I was correct about what I suspected...Rollie Rollerson hit the ceiling when he discovered that his club had been ruined by water damage...He and Soap came out the next morning to survey the damage...I sat across the road from them in the van with Sean Jackson , Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom Constanoble...We had brought some Hamburgers and Fries from "Five Guys" and a couple of Milk shakes from the Bakery... This was going to be good.
"Peeping "Tom Constanoble, an ex-CIA operative had a ton of old "toys" he used in the days when he was a spy...Including a boom mike that could pick up a conversation from blocks away.
Sean Jackson, a photographer who I worked at the magazine with had a very expensive camera that he borrowed from the office...He was snapping great photos of Rollie Rollerson exploding in anger at William "Soap" Ivory.
"Look at my place...I'm ruined....I can't believe I hired you goof balls to do this job....Oh my God... I'm ruined...I hope you have a good lawyer....because I'm gonna sue the pants off of you."
screamed Rollie Rollerson.
"Rollie ,look..my guys are the best...I know that they didn't do anything like this...I know it..
let me go back and talk to them..." said Soap meekly..
"There is nothing to talk about....You're going to pay me for this mess and I'm going to get Sam
Jenson on the phone to fix this mess you numbskulls made...Get outta my sight.." he yelled as Soap walked away.
Jenson!!! Sam Jenson...the guy who had been shooting off at the mouth in Josies earlier in the night. He kept saying he had a surprise..I wondered if he did. I wondered if this was the surprise?
"Well Kev...What's our next move?" asked Peeping Tom.
"Glad you asked....I'm gonna give you an address....Hit the place..wire it up for sound and video.
I want to know everybody that comes in and comes out of there." I said , giving them Velma
Whetsone's address.
"What about Soap's Warehouse?" Asked Lockpick Johnson...
"Yeah, get that place too and get two people to sit on it ,Meanwhile Sean....go get Clerow...We are gonna do a little fishin of our own.." I said.
"I'm on it Kev" said Sean.
While Tom and Lockpick went off to do the surveilances... Clerow and I went inside the now closed Elks Inn and took a look at the plumbing...Clerow owned and rented out apartments and homes was quite the handyman himself.... I knew that he would know what to look for.
He looked at all of the pipes and immediately knew what the deal was...just like I knew he would.
"Man, these pipes were doctored...Somebody used pipes that were nearly rusted out and they covered them with rubber to hide how bad they were...and Kev look at this here....It's a corosive...Somebody came in here and used this stuff to burn right through the pipe fillings... They coated them with this crap..it's still on here. These pipes were bound to go. Any Insurance investigator will pick this up right away. Whoever done this was a bunch of amateurs"
said Clerow.
"Okay....but "Soap" wouldn't have used material like this...He's good at what he does." I said.
"Maybe he bought something and don't know he bought it." said Clerow.
"You're right. I've got to get in his office and that warehouse and check his records." I said.
Two nights later, with the help of Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom, We got into the storefront
office of William Ivory and Associates. Peeping Tom brought an old associate of his along with us. A guy who could hack into the system of any computer. The computer Ivory and Velma used wasn't hard at all.
We seached databases for hours until we found what we were looking for....A sale made to them of rubber piping, purchased from a "Floyd Mayweather" , just days before the work on the Elk's
Inn was done. "Mayweather's" address was the same adress as Sam Jenson's Plumbing....I was guessing that Velma was not a sports or a fight fan and that the name "Floyd Mayweather" meant absolutely nothing to her and she probably didn't check the address...or even know that her boss was in competition with Sam Jenson.
I used the printer and printed out the contracts and bills of lading and we got out of that office without Soap or Velma ever knowing that we had been there. I had in my possession a peice of the piping and a sample of the corrosive chemical that ate through the pipes...Wearing a wire, I
presented this evidence to Sam Jenson the next day.
"Sam, I know that it was you that sabotaged the Elk's Inn to make my boy "Soap" look bad and I
have the proof here in writing that you used a phony name and trickery to sell this to Mr. Ivory's company...You even dropped the price so that they would look foolish if they didn't buy it
and I heard you in Josie's complaining about being aced out of a job and what a big surprise you had in store for the Elks Inn" I said.
"So what...that's your word against mine....I don't know how you got that stuff, but it don't prove a thing.... It don't put me in for it." he said.
