by Neal Griffin
“I’m sure, Ben. Just run blocker for me for a couple more days. I’ll come up with something.”
“All right. Let’s see how things go tomorrow,” the Chief said. “Go home. Sounds like you’ve had a long day. Tell Connor I said hey.”
“He’s probably gone to work already, but I’ll let him know when I see him.”
“You two doing okay?” Ben asked.
“Never better,” she said. “But you know how he is. Proud guy. I just wish he could do better than stock boy.”
Ben nodded. “Get outta here, Suarez. You’ve done enough damage for one day.”
Tia paused at the door. “You’re right. I do seem to wield a hammer at times.”
“I was kidding.”
Tia took one step back into the office. “I raise a lot of hell for you, Ben, and you’ve always got my back. I appreciate that.”
Ben waved off the compliment. “I said get out of here. But not for too long. You need to get this thing figured out for me or I might be joining Connor at the Pig.”
Before heading out the door, Tia stopped by her desk to see if Livy had called or emailed. She didn’t want to push it. Livy had enough going on without Tia breathing down her neck. When she saw that her desk phone was blinking with a missed call, she was hopeful until she checked the number and recognized it. Detective Coleman. She picked up the phone and dialed the number. He picked up on the third ring.
“Hey, Detective Coleman. You called?”
“Yeah, Tia. I just wanted to apologize for the way things went down.”
Wondering if he was referring to their initial conversation or to pulling the report, she asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Well, I just didn’t figure on Reverend Mills reacting like that. I mean, I thought he deserved a heads-up, but I never expected he’d throw you guys under the bus and go to the media like that.”
“Oh, that.” Tia played it off, realizing she’d found the leak: Ezekiel Mills. No surprise. “You know, civilians can be touchy.”
“Well, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell your Chief I apologize.”
“I’ll do that.” The man sounded sincere, so Tia figured she’d try one last time. “A copy of that report would go a long way in convincing him you mean it.”
“I can’t do it, Tia.” She heard real regret in Coleman’s voice. “I had to sign a nondisclosure agreement. You ever seen one of those?”
“Nah. Can’t say as I’ve been through that.”
“I mean, if I disclose anything, they can sue me, fire me. Hell, I think it even said something about cutting my prick off.”
Tia heard the detective take a deep breath. “’Course, the one thing that trumps a nondisclosure agreement is a court subpoena. I mean, so I’ve been told.”
The phone went silent as if Andy wanted his last comment to sink in.
“Anyway,” he said, “I’m sorry. About all of it. I hate the fucking media and if I had anything to do with giving them a chance to screw with cops, then I take the hit.”
Tia let him off the hook. “Don’t sweat it.”
“All right. By the way, got your message from the front desk. I take it you were being a wiseass?”
“Oh, absolutely I was, but now I’m dead serious,” Tia said. “I appreciate the call and thanks for the heads-up.”
Tia hung up. A nondisclosure agreement? What the hell for? Tia knew she needed to get a copy of that report one way or another.
Tia went by the Chief’s office but Ben had left. She’d fill him in later.
THIRTY-SIX
A phone call to Adult Probation got them a work address for Kevin “Kimo” Moore. A few weeks after his discharge from Lincoln Hills, Kimo had turned eighteen and his file was transferred to Adult Services. He still owed the state twelve months of formal probation and now that he was an adult, if he wanted to stay out of custody, he had to find a job. Thanks to a state program that paid a big chunk of his hourly minimum wage, he was working at a high-end auto dealership in Sun Prairie. Tia and Rich showed up first thing Friday morning and checked in with the manager inside a glass cubicle that gave him a view over the sales floor.
“Hell, he’s only worked here a month and he’s already in trouble?”
“Nothing like that,” Tia said. “Just need to talk to him about some of his former associates.”
“Damn well better be former.” The manager leaned his three-hundred-pound frame against his office chair that let out a long whine of protest. “Can you believe the owner hired this guy? The kid’s got a history of boostin’ cars and we got a million dollars’ worth of inventory on the lot. What sense does that make?”
