Falafel Jones - The Kewpie Killer Read online

  “You wouldn’t have been able to do anything, Eddie. The cart exploded. No, it’s all right.”

  “I still feel badly.”

  “You want to make it up to me?”

  “How?”

  “I know it’s short notice but come to Kara’s wedding with me.”

  “You mean tomorrow?”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you before. I planned to go alone.”

  “You sure it’ll be all right?”

  “Definitely and I’ve already picked up a gift. All you have to do is come and have a good time.”

  “I think I can do that, but only if you’re feeling better.”

  Robby knocked on the open door and held up a folder. “Got the Bomb Squad report, found a remote control trigger.”

  “What?” I asked, “You mean it wasn’t an accident? I thought something went wrong with the popcorn heater.”

  Robby said, “Someone planted a small charge and blew up the propane canister, used a remote control.”

  Eddie said, “Someone? I guess you’ve finally figured out I’m not the killer.”

  Robby scratched his nose, and then said, “We got lucky. Fire was hot enough to incinerate the bomb parts but the maker shielded the trigger. Almost like the guy wanted us to see it. Make sure we knew it wasn’t an accident.”

  Eddie said, “Then he waited for Raquel to come by before he pressed the button. He must have taken her keys to make sure she’d come back.”

  Mom asked, “Somebody wanted to hurt my Raquel? Who? Why?”

  Eddie answered. “Because someone wanted her quiet.”

  Mom said, “But she doesn’t know anything.”

  Robby said, “Someone thinks she does.”

  “Oh, Raquel,” Mom said, “you need someone with you,” Mom said. “I’ll hire you a guard, somebody off-duty from the W.P.D.”

  “No, Mom.”

  “Then, Eddie. I’ll hire Eddie to watch you.”

  Eddie said, “You don’t have pay me to –“

  “No, Mom. No.”

  “Then you’re grounded. You’ll stay home, be safe at the house.”

  “What? Grounded? I’m not thirteen. You can’t ground me.”

  “Maybe not, but you might as well stay home. You’re not coming to work until it’s safe. If I can’t protect my daughter, I can protect my employee.” Mom turned her back on me and sat in the chair across the room.

  While we glared at each, Robby said, “The bomb squad thinks the blast may not have been meant to kill her.”

  Eddie said, “You kidding? Somebody blew up a propane tank. The shrapnel alone could have murdered her and plenty of others.”

  “Yeah, but the charge was positioned to blow the canister top, maybe to make a flame shoot up. The guys think that if it was meant to kill, there would have been more of a charge and different positioning… or maybe the guy was just an amateur. We can’t tell for sure, but what did you say about Raquel’s keys?”

  Eddie told him why we went back to the carnival and said, “Somebody must have taken them when we talked to Leonardo.”

  Robby said, “Well, there was Leonardo, you, me, some uniforms, Pops, a bunch of freaks and lots of customers. Coulda been anyone.”

  “Yeah, that angle’s not going to help. Maybe we can work this from another direction. What does this creep think Raquel knows? And does she?”

  Chapter Twelve – Bits and Pieces

  They kept me overnight at the hospital and around ten o’clock the next morning Eddie arrived to drive me home.

  “Your Mom and I brought her car back to the house. Neither one of us wanted you driving.”

  “You two spent a lot of time together.”

  “Yeah, I like her.”

  Eddie glanced at my face and said, “What? She’s good hearted and very focused. I see a lot of her in you.”

  “”You have to be kidding. She’s an overbearing control freak. Comparing me to her is not going to win my affection.”

  “Hmm, thought I already had that. She’s just scared. I don’t think she ever got over losing your Dad, so she tries to hold onto the only person she’s got left. Then, she sees you in the same hospital where he died and tries to control things so she doesn’t lose you too.”

  “How do know that?”

  “Your Mom and I spent most of yesterday together under emotional circumstances with nothing to do but wait… and talk.”

  “What else did you talk about?”

  “Dunno… stuff…”

  When we pulled up to the house, Eddie said, “Now go in and get some rest. W.P.D. assigned a car to drive by now and then and if you want, I’ll sit out here and keep an eye on things.”

  I didn’t plan on resting but Eddie would never leave me be if he knew my plans. “No, thanks, I’ll be OK.” We kissed goodbye and kissing him felt so much better than kissing anybody else.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  “Then go inside. I’m not leaving till you’re safe.”

  I went into the house and waved good-bye from a window, then showered, dressed and took a cab to my office. I wanted to file my story and check out a few things before Kara’s wedding.

  On the way, my mind wandered to Eddie again. We wanted to be together, but didn’t know how to make it work. Until we figured it out, I had a job to do. I tried to concentrate on my story, but once at my desk, Eddie’s comments from lunch yesterday came back to me. He wanted to find a way to be together. Maybe he could transfer to W.P.D., but if he could how would that affect his pension?

  I put these thoughts aside, pulled out my camera, uploaded the photos from the golf course and started to write. It didn’t take me long. There wasn’t much to report. The victim’s name hadn’t even been released. After finishing my draft, I examined the photos again, to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

  Since Eddie thought the farmer and the banker might be connected, I compared my shots of the golf course and the carnival.

