pt. II
The nearest NYPD precinct building was only a few blocks away.
Jack and the Reaper hurried towards it, the Reaper walking straight
through the oncoming pedestrians, but Jack instinctively kept
weaving from side to side, avoiding all the people who clearly
couldn't see him.
"F*ck!," he said catching up with the Reaper. "And
I thought walking through New York streets was bad normally."
The police station was swarming with people and Jack and the
Reaper were able to walk straight in with no trouble at all.
From there it was simply a matter of following the signs until
they reached the homicide division.
The homicide office was a vast open space crammed full of desks,
computers, filing cabinets and people. Although smoking had been
banned inside the building years before, the place still stank
of stale tobacco. Finding the detective in charge of Jack's murder
case was easy once someone shouted "Hey, Marshall! We arrested
the Hellblaze suspect!"
Detective Keelie Marshall looked up tiredly from her desk. "Gee,
that's great Sam," she said, but didn't sound convinced.
She had been working non-stop on this case for the last three
days. And if there was one thing she had learnt, it was that
the murders of the rich and famous brought out all kinds of wackos
out to claim their fifteen minutes of fame.
Jack watched her. "A woman?" he commented, whilst eyeing
her up.
Keelie seemed quite young, but looked older than her years,
presumably due to the stress of the job. She had frizzy red hair
and wasn't wearing any make-up. Unsurprisingly, she didn't seem
to be aware of Jack and the Reaper watching her.
Slowly she stood up, shuffled through the pile of papers on
her desk until she found a clipboard, then grabbed a coffee from
the machine and headed off, followed by Jack and the Reaper.
After weaving her way through the office, she nodded to the man
who had shouted at her. "Ok Sam," she said wearily.
"Let's get it over with."
The other detective smiled at her. "Hey Keelie, cheer up.
It might actually be the right guy, you know?"
As Jack and the Reaper followed Keelie and Sam through the maze-like
building, he kept wondering who this suspect was. He glanced
over at the Reaper, but his companion seemed to be simply following,
uninterested beyond the call of duty. Unsure of what to say,
Jack just meekly followed, and so was quite relieved when the
detectives stopped in front of some kind of interview room and
went in.
They sat down in front of a table, opposite the suspect, who
seemed to be a young dark skinned man with shoulder-length hair,
wearing a black shirt and jeans.
Jack stared at him, images of his own death flashing through
his mind. "That's him!" he said excitedly to the Reaper.
"I remember, that's the man who shot me!" But the Reaper
just watched impassively.
"Well then, Mr..." Sam glanced down at his notes. "Phoenix
Calledro," he continued raising an eyebrow at the name.
"I'm sure that's not your real name, but it doesn't really
matter for now does it?"
Calledro just stared back.
"Well, Mr Calledro, you have been arrested for the shooting
of Jack Lee, perhaps better known as HellBlaze on the night of
the 24th April..."
Jack watched as the interrogation progressed. For now this
Calledro was denying everything, and Jack couldn't help but feel
alarmed at the seeming lack of evidence the detectives had against
him. Calledro seemed to know this too, and Jack noticed him smirking.
As the interrogation went on, it became apparent that Calledro
was a known professional hitman, carrying out murders for other
people. And yet despite being wanted, he had never been convicted
of anything.
"You've got to worry about our legal system that allows
people like this to go free time after time," muttered Jack.
The Reaper just nodded, but did not comment.
And then something Detective Marshall said caught Jack's attention.
She had been quiet during the interview, letting her partner
do most of the talking.
"Mr Calledro," she suddenly said. "You have been
seen associating with a Mr Marvin Haynes recently haven't you?"
Jack gave a jolt as he remembered something. He knew Marvin.
Marvin had supplied him with drugs during his younger wilder
years.
"Yeah," said Calledro. "So what of it?"
"Marvin Haynes has been under investigation for the drug-dealing.
He's a big-time supplier."
"What's that got to do with me?"
Keelie examined her notes, then looked straight at Calledro.
"Marvin Haynes was also found shot at his home, yesterday.
That wouldn't be your work would it?"
Jack's eyes widened again. Marvin was dead too? He glanced across
at the Reaper quizzically, but the robed figure just stood there
motionless, watching the suspect.
Before Calledro had a chance to answer though there was a knock
at the door. A uniformed cop, this one a young woman, entered
and whispered something to Keelie.
