Strip

3

LIEUTENANT SLOSSER WAS IMPATIENT. Ever since his phone call to Manco Kapak, he’d had a peculiar feeling about this. He was almost sure that he was the first person to mention to Kapak that whoever had been driving his two Hummers last night had gotten into trouble in a construction site downtown. It had been the silences, the first indrawn breath, and then the pauses while the man tried to figure out what to say.

Slosser was not sure whether he had made a mistake in telling Kapak so much. Maybe he should have told Kapak to come to the station for a conversation, and then let the news explode in Kapak’s face so he could watch the reaction. It was Slosser’s job to find out all he could about what was going on in the city, and any insight about something as odd as the ruined Hummers might be a big break.

There was nothing Slosser could do about surprising Kapak now, so he concentrated on what he should do next. He had already awakened Kapak, and Kapak was on his way. Slosser had to keep him off-balance. If he wasn’t here by 9:15, Slosser would dispatch three cars to pick him up. No, make that two. Part of the problem with many of the small-time crime bosses in this city was that they began to think they were important. Make that one car to pick him up, and one to wait a block away unseen, not to move in unless there was resistance.

Slosser was surprised that that the Hummers belonged to Kapak. He had always assumed that Kapak was a crook, but not the ugly, violent kind. He had seemed to be the sort who skimmed cash and understated his income. He seemed like someone who would someday find himself owning a club that wasn’t profitable anymore and would set fire to it for the insurance. He didn’t seem to be the sort who would send people to a construction site after midnight. The only two reasons that seemed to make sense were large-scale theft and extortion, and both seemed to be somewhere outside Kapak’s universe—too gritty and risky for a strip club owner. Slosser had never seen evidence that there was any enmity between Kapak’s company and Veruda Construction. It didn’t seem likely. The Coventry Towers project was a billion-dollar development, and it was only one of about five projects that Veruda had going. They were a herd of elephants, and Kapak was a gnat.

Slosser looked at his watch and felt frustration. It was 8:50, only five minutes since the last time he had looked. He had hoped Kapak would get here early so he could make him wait.

Slosser kept himself from looking at his watch again, and in a few minutes he heard footsteps outside his office door. Owens, his assistant, slapped his palm against the doorjamb once in a military knock and then opened the door. “Lieutenant, Mr. Kapak is here.” He added, “He brought his attorney.”

Slosser kept himself from swearing, but he was aware after a second that his jaw was working, and he was grinding his teeth again. He stood and watched the two men step into his office. The first, he knew, was Kapak. He was a big man in his sixties, with broad shoulders, the thick neck of a fighter, but a paunch that hung over his thin black belt. His hair was still a coal black that made Slosser suspect it was dyed. He had a sour, almost pained look on his face. The second was the attorney, a slight man in his forties with a sallow complexion, pale eyes, and thin, spidery hands that kept fiddling with his Blackberry as he stepped in with his briefcase on his wrist.

“Gentlemen. Right on time.” Slosser turned to Owens. “We’ll use Room Six.” To the others he said, “Follow me.” He set off down the hall, threading his way past the people in the hallway. He got to Room Six and opened the door to let the others in. He was mildly surprised that Kapak had brought his lawyer. In one way it was a gift. It meant he was scared of Slosser, and that meant he was guilty of something.

There was a quiet understanding in the world of police and criminals. When you first pulled them in, you would have a conversation. The suspect would use the time to rat out his enemies, try to strike a bargain, and listen for clues as to how much the police knew. The cop would use the time to try various stratagems—say somebody else had named them as the perpetrator already, or that cops had found the gun, or tested their DNA, or some other lie. Lying was a privilege that had been upheld a hundred times in a hundred court cases. When the suspect got tired of the discussion, he would ask for an attorney. That was the signal he was done talking, and it was time to end the interrogation. Cops seldom asked a question after the subject of attorneys came up, and the suspect tended not to answer any. Slosser looked at the attorney.

“I’m Lieutenant Nicholas Slosser. And you are…?”

“I’m Gerald Ospinsky, Mr. Kapak’s attorney.”

“Oh, yes. I remember the name from Mr. Kapak’s files.”

“Ahh. What files would those be?”

“As you know, Mr. Kapak has a couple of business licenses and liquor licenses, and you filed the papers for him. He’s also been cited for several violations of zoning, parking, nuisance, and noise codes. You responded to several of the complaints. Any other questions before we begin?”

“No”

“Mr. Kapak, could you state your full name, please?”

“Claudiu Vidor Kapak”

“Manco Kapak is a nickname, right?”

“Of course. The first king of the Incas. And the last was named that too.” Kapak shifted in his seat. He looked sick. He seemed to have some kind of skin rash. There were tiny red spots on his cheeks and forehead. He began to lean forward and put his elbows on the table, but stopped himself abruptly as though he had set off a pain. “What did you want to talk about?”

