THE DEATH MERCHANT (THE NORRIS FILES), page 1
THE DEATH MERCHANT
Another NORRIS FILE
By
M.W. Huffman
©2012 – The Death Merchant
All rights reserved M.W. Huffman
ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my wife Susan who encourages me, listens to my blather, and keeps me pumped up. Without her I would never have attempted to write a novel.
THE DEATH MERCHANT
© 2012 All rights reserved - M.W. Huffman
N othing in his life
Became him like the leaving it, he died
As one that had been studied in his death
To throw away the dearest thing he owed,
As’t were a careless trifle.
Macbeth. ACT I Scene 4
- William Shakespeare
CHAPTER ONE
Okay, so maybe this isn’t the way I had intended to spend the day. Nevertheless there I was, watching the dust bunnies under what was left of the couch. I could only see out of my right eye, my left one being pressed against the carpet, which didn’t look all that clean either.
My left arm was buried some place under me, or at least that is what my mind was telling me. I tried to lift my head but it was a no go. I could see my right hand but no matter how much I willed it to move, it simply wasn’t listening to me either. What the hell had happened?
I remember opening the front door to my humble abode and walking into the front room. Then I must have sprouted wings because I was suddenly flying across the room, bounced off the wall and then everything went blank. That happens often, the going blank part. Anyway, when I came around, I was watching the bunnies multiply.
My ears were ringing or my phone was. I really couldn’t tell which, but as bad as my head hurt, I suspected it was wasn’t the phone. I could faintly smell smoke and it was getting stronger by the minute which caused me a bit of concern. Actually, more than a bit. I have always had a fear of becoming a bar-b-que. Now what the hell was I going to do? I tried to move my legs but nothing happened. This was another fine mess you've gotten me into Ollie.
At some point I must have decided to take a quick nap because the next thing I was aware of was a pair of feet in front of me.
“Take it easy buddy,” a voice said.
Sure, no problem. Like I had a choice in the matter. I felt a weight being lifted off me and then a set of hands probing various parts of my body. If he got to my butt I was going to find a way to move but fortunately all he did was check my back and neck. I felt a stiff plastic collar being placed around my neck and then I was rolled onto a board and suddenly I was floating. Cool. I could hear voices but couldn’t see where they were really coming from.
An oxygen mask was placed over my nose and mouth and I was rolled out to a waiting ambulance. Funny, I never heard any sirens but from the number of flashing lights there must have been quite a few units on hand. I was loaded into the ambulance and I could hear the doors being slammed shut and we lurched off, sirens blaring. From the way the driver was going I figured he must be an ex-taxicab driver, probably from some Middle Eastern country. I must have passed out again, either from fear of his driving or my injuries, whatever they were.
“You still with us?” A voice said and suddenly a nose appeared in my view. Ugh. He had a booger caught in his abundant nose hairs. I tried to speak but nothing came out. I wanted to tell him to blow his damn nose but just as suddenly that face disappeared followed by a much prettier one. A cute little delicate one.
“You’re in the ER. We are going to take you upstairs in just a minute,” she said.
I was thinking that I would follow that nose anywhere when suddenly the booger nose was back.
“I’m Doctor Kevorkian; I’ll be taking care of you.”
I swear that is what I thought I heard him say. A soft hand squeezed mine, I was hoping it wasn’t a signal that I was about to croak. I could feel my eye lids getting heavy and my last thought was that I sure hoped that the doctor blew his nose before he did any serious work on me.
~~
“So, how are we feeling today?” a rather overweight nurse asked as she flipped on the lights.
How are we feeling? I hate it when people ask that. I feel like shit, I hope you do too is what I wanted to say. Instead I grunted. The clock on the wall said 6:00 A.M. I was not amused. Why did hospitals think it was so necessary to get you up at this un-Godly hour?
The nurse stuck a thermometer in my mouth and put one of those Python devices on my arm to see if they could get blood to squirt out of my ears. A monitor was beeping someplace behind me and I took that to be a good sign. I was pretty sure that if it stopped I was in big trouble.
“Doctor Kellerman will be in later. Sorry, no food for you until he sees how you are doing,” she said cheerily.
Sure, I thought, that’s because you’re probably going to snarf it down. I tried to sit up but immediately realized that was a big mistake. By the way, Kellerman sounded a lot like Kevorkian. I briefly wondered if he was just hiding under an assumed name.
So, now what? I shut my eyes and tried to think back to what could have possibly happened. Maybe a gas leak? That didn’t make much sense. I would have smelled it. I had been eating Mexican for the past few days but I doubted even I could do that much damage. I was sure it was an explosion but what caused it was the real mystery. I was starting to get the feeling that maybe someone didn’t like me much. Of course that really opened a can of worms since I could think of a few hundred people that would probably not be too sad to see me blown to bits.