“Like I said, sir. Just routine. Nothing to worry about.”
“He’s around back.” The manager went back to punching numbers into his desktop calculator. “The redhead with the mop and bucket. And while you’re back there, tell him to stop standing around with his thumb up his ass and get to work.”
“How do you know he’s doing that?”
The man let out a loud short laugh. “Like I said, just tell him.”
Tia and Rich walked through the work bays and sure enough found a tall redheaded kid with a wiry frame, squirreled away in a back corner of the garage. He stood in a lean-and-rest stance, staring out an open roll-up metal bay door. His hands were stacked at the top of his mop handle, forming a chin rest. A cigarette smoldered between two fingers and the early morning sunlight had turned his eyes as green as the distant hills.
Tia waited to address Kimo in case he decided to do what came naturally. When she got within twenty yards, she called out, “Kevin Moore?”
The cigarette stopped halfway to his mouth. The young man looked at Tia and the badge hanging from around her neck. He stood up straight and slid his hands down the mop handle, like he was ready to push it to the floor and bolt. His gaze darted to the open garage door and the street beyond.
“Don’t even think about it,” Tia said, ready to run herself but hoping she didn’t have to. “Be cool. We just want to ask you a few questions.”
“Fuuuuck.” Tia could see the tension in his limbs. “That’s all you guys ever want and I keep ending up in a holding cell.”
“We can do it that way if you want,” Tia said. “Or you can just chill. You decide, Kimo.”
A sudden work ethic seemed to overtake the young man, who began to push the mop across the oil-stained cement floor. “Can’t you see I’m busy? Who are you, anyway?”
“I’m Suarez. This is Puller. Newberg PD. Need to talk to you about Henry Hayes.” Tia watched for a reaction. Kimo didn’t look up but seemed to push the mop a little slower.
“Heard he kilt hisself.” His sheet said Kimo was born and raised in Milwaukee’s Merrill Park, the historically Irish neighborhood that was slowly transitioning into an African-American community. Tia wasn’t surprised to hear him use the language and speech of the inner city, but it seemed odd coming from a kid with a ruddy complexion who looked as though he’d be right at home on the streets of Belfast.
“Well, you heard wrong,” Tia said. “Somebody did it for him.”
Kimo stopped, looking up at the two cops. “The fuck you say?”
“You heard me.” Tia studied his reaction, trying to detect genuine emotion beneath the boy’s natural bluster. She saw either shock or fear, but wasn’t certain which. “Henry went and got himself murdered.”
Kimo recovered and threw out a dismissive hand, turning away. “Then I don’t even need to be talking to you. I ain’t got nothing to say about no killin’. You all just leave me the fuck outta that.”
Tia took a deep breath and shook her head. “Then here’s what we’ll do. We’ll cuff your ass up, parade you across the sales floor, throw you in the back of our squad car, and go with that holding cell idea of yours. We’ll let your boss know he’s going to need a new man to handle all his shit details. Your probation officer will be pleased.”
While Kimo cursed her, Tia went on, “Or
I can tell the boss man out there that you agreed to help us out on some bullshit, nothing case. That you’re obviously a man ready to return to his civic duties. We’ll get you out of here for an hour and I’ll be sure he doesn’t dock your pay. Hell, on top of all that, I’ll buy you breakfast.”
“Fuck breakfast. If I’m gonna talk to you, I want a burger.”
“Fine,” Tia said. “I’ll buy you a breakfast burger and you’ll tell us what you can about Henry.”
“I told you. I don’t know nothing about Henry gettin’ his ass kilt, but if he did? Be just like him. Always talking all that Indian bullshit, pissing people off.”
“See?” Tia smiled. “You do know Henry. Put your mop away. Let’s go.”
Twenty minutes later Tia and Rich sat in a corner booth across from Kimo in the Culver’s on Main Street in downtown Sun Prairie. Tia let Kimo get halfway through his double butter burger with cheese before she started in. She stole a fried cheese curd off his tray and took a bite, then did her best to start the conversation off nice and casual.
“When did you first meet Henry?”
