The Case of the Crime King

Chapter 33

9:17 a.m. We arrived at Whittier. The area around the staked-out house was blocked off by police and sheriff’s deputy cars. We were stopped at one of the roadblocks. When we explained who we were, the officer who stopped us got on his radio. Shortly afterward we were joined by a Lieutenant Goss, who was in charge of the stakeout.

Lieutenant Goss said that he had forty men deployed around the house.

“In daylight?” I said. “How are they keeping out of sight?”

“We asked the neighbors’ cooperation,” he said. “Some of them are in houses on either side of the Watson house, some in houses across the street. The rest are hidden in underbrush behind the house.”

“I see,” I said.

“Wey hasn’t tumbled yet. We’re afraid if he does, he’ll try to use the woman and children as hostages.”

“Who are they?” I asked.

“Mrs. Watson and her two kids. Seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. Watson isn’t there. We’ve got him in custody.”

“Oh?”

“He started to drive to work at eight thirty. One of the roadblocks stopped his car.”

“What’s he say?”

“That he’s been hiding out the gang under duress. Maury Wey’s a distant cousin. Says the gang just moved in and told him if he went to the police, they’d take it out on his family.”

“I mean, what’s he say about the situation inside?”

Lieutenant Goss shrugged. “Says Wey’s capable of anything. Begged us to wait until Wey comes outside before we make a move. Which is impossible.”

“Why?”

“Watson says Wey hasn’t stepped out of the house in a week.”

Frank said, “Just what is it you want with us, Lieutenant?”

“You and Friday know this man. Hoped you’d be able to think of a method of smoking him out.”

I said, “I was thinking on the way down. Willing to take a chance?”

“On what?” Goss asked.

“Letting him know he’s surrounded. He’s bound to tumble eventually anyway.”

“You mean deliberately let him know?”

“I thought about phoning the Watson house and talking to him,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Wey has enough guts to shoot it out,” I said. “But he’s no hothead. Doubt that he has an emotion in him. If he thought he didn’t have a prayer, I think he’d weigh the odds. There’s a good chance he’d give up without a struggle.”

Lieutenant Goss wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea, but he accepted it because he didn’t have a better one. We decided the best place to phone from was one of the Watsons’ next-door neighbors.

We reached the house next to the Watson place by climbing several backyard fences and finally entering a side door that could not be seen from the Watson home. Frank and I looked out a window at the place next door before I phoned. It was a neat, one-story frame house with an immaculately kept lawn.

Goss looked up the number for me, and I dialed it.

The phone rang three times before a pleasant feminine voice said, “Hello?”

“Mrs. Watson?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“This is Lieutenant Friday of the Los Angeles Police. Will you tell Maury Wey I’d like to speak to him?”

There was a gasp, then silence.

“Mrs. Watson?” I said.

The silence continued. The line wasn’t dead, but there was no sound whatever. I guessed that the woman had clamped a hand over the mouthpiece and was relaying what I had said.

A full minute passed before a cautious male voice said, “Yeah?’

“Joe Friday, Maury,” I said pleasantly. “How are you?’

“What’s the caper?” he demanded.

“I’m right next door, Maury. With ten other officers. There’s ten more in the house on your other side, ten in houses across the street, and ten in the underbrush out back. All armed with riot guns, machine guns, and carbines. Plus a little tear gas.”

After a considerable silence he asked coldly, “Think you can take me?’

“Don’t think you’ll make us,” I said. “After you think it over. I think you’re smart enough to weigh the odds. If you try to shoot it out, you’re dead. If you give up, there’s always another chance. How about it?’

“You must be nuts, Friday.”

“Consider it,” I suggested. “Which would be easier — breaking past fifty guns or making a jailbreak?”

There was another long silence. Then he said, “Keep talking.”

“You’ve made it out of maximum security twice, Maury. There’s always the chance you could make it again. But you’ll never get past this setup.”

After another silence, he said, “What’s your number there, Friday?”

I read it off the phone dial.

“Give me ten minutes,” he said. “I’ll either phone you back or come out shooting.”

Only eight minutes passed before the phone rang. I picked it up and said, “Friday speaking.”

I heard a long sigh. “For a cop, you’re a convincing guy, Friday.”

“Yeah?” I said.

“You win. I’ll give you five minutes to spread the word not to shoot. Then I’ll throw out my gun and come out the front door backward.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Lieutenant,” he said, in a suddenly diffident voice.

“Yeah?”

“You said you thought I was smart. Was that bull, or do you really mean it?”

“You’re being smart about this,” I said.

“You know what I mean. In general.”

“You want me to be frank?” I asked.

“Sure, Lieutenant.”

I said, “Smart people don’t end up in prison.”

The story you have just read is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent.

The following is a summary of the disposition of the case officially known as Operation Statewide but usually referred to in the press as the “Crime King Case.”

Gerald Felix Federson — Killed by police officers on March 19th.

Harry Glenn Strite and Jules Byron Martin — Killed in a gun battle with police officers on June 10th.

Harvey Kent Daniels and Edward Lee Saltenson — On August 4th trial was held in Department 92, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles. The suspects were tried and convicted of robbery in the first degree, four counts, and received sentence as prescribed by law. Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a period of not less than five years on each count. Harvey Kent Daniels and Edward Lee Saltenson are now serving their terms in the State Penitentiary, San Quentin, California.

Maurice Lester Wey — On August 18th trial was held in Department 92, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles. The suspect was tried and convicted of homicide in the first degree, with a recommendation for life imprisonment. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the State Penitentiary, San Quentin, California.

On October 8th the suspect escaped from San Quentin by means of a simulated pistol fashioned from soap and shoe blacking, his third escape from maximum security. On October 10th he is alleged to have killed a special police officer during an attempted robbery in Chicago, Illinois. On November 5th he was captured by F.B.I. agents, after a gun battle during which both the suspect and an F.B.I. agent were wounded, in Detroit, Michigan. He was extradited to Illinois on a charge of murder.

On February 4th the suspect was tried and convicted of first degree murder in Cook County, Illinois. He was sentenced to die by electrocution at the Illinois State Penitentiary, Joliet, Illinois.

Maurice Lester Wey is now awaiting execution at Joliet, Illinois.