"That's right Sam, it don't...but I know and you know that you did this..That you set "Soap" up..
It was purely brilliant...I didn't think you were that smart." I said.
"Yeah? A lot of people don't think I'm smart...but I am...I put that plan in motion months ago...cause I had a feeling that Billy Ivory was gonna get that contract....Hahahahahahahaha, I fixed him..didn't I? He's in so much hot water now...hahahahaha , no pun intended, hahahahahahahahahahahaha, I fixed him." he laughed.
"You sure did Sam." I said as I walked out of his office... Minutes later, Three Detectives and two plains clothes men walked into his office and arrested him....They were listening to the entire conversation.
That night, I sat in Josies at the bar....William "Soap" Ivory walked in and sat down next to me.
He was smiling...
"Kevin...I don't know how to thank you man....I had no idea that Jenson set me up like that...How did you figure it out?" he asked.
"I'm good at what I do Billy." I said.
"Yeah....so I see.....With Sam in the can...I was able to straighten things out with Rollie and resume business. Man...How can I repay you?" he asked.
"I thought you'd never ask Soap.....I need to know about a girl...a dead girl...a girl you was in here talking to last Friday Night named Sheryl Billips....I understand you and she were an item."
I said.
"Damn Kev..I thought maybe you'd want drinks on the house .Yeah Kev... We were an item...Were an item...She's dead now and besides....she broke off our engagement....That's what she was doing the night you saw us in here Kev." he said ,looking very remorseful for the first time.
"And that's it?" I asked.
"That's it Kevin....There is no more." he said.
"Soap man, I think I know about you and Velma.. The kind of game you two got goin on.." I said.
"Look Kevin, you been a hero already today.....Don't go tryin to be a hero again.....and don't ask questions you'd really be better off not knowing the answer to." he said.
"So is that a threat Soap?" I asked
"Nah babe....just lookin out for you, is all.We been friends a long time bruh." said Soap.
I smiled and drank my Corona...the one he bought for me and munched on my Fried Chicken.
He got up fixed his coat and smiled at me. Then he patted me on the back..
"Gotta go see a man about a horse." he laughed and walked out the door. I had caught one slippery rat today...Another more slippery rat was walking away...I wouldn't get to the bottom of
this just yet...but I knew my day or night was coming.
(To Be Continued....)
"Peeping "Tom Constanoble, an ex-CIA operative had a ton of old "toys" he used in the days when he was a spy...Including a boom mike that could pick up a conversation from blocks away.
Sean Jackson, a photographer who I worked at the magazine with had a very expensive camera that he borrowed from the office...He was snapping great photos of Rollie Rollerson exploding in anger at William "Soap" Ivory.
"Look at my place...I'm ruined....I can't believe I hired you goof balls to do this job....Oh my God... I'm ruined...I hope you have a good lawyer....because I'm gonna sue the pants off of you."
screamed Rollie Rollerson.
"Rollie ,look..my guys are the best...I know that they didn't do anything like this...I know it..
let me go back and talk to them..." said Soap meekly..
"There is nothing to talk about....You're going to pay me for this mess and I'm going to get Sam
Jenson on the phone to fix this mess you numbskulls made...Get outta my sight.." he yelled as Soap walked away.
Jenson!!! Sam Jenson...the guy who had been shooting off at the mouth in Josies earlier in the night. He kept saying he had a surprise..I wondered if he did. I wondered if this was the surprise?
"Well Kev...What's our next move?" asked Peeping Tom.
"Glad you asked....I'm gonna give you an address....Hit the place..wire it up for sound and video.
I want to know everybody that comes in and comes out of there." I said , giving them Velma
Whetsone's address.
"What about Soap's Warehouse?" Asked Lockpick Johnson...
"Yeah, get that place too and get two people to sit on it ,Meanwhile Sean....go get Clerow...We are gonna do a little fishin of our own.." I said.
"I'm on it Kev" said Sean.
While Tom and Lockpick went off to do the surveilances... Clerow and I went inside the now closed Elks Inn and took a look at the plumbing...Clerow owned and rented out apartments and homes was quite the handyman himself.... I knew that he would know what to look for.
He looked at all of the pipes and immediately knew what the deal was...just like I knew he would.
