The Hook

by Tim O'Mara

  ‘I hate to disappoint you, Detective, but I don’t have a guy at the FBI.’

  ‘Special Agent David Henderson. They always love to mention the special part, you notice that?’ He took a step closer. ‘Please tell me you knew nothing about this until last night.’

  I told him and asked why he didn’t just call me for that information.

  ‘Again, I wanted to see your face when you answered. Anything else interesting happen since I was at your place on Sunday?’ He looked up at the sky. ‘God, has it only been two days? You get a lot done in forty-eight hours, Mr Donne. Anybody else reach out to you I should know about? CIA? Homeland Security? NASA?’

  I was going to point out that at least I was bringing out the sense of humor in him. I decided not to. ‘I saw my uncle last night. He dropped by for a surprise visit.’

  Royce nodded. ‘Good. I brought him up to date on the case and told him how you were involved. Again. But, I did not ask him to go by your apartment and see you.’

  ‘I think he’s like you and just wanted to see my face when he told me to do my best to reduce my involvement in this case.’

  ‘Do I need to swing by your buddy Edgar’s and tell him the same thing? Give him the same warning about staying away?’

  ‘No. Edgar doesn’t know the truth about Henderson yet. Only what he told us the other day, which was mostly lies. Did Henderson tell you that his bosses don’t know he’s straying off the path?’

  ‘Not at first, but when I asked him why my captain knew nothing about his interest in Maurice Joseph’s murder, he kinda had to give up that tidbit.’

  ‘So what do you do now?’

  ‘Keep working the case. My supervisor is going to call Henderson’s supervisor. and I wouldn’t be surprised if Special Agent Henderson has to go shopping for some special new underwear this afternoon. Maybe some of that Mormon-strength stuff.’

  I laughed and then looked at the building across the street where the shooter apparently did his work. ‘Did you find anything over there?’

  He turned around. ‘Not much. No usable fingerprints, just some smudges where the shooter touched the window frame. It was a nice piece of information to have, though. We now know where the shooter was, but we got zip on forensics. We’re going to re-canvass the neighbors, but the security cameras over there are either not working or in shit condition.’ He turned back. ‘I asked you a few days ago if you knew whether Mr Joseph was using again, remember?’

  ‘Yes.’ That was information I was not supposed to have and didn’t want Allison’s guy at the ME’s to get burned. ‘Why?’ I asked.

  ‘Turns out he was,’ Royce said. And then he went on to tell me what I already knew. I did my best to act surprised and didn’t have to try too hard to still be in disbelief.

  ‘That’s more than a little hard to wrap my head around,’ I said. ‘Like I told you the other day, I never saw any signs of MoJo using.’

  ‘Toxicology reports don’t usually lie, Mr Donne. Unlike FBI agents. I’m off to see Mr Joseph’s widow now and find out what she knew about it.’ He held up his hand. ‘And before you ask: No, you may not come with me. Pregnant widow aside, his wife needs to be questioned. I’ll do it at her place out of respect, but not with you there.’

  He was right; I would have asked to be there. I was glad he saved me the trouble.

  ‘One thing I can tell you, though,’ he said.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘I’m not sure if this was on your mind or not, but Mr Joseph was more than likely dead about five to ten minutes after he was shot. Even if you went up to the roof immediately after he was shot, you couldn’t have done much.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘The thought had occurred to me.’

  ‘ME said it was probably a crossbow. Like the one the guy uses on that walking zombie show. They pack one helluva punch.’

  ‘I saw what they could do up close.’

  ‘Right.’ He turned to head off to his car and then stopped. ‘Your girlfriend called me this morning, by the way.’

  ‘Really? What about?’ I was getting a lot of practice playing dumb today.

  ‘She wanted access to the crime scene.’ He pointed over at the building across the way. ‘The window where the shooter was, not your roof.’

  ‘She may have mentioned something along those lines. What’d you say?’

  ‘I told her I’d think about it. Who knows, maybe some fresh eyes’ll help out. I’ll probably say yes, but what’s the fun in doing that right away?’

