Partners

12.

As he had done half a dozen times already, Bradley called and said they needed to talk. By now this meant a clandestine meeting in a secluded place, usually somewhere on the fringes of Little Angola. Today it was a car wash, one owned by Bradley, whose real name was Murray Waller, and, as Sebastian had eventually learned, Mr. Waller had made a lot of money in the murky world of loan-sharking. He instructed Sebastian to park his BMW in line with all the other dirty cars and the wash-and-polish job would be on the house. Sebastian did so. He and Hiram entered the car wash and were told that the boss was waiting upstairs. Hiram stayed by the vending machines as Sebastian climbed the stairs.

The hooker was just a kid, a young girl in a woman’s body, with long brown legs that were on full display. Without the layers of makeup and a cheap wig, she was actually a pretty girl with lost, sad eyes. With the door locked, she told her story again for the benefit of the lawyer. Bradley had heard it several times. In fact, Bradley had first heard it as a rumor not long after Buck Lester was killed.

That night, the other cop, Keith Knoxel, was in for a $100 quickie. The rate was $125 for the other customers but her pimp liked to take care of the cops. Knoxel had stopped by several times, said she was his favorite. Her street name was China. She was now eighteen years old, but she’d been seventeen on the night of the killing.

Not long after Knoxel left her, she heard gunshots but had no idea where they came from. Gunfire was not uncommon in Little Angola. An hour or so later word hit the streets that a cop had gone down. She wondered if it was Knoxel. Didn’t matter to her.

Bradley opened a drawer and produced a photo of Knoxel, one she’d seen before. “That’s him,” she said. “Remember him well. Don’t get many white guys.”

Bradley looked proudly at Sebastian and said, “So, Counselor, in summary, the State’s star eyewitness, while on duty, was actually having sex with a child under the age of eighteen while his partner was getting himself shot. And, as you know, Officer Knoxel is a married man with three small children.”

Sebastian said, “Got it, but he’ll just claim it’s a lie, that he’s never met China.”

To which she replied, “He was regular. Other people know him.”

As Sebastian was leaving, he whispered to Bradley, “Make plans to get her out of town.”