Shell Game – Chapter 8 – Jason Charles
Outside his apartment building, Evan spied two men standing by the front door. They stood under a streetlamp, giving Evan plenty of opportunities to get a bead on them before the fog made him visible. The first man leaned all his weight on the lamppost and stared at his shoes. The other man paced like a frustrated wild cat, ready to pounce at the first opportunity.
Evan made out the first man to be Lt. Steve Abrams of the Athens Police Department, but he had difficulty identifying the second man. The second man carried his hat in his hand, sported a close military-style flattop, and looked carved out of granite. What the police could want with him at this hour was beyond him. Gabe was dead, and he didn’t think it necessary to call in the break-in at the office, at least not until the sun got up.
The two men focused their gaze in Evan’s direction once he was within ten yards of them. “Good morning, Evan.” It was Lt. Abrams who spoke first when Evan was close enough. Evan finally recognized the other detective. He stabbed Evan with his steel-gray eyes and a smirk. Evan immediately wanted to sock him in the jaw.
“You guys ever go home? I mean, I know Athens ain’t huge, but didn’t I just see you over at Memorial Bridge with my ex-partner?” Evan said as he sized up the two detectives.
“This is Lieutenant Robert Short,” Abrams began hooking a thumb to the second man.
“Oh, he knows me, Steve,” Short said. “He may want to forget me, though.”
“How’s the wife and kids, Bobby,” Evan said.
“We can cut the chit-chat, Gold,” Short said. “Mind letting us in?”
“Maybe,” Evan said. “The maid hasn’t been by, though. Is it something that can wait?”
“We have some questions for you, Evan,” said Abrams. “We don’t want to disturb you.”
Evan laughed to himself, “And yet, here you are.” Evan looked at his watch in the entrance’s light. “Truth is, fellas, it’s almost five in the morning, and I’d like to catch some winks. You know how it is. It’s been a long day already, and I have a lot on my mind. You sure this can’t wait a couple of hours?”
“I promise, Evan, we’ll be in and out. Ten minutes tops,” Abrams said.
“Ten minutes, huh?” Evan mumbled and then fished for his keys. “Okay, but keep it down. I got a neighbor lady who likes to talk.”
He walked the detectives up to his place, unlocked the door, and let them in.
Evan flipped on the light. The place was minimal, just the necessary furniture to entertain the occasional client, suspect, or police interrogation. No frills. No clutter. He didn’t want to make the place so cozy it would be hard for him to leave if he worked out things with Katherine.
“Sorry, gentlemen, I don’t have some refreshments to offer you. As I said, it’s been a busy day.” Evan slipped his hands in his pockets. “How can I help you?”
“We just have a couple of questions. This won’t take long,” began Abrams.
“Ten minutes,” reminded Evan. He kept staring at Short. The angular detective’s unblinking stare fixed on Evan. Evan observed the rippling muscles of Short’s jaw as it clenched and relaxed. Something was up, and he started to suspect this was not going to be a friendly visit.
“Had a chance to call Mrs. Silver yet, Evan?” asked Abrams.
“What’s it to you?” asked Evan with a smile. “Gabe’ll still be dead in the morning. Might as well give her one last good night of sleep.”
“How do you think she’s going to take it?” Abrams asked. “The news, I mean.” Lt. Short moved around the small apartment. Evan rotated his stance so he could keep both men in his vision.
“Not well,” Evan said. Short acted as though he was looking for something specific.
“What kind of gun do you carry?” Abrams asked.
“I don’t,” Evan said. “They tend to go off at unfortunate times and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Have a few in a safe at the office, though.”
“I’d like to see one,” Abrams said, “for comparison. Sure you don’t have one around here tucked away?”
“I’m sure,” Evan said. “But I’d be happy to have you over to my office and have a look-see.” Then he added, “With a warrant, naturally. Comparison to what, exactly?”
Abrams smiled politely before shifting his glance over to Short.
“You want to tell me why you two are really here? You’re stalling for something,” Evan said. “And, Steve, I don’t appreciate that you brought this hothead to come along with you. You and me, Steve, we could have a nice, civil conversation, and yet here’s this guy. I might start to think you want to intimidate me.”
