I had a friend who worked over at Telephone security in the police department who checked the phone calls of a recently deceased Newark playa named Stewart Fall. There were several calls from a Newark flower shop...Probably from his boss, Tulip.....and then there were calls to me...and several calls for Chinese take out and Pizza delivery. These two could have used a healthier diet ,but that was beyond the point.
There was two calls from a now deceased former Philadelphia Police officer named Burt McClintock and then a call to a current officer in Robbery-Homicide named Eddie Nobles.. Nobles had been McClintock's partner in Robbery-Homicide.. Funny....why would a stone cold gangster be talking to a retired cop and a current cop?? What would they possibly be talking about?
I drove upstate to Rockview State Prison and met Fred Parker in the day room.
Fred Parker was a short guy, light skinned with green eyes...He looked like a natural killer if ever one could look like one. Roscoe told me he like Newports..So I bought him a pack. He sat across from me and took a drag on one of his cigarettes.
"So...You talked to Tulip eh? He sold you a load of crap...He didn't get his end of nothin." said the convict.
"Why would he lie to me?" I asked.
"Why Not? He didn't know you from Adam's housecat... Truth of the matter is..
we took down six million on that score...The cops or the newspapers got the actual amount wrong....You were right about one thing though...Tulip's man ,Stewart Fall set up the score...He got the layout of the bank from somebody he knew on the inside...He took it to Tulip and tulip hired Me, Alvin and Wally Basemore to take it down....and we did too..like clockwork...The three of us always thought his inside man was a cop who was moonlighting as security at the bank...His inside guy knew the security way too well to be just somebody walking around casing the joint...We were supposed to split it six ways...Between the three of us, Tulip, Stewart Fall and his inside man....one million a peice... Only...These two sharp Robbery -Homicide cops tracked us down within days....They killed Wally..." he said.
"In a shootout" I said. Fred looked at me and frowned...
"Well that's how they wrote it up...They executed him...He didn't have a weapon. They had me and Alvin cold...Then they told us if we give them the money..They'd let us go...Say we "escaped"...Me and Allie boy knew that if we went for this deal they'd kill us or cross us....We had already put that money in an offshore account....We chose to go to jail...They hit us with 10-25....Alvin didn't have any priors...and so after three years..he was able to get out...Me, I had another robbery beef, so here I am." he said.
"Thanks Freddie, you've been very helpful...I put a grand on your books and I'll put in a good word with the Warden for you....Be easy babe!" I said as I left.
"Much Obliged...Roscoe and Fathead said you was good people." he said.
On the drive back to Philadelphia, I figured out exactly what happened....Tulip got word that one of the stick up boys was out of jail and had been out of jail...He started looking for that money again....He sent Stewart and Nigel to find both of them so they could get out of them where the money was. The two cops got word that the Jersey Boys were sniffing around for the stick up crew and so they got crazy Little Willie Basemore to shadow them and me...Only they couldn't control him and what should have been a little leaning soon turned to murder.....Since McClintock killed his brother...That was done for free.
With Basemore in the hospital and charged with four murders...That leaves only two people who might know where the money is.....Fred Parker, who he can't get to...and me!! It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that Eddie Nobles of Robbery-Homicide was the mastermind behind this double cross...I also suspected that he was the "inside guy" who fingered the bank and brought it to Tulip and his people.
I searched into his personal records and the bank's history of employees and found out that he indeed worked security there on the side...right around the time the bank got stuck up...He and his partner didn't "track" these guys down...They knew who they were and where they were all the time...Their plot was to double cross Tulip...a New Jersey gangster who couldn't touch them!..
It all made sense...So when I called Eddie Nobles...He didn't sound the least bit shocked to hear from me...
"Mister Nobles...Or should I say Officer Nobles..."I said.
"I figured I'd be hearing from you...I've heard of you..I know that you've put it all
together by now." he laughed.
"Yes...and I don't like having a hitman after me....I figure there will be others , now that Little Willie is on ice." I said.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." he said.