  I stood up and stretched. ‘Your call, Detective. But thanks ahead of time.’

  ‘No problem,’ he said. ‘I’ll have to go with her, of course, so I gotta see how my schedule plays out.’ He started again toward his car. ‘Good reporter, your girlfriend,’ he said without turning back.

  ‘Yes,’ I agreed.

  ‘You guys deserve each other.’

  I agreed with that, as well, but not knowing whether it was a compliment, I didn’t say so out loud. He got into his car, did an illegal U-turn, and headed off to speak with a dead man’s widow about his drug usage. With the sun heating me up, I wanted to walk to the river. Breathe in some of that brackish air and watch the water go where it goes. Somewhere far from here.

  That would have to wait. I had a few more hours in my day left.

  I was outside in the playground doing dismissal when my phone rang. Edgar.

  ‘What’s up, Edgar?’

  ‘There’s another memorial.’ I could hear the stress in his voice. ‘Another one.’

  ‘OK, relax,’ I said. ‘Where and when?’

  ‘Tomorrow. Up at the rehab house. Newer Leaves.’

  ‘That’s cool,’ I said. ‘How’d you find out?’

  ‘I just got off the phone with Lisa. They called her this morning. It’s not a big deal, but they asked her to come up and she asked me to drive her. Her mom and sister are leaving to go back home tonight.’

  ‘I hope you said yes.’

  ‘I did,’ he said. ‘I also said you would come along.’

  A few years ago, I would have asked Edgar why he would say such a thing. Volunteer me without asking me first. Now, I knew better.

  Raymond Donne: Emotional Support Human, Will Travel.

  ‘How far upstate?’ I asked, figuring I might be able to go up and then come down for some school time.

  ‘At Newer Leaves. Just above New Paltz,’ he said. ‘Two-hour drive.’

  So much for doing both the memorial and school the next day. I hadn’t taken a day off all year. Looked like that was about to change. ‘OK, man. What’s the plan?’

  He told me, I agreed, and he promised to bring coffee and a half-dozen of my favorite donuts. I know: cops and donuts. But I wasn’t a cop anymore. I told him I’d see him in the morning and headed back inside to finish up some paperwork and tell Ron Thomas I’d be taking tomorrow off.

  And then my phone rang again. Allison.

  ‘Hey,’ I said. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I hear you just spoke with Royce.’

  ‘I did. How’d you know?’

  ‘He just called me. What’d you say to him?’

  ‘Nothing he didn’t already know. He did most of the talking. He told me about MoJo’s tox report and that he was leaving to go speak with Lisa. He also told me you called him this morning about your crime scene visit. He told me he was probably going to give you permission.’

  ‘He did,’ she said. ‘He’s going to give me ten minutes some time tomorrow after he figures out what his day looks like.’

  ‘That’s great,’ I said and then I told what my next day was looking like.

  ‘Oh, man. I’d love to go to that, Ray. That place was a big part of MoJo’s story.’

  Story? ‘You mean his life, right?’

  ‘You know what I mean.’ She was silent for a bit. ‘Well, whatever you said to Royce – or didn’t say to Royce – thanks.’

  ‘You’re welcome. I’ll see you tonight for dinner, right?
’

  ‘As far as I know,’ she said. ‘I need a nice quiet evening at the apartment. No LineUp, no stories to submit. Just me and the love of my life.’

  ‘Is he bigger than I am?’

  She laughed. ‘That was good, Raymond. See ya later. Love you.’

  ‘I love you back, Allie.’

  I got through the next hour with no more phone calls or surprise visits.

  Make that fifty-eight minutes.

  ‘He said Maurice was using, Ray. That he had fentanyl and heroin in his system. Excuse my language, but what the fuck?’ Detective Royce had just left Lisa’s.

  ‘I know, Lisa. He dropped by school to talk about a few things.’

  ‘Ray, I am not just talking as Maurice’s wife, I’m talking as a licensed drug counselor: he was not using.’ She paused as if she were about to say something else. I waited. She had just been given some pretty harsh news and maybe was using the time with me to process it. When she didn’t speak again, I did.

