Dead Famous aka The Jury Must Die

by Carol O'Connell

  "But, Mallory, you never actually did the paperwork for time off."

  She slammed the drawer, causing heads to turn, and she never bothered to lower her voice. "If I put in for all the extra hours I've racked up since Riker's been gone – "

  "The city would go broke paying you off. I know. But the boss thinks you spent the last three days attached to the DA's office. Now he finds out they've never seen your face, not once."

  "So you sat there and watched him bust my desk open."

  "What could I do? I already told him I hadn't heard from you this week. How was I gonna explain all your evidence wrapped up nice and neat in my top drawer? So I had a patrol cop run your package downtown. Record time, sirens all the way. The assistant DA was still in the squad room when his office called to tell him they had everything they needed for court. Well, now this jerk has to apologize to Lieutenant Coffey. The boss loved that. So that's one point on your side."

  "But it's not the real reason he broke all my locks."

  "I'm guessing… no." Janos waved one hand, as if hoping to pluck just the right words from the air. And now he frowned – preparing her for the worst. It was his style to break all bad news in a slow and maddeningly gentle fashion. "You see, right before the DA's man showed up, the boss got this phone call. You know an ex-cop named Rawlins? He works for Highland Security. Maybe the lieutenant thinks you're working a second job on the side?"

  "He knows better," said Mallory. Jack Coffey understood that her only illegal sideline was Butler and Company. "What else?"

  "It has something to do with that shock-jock, Ian Zachary." Janos threw up his hands. "That's all I got." He looked up at the ceiling. "Well, almost. I know it's tied to that private dick, Rawlins. The guy's phone call really irritated the boss."

  The translation of that softsold comment was Mallory's vision of Jack Coffey going ballistic with a crowbar. She could see him ripping into her desk, venting all his animosity with vandalism.

  "I got an idea this is serious trouble." Janos nodded toward the lieutenant's private office. "So act real polite when you go in there. Don't say anything to get on his bad side, okay?"

  Yeah, right.

  Riker parted his curtains to look down at the street. Jo was walking alone, coming from the direction of the subway, and there were no feds in sight. Mallory was right. Jo could lose her federal watchers at will. That would also explain why she traveled on trains when she could afford cabs and limousines. It was harder to track someone underground, so many ways to lose a subject in a string of cars and all the station stops. The intercom buzzed.

  He pressed the talk button, not waiting to hear her voice. "Hey, Jo, come on up." He tapped the next button to admit her to the building, then opened his front door by a crack and listened for the rising elevator. He watched her step out into the hallway. It was a cold evening, and she wore a down jacket shaped like a dark blue hand grenade riding above her long blue-jeaned legs. In less than fifteen minutes, he would look back on this moment and recognize it as a warning.

  He opened the door a little wider, then backed up to the wall. She entered slowly, head turning from side to side, so suspicious of an unlocked apartment, but she never looked behind her. He stepped out from the wall and punched her arm.

  "So, Jo – did that hurt?"

  "What?" She whirled around, stunned, as one hand covered her upper arm where he had hit her with a closed fist. "You know it hurt. Why would – "

  "Good. Every civilian should take a body blow just once in their lives. Then they wouldn't freeze up, always anticipating the first punch, first pain." He stepped toward her, and educable Jo stepped back. "Let me take your jacket," he said. "It'll hurt more without all that padding."

  "You jerk."

  "Oh, all the women say that." And this was actually true. "So what are your physical limitations, Jo?"

  "My what?"

  "If you take a punch to the back, would that cause permanent damage?" He raised his fists, and her eyes rounded, but this time she did not back away from him. "All right, Jo, use your hands to deflect the shots. Stay alert. Here comes another one." His fist feinted toward her face, missing it by a bare inch. "Feel the air? Now imagine a bloody nose."

  "Why, Riker?" She only stood there, so exposed, making no move to protect herself. Jo had disabled him with nothing more than large brown eyes full of absolute trust. "You've never hit a woman in your life, have you? This is not who you are."

