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Mice and Dead Men
by Ronald Robert Moore

I checked my antique railroad pocket watch and it read three ten.  My three o'clock appointment was late.

The doorbell buzzed and I walked over to open it.  Pushing away as the guy fell forward  I jumped back and he landed bleeding in my doorway with the back of his head blown off.

Having spent 15 years as a homicide detective on the San Francisco Police Department I recognized a dead body when I saw it.

The man lay partly inside my condominium with his alligator skin boots outside in the hallway and a widening pool of blood spreading out from him over my new white carpet.

I crawled slowly over to my antique leather chair reached up and pushed the steel button on its arm to open my gun safe.   The top of the arm slid open and I felt around for my gun and gripped it, a lightweight 38 snub with a two-inch barrel.

It has a designer chamber that takes a special 38 cartridge, like a dumdum, and the bad guys front has a small hole, his back a picture window.

I dropped down on one knee inches away from my bloodied front door.  Back to the wall, I put six special loads in the chamber; these death pills will arrest anyone's heart.

I slowly moved up to the front doorway breathing heavy and peeked out quickly with my piece in both sweaty hands ready to blow this guys brain from here to White Plains.  

The hall was as empty of life as the dead guy.

I knocked on my neighbor's door and Henry, my hard of hearing neighbor down the hall, said he heard nothing.  The other two weren't home.

There was brain matter splattered all over the front of my door, and Skull and bullet fragments decorated the front to, but there were no bullet casings in the buildings hallway.      

The foul odor was making it hard to breathe.  The victim must have defecated when he died and the nauseous odors plus blood and urine mixed.  I reached down and felt his carotid artery out of instinct while I phoned the cops.  

"This is retired detective Vincent Spain.  Yeah, badge number R2348h.  I've had a shooting at my condo the guy is deceased.  Alright, I'll be here.”

I waited about ten minutes and Dobs got off the elevator and came marching up my hallway stopping in front of me.  What a punk, he looked like a teacher now, his blondish hair was razor cut with hazel eyes.  

“What's up Vincent, have you touched anything?”

"Yeah, the victim's carotid artery,” I went back into the kitchen, got a drink of water to calm down, and walked back where the Victim lay.  That cowardly liar Dobs left me to die five years ago.  

He came inside and began examining the body.  I leaned back against the entry wall.  The dead man was wearing a black leather fog cutter raincoat with the hood pulled down.  I got a towel from my bathroom, wet it with some after-shave and held it to my nose to block out the smell.  

Dobs pulled a long fat black leather wallet out of the fog cutter.  It was jammed up with a bundle of Benjamin's and the driver's license read Jacob Madrid.  

 "You got here before the uniforms, you must live closer than you used to?”

"Is that a question, Spain?”

"Maybe, Just curious Dobs, don‘t be so uptight my man!”

"You shoot this guy, Vince?”

"Only my friends call me Vince and HELL NO!”

Dobs walked over to my chair with the gun safe.  

"Come on over and have a seat, please" Sir.”

"What the hell for, man?”

He stood by the chair and gave me a blank stare.  

"Look Vince, I'm sorry Vincent, would you please sit down while I wait for my partner to search your pad or do you want me to handcuff you to one of these expensive antiques you collect.”

"Am I a suspect officer?”

"Not yet Vincent, but you know this is for your own protection.”                                                              

                                                                       ***

The blood was starting to congeal by the time the uniforms, Coroner and techs got here ten minutes later.  It changed from scarlet to dark maroon and was now getting like Jell-O.  Charlie Fellows was with them.  Fellows was still an uniformed officer when I was shot chasing a murder suspect in a drug case and fell through the roof of a warehouse in North Beach 60 feet down and hit a concrete floor.  I broke my legs and back.  Dobs was supposed to be behind me, instead of talking to Fellows, and could have saved me when I dangled in the air holding on to a light fixture.   

“I thought somebody killed you Vince.”  The coroner, Doc Norman, interrupted my thoughts.  He looked like a little like Quincy.  

My old partner Andrew Dobs was a coward and made me want to puke.  Fellows got up and they started searching the bedroom first.  Charlie was still searching the bedroom when Dobs started in the kitchen.  Fellows came out of my bedroom and handed him something whispering in his ear.  Dobs waved a nine millimeter at me, “Your damn temper Vincent, you've done it this time.”

I really got a kinky feeling about what was going down.

 “You have my gun, I don't know where that nine mill came from!”

"What kind of bullet blew this guys head apart?  We have to wait for forensics but you and I both know after hundreds of these shooting cases it looks like a nine mill.

"What the hell is wrong with you, I didn't kill this man, he was an appointment I had at three, a case I might have worked.  Where did you get that gun?”

