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Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Jul-25-2009 17:35

"This book was written by Heimlich VonVictor & describes true events that occured during his time as a detective." As he finished these final words on his manuscript he dropped his pen onto the desk. He had just referred to himself as a detective in the past tense for the first time in his life.

He didn't want to believe that it was over, but when one takes pen to paper and scribes one's life story as a matter of record, there was a sense of finality to it.

He picked up the stack of papers before him, each page a piece of a life he would never get to live again. He looked up at the framed newspaper article celebrating his 100th case solved as a detective. It had already started to yellow and fade.

He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of gin and a glass. Even if it was a bittersweet occasion, it called for a celebration, and that meant a good Tom Collins.

He looked up at the plaque on the wall that his agency presented him upon his retirement.

"Retirement! Psh! That's rich!" he grumbled out loud to no one in particular. He remembered the exact conversation.

Eric had called him into his office and said it very clearly, "Heim, you're a liability. Some of the stunts you've been pulling lately have got the other detectives mighty scared."

He had tried to brush it off, "I'm a liability!? Do you realize how much money I pull in for this agency each year? You should be down on your hands and knees thanking me for being able to make bank!"

Eric sighed at him, "Heim, I can't keep you on. The Baltimore incident was the last straw. We'll let you retire, and we'll let it look like it was your decision to do so. We'll keep it out of the papers."

What choice did he have? He had put on a grin, went to the dinner, accepted his plaque, and faded into obscurity.

He was reliving this oh so favorite of memories when the phone rang. Startled, he dropped his drink on the floor and the glass shattered.

Replies

Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Aug-5-2009 19:14

"I'm sorry Eric, but we had to let her go." His captain looked down at him with a look of disappointment. "We really had nothing to hold her on and if she says she didn't see anything we can't presume that she did. Why don’t you take the rest of the week off?" He nodded, thanked the captain for his time, and promptly broke down into tears once he was out of sight.

A month ago he had been the hero cop. He had managed to take down that big smuggling ring, and got his name in all of the papers. It was finally all coming together, he was going to get his promotion, get his brother off of opium and into a good paying respectable job, and retire with a great reputation. It was all planned out and then everything went to pieces.

He had been at home reading when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find two of his fellow officers standing there in full uniform, “Sullivan! O’Leary! What are you doing here?” he said with a smile. Neither officer returned the gesture.

“Eric, I think you may want to sit down.” Sullivan said very softly. Once they were inside he learned the horrible truth. His father had been working at his factory job that evening and his mother had gone to deliver a warm meal to him. The whole place went up. Among the remains of the factory they found a card with an X on it-a sure sign that this was a revenge killing. They believed it was retribution for the smuggling ring being taken down.

Two days later his brother was found in an alley with a bullet in his head and a card marked with an X over his heart. He saw red. He wanted revenge.

The police worked tirelessly, but only managed to track down one person who had a clear view of the entrance of the factory at the time that it went up and she had just walked out the police station claiming that she hadn’t seen anything. He stepped outside the station in a daze. He almost didn’t hear the car horn beep.

Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Aug-5-2009 19:15

He looked up to see a strange man sitting in black car with the passenger door open. “Get in!” he yelled, “Time to show you how it’s done!” Eric really felt he had nothing left to lose, so he got in.

Along the car ride, he learned many things: The man’s name was Heimlich VonVictor, he was a private investigator, formally he worked for the district attorney’s office, and he was interested in the reward being offered by the police for the capture of the Marvington’s killer.

Eric was lost in thought when the smell of fire invaded his nostrils. He looked up and saw the charred remains of the soap factory his father had worked in. “What are we doing here?” he demanded.

Heimlich shook his head, “Not here.” He pointed to the apartment across the street, “Here!” He parked the car and beckoned Eric to step out. They walked up the stairs and knocked softly on the door. A rustling was heard from inside and about twenty seconds later the door opened to reveal Diane West, the witness who had refused to talk.

“I already told you I have nothing to say to the police!” she shouted and went to slam the door shut. Before she could, Heimlich shoved his foot in the way.

“If you’ll pardon the intrusion Ms. West, we just wanted to thank you for coming down today,” he said coyly producing a bottle from underneath his coat, “with this fine bottle of wine. Would you care to have a glass with us?”