  "And who are you, Jo? You're a refugee from a witness protection program, and you keep shaking off your bodyguards." He had no more heart for this, and she knew it. His arms fell to his sides, and his voice had lost its edge. He was all but pleading now. "I only want you to have a sporting chance to stay alive."

  Who else would teach her how to break a man's nose with the palm of her hand? Without guidance, how would she ever learn to pluck out the jelly of an eyeball with one finger? His resolve returned. This was the only way to keep her alive. His hands were rising.

  "I won't do this, Riker. Not with you."

  "I'm not giving you a choice, Jo. But I'll make it easy." He opened his arms wide to expose his chest as an easy target. "Your turn. Take your best shot."

  She walked toward him, slow and deliberate, smiling to tell him that all was forgiven. And then -

  Lieutenant Coffey was a man of average height, and even his hair and eyes were in that middling range of brown. He was young for a command position, only thirty-six, but he had compensated for that by prematurely aging to fit the job, acquiring worry lines that gave his otherwise bland face more character.

  He glanced at his watch. It was just after seven o'clock, and he had no hope of escaping his office anytime soon. Two of his key people were missing; how was he going to fill that hole without more budget-breaking overtime? In his desk drawer was a letter from the commissioner asking why he had not yet replaced Detective Sergeant Riker. How long could he ignore that instruction? When would Riker sign the appeal forms? And was Internal Affairs planning another assault? Would Highland Security keep silent about the latest fiasco? Would the acid eventually eat through his stomach lining, and when, God, when was this ugly day going to end?

  Jack Coffey's eyes rolled up to the ceiling, but no answers were written there.

  The door was opening. There had been no knock, and that always irritated him. But could his mood be worse? Ah, and now he was graced with a visit from his only female detective. If not for Mallory, he might look years younger. If he fired her today, he might keep the hair that was left around the bald spot at the back of his head, and the tension headaches would go away.

  She stood on the threshold, arms folded, glaring at him. "I want a new desk," she said. "A brand-new desk."

  The lieutenant smiled against his will. This preemptive strike telegraphed that Mallory knew she was in trouble. He pointed to a chair. "Sit."

  He was hardly surprised that she remained standing. She paused awhile to peruse his paperwork, reading upside down in a violation of his personal space. Was this payback for her broken desk? Now she sat down. Mallory had only one basic strategy – offensive in every sense of that word. "I got an interesting phone call today." He tapped his pencil on the desktop, and this was the only giveaway that he was angry, for his voice was remarkably calm. "It was an ex-cop who runs Highland Security. The guy's name is Rawlins. You know him?"

  "I've talked to him," she said.

  How predictable that she would answer that question truthfully, for what was the point of getting caught in a little lie? Mallory was a big believer in truth administered in small doses to improve upon a falsehood.

  Done with chitchat, Coffey dropped his pencil. "Rawlins wanted to talk to our covert ops detective. Well, I told him we didn't have one of those, nothing that fancy in Special Crimes Unit. Then Rawlins says, "Oh, shitl'" Jack Coffey leaned forward. "Now, why should that make me think of you?" He paused a beat, allowing this remark to register with her. "So I said, 'You must mean Mallory.' Oh, yea
h – now the guy's more relaxed. He thinks that stunt you pulled on him might actually be legal. So then he tells me this radio celebrity sent his company a huge retainer. Now Rawlins wants to know what they're supposed to do with the guy's check since – thanks to you – they're not doing any work to earn it. I said I'd get back to him."

  "I'll tell him not to cash the check."

  "That's it?" If he waited for her to defend her actions, he would wait forever, but she had no idea that his best shot was still coming. "I'm really worried about you, Mallory. You've never been this sloppy before. Such messy tracks." Did that get her attention? "Well, no, but he pressed on anyway. "Two days ago, Ian Zachary calls Highland Security to set up an appointment. Five minutes later, you call Rawlins and tell him you're taking over, and he should keep his mouth shut. Five minutes. You should've waited longer, Mallory. Now I have to figure you intercepted Zachary's phone call. I don't remember asking any judges for warrants to tap a radio station's telephone. So, of course, you have some other explanation."

