The House on Timber Lane by Robert F. Clifton (classic romance novels TXT) 📕

“What we have now, is a sociopath killer on the streets of Nautilus Beach.”

Wallace closed the book, got up out of his chair and went to his desk. There he read his notes aloud, recording them on tape. He shut off the recorder, went to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. As he sipped the hot brew his mind and thoughts returned to Vergasi. “The son of a bitch will hit again. It could be on orders or by something or someone that pisses him off.”

Walking back to his living room Wallace placed the cup of coffee on the snack table he kept next to his chair. He read his notes again then tore off the written page and crumbled it into a ball. He opened the book again and returned to the pages containing information about Richard Banaszek. As he read he learned that the contract killer used a variety of weapons and devices in his dealing with his victims.

Wallace found it interesting that where most of Banaszek’s killings were brutal such as the use of a shotgun or knife, he also used poison. To be exact, he used cyanide. He placed it in food. He gave lethal injections and at times simply poured it on the victims skin. In all cases death was quick. “Poison…There it is again. Seems like this book is leading me back to the good doctor Gray. It says here that cyanide is difficult to detect in toxicology tests. If that’s true then why would someone like Banaszek who used shotguns, revolvers and knives even to the extent that he cut and dismembered his victims bodies resort from time to time to the use of cyanide?”, he thought to himself. “It certainly wasn’t because he wanted to be humane. Most likely when he used cyanide it wasn’t a mob contract. When he killed for the mob he was to send a message to others. The message would keep others in line. His other contract killings did not require a message, just a victim.”

Now, if I am right and Doctor Gray is trying to kill his wife by using arsenic he must be getting it from some place, but where? Think, think, think. Wallace selected another book from his library turned to a chapter entitled, “Medical Use of Cyanide” He read, “Cyanide as a compound, sodium nitroprusside is used mainly in clinical chemistry to measure urine keytone bodies as a follow up to diabetic patients. An emergency use would produce a rapid decrease of blood pressure in humans.”

Very interesting. Joan Applewhite had only spoke about Grace Gray having flu like symptoms. There has not been any mention of diabetes. Still, as an endocrinologist treating diabetics Gray would have a legitimate right to sodium nitroprusside. Then why did he use arsenic?. Ah. Yes, cyanide is quick. The good doctor wanted Lillian’s death to appear to be the result of a lingering illness.”

Wallace placed the book back on the shelf. He then wrote that fact on his notepad. “We’ll just have to sit back and see where the doctor takes us”, he said aloud.

He took the empty coffee cup into the kitchen washed it and placed it in the dish drainer allowing it to air dry. Next, he unplugged the coffee maker and washed it placing the glass pot next to the cup. As he walked back into the living room his mind then left his belief and judgment of Vernon Gray and focused back to Nuncio Vergasi. “There was a time when Nautilus Beach was neutral territory to the mobsters, back when the Jews, Irish and Italians were involved in bootleg whiskey. At sometime they decided it was stupid to be killing each other when it was easier to sit, talk, and negotiate, but they needed a safe place to meet. Wherever that place would be there had to be a guarantee that no violence would take place. Nautilus Beach was the chosen spot and from that time on until recently no mob violence occurred in the resort.

Nautilus Beach then became the “Playground” in the nineteen twenties where illegal booze, prostitution and gambling was offered without interruption by law enforcement. The people came to party and so did the mob. However, with the repeal of the Volstead Act alcohol was available to everyone, nonetheless, conventioneers were supplied with bars and saloons making drinking obtainable twenty-four hours a day...All that was required was a city ordinance permitting the hours of sale for alcoholic beverages. That was easy. One word from the political boss and the ordinance was created, voted on and passed. The result was the city of Nautilus Beach continued to operate with business as usual except booze was now legal.

The business people were happy, the pimps, whores and bookmakers were happy and most important paid for politicians were in control of the city and the county. With the merchants and vice operators in their pocket and the working poor contended to work for the wages that were kept low and under control, elected officials were able to stay in power with managed elections.

It was the people that allowed and kept the political organization in power. They remembered the old days of prohibition. Bookmakers were their friends. Prostitutes were a necessary evil and it was the common cause of both merchants and workers now without prohibition to make as much money as possible between Memorial Day and Labor Day and neither cared how they did it.

The local police department in any community is only as strong as the people want it to be and the populace wanted weak enforcement except naturally when they became the victims. As for those who complained about political corruption, the politicians were aware of one thing, people do not cry out for clean elections, only for jobs and money.

