William Bernhardt - Nemesis - The Final Case of Eliot Ness

“But I don’t want to go!”

Ness nodded to his men. “Take him to the way station at the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge. There are trucks waiting to transport the vagrants to the Central Police Station for further questioning. Now!”

Ness stepped outside. All around, he could see his men in action. They were raiding each and every makeshift home, hauling the occupants out. Most of the men looked drunk or hungover, but there were also women and a few children. They were confused, disoriented. They didn’t understand why they were being awakened in the middle of the night and herded together. Children cried for their toys and dolls, but they were allowed to take nothing. The land was alive with the thunderous tumult of swearing, pleading, crying, dogs barking, doors being battered down.

Shantytown had become hell on earth.

By three in the morning, every living occupant of Shantytown had been rousted out and herded like human cattle to the nearest way station. Everyone was questioned and fingerprinted. Officers from the Animal Protective League patrolled the now vacant grounds, rounding up stray animals, saving them from what was soon to come. Ness and his men made a final sweep, searching the hovels for stragglers and evidence. They found nothing of value, nothing that related to the torso murders.

When he was sure the area was completely vacated, Ness enlisted the aid of two complete companies of firemen led by Battalion Chief Charles Rees.

“Are you ready, Chief?” Ness asked.

Rees nodded. “At your order, sir.”

“The word is given, Chief.” Ness turned his eyes toward Shantytown. “Burn it. Burn it to the ground.”

The firemen swept through what was left of Shantytown pouring coal oil on the cardboard boxes, trash, personal property, everything. And when it had been thoroughly soaked, they set it on fire.

The blaze raced through Shantytown with a speed that amazed even Ness. What had only a few hours before been a teeming hobo village was now an inferno. Flames stretched to the sky; from a mile away people could feel the heat. The fire raged like an incinerator grown to the size of a city block, so intense that onlookers had to shield their eyes.

Now Shantytown really was hell on earth.

No more Shantytown? But it was so easy!

Perhaps that was the point. He had to admit he was intrigued. Finally, Eliot Ness had become interesting, For so long, he had been predictable. Just another policeman. And now this. How should he respond?

Nothing to do but to proceed with one’s work.

But without Shantytown, where would he go to find his people? Perhaps it was time to move on…

But the business felt unfinished. Too much left undone. If he was leaving Cleveland, he needed to create some kind of climax worthy of the adventure. Some way to escalate the business, to bring it to a satisfying conclusion. The esteemed safety director had devoted so much time and energy to him. Wouldn’t it be delightful if he could turn the tables? Man was the most dangerous game, after all.

He knew where Ness lived. He knew his wife was leaving him.

Endgame. That was what they called it back in the Chess Club. The time had come for the endgame.

The hunter and the hunted should meet. Face-to-face. What kind of conclusion would it be if he never had the satisfaction of looking into those eyes just at the moment when Ness realized how stupid he had been, how painfully ignorant, how utterly at sea?

Ness believed science could solve everything. But he had brought the safety director something science had no answer for.

Ness would never understand, would never realize how foolish he had been.

Till the day he died.

Ness slammed shut his bottom desk drawer the instant Chamberlin entered his office.

“Sir, have you seen the article in the Press?”

“Is it any different from the others?”

“Much the same. Except perhaps… stronger.”

“We did the right thing, Bob. I don’t care what the newshounds think.”

Chamberlin gave him a long look.

“All right, maybe I care. But I won’t be second-guessed. I’m the safety director. I have to do what’s right for the people.”

Chamberlin threw the paper onto Ness ’s desk. “I think perhaps you’d better read the editorial. Sir.”

Ness grabbed the paper and sought out the article in question.

“… dwellers are not thanking Mr. Ness for his concern about their remaining unidentified if their heads should be chopped off. Nor do they thank him for burning down the village. The net result of the director’s raid seems to have been the wrecking of a few miserable huts and the confinement of the occupants. We can see no justification for the jailing of the jobless and penniless men and the wrecking of their miserable hovels without permitting them to collect their personal belongings and…”

Ness slapped the paper down on his desk. “Are these people blind? Do they not understand that we might have found evidence identifying the killer?”

“I wish we had,” Chamberlin said. “We’d look a lot better.”

“If we let people take anything, the killer would’ve taken everything.”

“Some people think he did.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Ness pushed himself out of the chair and began pacing. “If he’d been there, we’d have caught him. He just wasn’t there.”

“Which unfortunately makes some feel like we burned Shanty-town for no good reason. Like we were being cruel to people in need.”

“Cruel? Those folks can relocate to the Wayfarer’s Lodge. That’s where they should have been in the first place. We can’t have people camping out at Kingsbury Run. It’s unsafe and unhealthy and perpetuates these murders.”

“It still seems cruel to some-taking away from those who have little at all. Like instead of helping them, you’re hurting them.”

“Why would I do that?” Ness leaned against the windowsill and stared out at the city. “Have there been any more murders since we took away Shantytown?”

“It’s only been a week.”

“The answer is, no. No more murders.”

“That we know of.”

“No more murders because we took away the killer’s hunting ground. Those vagrants the Press is so concerned about were easy pickings for the killer. Now he doesn’t know what to do.”

“For how long?”

Ness whirled on his assistant. “Are you questioning my judgment?”

Chamberlin thought a moment before answering. “Does it matter?”

Ness’s eyes burned into Chamberlin’s. “How long have you been against me?”

“I’m not against you.”

“But you’re attacking me over this Shantytown thing.”

“I thought it was a bad idea at the time. I would’ve told you so. If you’d asked.”

“Then I’m glad I didn’t. I did the right thing.” He paused. “I just didn’t go far enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“I took away the killer’s victims. But that’s not good enough for these people. They want more. They want the killer’s blood.”

“Are you feeling all right? You’re talking a little-”

“Fine. I’ll give it to them.”

Chamberlin’s eyes widened. “You know who the killer is?”

“I know how to find him. Flush him out. Should have done it a long time ago.”

“Sir… I think maybe you need some rest.”

“There’s no time to rest, Bob. Not with this killer on the loose. All those people, telling me I hadn’t done enough. They were right. I said I’d done everything I could, but the truth is, I’d done everything that was safe. Well, it’s time to stop being safe.”

“I don’t like the sound of that much.”

“How long have we been chasing this lunatic, Bob? How long? Too long. Round up some men.”