He’s friendly. He’s not flustered. They mention an old murder. He doesn’t clench up.
He invites them in. They all sit down. He appears befuddled— old murder, huh?
Dave and Tim start to explain. X-Man cuts them off.
That 16-year-old girl, right? I remember that. I was across the street. I was at a friend’s house.
The sister ran over. My friend was a doctor. He wasn’t in then. I ran over to help. I saw the body. The cops came. The cops shooed me out.
Oh, fuck—
He came off credible. He came off true. He smiled. He betrayed no nerves. The boom didn’t drop.
Dave quizzed him. X-Man responded. The doc and wife— alive and well. Yeah, we’re still in touch.
There’s the boom. It fell on you. Oh shit, we’re fuck—
They schmoozed up X-Man. His credibility held. They said good-bye and walked out.
They found the doctor. They braced him. They braced his wife concurrent. They backed X-Man up.
Heartbreaker/square one again/fluke fingerprint/months trashed and fucked.
Dave called and told me. He described “the worst day of my life.” I reran Pollyanna. I cued Stephanie up.
It’s over. It’s not over. It’s been a year plus. Closure is nonsense. Nothing this bad ever ends. The killer is crucial and irrelevant. He knew Stephanie for ten minutes. He never loved her. His memories are brutal and suspect.
Baby, who were you? How would you grow and who would you love? Did you know you’d touch driven men and teach them?
You’ve got torchbearers. Three detectives and one chronicler. We want to know you. It’s a pursuit. It’s a likelier outcome than justice.
We’re spinning our wheels. It doesn’t matter. We get glimpses. You’re twirling in your prom gown. Color us devoted. Color you gone.
Grave Doubt
1.
HOUSTON PD/DISTRICT 6/BEAT 6870.
DATE: 5/13/81.
TIME: 9:30 P.M.
LOCATION: 8935 NORTH FREEWAY.
PREMISES: SAFEWAY PARKING LOT.
CRIME: CAPITAL MURDER.
VICTIM: BOBBY GRANT LAMBERT/WHITE MALE/53.
SUSPECT: GARY GRAHAM/BLACK MALE/17.
INCIDENT # 035207084.
The crime scene:
The Safeway lot. Rectangular. Sixty yards deep.
Night lights. Parking lanes and slots.
A fence behind the store. Small homes adjacent. Strip malls moving north.
A frontage road. Parking-lot access. A freeway adjacent.
The beat: low-shelf. Urban blight ascendant.
Motels. Gas stations. A low-end black demographic.
Eyewits state:
The victim enters the store. The victim walks the aisles. The victim grabs items.
Three packs of lunch meat, bread, cheese, milk, cookies, Ritz crackers, onions, gloves, garbage bags, a carton of Raleigh cigarettes, a six-pack of V-8.
A cashier totals the items. The victim pays with a C-note.
The victim exits the store.
He walks twenty feet. A black male walks up behind him.
Witness Bernadine Skillern observes.
She sits in her car. Two kids sit with her. Her daughter’s in the store.
The black male accosts the victim.
He grabs his back pockets. The victim reacts.
He pulls away. He turns.
The black male grabs his collar. The black male puts a gun to his head.
Witness Skillern observes.
She fears a shooting. She tries to deter it. She leans on her horn.
The black male turns. Witness Skillern sees his face. The victim breaks free.
Witness Skillern hears a “pop” noise. The victim drops his grocery bag. The black male walks away.
Other wits observe. Their names:
Daniel Grady/white male/age 35. Wilma Amos/black female/ age 32. Sherian Etuk/black female/age 29.
The victim staggers. The victim weaves to the store.
Witness Skillern starts her car. The victim falls in the doorway.
Witness Skillern tails the black male. He’s in her headlights. He starts to run.
He runs around the store. Witness Skillern’s kids scream. Witness Skillern turns back.
Store employees call the cops. An ambulance shows. Paramedics examine the victim.
He’s DOA.
PATROL UNITS SHOWED. Homicide showed.
For Houston PD: Detectives W. W. Owen and J. W. Ellis.
They checked the grocery bag. They checked the gunshot wound.
Small caliber. The entry point: near the sternal notch.
They check the victim’s clothes. They found:
One comb. Two pencils. A lighter. Best Western motel matches. A key for room 208.