The Coroner and his staff was carting the body out and Dobs walked over and stood in front of me.  I got a sharp pain in my gut, gosh darn ulcer.  "You're going downtown Vincent, whether you like it or not.”  Dobs the coward waved the two uniforms over.  I followed them out to their car but drove mine downtown to the Station.

                                                              ***

I sat in interrogation unit number three waiting for one of these losers to get on with it. We were in the southern station on Bryant; I used to work out of this station.    Loser number one came in first.  He smiled, and brought me a cup of coffee.  He tried to hand it to me but his hand was trembling slightly so he just sat it down on the table.  

"You want some cream and sugar, Vincent?”

If I learned one thing being a cop, its keep your mouth shut and let them talk.  I hadn't been booked yet, that was a good sign.  He sat down across from me and fingered through a file acting as if he was reading it.  

"We gave the gun to forensics and should know if your prints are on it in a few hours.  We put a ASAP on it, former cop and all that.”

I sat there in silence staring at him.  Remembering how he testified at the hearing regarding his involvement with Fellows and how Fellows delayed him after I went on the roof, all his lies made me think I might lose it.  I asked this weasel one question, "Are you going to arrest Me?”

He shifted in his seat and tried to act confident.  His body language gave him away.  I know his tells too well.  He blinked too much and his speech was a little too loud.

 "Not yet, we got enough probable cause to hold you up to 24 hours but you know that."

“Yeah, about that gun you claim was in my apartment!”  My ulcer was killing me but I continued.

"Where, exactly did you find it?  I only own one gun, the snub, and if you're claiming you found that nine millimeter in my apartment, someone's lying just as you lied at the hearing regarding my injury.  You guy's weren't even near the roof when I fell through.”

Dobs sat there motionless; l could feel the angry vibes coming off him. He wanted to swing at me in the worst way, but controlled himself. 

"I didn't do anything to cause you to get hurt.  I ran into that warehouse and almost got killed bringing you  out.  I got suspended without pay, what more do you want!”

I sat and thought over what I was going to say a long time.  Five years of venomous rage came up from my being, and spit out of my mouth.  

"I want my body back man!  I want my job back!  I don't want to walk with a limp.  I don't want to be down on my back half the time because the pain is so bad I can't move. If you had been a real partner and had been there to back me up and not fooling around with Fellows I wouldn't be here today.”

The door flew open and Fellows and Captain Washington came in quickly.  I felt a sigh of relief seeing the Captain. He was a fair man.  Honest to a fault, and he was no ones fool either.  They stood by Dobs and looked at me.  The Captain spoke.  

"Spain you're free to go, but don't leave town.”  The captain put his arm on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear, "The ballistics will be in by tomorrow afternoon.  Go get them Vince.”  The captain handed me a card with writing on it.  Dobs looked frustrated.

On my way out of police headquarters, I stopped by to see if Crystal was still working.  I really could use the up-lift I get just seeing her and hearing her voice.  She had gone home already but and old friend Amber Ortiz was working and she yelled through her office door at me.  "Hey Vince you green-eyed handsome devil what's yah doing here?”

“Working honey, tell Crystal I'll call her later tonight,” I said this as I walked toward the door and knew she would because they talk all the time


                                                                      ***

The club was on Lancing and Vernon near the Embarcadero.  The Captains card had its address written on it.  My ulcer was killing me when I parked my old Lincoln in the crowded parking lot.  I drank something for my stomach and ran inside.  Rain was still hammering down and lightning flash-painted the black sky white.  I could barely see in the half-light of the red and blue neon sign and showed the bouncer my ID.  

I yelled over the thunder and rain, "Is Diamond inside,” and the guy nodded yes?  

It was dark outside but a black hole in here.  John Lee Hooker was blasting on my eardrums singing I'm a Man on the jukebox, and a blonde babe with very big boobs and a quaking behind was stripping on the small stage in the center of the bar. The place smelled like beer, alcohol, testosterone and sweat.  The bartender pointed Diamond out to me and I walked up to her while she spoke with some of the strippers sitting at the end of the long bar.  They were having some of those frothy colored drinks.  

"Hi Diamond, my name is Vincent Spain.“  Three babes, two brunettes and a blond was sitting around her when I spoke.  They turned there heads toward me and I stood in front of her.  I could feel the tension flowing off her; it was palpable.  She finished her drink and smoked a drag off her cigarette, all the time looking at me.  

"And you are?”   She spoke with a forceful voice.

I really wanted to speak with her in private, just in case she didn't know her husband was dead.  After hundreds of cases of informing victims loved ones, and seeing their pain, I was determined to get her somewhere private.  I got closer to her and whispered in her ear.  

"Your husband hired me and I have something vitally important to tell you.  For your protection we need to speak in  private.”

