Night and Day (36 page)

“Nedelmann,” I said to Ferrer.

“While you two were gabbing, I went down to the morgue,” he said. “No luck yet on the
integration test, but we were able to ID one of the thugs that attacked you. His name is
Johnny Ricci. Low value soldier from one of Arnie Kaiser’s crews.”

I nodded. “I’m not surprised. So what are you going to do about it?”

“What I tell him to do,” Daryl said. “Let’s not beat around the bush here. I can’t say that
I’m surprised. Arnie Kaiser’s name has been comin’ up since the day we started Clean Slate.
Carlo Barozie too, but Barozie’s mob is small, too small for what we’re seeing.”

“So take Kaiser down,” I said.

“It ain’t that easy, Charlie. Trust me, if what happened tonight is all we end up gettin’ on
Kaiser, you can bet the farm that he’ll pay for it with his life. But right now, I got a bushel
basket of things to lay at Kaiser’s door, and I need to build the case before I drop the hammer
on him.”

He looked at me. “Justice delayed is still justice. I’m not gonna have a problem with you
on this, am I?”

I hesitated a moment, then shook my head. “I’m willing to wait a while. But I’m not
going to wait forever.”

“Well, all right then,” Daryl said. He looked at Ferrer. “Al, I told you before and I’ll tell
you again. Findin’ out what happened tonight in the Downtown district
is your number-one
priority right now. I want a clean, solid case against Kaiser. You need resources or
manpower, you ask. If Hank Henry or that fuckin’ idiot Flannery gives you any trouble, you
have them talk to me.” He looked at Takeda. “Pardon my language again, ma’am.”

“No apology necessary,” Takeda said. “I’ve met District Chief Flannery, and he is a
fucking idiot.”

Daryl smiled. “Nice to see they got smart people workin’ at the Area Governor’s Office,”
he said. “Al, you know enough about my business to know how far you can go in certain
areas. Right now, we’re looking for evidence against Kaiser. I don’t want your folks
knockin’ on his door, askin’ if he did it, that kind of thing. Imagine there’s a little wall around
him and his gang. You stay on your side of the wall, okay?”

“Understood,” Ferrer said.

“Jimmy, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to be my go-between with Charlie here. I know
there are people watchin’ me, seein’ who I’m meetin’ with and talkin’ to. And they obviously
know that Charlie’s tracking Joshua Thomas’s murderer. But they don’t know he’s talked to
me, and I’d prefer to keep it that way. Nobody’s gonna be suspicious about you comin’ by
Central District station from time to time, and if you run into me in the parking lot and we
start talkin’, well, you’re still pretty pissed about the way I’m protectin’ Eddie Gabriel.”

“Sure,” Jimmy said. “I’d love the chance to discuss Eddie Gee with you in a more
informal setting.”

Daryl grinned. “Charlie, you talk with Jimmy ‘bout anything you need, or anything you
might want to share with me.”

“Right now, I need everything the city database has on Sam Klinger, as well as the name
of somebody I can talk to at Sisters of Mercy. Pass it on to Jimmy.” I looked at Takeda. “I’ll
also need whatever your people can dig up on him, as soon as possible.”

She nodded and took the cell phone from her pocket.

As she started to talk into it, Daryl said, “You think this Klinger fella is important?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Up to now, I had a pretty good idea how everyone fit
together, who the players were,” I said. “The only person who didn’t fit was MaryAnn
Klinger, a seventeen year old runaway who ended up tapped dry in an uptown dumpster the
same night Ponittzo and Cross were murdered. Sam Klinger was her father. Abandoned her
mother about a month ago.”

“What made you think she had connection to Joshua’s murder?” Daryl asked.

I wasn’t ready to tell him about the mad scientists at Delta-5. Not until I knew more
myself. “Holstein stole three files from my office the night Joshua was killed. Two of them
were cases that are connected to either Joshua, the uptown mob scene, or both. The third one
was the Klinger case.”

“You ever consider that it might have been a mistake? Maybe he took the wrong file.”