Keelie sighed and stood up. "Continue without me,"
she said to Sam, then she left the room. Jack glanced at her
as she went then back at Calledro, before deciding to follow
her. He was curious to know what was happening now, and he dashed
out after her.
Silently, the Reaper turned and followed him, robes sweeping
against the floor. Jack couldn't help but notice that regardless
of the brightness of the light and the direction of the shadows,
the Reaper's face was always fully enshrouded in darkness. Idly,
Jack pondered pulling the hood down, but decided against it.
He wasn't sure what the Reaper would do in response.
Keelie and her followers headed back to the main office and
to her desk, where a young blond woman holding an infant child
waited nearby.
Jack gave a sigh as more memories flooded back.
"Cassie..." he whispered, gazing at the woman he loved
and their son, Matthew.
"Miss West," said Keelie, acknowledging the visitor.
"What can I do for you today?"
Cassie's eyes were reddened from crying. "I searched around
like you asked," she said. "I found these." She
dropped a small plastic tub on the top.
Keelie picked it up and read the label. "Prozac. An anti-depressant."
Cassie nodded. "I knew he was depressed but he had never
told me he was on tablets for it."
Jack sighed. Yes, he had been depressed. He remembered now. The
failure of the latest record to sell in droves had resulted in
the record label threatening to drop the band. And where they
had once played stadiums, now they had been struggling to fill
the smaller venues.
And there had been arguments. Cassie had threatened to leave,
taking Matthew with her. And so he had gone to his doctor, who
gave him Prozac.
"Oh Cassie," he said, holding out his hand towards
her.
But it was Matthew who responded, waving his little hand in return.
"Dad-da."
"Matthew?" said Jack, surprised. He turned to the Reaper.
"He can see me?"
The Reaper nodded. "Sometimes the very young can."
Jack smiled for the first time today. "Hey kid," he
cooed to the child. "Daddy's here."
"Dad-da, dad-da!" Matthew waved his hand delightedly.
Cassie hugged the child. "No sweetie," she said quietly.
"Daddy's not here right now."
Keelie watched sadly, then coughed slightly, trying to get Cassie's
attention. "So..." she began. "How are you getting
on?"
Cassie sighed. "Badly," she said. "There's been
accountants all over the place. There's still no sign of any
of the savings. The lawyer thinks Jack probably gambled it all
away or something."
"That's not good," sympathised Keelie. "What are
you going to do?"
Cassie shrugged. "It seems Jack had taken out life insurance
when Matthew was born, so hopefully that will pay up enough to
take care of the bills and stuff."
Jack frowned. He didn't remember gambling all the savings away.
Oh sure, he had had a few wagers with Marvin. And then there
was the on-going drug bill. But surely that hadn't taken all
of the savings? Still, Cassie was right. There had been life
insurance.
Jack kept watching as Cassie and Keelie finished talking, then
Cassie, still carrying Matthew, left the room.
"Now what?" asked the Reaper.
"I dunno," Jack said, sounding frustrated. He was now
beginning to tire of this game. "Check out Marvin's place
I guess. He seems to be involved in all of this somehow."
The Reaper beckoned towards the door. "As you wish."
Jack glanced back at Detective Marshall who had settled back
down into her chair and had started to read some report. At least
to him, she seemed to know what she was doing, and Jack felt
a moment of relief that perhaps she would indeed solve the case
and get his murderer convicted after all. With an unseen nod
to her, he turned and walked out the door.
As they entered the foyer and main reception area of the police
building, Jack heard a familiar sound. His song, Dead Yesterday,
was playing on a radio somewhere nearby. He tugged on the Reaper's
sleeve and paused, listening to the music. His legacy. And it
was practically all that was left of him now.
A station jingle and the chattering of the DJs interrupted the
closing chords of the song. "And that was Faust's Minions,
with Dead Yesterday, set to re-enter the charts at the
top this week following the murder of guitarist and lead singer,
HellBlaze. Guess the only way to revive a flagging career is
to get murdered these days, isn't that right Jim?"
"Indeed Dave, but it's a good record anyway, shame Faust's
Minions didn't produce more like it..."
Jack turned to leave, remembering the meeting with the record
label executives, all shouting at him for the poor sales of the
latest album.
~ To Be Continued ~
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