Roast Mortem cm-9

by Клео Коул

  “How do you know about that?” I challenged. “You weren’t even there.”

  “Half the firehouse was there, lady! It’s all the shift’s talking about tonight!”

  “Then you haven’t heard yet?” I said, hardly able to believe it. “None of you have heard about James?”

  “James?” Oat said. “What about James?”

  “Quiet! Both of you!” Hoyt said. Now he turned to me. “What was this fistfight about earlier in the evening, Ms. Cosi? You didn’t mention it to me.”

  “It was nothing,” I said. “A misunderstanding, that’s all.”

  “That’s what you call it?” Oat barked a laugh. “Listen to me, Sarge, earlier this evening, in front of a dozen witnesses, her boyfriend — Detective Mike Quinn of the NYPD — worked over his cousin at Saints and Sinners pub in Woodside after he caught her making out with him — ”

  “I was doing no such thing!”

  “Call it what you want, honey, your lousy cop boyfriend obviously came here to finish the job he started on his cousin.”

  “Well, it didn’t go down like a fistfight here,” Hoyt said. “It appeared the victim was struck from behind with a blunt instrument. The attacker shook down the premises, stole the victim’s watch, wallet, rifled his pockets, and then fled with the weapon.”

  “To make it look like a robbery,” Oat said. “Quinn’s been on the job all his life! He knows how to cover up his own crime!”

  “You’re wrong!” I said. “Mike might have thrown a punch in a bar, but he would never ambush a man with a club, beat him into a coma.”

  “Calm down, Ms. Cosi,” Hoyt said. “I’m just looking at all the angles, and it sounds like this fight was a heat of the moment thing, except that you never mentioned it, which makes it clear to me that you’re far from an objective party.”

  “But that fight has nothing to do with what happened here,” I said.

  “Bull!” Oat bellowed. “There’s been bad blood between the pair of them for years. A real history. Listen to me, Hoyt, you better not try to protect Detective Quinn just because he’s another cop, or I’ll — ”

  “You don’t want to threaten me,” Hoyt said, his own threat clear under the tight reply. “Just tell me about the history.”

  I expected Oat to spill that old Kevin Quinn story or tell Hoyt how betrayed Michael felt about his cousin quitting the fire academy. Instead, he said a name that I never expected to hear.

  “Leila Quinn.”

  “Mike’s ex-wife?” I whispered, feeling a creeping sense of dread. “What about her?”

  “So your boyfriend never told you?” Surprised by my ignorance, Oat turned disgustingly smug. He played to Hoyt. “About ten years ago, my captain nailed her boyfriend’s wife, Leila — a real hot broad, too, former lingerie model. The captain invited Leila down to Atlantic City for a weekend. She took him up on it. Who knows what lie she told her dumb-ass cop husband to get away for the weekend, but off she scampered making herself very available.”

  I felt cold inside, so cold I shivered. Matt was up the stairs by now, lingering on the landing beside a uniformed officer. Needing a friend, I met his eyes.

  “Was there any violence back then?” Hoyt asked.

  “Oh yeah,” Oat replied. “Detective Quinn didn’t find out for months. The wife finally brought it up when they were having some fight, just to stick it to Mikey, and when she told him the truth” — Oat looked skyward and made a fist — “whammo.”

  “Define ‘whammo’ please,” Hoyt said.

  “Your fellow detective went nuts, how’s that? The captain’s got a gold tooth in his mouth for a reason. Mike Quinn knocked out the real one.”

  Hoyt exchanged a long glance with Ramirez — and the sight made my stomach turn. They’re making Mike for this.

  Oat folded his arms. “That guy is no damn good. What he did to my cousin Pete, I’ll never forget.”

  “Pete,” I said. “Pete who?”

  “Pete Hogarth,” Oat replied. “My mother’s family knows all about Mike Quinn. The prick framed Pete’s old man on some trumped-up murder charge, planted evidence in his bird coop on the roof of his building.”

  “That’s not true,” I said, struggling now to hold my temper. Matt stepped up behind me, put a hand on my shoulder.

