Double Homicide Part 11

"I think he was on his stomach. He fell with a big thump. I heard that. I remember thinking that he was gonna break the table and crush me to death."

"So he fell pretty hard," Dorothy said.

"Yeah," Spring said. "He fell hard. But I didn't see no one shoot him."

McCain said, "If you didn't see Pappy shoot, you didn't see him shoot. All you have to do, Spring, is tell us what you heard Julius say, then tell us what you saw."

"I ain't gonna say anything. I'm scared s.h.i.+tless of that animal."

"We can protect you-"

"That's bulls.h.i.+t! Police don't protect no one, specially not a black woman." Spring looked at Dorothy. "And you being here ain't gonna change any of that."

"We'll subpoena you, Spring," McCain said.

"First you gotta find me. The next time I won't make it so easy."

"We should arrest her," McCain said.

"On what grounds?" Dorothy took out her cell phone.

"Material witness to a murder, and she's a flight risk. Also, screaming at the cops."

"She didn't witness anything substantive," Dorothy said. "Once we got Pappy under lock and key, she'll calm down. Can you start the car and turn on the heat? I'm freezing. G.o.d, this must be the coldest December on record."

"That's what you say every year."

"Just start the car, please."

McCain complied, turning the heat to the max as Dorothy checked her phone messages. Within seconds the car smelled like scorched wool. "Anything important?"

"Captain O'Toole wants to talk to us."

"That ain't good."

"Probably not."

"He didn't say why?"

"Just his secretary telling you and me to come in at two."

"I don't like this."

"Shhh . . . " Dorothy concentrated as she listened to her voice mail. She pressed the disconnect b.u.t.ton and flipped down the lid on her phone. "Dr. Change called. The X-ray didn't show any aneurysm."

"You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not."

"So that's good, right?" McCain said.

"Despite that, he's sure an aneurysm killed Julius."

"How can that be?"

"Could be like Change said. A bone blocked it on the X-ray."

"Or Julius died of a gunshot wound Change overlooked."

"Keep that to yourself when we meet with him, Micky." Dorothy checked her watch: 1:15. "We can't make it to the ME office and back before two. I'll tell Change we'll be there by three-thirty, maybe four o'clock."

"Sounds good."

"Maybe we should grab some lunch in the meantime," Dorothy said.

"Lunch." McCain laughed. "Now, there's a novel idea."

13.

Four sounds fine," Change told Dorothy over the line. "If I'm a little late, just wait for me."

"No problem, Doc. Can I ask you a few questions?"

"If they're about the X-ray, I'm not at the morgue now."

"Just your impressions."

"I know what you're going to ask. At a quick glance, I didn't see any radiographic evidence of an aneurysm. But that doesn't mean it wasn't there. I still say that that was the most likely cause of death."

"Okay, let's a.s.sume the aneurysm was there." Dorothy switched her cell from one ear to the other. "Might we a.s.sume that it was small?"

"Maybe."

"And if it was small-a little out-pouching that didn't even show up on the X-ray-and if Julius fell splat on the table, could we a.s.sume that an impact like that might have caused a tiny aneurysm to burst . . . theoretically?"

"Why don't we wait until we're at the morgue for this discussion?" Change said.

"Just answer me this. Could that have happened, that his falling caused the aneurysm to open up?"

"Anything's possible," Change said. "But you'll want stronger evidence than that going into court." A pause. "That's my opinion anyway."

"Thank you." Dorothy hung up and looked at McCain. "I'm in the mood for kosher pastrami-that Romanian stuff. We're two blocks away from Rubin's. Okay with you?"

"Sounds like a plan," said McCain. "What did Change say?"

"The fall's a maybe, maybe not. Not strong enough to go to court with-in his opinion."

"Opinions are like a.s.sholes," McCain said. "Everybody's got one."

Captain O'Toole closed the door to the interview room-a windowless, airless s.p.a.ce with barely enough room for a standard-issue table and chairs. The floor was a mosaic of mismatched green granite tiles; the once suns.h.i.+ne-yellow walls were now a faded mustard. The captain pulled out a chair with his foot and sat backward, with his stomach pressed against the splats. He was flushed, forehead dotted with beads of sweat. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and gave his face a firm wipe.

With him was Harriet Gallway, who had put in ten years with the DA's office. She was very pet.i.te, so slight that people noticed her only because of her flaming-red hair. She had gobs of it, flying over her shoulders and trailing down her back. She wore a hunter-green suit and black flats. Her green eyes sparkled when she smiled. But she wasn't smiling now.

