Read Online Rise of the Beast by Kenneth Zeigler - Free Book Online
Authors: Kenneth Zeigler
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said Bill. “There are no security cameras in the park, that’s true, but there are cameras on the far side of Central Park East and Central Park West, several of them that give us a good image of the perimeter of the park. I may have found something.”
Bill placed three rather dark and somewhat blurry photographs on the lieutenant’s desk, showing two people, a man and a woman, entering the park from the east. The lieutenant examined them closely.
“These two individuals are the only people who crossed into that area of the park anywhere near the time of the murder. They are way too far away to ID them, but it looks like a fairly large African American man accompanying a small, thin Caucasian woman.” Bill pointed to a building on the photograph.“They seem to have left this building here. It’s an upscale apartment complex. Then they cross the street and enter the park on the same path on which the murders took place.”
“Did you see where and when the gang members entered?” asked the lieutenant.
“Not yet. I haven’t seen where and when these two left, either, but I’ll keep searching. Maybe someone in that apartment complex knew them, maybe the doorman. I’m going to check that out this afternoon. And here is something else, according to the mother of one of the murdered youths—there might have been a fourth gang member who accompanied the others to the park that night. Then I turned around to find that the kid in question actually came down to the precinct with his mother and filed a report yesterday after they heard what happened. He claimed that he left the group earlier in the evening and didn’t see anything. Now that may well be true, but I’m following it up nevertheless. I’m going over to see him this afternoon.”
“Good work, Bill, mighty good work,” confirmed the lieutenant. “Maybe we’ll get a break in this case yet.”
“My son has been very upset by the death of his three friends,” confirmed Consuela, looking over at Detective Bill Strom, who was setting in the comfy chair in their living room with a notepad in his hand. “It frightens me to think that he was with them earlier that night, that I could have lost him.”
“I was with them earlier that evening,” confirmed Julio, sitting on the love seat by his mother’s side. “They were going to hang out in the park. We did that sometimes.”
“We went over to the precinct and filed a report on Wednesday,” said Consuela.
“Yes, I noticed that here,” noted the detective. “Thank you for coming forth, Julio. What time did you leave your friends?”
“About 9:30,” was the answer.
“About an hour and a half before they were killed,” noted Bill. “What were they planning on doing in the park?”
“They’d planned on playing toll taker in the park that night.” “Toll taker?” asked Bill.
“Yeah, we’d hang around until someone came along. Then we’d tell them that this was our territory and that they would have to pay a toll to get by. Some people would just run; others would fork out some cash. Not too many would think about fighting us. I mean, there’d be four of us, you know? I mean, we’d never hurt anyone, it was just a game.”
“Sounds like a game that could get you in trouble,” noted Bill. “It might have been what got them killed.”
Julio seemed to tremble for a moment, as though there were strong emotions just beneath his cool exterior. “I’d played the game a few times; I admit it. But I didn’t that night. I’ve been in trouble. I guess you know that. I’m on probation now, will be for another month. I don’t want to end up in juvenile hall. I’ve been clean for nearly six months now, no drugs, no felonies. I wasn’t going to play. I left them at the edge of the park, across from that new Brookmoore Hotel. I walked around for a while, thinking it out, and then went home. You see, I had a bad feeling that night, I don’t know why.” For a moment, he
Bill placed three rather dark and somewhat blurry photographs on the lieutenant’s desk, showing two people, a man and a woman, entering the park from the east. The lieutenant examined them closely.
“These two individuals are the only people who crossed into that area of the park anywhere near the time of the murder. They are way too far away to ID them, but it looks like a fairly large African American man accompanying a small, thin Caucasian woman.” Bill pointed to a building on the photograph.“They seem to have left this building here. It’s an upscale apartment complex. Then they cross the street and enter the park on the same path on which the murders took place.”
“Did you see where and when the gang members entered?” asked the lieutenant.
“Not yet. I haven’t seen where and when these two left, either, but I’ll keep searching. Maybe someone in that apartment complex knew them, maybe the doorman. I’m going to check that out this afternoon. And here is something else, according to the mother of one of the murdered youths—there might have been a fourth gang member who accompanied the others to the park that night. Then I turned around to find that the kid in question actually came down to the precinct with his mother and filed a report yesterday after they heard what happened. He claimed that he left the group earlier in the evening and didn’t see anything. Now that may well be true, but I’m following it up nevertheless. I’m going over to see him this afternoon.”
“Good work, Bill, mighty good work,” confirmed the lieutenant. “Maybe we’ll get a break in this case yet.”
“My son has been very upset by the death of his three friends,” confirmed Consuela, looking over at Detective Bill Strom, who was setting in the comfy chair in their living room with a notepad in his hand. “It frightens me to think that he was with them earlier that night, that I could have lost him.”
“I was with them earlier that evening,” confirmed Julio, sitting on the love seat by his mother’s side. “They were going to hang out in the park. We did that sometimes.”
“We went over to the precinct and filed a report on Wednesday,” said Consuela.
“Yes, I noticed that here,” noted the detective. “Thank you for coming forth, Julio. What time did you leave your friends?”
“About 9:30,” was the answer.
“About an hour and a half before they were killed,” noted Bill. “What were they planning on doing in the park?”
“They’d planned on playing toll taker in the park that night.” “Toll taker?” asked Bill.
“Yeah, we’d hang around until someone came along. Then we’d tell them that this was our territory and that they would have to pay a toll to get by. Some people would just run; others would fork out some cash. Not too many would think about fighting us. I mean, there’d be four of us, you know? I mean, we’d never hurt anyone, it was just a game.”
“Sounds like a game that could get you in trouble,” noted Bill. “It might have been what got them killed.”
Julio seemed to tremble for a moment, as though there were strong emotions just beneath his cool exterior. “I’d played the game a few times; I admit it. But I didn’t that night. I’ve been in trouble. I guess you know that. I’m on probation now, will be for another month. I don’t want to end up in juvenile hall. I’ve been clean for nearly six months now, no drugs, no felonies. I wasn’t going to play. I left them at the edge of the park, across from that new Brookmoore Hotel. I walked around for a while, thinking it out, and then went home. You see, I had a bad feeling that night, I don’t know why.” For a moment, he
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