  ‘What is it?’ I asked. ‘I mean, what else is it?’

  I could hear her breathing on the other end. ‘Thank God my sister and mother left this morning, Ray. I don’t think I have the strength to hide something like this from them.’ More deep breathing. ‘After the detective left, I went through Maurice’s stuff again. In his area of the bedroom.’

  ‘And …’

  ‘And I found some bags of heroin, Ray. They were hidden in the back of one of the drawers in that little desk he had.’

  Dammit. ‘I’m sorry, Lisa. I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘Detective Royce also told me about what they found in Maurice’s pockets.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said.

  ‘Did you know about that, Ray?’

  ‘After the fact, Lisa. And I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up to you. I figured the cops would do that soon enough.’

  ‘You got that right.’ She started crying now. I waited patiently on my end until she was ready to speak again. It didn’t take as long as I had thought. ‘What’d they tell you about the bags of heroin they found on him?’

  ‘The cops didn’t tell me anything,’ I said. ‘I found out through Allison, who was told by someone she knows in the medical examiner’s office.’

  ‘You know anything about how street heroin is packaged?’

  ‘A little. Why?’

  ‘The bags I found in Maurice’s desk had little dice printed on them.’

  ‘Dice?’ I asked. ‘Like … rolling dice?’

  ‘Yeah, two of them. Double-eights. You ever see that before? Eights? On dice?’

  ‘Only real dice I’ve seen go up to six. When I was on the street, drugs were mostly marijuana and crack. Most of that came with labels. Heroin’s just become big again in the past ten years. But, yeah, the dealers package their stuff so it stands out from others. If people like your stuff, they remember the bags.’ I was telling her stuff she probably already knew.

  ‘Then we need to find out who was dealing heroin with double-eights on them.’

  We? ‘I’m sure the police are looking into that, Lisa,’ I said.

  ‘Screw the police, Ray. They’re gonna think Maurice was back on the junk and write him off as another victim of the drug trade. One more addict who couldn’t handle rehab. You know that.’

  ‘I also know Royce,’ I said. ‘He’ll look into it. He’s a thorough investigator.’

  ‘I didn’t like the way he was looking at me when I told him Maurice was not using. It was like he thought I was lying to cover up. Just another junkie’s wife.’

  ‘I’m sorry but that’s how cops think, Lisa. You’ve dealt with enough of them to know that.’

  ‘But this is Maurice we’re talking about.’

  ‘You’re preaching to the choir,’ I said. ‘I just don’t think there’s much we can do right now. We have to let—’

  ‘Don’t you still have people on the street? Maurice told me about all the stuff you’ve been getting into since you left the PD. You must have people you can go to and look into this.’

  My God, I thought. Between her and Edgar, I wasn’t sure how much more tugging my heart could take.

  ‘Let me ask around a bit,’ I said, thinking, of course, about Tio. ‘I may know some people who know people. But no promises.’

  ‘I won’t ask for any, Ray. And I do appreciate this.’

  ‘I’ll make some calls. And I’ll see you tomorrow around ten with Edgar.’

  ‘Thank you for that, too. I don’t think he would go without you.’

  ‘He’s a work in progress, Lisa.’

  She laughed. ‘He is at that, Ray. Thank you.’

  ‘Thank me when I find something out. See ya tomorrow.’

  SIXTEEN

  I had a few hours before I needed to be home if I wanted to have dinner with Allison. Lisa was right; I did still have some people on the street I could reach out to. And there was nobody more in the know than Tio. I took the fifteen-minute walk from school to his pizza place.

  Boo had a booth all to himself off to the side. The table was covered with spreadsheets, a laptop, and what looked like a few menus from the local competition. Another young man was in the kitchen working the ovens, and a girl of maybe sixteen was working the phone. A mom and two kids filled up another table, eating some slices. A few customers were waiting around for their takeout orders. I was the only white person in the place and had arrived just as the dinner rush was beginning.

  ‘Yo, Teacherman,’ Boo said in his usual greeting to me. ‘You slumming it tonight or something? Or you just cravin’ some of my eggplant parmigian?’

