Night and Day (6 page)

“I’ve seen you around the station,” Joshua said as he came into the room and slowly closed
the door behind him. “You two work for Al Ferrer, right?”

“That’s right,” Holstein said. “Captain Ferrer runs the Uptown District Homicide Unit.”

“Al’s a good man and an old friend,” Joshua said, coming closer. He ignored Holstein’s
outstretched hand and said, “So what does my old friend want?”

“Excuse me?” Holstein lowered his hand.

Joshua laughed. “I’m sorry. I just assumed that Al had sent you down here on an errand.”

Holstein curled his lip, almost involuntarily, then laughed. He didn’t like Joshua’s
implication, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it. Joshua can be a scary guy. He’s
almost 6'3, with a muscular body that looks like it was carved out of a single piece of scorched
ebony, topped off with a gleaming shaved head and a neatly trimmed goatee. It’s an imposing
look, and one that Joshua uses to his advantage.

“No, nothing like that,” Holstein said quickly. “We’re here about a case.”

“A case,” Joshua repeated. He walked past them and sat on the corner of my desk.
“Intriguing. One of my cases or one of yours?”

“Ours,” Holstein said. “I’m sure you’re not aware of it yet, but the corpses of two vampires
were found in a van this morning outside Uptown District station.”

“I heard,” Joshua said.

At Holstein’s frown, he continued, “Al Ferrer gave me a call about it before I left home this
evening. Just a heads up, since I was acquainted with both of the victims.”

“Mr. Cross and Mr. Ponittzo,” Holstein said.

“That’s right,” Joshua said, folding his arms across his chest. “Of course, if you want my
opinion, it’s no loss. They were parasites, both of them. Exploiting weakness, pandering to base
hungers. The only unfortunate thing is that their places will be taken by scum more like them
than not.”

Holstein nodded. “Mr. Thomas, could I ask when you last saw the victims?”

Joshua frowned. “I haven’t seen Jeremy Cross for a year, maybe a year and a half. Ponittzo .
. .” He looked back at me. “What was it, Charlie, three months ago that Ponittzo was here?
You met him, remember?”

I nodded. “About three months, I guess.”

Joshua turned back to Holstein and Martinez. “Ponittzo had been an investor in a client’s
business. The business had, sadly, failed, and Ponittzo was making some unpleasant noises
about getting his money back. Threats. I invited him here to meet with my client and discuss it.”

“I see,” Holstein said slowly. “And I’m sure you were able to straighten out the situation.”

“Of course,” Joshua replied. “I made it clear to Ponittzo that if he didn’t stop making
trouble for my client, I’d arrange to have him and his bloodfather, Jeremy Cross, nailed to a tree
in time to catch the sunrise.”

As Holstein’s mouth fell open, Joshua laughed. “I’m joking, of course. We handled the
affair in a businesslike fashion to everyone’s satisfaction and parted on amicable terms.”

Holstein laughed nervously. “You had me going there for a minute.”

“I’m sure I did,” Joshua said without a smile. “So what else do you need from me,
gentlemen?”

“I think that’ll do it,” Holstein replied. He looked at Martinez. “Anything, Burt?”

Martinez shook his head. “We got what we came for.”

“Then that’s it,” Joshua said, standing. “Say hello to Al for me when you see him. I’m sure
you can find your own way out.” He turned to me and said, “You’re out late tonight, Charlie.”

Behind him, I saw Holstein bare his teeth. When he noticed me staring at him, he worked
his mouth into a humorless smile, then turned and walked out of the office, Martinez behind him.

“Things took a little longer uptown than I thought they would.”

Joshua nodded. “Yes, I imagine Uptown station was bedlam. Did you do what you needed
to?”

“I’ll call Downtown station in the morning and make sure B&P dropped off the Klinger
girl’s body,” I said. “No joy with the Stein investigation either, though I might have some luck
in the next week or so if things pan out.”

