Execution Tales Chapters 28-30
Forum Home > Public : Stories > Execution Tales Chapters 28-30Page: 1
Haven't had any feedback for a few days. Are those of you who have been following Execution Tales still enjoying it? You need to bear with me a bit as the next few chapters are mainly concerned with advancing the overall plot narrative. The juicy bits will return soon
28: The NYPD & the Mafia
Over the next ten weeks Cheryl, April & Beth continued with their hunting & killing of New York’s prostitutes. Every Saturday without fail they managed to obtain a victim. At the end of this period the number of young women they had consigned to a watery grave had risen to thirteen
The Monday morning after the girls thirteenth murder Captain O’Hanlon was intrigued when he learned the name of the gentleman who was at reception asking to speak to him. It was no less than Giovanni Marcuso, the key adviser to the most important Mafia Boss in New York. The Captain asked Lieutenant O’Rourke to join them & they waited expectantly for the Italian gangster.
Marcuso entered O’Hanlon’s office. He was in his mid-forties wearing a suit that would have cost a month’s salary for the Captain to buy. His black hair was combed back & held tight to his head by oil above his cold saturnine face
O’Hanlon made no attempt to shake his visitor’s hand & once the Sicilian was seated He simply said, “To what do we owe the honour of your visit Mr Marcuso?”
The gangster looked at O’Hanlon & said, “I think we have a common problem Captain. Over the last three months eleven of our working girls have simply disappeared. No trace of any of them has been found. One or two wouldn’t be that surprising given the vagaries of their profession but eleven in such a short period of time? Not surprisingly the rest of, how you say, our workforce, are becoming very nervous. Our opinion is that someone like London’s “Jack the Ripper” is responsible for this.
O’Hanlon & O’Rourke looked at each other, to say the least taken aback by Marcuso’s revelations
The Captain replied, “Mr Marcuso, if what you say is true then we do indeed have a common problem. To investigate this further we are going to need all the information you have on these girls & the circumstances surrounding their disappearance. Rest assured our priority will be investigating the fate of these young women”. The Sicilian mobster nodded & said, “By close of business today you will know as much as we do“. On that note he got up & left. Once the gangster had departed O’Hanlon looked at O’Rourke & said, “Get hold of Doctor Harris would you. I think we are going to need his help on this”.
The next morning Doctor Harris & his secretary entered O’Rourke’s office. Once they were seated Harris introduced Cheryl to O’Hanlon & O’Rourke & said. “I hope you don’t mind gentleman but I asked Miss Barnes to join us so that she can take the notes. I’m afraid my medical condition is making writing increasingly difficult” O’Hanlon replied, “No problem Doctor. Welcome aboard Miss Barnes”.
O’Rourke then summarised the information provided by Marcuso’s organisation on the missing eleven girls. O’Hanlon then asked, “What do you think Doctor?”
Harris sat back in his chair & mused, “Is it possible that a rival criminal enterprise is simply abducting the girls & making them work for them?”.
O’Hanlon said, “I can’t see it Doctor. None of the other mobs would dare. It would start a gang war they would inevitably lose & we have no intelligence of any new significant players in the city. I am afraid I agree with Marcuso, it looks as if we have our own version of “Jack the Ripper”. The difference with our guy is he doesn’t leave the victims to be found, or at least not easily”.
Cheryl’s face was impassive as she listened & took notes but her mind was racing
O’Rourke said, “As of tonight we will significantly be increasing the number of officers on the streets where the prostitutes work. Marcuso has indicated that his goons will also be out in force. ”
O’Hanlon mused, “I never thought I would ever see it but we seem to be working alongside the Mafia on this”
Harris said, “Jack the Ripper has never been caught. He simply stopped killing. Received opinion is that he must have died. The speculation was that he had some kind of medical background or training based on the nature of the killings. But in this case we have absolutely nothing to go on as these girls have simply disappeared. However I think that you are right & they have been almost certainly murdered. I’m afraid at this stage I have nothing to offer by way of advice. Please keep me informed as the case develops. Hopefully something will turn up that gives us a handle on who is doing this”
O’Hanlon replied, “We will Doctor. You can rest assured on that”
29: New Jersey
That evening Cheryl, April & Beth met at the secretary’s house. Cheryl related what had happened at the meeting at police HQ. April asked, “What do you think we should do Cheryl?”. She replied, “Well the first thing I would say is that there is absolutely no need to panic. All the police know is that eleven girls have disappeared. They don’t even know for sure that they are dead. What I suggest is we don’t look for our next victim this weekend. Instead we spend Saturday & Sunday in New Jersey & see what opportunities are available there. Unless you want to stop of course?”
