We made a quick stop by Judge Henry Strange’s office to pick up the warrant. Then we headed for the county courthouse.
I ran up the courthouse steps, up the stairs to the third floor, and barged into Eider’s outer office.
Kate identified herself to the receptionist and told her to leave and close the door behind her. Reluctantly, the woman stood, looked at Eider’s closed door, then did as she was asked. I nodded my thanks to Kate, then flung open the door to the commissioner’s office and strode inside.
He was sitting behind his desk tapping on a computer keyboard. To say he was startled by my sudden appearance in his office would be something of an understatement. He stood up, hands out in front of him as if to ward off the grim reaper, which I suppose I was.
“Ha-rry,” he stammered. The color had drained from his face. “It was just a joke—I swear. I’ll call Henry Finkle and tell him, right now, okay?” He picked up his desk phone and leaned forward to dial.
“Sit the hell down, Ducky. This isn’t about your stupid report, though I should bust your head for it. It’s about Phoebe Marsh. Where the hell is she?”
He dropped down into his chair as if he’d been shot.
“Easy, Harry,” Kate said.
“Easy my ass. If I don’t get what I need, I’m going to take this son of a bitch apart. Now tell me,” I said to Eider. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, regaining some of his composure. “Who is Phoebe Marsh?”
I stared at him, slowly nodding my head, thinking, trying to figure out if I should talk to him or just take his head right off his shoulders. I opted for the first option.
I sat down in front of the desk. Kate also sat. I gathered my thoughts, then said, calmly, “There’s no use denying it, Ducky. I have you dead to rights—”
“You have nothing,” he interrupted me. “You don’t have any right to talk to me about anything. You’re not even a cop. Now get the hell out of my office before I call a real cop.”
“That would be me,” Kate said, cutting him off. “Sergeant Catherine Gazzara. This is my ID and this”—she waved the document in the air—“is a search warrant for this office and your other business.”
She laid the warrant on the desk in front of him. He stared at it like it was a snake preparing to strike.
“What… other business?” he stammered.
“The Rose Café,” I said. “Lately Lucky’s Diner, only it ain’t so lucky anymore. Now, can we talk, or do I have to get rough with you?”
“I want my lawyer,” he said belligerently.
“Tough,” I said. “I’m no longer a cop, remember? I don’t have to play by the rules anymore so, you either talk to me or… I’ll hurt you,” I said, sweetly.
He stared at me, said nothing.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said, looking at Kate.
She was slowly shaking her head at me. I grinned at her. I was feeling pretty good. For the first time in ten years, I was in charge and didn’t have to play by the rules. Good for me… Really tough for Ducky Eider.
“Now, Ducky,” I said quietly, leaning forward, trying to look earnest, “I know you have two ugly—make that two nasty-assed sons of bitches working for you. One, Joseph James, also known as JoJo, or JJ, and two, a Neanderthal named Amos Watts. I know that they’re working for you because I have your phone records and theirs. You want to comment?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know any… JoJo whatever-his-name, nor anybody called Watts.”
“Ah, Ducky. That won’t fly. By the way, you should know I’m recording this,” I said, holding up my iPhone for him to see. It’s a bit late to tell him now, I thought. Never mind, my bad!
“It won’t fly because I have a record of all the calls you made to them, and them to you, and there are a lot of them, some of them twenty minutes and longer, so you definitely do know them.”
He didn’t answer, but he was beginning to look very uncomfortable.
“I also know you had Watts abduct Phoebe Marsh. I know because I was there when he did it.”
“You’re out of your mind, Starke. Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re broke, Ducky. Because Frank Marsh scammed you for every last penny you had—three-point-four million, to be precise, and you thought you could use Phoebe to pressure him into giving it back. But you were wrong, weren’t you? Marsh wouldn’t play, would he?”
He didn’t answer, but I had a feeling he was weakening. It was time to hit him in the gut.
“Ducky,” I said gently. “You’re in so deep you’re about to drown. You’re not only up for kidnapping the girl, but we can also lay three murders at your feet. A young black kid, Stitch Tree; a witness, Penelope Ross” —that was a bit of a stretch, but I was on a roll—“and one slimy piece of work by the name of Benny Brown.”
His eyes bulged. He slowly stood up, pointing at me, his hand trembling. “You-you, I… No, NO! I know nothing about any murders. The girl… yes, okay, I hired them to take her. You’re right. I wanted my money back, but that’s all. I had nothing to do with any killings, I swear it.”
And you know what, I believed him. Better yet, I now had his confession to Phoebe’s abduction, recorded.
“Mr. Eider,” Kate said, rising to her feet and reaching for her cuffs.
“Just a minute, Kate,” I said. “Let me finish.”
She nodded and sat down again.
Eider looked at me, helpless, a duck out of water, if you’ll pardon the pun. “I don’t have her,” he said. “I never did. I don’t know who does. One of James’ acquaintances, I think. I talked to him on the phone, but I never met him, and I don’t know his name.”
I believed that too. He was talking about the unknown burner phone.
“Where are James and Watts?” I asked.
“There’s an apartment above the diner. I let them use it. It’s where they’re living.”
I looked at Kate and nodded.
She nodded back, rose to her feet again, grabbed her cuffs, and said, “Lawton Eider, I’m arresting you for the kidnapping of Phoebe Marsh…” And she continued reading him his rights, then escorted him downstairs to a waiting police cruiser.
We stood for a moment on the courthouse steps and watched them take him away. Then Kate turned to me, smiled, and said, “Good one, Harry. You just solved your first case.”
“I did, didn’t I? How about that?”
“But you’re not done, not yet.”
“Nope; not yet. Let’s go find Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”