  "I have a snitch at the station," said Mallory. "That's how I knew about the call to the security company." Nothing in her tone said that she expected him to believe this.

  It was a lie, but it would do – in the event that Internal Affairs turned its eyes back to Special Crimes Unit. And now, for his next leap of inspiration, he said, "I'm guessing this all ties back to Riker somehow." He could see that she was not planning to elaborate on that, but there was no other explanation. She was good, damn good, even better than Lou Markowitz in the days when her old man had commanded this squad. It was unlike her to mess up so badly. Some personal aspect was affecting her judgment. And now he allowed it to affect his own.

  "Mallory, get out your damn notebook. That's an order. I've got a list for you, and I want every item to be perfectly clear."

  Her expression said, Yeah, right. However, she produced a small pad of paper from her back pocket, as a token appeasement. "I'm on comp time. This might have to wait a few – "

  "That's the first item – you don't get any more time off." "I've got at least fifty hours of – "

  "No comp time." He could see the next argument coming, and he put up one hand to prevent her from mouthing off. "You used your badge to muscle Highland Security. So now you cover your tracks. Open a case file for Ian Zachary. I'm guessing he wants security because of the Reaper. Those homicides belong to the feds, so make out paperwork for a celebrity stalker. Throw in some anonymous tips, and don't forget to backdate your file by two days." He slammed the desk with one hand. "I want to see you writing this down, Mallory."

  She bowed her head over the notebook, and her pen began to move. A small victory.

  "Next item," he said. "If there's an active phone tap at that radio station, make it go away. If that comes back on this squad, I'll fire your ass in a heartbeat. And the last little detail? Zachary thinks he has paid security, so you keep that son of a bitch alive. Officially, that's your new job." "He thinks I'm his private investigator – not his baby-sitter." "He better not die on your watch. Get out of my office."

  For months, Riker had avoided saloons in the precinct of his old squad, and now a local bartender flashed a broad smile. "Long time no see," the man said, as he set down two drinks on cocktail napkins, bourbon and water for Riker, rye for Jo.

  Another woman, one he had dated casually, had broken up with him in this same SoHo bar. There were many such landmarks in New York City. Over the past twenty years since his divorce, no relationship had lasted longer than a few months. Some of the women had left him in restaurants, and others had dumped him on street corners. Only now did he get around to wondering how he had erred in those brief encounters. It worried him that Jo might walk away before they even got started.

  "I promised you a meal," he said. "There's a nice little place around the corner." A woman named Donna had dumped him there. "You like Italian?"

  "No, thanks. Maybe some other night." She glanced at her watch. "I should be leaving now."

  "It's early," he said. It was late. "Don't go." His feet were tapping a rung of the bar stool, and his hands were sweating. Neither of these symptoms had anything to do with the damage this woman had recently done to him.

  Jo rolled up her sweatshirt sleeve, the better to see the bruise blooming on her right arm. She glanced at his crotch. "Does it still hurt?"

  "Naw. Don't worry about it. I had it coming."

  "You mean, you never saw it coming. My father's best advice – kick a man in the soft parts and run like hell."

  "Well, I'm glad you stuck around, Jo. That took guts. Most women would've been unnerved to see a man cry like that."

  An hour ago, she had kicked him in the testicles, and then, impressed by his suave fetal posture and groin clutching, she had shared the contents of a pharmacy bottle with him – pain pills, strong ones. Evidently, Jo and agony were old acquaintances. The lady had called it right – he was a jerk. But she was a good sport. Jo had suggested this pub crawl through SoHo for medicinal purposes.

  "Your color's better," she said. "Not quite so pale. You're a very good patient."

  "Better than Timothy Kidd? You were treating him, right?"

  Now she was taken by surprise. If he had only thought of this earlier, he could have mugged her with words and saved himself a world of hurt. A few moments passed in uneasy silence. Did she regret coming out with him tonight? There was time in this lull to notice that she was wearing perfume. Though they had lifted many a glass at the end of a workday, he never had been so close to her, almost touching shoulders. He breathed deep and stared at the red stain on her glass. Her lipstick fascinated and flattered him, believing as he did that she had tricked herself out on his account, though she was otherwise her old jeans-and-sweatshirt self.