Kimo answered with his mouth full of bread and meat. “Lincoln Hills. He came in after I’d been there a month or so.”
“Yeah?” Tia said. “Talk about that. How you guys hooked up and all?”
Kimo stopped. “Hooked up? What the fuck you saying? You think I’m into that gay shit? Hell, no. Not even at Lincoln. Shit, I had female staff wanting to get with me. Why would I hook up with Henry?”
“Damn, Kimo. Relax. I’m not saying that. I mean you hung out, right?”
“Yeah.” Kimo nodded. “We hung out, that’s all. He’d never been locked up before.”
“I hear you kind of looked out for him. He was having a pretty rough time of it.”
Kimo took his last bite. “I want another one.”
“Not now. I said, word is you looked out for him. Is that right?”
Kimo shrugged. “Some guys was getting to him. Hard motherfuckers just killin’ time, waiting to get kicked over to Waupun. Some of ’em, they be trying to bitch Henry out. So, yeah, I looked out for him a bit.”
Tia knew she’d made a mistake with the inadvertent sex talk. Apparently some of the inmates did go after Henry sexually, but Kimo wanted it to be clear, he wasn’t one of them. She went at it from a different angle. “So what then? He made some enemies?”
“Nah. Nothing like that.” Kimo jammed the last three curds in his mouth and slurped his Coke, looking at the menu board. “Why you thinking he was murdered?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Tia could feel the beginning of the rhythm. They were close to exchanging real information. “How did you hear about it, anyway?”
“Damn girl,” Kimo said, sounding relaxed, “that shit all up on the news. Still is. I seen you giving that preacher all kinds of shit. That was tight.”
“You watch the news?” Rich butted in, sounding surprised. His precise diction along with his youthful appearance earned a reaction.
“Fuck you mean, white boy?” Kimo leaned across the table and cocked his head. “I can’t watch the news? You calling me stupid, motherfucker?”
Rich tried to fluster out a response and Tia saw Kimo’s eyes light up at having found a weakling. She grabbed the half-full cup of soda off his tray and flung it back at his chest. Kimo caught it with both hands but not without a good bit splashing up onto his work shirt.
“Knock that shit off, Kimo. You keep talking to a cop like that, you’re gonna get your ass tuned up.”
Kimo’s eyes blazed when he sat back in the booth. “So am I getting another burger? Cuz if I ain’t, we done.”
Burger or not, Tia knew they were done. There was no way she could let Kimo get away with disrespecting a police officer to the degree he had, but now Kimo had shut down and she hadn’t gotten a damn thing out of him. She could feel Rich squirm next to her and she figured he knew he’d screwed up. She gave it another go anyway.
“Henry’s mom says you’ve been coming around. You didn’t happen to go by last Sunday? Maybe give him a lift to Newberg?”
“His ma be crazy.” He shook his head. “Bitch stays high all the time.”
Staying calm, Tia said, “Did you check in with Henry last Sunday?”
Kimo turned back to the weak link. “Yo, homes, what do you think? I look like I keep a fucking calendar?”
Rich knew enough not to answer.
“When did you see Henry last?” Tia asked.
“Few days ago at his trailer. That’s all. I didn’t give him a ride anywhere.” Kimo looked hard at Tia. “I gotta get back to my job.”
The noncommittal answer was close. She needed a few more minutes. “I thought you wanted another burger.”
“Nah, fuck that.” He stood and looked down at his wet work shirt, his pride kicking in. “I answered you-all’s questions. I’ll walk back.”
“That’s fine, Kimo,” Tia said. “If we need to talk to you again, we’ll have a couple of uniforms swing by. Give you a ride down to the station.” Without another word, the boy stalked off.
Rich waited until Kimo was through the door. “Sorry about that.”
“You sure as hell should be.” She was frustrated enough not to worry about how the young cop took the criticism. “You know why he turned down a second burger? Because he had your ass for lunch.” Rich stared at the tabletop and Tia went on, “Don’t be popping off when I’m working somebody like that.”
“You’re right,” Rich said. “It won’t happen again.”
