First Victim

CHAPTER 32

aylord Riley dragged his fingers against his sweating cheek as if rubbing a lantern for good luck, stoically proud of his refusal to talk to police and patiently awaiting his attorney. His stained polyester shirt stuck to him like cellophane so that his chest hairs rose like tree roots struggling up through old asphalt. The Box had warmed behind LaMoia’s mounting frustration to where both men were panting and in need of a glass of water.

‘‘The thing a prick like you doesn’t understand, Riley, is that this is the wrong time to lawyer-up.’’

‘‘As if there’s ever a right time as far as you’re concerned.’’

‘‘I got a PA outside who will repeat to you everything I’ve been saying. You’re a known fence. Fraud has you on file.’’

‘‘Never been convicted of nothing!’’

‘‘You give up whoever laid this gear on you and you walk out of here, no harm, no foul.’’

‘‘That’s bullshit and we both know it. That big guy . . . he said assaulting an officer. He fell down is all—a shoelace or something. I didn’t assault no officer!’’

‘‘You want me to get him in here? Hang on a second!’’ LaMoia went to the door. Boldt, who had been looking on through the one-way glass was already at the door by the time LaMoia opened it.

Boldt stepped inside. Old times: he and LaMoia working a suspect. All they needed was Daphne in the room for the picture to be complete. Boldt said, ‘‘You talk, you walk. I told you that.’’

‘‘I’d rather hear it from a lawyer,’’ the suspect said.

‘‘By which time, you won’t hear it,’’ Boldt answered.

LaMoia sat back down in the chair facing the man. ‘‘Stupid is one thing. You were stupid to get into this—to call the station, set up the meet. But don’t be dumb. Don’t be an asshole, who thinks he knows more about how this works than we do. We’ve got jails filled with those numb-nuts, I’m telling you. You lawyer-up, you start things in motion that we’re helpless to stop. You bring in the college boys and you, me and the lieutenant are in chairs over in the corner watching the suits do the dance. Is that what you want? Honestly?’’ He felt he was getting through to the guy. Gaylord Riley looked ready to pop a blood vessel.

‘‘All we want is to start a dialogue here,’’ Boldt encouraged. ‘‘Get some words going back and forth. Work through the attitude down to the truth. If we do that in a timely fashion, there’s no reason lawyers have to be any part of this. Your little ransom attempt never happened.’’

‘‘I didn’t ransom nothing!’’

‘‘That’s what I’m saying,’’ Boldt agreed. ‘‘It never happened.’’

LaMoia cautioned, ‘‘We got you on videotape, audiotape and stills. We got maybe a dozen witnesses to this thing, pal—law enforcement officers, every one of them. What do you think you and your lawyer are going to use against that?’’

The man looked back and forth between the two detectives, the epitome of a scared little boy. LaMoia loved every minute of it. He didn’t have the degrees for it, but he thought maybe he should be a hostage negotiator, some guy who looks the bomber in the eye and dares the slob to push the button. He felt good all over, like after sex.

The suspect said, ‘‘He was Chinese. Twenty-one, twenty-two. Strong. Small. Never seen him before. Not since. Didn’t know what he had—thought it was a camcorder.’’

‘‘Gang kid?’’ Boldt asked, wiping any surprise off his face. Business as usual. Inside he was reeling with excitement. He knew better than to ask if he’d given a name.

‘‘Are there any that aren’t?’’ he quipped. ‘‘No clue.’’

‘‘He speak English?’’ LaMoia asked.

‘‘Pidgin shit,’’ the man answered. ‘‘Marble mouth.’’

‘‘Tattoos? Marks?’’ Boldt asked.

‘‘Just a kid looking to cash in. A little scared of the whole thing, you know?’’

‘‘Scared of making the deal,’’ LaMoia clarified.

‘‘Right.’’

‘‘So you thought it was hot,’’ Boldt said.

‘‘Of course it was hot,’’ the man declared. ‘‘Do I look like a buyer for Macy’s?’’

‘‘He called it a camcorder,’’ LaMoia repeated.

‘‘Yeah, right. Didn’t know shit about it. I’m telling you: He came in, wanted some money for it. I give him two bills and he books. Whole thing, maybe a minute or two.’’

‘‘Two bills for a twelve-thousand-dollar camera,’’ LaMoia said.

‘‘Hey, the station’s call letters are engraved on the bottom. What can I tell you? He must’a never seen it. Didn’t know how expensive this digital shit is. I’m telling you: He didn’t know what he had, that kid. And the way he was nervous and all: He was either a junkie, or worried about making the deal somehow. That kind of build, that strength, I’m not thinking he was a junkie. More like a kid who stole his own mother’s car stereo.’’

‘‘He found it,’’ Boldt said to LaMoia. ‘‘He found it, or he took it from her—’’

‘‘But he didn’t tell no one,’’ LaMoia completed.

‘‘Who?’’ the suspect asked. ‘‘I didn’t take nothing from nobody!’’

‘‘Shut up!’’ LaMoia barked. ‘‘We’re talking here!’’

Boldt said, ‘‘He found it and figured he’d make himself a couple extra bucks.’’

‘‘So he hocks it with this bozo,’’ LaMoia said.

Boldt informed the man, ‘‘We’re going to ask you to look at photo arrays.’’

‘‘Mug shots.’’

‘‘Right,’’ the lieutenant said. ‘‘You point him out, you walk out of here—’’

‘‘Hey! That weren’t no part of the deal! That’s bullshit.’’

LaMoia stood abruptly, startling the man. He leaned across the table. ‘‘Don’t interrupt the lieutenant, asshole! The man’s talking to you.’’

Boldt repeated, ‘‘You’ll look at the photos. You point him out, you walk out of here tonight. You don’t find him, you do a night in lockup for the assault, and you look at more photos tomorrow. You give us a face, we give you a passport.’’

‘‘This is bullshit!’’

‘‘This is your way out of here,’’ LaMoia corrected. ‘‘Or would you rather we call the attorneys, and tell them you won’t cooperate?’’

‘‘But I did cooperate!’’ he protested.

LaMoia turned to Boldt. ‘‘Do you think he’s cooperating, Sarge?’’

‘‘I think he’s making up stories,’’ Boldt said.

‘‘I’m telling you the way it went down!’’ the man shouted.

‘‘And he’s yelling at us,’’ LaMoia observed.

Boldt said, ‘‘You give us a face that checks out, and you walk.’’

LaMoia cautioned, ‘‘If you’re making this shit up, you’re toast.’’

‘‘He was just some kid! Some Chinese kid. How am I supposed to know the difference?’’

‘‘They all look alike?’’ LaMoia challenged in a threatening tone. ‘‘Don’t go there, pal.’’ He lied to pressure the man: ‘‘You don’t want to get within a few miles of that, given that the lieutenant here is married to a lovely Chinese woman and has five little daughters to prove it.’’

The suspect looked as if he’d swallowed an ice cube or was choking on unchewed meat.

Boldt had to turn to the door so the man wouldn’t catch his grin. ‘‘Let’s get it started,’’ he said to his sergeant, wondering where LaMoia came up with such stuff.