Len Levinson - Without Mercy

“Thanks copper.”

Doolan slouched toward the stoop, sat down, and started sucking the bottle like a baby at its mother’s breast. Rackman watched for a few moments, wondering what catastrophes had broken that man. Then he returned to his car and drove to Midtown North.

Patrolmen McGowan and Holland were one of the eight teams of cops in the East Village knocking on doors inquiring about the Slasher. They spoke to stoned hippies, old-country Ukrainians, and emaciated artists. After four hours of inquiries, they hadn’t found anyone who knew him.

McGowan was a black-haired Irishman who’d been with the NYPD for eighteen years; Holland was a rookie who had only recently graduated from the Police Academy. McGowan had a beer barrel belly; Holland was slim as a rail. They were referred to as Laurel and Hardy at the Ninth Precinct on East Fifth Street.

In the vestibule of 329 East Ninth Street, they looked at the mailboxes and found that the super’s name was Ihor Martienko of apartment 1-C.

“I hope this bird speaks English for a change,” McGowan muttered as he opened the inner door and entered the downstairs corridor.

They walked along looking at the numbers on doors, and at the end near the stairs was apartment 1-C. McGowan nodded to Holland, then knocked on the door. There were shuffling footsteps on the other side. A woman’s voice said something in Ukrainian.

“Anybody there speak English?” McGowan asked.

“Who you are?” the voice asked.

“Police. We want to talk to you.”

“Why for?”

“I’ve got to ask you a few questions.”

“About what?”

“Open the door.”

McGowan winked at Holland, who put his hand on his gun. You never knew who might come out of these goddamn apartments.

The door opened a crack, held back by a brass chain. “Yes?” asked a dark-haired woman in her fifties.

“You the super?” McGowan asked.

“My husband is.”

“Is he home?”

“He is at work right now. Why do you want to see him?”

McGowan took the composite picture of the Slasher out of the big manila envelope he was carrying. “Have you ever seen this man?”

“That is the face of the man in the newspaper, the man who kills women, yes?”

“That’s right. Do you know anybody who looks like this?”

The woman shrugged. “I am sure many people look like this.”

“Anybody in this building look like this?”

She smiled. “I do not want to make any trouble for anybody.”

McGowan and Holland exchanged glances.

“You’re making trouble for yourself if you don’t cooperate with the police, ma’am,” McGowan said with a hint of threat in his voice. “I asked you if anybody in this building looks like this.”

The old woman swallowed. “Well, Mr. Kowalchuk on the fifth floor looks something like this.”

“What apartment?”

“Five-A, it is in the front.”

“Do you know if he wears a red and black wool jacket?”

She pursed her lips and thought for a few moments. Then she unlatched the chain on the door and opened it wide. “Would it come down to here?” she asked, pointing to her hip.

“It would.”

“Mister Kowalchuk has a jacket like that.”

McGowan and Holland looked at each other again.

The old woman shook her head. “Mr. Kowalchuk could not be that person. He only looks like him a little bit, that is all. A lot of people must look like that I am sure.”

“How long has this Kowalchuk been living in this building?”

She looked at the ceiling and moved her lips as she counted. “Oh, twenty years at least. He lived here with his mother and father but they are dead now and he is all alone. He is a very nice man. Never makes trouble. It could not be him you are looking for.”

McGowan tipped his hat. “You’re probably right, but we have to check on these things anyway. Thanks very much for the information.”

McGowan and Holland stepped back, and the woman closed the door. The two patrolmen walked to the stairs and stopped, searching each other’s faces.

“I’m wondering if we should talk to this guy ourselves,” McGowan said, “or let the detectives handle it.”

“Come on, McGowan. Let’s do it.”

“The detectives like to do the questioning on something like this.”

“But maybe we can break the case.”

“Who do you think you are, Dick Tracy?”

“I don’t want to be a patrolman for eighteen years like you, McGowan.”

McGowan’s eyes became icebergs. “I think we’ll call the detectives and let them handle it,” he said.

At four o’clock in the morning, Rackman double-parked his green Plymouth in front of 329 East Ninth Street. Sitting beside him was Detective Olivero, and in the back seat was Inspector Jenkins, a glum look on his face. They got out of the car and walked swiftly toward the building, a little tense, their hands close to their service revolvers. Climbing the stoop, they made their way through the downstairs hall and went up the stairs, with Rackman leading the way. When they neared the fifth floor they slowed down and moved stealthily, on their tiptoes. They crowded around the door and took out their revolvers. Rackman and Olivero put their shoulders against the door and Jenkins stood back a few feet.

Jenkins nodded, and Rackman and Olivero threw themselves against the door. It crackled but didn’t break. They hit it again and it shattered, the three detectives pushing and spilling into a dark smelly room. They crouched, pointed their guns, and listened, but there was no sound except the dripping of water. Taking out flashlights, they turned them on and saw a kitchen table piled with dirty dishes, a refrigerator, a sink, and a bathtub with a porcelain cover. Olivero found the light switch and flicked it.

Rackman led the way into a living room, their pistols still out, and they entered the bedroom. The bed wasn’t made and no one was in it. Rackman turned on the light, and the white sheets on the bed were gray with filth. A dark depression was in the center of the pillow. Strewn about on the dresser and floor were porno newspapers and magazines.

Jenkins dropped his revolver into his shoulder holster. “Looks like he ain’t here.”

Rackman looked into the closet. “He’s got some clothes here.” There was a shirt that only could fit a big fat man, the description of the Slasher.

Olivero went through the dresser. “There’s stuff in here, too.”

“I wonder where the scumbag is,” Jenkins said, wiping his mouth with his hand.

They returned to the living room, and Jenkins found the light switch, flipping it on, illuminating solid, old furniture that probably was nice once, but now was soiled and worn. A big upholstered chair was in the corner, its cushion crushed low to the floor. A floor lamp was beside it, and a hassock in front. Nearby against the wall was a stack of newspapers, and Rackman bent over to look at them. On top was a copy of the New York Review of Sex, and the headline said “Panties: The Ultimate Fetish.” Underneath was another copy of the New York Review of Sex and the headline was “Nooky with Nurses.”

Jenkins walked over, his heavy footsteps making the floorboards creak. “What you got there?”

“A stack of the New York Review of Sex,” Rackman replied, continuing to look through them. “Looks like he bought it every week.”

“Sick fucker,” Jenkins spat.

Rackman looked through the newspapers to see how far back they ran, and when he got to the bottom of the pile it was nearly a year and a half. Olivero returned from the front of the apartment. “There’s another bedroom up front, but it don’t look like it’s been slept in for years.”