  I reached out my hand and shook his as I slid in across from him. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought he was doing his taxes.

  ‘What’s with all the paperwork?’ I asked. ‘You finally taking over?’

  ‘Think I can’t?’

  ‘No.’ I leaned forward and whispered, ‘I think it’s about time.’

  He smiled at that. I’d known Boo for as long as I’d known Tio – although he’d grown at least a foot-and-a-half since then – and I knew that to get him to smile was a major accomplishment. ‘Tio expecting you?’ Boo asked.

  ‘No. Something just came up and I figured I’d swing by and see if I could get a few minutes with him.’

  Boo looked back down at his papers. ‘That what you figured?’

  ‘It’s what I was hoping, anyway.’

  I waited a while as Boo considered that. We both knew I should have called first, but I thought with Tio dropping by my place of business unexpectedly the other day, maybe our relationship was changing. What I was feeling from Boo was maybe not.

  ‘He’s not around tonight, Teacherman,’ Boo said. ‘You got a message you wanna leave?’

  I leaned back and let out some air. I had hoped this would go smoother.

  ‘You don’t wanna deal with me?’ he said, eyes on his laptop. ‘Afta all we been through together?’ He did sarcasm well. I should put him and Royce together some day.

  My turn to smile. He was right. I could tell he wasn’t the little kid I’d met all those years ago. He may not be Tio yet, but it was as good a time as any to trust him.

  ‘What do you know about the Brooklyn heroin trade?’ I asked.

  He didn’t flinch. He just tapped some keys on his laptop, checked something on his spreadsheets, and pushed a menu at me. ‘You like this one?’

  I looked at the menu. It was fine and I said so.

  ‘How about these?’ he said, sliding the other ones across the table.

  ‘I don’t know, Boo,’ I said, opening each of them up and reading the offerings. ‘They all look the same to me.’

  He nodded. ‘That’s what I’m thinking,’ he said. ‘We need a menu that stand out. Something that says we’re not like others. We better.’

  ‘You doing the numbers and the marketing now?’

  He shook his head. ‘Why you wanna know about heroin? This got something to do with your boy
that caught an arrow someone shot in the air the other day?’

  I didn’t know how to answer that. I had come here seeking some wisdom from Tio and here I was with his protégé, and I was unsure how much to say.

  ‘That’s OK, Teacherman. Your silence answer the question.’ He closed up the laptop, stacked all the spreadsheets together and made a neat pile of them on top of the various menus. ‘I know some. What do you wanna know?’

  I guessed I was trusting him. ‘Double-eights.’

  ‘Add up to sixteen. Even you know that.’

  ‘They were on some bags of heroin that were found in MoJo’s possession. He was the guy killed by the arrow last week. Dice with double-eights.’

  ‘You wanna know who’s dealing H with double-eights on it?’

  ‘That’s exactly what I want to know.’

  ‘The cops wanna know this, too? Or is this between you and Tio? And me.’

  ‘I’m not sure what the police want to know, Boo. I just know MoJo’s wife – widow – asked me to look into this. She’s holding the belief that her husband was not using anymore.’ I explained to him that Lisa had experience with this kind of situation.

  He looked me in the eyes and seemed to be assessing me. Damn, this kid had grown up. ‘Whatta you think?’

  A great question. ‘I don’t know at this point, Boo. I don’t want to believe he was back on the stuff, but I don’t wanna sound like a rookie, either.’

  He nodded. ‘I feel ya, Teacherman. You caught between being a friend and some hard truth about that friend.’

  ‘I don’t know if it is the truth.’

  ‘And what if it is?’ he asked.

  ‘Then that’s what I tell his wife.’

  He waited a few seconds. ‘Whatchoo gonna tell the police?’

  ‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘Let them find their own truth.’

  Boo considered that. He rubbed his temples like a man struggling to make a decision. There was nothing for me to do except wait. Finally he said, ‘Let me make a call.’ He got up out of the booth and walked through the kitchen. I sat there realizing that the smells and sounds of food were making me hungry. Maybe I’d bring something home from here for Allison and me.