Silent Joe

Chapter Eight

I stood in an observation hall behind the big mirror in one of the sheriff’s department interview rooms. Rick Birch opened the door for John Gaylen. I felt a flutter in my guts when Gaylen came into the room, turned, folded his hands and looked at me through the one-way mirror. More than a flutter: a buzz.

I looked away, took a deep breath and looked back.

Buzz.

I tried to put it out of my mind, to just watch and witness. Mouth shut, eyes open.

Behind them was Harmon Ouderkirk, Rick’s partner. Ouderkirk was short, thick, around forty. He shut the door hard.

Gaylen stared in my direction, though he couldn’t see me. He looked at the video camera in one corner. It’s on a tripod, a decoy camera we leave turned off most of the time. The operational one is hidden behind the air conditioner vent on the opposite wall.

“You didn’t say anything, about a taping.”

Nerves rioted up my back. I felt my scalp get cold and tingle. The voice — deep and clear, with the funny, slightly skewed cadence.

It came through the video mike, amplified just enough for me to hear well.

Will! Ah, Will Trona! Let’s talk.

The voice of the shooter? So close. So hard to remember the exact sound of a sound.

“We’re not taping,” said Birch.

“That’s right, you’re not.”

“Turn the damned thing to the wall if you don’t believe him,” said Ouderkirk. “Unplug it.”

Gaylen looked at the camera, then took off his suit coat, folded and hung it over the lens end and the microphone.

“Who’s behind the mirror?”

“Nobody.”

Gaylen looked at me through the mirror again. “He looks like a nobody.”

I breathed deeply and observed him, trying to steady my nerves, trying to be sure about that voice. I was as sure as the memory of a voice could make me.

He was tall, with copper skin and a strangely handsome face. High cheeks, heavy epicanthic folds, full lips. His eyes were wary and quick. He wore a navy suit with a silver-blue silk shirt and a silver-blue silk tie. His watch was a Rolex or a knockoff.

There was a table in the interview room, bolted to the floor. Four chairs, two on each side, bolted also. They were originally painted tan but the paint has worn from the edges and corners to show the metal underneath. There are still cigarette scars from the days when people smoked while they talked. No smoking now. But the deputies decided years ago to leave the marks there, figuring someday they might make some creep feel even more desperate to know he couldn’t smoke.

There’s a push button hidden under the tabletop, in front of chair four, that lets you control the real camera, but Rick had already turned it on from outside.

“Have a seat, John,” said Rick.

Gaylen picked the chair facing away from the decoy camera. The usual move. That left me a clear view of his face on the monitor, and a good angle through the mirror.

Ouderkirk leaned against the door and crossed his arms.

Birch sat across from Gaylen and brought out a pen and notepad.

“Wednesday night, John,” Birch said. “We’ve got an eyewitness to the Trona shooting. Told us it was the Cobra Kings.”

“Take it up with them.”

“Which ones?”

“I wasn’t there.”

“Really. Where were you?”

“With a woman.”

“I’d like a name and number.”

Gaylen looked at me, then over at Ouderkirk, then back to Birch.

“Ah, I’ll bet you would, wouldn’t you?”

Ah, Will Trona!

Birch sat back, tapped his pen on the tabletop.

“We got a good description of the shooter that night. And it sounds a lot like you. Here, see what you think.”

Birch flipped back in his notebook. “Tall, average build, overcoat or trenchcoat. Dark skin, maybe African American. Right-handed. Deep voice.”

Gaylen stared at Birch while he read. He nodded twice, faintly. “That could be a lot of people.”

“Not really. Five guys with long coats? What’s the use of having your colors if you don’t fly them? Five guys with long coats is five Cobra Kings.”

“I wasn’t there.”

“Then who was? Help me out.”

Gaylen sneered.

Ouderkirk walked out, slamming the door.

“Look, John, I’m going to bring your guys in. Every one of them. And I’m going to rattle their cages. Hard. If you know anything about that night you better tell it now. After today, you’re looking at obstruction of justice, and that carries three-to-five. Think about three years without that woman you had two Wednesdays ago. Think about three years without any woman at all. If you’re holding out on me, John, you’re going to pay some pretty high rent.”

Gaylen stared at him.

Ouderkirk joined me in the observation room. “That the guy?”

“Yes. The voice.”

“We can’t hold him on a voice, Joe. What about the face?”

I could hardly keep myself from going around the corner, into the interview room, and taking care of John Gaylen on my own.

“The fog blocked his face. But not his voice.”