“Listen here, you police academy washout…” Short started, finally giving up his mysterious search.
“Hold on,” Abrams held up a hand to Short. He spoke pleadingly to Evan, “Now, you got to level with me, Evan. We’re all on the same team. We don’t want any trouble. Remember, we’re the good guys.”
“Uh-huh,” said Evan, “I think you best remind your partner over there.”
“You said Gabe was on a case tailing a guy, a missing person, right?” asked Abrams.
“What of it?” asked Evan.
“We want to know more about him. You must know more than you’re telling us. You got to help us out, Evan. You know how fast cases get cold.”
“Even if I did know more, and I’m not saying I do or I don’t, why would I tell you? If I know anything, it’s because I worked for the information. You expect me just to tell you? What is this about? The man’s still going to be missing, and we could get some sleep before we track him down.” The early hour and the short night started to take their toll. If he didn’t make it to bed, Evan knew he might end up in jail for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
“I told you this would happen,” taunted Short nodding his chin at Evan. “Didn’t I tell you? I told you on your last day in the Academy that you were going to make a mess of your life. Now, look at you, living like this, wife and you on the skids…”
“No one’s perfect,” Gold pressed his lips together.
“Fellas,” Abrams said, putting his arms out to both men to settle the brewing storm.
“I’ll ask again. Let’s stop swinging around the mulberry bush and tell me what this is about,” Evan said, still eying Short.
“Look, I’ll make this simple. You ever heard of a guy by the name of Jason Charles?” Short took a step toward Evan.
“Maybe,” Evan said. “What if I have?”
Short took another step toward Evan.
“What does it matter?” Evan said, not budging.
“We got a call not more than a half-hour after you left Memorial Bridge. Turns out a man I’ve never laid eyes on gets gunned down at the bandstand in Fremont Park. Name in his wallet is Jason Charles. A room key tells us he’s staying at The Broadway. Now, you know, and I know Athens gets maybe one homicide a year. For there to be two men shot on the same night makes me think they might be related to one another. Makes me think Gabe was keeping an eye on Jason Charles, and things must’ve gone south. You,” at this, Short almost poked Evan in the chest, “put two-and-two together, track Charles for yourself, and take care of business. How’s that sound?”
“What makes you reach such a hare-brained conclusion?” Evan said.
“I’m glad you asked,” Short continued. “Lt. Abrams here calls you down to the bridge, as a courtesy because Silver was your partner and all, and while there, you tell him you don’t want to go pay your respects to the deceased. Which, frankly, seems a little cold since you worked together so closely.”
“A man can’t grieve in his way?” Evan asked.
“Then,” said Short ignoring him, “we get the call about Charles. Which, if I do my math right, if you hoofed it over to Gabe’s house to inform the wife and then made it back here, there’s still a good fifteen minutes unaccounted for. The Broadway ain’t that far from Silver’s widow.”
“So, with almost nothing concrete to work from, you just assume I killed a guy in cold blood?” Evan said, his neck and face started to turn the color of violence.
Short stepped closer till Evan could feel Short’s breath on his face. “You were just a little too eager to get away from the bridge. Didn’t want to pay your respects.”
“Hold on, Bobby, it wasn’t quite like that,” said Abrams.
Short continued, “So, being compassionate public servants, we do what we need to do to finish up at the bridge before paying our respects to Silver’s widow. When we get there, there’s your secretary consoling the devastated Mrs. Silver.”
“I called and sent her over,” said Evan.
“So, what was all that earlier about wanting Mrs. Silver to have one last night of good sleep? You haven’t been shooting straight with us, Gold.” Short held his ground as he continued his theory. “Now, with this new information, if I work the time from when you left the bridge, to make the call to your girl, and walk back here. I got even more time left on the clock — about thirty minutes. You’re right, Athens is not a big place. Thirty minutes is plenty of time for you to track down this Charles character and gun him down before showing up here.”
“Why would I do that?” asked Evan.
