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corpse. “Roger,” he didn’t look
up. “Roger,” I said louder. He looked at me. “Tell the cops, it’s
over. Get an ambulance for the girl.” He looked back down at the
body. The blood from the head spreading out underneath the body.
“Roger,” I yelled at him. He took off out the door.
    He went down the stairs and out the door into
the bright sunlight. As he stood on the landing, he saw a full SWAT
team with weapons pointed up at him. He threw up his hands in a
panic and yelled, “He’s dead,” and burst into tears. It was that
picture of Roger with his hands in the air, terror on his face that
was on the front of newspapers all over the world the next day.
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Two SWAT team members and Tonelli came into
the room after Roger. He looked at the body and said, “Is that
him?”
    I said, “I think so.”
    “You think so?”
    “I think so. He was about to kill this one. I
looked down at the whimpering girl I was still bent over.”
    “Is she hurt?”
    “He was beating on her, maybe internal
injuries.”
    Tonelli radioed the site was secure. Called
for EMT’s, crime scene techs and the coroner. I spent the next four
hours going over what happened in police debriefings downtown. I
lost track of Roger. Tonelli said they drove him home. They asked
me to make a statement to the press, but I passed.
    Late in the afternoon, cops figured they had
enough. Tonelli drove me home. We left from underneath police
central, bypassing the throngs of press. “You got him, Tommy,” he
said, when we were alone. We got blood stains all over that plastic
enclosure downstairs. That’s where he was carving them up.”
    “I never killed a guy before, Eddie.”
    Tonelli thought about it. “Yea, well that was
a good place to start. He had a light on the roof and cars were
pulling over in front of us. “Holy shit. This is big, man. This is
a game changer for you.” He thought about it some more and said,
“and Roger too.”
    I fished out my cell and called Velma, my
partner at the agency. The line was busy to the office. I tried her
cell and got her. She answered the phone with, “It’s about time.
I’ve been calling you since 7:30 this morning.” Velma has a bit of
a ‘tude.
    “Hey Aunt Velma, what’s new?”
    “What’s new, Aunt Velma?” she asked in a
thick New York Jewish accent, husky from years of Pall Malls.
“What’s new, Tommy?” There was just a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Not much, feet up on the desk, watching Oprah. Oh, wait, they’re
interrupting the broadcast with a bulletin. Thomas Mullins and 12
year old Roger Goody have just killed the Butcher and saved a woman
from death. You mean that news…Tommy? Why do I have to learn about
this from the news?” Velma was hot.
    “Sorry Velma, they’ve had me really nailed
down at police headquarters. I’m with Ed Tonelli, just ask him.”
Tonelli put up his hand in a stop motion and shook his head.
    “I don’t want to ask him. I want to ask you.
Is Roger okay?”
    “Yea, he’s okay, I guess. I haven’t seen him
in a few hours.”
    “He’s probably traumatized the poor little
thing.” I understand the obsession with the little piece of shit.
He’s cute and polite. Woman love him. They don’t have to put up
with his shit.
    “I’m fine, Aunt Velma. Thank you for
asking.”
    “We’re out of business, did you know that
Tommy? We can’t conduct business. These people are relentless. The
phone hasn’t stop ringing. You don’t need a Private Detective
license, you need an agent! Are you sure the little angel is okay?
He’ll need years of counseling. Did you see the picture of him out
front of where it happened?”
    “No Velma, I’ve been kind of tied up.”
    We drove down my street. In front of our
houses there was standing room only with a crowd of people and
press. At least half a dozen satellite feed trucks were parked in
the road. There were two helicopters overhead. How did I not see
this coming? “Keep going Eddie,