“Too bad. To me, he looks like the kind of guy who’d do two of his friends just to protect his own well-clad little ass.”

“You might ask him if Sammy Nguyen knows about him and Bernadette Lee.”

“The babe in the picture?”

“Yes. She’s Sammy’s girl. He’s got a picture of her over his cell cot. He’s a murderer, with plenty of friends on the outside.”

“Got ya.”

We watched as Birch continued. “John, maybe that wasn’t you guys. Maybe it was five people trying to look like you guys. Not very likely, though, is it? We’re on to you. We’ve got at least one witness — a good one. And one more, in the hospital. Cao’s going to make it, you know. Tough young guy. And he’ll be happy to talk, won’t he? We know you shot him. Our wit, he saw everything.”

“I don’t shoot my friends. Maybe you do.”

“Come on, John. Put yourself in Ike’s shoes. Betrayed like that by his own guy? If he won’t finger you, we’ll crack one of your boys, maybe a young one, maybe somebody looking at his third strike. Maybe somebody who doesn’t like you so much. And if your name comes up — wow. You’re in the deepest possible shit. But right now you’re in a position to help yourself, and help us.”

“Help you? That’s enough reason to walk out of here,” said Gaylen.

“Any time. Door’s open. How did you know Will Trona?”

Gaylen shook his head. “No. Didn’t. Don’t.”

“That’s not what Will Trona said.”

“So you brought him back to life?”

“I read his appointment book.”

It took Gaylen a second to think of something. “Don’t tell me he had us down for lunch at Bamboo 33.”

“No names, John. Just CK this and CK that.”

Gaylen’s face went hard. “Probably his boyfriend.”

I knew Birch was making this up, because I’d photocopied every page of Will’s calendar and his appointment book before handing them over to him.

“I don’t see it that way. I see it as a link. That and the descriptions. Another reason to bring in Cobra Kings one at a time. Shake the chain until a link breaks. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Gaylen stood, walked to the dummy camera and pulled his coat off of it. He slipped it over his arm. “I guess we’re done, then.”

“Kings take scalps, don’t you?”

“No.”

“Sure you do — make the grunts kill to get full membership. Your guys have told us that much, so there’s no reason denying it.”

“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe you guys got a contract to take out the supervisor. Be a nice opp for making bones. That would explain why you called him by name that night. Might even explain why Trona had you in his appointment book.”

Gaylen smiled. “Make an appointment to get yourself popped? You must be dreaming now, Detective.”

Birch stood. “Every once in a while, one comes true.”

“Then keep sleeping. You’re good at it.”

“How about the name and number for your date that night?”

“No. You’ll have to arrest me for that.”

“You could save us all a lot of trouble.”

“I don’t help cops.”

“Then why’d you come in? A little worried maybe, wanted to see what we had?”

“You’ve got nothing.”

“When did you meet Alex Blazak?”

Gaylen stared at Birch. “Ah, another thing I haven’t done.”

“Then how’d you know where to find Savannah that night?”

Gaylen shook his head. “You’ve got no reason to hold me. And the more you talk, the more you prove it.”

I watched Ouderkirk blow back into the interview room. He had something in his hand. “Leaving so soon?” he asked Gaylen.

“Not so much to talk about.”

“There might be, if Sammy Nguyen hears about you and Bernadette.”

Ouderkirk held up the surveillance photo of Gaylen and the woman.

Gaylen took a step forward for a better look, and you could tell that we’d caught him. He froze. Just briefly. He’d probably heard the story of Nguyen and Bernadette Lee’s admirer long before we did. But he’d never seen that picture before, guaranteed.

“That’s not your business. You want me to help you do your jobs, then you turn around and fuck with me?”

“Saddening, isn’t it?” said Ouderkirk. He glanced at the picture, shrugged and smiled.

“Asshole,” said Gaylen. He started out of the room. Birch held the door for him while Ouderkirk waved the picture.

“Is she the alibi, Gaylen?” Birch asked. “Is that why you won’t give us a name? You know, we can keep that picture real quiet. Or not.”

“You can both go to hell or not.”

Gaylen walked out, then Birch. Ouderkirk looked at me and nodded as he pulled the door behind him.

“I love this job,” he said.

Birch came in and told me to wait at his desk. I waited a few minutes, then a few more. I looked at the picture of his family. Wife, children, grandchildren. Birch looked happy. There was a stack of case files on his desk, a clean blotter, a legal pad with Birch’s handwriting on it. There was a standard Interview Contact form on the blotter, clean. But I couldn’t help but see Gaylen’s name, address and a phone number written down on a Post-It and stuck to the top sheet.

