Thomas Cook - Streets of Fire

‘Oh, God,’ Luther whispered as he stared at the hanging body. ‘Who would do something like this?’

Ben’s eyes drifted up from the chest until they reached Breedlove’s stricken face. One eye was open, the other half-closed. Blood ran from both ears and trickled down to the neck and shoulders. It had gushed from the nose in a torrent, running down into the shattered mouth. The mouth itself was wide open, and Ben could see a small wink of light come through it from the cluttered hole at the back of Breedlove’s head.

‘They put the pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger,’ Luther said.

Ben nodded.

‘It’s just like Fred described it,’ Luther added. ‘They strung him up like a goddamn pig.’

‘It took more than one,’ Ben said matter-of-factly.

‘Course it did,’ Luther said. He took out his camera, then stepped back and took a picture. ‘Two at least,’ he added. ‘Maybe three.’

‘Yeah.’

Luther nosed the tip of his shoe into the soft black earth. ‘They could have buried him,’ he said contemptuously. ‘In this ground it would have been easy.’

‘They didn’t want to,’ Ben said. ‘They wanted to make an example of him.’

‘Example of what?’

‘I don’t know,’ Ben said. He looked down at the ground around the tree. It was splattered with blood, and from the look of the way the tall grass had been beaten to the ground, it looked as if Breedlove had put up a fierce but ultimately hopeless fight before they’d killed him.

Ben pulled one of the long green reeds which had been trampled down and stared at the small dot of dried blood which clung to it. ‘Why do you think they brought him way up here?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Luther said. ‘I’m not even sure they did.’

Ben looked at him. ‘Well, why would he have come up here on his own?’

Luther shrugged. ‘I don’t know that either,’ he said, ‘But I do know that Fred found his car right down the road back there. His police ID was on the dashboard. That’s why Fred called me.’

‘But you don’t have any idea what he was doing up here?’

Luther shook his head firmly. ‘No, I don’t.’

A siren could be heard suddenly, growing louder with each passing second.

‘They’re coming from Birmingham,’ Luther explained. ‘Fred said it was okay to take Breedlove back.’ His eyes lifted toward the terribly torn and violated face. ‘I told him that he was one of ours, and that we’d find out who did this to him.’ He looked at Ben pointedly. ‘But I’m not sure we can,’ he said. Then he turned away quickly, plowing through the deep grass until he reached the road.

THIRTY-ONE

At eight in the morning, the Chief marched to the front of the detective bullpen and made the announcement. He bowed his head slightly before beginning, then glared fiercely out into the assembled detectives.

‘We’ve lost one of our own,’ he declared, his small blue eyes narrowing tightly. ‘We don’t know how it happened, but, by Jesus, gentlemen, we’re going to find out.’ His large, bulldog face squeezed together determinedly. ‘Nobody does something like this to one of our boys and gets away with it.’

The detectives exchanged puzzled glances. Across the room, Ben could see Daniels standing alone, while a few yards away, near the opposite corner, the Langleys stood shoulder to shoulder, their eyes fixed on the Chief.

‘Gentlemen,’ the Chief said slowly, his voice suddenly low and mournful, ‘Charlie Breedlove is no longer with us.’

A confused murmur rose in the room, muffled and indecipherable.

The Chief waited for it to die away, then continued. ‘I’d like to be able to say – well, I wouldn’t like it – but it would be better if I could say that Detective Breedlove had died of natural causes, or in a car wreck, or something like that.’ He paused, his face growing tense and angry. ‘But, gentlemen, that is not the case here. The case is, gentlemen, that a person or persons did this thing to Detective Breedlove. What I mean to say is, they murdered him in cold blood.’

A wave of noise and shifting about swept the room, and again the Chief waited for it to fade to silence.

‘Now we don’t know much about what happened yet,’ he said, ‘but one of our brothers is dead by a violent hand. Captain Starnes will fill you in on the details, and I want to assure you that he’ll be very frank in what he tells you about this tragedy. So all I need to add is this.’ He drew in a deep dramatic breath. ‘Gentlemen, despite the fact that we have our hands full these days, we are going to find out who killed Charlie Breedlove, and we’re going to see to it that that person is severely punished for doing it.’

Again a wave of noise swept the room, lingering for so long this time that the Chief lifted his hands to bring it to an end. ‘Now I’m telling you all this because it’s going to be in the papers anyway,’ he said. ‘And there are probably a lot of people in Birmingham who will try to use this to embarrass us, or make us look stupid. Now don’t any of you let that happen. Just go on with your duties, and let the officers who have been assigned to this case do theirs.’ He stopped, stared at the group of detectives that were gathered before him for a moment, then nodded briskly. ‘That is all.’

Luther took the Chief’s place immediately, described what he and Ben had seen earlier in the morning, and then darted away as quickly as the Chief.

Ben turned from the front of the room just as Luther disappeared behind the rear doors. He could see Daniels slumped down in the chair behind his desk. Several detectives had gathered around him, and he was talking quietly to them. The Langleys stood alone in the opposite corner, talking so intently to one another that they did not see Ben until he was almost on them.

‘Hey, Teddy,’ Ben said. He looked at Tod. ‘How you doing?’

The two brothers stared at Ben expressionlessly.

‘Terrible about Breedlove,’ Ben said.

Tod nodded, but Teddy stared rigidly at Ben.

‘I didn’t know him very well,’ Ben said. ‘Did you?’

Teddy watched Ben intently. ‘Is this your case, Well-man?’

‘What?’

‘They must have assigned it to somebody,’ Teddy said, and it wasn’t to me.’

Ben shrugged. ‘They didn’t give it to me either.’

Teddy stared at him knowingly. ‘Bullshit.’

‘Why would they give it to me, Teddy?’ Ben asked.

‘Because Daniels is too close to it, and everybody else is too busy.’

‘I’m busy, myself,’ Ben said. ‘I got that little girl thing.’

Teddy laughed. ‘That’s a nigger case,’ he said. ‘You could drop that and nobody would give a shit.’

‘But I haven’t dropped it,’ Ben said.

‘Maybe you better.’

‘You know something I don’t, Teddy?’ Ben asked.

‘That nobody gets ahead in this department by working a nigger case,’ Teddy said.

Daniels suddenly appeared at Ben’s side. ‘How does a person get ahead around here, then?’ he asked in a voice that was mildly accusatory.

Teddy glared at him. ‘Well, you ought to know, Harry, you’ve been greasing the pole for a few years now.’

Daniels’ body tightened. ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’

Langley laughed mockingly. ‘Oh, come on, Harry. Everybody notices the way you’re always brownnosing the Chief.’

Daniels moved toward him slightly. ‘You better shut your mouth, Teddy.’

‘There was a time when the Chief come to me for things,’ Teddy went on resentfully. ‘Now he goes to people like you. Young guys. People who are ready to make a deal with the niggers, give them what they want.’

Daniels took another step toward him, glaring fiercely, his body clenched.