It’s sort of an occupational hazard when you’re a cop. For some reason most criminals don’t think too kindly of people who enforce the law but they usually don’t try to blow them up. They might think about it but few had the actual gonads to do it.
The Merchant. His nickname immediately came to mind. The Death Merchant. A sicko that happened to be the fruits of my current labor. I was on a task force that was trying to stop one of the most prolific serial killers operating in the Midwest.
So far we had associated him with seventeen rapes and murders. He was a sadistic bastard and this is just the sort of thing that he might try. He had already killed one of the taskforce members and made attempts on two others. You had to give him credit, he was a PC killer. He didn’t care if it was a man or woman, black or white. If you got in his way, he simply killed you. Nice guy. Very politically correct.
“Detective Norris. How are you feeling today?” a vaguely familiar voice said.
It was Doctor Booger Nose, aka, Doctor Kevorkian or whatever alias his was going by. My tongue felt thick and I tried to mumble ‘go away and leave me alone’ but instead I said,”Gomoaaggwya”.
I guess he didn’t get it because he said, “Good. I’m glad you feel better.” What a schmuck.
“I know you can’t move much yet but I am fairly confident that the feeling will return once the swelling subsides. I removed a pretty sizable chunk of wood from your back but it should heal nicely. It shouldn’t detract from the other scars you seem to have accumulated in your line of work,” he said and smiled.
I was glad to see he had blown his nose at some point.
“You should be able to talk by this afternoon. We had to do a tracheotomy,” he said.
Well shit. Now I would have a scar on my throat. Just what I needed. I tried to ask him what happened but he just patted my arm and told me to stay still while he checked me over. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pretty nurse writing on an electronic notepad. Just my luck, this guy was feeling me up while the cute little nurse took the notes.
He was doing doctor speak to her every once in a while but I didn’t understand much of it. Finally he quit playing grab ass and pronounced me in good condition all things considered. He played with my IV for a few seconds and then I felt myself getting sleepy.
~~
“Detective Norris, are you awake?”
“I am now,” I managed to croak out.
“Some of your police friends are here to see you,” the portly nurse said and disappeared again.
Detective friends? I doubted that. Most of my friends avoided hospitals like the plague.
“Norris, I’m with the 6th precinct, Detective Lewis. I know you don’t feel like answering questions but I need to get a statement about what happened. Do you have any idea who might have tried to kill you?”
“A couple of hundred people come to mind,” I managed to get out.
“Can you narrow that down just a little?” he asked.
“Yeah, some of them are still in the can and a few are dead.”
“Come on Norris. You know how it goes. Your house is in my district so I got stuck with this. I would appreciate it if you didn’t jerk me around too much,” Lewis said.
“Okay, but keep in mind, I don’t know exactly what happened.”
“Someone blew up your house with you in it. Nothing sophisticated. Regular old dynamite was the explosive used.”
“Guess I didn’t rate the good stuff.”
“Be glad you didn’t. If it had been C-4 or C-10 we wouldn’t be talking now.”
“How bad is my house?”
“You don’t have a house. Just a floor and some pipes sticking up here and there. Your resale value took a hell of a hit,” Lewis replied.
“Great, maybe that will lower my property taxes.”
“Good luck with that. So, getting back to who did this. You don’t have a
single clue?”
“The Merchant. He is called the Death Merchant. For lack of a better name that’s what the media have named him. You may have heard of him,” I said.
“The serial killer?”
“That would be the one,” I said.
“What makes you think he did this?”
“Just a gut feeling. He whacked one of the taskforce and has tried for a couple of others. The prick seems to be better at killing innocent women than cops. He is basically a chickenshit.”
“Has he made a threat against you specifically?”
“The asshole is a threat against every decent person while he is alive.”
“We don’t have anyone watching your room. You think he may try to get at you here?”
“I doubt it. He doesn’t have that kind of balls. He is only tough with women.”
“But you said he did get one of your people.”
“Yeah, there is that, I guess. I could use a piece.”
“I don’t think the hospital would think too much of that. Something about not killing people in the hospital,” he said.
“It would be a lot better than paying a guard to sit on his butt. A bullet doesn’t cost all that much,” I told him.
I could see he was thinking this over so I added, “Even a backup piece would be good enough. I would make sure it was returned as soon as I was on my feet again.”
“I don’t know if that would be in anyone’s best interest,” Lewis said.
“I wasn’t talking about anyone’s best interest, just mine.”
“Not to change the subject but do you guys have any leads as to where this guy might be?”
“You’re kidding right? If we had any clue do you think I would be lying here?”
“Sorry, dumb question. I just had to ask.”
“Why?”
“So you would know I was a real cop I guess.”
“You dress funny. You couldn’t be anything else.”
“You’re a real hoot. Look, if you think of anything that would actually help, you mind giving me a heads up? Interprecinct cooperation and all that crap.”
“Oh sure. You’ll be the first person I call if I find this prick.”