A few minutes later Birch called me into one of the empty conference rooms.

He looked at me cautiously but said nothing.

“It was him, sir. I could tell by the voice.”

“Voice won’t cut it for us, Joe.”

“I understand that. I can’t identify him visually.”

“Then we can’t arrest him.”

“It was him, sir. That’s the man who shot my father.”

“I believe you. But the DA can’t make a homicide case with a voice ID. We’d never get past the preliminary. We need a lot more. What else, Joe?”

“I felt something wrong when he walked into the room, sir. Before he opened his mouth. I know that doesn’t help you.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Birch sighed, sat back, considered. “If he pulled the trigger, why did he come in and let me question him?”

“Because he’s bold and confident. He’s got faith in the Cobra Kings not to break if you bend them. And he knows that you don’t have enough to arrest him outright, or you would have.”

Birch was quiet for a moment. “What if he’s just a wiseguy who doesn’t know anything about Will? Why come in and talk to a homicide cop?”

“He isn’t.”

“You didn’t see him! What if he wasn’t there? What if he’s got a voice like the guy who was there?”

“It’s not just the voice. It’s the way he phrases things. Sir, I don’t know why he’d come in and talk to you if he was innocent.”

“I’ll tell you why. What usually happens is, if they did it and they know you’re on them, they’ll haul ass while they have the chance. If they didn’t, they’ll come and talk, watch you run your circles, laugh you off. Gaylen didn’t run for daylight. He came in. Talked tough. Wouldn’t give us his alibi’s name and number. He was even on time.”

I wanted my words to be accurate, but it was hard to describe what I’d felt when Gaylen walked into the interview room. “He strikes me as unusual, sir. I still can’t define my reaction to seeing him. Like a warning. A recognition. I can’t describe it.”

Birch looked at me, then shook his head. “I’m going to watch the video this evening at home — I always learn something. One thing, though, I think he’s scared of what Sammy Nguyen would do to Bernadette Lee. If he knew about Gaylen and her.”

I nodded. “Are you going to talk to her?”

“You can bet I am.”

“I can give you her address, from Sammy’s letters.”

Another long slow look from Birch. “Why do that?”

“To help, sir.”

His expression said that he wanted to believe me, but couldn’t. “I think you know more about that night than you’re saying. A lot more.”

I felt my face grow warm, felt the scar tissue tingle. Yes, there were a few details I’d kept to myself. The last of Will’s secrets, maybe, at least the last ones he entrusted to me.

“Joe, your father doesn’t need your protection anymore. He’s past that. He needs you to tell the truth. And let me tell you something else — a dog can keep a secret forever. But a man has to learn when he’s doing more harm than good. Is this clear to you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It damned well should be if you want a career in law enforcement.”

“Yes, I know.”

He waited a long moment, then shook his head like I’d given the wrong answer.

From the privacy of my car and my cell phone, I called the home number for Ellen Erskine. No answer, no message recorder. I tried her work phone. A pleasant female voice said “Hillview Home for Children,” and I asked for Ms. Erskine.

“She’s in a meeting, may I take a message?”

“No message,” I said, and hung up.

Hillview Home for Children, I thought: Why? A donation, a fund-raiser, a change in budget?

Lost in speculation that got me nothing, I went to Mod J to get what Sammy Nguyen had promised me.

Gary Sargola, the so-called Ice-Box Killer, demanded a doctor because his phlebitis-swollen leg was killing him. That wasn’t my decision so I told Sergeant Delano.

“Let him suffer a while,” he said. “That poor girl he put in the freezer did. By the way, nice hat.”

Dave Hauser, the former assistant district attorney who went into the drug trade with a guy he prosecuted, showed me a picture of his newborn daughter. Dave had been in jail four months, and his daughter was now about two days old. Her name was Kristen. Dave said when he got out he was moving the whole family to Tahiti, had some land there, not far from Brando.

Dr. Chapin Fortnell lay on his cot sobbing. When I asked him what was wrong, he rolled over and looked at me with swollen red eyes. “It’s all coming apart, Joe.” Later, I learned that one of the six boys the good doctor was accused of molesting had hanged himself.

Serial rapist Frankie Dilsey was in the day room watching a soap opera. He turned to me when I passed by, pointing at the actress on the screen and smiling. “Dat’s what it’s all about, Shitface. Dat’s the ticket, right there, dat stuff.”

And so on.

My work.

