Counter Blow by Robert F. Clifton (ebook reader for pc .txt) 📕

What he saw was a gaping wound in the victims throat. Lacerations caused by shotgun pellets had tore away flesh from the chin, right cheek and one eye. The plastic wad used to protect buckshot pellets and improve patterns for low recoil buckshot was visible, sticking out of the dead officers throat.

“He got it point blank. Probably no more then three or four feet between him and the killer. Frank, make a note of it and I want close up photographs of the wound. Also, notice that there is only a small amount of blood. This indicated that he died almost immediately. His revolver isn't in his holster. Do we know where it is?”

“Yes sir. A woman by the name of Janice Miller, the barmaid of the club was getting into her automobile when she saw Grant approach two black men. Then, she heard the shot, saw Grant fall backwards and the two men running away. She went to Officer Grant to see if she could help him, saw that she couldn't and saw the revolver on the sidewalk. She picked it up and placed it in her purse and handed it over to the first Sergeant she saw”.

“Can she identify the one's running away?

“She told me that there were two black men, one tall, the other short. One dark complected the other lighter.

She spoke to the tall man as she and a waitress were leaving. The tall man asked if Johnny was inside. He wanted to talk to him”.

“OK, we'll talk to her later. Let me see what we have inside the club”.

Wallace followed Sergeant Stiles into the Hobby Horse Club. Stiles stopped at the entrance that led behind the long, mahogany bar. “There he is”, said Stiles pointing to the lifeless body of Johnny Gargiulo.

Captain Wallace waited until the crime scene investigators were finished taking photographs then stepped carefully to and around the dead body of the nightclub owner. The first thing he noticed was loose coins scattered on the floor around the body. A Nautilus Beach

Security and Trust money bag was in his right hand. There was also a large round deep wound just below the victims sternum. Inside the wound was a paper wad from the shotgun shell that killed the man.

“Interesting”, said Wallace as he stood up. “Here we have a paper wad. Outside we have a plastic wad. A paper wad is used for compression, not that it matters at close range. However, it does tell us something. Whoever is doing the killing is using a collection of different shotgun shells, some plastic, some paper. That tells me that the ammunition is old, not from the same box. Anyone with a full box of shells would take either all plastic or all paper. Also it appears that Johnny Gargiulo was killed first and officer Grant next. If so, the killer had to extract a spent shell in order to reload to kill Grant. Have some of our people start looking for a spent paper shotgun shell. It's got to be between the interior of this club and the location of Grants body”.

Donovan Bennett was scared, angry and sweating profusely from running. Dunbar killed two people this night. One of them a cop. Now, the entire world would be on his ass. He had to get out of town. He stopped behind the house that he and Iris Mitchell rented. Slowly, grasping the back porch railing he turned to look at Leroy Dunbar. “You simple son of a bitch. I told you not to use that god damn shotgun. Now we're not only wanted for robbery, but you got our ass be known as cop killers. Get the hell away from me”.

“Whatcha goin to do?”, asked Dunbar.

“Get out of town and hide. What the hell else can I do. Them women comin out of the club tonight got a good look at me.

At daylight Captain Wallace sipped lukewarm coffee from a paper cup. He ran his hand across his cheeks, knowing that he needed a shave. Someone told him that a used shotgun shell had been found inside the night club. He ordered it checked for fingerprints. He stood and watched as a fireman off of a pumper washed away the blood from the sidewalk. “Tomorrow there won't be a sign where Grant was murdered and where he lay. For the next week people will slowly stop talking about the murder and eventually forget about it entirely. Such is life. Such is the life of a policeman”, he thought to himself.

Wallace walked back to his unmarked radio car slid into the drivers seat and drove away, leaving the crime scene to Sergeant Stiles and the Forensic Unit.

After arriving home he told Mary what had happened and asked her to put a pot of coffee on the stove, He then went to the bedroom where he undressed, entered the bathroom` shaved and showered. Somewhat refreshed, but still tired from a lack of sleep he ate a quick breakfast. Using the telephone that was mounted on a kitchen wall he dialed the number for the Major Crime Squad. He waited patiently for someone to answer knowing the amount of work that was going on there.

“Major Crime Squad. Detective Myers”.

“Carol, Captain Wallace. I'm heading for the morgue. Notify Forensics and have them send someone with a camera down there to meet me”.

“Yes sir. Everything here is running smooth. All of us have feelers out with our informants”.

“Good, I'll be in touch. If anyone needs me, except the press you know where I am. Good bye”.

Twenty minutes later Captain Wallace walked through the white, painted double door of the hospital morgue. When he did Doctor Bell raised her head after looking at something she was studying under a microscope. “I've been waiting for you. Which one do you want to examine first?”, she asked.

