The next morning, I found Pete sitting at his desk. I usually arrive before him, so I checked my watch to make sure it was on time.
“You’re in early?” I asked as I headed for the hotplate and a cup of tea. “Everythin’ Okay?”
“Huh?” he answered, looking up. “Yeah, sure. Everythin’s fine. I jus’ wanted to get a jump on somethin’ that’s all.”
“So, what you got?” I went and stood beside his desk.
“I talked to those men checked into the hospital, ya know, the ones with alcohol poisonin’, like you told me. They’re in pretty bad shape ‘cordin’ to the doctor workin’ on them. One might never see again. Anyway, they were happy to rat out where they got the booze. Looks like it’s not one of the bootleggers we know about or took in. It’s some woman makin’ the shit up in her kitchen. Accordin’ to the hospital’s laboratory, this shit was made with wood grain alcohol an’ other chemicals. Apparently, she also used Bay Rum to add flavour to the brew.”
“Jesus,” I said. “You get her address?”
“Yeah. I figured I’d go down there this mornin’ an’ bring her in.”
“Good. Take a uniform with you in case she’s got some muscle with her.”
“Okay. What about you? How ya doing with that Dartmouth business?”
“I got one more lead to look into before I act.”
“So, your hunch was right?”
I nodded, “Yeah. Looks like it.”
“Good.”
“Where are we on the Fletcher case?” I asked. I’d been so busy in Dartmouth I’d not kept up with finding Fletcher.
“Looks like he’s gone ta ground. I figure he’s heard we’re lookin’ for ‘im, but I’m guessin’ he’s still in the city.”
“Okay. I think when you come back you should take over findin’ him. I’ll help out once I’m done with this other business. The boss wants it put to rest as soon as possible.”
Pete gave me a quizzical look.
“Been gettin’ calls from the Deputy Mayor’s office.”
“Goddamn politics.”
“Yeah,” I said, “When are you takin’ off?”
Pete checked the clock on the wall. “I figure at nine, or thereabouts.”
“Okay. Good luck,” I said, walking to my desk.
At eight-thirty I headed out for my visit to Kempt’s Machine in Dartmouth.
“I’m here to see the owner,” I said, showing my ID to a man standing behind a work table.
“Yeah, okay,” he said. “He’s in da shop. Wan’ me to get ‘im?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said. “What’s his name?”
“Mark Kempt.”
A few minutes later the man came back followed another man. He was tall with a stocky build. He looked like someone accustomed to heavy work. He wore an old tired looking fedora and a pair of soiled overalls over a thick woolen shirt and a black jacket.
“You wanna see me?” he asked when he stopped in front of me.
“That’s right,” I said, showing him my ID. “I’m Detective Robichaud with the Halifax Police. You got someplace we can talk in private?”
“Humph,” he grunted, then walked to a door off to the right. “In here.”
Once inside, he said, “What’s this all about?”
“I take it ya heard ‘bout the accident in the shipyard the other day; a coupla men injured and one killed?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Seem to recall readin’ somethin’ in the papers.”
“Well, it looks like the metal used to forge the valve that ruptured came from your shop.”
“You don’t say. How do you know it came from here? There’s other...”
“We traced it through a serial number.”
“Okay,” he said. “What of it? We forge a lot a products here. Sometimes a bad one might slip through.”
“Accordin’ to the experts who did an analysis of the metal, the valve was forged with inferior metals. How do explain that?” I asked, keeping a steady eye on him for any reaction.
“You accussin’ me of makin’ inferior products?” he snapped.
“Jus’ askin’. Well?”
Kempt tried to stare me down but it wasn’t working. He looked like he was trying to come to a decision, maybe weighing his chances as I was alone and on his patch. I decided to brace him even harder.
“Don’t even think about it,” I said, opening my jacket to reveal my gun. His eyes shifted to the gun and I knew he realized that this could become really bad.
“Easy,” he said, raising his hands in front of him. “No need for that, now.”
“Smart decision. Now answer my question.”
“Look. I ain’t done nothin’ wrong, okay? I get the orders an’ then make the parts, then send them on.”
“Yeah? An’ what about the metals you’re usin’?”
“I get them from another supplier.”
“Whaddya mean, another supplier?”
“Like said. I order the metal in from a mill.”
“Okay, I get that, but those metals are forged here, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“So that means somewhere along the way you’re doin’ somethin’ resultin’ in the finished part leavin’ here in an inferior condition.”
Kempt was starting to look visibly unsettled at this point.
“You don’t have any proof of that,” he said, his voice betraying his nervousness.
“Maybe not,” I said. “What say I call an’ get some experts to come over here an’ have a look ‘round, maybe take a few samples. Whaddya think?”
“You can’t jus’ come in here without a warrant or sumthin’.”
I could see he knew the jig was up and he was buggered. I decided the best thing I could do right now was to secure him and take him back to the city where I could finish the interrogation.
“Turn around,” I said. “Mark Kempt, I’m arrestin’ you on suspicion of sabotage. You have the right to remain silent and anythin’ you say now can and will be used in a court of law. You understand?” I said, pulling out my set of handcuffs and stepping toward him.
