Mixed Messages
Reed’s
Realm
Reed
parked his car in the parking lot of police plaza and made his way up to his
office. He had stopped by a nearby
Starbucks and got his normal liquid breakfast.
As he walked into his office, he could see that the message window was
lit on his phone. He turned on the
lights and made his way to his chair and settled in. He flipped on his computer, and then hit the
speaker function on his phone, followed by the message button.
The pleasant female voice said, “You have four new messages. First message received today at
“Hey
Reed, it’s Martin.
I just ran the prints and this must be your lucky night. Actually, we got really lucky. I was able to find a match for our buddy
hanging in the warehouse. His name is
Jonathon Simmons. On the streets he goes
by the name of Jo Jo.
He is well represented on our system.
Nothing too red flag. Mainly he was a drug user
and abuser. Get this though, he was
brought in a few weeks ago and actually supposedly cut a deal to be a snitch
with narcotics in hopes to try and help himself out of
the crap mess he was in. The officer in
charge on his file is Thomas Owens. I
have a feeling that whoever Jo Jo was about to sell
out, found out about his intentions. You
talked about his murder being a message and I think you were right. Think about it. They cut his tongue out, and wrapped it in
money covered in blood. I think these
people were showing everyone on the streets what the price for snitching to the
police is. Anyway I just wanted to call
and let you know. I’ll talk to you in
the morning.”
The female voice broke in again.
“Message two received today at
“Good Morning Detective, this is Dana Fox. I got your message. I just wanted to let you know that I received
your lovely package. I’ve never had a
body sent for me in particular. I have
not determined if that is a good thing yet.
I guess I will find out shortly.
Anyway, I’ll be conducting my exam and will give you my objective
opinion on the plausibility of this case being related to the Kerigan case. Feel
free to call or stop by later today. I
should know something by the end of the day.
I’ll be in touch.”
The voicemail lady again, “Message three received today at
“You don’t call. You don’t
write. I was beginning to wonder if you
were ever going to call your old friend again.
I know you’re thinkin’ that us
FBI guys have phones and working fingers to dial, too! It’s really good to hear from ya, Reed. It’s been
too long. I was hoping to reach you, but
I should have known that you would not be in this early. Ya never were a
morning person back in the bureau. I
guess it’s true what they say about old habits, huh? Seriously, I’m sorry I missed you. Give me a call when ya
have a chance. I would be more than happy
to help you out. You can reach my
personal cell at 555-2171. I look
forward to hearing from you. Take Care.”
“Message
four sent today at
“Detective Hackman, I have some information
that I think you would like to know in regards to the Peter Kerigan
murder. Come alone to the Emperor's
Palace right now. Tell the maitre’ d who you are, and
he will do the rest. You don’t have much
time.”
Reed didn’t recognize the man’s voice in the last message. Looking at his watch, Reed shook his head.
The call had come in ten minutes ago. He
was hesitant to do as the message instructed.
He leaned back in his chair and took another drink of his coffee, which
was starting to show signs of cooling down.
After taking a quick drink, Reed knew that he was really left with no
choice, so he stood up and walked out of his office.
He moved down the hall and around the corner that led to yet another set
of offices. He walked down to the third
office on the right and opened the door with the name plate of Detective Martin
Johnston on it. He walked over to his
desk and picked up a pen and a notepad.
On it he wrote:
Martin, I have a lead on the Kerigan case. I’m
heading
out to
follow up on it. If you don’t hear from
me by
please come
to the Emperor’s Palace. That is where I
am going.
Reed
Even though the Emperor’s Palace was a relatively public, high end
restaurant, Reed still felt that he needed to let someone know where he was
heading. After all, he knew that the
Palace was not open for business for another few hours, and he also knew that
he could easily be walking into a trap.
There was also a chance that this was a message from a person with real
intentions of helping him on the case.
There was only one way to find out.
Reed pulled up and parked his car in the empty parking lot of the
Emperor’s Palace. He looked around
before stepping out. He saw no one
around. Reed didn’t like it at all, but got
out of his car and walked up to the door.
Just as he was reaching out for the door handle, the door opened. Surprised at the unexpected movement, Reed
caught himself reaching for his gun, but stopped when he saw the maitre’ d at
the door.
“Can I help you, sir?” the man at the door asked. “We’re not open for business until
“I’m Detective Reed Hackman with the New
Orleans Police Department,” Reed stated as he reached into his pocket and
pulled out his badge for the maitre’ d to see.
“Oh, yes sir. Come on in, you are
expected,” the man said, opening the door to welcome him inside. “Your party is waiting, please follow me,” he
said as he walked into the restaurant with Reed following behind.
Reed could smell many wonderful scents.
The one that stood out the most was sausage. “I didn’t know you served breakfast,” Reed
said.
“Oh, we don’t, at least not for the public,” the maitre’ d responded,
turning around and facing Reed as they arrived at the bottom of a stair
case. “Your party is just up the stairs
in the private room.”
With that, the maitre’ d walked back to the
area that Reed guessed was the kitchen.
Reed still didn’t like this at all, but knew there was no turning back
now. He slowly made his way up the
stairs. Each step made his heart beat a
little harder and his thoughts swirl as he got closer to the door at the
top.
Reed paused for a second before reaching out to open the door. What am
I doing? Reed thought to himself as
he turned the knob.
Before he could step into the room, he was met by two men wearing black
suits and extra layers of muscle. They
were two of the biggest men Reed had ever seen in his life. Before Reed could say anything, the silence
was broken from a voice that came from behind the men.
