(Sandman Mystery Theatre #27) - Burke got the drop on Sandman in the library, and after kicking away his gun he started pounding his ribs. A woman saw Burke's attack, and hit him with a poker, screaming that he was killing the man on the ground. Sandman made his escape and Burke screamed and cursed at the woman for interfering in police business. Evidence of the Butcher's work came up through a toilet on 59th, and Burke studied maps of the local sewer system to determine the Butcher's most likely hideout underground. Burke got permission to dig in five mid-town establishments after bending some arms, and after finding nothing at the first two locations he entered a French restaurant, and when he got guff about shutting it down during lunch service he started wrecking the kitchen. He found the tunnel he was looking for, and climbed down with two officers. They discovered a filthy shanty, and behind a curtain an abbatoir of butchered victims hanging from meat-hooks in various states of decay. Burke Burke's crew got violently ill, and he yelled at them to act like police officers. Burke sent his man Kelley topside to get backup, but Kelley was decapitated by the Butcher. The Sandman, tipped to Burke's activity, was in the sewer battling the Butcher, and Burke decided to start shooting at him instead of accepting his aid against the Butcher. The Butcher attacked officer Francis, lifting him up with a meathook, and Sandman helped save him and Burke. The Butcher almost killed Sandman before Burke shot the serial killer, and Sandman managed to slip away. Dian met him on the street and offered him a ride home, and he was overjoyed to see her.

(Sandman Mystery Theatre #33-36) - Wealthy banker Emmett Beedle had been strangled, and word on high said the case was a top priority. Burke informed DA Larry Belmont that they'd be working long hours until the case was solved. Burke interviewed Beedle's sister, who said he was interested in nothing but money, and everyone who knew him hated him. Thelma Rogers, a woman from Harlem, was the next victim, but her son was the primary suspect. Burke grilled her son, and showed his rascist streak, but had to let him go when it was evident that he would not have the enormous strength needed to commit the murder. The coroner's report mentioned bruising similar to a Python's constrictions, so Burke interviewed circus performer Jungle Jack Barrows, but he didn't currently have any snakes in his menagerie. He started questioning Harlem locals, and when they were uncooperative he threatened to start busting as many black men as he could, guilty or not, until someone had information for him. A drunk named Roger was the next victim of the Python, and Sandman shadowed Burke's investigation. Burke reported to Belmont, and was getting annoyed that his coworkers were distraught over the Nazis persecution of Jews in Germany and Poland. Burke interrogated Thelma's son again, and learned that she was once a foster mother, so his next stop was child services. He learned that Thelma fostered a boy named Jacob Bernstein, who was taken away because she was black. He gew up to become fitness enthusiast Jack Benoir, and when Burke found him and accused him of murder he attacked him. Sandman was also following the case, and saved Burke's life and subdued Benoir, who admitted that he killed because of a pathological hatred of the overweight that stemmed from abuse he suffered at his mother's hand.

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