I watched them take a new prisoner in that afternoon, to be given the cell next to Sammy. He was a meth biker named Giant Mike Staich who’d apparently taken a machete to a stoolie, severed his head and carried it around for a few weeks in a pillowcase tied to his hog. A motorcycle cop had driven behind him for a few miles, pulled up behind him at a red light, smelled the head and pulled him over. They’d shaved Staich at Intake. “Too many lice to kill with just soap, man.” He had tattoos around his neck, all the way up to his chin. The middle finger of his left hand was missing. He stood six feet six, huge belly, short bowed legs like they were designed to straddle a gas tank ten hours a day.

He asked what they all do. “What the fuck happened to that face of yours?”

“Acid.”

“Roadkill looks better than that. Why don’t you get an operation?”

“I’ve had eight.”

He considered, nodding. “Cover it up with a tat, man. Get a big-ass skull with a sword through it, or a lion with its mouth open, and nobody’ll even know what’s under. I gotta guy in Stanton’s real good.”

“Thanks for your advice.”

In the next cell, Sammy Nguyen lay on his cot, as always, staring up at the picture of Bernadette. When I stopped to talk to him, he was sullen and hostile, complaining that we’d confiscated his dog nail clippers and wouldn’t give them back.

“There’s no dog in here,” I said.

“Any idiot can see that, Joe. I use them for my nails. It’s the only way to get the right angle, make them look right. You ask any beautician or cosmetologist. Maybe you can get them back for me.”

“You still owe me for the rat trap.”

He looked surprised. “Owe you what?”

“Alex Blazak.”

Sammy suddenly looked lighter. He blew a kiss at Bernadette’s picture, then came over to the bars. “I totally forgot.”

“You’re busy,” I said.

He laughed at this and I smiled along with him.

“This is the deal,” he said. He looked with conspiracy to his right, then his left. Then he leaned up close to the steel bars of his cage. “Do you know what a couturier is?”

I nodded.

“His girlfriend’s one. She’s got a shop on Laguna Canyon Road, by the big antique store. Christy or Christine or something like that. And her last name is Sands. Like sand at the beach.”

“Good,” I said.

“Then get me my clippers back.”

“I’ll be honest with you, Sammy — there’s no way the captain is going to allow dog clippers.”

He shrugged, made a face. “Screw the captain, Joe. I give you Christy Sands, you get my dog clippers back.”

“I can’t do that.”

Back to the sullen pout then, a convincingly tragic expression. “Then get me a better trap to kill that rat with. I’ve seen him in here every night for two weeks. Look.”

He pointed to the floor. I saw the plastic rat trap with the adhesive on the bottom. Apparently it was unmolested.

“I’ll see about a better trap.”

He gave me an injured look, then climbed back onto his cot. “Make sure it’s a good one. One of the big ones, not the kind for mice. For rats.”

Giant Mike Staich, lodged right next to Sammy, had to get in on this.

“Just step on the damned thing,” he growled. A wall separates the inmates. They could both see me, but not each other.

Sammy sighed, imploring me with an expression that said, why did you put a moron next to me?

“Hey rat-man,” said Giant. “I’m Mike. I’m in for doing some jerk-off and putting his head in a bag. Like I’m dumb enough to do that.”

“Why’d you put it in a bag?” Sammy asked.

“It wasn’t me.”

Sammy looked disgusted. “I’m Sammy Nguyen,” he said curtly. “I’m in for killing a cop I never saw in my life. When I’m released because of false imprisonment, I’m going to sue this place into another bankruptcy. Everybody except Joe, because he’s a decent guy.”

“Who’s Joe?”

“He’s standing right in front of you.”

“Oh, you mean Shitface.”

“It’s scar tissue,” said Sammy.

“Looks like cow shit that ain’t dried yet. Get yourself the tattoo, boy. Fuck the hat.”

“I’ll consider it.”

“A tattoo won’t cover it,” said Sammy. “He needs another surgery.”

“He’s had eight of them.”

Even the cons talk about me like I’m not there.

My work.

But that was the good part of my job — meeting interesting people, making new and exotic friends.

The bad part was the boredom and the constant hustles, the constant lies. The constant bad jokes about my scars. I hadn’t heard a good one in weeks.

I wanted out of there. Even though it reminded me on some primitive level of my early childhood, I still knew I had to get out.

The average jail time for a deputy in Orange County is five years. So I guess I didn’t have it so bad. Almost four years down. But it still felt like a life sentence, eight hours at a time.

They don’t reduce your time for good behavior. Only the inmates get that.