Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

Lieutenant Anderson exclaimed, "On Twelfth Street, near the Tri-Arrondissement Bridge, the body of a male was found in a recycling facility." "What's wrong?" "Coffin Bucket" Ed asked in surprise. "What's the matter?" Deputy Captain Anderson became angry. "Aren't you armed?... Go over and have a look. You know, murder and robbery are crimes." "Coffin Bucket" Ed suddenly felt his ears burn. "We'll be there right away," Ed said respectfully. "What's wrong..." He heard Vice Captain Anderson muttering loudly when he hung up the phone.

"Gravedigger" Jones turned the car around and merged the car into the traffic, and said with a smile, "You got scolded, brother?" "Yes, the boss is very angry." "Remember this lesson, don't underestimate the murder case." "Okay, I got it." "Coffin Bucket" Ed said sullenly. Two black policemen rushed to the scene and met Officer Willie of the Criminal Unit.His men were taking footprints, taking fingerprints, and taking pictures of the crime scene.A pink-faced young assistant coroner whistled cheerfully as he labeled the body "dead on arrival."

"Hey, old fellows!..." Officer Willie raised his hand to greet them, "Don't be afraid, the dog is dead." They looked at the dead dog, and then looked around casually. "What did you find?" "Gravedigger" Johns asked seriously. "Only one body was found," Officer Willie said with a wry smile. "This is already the fifth body found tonight." "Is that how you're going to draw conclusions on the incident at the Paul Stadium?" "Gravedigger" Johns asked angrily. "Crime?...God, when I got there, I only saw four stiff corpses, the only survivors, and they were taken away by your people."

"If you want, we can give it to you." "Coffin bucket" Ed said solemnly. "What's the use of giving it to me?..." Officer Willie clapped his hands together, "Since you think he's useless, what's the use of having him?" "Who knows? Maybe he likes you better." "Gravedigger" Johns said jokingly. Officer Willie smiled.He looked more like a college political science professor than a cop.However, both "Gravedigger" Johns and "Coffin Bucket" Ed knew that this guy was a very smart policeman. "Come and take a look." Officer Willie led the way to the shed where the body was found, "The name of the deceased was Josh Piven, and he lived at 121 West Avenue. This is his social security card. Cause of death It should be that he was stabbed in the heart. At present, there are only these situations."

Detectives scrutinized the rubbish-filled shed.As soon as you enter the door, there is a main aisle first, and then it is divided into three small aisles; the garbage on both sides has been piled up to the roof of the corrugated iron shed.Almost all available space has been utilized, except for an open space next to the wall behind the main aisle. "Did someone take anything?" Ed "Coffin Bucket" asked gravely. "What do you want in this place?" Officer Willie pointed to piles of flattened cardboard, old books, old magazines, rags, broken radios, sewing machines, rusty tools, flattened Mannequins, and various unrecognizable metal fragments asked back.

"Someone must have taken something. What is certain is that it wasn't the dog." "Coffin Bucket" Ed insisted with a serious face. "It could also be a sex crime." "Gravedigger" Johns boldly assumed, "Maybe he came with a white man. This kind of thing happened before." "I've thought about that! . . . " said Inspector Willie, "but I can't explain why the dog died." "It may be necessary to kill that dog." "Coffin Bucket" Ed said with a smile. Police Officer Willie frowned and said seriously, "Even in Harlem, doing this kind of thing is too much, right?"

"As long as the pay is reasonable, they can do anything." "Coffin Bucket" Ed said angrily. "Perhaps!..." Police Officer Willie stepped aside, "However, there is still one thing that doesn't make sense. We found a mass of meat that might have been poisoned in the pocket of the deceased. What exactly it is, we have to wait for further tests. The result. And that dog was poisoned to death. Could it be that he prepared two pieces of poisoned meat? This is unnecessary." "This vacant lot is really nerve-wracking," admitted Gravedigger Jons. "There's rubbish everywhere, and there's a vacant lot like this. Did something fall from the robbery car that night? Got it down, just dropped it here? Or something, going to the junkyard, could it be a spare tire?"