  Nothing jumped out at me. When I examined the first picture I shot about an hour before Brenda grabbed me, I noticed a white blur on the side of the image. I magnified the picture and took a closer look.

  The white blur resolved into an image, maybe a man, wearing a white shirt like Leonardo wore when we first met. Whoever it was, they entered the carnival grounds from the field where Brenda found her father, the farmer dead.

  Then, I sat back in shock. Was the killer in this photo? Is this the reason he was threatening me? Did he think I had his picture? Was he trying to scare me into keeping quiet?

  I looked through the other photos to see if any of those pictures included the person in the white shirt. They did and the sequence of the shots clearly showed he… or she did come from that direction. It was too bad I couldn’t make out the face. I was stewing over this find when my cell phone rang. It was Robby.

  “How come you’re not home?”

  “Um, what makes you think that?”

  “No answer at the house. Raquel, what’s the point of sending a patrol car by if you’re going to ditch it? We’re trying to keep you safe.”

  “I’m sorry, Robby. I wasn’t thinking, didn’t mean –”

  “No. I’m sorry. Look, um, I didn’t call to chew you out. I, ah, wanted to apologize. I was out of line… unh, yesterday at the golf course.”

  “It’s not me you need to apologize to.”

  “Yeah, I know. Can you tell your friend I’m sorry, that I’m not always a jerk.”

  “You need to tell him yourself. What happened, Robby? I’ve never seen you like that.”

  “Sorry, Raquel. It’s no excuse but for the first time on the job, the pressure got to me. An innocent man is dead. Everyone’s counting on me, depending on me to catch his killer. Cavanaugh’s half way out the door planning his retirement party. I’m the guy that’s got to catch this murderer… I don’t know if can do it.”

  “You can, Robby.”

  “Thanks, but I’m not so sure. Boy
, it was tough when the team depended on me to get a base hit, but this… this is different.”

  “It’s just jitters, Robby.”

  “You know, I always wanted to be a cop… if baseball didn’t work out. When my parents… died, the police were really kind to me… when I really needed it.”

  “You trained for this. You scored well on the test. You just need to focus on doing what they taught you to do. Nobody else can do more than that.”

  “Don’t know… ”

  “I’ve got something that might help and maybe I know why someone’s been threatening me.” I told Robby about my photos.

  He said, “Maybe the lab can enhance them. Digital?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Great. We can save time if you email them to me. If we need them as evidence, we can authenticate them against the originals. Just don’t alter the size or file format. After you copy them, put the original media in your safe.”

  “OK. What are you going to do next?”

  “Check out the banker. His name was Harold Thomas. We’re going to pull records and see if he ever serviced any accounts for the carnival. Oh, got an answer to your question about him having a carny ticket. Didn’t have one on him but we found an unused ticket in his trash at home. It was only good for day before he died. His scorecards show he blew it off to play golf.”

  “Did you find out how he got on the mailing list?”

  “He wasn’t on the list. Neither Pops nor Leonardo knows how the farmer or the banker got their tickets. Say both are from the same missing book. Hang on.”

  After a moment, he came back on the line, “Raquel, got another call. Catch you later.”

  Who would steal a ticket book and send tickets to these two? I needed to know more so I called another taxi and went to the Fairgrounds.

  When I arrived, I wanted to start with Brenda but realized I didn’t know where to find her trailer. While I was standing there a woman in the Fortune Teller’s booth called out my name.

  “Raquel Flanagan.”

  I stopped and looked at her. She smiled, then held up her hand and beckoned with one finger. “Come closer.”

  I came closer.

  “Closer.”

  I was face to face with her when she said, “You’re wondering why I summoned you. You’re wondering how I know you. Am I correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your photo appeared alongside your story yesterday.” The old woman shrugged and grinned at me. “What? You think Fortune Tellers don’t read the paper?”

  I smiled back. There was something about this old woman I liked.

  “Oh, I see. You think that maybe I make things up. No, I don’t. You don’t believe I see the future? Yes, you’re right. I don’t, but I do see things that others don’t. But then again, so do you and you’re looking for someone.”

  “Why yes. How did you… ”

  “Simple, you were standing in one spot looking lost. See how easy this is?”

  “I’m looking for Brenda.”

  The woman closed her eyes and swayed a bit. Then she looked past me, opened them and said, “She’s just finishing up at the Midway.”

  I turned and saw the clock behind me.

  The woman held her hands palms up at waist level. “How else do you think I knew?”

  As I started to leave, she said, “Know this. You’re not the first in your clan to walk this path.”

  “So, you know my Mom’s in the business.”

  “I do, but that’s not what I meant.”

  We stared at each other for a while. She said nothing more so I continued on my way. When I saw Brenda leaving the sideshow tent, I called after her. She stopped and waited for me. When I caught up, she asked if I was OK after the blast. I told her, “Yes.”

  “I’m so glad you’re all right. An explosion like that can do a lot of damage.” She smiled demurely. “I used to date a Human Cannonball. He couldn’t hear anything for hours after a performance, but then we didn’t talk all that much anyway.”

  I asked how she was making out.

