a few cases it was never definitely established one way or the other who the persons reported seen were. Peculiarly, in not a single instance was the person reported definitely identified as a member of the gang.

There could be only one explanation for this. All five of the suspects were known to like night life. If they were appearing in night clubs or restaurants anywhere in the state, we would have been bound to get at least one informer’s tip about it. The only possible answer was that they weren’t appearing in public at all. Big Julie was keeping the gang under iron-handed discipline. They were emerging from hiding only to pull jobs, then immediately getting under cover again.

We hoped that boredom would drive one or more of them to revolt against this discipline. The more time that passed, the better the chance that this might happen. On the other hand, the more time that passed, the closer the gang got to the half-million-dollar goal Harry Strite’s letter had mentioned. And presumably once that was reached, the gang would head for Honduras.

We had to stop them before they reached their goal.

On Wednesday, May 28th, at 8:37 p.m., I was sitting at home in my Westlake apartment watching television. The phone rang. It was Tony Ramirez of the Gang Squad.

He said, “Joe, there’s a chance Emlet and I have stumbled onto the hideout of one of your Operation Statewide suspects.”

“Yeah?” I said.

“Jack and I have been regularly sounding out members of the Paloma Gang whenever we get a chance,” he said. “Finally hit something tonight.”

“What?”

“Ran across an ex-member who knows Saltenson. Kid about twenty-five years old who joined the gang a couple of years before Saltenson dropped out. Told us Salty’s old girlfriend’s name. Said he doubted that Salty had seen her for years, but was pretty keen on her years back. Thought she’d probably have some old pictures of him.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Took a drive by her place. She’s got a little four-room house over on Lake Street. Jack stayed in the car while I went up to the door. We didn’t figure on any trouble, see.”

“I understand.”

“Shades in the house were all down. Somebody pulled one aside to peek out before answering the door. When a woman finally did answer, she left the chain on. Acted scared when she asked what I wanted.”

“Uh-huh.”

“All of a sudden I got a hunch. Don’t know why. This kid we talked to seemed sure Saltenson had broken up with the woman years ago. But I just got a feeling he was in the house.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I know the feeling.”

Tony said, “So I played it cute.”

“How’s that?”

“Didn’t tell her I was a police officer. Said I was an insurance salesman. She stopped looking scared and got nasty. Slammed the door in my face.”

“Think she was suspicious?” I asked.

“Naw. Just mad. Emlet’s got his eye on the place while I’m phoning.”

“What’s the address of this house?” I asked.

He gave me the Lake Street address, and also the location of his and Emlet’s undercover car, which was parked a block away. He said the woman’s name was Miss Martha Gerrold.

I told him to stand by while I phoned in for enough men to surround the place, and that I’d meet him at his car in twenty minutes.

As soon as Ramirez hung up, I phoned Frank. Then I phoned Robbery Division and got hold of Lieutenant Arroyo, the nightwatch commander.

When I explained the situation, Arroyo said he would get the house staked out immediately. He asked how many men I wanted.

“If this place is one of the Operation Statewide hideouts, we can’t afford to miss,” I said. “Better get the whole area blocked off, and send at least a dozen close-in men. And don’t forget the tear gas.”

“Check,” he said. “I’ll put Walker in charge of the detail. Look for him when you get there.”

“Have him meet me at Ramirez’s and Emlet’s car,” I said, and gave him its location.

8:56 p.m. I arrived at the point Tony Ramirez had designated. Frank was not yet there, as he had to drive all the way from the Valley. Ramirez and Emlet were quietly sitting in their undercover car smoking cigarettes. I went over and leaned in the window.

I said to Emlet, “Thought you were keeping an eye on the house?”

His teeth flashed in the darkness. “Hi, Joe. Got too crowded.”

Jack Emlet is lean and hard and wears his blond hair in a crew cut. His partner, Tony Ramirez, is a dark, good-looking man with a well-muscled body.

Tony said, “What’d you do? Call out the whole department?”

“It’s already staked out, huh?” I said. “Good. Seen Sergeant Walker?”

“Right here, Joe,” a voice said behind me.

I turned and found the sergeant standing there. “Everything set?” I asked.

“Radio units all around the area. Got three men on each side of the house. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Frank’s on his way, too,” I said. “Since they’re bottled up, we’ll wait. Where’s the house?”

Ramirez said, “Block up the street. Get in and we’ll drive past. We can be back before Frank gets here.”

Walker and I climbed in the back seat. The undercover car Tony was driving was a ’55 Chevrolet, indistinguishable from hundreds of other cars driving the streets.

We drove past the small frame house at a normal speed. It was only one story, and a narrow porch ran the full width of the front. It was a dark, moonless night. Street lamps lighted the street well, but penetrated only dimly back as far as the porch. I could barely make out the dim shadows of men crouched by bushes on either side of the porch. And in the darkness on either side of the house it was impossible to make out the stakeouts at all.

We circled the block to our starting point. A few minutes later Frank arrived. Quickly I briefed him on the situation. Frank said, “What’s the strategy? Knock and inquire?”

“What else?” I asked. “For all we know, Miss Gerrold is home alone watching television. We’re just playing Tony’s hunch. We can hardly start breaking in doors and windows.”

“Okay,” Frank said. “Let’s go knock and inquire.”

Jack Emlet said, “Need us any more?”

“I guess we’re set,” I said. “You can get back to your own jobs. Thanks for the help.”

“Don’t mention it,” Tony said. “Any time you Robbery boys get stumped, feel free to call on the Gang Squad.” With a grin he put the car in gear and drove away.

Frank, Walker, and I climbed into my Ford. I drove up the block and parked right in front of the house. We all got out.

I said to Sergeant Walker, “You might as well use the car as cover. Bring a tear-gas gun?”

“In the car,” he said, and nodded toward an F car parked a few yards down the street.

“Well, get it and stand by. We’ll hope we don’t need it.”

I nodded to Frank, and we walked together toward the front porch.