Officer Willie shook his head and said, "It could be a gun. But I can't think of anything that would be sold here. At least nothing that would fill the space. Could it be Are we wrong?" "There's only one way," said "Gravedigger" Johns. Officer Willie nodded.The door to the office had been forcibly opened by Officer Willie's men, but nothing suspicious was found inside.The three of them walked into the office, and Officer Wiley called Mr. Goodman's home in Brooklyn. Mr. Goodman was instantly horrified: "My God, why am I so unlucky," he exclaimed passionately, "such a good boy, such an honest boy. He wouldn't hurt a fly. "

"We want you to come over and see if anything is missing." "Throwing something? . . . My God! . . . " Mr. Goodman screamed excitedly. "You don't think Josh was killed for protecting my property, do you? He's no fool. " "We just want you to tell us what was lost," Officer Willie emphasized. "What do you think a thief stole from my dump? Jewelry, gold bricks, or a ruby ​​necklace?" Mr. Goodman said excitedly, "Have you ever seen my scrap yard? No People are going to want what's in my junkyard, unless it's another collector."

"We just want you to come over and make sure, Mr. Goodman." Officer Willie explained patiently. "God, it's two o'clock in the morning! . . . You tell me Josh is dead, and I'm heartbroken to bleed, but, can I bring him back from the dead? No. If something's missing, see for yourself. You guys Don't think, I'll be able to recognize everything I collect, right? Trash is trash, that's why it's trash. If someone steals my trash, so be it. Only a lunatic would want to steal trash, Go find that lunatic yourself." Mr. Goodman protested excitedly, "My Liba is still awake, if I go to that place full of crazy murderers at this time, she will worry about me. She has a nervous breakdown. You take Josh to the morgue first, and I'll be there on Monday morning to claim his body."