"Man, these pipes were doctored...Somebody used pipes that were nearly rusted out and they covered them with rubber to hide how bad they were...and Kev look at this here....It's a corosive...Somebody came in here and used this stuff to burn right through the pipe fillings... They coated them with this crap..it's still on here. These pipes were bound to go. Any Insurance investigator will pick this up right away. Whoever done this was a bunch of amateurs"
said Clerow.
"Okay....but "Soap" wouldn't have used material like this...He's good at what he does." I said.
"Maybe he bought something and don't know he bought it." said Clerow.
"You're right. I've got to get in his office and that warehouse and check his records." I said.
Two nights later, with the help of Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom, We got into the storefront
office of William Ivory and Associates. Peeping Tom brought an old associate of his along with us. A guy who could hack into the system of any computer. The computer Ivory and Velma used wasn't hard at all.
We seached databases for hours until we found what we were looking for....A sale made to them of rubber piping, purchased from a "Floyd Mayweather" , just days before the work on the Elk's
Inn was done. "Mayweather's" address was the same adress as Sam Jenson's Plumbing....I was guessing that Velma was not a sports or a fight fan and that the name "Floyd Mayweather" meant absolutely nothing to her and she probably didn't check the address...or even know that her boss was in competition with Sam Jenson.
I used the printer and printed out the contracts and bills of lading and we got out of that office without Soap or Velma ever knowing that we had been there. I had in my possession a peice of the piping and a sample of the corrosive chemical that ate through the pipes...Wearing a wire, I
presented this evidence to Sam Jenson the next day.
"Sam, I know that it was you that sabotaged the Elk's Inn to make my boy "Soap" look bad and I
have the proof here in writing that you used a phony name and trickery to sell this to Mr. Ivory's company...You even dropped the price so that they would look foolish if they didn't buy it
and I heard you in Josie's complaining about being aced out of a job and what a big surprise you had in store for the Elks Inn" I said.
"So what...that's your word against mine....I don't know how you got that stuff, but it don't prove a thing.... It don't put me in for it." he said.
"That's right Sam, it don't...but I know and you know that you did this..That you set "Soap" up..
It was purely brilliant...I didn't think you were that smart." I said.
"Yeah? A lot of people don't think I'm smart...but I am...I put that plan in motion months ago...cause I had a feeling that Billy Ivory was gonna get that contract....Hahahahahahahaha, I fixed him..didn't I? He's in so much hot water now...hahahahaha , no pun intended, hahahahahahahahahahahaha, I fixed him." he laughed.
"You sure did Sam." I said as I walked out of his office... Minutes later, Three Detectives and two plains clothes men walked into his office and arrested him....They were listening to the entire conversation.
That night, I sat in Josies at the bar....William "Soap" Ivory walked in and sat down next to me.
He was smiling...
"Kevin...I don't know how to thank you man....I had no idea that Jenson set me up like that...How did you figure it out?" he asked.
"I'm good at what I do Billy." I said.
"Yeah....so I see.....With Sam in the can...I was able to straighten things out with Rollie and resume business. Man...How can I repay you?" he asked.
"I thought you'd never ask Soap.....I need to know about a girl...a dead girl...a girl you was in here talking to last Friday Night named Sheryl Billips....I understand you and she were an item."
I said.
"Damn Kev..I thought maybe you'd want drinks on the house .Yeah Kev... We were an item...Were an item...She's dead now and besides....she broke off our engagement....That's what she was doing the night you saw us in here Kev." he said ,looking very remorseful for the first time.
"And that's it?" I asked.
"That's it Kevin....There is no more." he said.
"Soap man, I think I know about you and Velma.. The kind of game you two got goin on.." I said.
"Look Kevin, you been a hero already today.....Don't go tryin to be a hero again.....and don't ask questions you'd really be better off not knowing the answer to." he said.
"So is that a threat Soap?" I asked
"Nah babe....just lookin out for you, is all.We been friends a long time bruh." said Soap.
I smiled and drank my Corona...the one he bought for me and munched on my Fried Chicken.
He got up fixed his coat and smiled at me. Then he patted me on the back..
"Gotta go see a man about a horse." he laughed and walked out the door. I had caught one slippery rat today...Another more slippery rat was walking away...I wouldn't get to the bottom of
this just yet...but I knew my day or night was coming.
(To Be Continued....)
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