  “I’m scared…afraid the Police will think I killed my Dad. Afraid people will find out who I am.” She chewed on her hair. “Am I going to be arrested? Did your cop friend tell anyone else about me?”

  I betrayed her confidence by telling Robby about her father but if she murdered him, I owed her nothing. If she was innocent, Robby would be discreet. Stuck without a good answer, I ignored her questions.

  “Last year, a bookie that also made loans, Breaker Burke, was found dead here. Did you know him? Was there any connection between him and your Dad?”

  “No. I heard about it after it happened but I didn’t know him. I doubt he hung around here. If he were a bookie or a loan shark, Pops would have had the men run him off. Pops looks out for us and we look out for him.”

  “And your Dad? Could he have known him?”

  “When I knew him, he didn’t gamble and from what I’ve heard about him since I left, his farm was doing well. He didn’t need any money. Why are you asking?”

  “Yesterday, somebody murdered a banker named Harold Thomas and left a Kewpie Doll at the scene. Did you or your Dad know him or do business with him?”

  “Thomas? No. Is that why all of the Police were here?”

  “Yeah. You know anything about stolen tickets?”

  “Only that one roll’s been missing for a while. When Pops first noticed it last season, the girls at the gate had to check every number. After a while, they didn’t see any that matched so Pops stopped looking. Checking slowed the crowd too much.”

  “Any ideas on who stole them?”

  “Could have been anyone. Pops keeps them in his safe but everyone who knows him knows the combination. It’s Rosa’s birthday. I’ve got another show in a few minutes. Sorry. I’ve got to go.”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  I had no other leads to follow here so I left. It was time to talk with an old newspaperman.

  On my way back to the office, I stopped in Adler’s for two coffees to go. If I wanted Uncle Bill’s take on things, I’d do better with a bribe and our own office coffee was terrible. When he saw me standing outside his office with large two cups of “outside” coffee, he stood up and waved me in with both hands, as if he were helping someone back up a car. When I got within two feet of his desk, he lunged forward, grabbed a cup and sat back down with a heavy sigh.

  “Now, I’m especially glad you survived getting blown up, aside from you being my favorite niece. How’re you feeling? Your hearing OK?”

  “I’m your only niece and I’m OK.”

  “Good, I’m glad to…” He stopped talking but continued to move his lips.

  I reached to take back his coffee cup. “Very funny, Uncle Bill.”

  “No, please.” He held his cup close to his chest, pried off the lid and sniffed the steam rising from the cup.

  “Ahhh. Real coffee. What’s this gonna cost me?”

  “Not much. Just some idle chatter.”

  “About your Kewpie killings?”

  “Yes.”

  He leaned back in his chair, took a sip from his cup and said, “Shoot.”

  “I’ve got disjointed facts. I can’t reconcile them.”

  “What do you know?”

  “There were six deaths over the last 20 years where Kewpie Dolls were found near the bodies. Three in Florida, three in New York, two were twenty years ago, two this year and one a year for each of the last two years. The first two died from a murder-suicide. In each case, the doll matched the victim’s occupation and each victim had a connection to one of three carnivals. A couple of the victims had free tickets to Kelly’s Carnival. The timing makes no sense and I don’t know what to do next.”

  Uncle Bill put down his cup and sat forward, “The recent increase in the frequency of the killings doesn’t seem odd. Serial killers sometimes become emboldened with success. Also, the killer may feel he has to finish something quickly before he gets caught. Got any suspec
ts?”

  “Could be. There’s a photo, which may help. Someone, maybe a man, ran from the murder scene just before Brenda found the body.”

  “Brenda?”

  “The Bearded Lady.”

  “So this is the Farmer Finley killing. Is this picture the reason someone’s trying to scare you?”

  “Could be.”

  “OK so who’s in the photo?”

  “Can’t tell who, only that he… or she’s wearing a white shirt.”

  Uncle Bill looked down, grabbed his white shirt between his thumb and forefinger and asked, “Like this one? Maybe a man?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “You know what you’ve got?”

  “Yeah, nothing.”

  “Good girl.”

  We sat and sipped our coffee. Then I asked, “But what about the twenty year gap?”

  “You don’t understand that gap so it’s throwing you off but I’ll bet that if you can figure out why there was a twenty year delay, you’ll find a major clue to the identity of the killer.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “I don’t know, but if you can’t solve that puzzle. Solve the ones you can. Research each victim. Find out what one thing connects them all.”

  “I’m working on that.”

  “Good and one more thing. Your killer intentionally left dolls. If you don’t want to get caught, you don’t leave a calling card… unless you’re nuts… and this guy is a total whack. He’s killing for a reason and it’s important to him that everyone knows he murdered these victims. He probably feels these killing are justified and those dolls could point to the reason. Find out why he’s leaving them and you’ll find him.”

  * * *

  I was home in the shower when my phone rang and thought, “Let the machine answer,” but my body moved quickly to finish up and get the call. I got there just before the machine picked up and stood naked, chilled and wet. Dripping onto the floor, I picked up the handset and wondered if the call would be worth this effort.

  “It’s me.”

  Eddie, so far, so good. “What’s up?”