  “What do you know about it?” Oat spat. “Quinn wasn’t even a cop back then, just some rat kid with a Hardy Boys complex. He even got some phony civilian award from the mayor. The jerk was working the angles before he even set foot in the police academy, laying the groundwork to move right up the ladder.”

  “Pete Hogarth’s father was a killer!” I shouted, moving fast toward Oat. The man actually took a step back. “He murdered a Dominican bodega owner in cold blood while he was robbing him — ”

  “Shut your mouth — ”

  “That’s enough,” Hoyt said. He turned back to me. “Ms. Cosi, can you account for Detective Quinn’s whereabouts after the incident at the pub?”

  “Not exactly... I mean, Mike left and then...” I swallowed. “I called him several times. He hasn’t returned my calls yet, but — ”

  “Then you can’t vouch for his whereabouts?”

  “No, but I’m sure — ”

  “Thank you, Ms. Cosi.” Hoyt turned to his partner. “Get Detective Quinn’s shield number from One Police Plaza and bring him in.”

  “Wait!” I cried.

  “He had motive and opportunity, Ms. Cosi. Unless he can come up with a credible alibi for the last couple of hours, he’s going to be a person of interest in this case — ”

  “What about him!” I pointed at Oat. “He may have had a motive to do this. Let me tell you why — ”

  “I was on duty at the firehouse all night,” Oat replied levelly. “We had three runs, and every man I worked with is a witness. Go ahead, check me out. Have fun wasting your time.”

  Oh God. I turned back to Hoyt. “You have to listen to me. Mike didn’t do this. The captain had evidence in this apartment — ”

  “Yes, I already have your statement about that. We’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for your help,” Hoyt said, waving over a uniformed officer. “You and your business associate are free to go now — ”

  “But — ”

  “Now.”

  The uniform stepped up, hand on the butt of his night stick.

  “Come on, Clare,” Matt said, tugging my arm. He deliberately moved his body between me and the smirking Oat Crowley. Good thing, too. I was close to ripping the lieutenant’s face off.

  Outside, several police cars surrounded the apartment building. It was 4 AM, still pitch-dark, but the spectacle had drawn a cluster of gossiping neighbors, coats thrown over robes and pajamas. We stepped clear of it all and headed back to the Honda.

  “Now I know why...” I said, voice hoarse.

  “Why what?”

  “I was angry with Mike for reacting so violently behind the pub, but I didn’t know about Leila... I didn’t know what his wife did to him behind his back.”

  I stopped walking, faced Matt. “I can understand why the captain didn’t tell me. He wanted to play me. But why didn’t Mike tell me the truth?”

  “I’ll tell you why. He was ashamed.”

  “Of what?”

  Matt tilted his head back, as if he were going to read me the answer in the stars. “You women talk endlessly about your problems. With your girlfriends, your sisters, your mothers. Talk, talk, talk. But men aren’t like that. Mike didn’t tell you about his wife going to bed with his cousin because he was ashamed and embarrassed.”

  “If he had told me, I would have understood.”

  “Clare...” Now Matt was rubbing his neck, as if he were struggling to translate Portuguese into Mandarin. “If I know Dudley Do-Right — and I think I do — whatever he kept from you... he did it because he wanted your love, not your pity.”

  I nodded then whispered, “So now what do I do?”

  “Well, Clare, if I know you — and I think I
do — you don’t give up.”

  Then my ex-husband, business partner, and oldest friend put his hand against my back and pressed me into forward motion again.

  Thirty-Five

  An hour later, dawn broke — although it was hard to tell. Beyond the French doors of my Village Blend, gray buildings met gray clouds in an unending urban haze. Even the sun was too weary to shine.

  “How bad is it?” I asked the men sitting across from me. I wasn’t due to open for another hour, but I already had two customers: Detective Finbar “Sully” Sullivan, Mike’s righthand man on his OD Squad; and Emmanuel Franco, his younger, street-wise protégé.

  “How bad is it?” Franco echoed. “On a scale of one to ten: I’d say a ten.”

  “The man’s not dead,” Sully countered. “He’s just in custody.”

  Franco shook his shaved head. “He’s charged, which means he’s dead to the department, and for a guy like Mike Quinn, when they take away your shield, they might as well put you in the ground.”

