Twenty-Four Years Ago. Klempner
746 Words
Twenty-Four Years Ago. Klempner
Bech looks smug. “Sir, I’ve found them.”
“Them?”
“Conners and the girl.”
“About time, Bech. After so long, I’d almost given up.”
“Yes, sir.”
I think he expects me to congratulate him, but it was his heavy-handedness two years ago that lost them in the first place.
“Where are they?”
“Here in the City, only a couple of miles away.”
“Seriously?”
Is he dense?
Or just over-confident?
“Seriously.” Bech shrugs. “Wouldn’t have been my first choice but maybe they think by lying low it’ll go away.”
“How did you find them?”
“Easily enough. I’ve been keeping an eye on that apartment she was living in. It’s been standing empty. It was a cert she’d put it up for sale sooner or later…”
“She might have rented it out…”
“In which case I’d have found a reason to talk to the tenant and enquire about the landlord’s shady activities. As it is, she’s selling it, and guess who she’s using as real estate agent?”
“Conners? His business closed down.”
“So it did, but he’s started up again, using someone else as a front.”
Thinks he’s clever?
“And…?”
Bech smirks. “A burglary at the premises.… Some petty thieving… A computer taken, a printer, petty cash… some other odds and ends. Enough to make it look genuine. But the customer files were broken into during the vandalization that followed.”
“So you have their address?”
“I do.”
“What about the ‘stolen goods’?”
He shrugs. “Dumped them in a flop a few streets away. The crack-head there was so zoned he didn’t even see me do it. When he comes round he’ll probably think he did it himself and try to sell them stuff.” His mouth twists to a smile. “Probably pay for his next fix.” The smile fades. “Sir, there’s something you should know.”
“And what’s that?”
“They’re married. They’ve got a kid.”
Mitch and Conners…
Playing happy families…
My temperatures rises. “We’ll go find him, shall we?”
Bech reaches for car keys, jangles them in his hand. “And her?”
“You don’t touch her. She’s mine.”
*****
Bech speaks quietly. “There he is now. The green saloon, just coming around the corner. You got him?”
“I’ve got him. Where’s the girl?”
“Not seen her.”
The area’s run-down, grubby, populated by cheap houses and tired people
Squalid little dump…
Should demolish the lot…
Living here… After everything I offered her…
Gave her…
Bech eyes me. I regather my thoughts. “Good. We’ll take Conners now…”
The car indicates, pulling over. Conners steps out, then rummages inside, taking out a briefcase and a newspaper, putting them on top of the car then stooping back inside.
He’s put on weight…
Too much of the good life and home cooking…
A swarm of small girls in witch’s outfits, skeleton-painted dungarees and goblin masks giggles by.
Bech stirs, but I say, “Wait ‘til these kids have moved along.”
A three-foot high mistress-of-the-night, complete with pointy hat and fake raisin-on-the-nose wart stops by us, holding out a tin. Bech scowls. I drop in a few coppers. “Thanks, Mister!” she yells and chases after the group.
“McCullen, Andrech, you’re with me.” Bech thumbs his latest ‘trainees’, each dressed in dark blue pants and shirt, towards our target. They march smartly towards where Conners, briefcase, newspaper and a lunchbox under one arm, is turning the key in the door.
The door opens and, coming from behind, a man to each side, they take him by the arms, barging inside and out of sight.
Whistling a happy tune, I watch them enter then stroll down a side-alley to the back of the house where the car is waiting. I lean against it, arms folded, making sure that I can be seen by anyone coming out of the back door.
Less than a minute later, the door opens and Conners, hands cuffed behind him, comes out, McCullen and Andrech to either side, Bech behind him. As he claps eyes on me his face drains…
“Larry… I…”
He doesn’t have the chance to say more. Bundled into the back of the car, flanked left and right by his guards, he’s going nowhere.
Bech tosses me the keys. “You joining us?” I ask.
“I’m going to take a look around. I’ll see you in an hour or so.” He looks up into a bright blue sky, inhales cool air. “It’s a lovely day. The walk will do me good.”
Curtains twitch. Bech looks across, his face pulling to a tight little smile. One genuine cop’s uniform and two close lookalikes. None of the neighbours will question how Conners left.
Bech continues, one eye on the twitcher. “And I’ll put a stop to any rumours.”
I climb in the car. From behind me, Frank’s voice, shaky, “Larry, it’s not…”
“Shut him up,” I suggest. There’s a muffled thump and gasp.
*****
- Writer