Tia watched as Kimo reached the street and stuck his thumb out, apparently too damn lazy to walk the six blocks back to the dealership. “Be sure it doesn’t.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Knock off the puppy-dog act, Rich.” She stood. “You messed up, but we’re still partners. But you damn sure owe me eight bucks for that little dickwad’s burger and curds.”
“Fair enough,” Rich said. “What now?”
Tia saw Kimo hopping into the back of a pickup. He looked her way and saluted with his raised middle finger. She gave some thought to chasing the truck down and hooking the boy up. She was pretty sure he was holding back and didn’t like letting him walk away. She could figure out a real charge later but for now, his wiseass mouth and middle finger could go down as contempt of cop. Good enough for a probation violation. A couple of days in an adult lockup would do the boy some good. Something told her Kimo’s PO wouldn’t have a problem with it. Her mind was pretty much set on hooking him up when her cell phone buzzed with a text from Livy.
nag in 30 mins?
She’d find another opportunity to deal with Kimo and his attitude. She returned his salute as the truck pulled away.
“You’re a lucky little shit, Kimo.” She smiled at Rich, letting him know she was already moving on. Sending a quick reply to Livy, she said, “Come on, partner. Let’s go see your girlfriend.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
It wasn’t surprising to find the Nag parking lot more crowded than it had been earlier in the week. It was Friday and the forecast called for a stretch of hot and sunny. That meant lots of folks were getting an early start on the weekend. As Tia and Rich walked the quarter mile to the dam, they passed by several family picnics, the dock was lined with fishermen, and boats pulling skiers sped around the lake. Rich took the time to try and set the record straight for the tenth time since they’d left the restaurant.
“I’m telling you, she’s not my girlfriend. Why did you say that? Did she say something to you?”
“Jesus, Rich.” Tia laughed and shook her head. “Relax. I was just pulling your dick is all.”
“Oh yeah, that’s funny.”
Livy had been leaning against the bridge’s railing, but straightened as Tia and Rich approached. Tia saw a large plain envelope in her hand.
“Hey, Livy,” Tia said, smiling. “Any chance that’s a time-stamped picture of somebody standing beside Henry? Maybe with a long-ass shotgun at the low ready?”<
br />
“Not quite. But close.”
“Seriously?” Tia asked, all humor gone from her voice.
Livy looked past Tia. “Hi, Rich. I heard you were working with Tia. How you holding up?”
“Hi, Livy. You should probably ask her, but wait until I’m not around. We had a rough morning.”
“Knock off the chitchat.” Tia was serious. “What’s in the envelope?”
“Good news and bad news.” She passed Tia the envelope.
Tia tore it open and pulled out the sheets inside. “Talk to me.”
“I processed the envelope and each of the bills individually. I was actually surprised because there weren’t many prints on the cash. Usually money is like a pea soup of partials. But the bills were new, so it wasn’t bad. I lifted quite a few identifiable latents.”
“And?” Tia was just starting to scan the report.
“Sure enough. Gosforth’s fingerprints are on the money and the envelope.”
“Get the hell out of here.” Tia looked up. “Are you kidding me?”
After getting shut down by Gosforth’s attorney, Tia had texted Livy the details on the Gosforth development. Tia was hoping Livy might figure out a way to access his record prints so she could compare them to any latent prints she was able to lift off of the money and envelope. Still, Tia never expected this kind of result. This was a home run.
“I accessed Gosforth’s prints through the state DOJ database from the prior arrest you told me about.” Livy pointed to a section of the written report that Tia held. “I’ve got him on six of the ten bills, plus a couple of really nice full fingers on the envelope. I think his hands must have been sweaty.”
“This is awesome, Livy.” Tia didn’t try to hide her excitement. “You really nailed it.”
“Don’t forget, I said good news and bad news.”
“What bad news?”
“It’s like I already told you, Tia, you can’t use any of this. None of it really does us any good.”
“Come again?” Tia looked up from the three typed pages.
“All this work and my testimony will be inadmissible. Kowalski will quash it.”
“We can work through all that,” Tia said, sounding confident.