The Way We Die Now by Charles Willeford Read Free Book Online Page B

prison before Hutton would be eligible for a parole. Technically Donald Hutton should still have fifteen years to serve...
    Judge Hathorne was not in his chambers, but his law clerk informed Hoke that Hutton's case, on a third appeal, had been granted a new trial by the state supreme court. Hutton's attorney, they concluded, had prepared an inadequate, incompetent defense. Mendoza should not have put Hutton on the stand, and he should have accepted a plea bargain of guilty for the reduction of the charge to seconddegree murder. If Hutton had pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder, he would have been eligible for parole in only eight years. Rather than retry the case (now that Hutton had served ten years), the state attorney had gone along with the recommendation to release Hutton for "time served." And so Hoke learned that Ellita was right. -His- Donald Hutton, a man who had promised to "get him" someday, a threat Hoke had considered empty at the time, was back on the street, or, more specifically, living in a house directly across the street from Hoke's house.
    Hutton had money, lots of money, and if he had let it grow at ten percent interest or more in the bank, while he was serving ten years, he was a lot richer now than when he had been sentenced. Of course, the appeals had cost him considerable sums, but Marie Weller had paid him a good price for his half of the paneling business.
    As Hoke drove back to the police station, he concluded-- as Ellita had--that Donald Hutton's purchase of the house across the street was not a random coincidence. Perhaps Hutton's threat to "get him" someday was no longer empty. Hoke was not fearful of Hutton, but the circumstances made him a little uneasy.
    When he got back to his cubicle, Hoke called Blackie Wheeler, Hutton's parole officer and a man he had known for several years, and asked Wheeler about Donald Hutton's parole status.
    "I've talked to him only once, Hoke," Blackie said on the phone. "He has to report to me once a month. He'll have to come in person for the first two or three months, but after that I'll probably just let him call in by phone. He's not exactly a criminal, or wasn't when he went up to Raiford, and he shouldn't give me any problems. In fact, I wish I had a few more like him in my load. He has independent means, so I don't have to see that he has a job and check with his employer, and he has no ex-criminal buddies to associate with. He told me that he intended to start a small business of some kind, once he got settled, just to have something to do."
    "I can tell you where he lives right now," Hoke said. "He lives across the street from me in Green Lakes."
    "I've got his address--"
    "When he was found guilty, Blackie, he threatened to kill me someday, after he got out of prison. So I don't think it's any coincidence that he moved into that house."
    "He isn't a professional criminal, Hoke. And he's entitled to live anywhere in the city he wants. Of course, if you're afraid of him, we might be able to get a restraining order to keep him off your property. But I'm not so sure a judge'Il even do that much. After all, the threat was made ten years ago, and the guy was understandably sore at the time. But I don't think Hutton would relish doing any more time. Even with all his dough, it was still rough on him in prison. Keep in touch, though, and if he does anything funny, let me know. Meanwhile, if you want me to ask him why he bought in Green Lakes, I will. It might be that it's just a nice neighborhood. He's already forbidden to contact Ms. Weller. She doesn't want anything to do with him, naturally. I've talked with her on the phone, and she's planning to get married again--to the guy who owns the Cathay Towers over in Miami Beach. I've got his name written down here somewhere--"
    "That's okay, Blackie," Hoke broke in. "I'm not worried about Weller or Hutton, I just wanted to check with you, is all. She's not dumb enough to take up with him again. It would be bad