Dominion by Randy Alcorn Page A

ability to produce wealth. Ironic, since this grand view came from Homicide.
Jake said he felt more secure visiting Ollie than anywhere in the city. So why did Clarence feel so insecure here? Why did he feel as if he were standing there naked and every detective who walked by stared at him?
Ollie put down the phone, then walked eight feet and peeked into a window. “Let’s meet in the lieutenant’s office,” Ollie said to Clarence. “It’s empty. Give us a little privacy.”
They sat down, Ollie behind the desk, Clarence on the other side. He studied Ollie’s light-skinned Scandinavian features and blotchy cherry-tinted neck.
A red neck. How appropriate.
“Jake Woods told me you might be calling. So what’s on your mind, Mr. Abernathy?”
“My sister’s death is on my mind. It’s been over a week. I want to know who did it. And why.”
“You and me both, friend.”
I’m not your friend. Don’t patronize me.
“Jake said you told him once if a case isn’t solved in the first two or three days, chances are it won’t be.”
“Hey, guess I trained Jake pretty good,” Ollie lightened up. “But actually, it’s thirty-six hours. Even the third day is marginal, and by the time you hit seventy-two hours, good luck. Most of your physical evidence is gone and people’s memories deteriorate. That’s if you’re lucky enough to find witnesses. For the most part, we weren’t.”
“What about Mrs. Burns?”
“She’s our one witness, but darkness and failing eyesight are the problems. She heard the shots—so did most of the neighbors. They all said it was like a series of explosions, had its own quick cadence, loud and long. Automatic weapon, obviously. But most of our potential witnesses were frozen in bed. Can’t blame them. You hear forty rounds ripping a house to shreds and you don’t want to stick your head out as a target. By the time they looked, the car was gone. From the first shot to the screeching tires was maybe less than ten seconds. Barely time to wake up and get to a window.”
“But Hattie Burns saw something, right?”
Ollie nodded, looking down at his report. “Her head was on her pillow, just a couple feet from the window, which was open. Just had a screen over it. As soon as she sat up, she could see straight over to your sister’s porch. Couldn’t make out much but a shadowy figure holding a rifle. The noise level was incredible. Everybody’s used to hearing gunfire, but this was another ball game. One of the neighbors described it as ‘ear splitting.’”
“So, what else did she see?” Clarence had talked with Hattie too. But he wanted to test what the detective told him.
“Well, she saw a car. Of course, with a big assault rifle they’re not going to be on foot. Neighbors heard the squeal when it peeled out, so the driver was pretty excited.”
“What kind of car?”
Ollie shrugged. “Mrs. Burns doesn’t know for sure what kind, how big, anything. We’ve showed her all kinds of pictures. Midsize or large. She thinks four-door sedan but can’t swear to it. Maybe a light color, but not white. A couple of streetlights were out. That didn’t help.”
“They’ve been out for months,” Clarence said. “If it was anywhere else, they’d have been replaced weeks ago.”
Ollie hesitated. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t know. Anyway, artificial lights can really mess you up when it comes to colors.”
“What else can you tell me, besides it being a drive by?”
“Well, technically it wasn’t drive by It was drive up, walk up, then drive off. The walk up is considered big time macho, especially by Hispanic gangs. It’s just you, mano y mano. But the old drive by is more popular. It does the job and gets them on the road in a hurry. This was a combo.”
“How many in the car?”
“Well, it was left running in the street, not parked. Mrs. Burns saw the shooter jump in the passenger side. So it wasn’t a one-man job. At least two, shooter and driver. Could have been more in