  I closed my eyes, from anguish as much as exhaustion. Matteo was sacked out upstairs. But I couldn’t rest, not with Mike in hell. What awful thoughts must be going through his mind and heart? Is he cursing me now? Sorry he ever met me, ever walked into my coffeehouse?

  “Guys...” I said, unable to stop a few tears from spilling out, “isn’t there any way for me to see Mike? Talk to him?”

  Sully reached across the café table, squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry, Clare. We can’t even talk to him.”

  “Or work his case,” Franco noted.

  “But you can,” Sully said.

  “His case?” I opened my eyes, wiped my wet cheeks.

  Beyond the Blend’s windows, a ray of gold had broken through the morning fog, giving Sully’s carrot-colored cop hair an almost rousing vibrancy. The man’s shared glance with Franco, however, remained darkly pensive.

  “You’re a civilian,” Sully reminded me. “IAB and the Department of Investigations can’t sack you for turning up some leads to exonerate him.”

  “But I already have,” I said. “That’s why I called you two.”

  The detectives exchanged glances again, but their expressions were no longer pensive. Now they looked hopeful.

  “What have you got?” Sully asked, leaning forward.

  “I have three theories,” I said.

  “Good, let’s hear them.”

  “Okay, but first... I need some coffee.” I rose from the table. “You guys want some?”

  “Are you kidding?” said Franco.

  “Please,” said Sully.

  “A bite to eat would be nice, too,” added Franco.

  Sully whacked the back of his billiard-ball head. “Don’t be an ass.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault the Coffee Lady makes excellent baked goods! I can see where her daughter gets her, uh” — he waggled his eyebrows — “talent.”

  I stared at the man. “Detective, you are talking about my daughter’s cooking right?”

  “Of course,” Franco said, although the wink he threw to Sully gave me pause.

  “Well, you’re in luck,” I called, moving behind the counter. “The pastry delivery just came, and I have some warm pistachio muffins back here. I gave the recipe to my baker for St. Patrick’s Day, but the customers liked them so much they asked me to keep them on the menu.”

  “I’ll have three!” Franco said.

  “I actually wouldn’t mind a couple,” Sully added.

  Franco snorted. “And I get a head whack? For what?”

  “Just for being you.”

  Ten minutes later, we were sipping hot mugs of my freshly roasted Breakfast Blend, devouring a half-dozen of my warm, green pistachio muffins, and going over my theories on Mike’s case.

  “Theory number one,” I began. “The Crazy Girlfriend. Josephine Fairfield’s glove outside the captain’s house truly gives me the creeps. The woman already admitted to being an arsonist — in a bar full of firefighters, no less. And she was acting lovesick at the pub. I could easily see her waiting for Michael Quinn at his apartment. Maybe he was harsher with her in his own place, maybe he even slapped her or pushed her, and she retaliated by grabbing an object and braining him with it before running off. What do you think?”

  “I think it doesn’t answer why the captain’s apartment was ransacked,” said Sully.

  “Yeah,” said Franco. “Whoever put down Captain Quinn did it with a cool head.”

  “And a ruthless one,” Sully noted.

  Franco agreed. “While the man’s lying there, presumably bleeding to death, this scumbag preps the scene to look like a break-in robbery.”

  “Well, if you want ruthless, I have the perfect candidate,” I said. “Theory number two: the Bad Lieutenant.”

  I told them all about Lucia Testa’s secret love affair with Lieutenant Oat Crowley and his possible motive for setting fire to her father’s caffè (winning Lucia as his wife along with a fat fire-insurance inheritance that would help feather his retirement nest).

  “But why would he attack the captain?” Sully asked.

  “Because Michael Quinn had evidence against him,” I said. “When James’s best friend died during that chain coffeehouse fire, I think James got suspicious of Oat. So he went to the captain with some kind of evidence. Oat got wind of it and eliminated both men. The only problem is Oat’s alibi. He claims he was on duty all night and his crew will verify it.”

  “So how could he have killed James and attacked Michael Quinn?” Sully asked.

  “He might have slipped away,” I suggested (weakly).

