In the Midst of Death

Page 22

 

  "You paid me enough. "

  "The hell I did. Whats a mans life worth?"

  I had asked myself the same question often enough, but not in quite the same way. I said, "I made something like five hundred dollars a day. Thatll do me, Broadfield. "

  "Jerry. "

  "Sure. "

  "And I say you got a bonus coming. You met my lawyer? Seldon Wolk?"

  "Weve spoken," I said. Wolk and I shook hands and made polite sounds at each other.

  "Well, its about that time," Broadfield said. "I guess any reporters whore gonna show up are already waiting out there, dont you think? If any of em miss out, itll teach em to be on time next shot. Is Diana out there with the car?"

  "Shes waiting where you wanted her to wait," the lawyer told him.

  "Perfect. You met my wife, didnt you, Matt? Of course you did, I gave you that note to take out there. What we gotta do, you get a woman, and the four of usll have dinner one of these nights. We ought to get to know each other better, all of us. "

  "Well have to do that," I agreed.

  "Well," he said. He tore open a manila envelope and shook out its contents on the top of the desk. He put his wallet into his pocket, slipped his watch onto his wrist, scooped up and pocketed a handful of coins. Then he put his tie around his neck and under his shirt collar and made an elaborate performance of tying it. "Did I tell you, Matt? Thought I might have to tie it twice. But I think the knot looks just about right, dont you?"

  "It looks fine. "

  He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I think it looks pretty good, all right. Ill tell you something. Matt, I feel good. How do I look, Seldon?"

  "You look fine. "

  "I feel like a million dollars," he said.

  HE handled the reporters pretty nicely. He answered questions, striking a nice balance between sincere and cocky, and while they still had questions to ask him he flashed the number-one grin, gave a victorious wave, and pushed through them and got into his car. Diana stepped on the gas, and they drove down to the end of the block and turned the corner. I stood there watching until they were out of sight.

  Of course shed had to come to pick him up. And she would take it easy for a day or two, and then shed let him know how things stood. Shed said she didnt expect much trouble from him. She was certain he didnt love her and that she had long since ceased to be important in his life. But I was to give her a couple of days, and then she would call.

  "Well, that was pretty exciting," a voice behind me said. "I figured maybe we were supposed to throw rice at the happy couple, something like that. "

  Without turning I said, "Hello, Eddie. "

  "Hello, Matt. Beautiful morning, isnt it?"

  "Not bad. "

  "I suppose youre feeling pretty good. "

  "Not too bad. "

  "Cigar?" Lieutenant Eddie Koehler didnt wait for an answer, put the cigar in his own mouth and lit it. It took him three matches because the wind blew out the first two. "I oughta get a lighter," he said. "You check out that lighter Broadfield was using before? Looked expensive. "

  "I think it probably is. "

  "Looked like gold to me. "

  "Probably. Though gold and gold plate look pretty much the same. "

  "They dont cost the same, though. Do they?"

  "Not as a general rule. "

  He smiled, swung out a hand, and gripped my upper arm. "Aw, you son of a bitch," he said. "Lemme buy you a drink, you old son of a bitch. "

  "Its a little early for me, Eddie. Maybe a cup of coffee. "

  "Even better. Since when is it ever too early to buy you a drink?"

  "Oh, I dont know. Maybe Ill take it a little easier on the booze, see if it makes a difference. "

  "Yeah?"

  "Well, for a while, anyway. "

  He eyed me appraisingly. "You sound like your old self a little, you know that? I cant remember the last time you sounded like this. "

  "Dont make too much out of it, Eddie. All Im doing is passing up a drink. "

  "No, theres something else. I cant put my finger on it, but somethings different. "

  We went over to a little place on Reade Street and ordered coffee and Danish. He said, "Well, you sprung the bastard. I hate to see him off the hook, but I cant hardly hold it against you. You got him off. "

  "He shouldnt have been on in the first place. "

  "Yeah, well, thats something else, isnt it?"

  "Uh-huh. You ought to be glad the way things worked out. Hes not going to be a tremendous amount of use to Abner Prejanian because Prejanians going to have to keep a low profile for the next little while. He doesnt look too good himself now. His assistant just got nailed for killing two people and framing Abners star witness. You were complaining that he loved to see his name in the papers. I think hes going to try to keep his name out of the papers for a couple of months, dont you?"

  "Could be. "

  "And Knox Hardesty doesnt look too good, either. Hes all right as far as the public is concerned, but the words going to get around that hes not very good at protecting his witnesses. He had Carr, and Carr gave him Manch, and theyre both dead, and thats not a good track record to have when youre trying to get people to cooperate with you. "

  "Of course he hasnt been bothering the department, anyway, Matt. "

  "Not yet. But with Prejanian quiet he might have wanted to come on in. You know how it goes, Eddie. Whenever they want headlines they take a shot at the cops. "

  "Yeah, thats the fucking truth. "

  "So I didnt do so badly by you, did I? The department doesnt wind up looking bad. "

  "No, you did all right, Matt. "

  "Yeah. "

  He picked up his cigar, puffed on it. It had gone out. He lit it again with a match and watched the match burn almost to his fingertips before shaking it out and dropping it into the ashtray. I chewed a bite of Danish and chased it with a gulp of coffee.