"Okay...Well...I can give you the location of that uh thing you've been searching for..Fall gave me the lowdown before his untimely death.."I said.
"You must think I'm crazy...Fall didn't tell you nothin...but I know you been to Newark and I know you been up to Rockview...Come with the information..and don't even think about wearing no wire...I know all about your operation...I'll have a guy meet you at Sam Mother's Diner in Fishtown...Come alone...No gun
,no wire...My guy will meet you." he said and then hung up.
I looked at Peeping Tom....He frowned...
"He didn't give you anything." he said.
"I know." I said.
"I can wire you up where nobody will find it...don't worry about that." he said.
"Kool...I looked at Kool Kat and Clerow...If he sees you two, he'll know it's a trap...I'm sorry guys...you can't go on this trip...but I know two people who can."
I laughed.
Sam Mother was a friend of ours...His diner was frequented by a lot of us.....I called him and asked him to do me a solid...He agreed.
I was there at the appointed time....A tall slender man walked over to me and frisked me...searching for a wire....He couldn't find one...Then he told me to take my shirt off..I did.....He motioned me towards the alley....As I walked out with my envelope..I saw a bright flashlight...A man I had never actually met walked towards me...by the sound of his voice..I knew it was Eddie Nobles.
"The envelope junior." he said.
"You double cross your partner, you sick hitmen on your other partners...man, you aint no good." I said.
"Whatever..give me the account numbers.." he said.
"Account numbers ?I don't have any....Parker didn't give me any...He just told me where the money is." I said.
"Well where is it?" he said.
"In Puerto Rico, in a bank." I said.
"What are you, a wiseguy?" he said.
"I want a cut...Nothin is free you know?" I said.
"A cut? You aint have nothin to do with the bank job..I did the scope ,I took the
job to Tulip...Be happy I'm lettin you live." he said.
"So why is your guy there still holding his gun on me...You're not going to let me live, you're going to kill me." I said.
"You really are sharp..." he laughed. "Vern, Shoot him." he said.
There was silence...Vern dropped his gun....Honey Brown, the barmaid at Josies had a .357 magnum on him...He turned around and Mabel Jenkins had a sawed off shotgun on him.....
"Heyyy what is this?" he said.. Just then...Three cars pulled up and FBI Special Agent in charge ,Frank Cotton got out and walked up to him....
"Officer Nobles...you're under arrest....Conspiracy, Bank Robbery, Conspiracy to commit homicide...I could go on...Mitch, read him his rights."
"You got nothin..." he spat...
Agent Cotton looked at me and smiled...."That was a real clear recording...both of em." I smiled back at him...
"You dirty rotten rat..never trust a P.I." said Eddie as they took him away.
"Ladies..How would you like a drink?" I said to Mabel Jenkins and Honey Brown.
"Sure...We earned it." laughed Mabel.
EPILOUGE:
Eddie Nobles was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 10-20 years..He's in a federal prison.... Little Willie Basemore recovered completely and stood trial for the murders of Stewart Fall, Alvin Hunter and Nigel Anderson...He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Fred Parker made parole a year later and promptly dropped out of sight..He's probably wherever he stashed the money...
As for me...I couldn't keep what was left of that $120 G's...It was blood money..It had cost an innocent man his life...I sent it anonymously to his fiance...I was just glad to be done with the whole dirty business.
Clerow and I sat outside the Doctor's office waiting for his wife Corrie to come out with the results of her ultra-sound...
"You nervous buddy ?" I asked.
"Nah...I'll be happy with whatever she is having." he said.
I playfully punched him on the arm..
"Liar" I teased...
Cora-beth came out with a slight frown on her face...This meant that it was another girl......Clerow smiled...
"It's okay...If it's a girl..that's cool..long as it's healthy.." he said.
Then Corrie smiled.....
"Got'cha...it's a boy!!!" she said.
Clerow fainted!
"I thought he'd be happy." said Cora-beth...
"Oh he is..he is.." I assured her as I tried my best to hide a smile.