  Sully and Franco glanced at each other. Doubtful.

  “What else have you got?” Sully asked.

  “Theory number three: the Fireman’s Wife and the Arsonist...”

  The stars of my third scenario were Valerie Noonan and Dean Tassos. I laid out Dean’s motives for arson and Val’s desire to see her husband gone. As I talked, Sully and Franco both leaned farther forward in their chairs. The glances they shared felt increasingly energized.

  “...and I think those two set the chain coffeehouse fire and sent a fake letter to the papers to throw off the authorities,” I said. “If James Noonan knew about Dean’s arson and gave evidence to the captain, Val could have tipped off Dean. She may not have killed her husband with her own hands, but she could have agreed to look the other way while Dean murdered James and made it look like a suicide, then beat down Michael Quinn and made it look like a robbery.”

  “I think she’s got something here,” said Sully.

  “So do I,” said Franco, “and it makes a helluvalot more sense than Homeland Security’s current theory.”

  “Is that who’s in charge of the arson investigation now?” I asked.

  Sully nodded. “They’re all over the threat you got here at the Blend. Word is they’re making a case against some anticaffeine fanatic connected to one of your customers.”

  “Which customer?”

  “Barry something or other.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” I said. “Barry wouldn’t hurt a fly. And it’s hard for me to believe he’d hook up with a bomb-setting terrorist.”

  “That’s the rumor,” said Sully. “This friend of Barry’s supposedly has a checkered history and some memberships in activist groups that have gone nuclear in the past. He lives in an apartment near the chain coffeehouse that burned, was seen near Caffè Lucia the day of that fire, and has friends near the coffeehouse in Brooklyn that went up — that’s where the backpack was purchased that held the package that threatened you. I’m not supposed to know any of this, of course, and neither are you, Clare.”

  I blinked. “Who am I going to tell?”

  “Your friend Barry for starters,” Sully said flatly. “So tell him to get a good lawyer for his boyfriend.”

  Off my shocked look, Sully simply shrugged. “I’m ready to hang with Mike.”

  “No!” I said. “I don’t want anybody to hang!”

 
“Ladies!” Franco sang. “Before you two get your panties in a twist over Barry and his buddy, can we come up with a strike plan?”

  “Yeah...” Sully shot him a sour look. “And let’s make sure it’s better than our last one.”

  “Hey, Sully, my intel was golden. Last night’s op failed because those dealers are smarter than the badges who conducted the stop-and-search. The drugs are in that pizza delivery car. I know it.”

  “You know it, but you’re the only one,” said Sully. “Try, try, again, Detective...”

  It took me a moment to catch up: These two were talking about their squad’s operation last night, the one that went down badly or else Mike would never have shown up at Saints and Sinners. Val had called it “bad timing.” I closed my eyes again, wondering what else it was.

  “Clare, you okay?” Sully asked.

  “No,” I whispered. “I’m thinking about Mike again and what happened last night in Queens...”

  “Well, don’t beat yourself up. After our op went down in flames, Franco was almost made, which meant his life was endangered not just his cover. Believe me, Clare, by the end of it all, Mike was ready to punch out a choirboy, never mind the cousin who pawed you up.”

  I opened my eyes. “Do you think Mike knows I never meant for it to happen? Does he know I’m not Leila?”

  Sully put a hand on my shoulder. “Of course he does. Mike knows who you are, Clare. And he knows who his cousin is.”

  “Mike trusts me?”

  “Not just trusts, Clare. The man loves you. When he lost it last night at that pub, the reason was his cousin, not you.”

  “Yeah...” Franco shifted, scratched the side of his head. “What he said.”

  “So have you got anything more on this guy, Tassos?” Sully asked.

  “Just his business card.” I went to my bag, brought it over.

  Franco nodded as soon as he saw it. “I know this club. The Blue Mirage? It’s in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, on the same block as the coffeehouse that burned down.”

  “That’s two connections,” Sully looked to me. “Right, Clare?”

  “That’s right.” The pieces were falling into place. “Lorenzo Testa was hassled by guys from the Red Mirage club. The neighborhood busybody confirmed that to me the night of the fire.”