April & Beth looked at each other & April said, “No way Cheryl. We are enjoying ourselves far too much”.
That is exactly what the killers did & over the following five weeks four more girls bodies were consigned to the waters of New York harbour. The only change that Cheryl, Beth & April felt that it was wise to make to their “Modus Operandi” was to chloroform their victims once they were in the carriage as the journey from New Jersey back to the house was a lot longer than from the New York harbour area. Cheryl had stolen the chloroform from Doctor Harris’s consulting room
O’Hanlon & O’Rourke & looked at Marcuso at their next meeting with the gangster & the Captain asked, “Well has our strategy worked?”. Marcuso replied, “In terms of New York yes, no more of our girls have gone missing. However our friends in New Jersey have informed us that four of their girls have disappeared since our last meeting. What I would like to know gentlemen is how the killer knew to move to NJ & start looking for victims there?”.
O’Hanlon replied, “If you are suggesting that there was a leak from this office I can categorically deny it. As you know even the press so far have had no hint of what is going on. I think the explanation is obvious. The murderer simply realised that there was a much greater police presence in the New York Harbour area & shifted his focus to NJ”
Marcuso nodded. “That is what I thought. May I suggest Captain that you contact the NJ Police Department & inform them of the latest developments. You can assure the NJ authorities that they will be afforded the same level of co-operation by our friends across the river that we have given to you. “
O’Hanlon & O’Rourke updated Doctor Harris & his secretary at their next get together. Harris’s only new comment was the killer was obviously very careful
At their next meeting Cheryl, April & Beth discussed their next move. April suggested, “Why don’t we take the train to Philadelphia on Saturday morning & check it out?”. The other girls quickly agreed to this.
30: Philadelphia
The girls arrived in Philadelphia at Saturday lunchtime, booked into a hotel for the night & bought a guide to the city. They then set out to explore & in the early evening they hired a carriage telling the driver to take them round the sites. As they drove through what was obviously the “Red light” district they could see several girls already on the streets touting for business.
Over dinner that night they pondered their major problem, which was the hundred miles between Philadelphia & New York. They concluded that there was no way they could safely transport drugged victims that distance in a horse drawn carriage. The only sensible solution was to rent a house for a few weeks, prepare it, come to the city by train each weekend & hire a carriage & boat on the Delaware river
The next weekend they returned & set their plans in motion. By the Sunday evening all was arranged. They had taken out a three month lease on a house with it’s own grounds in a respectable part of the city. They paid in cash & gave false names
The following Saturday night the first Philadelphia prostitute danced frantically as she slowly strangled to death on a noosed rope hanging from a wooden beam in the living room of the killers rented house. On the Sunday morning her weighted corpse disappeared into the flowing waters of the Delaware down river from the city.
Over the next eleven weekends the Philadelphia death toll rose to twelve
Three months after his last visit Marcuso again sat in O’Hanlon’s office. “Well gentlemen the good news is that no more girls have gone missing in New York or New Jersey but our colleagues in Philadelphia informed us when we asked them that no less than twelve of their female employees have disappeared at the rate of one a week over the last three months. No trace of any of them has been found”
O’Hanlon looked at O’Rourke, “Book two train tickets for Philly leaving tomorrow would you Lieutenant & telegraph the local police letting them know we are coming. Don’t tell them why at the moment”
The next day O’Hanlon & O’Rourke were shown into Captain McDonald of the Philadelphia police department’s office. After exchanging pleasantries O’Rourke expertly summarised what had been happening & the reason for their visit
McDonald sat back in his chair flabbergasted & said, “Jesus Christ! You are telling me twelve girls have been abducted in my city & probably murdered & the source of this information is the fucking Mafia, whom the NYPD are currently working with. Holy Fuck!”