“Jesus,” he said, panic in his voice. “Wait...wait, let’s talk...make a deal.”
“We’ll definitely talk when I get ya back to the station.” I grabbed his left arm and pulled it behind him, snapping the cuff on his wrist, then his right.
“Let’s go. Walk,” I said.
I led him out through the outer office then outside and placed him in the back seat of my car. Several men left the workshop and followed us outside. They stood around the doorway quietly talking among themselves. I kept an eye on them, not knowing where they stood regarding Kempt. I quickly got in behind the wheel and reached for the microphone.
“Car two, callin’, over,” I said into it.
A moment later a voice answered. “Car two, go ahead. Over.”
“This is Robichaud. I’m in Dartmouth at a business called Kempt Machine. It’s located in Woodside jus’ before they reach Imperoyal. I need you to send a car with at least two uniforms. Over.”
“Right away. Over.”
“Thanks. I’ll stay on site ‘til they get here. Tell them to use sirens. Over and out.”
While I waited, I went back inside and talked with several of the workmen. A few said they thought something fishy was going on but kept quiet, not wanting to lose their jobs. The foreman, Bill Quigley, helped me go through the business’ files. I found a number of records from Dartmouth Marine Supplies for a wide variety of parts, including the defective valve. I pulled these and put them in a small box and took it to the car, where Kempt sweated in the back seat.
The squad car arrived thirty minutes later. I instructed the two officers to come inside, then called Quigley over, telling him to shut the foundry down and send the men home. When he asked how long the shop would be down, all I could tell him was indefinitely. When he went into the shop and passed on the news to the men inside, I could see they weren’t too happy at the news and I was glad to have the two uniformed men with me.
It was an hour later when Quigley finally got everything shut down and all the men left. I had Quigley give the keys to the shop and office to me before he left. I gave them to one of the two officers.
“You two stay on here an’ make sure no one tries to get inside. I’ll make arrangements for a relief to be sent over. If you have any trouble radio in. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” one of the men said.
I arrived back at the station forty-five minutes later. I booked Kempt into a cell and instructed the duty officer to make sure the two officers over in Dartmouth were relieved. I also told him to maintain a presence there until further notice.
When I reached the cells, I saw a woman and two bruisers in the adjacent cell. I left and went back to the squad room. Pete was sitting at his desk holding a wet towel over his right cheek and eye.
“What the hell happened to you?” I asked.
“Didn’t go down so easy,” he said.
“Ya don’t say. Jesus, man, you okay?”
“Yeah. The bitch caught me with a fuckin’ pot. Lucky for me it was empty. There were a coupla others cookin’ on the stove. She was brewin’ a new batch at the time.”
“An’ the uniform? He okay?”
“Yeah. He was cuffin’ the two men that were there. They came along peacefully.”
“But not her, eh?”
“That’s one mean vicious she-devil” he said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his cheek. “I practically had ta cold-cock ‘er so I could cuff ‘er.”
“How much of her poison did ya get?”
“‘Bout five gallons. Like I said, she was brewin’ some when I went in. I kept a few bottles she had already filled for evidence an’ dumped the rest. It’s in the evidence room.”
“Good. That’s good work, Pete,” I said. “By the way, what’s her name?”
“Thanks,” he said, opening his notebook. “Gladys Silvester. Forty-eight. Married, old man is overseas: army. Though I hate to think of bein’ married to that. One of the two men we arrested is a brother to the husband, the other is her cousin,” he finished, closing the notebook. “How’d you make out over in Dartmouth?”
“I arrested the man who owns a machine shop an’ small foundry; bookin’ him on a charge of sabotage for now. Got to talk with the Crown Attorney’s office to see if they make it stick.”
“He come quiet?”
“Yeah. He’s sweatin’ it out in the cells right now. Looks like he’s open to makin’ a deal.”
“Great,” Pete said.
“I’ll let the Crown do that. I’m guessin’ the bigger fish are connected so it’d be best to let them handle it. I’ll make sure we get to do the arrest when the time comes,” I said. “Now, if you’re up to it, you think you can tackle this Fletcher business?”
“Absolutely. I jus’ need to finish writin’ out this arrest report.”
“Okay. I’ll head upstairs an’ let the boss know what’s what an’ get him to call the Crown for the warrants. Be back in fifteen minutes.”
Pete turned back to his typewriter and began hitting the keys. I headed for the stairs.
I was back twenty minutes later.
“Right,” I said. “Where exactly are we with Fletcher?”
“Nothing back yet from the railroad or his digs,” Pete said. “No luck on identifying his friends except for that sailor, or where he hangs out. Looks like the guy’s a bit of a loner. We still got an all points out for the car.”
“What about his banking? Any chance he deposits his pay somewhere?”
“I didn’t think of that. I can call the rail people see if their payroll department has any information.”
“Okay. Do that. It’s a good bet he knows we’re lookin’ for him by now and has likely gone to ground like you said before. If he has, I’m thinkin’ he’s probably plannin’ on skippin’ away, in which case he’ll need money.”
“Good point,” Pete said, picking up his phone.
I checked my watch: almost four o’clock. I decided to go and work on Kempt a bit more.