Ms. West glanced out at the wine and looked the men over. She smiled, “Well I guess one glass wouldn’t hurt,” she said, “why don’t you come in?”

A half hour later the bottle was near empty and Heimlich was playfully twirling Diane West’s hair as she smiled. “Now Diane,” he sweetly said to her, “this here is Eric Marvington. The poor boy lost both of his parents in that awful fire across the way. We’re just trying to get him some justice, and you don’t know how much it would mean to him to know that you helped give him that justice.”

Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Aug-5-2009 19:15

She nodded, “Well… I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t get a good enough look at him, but…” she started.

Heimlich smiled at her, “Diane, anything you can tell us will be helpful. We will be so grateful.”

She smiled back at him, “I thought I saw Tommy Schwartz, a neighborhood hoodlum, speeding away in his car right before the fire started. Although I could be mistaken…”

Heim shook his head, “Amazing Diane.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek as she giggled, “We can’t thank you enough.”

As they left the apartment Eric turned towards Heimlich, “What on earth was that? You got her to talk when the police couldn’t!” he asked.

Heimlich laughed, “That, my friend, is called being charming. Certain witnesses are more susceptible to a charming personality, and are willing to give information up more easily. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.”

As they got back into the car, Eric asked, “Where are we going now?”

Heim smiled as he stepped on the ignition, “You’re about to see what happens when you use vinegar instead of honey.”

Minutes later they were in front of a large run-down apartment. Heimlich leaped out of the car and Eric followed. They came to a door with the name “T. Schwartz” on it. “So how are we going to…” Eric started before Heimlich drew a handgun, kicked the door open, and ran in.

“What the hell?!” Tommy yelled as Heim pounced on him. They struggled for about three seconds before Heimlich had one arm wrapped around Tommy’s head pressing it into the kitchen counter and the other keeping a tight hold on his wrist and holding his arm about a foot in front of him.

Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Aug-5-2009 19:15

“Here’s the deal Tommy,” Heim barked at him, “and you do not want to find out what happens otherwise! You’re going to tell me who was behind what happened to the Marvington’s, you’re going to tell me what your role in this was, and you’re going to do this in the next three seconds, or I’m breaking a finger.” With this Heim grabbed hold of Tommy’s index finger and began bending back.

“Agh! I don’t know what you’re talking about! I wasn’t even there!” he screamed. One second later an audible snap was heard and Tommy let out a bloodcurdling scream. “Argh! I told you I don’t know anything!”

Heim grabbed hold of his middle finger and started to bend, “I can play this game all day Tommy!” he shouted.

“Alright!” Tommy screamed, “Alright I’ll talk!”

“Talk faster!” Heim ordered as he kept bending. A second later another snap was heard. Tommy let out another scream. In a flash Heim had released his hand and grabbed a cleaver off the counter. “Eric! Hold his arm down!”

“No! No!” he screamed, “Jimmy Piston! It was Jimmy Piston! He wanted revenge on Officer Marvington for busting up the smuggling ring! I swear I was just the driver! Please don’t hurt me anymore!” Heim threw the cleaver to the ground and smacked Tommy across the face, knocking him out.

“Cuff him Eric,” he calmly ordered, “he’ll make a deal down at the station and give you Piston. That’s a nice big fish for you. Now was that so hard?”

****

“With Schwartz’s testimony, Piston went in for a life sentence. About a month after all was said and done I receive an envelope containing the reward money from my parents’ murder and a note from Heim that said, ‘Seed money for Marvington Associates. It’s their reward money, so I think it’s only fair to name it after them, and I think you’d make a damn fine detective.” Eric smiled as if recalling a favorite memory, “I quit the force a week later and got my PI license. Heim came to work with me and we created one of the best agencies in the ci

Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Aug-5-2009 19:16

Kobetz nodded, “Sound like good friendship! What happen?”

Eric smiled sadly, “Fate happened Sergei. I guess you could say Heimlich broke one too many fingers, shot apart one too many kneecaps, put one too many suspects through walls. In any event, my other associates had enough. They told me that they couldn’t continue to work with his antics. They said they were respectable detectives who followed the rules and they were sick of being associated with this nut. I warned him to tone it down, and for a time he did, but there was an incident that I just couldn’t have come out. The rest of the agency knew about it and they demanded that I fire him.”