O’Hanlon leaned forward, “Holy Fuck indeed Captain. It appears based on what happened in New York & New Jersey that the way to stop this is to flood the Red Light areas with police officers & co-operate with the local gangster’s to try & keep the Philly working girl’s safe. I would also suggest that you check your records over the last three months for the bodies of any Jane Doe’s that have turned up in suspicious circumstances. So far we have managed to keep the press out of this but I doubt we can keep this up for much longer”
McDonald said, “Rest assured gents that is exactly what I will ensure happens”
Two days later O’Hanlon & O’Rourke were back in McDonald’s office anxious to hear about the first apparent break in the case. McDonald said, “We have located one of the victims. Her identity was confirmed by a representative of the local mob. The body was down river in the Delaware. It was pure luck it was found as it was heavily weighted down. It was brought to the surface by a dredger when it was making the river deeper to enable us to increase the size of ships sailing into Philly. Our Doctor has given the cause of death as definitely being strangulation. Also, though he can’t be entirely certain due to the time she has been in the water, he is pretty certain she was hanged”
O’Hanlon thought for a moment, “I have no reason to doubt the opinion of your Doctor but I would like our own guy to see the body. Do you remember the Edwards case Captain?” McDonald replied “Of course. The mad woman Doctor who loved hanging young girls. Do you think this killer is of a similar mind”
O’Hanlon said, “At this stage I have no idea Captain but we only managed to solve the Edwards case with the assistance of the Pinkerton’s & I think we should bring them on board to help on this. It pains me to say it but they have a much stronger cross state organisation than even the Federal Government”.
McDonald replied, “We need to do what we need to do & if we require the help of the Pinkerton’s then so be it”
The next day O’Hanlon, O’Rourke, McDonald, Doctor Harris, Cheryl, Doctor Jones of the Philadelphia coroner’s office, James Chalmers the man in charge of the Pinkerton’s Philly office & Charles McLeod, the head of Pinkerton’s in New York sat in a conference room in Philadelphia police HQ.
O’Hanlon looked at Harris, “Well Doctor you have seen the body do you agree with Doctor Jones as to the cause of death?”. Harris replied, “Yes I do Captain & I also think she was probably hanged”.
The NYPD captain turned to the two Pinkerton detectives, “How do you think we should proceed gentlemen?”. McLeod responded, “I would keep the police officers on the streets but in plain clothes. Also tell the Mafia goons not to be so visible. We will put several of our girls on the streets purporting to be whores to see if we get lucky, as we did in the Edwards case”. O’Hanlon looked round the table & said, “Sounds sensible to me”. The meeting agreed.
Cheryl smiled inwardly but kept her face impassive as she dutifully noted everything down. On her return to New York she brought April & Beth up to date on the events in Philly & the girls decided to spend the coming weekend closing down Philadelphia & turning their attention to Washington DC
28: The NYPD & the Mafia
Over the next ten weeks Cheryl, April & Beth continued with their hunting & killing of New York’s prostitutes. Every Saturday without fail they managed to obtain a victim. At the end of this period the number of young women they had consigned to a watery grave had risen to thirteen
The Monday morning after the girls thirteenth murder Captain O’Hanlon was intrigued when he learned the name of the gentleman who was at reception asking to speak to him. It was no less than Giovanni Marcuso, the key adviser to the most important Mafia Boss in New York. The Captain asked Lieutenant O’Rourke to join them & they waited expectantly for the Italian gangster.
Marcuso entered O’Hanlon’s office. He was in his mid-forties wearing a suit that would have cost a month’s salary for the Captain to buy. His black hair was combed back & held tight to his head by oil above his cold saturnine face
O’Hanlon made no attempt to shake his visitor’s hand & once the Sicilian was seated He simply said, “To what do we owe the honour of your visit Mr Marcuso?”
The gangster looked at O’Hanlon & said, “I think we have a common problem Captain. Over the last three months eleven of our working girls have simply disappeared. No trace of any of them has been found. One or two wouldn’t be that surprising given the vagaries of their profession but eleven in such a short period of time? Not surprisingly the rest of, how you say, our workforce, are becoming very nervous. Our opinion is that someone like London’s “Jack the Ripper” is responsible for this.
O’Hanlon & O’Rourke looked at each other, to say the least taken aback by Marcuso’s revelations
The Captain replied, “Mr Marcuso, if what you say is true then we do indeed have a common problem. To investigate this further we are going to need all the information you have on these girls & the circumstances surrounding their disappearance. Rest assured our priority will be investigating the fate of these young women”. The Sicilian mobster nodded & said, “By close of business today you will know as much as we do“. On that note he got up & left. Once the gangster had departed O’Hanlon looked at O’Rourke & said, “Get hold of Doctor Harris would you. I think we are going to need his help on this”.
The next morning Doctor Harris & his secretary entered O’Rourke’s office. Once they were seated Harris introduced Cheryl to O’Hanlon & O’Rourke & said. “I hope you don’t mind gentleman but I asked Miss Barnes to join us so that she can take the notes. I’m afraid my medical condition is making writing increasingly difficult” O’Hanlon replied, “No problem Doctor. Welcome aboard Miss Barnes”.
