Posted on 08/26/2006 9:33:29 PM PDT by Ken H
Tony Soprano Channeling Sam Spade
I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble. If I did, would you find me in those dark hours, eyeing some broad at Blinco's, about to find myself in the middle of the biggest story to hit town in years?
I'm Tony Soprano of the Court TV discussion board fame. No, not the guy on that TV show. I just took his moniker cause it gave me cover like a cheap toupee when a fella's follicles are few. I'm not afraid of cops like Gottlieb. I was there the night the caper with the fry cook went down.
Did I see it? No.
Gottlieb and I rub each other the wrong way, like a cheap wool suit you've had one year too long. Things were tense that night, my friends. I shot off my mouth a few times.
As Gottlieb passed my barstool, he leaned in close. I could see the oily sweat on his shiny bald head. "Keep riding on me and they're gonna be picking iron out of your liver." He straightened up and, with his posse following him, sauntered out the door into the alley. What happened next, well, that's the most baffling mystery story in years.
A friend of mine, a newsie, was in Blinco's a few nights later. "Tony, Have the barkeep pour me some of that booze you're drinking, and I'll tell you a story you might want to hear." "Good booze makes any tale you're going to tell one I want to hear." I motioned for him to pull out the barstool beside me. We waited till the dame serving us gave me a wink and sauntered back to the bar.
"Did you see Gottlieb's picture on the front page of the local rag. Did you read the piece saying his boss Nifong should be worried he's going down for the Blinco's gig?'
"Yeah, me and half the town saw that. What's your beef? Gottlieb's days as a Big Shot Bully are as numbered as a Currier and Ives calendar. The cook ratted him out, said the "Bald guy" was the instigator. Of the coppers here that night, Gottlieb fit that description like a Hong Kong suit you had made to order. He's as finished as a Dame from an East Coast Boarding school. He's going down.
The newsie smiled, took another sip of his drink. "Not so fast, Tony, Gottlieb may have hired a lawyer, but he ain't gonna take the fall. Our big story tomorrow is two young cops will take the rap for him. No way bossman Nifong will let his boy Gottlieb go down till the Dukies are duked out." I took a drag on my cigarette and watched the smoke curl across the table. The newsie leaned in and pushed copy of the morning's paper my way.
Our eyes met again as I glanced at the photos of the two cops charged."
But they have hair! Their heads look like lucky sheep who ran from a careless shearer. No way they fit the Cook's description. And Gottlieb lawyered up faster than a railroad car on an icy stretch of track!"
"Exactly. Nifong's the boss. He ain't gonna let no stinking fry cook ruin the best campaign strategy since Washington rowed across a frosty river in Delaware. Gottlieb's the chief investigator. Three months later, he turned in ...pages of notes. His recollection of events added details to Nifong's case like a New York seamstress adds sequins to a songbird's gown. Gottlieb's in solid with the boss."
I sat in stunned silence, not even a come hither look from the comely barmaid could stop my thoughts. The newsie took another sip of the bourbon I bought him.
"It ain't the first time either. One morning. around 6AM, Gottlieb ran a red light and rammed his car into another guy's ride right here in Raleigh. When the smoke cleared, Mr.Nobody's car had $7000 worth of damage. Our man Gottlieb didn't even get a ticket. Tony, if that was you or me, think the Raleigh cops would let it slide like a fried egg on a greasy stove?"
I leaned back. The newsie smiled a knowing smile. "Ain't gonna happen, Tony. Watch and see. The guy with the smashed car, the poor fry cook here that got knocked around? They are NOBODYS, Tony. And NOBODY cares." My beat can be ugly, my friends. The night can be cold. But this story chilled me like a eager bridegroom's champagne waiting to be uncorked. But it's not over yet. Tony Soprano doesn't go down easy.
******Footnote: Unlike some OTHER fiction writers LieStoppers feels the need to distinguish fiction from fact. Should the NYT wish to carry this story, LieStoppers will insist they disclose the difference. Tony Soprano was NOT in Blinco's the night of the Fry Cook beating, but we link to the basic facts of the story that ARE true.
[Links are at Liestoppers, and will be listed in posts to follow]
No, you were RiGHT !
"After uncovering the tape from a Hecht's at Northgate Mall"
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/471328.html
Gottlieb is Ground Zero to this case.
Will be interesting to see if this security guard is among the new cops Durham is said to be going to hire (according to an article a few days ago).
If his name is in that batch, then we have another suggestive link.
They probably never intended to follow through on any promises. Or, any Cop co-located there, could've said - let's she how you do in this case - it's a big one!
```` It make more sense now how a 3 year old surveilance tape would land in the prosecutor's hands on the day of the trial.
She said she got it that day. What a coincidence!
The tape came from the security guard - the same one!
And my point is that who benfits from the Guard not telling his story ? So the Defense attorney can't research his story and dissect it ahead of time?
Who benefited when the tape came from nowhere - on the day of trial ?
You know this whole thing got me thinking. If the cops really think the cabbie did this when this happened wouldn't it have been really easy to find him and bring him to justice? I mean he is a cabbie. Are the cops in Durham so stupid that they couldn't find a guy who drove a cab for a living?
Great!!!!
I still want to know who the judge was--or wasn't!
And if the blazing light of the world wasn't focused on this case, the Durham crowd might have pulled off another fast one (they aren't used to operating in the light). . .
Someone pled guilty to the shoplifting he was charged with. It was an old warrant in the system that was squashed when the woman was found, pled guilty, and sentenced.
Nifong seized upon this - as you know. They even had to change the charge because the crime he was charged with had already been adjudicated.
They didn't even go interview the Cab-driver about what he saw until about 3 days in a Row - Rita Cosby jumped in front of Nifong and said - "How is it that you haven't even interviewed the Cabbie?"
I know - I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.
This charge used today is a little used - and never used as a standalone charge in Durham.
Plus, the part about Nifong and the cabbie got on the record.
SWEET ! YOU GO ELMO !
Now, let the games begin.
Thank god. No matter what side people came down on this case this guy didn't deserve this. Now I think it is time to go to Court TV and see all the Nifong cheerleaders cry.
Maybe Nifong will get the Message:
The METER'S Running.
It going to cost you from here on out!
Speaking of Rita....
That's what I'm talking about. She's dumb as a rock.
But, that's a story for another day.
And according to a recent article, Precious was last seen leaving that precinct with 2 kids in tow.
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/15387040.htm
I was hoping this was DPD when I saw the headline.
Dozen Pot Plants Found Growing -- At Police Station!
That was the Drudge headline.
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