“Johnny Gargiulo. Right now it looks like he was the first to get it'.

“Fine”, said Doctor Bell as she walked over to a white enameled steel examination table. She pulled back a sheet covering the cadaver. “There he is. I know you don't want me to tell you how he died”.

“No, not this time. I want to look at the fatal wound however”. Wallace answered.

“Are you looking for something in particular?”

“Yes, cloth fabrics and the paper wad that's inside the wound”.

Doctor Bell went to the instrument cabinet and took out a long pair of forceps. She took a long, close look at the massive wound in the mans wound just below the sternum. “You're lucky.

There are several threads embedded in the wound and as you can plainly see, a paper like substance. I imagine that's the paper wad”.

“Yes. Leave them in place until I have everything on film. While we're waiting, I'll look at Officer Grant”.

The pathologist covered the body of Gargiulo and went to the next table. There she pulled back the covering cloth, then stood silently as Wallace approached the body.

“He stood looking down at the remains of the young police officer. He remembered Roger Grant. He was one of many young police recruits he had trained in the academy. A young man dedicated to the profession that he chose to follow in his lifetime. Unfortunately that lifetime was short and over.

The plastic shotgun shell wad was still there in place, but if there was any cloth fabric threads he could not see them. Looking at the face of Grant Wallace noticed something. “What caused that white foam to form on his lips. I didn't see it early this morning in the dark?”

“That's spinal fluid. The impact of the shot in all probability broke his spine”.

“Was that what caused his death?

“If it is, then he never felt the pain of the wound. It was over quick”.

****************

Three days later on a cold, still, November morning. Captain Robert Wallace attired in his uniform stood with other superior and line officers in front of Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church. From far down the street he saw the motorcycle escort in front of the black, Cadillac hearse with their red lights flashing. In the still air came the sounds of drum beats as they sounded a cadence for the honor guard marching and escorting the` body of their slain, brother officer.

As the body was removed from the hearse by uniformed pallbearers he watched the six men turn in unison then march slowly to the church steps. Then, one step at a time they carried the coffin containing Patrolman Roger Grant into the church where as a baby he had been Baptized, Later in life he was confirmed and married there. Now, he would be given a Requiem Mass.

Undertaker staff positioned the coffin on a wheeled carriage and it was then moved to a place in front of the alter. As the coffin passed those assembled and seated in pews, the sounds of crying could be heard.

At the grave site Wallace again heard the sounds of drums as the Police and Fire Drum and Pipe Band marched into the cemetery. As they marched the priest prayed as he stood over the bronze colored coffin covered with the American Flag Then, three uniformed officers fired their rifles in unison, three shots, one at a time a salute to their fallen comrade.Then, before the coffin began it's decent into the ground, the pipers played, “Going Home”. Many of those there wiped tears from their eyes including Captain Robert Wallace.

Chapter Five

Questions

Captain Wallace stood behind the old, pine dais. He blinked his eyes from time to time as the flashbulbs in the Press cameras kept going off. However, it wasn't the cameras that aggravated him. It was the reporters of the news media that usually pissed him off when they wanted answers to their stupid questions. He waited until the news people were seated and reasonably quiet. Then, he spoke. “I know that all of you want answers to questions. That's why I'm here. Nonetheless, those of you who know me are aware of the fact that I do not and will not answer any question that will jeopardize our investigation. That means anything that would be confidential as to evidence that is both tangible and intangible. Now, if some of you think that doesn't give you too much room to try and maneuver me, you're right. With that in mind, let's get the show on the road. First, question”.

“Captain at this time do you have any suspects responsible for these two murders?”,asked Harvey Cobb of the Philadelphia Bulletin.

“No. Right now all we have is that two Black men working together are suspected of committing armed robberies prior to the murders at the Hobby horse Club. However, the evidence we have ascertained in the investigation so far, in all probability will identify one or both of the subjects. Next question”.

“It has been said that you have two eye witnesses. Is that true?”, asked Merlin Parker of the Nautilus Beach News.

“We have witnesses. How many? Some. Would we like more yes and if you ask me their names I'm going to kick you in the ass”.

When the laughter in the room subsided Loretta Cummings of the South Jersey Times stood and asked, “Captain in your investigation can you find any mistake that Officer Grant made that could have contributed to his death?”

Wallace didn't answer immediately. He had asked himself the same question time after time, day and night. Certainly Grant had made a mistake. The mistake was not waiting for backup patrols to arrive. Yet, was he to be blamed for acting immediately? He evidently heard the shot fired. He said,” Shots fired! I'm in pursuit of two Black men. “I repeat. Shots fired”. Grant was then placed in a difficult position. If he waits, the two subjects get away. There was people on the street