BooksBarbecue
Back A Text Before Dying Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Love best-selling fiction?
  3. Also by McGarvey Black
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. Acknowledgements
  60. A note from the publisher
  61. Love best-selling fiction?
  62. You will also enjoy:

“I did nothing,” said an indignant Gabriela. “I don’t know anything about a murder. If he planned something bad, he never told me. All he said was that his wife would be gone soon and we would be together. How was I to know he meant that?”

“Tell that to the district attorney,” said Daryl as another police officer took Gabriela by the arm and walked her out of the room.

“Don’t say anything else, Gabi. Do you hear me?” shouted Conner as they led him in the opposite direction.

52

Saturday—June 13, 2020

With time ticking towards the 15th of the month and the city bracing for another murder, Daryl and Heather climbed up the metal fire stairs to their floor after interviewing another possible witness. In the stairwell, Daryl received a call from the postal inspector and put it on speaker so his partner could hear.

“Sorry this took so long. What with Covid-19, our whole operation is a mess. That West Side postal route you asked about has had two different mail carriers over the past five years,” said the postal inspector. “One is a woman and the other a man. Both are career postal employees who’ve come up through the ranks.”

“Who has that route now?” asked Daryl.

“His name is Jonathan Arnold, been with USPS for eleven years, solid record, good reviews, no problems or complaints,” said the postal inspector. “He started working for us in the Bronx and was there for five years. He moved to another route in Astoria for four. About two and a half years ago he picked up his current route in Manhattan.”

“Can I get a copy of Arnold’s previous routes?” said Daryl before he ended the call and looked at his partner. “We’d better see if there were any unsolved murders of young women in the Bronx or Astoria. This guy may have been practising his skills a long time ago and no one put two and two together.”

After briefing their captain on their discovery, their superior placed a call to the police commissioner. Daryl and Heather were given the green light to assemble a team and stake out the area surrounding Jonathan Arnold’s West 107th Street apartment building and take him down.

By 5:30, nineteen police officers including a SWAT team of eight were hidden at various points around Jonathan Arnold’s block between Broadway and Amsterdam. Not wanting to create a scene in the USPS mail-sorting facility where Arnold worked, the police opted to arrest him at home for better containment and less chance of civilian exposure. The detectives monitored the entire operation from a vacant first-floor art studio across the street from Arnold’s building.

A spokesperson from the postal service said that Arnold usually punched out and returned his mail vehicle between 5:30 and 5:45. With the police team in place well ahead of that time, everything would look normal when Arnold returned home. They hoped to make an arrest without incident.