I shook my head. “Holstein didn’t take it randomly. Eddie Gabriel told me that somebody in
Kaiser’s mob was pulling Holstein’s strings that night. He specified what files to take, and
hers was one of them.” I paused. “So either she or her case is somehow part of all this. I
could never make it fit. But if Joshua was interested in Sam Klinger, it’s possible I was
looking for a connection in the wrong place.”

“I’d like to hear about those other two cases,” he said.

“I’ll brief Jimmy on them tomorrow,” I said. “Right now, I need to see Rachel
Nedelmann and tell her what happened to her husband.”

Daryl stared at me, and I knew he didn’t like the idea of me leaving so quickly. But even
he couldn’t bring himself to tell me to put Nedelmann’s widow on hold.

“I’ll see that Jimmy gets you the information you asked for,” he said.

“You also might check your notes and give Jimmy the other names that Joshua asked you
about, as well as whatever you came up with on them. Might be something there we can use.”

It was childish, but I enjoyed having the upper hand, at least as long as it lasted. Call it
revenge for having been backed into a corner.

“You got it,” Daryl said. He paused, then added, “Anything else I can do for you, CW?”

“If I think of something, I’ll let Jimmy know,” I said. “Good running into you again,
Daryl.” I held out my hand.

He shook it with a smile. “Yeah, I bet it was. If you think it’s appropriate, give my
condolences to Mrs. Nedelmann. Let her know that her husband’s death won’t go
unpunished.”

“I’m sure that’ll be a real comfort to her,” I said.

Jimmy grabbed my arm when we reached the sidewalk and said, “I think I should be the
one to talk to Rachel Nedelmann. He was working for you, but he was my officer.”

I hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. Neither one of us was close to Nedelmann socially. I
guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t try to talk me out of it,” Jimmy said.

“Okay, you’re right, I was dreading it. When I was at 83
^rd
Street, I had to do a few death
notifications. That was tough enough when I didn’t know the dead guy and didn’t have
anything to do with him being dead. I can’t imagine what it’s like to do one like this, and I
don’t want to know.”

“It’s like anything else,” Jimmy said. “You say a bunch of words, none of which mean a
fucking thing other than the ones that say her husband isn’t coming home. You stand there,
and take whatever she throws at you, anger, fists, tears, despair. Then you stand there a little
longer, and make sure she’s not going to take her late husband’s off-duty piece and put a
bullet into her head. Then you wait until there’s somebody else there for her. Then you go
back to the station or home or to the nearest bar.”

“Nedelmann was Jewish. I guess he was pretty devout since his daughter died.”

“I didn’t know that,” he said. “I’ll pick up Rabbi Cohen on my way over.”

“You sure you want to do this?” I asked. “I don’t want to sound like I’m volunteering,
but maybe I should be the one.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s my job.” He paused. “What are you going to do?”

“Go back to the office, I guess,” I said. “Maybe get a good night’s sleep for a change, get
my head in the right place to go back to Delta-5.”

“The camp?”

I nodded. “Yeah, something is going on there, something connected to Joshua and this
case.”

“What?”

I shrugged. “That’s why I’m heading up there. To find out.”

“Want some company?” he asked.

“You offering?”

“Yeah, tomorrow’s Sunday,” he said. “Carolyn usually likes to go to St. Bonaventure,
listen to Father McCray preach damnation against the Vees. With our...house guest, I guess
that won’t be happening this Sunday. And I don’t think they’re going to put up with me
sprawled on the couch, watching a ball game.”

“This trip isn’t exactly your line of work, Jimmy.”

“Nedelmann’s not around to go, and if it’s in the daytime, the dragon lady over there
can’t go either.” He jerked his chin at Takeda. She sat behind the wheel of her truck, talking
on her phone. “Let’s just say I’d feel better if you didn’t go alone.”

“You’re turning into a real softie in your old age, sarge.”

“I spent a lot of time turning you into a good patrol cop, only to have you flip me a bird
and go for a gold badge,” he said with a smile. “Then you come out of the camp and you go
private. Somebody’s gotta make sure you still remember the smooth side of the badge from
the pointy side.”