“Revenge. The man just killed your partner,” Short said.
“Try again,” said Evan, “I don’t carry a gun, and you don’t even know if the two murders are tied together. I’m sorry I didn’t get all broken up when I heard about Gabe. Gabe and I weren’t that close. Besides, we’re in a dangerous line of work. Sometimes things happen. You got to take it as a matter of course.”
“So, where were you those thirty minutes?” Short asked.
“Walking,” said Evan.
“Where?” returned Short.
“Logan Avenue. East Street,” said Evan. “I told you I have a lot on my mind. Walking helps me think.”
“Anyone see you?” asked Short.
“How should I know?” said Evan. Then Evan laughed, “You guys are fishing. You don’t have a case, and you’re hoping I’ll trip over something you can hang around my neck. I don’t appreciate this, Steve. I think you’re being played by Bobby here.” Evan nodded to Short. “One thing you might not know about Detective Short and me. Yeah, we were in the Academy together. Yeah, I stepped out before graduating. But what you may not know is the only reason Bobby here finished top of his class was because I stepped out, leaving the space open. Now he’s trying to act like he’s better than me.
“I know where I was, and I wasn’t killing anyone. You guys meet me at my place; I get nervous. I just found out about my partner’s untimely demise, and then you tell me just now that the man he was maybe following is also dead. What I still don’t understand is why you’re here, why you’re not out there digging up all of the evidence against me.”
“You got a reputation around town, you know, Gold,” said Short.
“And what is that exactly?” asked Evan.
Evan looked at Short and then over to Abrams.
“You going to put the bracelets on me or not?” asked Evan eventually. Neither detective moved. “I thought not.”
“Listen, Evan,” said Abrams, “we’re trying to play ball, but you got to see it from our side.”
“No, I don’t. The only side I need to see this from is my own. Now you can either arrest me or get out of my apartment so that I can get some sleep.”
“Don’t be like that, Evan,” Abrams said.
Evan raised his eyebrows and sighed, “Fine. Fine. By the way, how did I kill Mr. Charles? It seems to have escaped my memory.”
Short said, “Shot. Four times, in the back, I might add. My guess is from behind the Union soldier monument to give you cover.”
“Also,” Abrams offered, “Charles still had a gun on him, but it wasn’t fired.”
Evan paused a moment and drew his hand up to his face. He rubbed his gritty stubble before saying, “What have you found out from the hotel about Charles?”
“Not much,” said Abrams. “He’d only been there a week. Kept to himself.”
“You search his room?” Evan asked.
Short blew air out between his teeth and shook his head, “You think we’re rookies?”
“No, I know you boys are doing the best you can,” Evan said. “What was in the room?”
Abrams and Short exchanged looks before Abrams said, “Nothing much. Lived out of his suitcase from the look of it. He left a lot of junk on the floor. Like he was nervous about being snuck upon. Otherwise, empty closets and a few items by the sink for shaving and the like.”
Evan rubbed his chin a moment longer. He shook his head, “Well, I hate to disappoint you, gentlemen, and I’m certain this doesn’t count for much, but I’ve never laid eyes on anyone names Jason Charles. Anything else you want from me better come with a warrant from you and a lawyer with me.”
Short shook his head, “Let’s go.”
“Thanks for talking with us, Evan,” Abrams said. “We know this isn’t an easy time for you.”
“What are you thanking him for?” Short asked Abrams. “He got much more information out of us than we did out of him.” Bobby turned to Evan, “All history aside, Gold, you shoot straight with us, and we’ll shoot straight with you. When everything shakes out, we’ll treat you fairly.”
“I appreciate you saying that Bobby, I do,” said Evan. “But, if you don’t mind, if you’re done with your questions, I was serious about the shut-eye. It seems like it’s going to be a long day, and I need all the beauty sleep I can get.”
The two officers tipped their hats to Evan and efficiently made their exit. Evan looked at his watch. Five twenty. If he worked it right, he could get a solid four hours. Not great, but it was better than nothing. Evan laid on the bed without bothering to change out of his clothes, and within a few seconds, he was sound asleep.
