Justice

by Faye Kellerman

  Ashala's eyes went to the ceiling. Decker looked upward at a dozen white acoustical tiles that had seen better days. He returned his attention to the arrestee.

  "Kalil, you shot at an officer of the law. That's attempted murder under special circumstances. You're going to do time for that. But that's not the only stick up your butt, sir. I've got stuff on you. Lots of stuff linking you to nasty things. And I'm sure we'll find more stuff once we search your house. So if you've got a story to tell, I suggest you tell it now."

  "What kind of shit you got on me?"

  "Good shit."

  Ashala drank his water, asked for a cigarette. Decker handed him a smoke. That was all he needed bagged up in a cell under a nicotine cloud twice in one day.

  "If I talk to you, I first be needin' a deal, you dig?"

  Decker played along. "What do you want?"

  Ashala's dark eyes darted from side to side as he blew out smoke. "What do I want?"

  "Yeah, tell me what you want."

  "You gonna get me what I want?"

  "I can't answer that, Kalil, until you tell me what you're after."

  "I don't want to do no time, dig? Maybe like community service. That kind of shit."

  Decker said, "Kalil, tell me about Deanna Green."

  Ashala's face went flat. "Deanna who?"

  "Deanna Green."

  "Don't know her."

  "Don't know her at all?"

  "Nope."

  "Think again," Decker said.

  Kalil stubbed out his cigarette, curled his lip, and shook his head no. "Don't know her."

  Decker stared at Ashala for the longest time. Then he said, "I know you from somewhere."

  "Well, I don't know you."

  Mentally, Decker counted to one hundred. Then he said, "I know where I know you from! You used to work at the Grenada West End in the West San Fernando Valley, didn't you?"

  Immediately Ashala looked down. He said nothing.

  "You worked in the coffee shop, right?"

  The felon looked up, eyes darting from side to side. He remained silent.

  "Or was it room service? Maybe it was both."

  Again Ashala looked down, this time to ostensibly study his nails. He shook his right leg up and down.

  Decker said, "Were you working the night of that big murder ... that prom queen? Man, that was something "

  "I want a "

  Decker pressed against the tape recorder as he leaned over the tabletop. "You want to know something, Kalil? You are fucked beyond fucked! Because you know who is sitting in jail for the murder you committed "

  "Didn't do no murd "

  "A white boy, Kalil. But not just any white boy a Mafia white boy. And not just any Mafia white boy, the crime boss's son! Do you know anything about the Mafia, Kalil? They were the original Cryps and Bloods "

  "You're bullshittin' "

  "Ever seen any of the Godfather movies, Kalil? The decapitated horse head in bed ... that's just warm-up "

  "I want "

  "You know they're making a Godfather Part Four movie? Guess what. You're gonna be in it." Decker aimed a finger gun at Ashala's head. "Ker-boom!"

  Ashala broke out in a cold sweat. "I can take care of myself. I got friends, man."

  "Kalil, you'd better have lots of friends. Because if you piss off the Mafia, you're not safe anywhere and I do mean anywhere. Not a jail or a country around that's gonna save your ass. I drop your name and you're maggot meat "

  "Fuck you. I'm not afraid of no one."

  "That's good, Kalil, because the Mafia has lots of friends, too. And you know what their motto is. Everyone has to sleep."

  Ashala shuddered, mopping his soaking brow with his shirt sleeve.

  Decker said, "Buddy, if you want to deal with me, then talk to me. If not, take your chances and deal with them!"

  Ashala was silent.

  Decker sat back in his seat. "Ah, would you look at what happened. I accidentally depressed the pause button on my tape recorder. Careless of me." He flicked the cassette player back on record. Calmly, he said, "Are you sure you don't want a lawyer, Mr. Ashala?"

  Ashala turned off the tape recorder. "What do you want!"

  Decker turned the recorder back on. "Cheryl Diggs."

  Ashala started to sweat. "Diggs the white girl who was offed?"

  "Yes."

  "I didn't do nothin' to her."

  "Don't give me that bullshit. You screwed her. I know it, you know it."

  A long pause.

  "Maybe I did," Ashala said. "But that don't mean nothin'. She already be dead."

  Decker felt his blood pressure shoot up, but he kept a stoic demeanor. "Try again, Kalil."

  "But that be the truth."

  "You tied her up, Kalil."

  "'Cause I got nervous. That maybe someone be watchin' me leave the place. So I tied her up like the boyfriend did."

  Decker paused. "Like her boyfriend did? Did what?"

  "He tied her up. I knowed because Trupp's got hidden video cameras in the rooms."

  "Henry Trupp, the night clerk?"

  "He be the one."

  "He placed hidden video cameras in the rooms?"

  "That's the truth. See, we had this thing goin'. I watch for him while he does his thing. He watches for me while I do my thing."

  "What was his thing?"

  "Watchin' people fuck."