There was two calls from a now deceased former Philadelphia Police officer named Burt McClintock and then a call to a current officer in Robbery-Homicide named Eddie Nobles.. Nobles had been McClintock's partner in Robbery-Homicide.. Funny....why would a stone cold gangster be talking to a retired cop and a current cop?? What would they possibly be talking about?
I drove upstate to Rockview State Prison and met Fred Parker in the day room.
Fred Parker was a short guy, light skinned with green eyes...He looked like a natural killer if ever one could look like one. Roscoe told me he like Newports..So I bought him a pack. He sat across from me and took a drag on one of his cigarettes.
"So...You talked to Tulip eh? He sold you a load of crap...He didn't get his end of nothin." said the convict.
"Why would he lie to me?" I asked.
"Why Not? He didn't know you from Adam's housecat... Truth of the matter is..
we took down six million on that score...The cops or the newspapers got the actual amount wrong....You were right about one thing though...Tulip's man ,Stewart Fall set up the score...He got the layout of the bank from somebody he knew on the inside...He took it to Tulip and tulip hired Me, Alvin and Wally Basemore to take it down....and we did too..like clockwork...The three of us always thought his inside man was a cop who was moonlighting as security at the bank...His inside guy knew the security way too well to be just somebody walking around casing the joint...We were supposed to split it six ways...Between the three of us, Tulip, Stewart Fall and his inside man....one million a peice... Only...These two sharp Robbery -Homicide cops tracked us down within days....They killed Wally..." he said.
"In a shootout" I said. Fred looked at me and frowned...
"Well that's how they wrote it up...They executed him...He didn't have a weapon. They had me and Alvin cold...Then they told us if we give them the money..They'd let us go...Say we "escaped"...Me and Allie boy knew that if we went for this deal they'd kill us or cross us....We had already put that money in an offshore account....We chose to go to jail...They hit us with 10-25....Alvin didn't have any priors...and so after three years..he was able to get out...Me, I had another robbery beef, so here I am." he said.
"Thanks Freddie, you've been very helpful...I put a grand on your books and I'll put in a good word with the Warden for you....Be easy babe!" I said as I left.
"Much Obliged...Roscoe and Fathead said you was good people." he said.
On the drive back to Philadelphia, I figured out exactly what happened....Tulip got word that one of the stick up boys was out of jail and had been out of jail...He started looking for that money again....He sent Stewart and Nigel to find both of them so they could get out of them where the money was. The two cops got word that the Jersey Boys were sniffing around for the stick up crew and so they got crazy Little Willie Basemore to shadow them and me...Only they couldn't control him and what should have been a little leaning soon turned to murder.....Since McClintock killed his brother...That was done for free.
With Basemore in the hospital and charged with four murders...That leaves only two people who might know where the money is.....Fred Parker, who he can't get to...and me!! It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that Eddie Nobles of Robbery-Homicide was the mastermind behind this double cross...I also suspected that he was the "inside guy" who fingered the bank and brought it to Tulip and his people.
I searched into his personal records and the bank's history of employees and found out that he indeed worked security there on the side...right around the time the bank got stuck up...He and his partner didn't "track" these guys down...They knew who they were and where they were all the time...Their plot was to double cross Tulip...a New Jersey gangster who couldn't touch them!..
It all made sense...So when I called Eddie Nobles...He didn't sound the least bit shocked to hear from me...
"Mister Nobles...Or should I say Officer Nobles..."I said.
"I figured I'd be hearing from you...I've heard of you..I know that you've put it all
together by now." he laughed.
"Yes...and I don't like having a hitman after me....I figure there will be others , now that Little Willie is on ice." I said.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." he said.
"Okay...Well...I can give you the location of that uh thing you've been searching for..Fall gave me the lowdown before his untimely death.."I said.
"You must think I'm crazy...Fall didn't tell you nothin...but I know you been to Newark and I know you been up to Rockview...Come with the information..and don't even think about wearing no wire...I know all about your operation...I'll have a guy meet you at Sam Mother's Diner in Fishtown...Come alone...No gun
,no wire...My guy will meet you." he said and then hung up.