She stepped back and her black pupils bored into me like a drill bit.  She left her drink and smoke on the bar and waved a six foot nine mountain of a man over to us.  Is she calling a broken nose over to throw me out?  When he got to us she leaned over to speak to me.  

"Follow me to my office.”

The bouncer stayed by her side all the way to the office and sat behind us inside.  I sat on a very expensive antique Maple chair, and she sat across from me in a big bucks ancient mahogany desk.  I always take care when telling people there loved one is dead.  I've had them go off on me before.  I crossed my legs and surprisingly she puts her boots up on the desk.  For some reason at that moment, I liked her, and hoped she wasn't a killer.  

"I've got some really bad news to tell you and I think you would prefer this conversation to be private.”

Her sky blue eyes stared at me and  seemed to be pondering what I said.  I thought that for a second she was unhooked when out of the desk drawer she pulled a 357 magnum and laid it on the desk in front of her.  

"See that mister, I can use it too, understand!  Michael, go wait outside at the door.”
I handed her my card, she grabbed it and read it and I took a deep breath and sighed.  

"Your husband Jacob Madrid is dead, I'm sorry.”

Her upper lip started to tremble slightly at first.  She was a tough woman.  I felt my ulcer again when tears rained down her cheeks.  Taking her feet off the desk, she puts her head in her hands, and sobbed.  After a few minutes, she jerked up.  

"What happened, how did he die?”

If my training taught me anything, it was that it's hard to read people, but this woman seemed to care deeply for Jacob Madrid.  I pulled my handkerchief out and handed it to her.  

"He was shot to death in my doorway.  He told me on the phone that you had disappeared and he thought you ran off with some man and left him.  I know it's a bad time but the cops are looking to question you."  

She reached over and got something out of her desk.   "I  presume my husband hasn't paid you yet Mr. Spain, how much?”

I could have kissed her.  It felt good to have some coin  in my pocket, partial retirement only goes so far.  "I would say about fifty-two hundred, so far.  I mean considering everything that has happened.”

I re-crossed my legs nervously.  She started writing the check and handed it to me.  

"Of course that check will cover everything until you solve the case, alright?” 

I looked at the check slowly and it had a 25 followed by three zero's and a dot.  I waited for a while before answering.  I stood up, reached across her desk and accepted the check. I shook her hand longer than I should.  

“I will see this through until the murderer is caught either by me or the police.”

She had a sad smile on her face.  I felt sorry for her.  She stood up with me and put her coat on.  

"Good, Mr. Spain, I don't mind telling you that your presence makes me feel a whole lot safer.  By the way, I'm very tired, would you mind accompanying me home, and uh you can follow me in your car.”

I helped her straighten her coat.  I breathed in her body and lotion; my manhood began to rise so I stopped.  

"Alright, I said, my car is out in the parking lot where is yours?”

She was quickly in front of me and out the back door.  Her car was a new red Porsche Car-era.  She stood by her car and looked into my eyes.  She reached up and flung her arm around my neck, then kissed me.  It was a long and passionate one.  

"Thank You Mr. Spain, I needed that.  Jump in I'll take you out front to your car.”

                                                                ***

We took 101 across the bridge to 280 and got to her house about 10 minutes later.  It was one of those old Tudor mansions on the peninsula.  There were underground garages but we stopped outside on the massive circular concrete driveway.  I got out first and looked around in the dark.  The car lights were on but the house lights were off and it was a dark night.  There was a lot of trees a somewhat forest that surrounded the mansion.  I could see the outlines of the treetops against the black backdrop of sky when the lightening flashed.  Gardens aligned the driveway.  Not seeing anyone, I waved her out of the Porsche. This would be a perfect place for and ambush.  

"I didn't realize you were this rich.  Booby- Bars must be very profitable.”

She didn't say anything but just kept walking.  If a shot was fired I was ready to shield her

"I'm super rich, Mr. Spain.  My parents owned several hotel chains until they were killed in and airplane crash three years ago and I sold everything and invested it in stocks.”

I helped her open the huge wood and brass front door and she turned the house lights on.  The place exploded in light.  She walked in to the ballroom size foyer, and I double-checked the front door lock.  I noticed a Tiffany chandelier hung in the foyer, a very expensive antique.  I looked at her and her face was white as a sheet, she looked frightened.

She motioned me over to her.  She stood close to a wide stairway and put her hand around my neck pulling my head down to her then whispered.  

"Carry me upstairs Vincent.”

                                                                   ***

I told her about my love for Crystal and begged off.  She might have been a good one but I hadn't bought her act yet and I loved Crystal.  We made small talk for ten minutes and she went to sleep.  I was restless and worried.  Something just didn't  feel right; my sixth sense I had learned to trust over the years.  I got up out of the settee without waking her and walked down the long staircase three stories to the ground floor, and started to search the old mansion for security breaks.

