“Yes, I’m fine, just a little shook up, but why tow the car? I can drive it to the station.”
“I’m afraid not, Dr. Stern, you see this car is now considered part of a crime scene and you’re getting into it to drive, might disturb any evidence we may find.” The officer then returned to his car, and Todd could see him pick up his mic to update the dispatcher and his partners. He made a verbal report to his superior and asked for Detective Pratt to come to the scene.
A few minutes later, an unmarked car drove up, making Todd somewhat nervous since he did not recognize it immediately as a police car, and thought perhaps the gunman had returned for a better shot.
Pratt got out of his car wielding his police detective’s badge as he approached. “Dr. Stern? I’m Detective Pratt. I understand you were shot at, is that correct?”
“Yes, Detective, I was returning from shopping and had just started to get in my car. After I got inside and closed the door, I heard two gunshots hit my door and felt my car slightly tilt to the right. I immediately dropped down under the dash in front of the passenger seat. I was trying to figure out what I should do if the person walked up to my car to shoot me.”
“And did you come up with a plan, Dr. Stern?”
“Frankly, I don’t see why that matters now, since it didn’t happen, but I don’t wish to be rude, so I’ll tell you. I moved my left arm to the driver’s door handle and opened the door slightly ajar, so if I did see a person come to my window to look inside, I would be able to kick the door as hard as I could and knock the person backward or at least knock the gun out of his hand.”
“Not a bad plan, Dr. Stern, but his bullets would have been quite a bit faster than your kicking ability.”
“Well, I just thank God that didn’t happen.”
After looking at the car door Pratt asked, “You have two bullet holes. Did you by any chance hear more shots that didn’t hit your car?”
“No, Detective, I only heard the two shots.”
Johnny took out a pen from his pocket and placed it into the holes to try and determine the direction they came from. He noticed they were angled a bit downward and figured they may have come from a slightly higher elevation, like perhaps from a tractor-trailer cab or truck nearby.
Pratt then offered to drive Stern home having explained his car had to be taken by a tow truck to the police station for forensics to inspect. They waited until the tow truck arrived a minute later. He presumed the first set of officers had already requested the police tow truck to come and pick up his car and that’s how it arrived so fast. This time he saw the two bullet holes on the inside of his car and realized that the bullets were somewhere inside, perhaps embedded in the seat.
Stern accepted Pratt’s offer for the ride and tried to get into the locked car. The detective then entered his unmarked car and reached across to open the passenger door for him to get into. Police cars have automatic door locks up front to prevent a handcuffed suspect sitting in back from escaping. Todd sat down in the passenger seat and Pratt immediately began questioning him again while driving out of the lot.
“Dr. Stern, do you have any enemies, or do you know of anyone who may want to shoot you?”
“None that I can think of,” Todd replied. “The only person that hates me that much would be my ex-wife. But we divorced seven years ago and shooting me would get her no financial gain or any inheritance. No, I don’t believe she did it, nor do I think she hired someone to kill me. She wasn’t that type and her hatred for me wasn’t that strong. She caught me cheating with another woman after I caught her doing the same thing. Yes, you heard me right,” Stern said, reacting to Pratt’s look of surprise. “My wife turned out to have been a closeted lesbian all along. I just can’t think of anyone else who might have shot at me today.”
“Dr. Stern, I believe you know Jack Green, Tony Pilaris and Rabbi Neil Bloom, right?”
“I sure do, they’re my foursome golfing partners. I can also guess why you’re asking me that question. We’ve each been shot at for no apparent reason.”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you. Have you gotten together to discuss why all four of you were being targeted?” asked Pratt. “Why do you think that you all know each other and never mentioned it to the police? Each of you being shot at didn’t prompt a thought that perhaps you needed to explain your friendship to the police?”
“Honestly, Detective, I’m sure that once my friends find out that I was shot at today, we will all undoubtedly get together as soon as possible,” Todd replied. “There must be some connection.”
“All right, Dr. Stern, I hope you gentlemen will come up with something. I would certainly like to be at your meeting, if you fellows will tell me where and when.”
“I’ll mention your request to the other three, but I don’t believe they would want you present until we discuss it among ourselves. Thanks for the ride, Detective,” said Stern through the open passenger side window when they arrived at his house, looking all around to make sure no one was aiming at him before he got out of the car.
As Todd entered his front door, he immediately took out his cell phone and called Jack who was flabbergasted at