At the end of summer many of the unemployed lived off of what they had managed to save, borrowed, begged or stole until the beginning of the next tourist season, and so it went year after year. As it did, the worldwide Great Depression came and began to have its effect. The working people of Nautilus Beach suddenly with unemployment and hotels without customers began to suffer. Nonetheless, the political bosses saw to it that the people had food on the table and a ton of coal in the bin. And, the people loved them.

If there was any organized crime it was organized with the bookmakers, tavern owners, madams and pimps paying kickbacks to the political organization for protection. Politicians kept their hands clean by allowing Roland “Shifty” Gorman to be the enforcer. Gorman saw to it that the payments were made on time, were the correct amount agreed upon, and any quarrels were settled quickly and without violence.

Becoming a bookmaker was easy. After a meeting with Shifty Gorman most operators opened small candy stores in locations that were available to pedestrian traffic. Those pedestrians were the working class who on their way to work could stop and wager either on horses or numbers. Others simply called their bets in to the bookie via the telephone. Number operators also had operators in the field who went house to house door to door collecting wagers and money. All bases were covered.

And so it went, the majority of the population were the working poor. The best job one could have would be working for one of the utility companies, the electric company, gas company or telephone company. Next came jobs working for the city. Even there the politicians assured themselves of political control. Police and firemen were expected to vote Republican, while other city workers were required to vote Democrat. The only problem was the Republican party over saw the operation of the Democratic Party, dictating who would be a candidate and who would win.

Those elections that were too close and near defeat always saw the Republican candidate win due to the count of the absentee ballots. Often the source of those ballots came from the local cemetery.

Under those conditions Nautilus Beach began to die. No longer was it the “playground.” It was like a drowning man struggling to stay a float as it sank deeper and deeper into insolvency and as fate would have it another life was offered, World War Two.

The war offered two things. First, the United States Army Air Corp took over all the major hotels in the city and used them to house troops. Second, the war brought rationing. Gasoline, tires and other essential goods became scarce. This meant that those on the home front were limited when it came to travel. Most public transportation, trains and buses were being used to transport the military. This then meant that in many cases any vacation or recreation place had to be by automobile in the immediate vicinity of the home. Philadelphia was only sixty miles away from Nautilus Beach and between the army troops and the vacationing Philadelphians, the city was reborn. And, it was reborn with a flourish. The bars and taverns gladly sold to G. I's.

The pimps and whores prospered and the bookmakers didn’t miss a beat. The Nautilus Beach Press even printed the race results from Santa Anita each day in the sports section of the paper, even though California was on the west coast.

At the same time with illegal bootlegging gone and a thing of the past the war offered another opportunity, the “Black Market.” Gasoline, rubber tires, butter, sugar, meat all rationed by the federal government still could be purchased from those who by one way or another had and controlled the sale of those products for the enhanced price. Once again the corrupt of the city and county reaped the rewards just as they had during Prohibition. However, all good things eventually come to an end. The war was over and the economy of Nautilus Beach that expanded in corruption decreased when those criminal opportunities ended and illegal financial opportunities dwindled.

Although Macaluso’s Philadelphia family was making money off of their cigarette, narcotic and a piece of the illegal gambling watched over by “Shifty Gorman”, Malcaluso wanted more. He then decided to get involved in the hotel and restaurant unions. Once involved and in control he could have the power to demand kick backs to assure that conventions would proceed without labor difficulties. To guarantee that this new operation in Nautilus Beach would succeed he sent a new type of supervisor, the enforcer, The enforcer known as a soldato or soldier would deal with and use any force necessary against any opposition. This soldato was Nuncio Vergasi. With his appearance and his actions it was now evident that Nautilus Beach was no longer a safe zone. Anyone stepping on the toes of Guido Macaluso or his associates could expect retribution.

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing telephone. Wallace walked to his desk and lifted the receiver off of the cradle. “Hello”, he said.

“Robert…This is Elaine…Joan just left here…She is very upset…Seems she mentioned the idea of Grace having a second opinion by her doctor in Philadelphia for the possibility that she ingested arsenic while on her honeymoon. Grace then mentioned it to Vernon and Vernon got angry and threatened to fire Joan. Evidently this created a serious argument between Grace and Vernon and Joan left the house in tears.”

“Interesting, however, I expected as much. So the good doctor is upset about a test for chemical compounds in his wife’s body is he? Alright, now we sit back and see if Grace Hodges Gray’s medical condition improves.”

Wallace returned to those thoughts he was having before Elaine’s telephone call distracted him. “At this point Vernon Gray was only a potential murderer. Hopefully, at this time I have prevented the death of Grace Hodges Gray. What is important now is the arrest and conviction of Vergasi. What I need