She had told me the place had its own security system, which was up to date with all the high-tech stuff but I didn‘t see any of it.  The rest of the mansion was modern although built in the late 1800's.  It had been in her family all this time.  There were about 35 bedrooms, and a bunch of other stuff on 40 acres.  Litter was everywhere and  spider webs hid in corners here and there. With her fortune, it seemed strange that she had no staff.  Walking through the different rooms with my flashlight, I recognized that the mansion was rather sparse, there were only a few valuable antiques here and there.

She called me on the intercom system; I had just locked a window on the main floor in the south end of the mansion.  I walked over to the intercom on the wall and clicked the button.  

"Yeah what's up?”

"Vincent, help me,” and she clicked off.  I ran back the way I came through three different front rooms and a couple ballrooms, and turned the lights off on the way then up the stairs to the third floor.

I didn't run into her bedroom, instinct I guess.     

It was black as a well bottom on the third floor.  I felt my way along the smooth wallpaper.  When I touched her closed door, I stopped; got down on one knee; grabbed the brass door handle; flung it open and yelled, “Diamond!”

Shots rang out and bullets hit the wall across the hall with deadly force.  I saw the outline of a man in the muzzle fire, standing in front of her poster-bed about six feet away.  I ran and leapt at the figure and caught him midriff and we went back on the bed.  I hit him hard twice in the head with my snub, grabbed his gun out of his hand, and made sure he was out then ran over to the wall switch and flipped on the light.  

"Well I'll be damned,” was all I could say.

Fellows lay in the bed half-conscious, and lovely Diamond was crouching in the corner by the window.  I really started to like that girl too.  I got some belts off a few robes in her closet and hog-tied Fellows.  She ran over to me while I was doing this.  

"Thank God you got here Vincent; he was going to kill me.”

"Save it baby, you can tell them your story downtown.”

Fellows cut in and said, “You dumb broad, he knows.”

Her face snarled in anger at me.  "You creep,” she screamed, “It made me want to puke to kiss you.”

My back was to the bedroom door and I was tying her up when I heard,

“Drop the gun Vince!”

I stopped and slowly turned.  Captain Washington was in front of me with his gun pointed at my heart.  I couldn't believe it my gut sank.  I dropped the gun.  

“Why Captain?”

The Captain stepped in the room a few steps.  Fellows lay hog-tied on the bed.  Diamond threw off the belts I was tying and sauntered in front of me in her negligee picking up my gun.  

”Money, Man, we do a very lucrative drug business out of that club.  You've always been a patsy Vince, too honest to include in our business and loyal enough to not suspect me.  I was there five years ago getting my drugs out before you busted anyone.”

“Dobs is your key man?”  I asked thinking I already knew the answer.

“Hell no he's like you.  Diamond, untie Him,” the Captain pointed to Fellows who was struggling on the bed.  

“Were all going for a ride, get in front of me Vince!”

They were behind me in the dark as we started down the hall and when she reached the stairwell I felt  bodies hitting and heard Captain Washington yell, “Hell!”  

I bent down and jumped back grabbing Diamond by the leg and up ending her, and then I crawled over her and grabbed the gun.   

Fellows jumped over us and ran down the stairs.  I shot on the run in the dark at where he should be; he didn't get up.  

The lights came on and Dobs stood by the Captain holding a gun on Him.  Two uniforms took charge of Diamond, and I checked Fellows, he was still breathing.  

“You want to handcuff them Vince.”

“Damn right partner!”  I heard myself say.  

                                                               ***
I kicked back on my balcony enjoying the rainfall, watching the soggy crowds cruise down Market Street bobbing their colorful umbrellas up and down and my phone rang.  

Dobs said Fellows and Diamond confessed.  The Captain tried to stonewall but there's enough evidence to put him away for a long time.  She had lost all her money in the stock crash and was selling off her antiques.  She had heard Madrid talking to me on the phone and told Fellows.  They all had a rock cocaine business out of their club.  Fellows and Diamond were having and affair and they wanted to get rid of Madrid.  So, I was the perfect fall guy.  

Fellows okayed it with Captain Washington who got my print from my personnel file and Charlie planted it on the nine millimeter.  When I showed up at her club, she called Fellows.  He told her that the Captain directed me to her club and she should get me out to her mansion.  He had shown her my picture.  

“I'll say this for her she is a great actor, she'll  do well in the prison play.”  

I asked him how he knew we were at the mansion.  Crystal had called him after I spoke with her from the mansion to apologize for not getting together that night as we usually do.  

Dobs said the Captain had left the station house earlier saying he was going home.  Andy called his home and the Captains wife said he was still at work.  Something didn't Jive.  I said my goodbyes to my old partner and just as I hung up the phone, it rang again and it was Crystal.  “Hi baby…”