“That’s alright boys, please let him in,” the voice spoke.
Reed recognized the voice as being the same one that had left him the
message.
The two men both stepped back and Reed was able to see the rest of the
room. It was dimly lit and had one huge
table in the center. There were two more
men on each side of the table standing behind one single man who sat at the
head of the table, eating alone.
“Come on over, Detective. I am
glad that you could make it. To tell you
the truth, I was not sure you would show up.
Please join me,” the man said.
Even though the light was not the best in the room, it didn’t take long
for Reed to recognize who had called him to the Emperor’s Palace. Reed walked over to the table and stood by
the chair at the other end, opposite the sitting man.
“Ronald Jeremiah. I knew that sooner
or later we could be having a talk. I
guess sooner came today,” Reed said.
“What information do you have about Peter Kerigan?”
“Slow down, Detective. Everything will come in due time. Please have a seat. Could I get you something to eat or drink?”
Jeremiah asked.
“No disrespect, but time is not a luxury that I have, so please tell me what you know and I will be on my way,” Reed said.
“Mr. Hackman, please sit down. I have some helpful information, and I think
that you can afford to lend me the time and respect that I—well, demand,”
Jeremiah said as he pointed out to the chair.
Reed reluctantly sat down. “So
what’s this about?” he asked.
“I have the answer that you are seeking, Detective,” Jeremiah said.
“And what answer would that be?”
Reed returned.
“Patience, Detective, just indulge me for a few minutes if you would,”
Jeremiah said as he wiped his face with his cloth napkin and leaned back in his
chair. “Peter Kerigan
was a misunderstood man. Yes, he had his
share of issues and problems, but in this day and age who doesn’t? Peter was very loyal to me. He was one of my chief managers and in a lot
of ways he was like a son to me.”
Jeremiah stood up and walked over to a side table caring a cup. He reached over and poured himself more coffee. He placed one spoon full of sugar and then
added a generous amount of liquid creamer before stirring the mixture and
returning to his seat.
“See Detective, I don’t think that his murder had anything to do with
his private affairs. I believe that his
murder was an attempt to not only hurt me, but to threaten me and my import
company as well,” Jeremiah added.
“Who would want to threaten you by killing Kerigan?”
Reed asked.
Jeremiah took a sip of his coffee, then softly
placed it back on the saucer that sat beside his plate.
”Ah, that is the answer you’re looking for, isn’t it?” Jeremiah asked. “Who would benefit most from Peter’s
death?” He paused and pinned Reed with
an intense stare. “Let me ask you,
Detective, have you heard of Drake Enterprises?” Jeremiah asked.
Reed had heard of them, but decided to see where this was going. “Doesn’t sound too familiar,” Reed said. “Should it?”
Jeremiah gave a smile that made Reed feel as if the businessman knew he
was playing dumb.
“They are another import company with real estate on the docks. I have had the feeling that they want to run
me out of business, and control the port.
The only thing that stands in their way is my company. So you want to know who would benefit from
the death of Peter, and I give you Drake Enterprises,” Jeremiah added.
Reed took a breath, his brow furrowed.
He knew Jeremiah was speaking in code about his illegal import
business. “Let me get this
straight. You think that Kerigan was murdered because you now have some competition
at the port?” Reed asked.
“Well, in a matter of speaking, yes, that is what I am saying,” Jeremiah
confirmed.
“Forgive me if this all doesn’t sound a little too far fetched for me,”
Reed said as he stood up and pushed his chair in. “Just because a dog gets run over by a truck,
doesn’t mean that the truck driver was in cahoots with the cats. I am not about to start investigating a
company for murder just because they are doing business at the port. I’ve got to have some evidence.”
“I was hoping that you would be more open to what I am telling you,
Detective. I was hoping that we could
help one another,” Jeremiah said. “I
guess I will just have to have some of my own people look into this matter for
me; people that know how to get the job done a lot faster and better than the
police.”
“Is that a threat?” Reed asked.
“Not at all. You should have known that I was not going to
stand by and let the murder of Peter go, or become an unsolved case that is
placed in a cold file somewhere. I was
just hoping that you might be willing to work with me and not against me. I knew better, but wanted to give it a shot,”
Jeremiah said standing up.
“The bottom line here is that I don’t know why Peter Kerigan
was murdered anymore than I think you do.
I refuse to start taking my focus off the task in front of me because
there is another company growing on the docks providing you with
competition. That is something I am not
committing time to. If there are more
facts that you are not telling me, then I’m all ears,”
Reed said.
Jeremiah stood and said nothing.
“I can assure you this, though. I
am not stopping until I find out who killed Kerigan,”
Reed said. “And I don’t care how many
rocks I have to kick over to find that out.
When everything is all said and done, if my work benefits you in anyway,
just consider yourself lucky. I will
take your information under consideration, but you need to stay out of this and
let me do my job,” Reed added.
Jeremiah’s eyes were burning a hole of anger into Reed. He turned around and started to walk towards
the employee entrance.
“Boys, I am finished with this matter.
Please show the detective out,” Jeremiah said as he walked out the back
door with two of the men following him.
As the two remaining enforcers moved toward him, Reed held up a
hand. “That’s okay, fellas. I can show myself out,” Reed said as he
turned and walked out the door, down the stairs, then out to his car.
After the detective was in his car, he leaned his head back and took a
deep breath. Although he was remaining
calm on the outside, his heart was beating out of his chest. Reed raised his head and started his
car. As he made his exit from the
parking lot heading back to police plaza, he knew that things just got a lot
more complicated.