Free Kill for Thrill by Michael W. Sheetz

Levato had a criminal record. In 1950, Pittsburgh police had arrested Peter for the offense of public indecency. Then, in 1973, a judge placed him on two years of probation after another arrest. This time, Pittsburgh police had arrested Peter for indecent sexual assault. In isolation, these arrests were not particularly telling; however, when coupled with the snippets of his personal life detectives had collected from friends and family, they began to allow detectives to see a clearer picture of Peter Levato.
    Police now believed that Peter Levato might have been gay. If that were the case, then something in his lifestyle might have triggered his abduction. Tridico and his men began to explore the possibility that his killer may have abducted and robbed him because of his sexual orientation.

    Monday, December 31, 1979
    In the world of criminal investigations, there are glamorous cases and there are dreary cases—the sexy, glamorous cases that make the top half of the evening news and the dreary cases that rarely even make the inside pages of the daily paper. The truth is that 80 percent of police work consists of mundane, dreary cases. The other 20 percent, however, can lead a detective to rapid advancements.
    The bread-and-butter, dreary, everyday cases often result in mind-numbing monotony. They perpetuate a “what’s the sense of it all” outlook. Chuck Lutz resigned himself to the fact that the call he was about to answer was definitely among the lot of the dreary and far from the spotlight often hovering around the sexy. Chuck Lutz caught the case of the stolen kielbasa.
    The call arrived at about 10:30 a.m., and it was again Chuck Lutz’s misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dispatchers sent him out to Sonny’s Lounge on Route 22 to handle a delayed burglary. Shortly after his arrival, he met with the owner. The hyperactive owner handed Chuck a list of the booty that unknown thieves had stolen from his bar. Rattling off details that Chuck really didn’t need to know, this Sherlock Holmes in training speculated that the burglary occurred sometime between 4:00 a.m. yesterday (Sunday) morning and just before 10:00 a.m. this morning—when he called the police.
    With all the professionalism and courtesy that makes the Pennsylvania State Police one of the premiere law enforcement organizations in the nation, Chuck Lutz judiciously recorded the haul in his notebook:
    $150 in change from the cigarette machine
    1 bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey
    1 bottle of Canadian Club whiskey
    1 bottle of gin
    A six-pack of Stroh’s beer
    A little more than a case of Miller beer
    A five-pound package of Land O’Lakes cheese
    A one-and-a-half-pound container of Luger kielbasa
    Having painstakingly noted, in exact detail, the extensive list of missing items whose grand total was all of a couple hundred dollars, Chuck continued his investigation by walking around the building.
    The back window was ajar. It was probably the point of entry. Chuck threw some fingerprint powder around the area and then snapped a few photographs. After fifteen or twenty minutes without much solid evidence, Chuck decided to wrap it up. He walked out of the drafty little bar onto the bleached concrete sidewalk and headed to the next-door business to begin his canvass.
    The shade of the towering pine trees covered the concrete walkway making the already frozen air practically arctic. He covered the distance in long, even strides. One final step and he was staring the rustic white door in the face. Wrapping his gloved hand around the knob, he gave it a twist and flung the door open. The warmth wrapped around him the moment he ducked his six-foot frame into the tiny lobby of Thatcher’s Motel.
    From behind the counter, a diminutive, balding man stared up into the trooper’s face with a look that meant that he knew this must be an official visit.
    “I’m investigating a burglary next door at Sonny’s Lounge. It happened sometime between