O’Rourke then summarised the information provided by Marcuso’s organisation on the missing eleven girls. O’Hanlon then asked, “What do you think Doctor?”
Harris sat back in his chair & mused, “Is it possible that a rival criminal enterprise is simply abducting the girls & making them work for them?”.
O’Hanlon said, “I can’t see it Doctor. None of the other mobs would dare. It would start a gang war they would inevitably lose & we have no intelligence of any new significant players in the city. I am afraid I agree with Marcuso, it looks as if we have our own version of “Jack the Ripper”. The difference with our guy is he doesn’t leave the victims to be found, or at least not easily”.
Cheryl’s face was impassive as she listened & took notes but her mind was racing
O’Rourke said, “As of tonight we will significantly be increasing the number of officers on the streets where the prostitutes work. Marcuso has indicated that his goons will also be out in force. ”
O’Hanlon mused, “I never thought I would ever see it but we seem to be working alongside the Mafia on this”
Harris said, “Jack the Ripper has never been caught. He simply stopped killing. Received opinion is that he must have died. The speculation was that he had some kind of medical background or training based on the nature of the killings. But in this case we have absolutely nothing to go on as these girls have simply disappeared. However I think that you are right & they have been almost certainly murdered. I’m afraid at this stage I have nothing to offer by way of advice. Please keep me informed as the case develops. Hopefully something will turn up that gives us a handle on who is doing this”
O’Hanlon replied, “We will Doctor. You can rest assured on that”
29: New Jersey
That evening Cheryl, April & Beth met at the secretary’s house. Cheryl related what had happened at the meeting at police HQ. April asked, “What do you think we should do Cheryl?”. She replied, “Well the first thing I would say is that there is absolutely no need to panic. All the police know is that eleven girls have disappeared. They don’t even know for sure that they are dead. What I suggest is we don’t look for our next victim this weekend. Instead we spend Saturday & Sunday in New Jersey & see what opportunities are available there. Unless you want to stop of course?”
April & Beth looked at each other & April said, “No way Cheryl. We are enjoying ourselves far too much”.
That is exactly what the killers did & over the following five weeks four more girls bodies were consigned to the waters of New York harbour. The only change that Cheryl, Beth & April felt that it was wise to make to their “Modus Operandi” was to chloroform their victims once they were in the carriage as the journey from New Jersey back to the house was a lot longer than from the New York harbour area. Cheryl had stolen the chloroform from Doctor Harris’s consulting room
O’Hanlon & O’Rourke & looked at Marcuso at their next meeting with the gangster & the Captain asked, “Well has our strategy worked?”. Marcuso replied, “In terms of New York yes, no more of our girls have gone missing. However our friends in New Jersey have informed us that four of their girls have disappeared since our last meeting. What I would like to know gentlemen is how the killer knew to move to NJ & start looking for victims there?”.
O’Hanlon replied, “If you are suggesting that there was a leak from this office I can categorically deny it. As you know even the press so far have had no hint of what is going on. I think the explanation is obvious. The murderer simply realised that there was a much greater police presence in the New York Harbour area & shifted his focus to NJ”
Marcuso nodded. “That is what I thought. May I suggest Captain that you contact the NJ Police Department & inform them of the latest developments. You can assure the NJ authorities that they will be afforded the same level of co-operation by our friends across the river that we have given to you. “
O’Hanlon & O’Rourke updated Doctor Harris & his secretary at their next get together. Harris’s only new comment was the killer was obviously very careful
At their next meeting Cheryl, April & Beth discussed their next move. April suggested, “Why don’t we take the train to Philadelphia on Saturday morning & check it out?”. The other girls quickly agreed to this.
30: Philadelphia
The girls arrived in Philadelphia at Saturday lunchtime, booked into a hotel for the night & bought a guide to the city. They then set out to explore & in the early evening they hired a carriage telling the driver to take them round the sites. As they drove through what was obviously the “Red light” district they could see several girls already on the streets touting for business.