“Drop the file on my desk so I can get up to speed when I come in tomorrow evening,” he
said. “You happen to do anything on the Jedron Marsch case today?”

I shook my head. “No time. I’ll start looking around in the morning after I get MaryAnn
Klinger taken care of. Doesn’t look like Jedron is going to require a lot of tracking.”

“No rush. It’s really just a favor for Lou Carpenter. The kid’s been lifting five or ten bucks
a night from the register at Carpenter’s and Lou wants to throw a good scare into him. Pick him
up, I’ll deliver him to Lou. Lou will slap him around a little bit, then put him back behind the
bar.” He laughed. “Apparently the kid is a hell of a bartender.”

“Will do,” I said.

Joshua was staring at me. “What does that asshole Holstein have against you?”

“How much did you hear?”

Smiling, Joshua said, “I heard a discussion about ballistics, followed by a question about a
machete.” His smile faded. “It sounded to my uneducated ear like he was trying to pin the
Cross/Ponittzo murders on you.”

“That’s the way Ray works,” I said. “Holstein and I go back pre-war. He was a Robbery-Homicide detective, I was the plainclothes looking to take his job. And he knew it. Holstein’s a
mediocre detective, but he makes up in quantity what he can’t produce in quality. Bring in
enough suspects, you’re bound to make something stick to one of them. Even if they’re not
guilty.”

“Charming,” Joshua muttered. “Do you want me to have a word with Al Ferrer?”

“Not necessary,” I said. “You put him in his place. He wanted to see how far he could get
with me, you showed him. Right now he’s fighting a burning desire to repay you for treating him
like the piece of shit he is. He’s not even thinking about me anymore.”

“Your call,” he said. He paused. “I’m not implying that you can’t carry your own water.”

“I know. And I appreciate the offer. But the day a bug like Ray Holstein gives me the
shakes is the day I start thinking about retirement.”

“Just remember that one bug is just an annoyance, but a swarm of them can sting you to
death.”

I laughed. “Thanks for the tip. I like it when you share some of your fortune-cookie wisdom with me.”

“My pleasure,” Joshua said with a thin smile.

“Speaking of your wisdom, I’d like you to take a look at my notes about the Klinger case
tomorrow night when you get in.”

“Certainly,” he said quickly. “But I thought that was finished. Girl was tapped dry.
Unfortunate, but hardly unique. And it usually indicates the investigation has come to a close.”

“Not quite,” I said slowly. “There’s something...I don’t know, not right about the whole
thing. I’d like a second opinion.”

“A second opinion from your partner, or a second opinion from a . . . Vee?”

“Both. Just take a look after I write it up tomorrow, and see if anything smells rotten to
you.”

“Charlie, you put a lot of time into the case,” Joshua said slowly. “You sure you don’t want
it to be more than it is?”

“Maybe,” I said. “That’s why I want your opinion. Everything looks okay to you, we put it
in the filing cabinet and move on to the next one.”

He nodded. “Good enough. Leave the file on my desk and I’ll take a look as soon as I get
in.”

“Thanks, Joshua.” I looked around the desk. “Okay, I’m out of here.” I
stood. “Have a good night.”

“Sweet dreams,” Joshua said, walking to his desk. “Keep your door locked and your pistol
under your pillow.”

“I always do, pal,” I said, walking to the door.

Sara smiled at me sweetly as I came out of the office and closed the door behind me.
“Going home so early?” she asked.

“You could have mentioned those two goons that were in there,” I said, stopping in front of
her desk.

“You didn’t ask, Charlie,” she said. “You never ask.” She batted her eyes at me, still
smiling.

“Maybe I’m afraid of the answer,” I replied.

“Maybe you’re afraid you’ll like the answer,” she said.

“Have a good night, Sara,” I said. I went out the door.

Chapter Five

Jedron Marsch was no more than 20 feet in front of me, arm around a girl I figured for his
girlfriend, walking slowly along the sidewalk. I’d picked them up outside a coffee bar on Fourth
Street, and stayed behind as they meandered through the crowds on the sidewalk. At ten in the
morning, the sidewalks of the neighborhood can get busy, especially with the open-air market
just a couple of blocks south. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t in a hurry and they didn’t seem to be
either.

