Chapter 49

 

 

Another week goes by without any sign of the Chameleon. The only respite Red has had from the anxiety building up over the lack of results from the sketch distribution came from the show at the Go For It and the new acts at the Floating Fantasies he took in this past Saturday.

 

Then, like a pressure cooker letting off steam, a phone call from Rex releases the anxiety and replaces it with a somewhat shocking yet anticlimactic relief. “Red, Tucker has just captured the Chameleon.”

 

“Where? How?”

 

“If you’re not sitting down, you better. He’s one of our black jack dealers.”

 

“What? That can’t be! All of our people were checked and double checked and everyone passed with flying colors.”

 

“Well, evidently his skill with disguises and phony ID enabled him to stay below the radar.”

 

“How did they zero in and collar him?”

 

“After a week and a half with no response from the Chameleon to the distribution of the sketch, Tucker and his guys began to think that they might have overlooked something. They went over their list of all the places they left copies of the sketch and compared it with the city’s tax payer records and came up with nothing that they had overlooked. They had contacted every eatery, supermarket, retail outlet, landlord, etc. within a 10 mile radius.

 

“Then early last night, Tucker and one of his men were eating dinner at Dolly’s Diner and overheard one of Dolly’s regulars asking her about a trailer home they saw in the woods at the back of her property. Apparently she owns a good chunk of the land behind the diner. She didn’t know anything about it.

 

“Tucker went over to her and asked if she and her employees have been checking all customers coming into the diner for a resemblance to the sketch she had received recently. She said yes, but no one looking like the sketch had come in. He asked her if she got many strangers coming in to eat and she said no, that most of her customers were regulars and no strangers had come in since she got the sketch.

 

“Tucker got permission from Dolly to stake out the trailer to see who might be living in it. Tucker and his man kept a watch on it all last night and most of this morning. About 11:30, an old man came out of the trailer with a bike. He walked the bike out to the street and then road it to the Floating Fantasies parking lot and chained it up to one of the light posts. They followed the old guy up the gang way and into the casino where he went into the men’s room. Five minutes later the Chameleon walks out, reports to the pit boss and is assigned to a table.

 

“Tucker approached the pit boss and told him what was going on and instructed him to alert security in case the Chameleon bolted and was able to get away from Tucker and his man. They walked up behind the Chameleon, each one taking an arm, and Tucker told him who they were and that they had a warrant for his arrest.

 

“They said the Chameleon just crumbled and went with them without a fuss. They took him to the Bettendorf Police Station where Chuck and the district attorney are now discussing what to do with him. He’s broken a lot of laws, but he’s also a prime candidate for the loony bin.”

 

“I’ll follow up with Chuck and let you know what they decide to do. Man, I’m sure glad this is over.”

 

“Red, do you remember all those off the wall things that old ball player use to say. He took a lot of ribbing over them, but when you took a second look a lot of them weren’t so off the wall. The one I’m thinking about now is ‘It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.’ This Chameleon situation won’t be over until he’s put behind some kind of bars for a very long time.”

 

“Boy, Rex, you sure know how to rain on a guy’s parade.”

 

“I’m sorry, Red, but Mr. Carducci is an extraordinary man. I won’t relax until he’s put away where he can’t drive anybody else as nuts as he is.”

 

“Well, maybe your caution is warranted. I’ll hold off on the celebration for now. I’ll call you when I know how the DA is going to proceed.”

 

When Red calls Chuck, he’s put on hold while his admin goes to round him up. A few minutes later Chuck picks up and the first thing he says is, “This guy’s gone into some kind of catatonic state. He just stares at the floor and won’t speak. I’ve tried cajoling, intimidation by yelling and threatening, reasoning, nothing is working. He just sits there like a statue.”

 

“Remember, Chuck, this guy is no dummy. Maybe he’s putting on this act so he’ll wind up in some mental hospital instead of a prison. Keep in mind that this guy is the only one who thinks he isn’t crazy. There’s a good chance he’s thinking that he won’t be kept in there as long as he would be kept in a prison. Don’t be taken in by him.”

“You may be right, Red. The DA is requesting a psychiatric examination by a court appointed psychiatrist to help him decide how to proceed with his prosecution.”

 

“Okay. Let me know what the DA decides. “I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of questions for all of us when he begins to put his case together. I’m going to call Jillian, Nate, Clyde Crowley, Joe Amato and the rest of the casino managers to let them know that you have the Chameleon in custody. I don’t think Bill or Popeye know what’s happened either, so I’ll clue them in too. If you need me for anything, give a holler.”

 

It takes Red the better part of the next hour to notify everybody about the Chameleon’s capture and then he called Sylvia to let her know what happened. He asked her for Tim Rollins’ number so he could call and thank him personally for his help with the struggle he had been having with the Chameleon.

 

After he had finished with his phone calls, he started heading for the casino to get back to the job he was being paid to do, but he got no further than his office door. When he opened it, Rex and Tucker walked in.

 

Rex said, “Tucker and I are heading back to Dallas and Tucker wanted to stop in to say good bye.”

 

“Well, Tucker, your plan worked. The pressure forced the Chameleon out into the open where he had to take the risk of placing that trailer in the woods behind the diner and hope it wouldn’t be spotted. A thank you doesn’t come anywhere near to fully expressing my gratitude for your efforts.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, Red. Rex took care of any shortfall in that regard with a nice big check.”

 

“Well, thank you anyway.”

 

As Rex and Tucker turned to leave, Popeye walked in and apologized as soon as he saw Red wasn’t alone. Red said, “It’s okay, Popeye. Rex and Tucker are heading back to Dallas and Tucker wanted to stop in and say good bye.”

 

Popeye didn’t say anything, just nodded his head in acknowledgment, but just for a second he locked on to Tucker who returned his stare and then Popeye broke it off and walked over to the conference room table as Rex and Tucker left the office. Red’s thinking, “There’s definitely something going on between those two.”

 

Red asked, “What did you want to see me about?”

 

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m sending my buddies back home. Rex compensated them very well for their stint onboard the Floating Fantasies.”

 

“I had no doubt that he would. Well, it looks like things are going to get back to normal thanks to Tucker.”

 

Red threw that line out there just to see if he could get a reaction out of Popeye, but his face registered nothing and he only said, “That works for me.” then left.

 

“I wonder if I should pry, perhaps talk to Rex about what Jillian and I observed. Nah, I don’t think so. What Tucker and Popeye have between them is nobody’s business but theirs. I can’t help being curious though.”