Chapter 30
The FBI agents took their time reviewing the police case files. J Edgar Hoover, for all his faults, had instilled an environment of detailed analysis into the bureau. It was several days before agents arranged a joint conference meeting.
“What do you have for us?”
“We agree with your supposition that the cases may be connected. However, there is a distinct lack of hard evidence.”
“As usual.”
“We do wonder about the Fields murder. If the Vandenburg organization wanted him dead, why rob him first? Wouldn’t it be easier to bump him off to start with?”
“Yes, that bugged us too. The other logical suspects are the Paces, and we’ve already failed miserably on our first run at them.”
“They did serve obstruction time.”
“Not nearly enough if they committed the murder. We didn’t even get convictions on the extortion angle. That is extremely frustrating.”
“Understood. But getting back to the Fields case, if we agree that the Paces killed Damon to protect themselves, why did Vandenburg organize the Fields robbery in the first place?”
“Good question. We don’t have a motive beyond robbery. However, we do know that Stevens was casing the Star Candy for a B&E when we grabbed him.”
“Why would Vandenburg plan a robbery of his own joint? Or rather, a place he invested in?”
“Perhaps he was playing both sides. What if he was getting a cut of the Pace extortion scheme, and then decided to nick Leon after the extortion blew up in their faces? That way, he cleans up from every angle.”
“That’s a reasonable supposition. Must be one greedy SOB.”
“Dangerous too. He had Stevens knocked off shortly after we grabbed him.”
“Let’s explore that in more detail. On first glance, Arthur seems to be just like any old moneyed aristocrat. Then we find he’s running robbery capers with professional thieves in his employ. And we suspect he has out of state cops on his payroll to do wet work. Do we really think he’s running a big organization like that by himself?”
“No. There could be someone even bigger behind him. Perhaps Vandenburg is just a shiny front man.”
“Shinier than Leon?” said Detective Jones with a smirk.
“Good point. The more we study this, there are front men all the way up the chain of command.”
“Speaking of Leon, he and his cousin are out now and reestablished at another club across town. It’s called Sparkles.”
“Think they’re up to the same old tricks?”
“No, the extortion scheme got too much press coverage. They’ll have to come up with a new angle.”
“Unless they’ve been scared into running an honest operation.” The FBI agents had sardonic smiles on their faces.
“I don’t think so. Leopards don't change their spots.”
“We should keep an eye on Sparkles as part of the ongoing investigation.”
“Agreed.”