Frank Zafiro - Under a Raging Moon

“I’m fine,” she said shortly. “Where’s this guy live?”

Kopriva turned on his interior light and read her the address aloud.

“Okay. Meet you there,” she said and drove off.

Something was definitely wrong, Kopriva knew. He also knew that if Katie didn’t want to tell him, she wasn’t going to. She had a stubborn streak that way.

Kopriva drove quickly to the address, parked up the street and walked in. Katie met him behind a tree in front of the house. He noticed that it was a neatly painted white with a well-tended yard.

Kopriva frowned. He doubted Belzer still lived there. Druggers seldom showed much concern about the house or yard where they lived. Besides, they generally didn’t stay in any one place for long. But maybe they’d get a lead on him here.

After peering through the window and finding the inside just as tidy as the yard, Kopriva rang the door-bell. A red-headed woman in her early twenties opened the door.

“Hello?” She said, and then noticed their uniforms. “Oh. Is something wrong?”

“No, ma’am,” Kopriva assured her. “Can we come in and talk with you for a moment?”

“Um, yeah, I guess.” She stepped aside and allowed them to enter.

Once inside, Kopriva noticed the pleasant aroma of a burning candle. No chance this was Belzer’s place. About the only thing druggers burned besides their pipes was the occasionally stick of incense.

Kopriva asked the woman for her name.

“Michelle Belzer,” she answered. “Why?”

“We’re looking for Martin Belzer. Is he your husband or…?”

Michelle snorted. “Hell, no! Unfortunately, he’s my uncle.” She crossed her arms and frowned. “Why? What’d he do this time?”

“We just need to talk to him,” Kopriva said. “Does he live here?”

“No,” Michelle answered. “He did for awhile, but my parents kicked him out. He’s pretty well burned his bridges with most of the family. He does drugs, if you didn’t know.”

“How long ago was he living here?”

Michelle considered. “A month or so. His mail still comes here, though.”

“Any idea where he might be now?”

“Not really. That’s why I still have a ton of his mail. His Mom and his sister still support him somewhat. Either one of them might know.”

“Who would be more likely to help us find him?”

Michelle considered briefly. “My Aunt. That’s his sister. She might help, depending on how she feels about him at the moment.”

“All right. Do you mind if we check around here really quick? That way we can tell our boss that he’s definitely not here.”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

While Kopriva checked, Katie stayed with Michelle. Kopriva overheard Michelle asking Katie numerous questions about being a female cop. Katie answered her politely, but seemed a little short, which was unlike her.

Kopriva’s search of the house turned up no sign of Belzer and no evidence outside of the master bedroom of a male living at the house. That completed, Kopriva asked Michelle for the number and address of Belzer’s mother and sister. She read them to him from her address book. Kopriva wrote them in his notebook and thanked her.

“Anytime,” Michelle said. “That jerk stole eight hundred dollars of my tuition money one quarter last year from my parent’s house. I hope he rots in hell.”

Ah, Kopriva thought. Revenge .

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “You’ll have to settle for jail, though. I’m not in charge of hell. Yet.”

Michelle laughed at his joke as he and Katie left.

Back in his car, Kopriva plugged in his cellular phone. He’d bought it for use on the job when it became apparent the department could never afford to supply officers with one. It had proven to be a valuable tool.

Katie pulled her car next to him. “So?”

“So now I call mom and sister and see if they will give me a lead.”

Kopriva dialed the sister’s number. The line was busy.

“Busy,” he told Katie. “You think Michelle is in there ratting us off?”

Katie shrugged. “Doubt it.”

“Me, too. But you never know.”

Katie let out a small snort. “Yeah, you never know.”

Kopriva dialed the mother’s number. The phone rang twice, then a male voice answered. “Hello?”

“Hello? Is Mrs. Belzer home?”

“No. She’s not here. Can I help you?”

“Depends on who you are,” Kopriva said.

“I’m her son.”

Kopriva smiled in surprise. “Martin Belzer?”

“Yeah. Who’s this?”

Damn! His smile faded, but he thought quickly. “It’s the United States Postal Service, Mr. Belzer.”

“Who?”

“The Post Office, sir. Actually, Mr. Belzer, we were hoping to locate you. My name is James Zurn. I work in misdirected mail and forwarding addresses. I understand you used to live at-” Kopriva paused, pretending to shuffle through some papers. “At 1814 N. Quincey. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well, sir, we’ve been getting mail back from that address stating that you are no longer there. However, we show a last name of Belzer still residing there.”

“Yeah. My brother lives there. I moved out a while back.”

“I see. Okay, well, if you can give me an updated address, I’ll enter it into the computer right now and you should start getting all your mail again.”

“I’m living with my mother right now,” he said and gave the address.

Kopriva had him repeat part of it several times and complained, “This computer is slow sometimes.”

In the car next to him, Katie chuckled. “You’re pushing your luck,” she whispered.

“Maybe that’s why the mail takes so long,” Belzer joked.

“Actually, sir, if you compare the US Postal system with other western nations in Europe, we are fourteen to seventeen percent faster on average. Only Japan and Denmark have a faster mail system.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re cheaper, too,” Kopriva added.

“Oh.” Belzer was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Isn’t it kind of late to be doing this kind of thing?” His voice held a tinge of suspicion.

“We’re on twenty-four hours in this department, sir. It’s the only way to keep up.”

“Oh.” Suspicion remained in his voice.

“Besides,” Kopriva said, “we catch a lot of people on the phone between five and ten PM. Everyone who works, basically. We generally try not to call after ten, though.” He glanced at his watch. It was 10:08 PM. “Anyway, Mr. Belzer, you should have restored mail service immediately and receive all your misdirected mail within three days. If you have any problems, call the customer service department between eight and four and they’ll help you.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Thank you, sir.” Kopriva hung up and let out a deep breath. He looked over at Katie.

She raised her hands and clapped them together several times in mock applause. “Stef,” she said, “you are the king of bullshit.”

“Hey, I had to think of something.”

“No, it was beautiful,” she said. “A work of art. Now what?”

Kopriva gave her the address. “We go get him.”

“Meet you there.”

The drive was a quick one. Kopriva felt good. Proper trickery was fun to use. He had acted in a couple of plays in high school and this was sort of the same thing. Only here, he had to be quick on his feet and ad-lib. The key was to keep it simple and as close to the truth as possible.

Belzer’s Mom’s house was smaller than Michelle’s, but the yard was equally well-tended. Kopriva wondered if lawn care was a family fetish. He and Katie stole up to the house, and he peered in the window. A male sat in the easy chair watching TV. Looking at the back of the man’s head, he couldn’t tell if it was Belzer or not. He motioned for Katie to knock. As soon as she rapped on the door, the man stood and nonchalantly strolled to the door.