“In that case, I don’t think I’ll sit by the phone waiting for your call. Hope you mend okay.”
He ducked down for a second and then slid his hand under my pillow.
“Make sure I get this back,” he said and walked out of the room, which is the best way to leave. Walking I mean. I was hoping I would be able to do the same thing soon.
It felt like I had only been asleep a few minutes when I was being awakened once again.
“Detective Norris, another one of your friends is here to see you.”
“I can hardly wait,” I mumbled.
“Norris, you slacker. Get the hell out of that bed and get your sorry ass to work.”
Detective Lawrenz bounded into the room. Bounded is exactly the right word. He was like a damn super ball. He was never at rest and seemed to bounce off the walls. To frickin’ much energy.
“Hey ya’ Law,” I said, trying to look like I was glad to see him.
“Just about got your ass blown off. What a dweeb,” he said laughing. I could almost swear he was vibrating.
“Yeah, it’s a real knee slapper all right.”
“You think it was the Death Merchant?”
“More than likely,” I said.
“Sucker is getting braver. Shit, he may even come after me at some point.”
“You’re safe. You never stay still long enough to get whacked,” I said.
“So, when are they going to cut you lose?”
“Doc said maybe in a day or two. Anything new happen while I was on vacation?”
“Nope. Just the attempt on you. No new bodies have turned up yet.”
“At least this has kept him amused for the time being,” I said.
“We did get a call from Illinois. Detective Collins in Danville called. They have identified one of the women. A Janet Haggard from a place called Tolono.”
“What about the girl we pulled from the reservoir?” “Nothing yet. Not much to work from as you know.”
“I’ve been thinking, when we catch this son-of-a-bitch we should do the same thing to him that he does to these women,” I replied.
“Wouldn’t that be cool?” Doubt that it will happen though,” Lawrenz replied.
“So what really brings you here?” I asked.
“I’m hurt. I just came to see how you were doing,” he said trying to act insulted.
“Sure you were, so what do you really want?”
“Your notes on the last Jane Doe.”
“Why? What happened to yours?”
“I seemed to have misplaced them.”
“For Christ sakes Law, how the hell could you misplace something like that?”
“Shit happens,” he said and shrugged.
“Yeah, but it seems to happen to you all the time. You need to get organized before you lose your frickin’ ass.”
He didn’t say anything but just looked hurt. It was true. He managed to lose almost everything at one time or the other. He lost his shield for Christ sakes. How in the hell can you lose something like that? Law was one of the better detectives on the taskforce but he was typical of the younger guys. Short attention span.
He was a whiz at the legal and computer stuff but wanted to take short cuts with the grunt work. I, on the other hand, am more old school. I tend to plod along, working the case the hard way. You know, tracking down leads, interviewing suspects, that sort of basic cop work.
I also have a tendency to use a good slap upside of the head every once in a while when the occasion is called for. I find it useful to help jog a suspect’s memory. Nothing too heavy handed, just a reminder of who is in charge if they get too smart mouthed. Something Detective Lawrenz would never do. He was much more in tune with political correctness. I’m pretty much anything but PC.
“Everything is on my computer,” I said at last.
“Well duh. I figured that.”
“It’s password protected.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said.
“You screwed around with my computer?”
“Just a little bit,” he said, blushing slightly.
“Dumbass.”
“Hey, I was just trying to get the information without bothering you,” he said defensively.
“No. Dumbass is the password.”
“Oh. No space?”
“No space. Just type in dumbass and you're all set.”
“Cute password.”
“I was thinking of you when I picked it.”
“Right,” he said, bouncing off the ceiling, ricocheting off the wall and heading for the door.
“Nice of you to drop by,” I yelled at his retreating back.
“Anytime,” he said as the door closed.
~~
I was finally released three days later. I had been in the hospital almost a week and felt totally out of touch with what was going on. My first stop was to the 6th prescient to look up Detective Lewis.
“Looks like you made it,” he said, sitting with his feet propped up on his desk.
“Yep. Good as new,” which wasn’t all that good to begin with.
“Didn’t try to take you out at the hospital I see.”
“Kind of wish he would have tried.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Anyway,” I said, slipping the back-up piece in his pocket, “Thanks. At least I slept better.”
“No problem. Glad to help.”
“I owe you one. I’m good for it.”
“Figured you were.”
“Thanks again,” I said and waved as I left.
CHAPTER TWO
When I got to the station everyone fussed over me like they really missed me which was mostly BS. Still I felt kind of good that they pretended to care. Even Captain Miller, the leader of our happy little group, managed to act concerned. He really didn’t like me much, something about my attitude that seemed to piss him off. Still, all things considered, he was dutifully concerned.
Probably only Molly Hatcher really cared. And yes that was really her name. Guess her parents hated her too. We had had a thing for a while and I think she still wanted it to continue but I got cold feet because she was starting to get serious about the relationship.