Kobetz’s eyes widened, “No!” he exclaimed, “VonVictor fired?”

Eric nodded his head, “Yes. I really felt I had no choice. I forced my best friend into retirement, but it was to protect him!”

Kobetz shook his head, “VonVictor never need protecting. Protect others. Always others first. Defend me, but not know me. Vulkie too! Help me but not know me!” Eric felt a pang in his chest. They were so close and they didn’t even know each other. How could it be that Kobetz knew him better than he did and they had only just met?

Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Aug-5-2009 19:16

“A few months later my clients began to dwindle,” Eric recounted, “because a lot of them wanted VonVictor to handle their cases. Sure I had plenty of other work, but he was really the rainmaker in that agency. Nobody liked what he did, and everyone was ready to call it barbaric, but of course if it’s your father who’s been murdered, you want the guy who is going to break people’s fingers to get answers. Four months ago I couldn’t make payroll, just as Heimie predicted. I was desperate, so I went to him. I asked him for a loan, because God knows he has more money than he knows what to do with, and he told me to go to hell. I asked him to come back as a consultant, so I could say that he was with the agency but in an advisory capacity. I told him I’d still pay him his old salary and I would get some clients back. He told me he wanted to see me crash and burn. I guess that was his way of ruining me back.”

Kobetz shook his head, “There is bad blood between your brother and you. You make right!” he demanded.

Eric felt tears welling up in his eyes as he realized Kobetz was right. He hadn’t been angry at Heimlich this whole time. He had been angry at himself for not supporting his friend when he should have. Maybe it was fate that brought him here, and maybe it was time to make it right.

****
He glanced over at Heim, who shot him a dirty look. “Still angry,” he thought to himself, “I guess it’s understandable. I can only hope he’ll need my help eventually.”

Joseph Zeo
Joseph Zeo
Tale Spinner

Aug-5-2009 23:34


Zeo entered Vulkie's safe house; the three men were talking in the sitting room while Vulkie was changing upstairs. Zeo examined VonVictor's wound and eyed Marvington's ruined knee cap suspiciously. Did Vulkie really shot Heimlich? Zeo had his doubts, as no one was willing to explain what really happened that night. "The matter had been laid to rest" was all Heimlich had to say. Zeo decided to leave it at that. There were more pressing issues.

"The past week had been a whirlwind of activities." Zeo exhaled as he crashed onto a couch, a thick billow of white smoke raising into the heavens. The thin lieutenant had been smoking 2 packs a day lately, and his throat was always dry. "I finally found the roster for the day of Kobertz' arraignment. My young friend Scotty was on the list. Turned out that he was the one who slipped you the note, because he knew I was with the case, but it'd be too obvious if he came to me directly."

"So who h'ordered for my zhead?" Kobetz asked.

"Judge Haliwell, it turned out. Ronny overheard a phone conversation of his. Apparently the dirty judge wanted to close the case in the quickest way possible, so that he could collect his bribe money and be done with it." Zeo explained, then he wondered out loud. "Who would have the leverage and money to make the judge do such things for him?"

"Not to mention the immediate termination of Olivia Thorne right after you convinced her to be on the witness stand." Marvington spoke up for the first time.

"So you finally come around to admitting there is a conspiracy behind it all?" Heimlich mused. Marvington turned his red head away and remained silent.

Joseph Zeo
Joseph Zeo
Tale Spinner

Aug-5-2009 23:40

"Someone terminated the Russian refugee couple, wanted to bury Kobetz for it, and was willing to kill anyone who was in the way. That included true eye witnesses and people working on the case such as myself who couldn't be bribed." Zeo said as he aligned all the pieces of the puzzles in his head. "Kobetz you knew the Romanskis. Did they mentioned anything to you? Anything that would make people want to silence them for good?"

"Nikolai and Ana, good friends. We talked of many zhings, zome I don't know how to zay in Englisz. Let me zhink. If I remember, I will let yhou know." Kobetz replied.

"I've talked to Richard Cambridge and convinced him to file a joint motion to suspend the trial for now." Heimlich added, "Kobetz is considered kidnapped at the moment but we'd have to release him back to the custody as soon as they find a new judge for the case."

"And you all have me to thank for getting a new judge." Vulkie said, smiling, as she climbed down the stairs.

