Julius Katz Mysteries by Dave Zeltserman Read Free Book Online

cards.”
    “That’s true,” he acknowledged. “Very true, Archie. It would be best for you to call Henry and have him waiting for us at the townhouse.”
    Henry Zack was Julius’s attorney, and Julius had him on twenty-four hour call for just such emergencies. I knew Henry would moan about the late hour, which he did when I reached him, but he understood the emergency of the situation and agreed to meet Julius. I filled Julius in, and asked him again about Lily.
    “I don’t get it,” I said. “She’s extraordinarily attractive, and it was clear from her behavior that she wanted you to join her. It was equally clear from yours that you wanted to, and you had your additional motive. This is a schism from your normal behavior patterns. An anomaly. It doesn’t fit.”
    He remained silent as he continued along Beacon Street. After several blocks an odd, almost melancholy smile showed.
    “There’s still a lot for you to learn, Archie,” he said softly.
    That was all he was going to say on the matter. Along with Norma Brewer’s murder, I now had another mystery to solve.
     
    It wasn’t exactly a fleet of police cars waiting at Julius’s townhouse, but there were more than I would’ve expected. Three in total, with a small congregation of officers milling around by the front door. Henry Zack was among them, and he was red-faced as he talked on his cell phone, his eyes bulging slightly. I spotted all this when we were two blocks away by tying into the outdoor webcam feed that covered the front exterior of Julius’s townhouse. I reported all this to Julius, and his lips compressed into a grim expression. He asked me to get Henry on the line.
    I heard the unmistakable call-waiting tone as Henry put his other call on hold to take mine, and then I patched Julius in. “This is outrageous, Julius,” he said, his voice rising. “They have absolutely no grounds to hold you as a material witness, and I’m on the phone now with the Chief Clerk of the district court to have their warrant vacated. If they arrest you I’ll be suing the hell out of them—both the police department and each of the officers personally. Start looking for that retirement villa in Florence that you’re always talking about!”
    Henry’s rant was more for the officers’ benefit than Julius’s. Julius informed him that he was three minutes away, and asked if it was safe for him to appear.
    “It’s safe. It will be as good as winning the lottery if they so much as put a hand on you.”
    Julius signaled for me to disconnect the call, and his pace accelerated as his expression grew grimmer. Within three minutes, as he had promised Henry, he approached his building and bedlam broke out. Henry was on the lookout for Julius and so he spotted him first. He attempted to distract the cops by bellowing more threats at them. It wasn’t until Julius was halfway up the path to his front door that the first cop noticed him, and then they swarmed toward him with Henry Zack in pursuit. A plainclothes detective with a large ruddy face and wearing a cheap, badly wrinkled suit reached Julius first. Having already accessed his departmental records, I informed Julius that this was Detective Mark Cramer. Cramer tried to shove a court warrant into Julius’s hands.
    “My lawyer is standing right behind you, Detective Cramer,” Julius said. “Anything you have for me you should give to him.”
    Cramer seemed taken aback that Julius knew who he was and reluctantly handed the warrant to Henry Zack, then turned back to Julius. According to Cramer’s records he was fifty-four, six foot two and two hundred and twenty pounds. He appeared heavier than that, my estimate being closer to two hundred and forty-six pounds. He also had less hair than the photo in his file. He appeared both tired and cranky, and he tried to give Julius a hard, intimidating stare.
    “You’re under arrest for obstruction of justice,” Cramer said.
    “Nonsense.”
    That brought a wicked