  I could cut down on the drinking. There would be times when it got difficult. When I thought about Fuhrmann and how I could have taken that call from him. Or when I thought about Manch and his plunge to the ground. My phone call couldnt have done it all by itself. Hardesty had been pressuring him all along, and hed been carrying a load of guilt for years. But I hadnt helped him, and maybe if I hadnt called-

  Except you cant let yourself think that way. What you have to do is remind yourself that you caught one murderer and kept one innocent man out of prison. You never win them all, and you cant blame yourself whenever you drop one.

  "Matt?" I looked at him. "That conversation we had the other night. At that bar where you hang out?"

  "Armstrongs. "

  "Right, Armstrongs. I said some things I didnt have to say. "

  "Oh, the hell with that, Eddie. "

  "No hard feelings?"

  "Of course not. "

  Pause. "Well, a few guys who knew I was gonna drop down today, which I was doing, figuring youd be here, they asked me to let you know theres no hard feelings toward you. Not that there ever was in a general sense, just that they wished you werent hooked up with Broadfield at the time, if you get my meaning. "

  "I think I do. "

  "And they hope you got no bad feelings toward the department, is all. "

  "None. "

  "Well, thats what I figured, but I thought Id get it out in the open and be sure. " He ran a hand over his forehead, ruffled his hair. "Youre really figuring to take it easier on the booze?"

  "Might as well give it a try. Why?"

  "I dont know. You think maybe youre ready to rejoin the human race?"

  "I never resigned, did I?"

  "You know what Im talking about. "

  I didnt say anything.

  "You proved something, you know. Youre still a good cop, Matt. Its what youre really good at. "

  "So?"

  "Its easier to be a good cop when youre carrying a badge. "

  "Sometimes its harder. If Id had a badge this past week, I
would have been told to lay off. "

  "Yeah, and you were told that, anyway, and you didnt listen, and you wouldnt have listened, badge or no badge. Am I right?"

  "Maybe. I dont know. "

  "The best way to get a good police department is to keep good policemen in it. Id like it a hell of a lot to see you back on the force. "

  "I dont think so, Eddie. "

  "I wasnt asking you to make a decision. I was saying you could think about it. And you can think it over for the next little while, cant you? Maybe itll be something that starts to make sense when you dont have a skinful of booze in you twenty-four hours a day. "

  "Its possible. "

  "Youll think about it?"

  "Ill think about it. "

  "Uh-huh. " He stirred his coffee. "You hear from your kids lately?"

  "Theyre fine. "

  "Well, thats good. "

  "Im taking them this Saturday. Theres some kind of father-son thing with their Scout troop, a rubber-chicken dinner and then seats for the Nets game. "

  "I could never get interested in the Nets. "

  "Theyre supposed to have a good team. "

  "Yeah, thats what they tell me. Well, its great that youre seeing them. "

  "Uh-huh. "

  "Maybe you and Anita- "

  "Drop it, Eddie. "

  "Yeah, I talk too much. "

  "Shes got somebody else, anyway. "

  "You cant expect her to sit around. "

  "I dont, and I dont care. Ive got somebody else myself. "

  "Oh. For serious?"

  "I dont know. "

  "Something to take it slow and see what happens, I guess. "

  "Something like that. "

  THAT was Monday. For the next couple of days I took a lot of long walks and spent time at a lot of churches. I would have a couple of drinks in the evening to make it easier to get to sleep, but to all intents and purposes I wasnt doing any serious drinking at all. I walked around, I enjoyed the weather, I kept checking my telephone messages, I read the Times in the morning and the Post at night. I began wondering after a while why I wasnt getting the phone message I was waiting for, but I wasnt upset enough to pick up the phone and place a call myself.

  Then Thursday around two in the afternoon I was walking along, not going anywhere in particular, and as I passed a newsstand at the corner of Fifty-seventh and Eighth, I happened to glance at the headline of the Post. I normally waited and bought the late edition, but the headline caught me and I bought the paper.

  Jerry Broadfield was dead.

  Chapter 17

  When he sat down across from me, I knew who it was without raising my eyes. I said, "Hi, Eddie. "

  "Figured Id find you here. "

  "Not hard to guess, was it?" I waved a hand to signal Trina. "What is it, Seagrams? Bring my friend here a Seagrams and water. Ill have another of these. " To him I said, "It didnt take you long. Ive only been here about an hour myself. Of course the news must have hit the street with the noon edition. I just didnt happen to see a paper until an hour ago. It says here that he got it around eight this morning. Is that right?"