“You have two sport utility vehicles registered as property of Kapak Enterprises, correct? Two Hummers?”

“Yes. My staff use them to transport people and supplies.”

“What people and supplies?”

“All kinds.”

“Can you give me one example?”

“Some of the time, one will be used to pick up a visiting artist at her hotel and bring her to one of the clubs for a show.”

“You’re talking about your strip clubs, so it’s strippers?”

“Gentlemen’s clubs. The entertainers are exotic dancers, yes.”

“Got it. Why Hummers?”

“They’re big, they’re high, and they attract the attention of potential customers. They look as though you’re delivering something valuable. It’s like having an armored car pull up at the front door. People look to see what comes out.”

“Why do your vehicles have armor?”

As Kapak paused for a moment, Ospinsky interrupted. “Who said they had armor?”

“They both have steel plates welded to the insides of the doors. They have bulletproof glass on the side windows. Why do they?”

“It’s not illegal,” Ospinsky said to Kapak. “You don’t have to answer.”

“It’s all right, Jerry.” Kapak said to Slosser, “Do you know I got robbed just about a month ago right outside the Bank of America? I was there with the night deposit. It was probably because I drove there alone in my Mercedes.”

“I read the police report.”

“Then you can see the kind of things a businessman has to worry about. I would have been better off driving to the bank in a bulletproof Hummer with a couple of bodyguards.”

“Who did the robbery?”

“If I knew, I’d have told you already”

“I understand the North Hollywood division is investigating. Maybe they’ll be able to tell us both soon. But I was going to ask about the Hummers. Do you know where they are now?”

“Since you say it like that, I guess you have them”

“You’re right. They’re in our impound lot. Here are some photographs of them I got this morning.” He set them on the table in a row in front of Kapak.

He stared down at them for a few seconds. It was hard to imagine what had happened to his two vehicles to make them look that way. They appeared to have been pounded on all sides by a giant hammer. He became aware of Ospinsky leaning against his shoulder so he could get the best view of the pictures without craning his neck too much. His breath was horrible, a noxious vapor being rhythmically pumped into Kapak’s face. He shrugged Ospinsky off, then looked up at Slosser.

Slosser said, “What happened to your cars?”

“You tell me.”

“I think a few of your guys drove your Hummers to the Coventry Towers building site, trying to cause some trouble. The chain that secured the gate had been broken, so they weren’t invited.”

“Who are you accusing?”

“The crime scene people are running the fingerprints now, so we should know before long who was in the vehicles.”

“What if somebody stole both Hummers and drove them to the building?”

“What were your men doing at the building? Did you have some business with the Veruda Construction Company? Did your men have orders from you, or did they just go there on their own?”

“That’s all ridiculous,” Ospinsky snapped. “Don’t answer any of these questions.”

“Then was it a burglary? Were your men there to fill the two Hummers with tools and equipment?”

Ospinsky was incensed. “Another ridiculous accusation. Mr. Kapak is a businessman with no record that would suggest anything of the sort. He had two vehicles stolen from his company and then, apparently, utterly destroyed.”

“Stolen? We don’t have a theft complaint.”

“You will immediately after we’re free to file one. Mr. Kapak works in an industry that requires him to be at work late at night. His first notification that the vehicles weren’t parked at one of his clubs came from you—a police officer—at seven this morning, two hours ago, and six hours before he would usually be awake. The fact that he hasn’t reported the theft yet doesn’t prove it’s not a theft.”

“And it doesn’t prove it was, either.” He studied Kapak. “I don’t know you at all, but I had assumed you were a semilegitimate businessman.”

Ospinsky was getting angry. “What exactly does that mean?”

Slosser kept his eyes on Kapak, as though he had spoken. “You’re in a business that’s perfectly legal most of the time, but not very nice. You’re selling people things that aren’t good for them. And you keep bouncers and backup men on the payroll, but not to protect your customers. It’s the way the business works. I haven’t seen anything in your files that makes you stand out or worries me. Until now”

Kapak held his hand up so Ospinsky wouldn’t go into an oration. “What do you see now?”

“I’ve got to be honest with you. Coming in here with your lawyer all paranoid and you sitting there stone-faced and sullen just to tell me why your two cars turned up on a deserted construction site this morning, well, it doesn’t make me feel good about you. It’s the way a small-time guy running a criminal enterprise acts. And I’m not just guessing. I’ve spent a lot of time with people like that. Maybe after I’ve got my pension vested next year, I’ll quit and go to law school and make some real money. I know exactly what I’ll tell my clients. ‘Don’t act like you’re guilty.’ Simple.”

“Are you advising my client to waive his right to legal counsel?”