"Thank you!? Yes, I really should thank YOU." Zeo said sarcastically upon seeing Vulkie. Vulkie eyed Zeo with a questioning frown. Zeo couldn't hold it in any longer. "Did you check your brain out when you did Judge Haliwell in? It's like trying to assassinate the mayor and expect things to go away afterwards! Do you know how much work I had to do to try to cover for you? My superiors are getting suspicious of me now. There are at least a dozen people like Barnes in that station who would throw confetti on the day i go down!"

"So, it's all about saving your ass Mr. Lieutenant!!? Haliwell was in the way, so I got rid of him. What's wrong with that?" Vulkie replied.

Zeo was exasperated. "Sometimes I think you're working for the other side and is trying to screw us over!! I'm telling you, this is the last time I'm covering for you!"

"Fine!" Vulkie said, her arms crossed.

Zeo stormed into the kitchen to cool himself off.

Vulkie3
Vulkie3
Haynes

Aug-6-2009 04:36

"I'm going out for some fresh air. I can't stand this anymore longer. Heimlich,you can phone me at my apartment. Kobetz,great to knowing you for now,I will be back as soon. As for Mr. Copper there...." I said and ran out,tears flowing from my face. I hear Heimlich making a "sigh" and Kobetz trying to run after me,but he knew he couldn't do that.

As I was running on the streets,with my thoughts all messed up,I started to see all the thing I've been through with Joseph. My old cases with him have always been trouble,but not like this.

I knew I asked too much from Joseph this time,but he couldn't see it was necessary.

And so,I ran towards my car,a few blocks away,started it and drove towards my apartment...


***********Vulkie's Apartment************

As I came in my apartment,I left my keys on the dressoir and got myself a drink from the drinks cabinet. I needed some scotch,that's for sure.

The phone immediately rang,but I refused to pick it up. I knew it was Heimlich or Kobetz,trying to negotiate to get me back. But I needed some time for myself,I didn't want to get us into more trouble.

It's been a tough day itself,assassinating Judge Haliwell. I knew it was going to get us in trouble,but not like this. This.... This was getting too awful,I thought,maybe I should disappear for some weeks.

Yeah,that's it. Take a small holiday,spent some time with other friends...

And so,I rested in my bed. Only to be woken up the next day by a man,ringing a doorbell.

I looked out of a window with curtains,just making a small opening to see who it was.

"Miss Vulkie,ghet immediately ghere. NKVD!"

And as I began to think,it immediately sprang in my head. "NKVD!" I shouted and ran towards the back of my apartment,getting to the "emergency" fire stairs.

Just then,the lads broke my door down and saw me fleeing through the window.

As I immediately began running stairs,I was quicker at the end of them then expected. I jumped in my car and started it.

Vulkie3
Vulkie3
Haynes

Aug-6-2009 04:49

And so,the chase began immediately as I turned a corner to the right. The NKVD hot on my tails,trying to get me and interrogate me. I knew their ways of "breaking" people into talking,especially the breaking part. I wouldn't see the daylight anymore if they got me. I needed to warn Heimlich and Kobetz asap,but first,I needed to get rid of the NKVD on my trail.

As I made a sharp turn at the left some few meters later,the NKVD slipped with their car at a lanternpole,but immediately,the chase was resumed as they began chasing me again.

And there,another bridge was there,but it already was opened. I couldn't make the jump,so I had to lower my speed. And behind me,the NKVD had the out-way blocked.

"Miss Vulkie,you surrender gnow,or else you will be shot at zight" the man with the Gestapo-like hat said.

I needed to stall time. Just until the bridge was far enough down,so I could make a jump and have a long distance between the NKVD and me.

"Alright,I'll surrender. Let me just get my coat,that's on the bench behind me" and I started to search for a coat that wasn't there.

As I watched how the bridge lowered,I put my foot on the gaspedal and started to ride.

"Quickly gnow,she's escaping,you fuels (fools)" ,the Gestapo hat said. And so I departed once more

I stopped in an alley nearside,as the NKVD rushed by me. I set my car on fire,just in case someone tried to steal it (oh,do I love wrecking cars) and made my way towards Sami.

"Maria,I need to use your phone. Quickly" I said,as Maria came strolling towards me. "Fine,but you've got a small attitude problem lady." Maria replied

And so,I tried to phone Heimlich,informing him what happened...

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