Over dinner that night they pondered their major problem, which was the hundred miles between Philadelphia & New York. They concluded that there was no way they could safely transport drugged victims that distance in a horse drawn carriage. The only sensible solution was to rent a house for a few weeks, prepare it, come to the city by train each weekend & hire a carriage & boat on the Delaware river
The next weekend they returned & set their plans in motion. By the Sunday evening all was arranged. They had taken out a three month lease on a house with it’s own grounds in a respectable part of the city. They paid in cash & gave false names
The following Saturday night the first Philadelphia prostitute danced frantically as she slowly strangled to death on a noosed rope hanging from a wooden beam in the living room of the killers rented house. On the Sunday morning her weighted corpse disappeared into the flowing waters of the Delaware down river from the city.
Over the next eleven weekends the Philadelphia death toll rose to twelve
Three months after his last visit Marcuso again sat in O’Hanlon’s office. “Well gentlemen the good news is that no more girls have gone missing in New York or New Jersey but our colleagues in Philadelphia informed us when we asked them that no less than twelve of their female employees have disappeared at the rate of one a week over the last three months. No trace of any of them has been found”
O’Hanlon looked at O’Rourke, “Book two train tickets for Philly leaving tomorrow would you Lieutenant & telegraph the local police letting them know we are coming. Don’t tell them why at the moment”
The next day O’Hanlon & O’Rourke were shown into Captain McDonald of the Philadelphia police department’s office. After exchanging pleasantries O’Rourke expertly summarised what had been happening & the reason for their visit
McDonald sat back in his chair flabbergasted & said, “Jesus Christ! You are telling me twelve girls have been abducted in my city & probably murdered & the source of this information is the fucking Mafia, whom the NYPD are currently working with. Holy Fuck!”
O’Hanlon leaned forward, “Holy Fuck indeed Captain. It appears based on what happened in New York & New Jersey that the way to stop this is to flood the Red Light areas with police officers & co-operate with the local gangster’s to try & keep the Philly working girl’s safe. I would also suggest that you check your records over the last three months for the bodies of any Jane Doe’s that have turned up in suspicious circumstances. So far we have managed to keep the press out of this but I doubt we can keep this up for much longer”
McDonald said, “Rest assured gents that is exactly what I will ensure happens”
Two days later O’Hanlon & O’Rourke were back in McDonald’s office anxious to hear about the first apparent break in the case. McDonald said, “We have located one of the victims. Her identity was confirmed by a representative of the local mob. The body was down river in the Delaware. It was pure luck it was found as it was heavily weighted down. It was brought to the surface by a dredger when it was making the river deeper to enable us to increase the size of ships sailing into Philly. Our Doctor has given the cause of death as definitely being strangulation. Also, though he can’t be entirely certain due to the time she has been in the water, he is pretty certain she was hanged”
O’Hanlon thought for a moment, “I have no reason to doubt the opinion of your Doctor but I would like our own guy to see the body. Do you remember the Edwards case Captain?” McDonald replied “Of course. The mad woman Doctor who loved hanging young girls. Do you think this killer is of a similar mind”
O’Hanlon said, “At this stage I have no idea Captain but we only managed to solve the Edwards case with the assistance of the Pinkerton’s & I think we should bring them on board to help on this. It pains me to say it but they have a much stronger cross state organisation than even the Federal Government”.
McDonald replied, “We need to do what we need to do & if we require the help of the Pinkerton’s then so be it”
The next day O’Hanlon, O’Rourke, McDonald, Doctor Harris, Cheryl, Doctor Jones of the Philadelphia coroner’s office, James Chalmers the man in charge of the Pinkerton’s Philly office & Charles McLeod, the head of Pinkerton’s in New York sat in a conference room in Philadelphia police HQ.
O’Hanlon looked at Harris, “Well Doctor you have seen the body do you agree with Doctor Jones as to the cause of death?”. Harris replied, “Yes I do Captain & I also think she was probably hanged”.
The NYPD captain turned to the two Pinkerton detectives, “How do you think we should proceed gentlemen?”. McLeod responded, “I would keep the police officers on the streets but in plain clothes. Also tell the Mafia goons not to be so visible. We will put several of our girls on the streets purporting to be whores to see if we get lucky, as we did in the Edwards case”. O’Hanlon looked round the table & said, “Sounds sensible to me”. The meeting agreed.
Cheryl smiled inwardly but kept her face impassive as she dutifully noted everything down. On her return to New York she brought April & Beth up to date on the events in Philly & the girls decided to spend the coming weekend closing down Philadelphia & turning their attention to Washington DC
Nice story, good plot. The master mind behind the crimes right in the same place with the detectives and the law men unaware of it makes for an excellent story
Page: 1
Forum > Public / Stories > Execution Tales Chapters 28-30