Noire: Detective of L.A.

Noire: Detective of L.A. Part 13

Noire: Detective of L.A.

Chapter 4: A Marriage Made in Heaven, Part 4

Noire strolled into the morgue, adrenaline still rushing from his chase with Sheldon. He saw the coroner I the autopsy room, with cold, stiff Patterson to keep him company. "We can put the driver in front of a judge in less than a week." Noire announced.

The coroner shook his head. "You'd be making a big mistake."

"Run that by me again?" asked Jackson in disbelief.

"The victim was dead before the car hit him. Two puncture wounds to the right side of the thorax. Second puncture reached his heart."

Noire peered at the wounds. "You're kidding me."

The doctor looked at him, amused. "Been doing this job for over twenty years, son, and no one has ever laughed at one of my jokes."

"He was stabbed to death?"

"By a long sharp knife. Length of a bayonet."

Noire paused in sudden realization. "We found a knife in the alleyway."

The doctor seemed surprised. "Where is it? Was it bagged?"

"By Officer Kaplan."

"Perfect. I'll get you a definite match."

Jackson held his head between his hands. "Jesus, we got 'em! Murder one! We were right there, and they tried to stare us down! Now they'll both get the gas chamber."

Noire jogged out of morgue. "We have the knife, we have the coroner's report, and I bet we could roll Sabo as a witness."

"Let's bring her in, partner."

Noire quickly strode up the steps towards the Patterson residence. He hammered on the door. Mrs. Patterson answered the door. Noire looked at her with disdain. "We've spoken to the coroner, Mrs. Patterson. He confirmed your husband's cause of death. We'd like you to come Downtown and answer some questions."

Mrs. Patterson looked panicked and frightened. She turned around to look over her back. "It wasn't me! It was Leroy's idea! Leroy stabbed him, I had nothing to do with it!"

"Where is Leroy now?"

"In the bedroom..."

Noire heard the click of a gun. Leroy Sabo held a loaded handgun at the the three of them. "You're very good, Lorna..." he snarled angrily.

"Put the gun down, Leroy." Noire said calmly. "If you do something stupid now, you don't stand a chance in front of a grand jury."

Sabo ignored Noire. "Nice of you to give me up, sweetheart." he said, clenching his teeth. "All that whispering in my ear, telling me how we had to get rid of him, how good it could be, all the money we could claim! All that planning! How to get him into the street! How to make it look like an accident!"

Mrs. Patterson started to panic. "For God's sakes, Leroy, shut up!"

"You had all the bases covered, didn't you, baby?" Sabo shouted, getting angrier.

Lorna turned towards Noire. "I had nothing to do with it!"

"YOU THINK IM GONNA FRY FOR YOU, LORNA?!?!" Sabo screamed.

"He's a crazy man! Shoot him!" shrieked Mrs. Patterson. "Shoot him God's sake-!"

There was a loud BANG, then Lorna Patterson spoke no more. Sabo dashed for the back door. Noire pulled out his gun and tore after him. "It's too late, Sabo! Give yourself up!"

"Fuck you!" Sabo shouted, firing bullets behind him.

Noire ducked, but kept running. "Stop or I will shoot!" Sabo fired 3 more rounds, nearly hitting Noire's head. His fedora hat fluttered beneath him. "That was a $10 hat!" he muttered to himself.

Sabo ran across traffic and turned a corner. When Noire caught up to him, he had a woman a gun-point. He came to a halt.

"Come any closer, and I'll pull the fucking trigger!" Sabo threatened.

"How long do you think you can hold out?" asked Noire.

Noire started to panic. Sabo really was insane. He would kill the woman if he had to. Shit, shit, shit. Noire thought. He aimed his gun for Sabo's head. "This is my last warning, Leroy!" Noire shouted

"I'll give you a warning, you goddamn motherfu-!"

Noire felt his bullet shatter the air. It soared and hit Sabo between the eyes. Blood flew out of his head as he dropped to the floor. His blood splattered onto the dirt, staining it bright red. Jackson ran up to Noire, who was covering his face and rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong, Noire? I thought you'd been under fire before."

Noire looked away from Sabo's corpse. "It never gets any easier, Jackson..."

Noire and Jackson stepped into Ray's Cafe to meet the captain. Seeing then, Captain Leary clasped them on the back. "So I give you a hit-and-run, you bring back conspiracy, fraud, and first-degree murder. This how a good detective operates, Noire." Noire gave a smile of thanks. The captain continued, "You take nothing at face value. You keep digging and asking questions, until you find the truth. You got some sharp elbows on you, Detective. I like that. Keep up the good work.