"It's serious, Mr. Goodman! . . . " yelled Officer Willie.The phone has been hung up.Officer Willie shook the receiver. "Mr. Goodman, Mr. Goodman..." What I heard was the voice of the operator. Officer Willie looked around and said, "He's hung up." And with that, he hung up, too. "Send someone to find him." "Coffin Bucket" Ed said angrily, "If you don't come, you will be arrested!..." Officer Willie looked at him: "In what name? We don't have a court summons." "There is another way, which is to cut open the skin." "Gravedigger" Johns said seriously. "Don't tell me," Officer Willie said angrily, leading the way back to the yard, "I can't help it." They stood in the yard for a while longer, looking at the dead dog.The pink-faced assistant coroner, passing them, sings cheerfully: "I'll be glad when you're dead, you scoundrel. I'll stand on top of a skyscraper and watch them drag you away." dead body. I shall be glad when you die..." "Gravedigger" Johns and "Coffin Bucket" Ed exchanged glances hastily.Officer Willie noticed too. "That's life." "The more people, the more children," agreed "Gravedigger" Johns. The morgue truck came and removed the human and dog bodies.Inspector Warley told his men to prepare to evacuate, and then said to the two detectives, "You take care of the aftermath." "Yes," promised Ed "Coffin Bucket," "good night, Willie!  …" So there were only the two of them left.They returned to the clearing and began looking more carefully for clues. "Something must have been stolen," Ed "Coffin Bucket" said forcefully. "It's no use looking for it here." "Let's go directly to Mr. Goodman." "Gravedigger" Jones suggested, and "Coffin Bucket" Ed nodded in agreement. The two black detectives closed the shed door, turned off the light, and walked slowly across the yard to the gate.When they were about to cross the street and reach the parking place, a black shadow suddenly emerged from under the bridge, like the chariot of Krishna.They didn't see what it was and ran away, because years of experience as a policeman told them that darkness only brings danger. When they found out that it was a black car driving towards them at an unbelievable speed, their bodies fell down on the sidewalk on the other side.A flame illuminated the night sky and broke the surrounding silence at the same time.As the black car passed them, bullets shot at them wildly.Then it was all over. For a while, they could only hear the roar of the powerful engine, and then it was silent again.The black shadow had disappeared, as if it had never appeared before. Two black detectives pulled out their nickel-plated pistols, their bodies still sprawled warily on the sidewalk, looking for anything else to move.Nothing is moving. Finally, they crawled beside their car and stood up, still searching for the moving shadow.They got into the car vigilantly, as if they were wary of their own shadows. They held their breath and looked around.Overhead on the bridge was heavy traffic, headlights dimly on.The deserted street under the bridge was completely dark. "Report to the branch immediately." "Gravedigger" Johns said, sitting in the dark. "Coffin Bucket" Ed called the branch office in the car, connected with Deputy Captain Anderson, and truthfully reported what happened just now. "God, why?" Deputy Captain Anderson asked in confusion. "I don't know!..." Ed "Coffin Bucket" replied, "We haven't found anything useful. No clue." "I don't know what you are looking for, but you must be careful in everything." Deputy Captain Anderson reminded them. "As a policeman, how to be careful?" "You can find someone to help." "Assist in being killed?" "Coffin Bucket" Ed muttered excitedly. The hand of "Grave Digger" Jones increased his strength as if warning. "We're going to Brooklyn to find the owner of this junkyard." "Go as long as necessary." Deputy captain Anderson agreed, and reminded them, "However, be careful not to cause trouble." "We will proceed carefully." Ed "Coffin Bucket" hung up the phone after finishing speaking. "Gravedigger" Johns started the car and drove down the dark street.He frowned while thinking: "Ed, we just missed something." "Damn, that's right!..." "Coffin Bucket" Ed clapped his hands, "Just missed death." "I mean, didn't you find something in it?" "I found out that I still have breath now, so I have to escape from the gun." "I mean, although there are so many worthless things, they must be able to give us some inspiration." "Gravedigger" Johns insisted. They entered from the east and drove onto the highway. "You think so?" "Coffin Bucket" Ed asked strangely. "I was thinking: why would anyone want to get rid of us because a worker was killed?" "Why?..." "Coffin Bucket" Ed looked at "Gravedigger" Johns strangely. "Why is this murder so important?...It feels like a fraud." "Gravedigger" Jones muttered. "I didn't see it. You think it has something to do with that robbery? I don't think so." "Coffin Bucket" Ed shook his head with a smile, "In Harlem, people are killed all the time, why? Could it be us?" "I'm just making bold assumptions," said "Gravedigger" Johns.The car blends smoothly into the flow of traffic on the highway. Mr. Goodman was awake when they arrived, wrapped in a towel and pajamas.Josh's death terrified him.Still, he didn't want to go back to Harlem to check what was in his junkyard. "What's the use of that? How does it help you guys? ... Nobody steals trash," Mr. Goodman said excitedly. A junk picker like Uncle De, take my trash away and sell it to others." "Listen, Mr. Goodman, eighty-seven poor Negro families lost their life savings in a violent robbery the night before..." "I know. I read in the papers that they want to go back to Africa. I also want to go to Israel, though I've never been there," said the shrewd Jew passionately. "It's not going to end well, It's the equivalent of trying to pluck a big apple from a tree in a foreign country. Here, everyone is free..." "Yes, Mr. Goodman," "Gravedigger" Jones interrupted with feigned patience, "but we're the police, not psychologists. We just want to know what's in the recycling bin, We can't wait until Monday morning, when someone else might be killed." "If I had to go, I'd go. To save some poor black person from being killed for some rubbish," said Mr. Goodman obediently, adding, "Why, no one can understand, won't Someone got killed over some trash, let alone a poor innocent dog." Goodman told the two black detectives to wait in the living room before going to change."My Liba doesn't like this," he said, as he dressed to go. The two detectives said nothing. At first, Mr. Goodman did not notice