Emilio Baca was six months out of prison in Huntsville on an aggravated robbery rap. He had been the driver for a moderately successful two-man team of armed robbers knocking off liquor stores and other targets of opportunity. He was what they called a horse holder in the Old West.
Going back to prison wasn’t on his Top 10 List of things to do. He wanted Brady Investigations to help keep him out.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Brady,” she said, “I simply can’t believe my father committed murder then killed himself.”
She was Joyce Norris Hodges, the adult offspring of Brock Norris, the suicide half of a recent murder/suicide. At least that’s what the cops believed.
“People do these things,” I said. We were sitting in the offices of Brady Investigations on Executive Center Drive in El Paso. Outside it was 100 in the shade and expected to top 105 today. “Especially in this kind of weather.”
I have had eight previous stories published both on the web and in print in PI Magazine, Handheld Crime, Hardluck Stories, Without a Clue, Thrilling Detective, and SDO Detective. A ninth has been accepted for publication as a chapbook by Cyber-Pulp Publishing in 2004.
I am a licensed engineer and have published over 40 non-fiction pieces in both general-interest magazines and in engineering magazines.