I looked at Peeping Tom....He frowned...
"He didn't give you anything." he said.
"I know." I said.
"I can wire you up where nobody will find it...don't worry about that." he said.
"Kool...I looked at Kool Kat and Clerow...If he sees you two, he'll know it's a trap...I'm sorry guys...you can't go on this trip...but I know two people who can."
I laughed.
Sam Mother was a friend of ours...His diner was frequented by a lot of us.....I called him and asked him to do me a solid...He agreed.
I was there at the appointed time....A tall slender man walked over to me and frisked me...searching for a wire....He couldn't find one...Then he told me to take my shirt off..I did.....He motioned me towards the alley....As I walked out with my envelope..I saw a bright flashlight...A man I had never actually met walked towards me...by the sound of his voice..I knew it was Eddie Nobles.
"The envelope junior." he said.
"You double cross your partner, you sick hitmen on your other partners...man, you aint no good." I said.
"Whatever..give me the account numbers.." he said.
"Account numbers ?I don't have any....Parker didn't give me any...He just told me where the money is." I said.
"Well where is it?" he said.
"In Puerto Rico, in a bank." I said.
"What are you, a wiseguy?" he said.
"I want a cut...Nothin is free you know?" I said.
"A cut? You aint have nothin to do with the bank job..I did the scope ,I took the
job to Tulip...Be happy I'm lettin you live." he said.
"So why is your guy there still holding his gun on me...You're not going to let me live, you're going to kill me." I said.
"You really are sharp..." he laughed. "Vern, Shoot him." he said.
There was silence...Vern dropped his gun....Honey Brown, the barmaid at Josies had a .357 magnum on him...He turned around and Mabel Jenkins had a sawed off shotgun on him.....
"Heyyy what is this?" he said.. Just then...Three cars pulled up and FBI Special Agent in charge ,Frank Cotton got out and walked up to him....
"Officer Nobles...you're under arrest....Conspiracy, Bank Robbery, Conspiracy to commit homicide...I could go on...Mitch, read him his rights."
"You got nothin..." he spat...
Agent Cotton looked at me and smiled...."That was a real clear recording...both of em." I smiled back at him...
"You dirty rotten rat..never trust a P.I." said Eddie as they took him away.
"Ladies..How would you like a drink?" I said to Mabel Jenkins and Honey Brown.
"Sure...We earned it." laughed Mabel.
EPILOUGE:
Eddie Nobles was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 10-20 years..He's in a federal prison.... Little Willie Basemore recovered completely and stood trial for the murders of Stewart Fall, Alvin Hunter and Nigel Anderson...He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Fred Parker made parole a year later and promptly dropped out of sight..He's probably wherever he stashed the money...
As for me...I couldn't keep what was left of that $120 G's...It was blood money..It had cost an innocent man his life...I sent it anonymously to his fiance...I was just glad to be done with the whole dirty business.
Clerow and I sat outside the Doctor's office waiting for his wife Corrie to come out with the results of her ultra-sound...
"You nervous buddy ?" I asked.
"Nah...I'll be happy with whatever she is having." he said.
I playfully punched him on the arm..
"Liar" I teased...
Cora-beth came out with a slight frown on her face...This meant that it was another girl......Clerow smiled...
"It's okay...If it's a girl..that's cool..long as it's healthy.." he said.
Then Corrie smiled.....
"Got'cha...it's a boy!!!" she said.
Clerow fainted!
"I thought he'd be happy." said Cora-beth...
"Oh he is..he is.." I assured her as I tried my best to hide a smile.
7 comments:
Another great "Kevin" caper! Loved it!
Great ending! Great story Keith!
Not only a good story, but I see nobody had reason to trow their undies at you! lol!
Great caper..lots of twists and turns!
I actually thought Tulip was behind the whole thing and lying...Turns out it was a dirty cop...Wow!
Good Story Keith,what's next?
Nice one...I really dug this!
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