The vic’s driver’s license. Issued for Oregon State.
Coins: $2.07. Sixty hundred-dollar bills.
A botched heist. The killer got chump change. The killer missed six grand.
A tech crew arrived.
Techs shot the body. Techs shot the crime scene. Morgue men removed the body.
Patrol cops checked the lot. They found the vic’s van. They impounded it.
Owen and Ellis braced the wits.
Witness Skillern described the incident. Witness Skillern described the killer:
A black male. 18 to 20. 5′9″ to 6′.
Slim build. Slim face, clean-shaven. Close-cut Afro. White jacket/black slacks.
Witness Grady described the incident. Witness Grady described the killer:
A black male. Tall, slim, young. White sport coat. Small-caliber pistol.
Witness Amos went home. Witness Amos phoned Homicide.
She described the incident. She described the killer:
A black male. In his twenties. Short dark hair, clean-shaven. Black slacks/white coat.
Witness Etuk described the incident.
She’s working a check stand. She hears a “pop!” outside.
She looks out the window. She sees a black male.
He wears a white blazer. He wears black slacks. The window glass blurs his face.
He backs off from the victim. He backs out of sight.
Owen and Ellis hit the Best Western.
They talked to a desk clerk. They talked to a barmaid. They talked to a guard.
Room 208: registered to Ronald M. Allen.
He was from Burbank, California. He checked out at 9:05 p.m.
Owen and Ellis checked the room. They found:
Paper slips. Names and phone numbers. Cleaning receipts for Bobby G. Lambert.
One ashtray. Cigarette butts.
Two brands. Raleigh, one other.
Owen and Ellis checked the switchboard. “Allen” made 16 toll calls.
They wrote down the numbers. They drove to the morgue. They gave the numbers to a coroner’s detective.
The detective called them. He called five area codes. He hit Mrs. Ron Allen.
She said Ron split Houston. He was in Vegas now. Bobby Lambert shared his Houston motel room.
Bobby had Houston business. She didn’t know what. Bobby left his wife recently.
The detective called around. The detective traced Bobby’s van. The detective snagged a cop in Pima County, Arizona.
The cop said he couldn’t talk now. The cop said he’d call Homicide.
Owen and Ellis drove to Homicide. The cop called them.
He said he checked Lambert out. He queried a dope line. He hit positive. Lambert was dirty.
Ellis requested more data. The cop said he’d call back.
Another cop called back. He said:
Lambert was dealing. He got popped on 8/14/80.
Oklahoma City.
Lambert flies dope in. Lambert gets nabbed. Lambert’s under indictment.
Some coke. 20,000 Quaaludes.
Owen and Ellis worked all night. Detective D. W. Autrey assisted.
He drove to the impound. He checked Lambert’s van.
&
nbsp; He found:
Marijuana.
Three shotguns.
One New Mexico driver’s license. One Canadian driver’s license. One radio operator’s license. One insurance card. One draft card.
Made out to:
Billy Francis Smith—DOB 3/1/30.
Plus:
Court docket papers. Oklahoma District Court. A bail receipt for Bobby G. Lambert.
THE AUTOPSYRAN pro forma. Ditto the forensics.
The vic died from gunshot trauma. He ate one .22 slug.
The DEA called Owen and Ellis. They laid out Bobby G.
Bobby was a dealer. Bobby was an ex–carny man.
Bobby was a con man. Bobby was a sleaze.
Bobby loved to gamble. Bobby loved Vegas. Bobby hung with a cat named Ron Allen.
Ron was a gambler. Ron was a pool shark. Ron and Bobby meant grief.
Owen and Ellis hit the Safeway. They found another eyewit.
His name was Ronald Hubbard. He worked at Safeway. He offered this story:
He was shagging carts. He saw a man outside. The man hid his face.
Hubbard walked toward the store. Hubbard heard a shot. Hubbard saw the man holding a gun.
Hubbard described the man:
Black. Early 20s. 5′5″, 120–130. Short Afro, clean-shaven. White blazer, black slacks.
Owen and Ellis called Witness Skillern. Ms. Skillern came to Homicide. Ms. Skillern worked up a composite.
Autrey and Detective Rascoe assisted.
Ms. Skillern chose feature strips. Ms. Skillern built a face.