William Kienzle - Marked for Murder - The Father Koesler Mysteries:

Johnson knew Salvia, so no introductions were necessary.

“Who you got?” Tully asked.

Salvia enumerated the seven. Four were police officers, two were maintenance employees; the seventh, of course, was Father Kramer. Each man wore a black overcoat and black hat. Four were blond. The other three had gray hair that, under the hat, more or less appeared blond. All were roughly the same size, but were facially quite different, with the exception of one policeman named Harmon, whose features closely resembled Kramer’s.

“How do you want them placed?” Salvia asked.

“Oh,” Tully said, “how about we make Kramer fourth and Harmon fifth. Put the others anywhere you like.” Tully glanced inquiringly at Johnson, who nodded agreement.

“Okay,” Tully said to Salvia, “I’ll get the witnesses ready and we’ll go.”

“Hilly and Johnson returned to the lounge, where Tully explained the procedure to the two women. “You both know Mr. Johnson. He’s gonna be in the show-up room with us. He’s not gonna say anything. He’s just here to observe.

“We’re gonna take you in the room one at a time. There’s gonna be seven men standing on an elevated platform. There’ll be one-way glass between you and the men, and there’ll be bright lights shining on them. So all they’ll be able to see is their own reflection. There’s no way they can see you. But they can hear you if you speak loudly. So speak softly only to me or Officer Mangiapane. We’ll want Mr. Johnson to hear what you say, too.

“The seven men are all wearing black coats and hats like the guy you both saw a week ago Sunday. That guy didn’t say anything. So none of these guys will speak.

“Now, I gotta tell you this because it’s very important: Just because we got seven guys in there for you to look at don’t necessarily mean that one of them is the guy you saw. Maybe he’s there and maybe he isn’t. You just go in there with an open mind. If you see the guy, you tell us. And one more thing: Take your time. There ain’t no hurry. Okay?”

The two women nodded. Evidently, they were impressed, and not a little apprehensive.

“Okay,” Tully said. “You first, Adelle.”

Adelle, Johnson, Mangiapane, and Tully filed into the show-up room, leaving Ruby alone behind.

It was a rather impressive sight, particularly for someone—such as Adelle—new to it. Seven men looking straight ahead, seeing nothing but a pane of glass only a few feet in front of them. The bright lights focused on them made it impossible for them to see beyond the glass. With the black coats and hats, they looked so very much alike it was almost comical. Almost—except that one of them might be an exceptionally vicious murderer.

Adelle seemed overwhelmed by it all.

“Take your time,” Tully cautioned.

“I don’t know.”

“Take your time.”

“I just don’t know.”

“They look too much alike,” Mangiapane complained.

“That’s the idea,” Tully responded.

“They look so much alike,” Adelle said.

“That’s what I said,” said Mangiapane.

“Easy,” Tully cautioned.

From behind the glass, Salvia had the men turn full-circle, pausing at each quarter-turn.

“That ain’t no help, Zoo,” Adelle said. “The guy I seen talkin’ to Nancy was sittin’ in the front seat of a car. And he turned to face her. So what I seen of him I seen head on.”

“Leave ’em facin’ front, Salvia,” Tully called out.

“Okay, Zoo.”

Adelle studied the men for a few moments. Then she said, “Can I get up real close to them, Zoo?”

“Close as you want, Adelle. They can’t see you.”

Adelle walked up to the glass so close she was almost touching it. Then she walked slowly along the line, pausing before each man, some for a longer period of time than others. Finally, she backed away from the glass and stood by Tully. From that distance, she studied each of the seven men one more time.

Finally, she shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t know, Zoo. I didn’t get that good a look at the guy. But from what I remember of him, I’d say there are three guys in that line-up who could be him.”

“Which three, Adelle?” Tully moved aside to make sure that Johnson could hear her reply.

“Well, there’s number one, and number four, and number five.”

“Okay, Adelle. Can you get it down any closer than that?”

Adelle looked over the three she had selected once again and shrugged. “One, four, and five. That’s the best I can do, Zoo. I didn’t get all that good a look at the guy. Maybe Ruby can do better.”

“Okay, Adelle. Thanks.”

Mangiapane escorted Adelle back to the lounge and returned with Ruby.

Ruby waited until she adjusted to the room and its peculiar lighting. Then she approached the men and studied them, one after another. Unlike Adelle, Ruby had been through this routine before—from both sides of the glass. She knew what to expect.

She asked Tully to have the men turn. He gave the order to Salvia, who transmitted it. Once again, the men turned in a complete circle, pausing at each quarter-turn. Ruby watched the process closely.

“Zoo,” she said, “when I saw the guy, he was walkin’ up the stairs and he stopped for just a second when he saw me. So I saw him from the side and he had his head turned. So he was lookin’ sort of over his right shoulder. Could I see ’em like that?”

“Sure, Ruby.” Tully spoke to Salvia, who had the men make a quarter-turn to the left and, from that position, face the glass. “That about it, Ruby?”

“Yeah, that’s it, Zoo.” She returned to the glass and once more studied each man carefully. After the seventh man, she came back to number four and spent several moments before him, then moved on to number five. Several times she alternated between numbers four and five.

Tully, Mangiapane, and Johnson barely breathed.

“That’s it, Zoo. That’s the guy.”

“Which one, Ruby?”

“Number four.”

“Are you certain sure?”

“Oh, yeah, Zoo. That’s the guy. Ain’t no doubt about it. For a while, I couldn’t make up my mind between four and five. You did a good job on them, Zoo. They’s almost twins. But it’s number four.”

“Okay, Ruby,” Tully said, “we got just a little bit of paperwork to do and you’ll be all done.”

“Did I get the right one, Zoo?”

“Yup.”

“Praise the Lord.”

As they left the show-up room, Johnson turned to Ruby. “If you don’t mind my asking, how were you able to make up your mind between four and five?”

“The eyes.”

“The eyes!” Johnson seemed surprised. “Vicious?”

Ruby shook her head. “Gentle.”

Mangiapane snorted. He could hardly wait to tell Police Officer Harmon he was lucky he didn’t have nice eyes. Otherwise he would have been fingered for murder.

30

At exactly 2:00 P.M., Father Koesler arrived at the Wayne County Jail, which was located across the street from Detroit Police Headquarters. He embarked on the red-tape procedures required for a visit with Father Richard Kramer. Due to the intervention of Inspector Koznicki, the two priests would be able to visit in the relative comfort of a private room rather than in the stark partitioned visitors’ room.

A deputy sheriff ushered Koesler into the room. As the officer left to get Father Kramer, there was a sharp snap as the door locked automatically.

This was not Koesler s first visit to the county jail, as well as some of the state’s other places of incarceration. Common to each and every one was this suffocating sense of locked doors. No door was ever unlocked before the prior door was locked.

Never having been jailed himself, Koesler had to project what the experience must be like. Particularly with his slight tendency toward claustrophobia, he was sure the worst part of this bad situation would be the locked doors. So, as they traveled through the building, the unending series of doors clicking locked was particularly unnerving to him.