  Trupp was in the back room, watching TV. .. rather teevees. Decker groaned inwardly. No more hotels ever. From now on, vacation would be sleeping bags and a Winnebago. To Kalil, he said, "What was your thing?"

  "B and Es while the people slept. Henry be my lookout. Sometimes Henry be wantin' a cut, but that's okay. 'Cause sometimes I'd watch the action with Henry." Ashala smiled. "Lots of nasties 341

  goin' down. Better than rentin' a video 'cause it's live, know what I'm sayin'?"

  "Did you watch the action on the night of the white girl's murder?"

  "They was puttin' on a show so I watched." Ashala played with his water glass. "Got me too hyped up for the girl. I only did her 'cause she was already dead."

  "How do you know she was dead?"

  "She wasn't movin'."

  "So why did you strangle her?"

  Ashala didn't answer.

  "Why'd you strangle Cheryl Diggs, Kalil, if she was already dead?"

  Ashala shrugged. "Just in case."

  Decker ran his tongue over his teeth. "Is that also why you tied her up?"

  "No, I tied her 'cause that's what the boyfriend did, you dig?" Ashala shrugged. "Anyway, it looked like fun."

  "You like ropes, Kalil?"

  "Sometimes. And sometimes the bitches like it, too. She sure liked it when he did it... howling like a hound dog. So why not me?"

  "Why not indeed."

  "Yeah. Right. So what if Henry was lookin' on. He was a perv hisself. See, Henry didn't care what I did to the ho. Except then things got heated up."

  "Go on," Decker prodded.

  Ashala squirmed in his seat. "I ain't sayin' no more."

  "Kalil, Kalil, Kalil..." Decker took a drink of water. "How can I do anything for you if you don't talk to me? Tell me about Henry Trupp. Was he nervous ... maybe saying things that made you nervous?"

  Ashala blurted out, ' 'I did all those people a favor, man. See, Henry got a collection. He "not only watched, he taped! Got money from it 'cause like I said, there was lots of nasties goin' down in the hotel... old men doing thirteen-year-old girls, you dig? I did everyone a favor."

  Ashala sat back, feeling very self-righteous. Decker kept his expression flat. "So Trupp was a peeper and a blackmailer. Yes, he was a bad guy. What kind of favor did you do for all those people?"

  Ashala was silent.

  Decker said, "You want any kind of deal, you're going to have to cooperate." 342

  "I didn't do the white girl," Ashala said. "Like I tole you, she already be dead."

  "But you strangled her."

  "Just in case. She was dead."


  Decker formulated his thoughts. "Tell me about Trupp."

  "I don't say nothin' about him unless we deal."

  "We found physical evidence to stick Trupp on you, Kalil. Cooperate and maybe you won't sizzle."

  Again, Ashala said nothing.

  Decker said, "You don't want to talk about Trupp, how about Deanna Green? Tell me about Deanna Green."

  "I tell you I don't know no Deanna Green."

  "Kalil," Decker said, "you've met her. I've got witnesses saying she was in your house."

  "That don't mean I've met her."

  "I have witnesses saying you've met her."

  Ashala jumped out of his seat. "Then they're lying!"

  Decker stood. "Sit!.. . down!"

  "No problem." Ashala held his hands up, then sat down. "No problem."

  Slowly, Decker settled back in his seat. "Tell me about Deanna Green."

  "You give me a deal?"

  "No, I can't do that. That's up to the district attorney. But cooperation may earn you brownie points. You know Deanna Green. Tell me about it."

  Ashala scratched his chin. "I knowed her, yeah. But I didn't kill her."

  "You didn't kill her?"

  "No."

  "Did you have sex with her the night she was murdered?"

  Ashala looked away.

  "Look at me, Kalil," Decker said. "I got you pinned to Deanna, too. Physical evidence doesn't fib."

  "I didn't kill her!"

  "You didn't kill her, you didn't kill Cheryl Diggs. Man, you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, then."

  "You're right!" Ashala cried out. "That's essackly it."

  Decker said, "Kalil, did you have sex with Deanna Green the night she was murdered?"

  He looked down and nodded. "But I didn't kill her."

  "You raped her, but didn't kill her?" 343

  "No, I didn't rape her. I was just help teachin' her a lesson, that's all."

  And then the light went on. "You were just helping to teach her a lesson," Decker paraphrased. "What was the lesson? You don't mess with your sister?"

  Ashala looked down. "I didn't kill Deanna Green."

  "Tell me who did."

  "If I give you Deanna, I don't want to do no time for rape or murder or..." He looked up. "Something like community service shit, dig?"

  Decker said, "You are in dreamland, my friend."

  "I didn't do Green, I didn't do Diggs. She be dead."

  "You strangled her, Kalil." Decker ticked off his fingers. "I got you for Diggs, I got you for Trupp "

  "Man, I did everybody a favor with that motherfuck."

  Bingo! Got him for Trupp, Decker thought. Calmly, he said, "Tell me about your sister and Deanna. Whose idea was it to teach Deanna a lesson?"

