The Invisible Man

I can appreciate an experienced gangster, they have been around long enough to know how to keep attention from building up around them.  While on probation or parole, they always show up on time, test clean of any drugs, attend any program I ask, never complain, and they are always polite. 

Daniel was one of those gangsters.  He was a high ranking lieutenant with one of the biggest Mexican Gangs you’ve heard of.  He was very respectful and never gave me any reason for concern.  He spent most of his life in custody, and was now conducting more sophisticated crimes.  He wasn’t one you needed to worry about robbing the local store or selling weed at the beach.  Every time I searched his house, there was nothing there, and it was super clean.  He never had a job, but somehow he had plenty of cash on hand.  

As respectful and polite as he was, he was just as intimidating.  He supported the gangster stereotype; loaded with tattoos, teardrops on his face, and his gang moniker on his neck: Loco.

While working with the Night Detective team we were called out to a murder scene.  First floor apartment, a strangling with a leather belt.  The victim was brutally beaten and smashed.  His body slumped up against the wall, chin in chest overlapping the belt.  His shaved head was swollen like a balloon stuffed with mayonnaise: oversized, soft, and purple.  His eyes were beaten and swollen shut, but struggling to push their way out of the edema, ready to pop anytime.  His nose was spread all over his face, and blended into his upper jaw.  His tongue was draped out of his mouth hanging between the few teeth left in his head.   There was blood everywhere.  All over the wall behind the victim and puddles on the floor.  On the opposite side of the potato sacked body was a name written on the wall in blood: Loco.

For the next few weeks everyone was out looking for Daniel.  He was the prime suspect due to his moniker written in blood at the scene.  The day time detectives couldn’t find him and asked if I had heard.  I had not.  I was advised to let them know if I did.  I sent a few texts to his last known number asking him to contact me.  I kept my expectations low, until one day I got a call.  

I knew it was him right away by the respect in his voice.  I asked him to come into the office for his standard monthly visit, setting a trap I knew he wouldn’t fall for.  I tried to pretend like there was nothing out of the ordinary.  It didn’t feel right. I knew not to lie; it was disrespectful.  Up until this point my relationship with Daniel had been professional, lying makes it personal.  

“Do I have a warrant? Am I going to jail if I show up there?” He asked.  

The right answer is no, I needed to get him in the office so the detectives could arrest and question him.  That just didn’t sit right with me.  Honesty aside, I didn’t want this guy pissed off and sending someone to visit me someday.  Even from the inside of prison, they can reach you.  He had that kind of juice.  

“I don’t know Daniel, maybe, I haven’t checked.  Just come in and we will talk about it.”

That was enough, he got the message.  He thanked me and hung up.  

Daniel was picked up a few weeks later at a diner having breakfast with his family.  He went with police quietly.  He must have known he was not going to win in court so he confessed the whole story.   

Turns out victim was having an affair with the gang boss’ girl.  He got the “green light” to be taken out. Daniel went to his apartment to discuss things and cash in on gangster fame.  A fight broke out. Daniel beat the man unconscious, but that wasn’t enough. He took off his belt, put it around the victim’s neck and tightened while he was knocked out.  The victim suddenly came back to life and trashed around.  In the melee, the victim threw his head back and connected with Daniel’s nose, shattering it.  There was an explosion of blood, mixing with the puddles already pooling on the floor.   After a minute of fighting, the victim became weak, suffocated, and died. Daniel wanted his boss to know who was responsible, so he put his name on the wall and walked out.  Due to his broken nose, there was bright red blood all over the front of his oversized white T shirt. 

While on the lookout for Daniel, the detectives interviewed everyone in the victim’s apartment complex.  The incident happened at 1:45pm on a Saturday.  In the summer. Daniel walked into the first floor apartment and walked out 20 minutes later covered in blood.  Of all the people in that apartment complex outside on a sunny summer afternoon, no one saw or heard a thing. It’s like he was the invisible man.