“I’m just saying it might be a good strategy to behave differently. If you come in and act like you’re preparing a legal defense when all you’re doing is reporting that you’re a victim of a crime, a cop gets suspicious. He wonders what you’re hiding.”

Manco Kapak said, “You’re right.” He looked at Ospinsky for a moment. “Gerry, maybe you ought to be getting to your office. Thanks for coming.”

Ospinsky said, “Do you think this man is trying to help you?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll call you later.”

Ospinsky shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He stood, stuffed his yellow notepad into his briefcase, and assumed an unnaturally straight posture to salvage his dignity, then left the room without looking back.

“I didn’t mean to offend him,” Slosser lied. “I was just making conversation. When you go into a police station, you generally have some specific business in mind. In this case maybe you want to report a car theft. You’ll be sent to talk to an auto theft officer. This may be the first time you’ve had a car stolen, but it isn’t his first. On average he’s seen maybe a thousand grand theft autos a year since the day he started. He knows exactly what you’re going to say and how you’re going to act. If you do or say something he doesn’t expect, he wonders why. He won’t stop until he knows the answer.”

Kapak said, “I hope you understand that for an ordinary man, it’s hard to know how to react to an early morning summons from the police.”

“You put on your shoes and come down and have a chat. Unless you’ve got something to worry about.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Like maybe there are drugs in the Hummers. Or blood. Or maybe you think I’m going to find out that there’s a child in Intensive Care at Cedars with Hummer tracks across his back.”

“None of that is true, I can tell you. I don’t get involved with anything that’s illegal. I run two gentlemen’s clubs, a dance club, a gym, and a couple of other businesses. Some years have been good, and some bad, but I never have time for things like drugs or whatever.”

“Is this a good year or a bad year?”

“A bad year. Did I tell you I got robbed?”

“Yes.”

“And besides that, my health isn’t too good.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m tired all the time. You can’t put your finger on when it happened, but you know you’re not the man you were. That’s old age. And it seems like I’m getting robbed all the time. First it’s a guy with a gun to my head, and now two expensive vehicles turned into junk.” Kapak could feel each of the hundreds of tiny scratches and punctures from the broken glass on his skin. Every time he shifted in his chair, he felt his shirt or his pants moving some tiny, unnoticed sliver of surgically sharp glass against the skin of his belly or genitals. He was being goaded toward madness like a bull in the ring, but he pretended to be a harmless, aging man. He used his torments to build an impression of candor.

“Maybe we can do something about the robberies, at least. Your lawyer wasn’t letting me ask you any questions. Is there anything that happened before last night that you haven’t thought to mention?”

“You’re my only source of information. I don’t think anybody who works for me knows the damned things are gone yet. They’re worth, like, fifty grand each. Were worth, I mean. You said they were impounded?”

“Yes. They were put on flatbeds with a crane and driven to impound.”

“Can my insurance company go look at them? I’d like to get a claim started. From the looks of those pictures, it could take a while.”

“Sure. Have them call me.” Slosser handed Kapak a business card from his coat pocket. “I’d guess there’s not much question they’re totaled. They looked like they were pushed from the fifth floor of the building.”

“Jesus. It sounds like a nasty prank or something. Do you think it was kids?”

“No. Adults.”

“What adult does this? If they took a car and drove it across the border to sell it, or to a garage to chop it for parts, I could agree, it’s adults. But if you wreck it completely, you can’t be making any money on that. Who does that but kids?”

“Both vehicles had their keys in them.”

“They did?”

“Yeah. That means your guys drove them there. So who was driving when it happened?”

“None of my people would do that. Somebody must have left the keys in them. Or maybe a burglar broke into the office and took the keys off the board on the wall.”

“Who could that be?”

“I couldn’t even give you a guess.”

“I suppose not,” Slosser said. He stood up. “Well, thanks for coming in.”

“No, thank you, Lieutenant” Kapak still had the mad bull’s determination. He stood up too, trying to make his painful movements seem only careful, the movements of an old man.

They parted in the hallway, and each went in a different direction. As Slosser walked back to his office, he smiled. He had managed to talk Kapak into getting rid of his lawyer for an interrogation, a feat for the record books, and one that would pay off later, because client and lawyer had lost confidence in each other. He still didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he could tell Kapak knew, and that it was something that would get him into serious trouble. That was plenty to accomplish before 10:00 in the morning.

Kapak walked toward the portico where he had entered the building, and he was satisfied. He had planted enough in Lieutenant Slosser’s mind to keep him busy for a while. Instead of hiding his surprise and being ashamed of it, he had used it to persuade Slosser that he was a victim of the theft and destruction of two expensive vehicles. He had planted some facts that might make Slosser draw the wrong conclusions. Since there was no hope of gain from wrecking a car, this could only be an attack on Kapak and his businesses. Slosser would try to find out who Kapak’s enemy was, and that would give Kapak a bit of room to work.