what was missing.His recycling bin, looking the same as when he left. "It took such a lot of effort to come all the way in the middle of the night, but I got nothing." Goodman began to complain. "But there must be something in that clearing," Ed "Coffin Bucket" insisted. "What are you doing with that clearing?" "Is this against the law?... I always leave a space, and some things may be brought in at any time. Could it be that poor Josh was killed because of this open space? Who is the fool?" Suddenly, Goodman Suddenly remembered, "By the way, it's a bale of cotton." "Gravedigger" Johns and "Coffin Bucket" Ed froze for a moment.Their nostrils twitched like hounds smelling prey.All kinds of thoughts came. "Uncle Bud brought a bale of cotton this morning, and I put it here," continued Mr. Goodman, "and I haven't thought about it since. So many great things to do Pay attention, personal income tax, hydrogen bomb, black revolution, who would think about a bale of cotton? Uncle Bud is an old man pushing a cart..." "We know Uncle Budd." Ed "Coffin Bucket" interrupted him. "Then, you must know that when he was wandering around at night, he found the bale of cotton." Mr. Goodman shrugged and spread his hands, "I can't ask every scavenger in the cart for a bale of cotton people." "Mr. Goodman, that's what we want to know." "Gravedigger" Johns said excitedly, "We'll take you to a taxi right now, and we will compensate you for the time wasted." "I don't want compensation," said Mr. Goodman, shaking his head, "but I wonder who would kill for a bale of cotton? . . . "That's exactly what we want to investigate." After finishing his sentence, "Gravedigger" Johns walked towards their car. It was 3:30 in the morning, and they returned to the branch office to discuss the case with Deputy Captain Anderson.Deputy Captain Anderson has given each patrol car an order - "Bring Uncle Bud for questioning immediately."They try to put together information from the entire case. "Are you sure: This bale of cotton is in the meat delivery truck driven by the robbers?" Deputy Captain Anderson asked uncertainly. "We found cotton fibers in that car. Uncle Budd found this bale of cotton on 137th Street, and then he sold the cotton to the junkyard. Now the bale of cotton is gone A worker at the waste recycling station was also killed." "Gravedigger" Johns said seriously. "Why is this bale of cotton so important?" Deputy Captain Anderson looked confused. "I don't know." "Gravedigger" Johns shook his head, "Perhaps this bale of cotton is an important evidence." "Don't forget, the dog died before Josh and the murderer came. Maybe the bale of cotton had disappeared by then." "It is possible, but one fact will not change - that is: someone wants this bale of cotton, and the person who takes it does not want to be known." "Let's stop guessing and go find the bale of cotton." "Coffin Bucket" Ed said straightforwardly. "Gravedigger" Jorns looked at "Coffin Bucket" Ed, and seemed to say: "Then go find it." During the brief silence that followed, the phone rang.Lieutenant Anderson picked up the phone and said, "Okay, 119th Street, Lenox, yes, yes, keep searching." He hung up. "They found the barrow," said "Gravedigger" Johns without asking. Vice-captain Anderson nodded and said, "However, Uncle Bud was not found." "As expected," Ed "Coffin Bucket" said impatiently, "he's probably in the river by now." "Gravedigger" Johns said angrily: "In the south, black people are oppressed by white people because of cotton. I didn't expect that in the north, people would die because of it." "This reminds me of something," said Deputy Anderson, "and according to Dan Cyrus, who was driving the No. 90 patrol car, on the night of the robbery, after the crash, he saw An old Negro man picking up rags, hauling a bale of cotton on 137th Street. The old man tried to put the bale of cotton in his cart—this old man was probably Uncle Bud—they Stopped the car, asked him a few questions, then got out of the car and helped him load the cotton on the cart and asked him to take the cotton to the police station. But he didn't come." "If only they had spoken sooner," said "Gravedigger" Jones bitterly. Vice-captain Anderson blushed: "I just remembered. After all, we never considered cotton." "You never did," said Ed "Coffin Bucket" sarcastically. "Speaking of cotton, Colonel Kernhaven rented a store on Seventh Avenue as an office, and recruited people to pick cotton in the south." "Gravedigger" Johns asked, "For this guy, you Get it? People called what he started the 'Back to the South Movement.'" Deputy Captain Anderson looked at "Grave Digger" Johns curiously. "Leave him alone," he said warningly. "I admit it was a stupid plan, but it is not illegal. The superiors have verified, his license and related documents. He has many influential friends." "I'm not surprised," said "Gravedigger" Johns tartly, "because all the Southern whites in the North will have backers." Vice-captain Anderson lowered his head. "The Back to Africa movement is rebelling against him," Ed "Coffin Bucket" said angrily. "They don't want this guy in Harlem." "However, the Muslims didn't bother him." Deputy Captain Anderson argued. "Did they just give him enough rope?" "His timing was bad," Ed "Coffin Bucket" argued. "Just after that 'Back to Africa' was hijacked, and Colonel Kerlhawin was advocating that people go south to pick cotton. If you ask me , I'd say he's asking for trouble." Deputy Captain Anderson flipped through the report on the table and said: "At ten o'clock last night, he called the police and said that his car parked in front of the office on Seventh Avenue was stolen. He stayed at the Dixie Hotel on Forty-second Street. But the hotel wasn't open when the patrol car drove by. We checked again at midnight. He said he got home at 10:35 and had been in the office with his nephew until then. " "What kind of car?" "Gravedigger" Johns asked seriously. "A black limousine. Special body, Ferrari base, license plate of Birmingham, Alabama." After finishing speaking, Vice Captain Anderson closed the documents in his hand, shook his head and persuaded, "Don't worry about him anymore, our troubles are over. Enough." "I'm thinking about the cotton that grows in the South," said "Gravedigger" Johns angrily. "There is also tobacco grown in Cuba." Deputy Captain Anderson said, "Go home and get a good night's sleep. If something really happens, it should have happened by now." "Then let's go, boss." "Gravedigger" Johns said, "We can't do anything about tonight, but don't leave that shitty thing to us, the original case just started looks."