"Hot in here," she muttered.

"Don't smell too good, either," O'Toole added. "All of you have a seat."

Dorothy and McCain exchanged glances and sat down.

O'Toole nodded to Harriet. "Ladies first."

Harriet cleared her throat. "My boss tells me that Delveccio's counsel is running the story that Julius died from natural causes."

"Not exactly," McCain said.

"I don't like that," O'Toole said. "What does that mean, 'Not exactly'?"

"That's what we're trying to determine, sir."

"Who's we?" Harriet asked.

"Dr. Change," Dorothy said. "John Change. He thinks Julius died from an aneurysm and not from a gunshot wound."

"He thinks thinks?" O'Toole said.

McCain muttered, "He thinks, therefore he screws us up."

"That's his conclusion so far," Dorothy said.

Harriet said, "Oh my."

"Still," Dorothy said, "Delveccio's gunshots could have caused the aneurysm to burst. Because when Julius was. .h.i.t, he fell forward onto a table."

McCain said, "The force on his chest from slamming against the table could very well have burst open the aneurysm."

"So the shots lead to the chain of events that caused Julius Van Beest's death," Harriet said. "We still could make a case for premeditated murder."

"Is that what happened?" O'Toole said. "A fall killed him? Change says that?"

Dorothy said, "The fall didn't cause the aneurysm-if there was was an aneurysm. But it could have caused an aneurysm to open up." an aneurysm. But it could have caused an aneurysm to open up."

"What do you mean, if there was was an aneurysm?" an aneurysm?"

"So far, nothing showed up on the X-ray," Dorothy said.

O'Toole said, "This is starting to stink like bullc.r.a.p."

Harriet played with her hair. "So it's possible he didn't have an aneurysm."

McCain said, "Change is sayin' right now that there's no physical evidence of one on the X-ray."

"So how did he come to his conclusion that Julius died of an aneurysm?"

"There was a ruptured artery upon autopsy and blood pooling in the chest cavity," said Dorothy. "I respect Change, but I'm wondering if maybe he missed a bullet wound."

"You're saying Change f.u.c.ked up?" said O'Toole.

"No one's perfect," McCain half whispered.

As the captain colored further, Dorothy broke in: "We're meeting with him in an hour. We'll go over everything in detail."

"Cancel your meeting," O'Toole snapped. "We got more important things to deal with. As in, we found the gun that shot Julius in the pile of confiscated weapons. As in, on the d.a.m.n thing was a partial of Delveccio's right thumb."

Dorothy and McCain smiled. She said, "You pick him up?"

"He's in holding as we speak. The bad news is that our witnesses who said they saw Pappy pulling out a gun have recanted. But with the print, we know the a.s.shole touched the gun at some point. And we know that the same gun shot Julius."

"I think a jury can put two and two together," Dorothy said.

"But," Harriet said, "if I'm trying to prove premeditation, I have to make sure Julius was killed by the gun as part of an intentional, direct action committed by the accused. Now you're telling me we don't know that."

O'Toole glared at the detectives.

McCain said, "That's a question for Change. But in the meantime-"

"Here's the thing," said Harriet. "If we go for attempted murder rather than homicide, Pappy's counsel is going to know we can't prove the gun killed Julius. It's going to give him ammunition to fight even that charge."

"So what do you want from us?" Dorothy said.

"I want you to see if you can get him scared about premeditated murder," the DA said. "Then we can probably deal him down to attempted murder. Otherwise we could end up settling for some d.i.n.ky charge."

"That's ridiculous!" McCain said. "He was aiming for Julius, he touched the d.a.m.n gun, and the bullets. .h.i.t their mark."

"But not necessarily fatally, Detective. And if we don't get someone who saw Pappy fire the gun, we end up with a break in the chain. And Pappy can be very charming when he wants to be," Harriet said. "Get some b-ball fans on the jury, maybe a swooning female or two, we could be in trouble."

The room fell silent.

McCain spoke first. "How about this: We don't have conclusive evidence of an aneurysm on the X-ray. So at this particular moment, I don't know what killed Julius. Meaning I can tell Delveccio it was his bullet." He shrugged. "h.e.l.l, Supreme Court says I'm allowed to deceive, right? Let me go in there now and work him."

"He's already asked for his lawyer," Harriet said. "When he was picked up the first time."

"I didn't hear him ask for his lawyer today."