  "You've been talking to Marvin Argus," she said. "He told you Timothy was my patient? Well, he lied. He does that a lot." She pulled the down jacket from the back of her stool, preparing to end the evening.

  "Wait, Jo. So it was a different kind of relationship – you and Agent Kidd. You were close. I figured out that much. Lovers?" "Would you find that hard to believe, Riker?"

  He shook his head, and he must have done a fine job of communicating that he was not at all surprised that any man would want her – that he wanted her – for she seemed contrite.

  "Sorry." She smiled, less anxious to leave him now. "Timothy was my friend."

  Riker sometimes got lost in Jo's eyes, foolishly dropping the threads of his thoughts. He wanted to know if she had also worn lipstick for the murdered FBI man. Instead, he asked, "How did you two meet?" "He came by my office asking for help on a case." "The Reaper case?"

  Her head moved slightly from side to side, more in wonder than denial. Perhaps, like most civilians, she assumed police omniscience, and now she was surprised by his ignorance. But how could he be wrong about this?

  "Well, the fed was killed by the Reaper. Logical connection, right? And it's like you said, Jo – Argus lies a lot. So help me out here." That fed was not the only liar. Riker was already laying plans to hunt down Mallory, to back her up against a wall and find out what else she had held out on him, but for now he must wing it. "So that's not when you met Agent Kidd?

  When the murders – "

  "No, I met him before the first juror died. No one had even heard of the Reaper yet. And Marvin Argus met Timothy after the second murder."

  "They didn't work together?"

  "No, Timothy worked out of Washington, D.C. Argus is based in Chicago, and he wasn't investigating the Reaper case either. Argus was only responsible for rounding up jurors and witnesses for protective custody. He probably thought Timothy was in town to check up on him. The second juror died in Argus's custody."

  "So, Jo, in your professional opinion, which one of these agents was the most paranoid?"

  She smiled. "Timothy. No contest. He cultivated paranoia, thought it enhanced his insight. And maybe it did. After two minutes, he could tell you your life story a
nd how it would end. Or that's what he thought. I'll show you how he did it. Now remember, this isn't my style. My trade takes more time."

  She nodded toward a lone patron between two vacant stools at the other end of the bar. "He's perfect for one of Timothy's stunts."

  The young man's greasy hair was parted down the center and bluntly chopped off below his ears. He was smiling at some lame joke he had told himself, and one pudgy hand tapped out the rhythm of a tune that only he could hear. His polyester shirtsleeves were buttoned down and his collar buttoned up. Riker noted the pocket protector lined with pens and mechanical pencils. Without looking underneath the bar, he knew the pants would be black with shiny knees.

  Jo colored in the rest. "I saw him walk in. He's wearing heavy correctional shoes, but there's nothing wrong with his feet. Trust me, I'd know by the walk. He's probably been wearing them since childhood. There's a whiff of smothering mother in that detail. He lives with her – that's why he still wears those shoes. And no barber cuts his hair that way. His mother does it, and she's always picked out his clothes. That's why he never fit in with the other kids at grammar school. All his life, she's destroyed any possibility of a friend his own age coming between them. He wishes he'd killed her while he was still in his formative years – maybe nine or ten. That's when the matricide fantasy started. When he finally gets around to murdering Mommy, you'll find him at the crime scene, probably the kitchen, knife in hand. He'll be very cooperative with the police – and very proud."

  Riker was not impressed with what the FBI agent had taught her. It was only a parlor game compared to the real carnage, bloody and insane, that was the daily work of Special Crimes Unit. The profiler tricks had never solved a single case, never replaced solid police work. And, as Jo had pointed out, this was not her style either. He picked his next words carefully. "I have to wonder why you're doing Kidd's old act. Good job, though. I bet you've been practicing since he died."

  She met his eyes, then looked down at her drink. "It's only a game."