“Why doncha shut yer filthy mouth, ya cow,” Kempt yelled angrily at the woman Pete arrested in next cell.
“I want my solicitor,” she hollered when she spotted me, ignoring Kempt. “Ya can’t keep us in this shithole like dis, ya hear me, copper.”
I ignored her and opened Kempt’s cell door nodding for him to step out. I took him by the elbow and led him to the interrogation room with the woman still yelling.
“Hey. Hey. Come back ‘ere.”
“Sit down,” I ordered when we entered the room and I shut the door on the woman’s tirade.
“Look...,” Kempt started to say.
I pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.
“Shut it,” said. “You’ll answer my questions first then we’ll talk, got it?”
He slumped his shoulders and lowered his gaze.
“Right. Tell me how this operation works.”
“Look, I didn’t think it’d cause any harm, ya know. It was jus’ a chance to make a few extra bucks,” he said, putting his elbows on the table and leaning in.
“You can’t be that stupid,” I snapped. “Now tell me how you worked it.”
He hesitated a moment then began.
“We place an order for the raw materials, then when we get an order for parts, we melt them down and forge the parts.”
“Go on. Where do you start cuttin’ corners?”
“In the meltin’ process, but only enough to stretch out the mix to build extra parts.”
“So, these parts end up being weaker as a result?”
He nodded, “Yeah, but not by that much.”
“Tell that to the man injured the other day and to the family of the man that was killed,” I said angrily. Kempt lowered his head.
“Okay. Now give the names of everyone involved, starting with the materials suppliers.”
“They weren’t part of the deal,” he said, looking up again. “Look, can we make a deal ‘ere? I’ll give ‘em all up, if you can cut me a deal.”
“You’ll give them all up anyway, I promise you that,” I said. I took out my notebook and a pen and slid them across the table to him. “Start writin’.”
“Not ‘til ya agree to me gettin’ a deal,” he said defiantly.
“You’re in no position to demand anythin’, understand? As it stands right now, I got you on possible sabotage charges, but I’m thinkin’ the Crown Prosecutor may add a charge of manslaughter as well.”
“Whadda fuck you mean, manslaughter?” he said, sounding alarmed. “I ain’t killed no one.”
“Again, tell that to the dead man’s family.”
“That was an accident.”
“Bullshit. He died as a direct result of a part exploding in his face; a part built by your company with metal you forged.”
Kempt was visibly shaken now. This was going very badly against him. It was time to play the good cop.
“Listen to me. Give me everything I want an’ when I pass it over to the Crown they might be inclined to go a bit easy on you.”
“Ya think so?” he asked.
“Anythin’s possible. Now write.”
He picked up the pen and started to write. When he finished, he pushed the notebook back to me, I looked at the list; there were only three names: Phillpott, Sinclair and McPherson.
‘Gotcha, ya bastards’, I thought, closing the book and standing up.
“Hey, Robie,” the duty officer called as I headed back to the squad room.
“Yeah?” I said, stopping in front of his desk.
“Jus’ got call in from one of the patrolmen workin’ the downtown beat. Sez he’s pretty sure he’s spotted that car you’re lookin’ for.”
“Where?”
“Headin’ up George Street to Barrington. Sez it turned south.”
“That it?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, thanks, Fred.” I turned away and continued on the squad room.
“Jus’ heard from the duty desk. Fletcher’s car was jus’ spotted headin’ south on Barrington,” I said to Pete when I entered the room. He was sitting at his desk.
“Think he’s headin’ back to his place?” he asked, turning in his seat.
“I doubt it. If we’re right thinkin’ he has to know we’re onto him; he’d have to figure we’d know where he works an’ lives an’ have his digs staked out. How you comin’ with findin’ his bank?”
“I talked to the payroll clerk at the railroad, but they didn’t know anythin’. So, I started callin’ the banks in the area to see if he has an account, figurin’ if has then it’s got to be close to where he works and lives, right? Anyway, no luck so far. I was about to call the Royal Bank on George Street, but I’m not holdin’ my breath. They’re all claimin’ somethin’ to do with confidentiality.”
“Good thinkin’. Okay, keep at it. If we got to, maybe the boss can get the Mayor’s office to pull a few strings,” I said then went to my desk.
“Nice to have friends in the right places,” Pete said with a hint of sarcasm. “How ‘bout your case?”
“Like I said, I’m gonna get the boss to try an’ get warrants on those responsible for the defective part and to look into maybe a charge of manslaughter.”
“Think he’ll go along?”
“The evidence is pretty circumstantial, but I think it’s strong enough to go after them. It’ll depend on how well they’re connected.”
“Think anyone over there would stick their necks out that far to protect them?” Over there meant Province House.
“Hard to say,” I answered. “If they’re all Masons, or some other secret club, who knows.”
“Should get rid of all them ‘clubs’, Pete spat the words out. “They been runnin’ things from the shadows way too long. This is the twentieth century, for chrissake.”
“No argument from me,” I said, heading to the stairs. “Listen, get everything we got on the Fletcher case ready. I wanna have another look at it before we make any decisions.”
“Yeah, okay,” Pete said, turning back to his desk.