“Thanks, Jimmy, I appreciate it.”

“You like that hole-in-the-wall Hanritty’s, don’t ya?”

I nodded.

“He open on Sundays?”

“Seven days,” I said.

“See ya there at eight. You can buy me breakfast, then take your old sarge on an
adventure.”

Chapter Thirty-two

There were always a few more customers than usual in Hanritty’s on Sunday mornings,
people heading for or coming from church, families doing weekend-type things. That doesn’t
mean it was crowded. In addition to me, the regular guy in the booth next to mine, and
Hanritty’s wife, there were five other diners, an older couple in a booth, and three solos, all male, all
sitting at the counter.

I was working on my second cup of coffee when Jimmy came in. He was standing just
inside the door, giving the place the once-over, when I waved.

“Nice,” he said, sliding into the booth opposite me. “I’ve been past here a couple of
times, but never came in. Doesn’t look like much on the outside, and a hell of a lot less on the
inside.”

I shrugged. “Food’s good, it’s cheap, and it’s comfortable. And as I remember, you used
to be real fond of a nasty little dive up on Tremont. Heard the Health Department finally
closed that place down. What was it, salmonella?”

He laughed. “They said a couple of people got a touch of botulism. I didn’t believe it.
You know how rumors are.”

Hanritty came around the counter. “Yeah?” he asked, putting a cup of coffee on the table
in front of Jimmy.

“I could look at a menu,” Jimmy said.

Hanritty shrugged. “Got eggs, oatmeal, chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, ham,
sausage, bacon, home fries, toast. In any combination you like.”

“Eggs will be fine, I guess,” Jimmy said. “Two, fried, bacon, home fries, toast.”

Hanritty looked at me. “The usual?”

“Yeah, make it ham this morning,” I said.

“Coming up,” Hanritty said. He looked at Jimmy. “By the way, no cop discount.” He
turned and went back behind the counter.

“You didn’t mention the friendly staff,” Jimmy said with a smile.

“Han’s a good guy when you get to know him,” I said. “How did things go with Rachel
Nedelmann last night?”

“Compared to what?” he asked. He paused, then shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t get a
lot of sleep. I was over there till about three this morning.”

“She took it hard.”

“Two years ago she lost her only child. Yesterday she lost her husband. Yeah, I’d say
she took it hard.”

He shook his head again. “What made it worse is that when he left, she was yelling at
him about going out to work at night. It had been a sore spot between them since he started
working with you. I guess she felt like she never had the chance to tell him how much she
loved him.”

“He knew,” I said softly. “I wasn’t real close to Dick, but if you knew him at all, you
knew that he was head-over-heels in love with Rachel, and she was the same way.”

Jimmy sighed deeply. “Anyway, I stayed till three, then went home to grab a little sleep.
Rabbi Cohen was still with her when I left.”

“When this is over, I might stop by, see if there’s anything I can do.”

“I wouldn’t,” he said. “As far as she’s concerned, you’re responsible for Dick’s death.” He paused. “Which you’re not.”

“Sure I am, Jimmy,” I said. “And I’m not even talking about how I put that pistol to his
chest and pulled the trigger. Dick was dead the second he started to turn.” I shook my
head. “No, I killed him because I’m the one who took him off the street and got him involved
in this case. Whatever happened after that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t dragged him
in.”

“You can’t second guess yourself, or beat yourself up when something bad happens,”
Jimmy said. “I’ve been a cop a long time. I’ve sent a guy to watch the back of a house while
I went in the front, only to have him walk into a double-barreled shotgun blast to the face.
I’ve assigned guys to undercover details, had something go wrong, and they end up dead.”

He shook his head. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Charlie. Nedelmann was a cop. You
used to be one too, once upon a time. You know the drill. You put on the uniform, you strap
on a gun, and you do the job. You run into some sonofabitch who wants to kill you, you walk
away alive or you don’t. Nedelmann didn’t. I feel bad. You feel bad. Everybody feels bad.“