They looked like they heading for the girlfriend’s apartment. That’s where I’d take him.

After a quick breakfast at Hanritty’s, I’d stopped by the office and made a call to Jimmy
Mutz at Downtown station. Jimmy was watch commander on the Downtown District day shift
and an old friend from the pre-war police department. MaryAnn Klinger’s body had been
delivered on schedule the afternoon before. They’d put it in a cooler and would be ready when
Browne & Poole sent the hearse to take it to the funeral home.

Before that, I’d have to talk to Mrs. Klinger

I jotted down some notes on the Klinger case for Joshua, stuck them inside the case file, and
put it on his desk. Cynthia wasn’t in yet, so I left a note for her to call Mrs. Klinger and have her
meet me at the office at two. That would give me most of the morning and the early afternoon to
track down Jedron Marsch.

It hadn’t taken long. My first stop was Jedron’s apartment on Hennessy. It was empty. He
wasn’t there. And he hadn’t been for quite a while.

When nobody answered my knock, I’d let myself in. From the layer of dust on the bare
wooden floors, I guessed that Jedron hadn’t lived there for a couple of months, maybe more. A
phone sat on the seat of a wooden chair against one wall. A trail of footprints led to the phone
and back to the door. It was a well-worn path.

Jedron was clever. A lot more clever than the average employee skimming the
cash register. He kept the apartment, and when he called work, he called from the apartment. As
far as they knew at Carpenter’s, he lived on Hennessy. But Jedron lived on Fourth. With the
girlfriend.

At least that’s the way I figured it. I was on my way to the girlfriend’s place when I ran into
the two of them outside the coffee bar.

He was easy to spot. Couple of inches over six feet, skinny, wearing a dark green turtleneck
sweater. No sign of the pendant that his employer would have issued him, but it might have been
under the roll of the turtleneck. Or more likely he’d cut it off and thrown it away.

I didn’t have to look at the picture in my pocket to confirm his identity. He had the kind of
friendly, open face you instantly like, with a big, happy grin that almost made you smile yourself.
He was flashing that grin at the girl on his arm.

I moved away from them and leaned against a light post, watching out of the corner of my
eye. I don’t like taking somebody down in a crowd if I can help it. If there’s a dust-up, you can
almost count on a couple of other people getting involved. When I was a cop, I could flash my
badge. I didn’t have a badge anymore, and waving my gun around only made it more likely that
somebody was going to get killed. Maybe me.

When they started to move, I let them go past me, then slipped in behind them. We’d been
walking for almost half an hour, and we were a couple of blocks from the girlfriend’s apartment.

I didn’t have much on the girlfriend. An address and a first name. Chelsea. She was cute,
mid-twenties like Jedron, maybe a couple of years younger, and just as skinny. I probably
weighed more than the two of them combined.

They stopped suddenly in front of the window of a jewelry store. I could see his face
reflected in the glass. It looked like he was staring directly at me.

I had two choices, and no time. Take him down right away, or walk by and pick them up at
the apartment. I walked by.

As I did, I could almost feel his eyes on me. He might not have made me, but that would
change if I made a mistake. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t change my gait. I kept on walking till I
was a fifty feet beyond them, then stepped in front of a guy coming in the opposite direction and
said, “Excuse me.”

For a second, I didn’t think he was going to stop, but he finally did. “Yeah?”

“I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to Expedition Square,” I said.

I didn’t listen to his answer. I was staring into the mirrored sunglasses that covered his eyes,
using the reflection to check out Jedron and Chelsea.

Chelsea was still standing in front of the jewelry store. Alone. Looking in my direction. No
Jedron.

That changed the game. Jedron might be in the store. He might be two blocks away,
running hard. Or he might be in my blind spot, coming up behind me with a knife.