  "Not mine. I hardly knew the bitch."

  "Whose idea was it, Kalil?"

  Resigned, Ashala slumped in his seat. "Fatima was mad 'cause Deanna didn't want her no more. Deanna be thinking herself as a real classy bitch 'cause she was Catholic and her parents were rich. Looking down her nose at us 'cause we were poor and didn't accept her Jesus. Pissed Fatima off. She axed me to help her teach the bitch a lesson."

  "How'd you do it?"

  Kalil leaned in close as if talking to a friend. "The way it work was this. Fatima threw a rock at Deanna's window and Deanna open the door to let her in. You know. 'Cause Deanna thought they still be friends even if they weren't that kind of friends, you dig?"

  "Go on."

  "Fatima kept the door open for me. While Deanna and my sister were talkin' in the bedroom, I came in. And then we both jumped her."

  Decker waited. "I need details, buddy."

  Ashala looked away. "I held her down, but it was Fatima who tied her up like her holy Jesus. Fatima liked that. Bitch lived by her God, she be dead like her God."

  "What about you? You told me you like using ropes."

  "Yeah, it's fun."

  Decker paused, collecting his thoughts. Quirk of fate that both Kalil 344

  and Whitman liked ropes. So who really was responsible for Cheryl's death?

  "What happened after Fatima tied up Deanna, Kalil?"

  "I tole you. Fatima axed me to really teach her a lesson. Deanna was good-looking." Kalil shrugged. "I didn't mind."

  "You raped her?"

  "I teached her a lesson. It just got outta hand."

  "She died, Kalil."

  "'Cause it got outta hand. Deanna started making noise. We tried to make her be quiet. To save her. We didn't want her dead, just to shut her mouth. But she kept making noise. Bitch gonna wake up her parents. It just got outta hand. If she wasn't so stupid, she be alive today."

  Decker exhaled very slowly.

  Ashala said, "I want a lawyer."

  Decker said, "I can arrange one for you."

  "Are you gonna arrest Fatima?"

  "She'll be brought in for questioning based on what you've confessed."

  "The bitch is gonna tell you I did it all by myself. It's not true. Why would I do Deanna? I didn't give a shit about Deanna. So if Fatima tries to hang this all on me, she is lying, lying, lying! Don't fall for the slut. The bitch is a bad, bad actress. Fatima be all in tears after it happened. 'Oh, poor Deanna, poor Deanna!' And she pull it off real good 'cause she know how to talk and ack real white when it suit her. Had the cops holdin' her hand and pattin' her back. All I'm saying is I didn't kill her. You believe me, don't you?"

  "You tell your story to your lawyer, Kalil. It's important that he believes you."

  "It be the goddamn truth, man. I didn't kill her!" Ashala shook his head indignantly. "Besides, I did the bitch a favor. If it had just been Fatima and her friends ... if I hadn't done her that night... Deanna woulda died a virgin." 345

  This time Decker bypassed Davidson and went directly to Strapp. A thirty-year veteran, the captain was in his fifties, medium height but thin. He had small eyes, a long face, a sharp nose, and thin lips. A thoughtful man, Strapp never spoke without weighing his words. His deliberative nature made him acceptable to the people under him as well as the brass above him.

  As Decker laid out his investigation detail by detail, Strapp sat at his desk, his pointed chin resting on clasped fingers. He didn't take notes. He didn't need to. After everything was recounted, Strapp spoke.

  "There's a lot going on here. First, we've got a major sticking point with Diggs. Was she really dead or not?"

  "Objectively, all we can do is go back to the autopsy report. The coroner stated that Diggs most likely died by strangulation. And Ashala admitted to strangling her."

  "What about Whitman? Could he have strangled her, too?"

  "One set of imprints was found around Cheryl's neck. The impressions seem to line up with Ashala's handprints."

  No one spoke.

  Decker said, "But that isn't conclusive. The autopsy report also noted confounding factors. Diggs's system was overloaded with drugs and alcohol. It's possible that she died from an overdose. Possibly in Whitman's presence, possibly with his help."

  "Before Ashala strangled her."

  "Exactly." 346

  "If that's true," Strapp said, "State might have been able to stick Whitman with a Manslaughter... like the Belushi thing, correct?"

  Decker nodded.

  "So if Whitman had been tagged with that, he'd be serving the same sentence." Strapp unfolded his hands, ran them through his thinning hair. "There's no problem sticking Diggs on Ashala. Even without it, Kalil's going to do time. The problem is with Whitman. Would your new findings change his current status? The way I figure, we've got several options."

  He began to enumerate.

  "One, we could let Whitman serve his present time in jail and forget about these recent developments. Two, we could recommend reduced jail time to the warden because of the new evidence. Three, we could cut our losses before Whitman's legal eagles get wind of all the details. Just go ask the governor to commute Whitman's sentence. Maybe even pardon him."