The Law of Second Chances

23

A few days after he had cut short his interview with Benny Avrile, Nick Walsh was called downtown to the office of Assistant Chief Ralph Hitchens. Tony Severino was with him when he got the call.

“I wonder what the fuck that asshole wants,” Nick said out loud.

“It’s probably nothing,” Tony replied, although Nick could tell from his tone of voice that Tony knew something.

“They could at least wait until the investigation is over,” Nick continued, now trying to feel out his partner.

“Well, you know the brass on the big ones-the ones where their ass is hanging out there on the line with the rest of us,” Tony quipped. “They want to declare victory at the earliest possible moment.”

There were more surprises awaiting Nick when he arrived downtown. He was ushered right into the assistant chief’s office, something that had never happened before in all his years on the force.

Ralph Hitchens was sitting behind his massive mahogany desk looking like an overnourished, stuffed turkey. He wasn’t alone. Another gentleman, dressed in a dark blue suit, was with him. As Nick walked in, Hitchens accomplished the very arduous task of getting out of his chair and shaking hands with him as if they were old friends. Nick instinctively tightened up. He knew something bad was coming.

“Nick, I want you to meet Spencer Taylor from the district attorney’s office. He’s going to be trying this case.” Taylor extended his hand and Nick shook it. He and Taylor had never met, but he had seen Taylor on television. Taylor was the chief assistant district attorney. He was not only their premier trial attorney, he was often the spokesman for the DA’s office when Warren Jacobs, the district attorney, didn’t deem the issue important enough to merit his personal appearance. To Nick Walsh, Taylor was a peacock-impeccably dressed, with a silky smooth voice that instantly made you want to check your pockets and tighten the belt holding your pants up. Well, they obviously think this is an important case, Nick thought to himself. They’re bringing out the big gun. But why am I meeting him now? The investigation isn’t over. Nick’s question would be answered momentarily.

Hitchens started on a congratulatory note. “Nick, you and Tony did a real good job on this Benny Avrile case.”

But. . Nick was thinking.

“But,” Hitchens continued, “we want you to shut it down. In fact, I’m taking you off the case. It’s got nothing to do with the work you did-the detective work was great. I just want to shut it down.”

“Can I at least ask why?”

Spencer Taylor cut in at that point. “You see, Nick-and don’t take this as a criticism because it’s not-you think like a cop. You want to run every thread down until every aspect of the case makes sense. Me, I think like a lawyer. I’ve got a suspect and I’ve got two eyewitnesses that put him at the scene at the time of the murder. And I’ve got a motive-robbery. It doesn’t get any better than that. If you keep snooping around you may dig up enough dirt to give a good attorney a defense that at present doesn’t exist.”

“I don’t understand,” Nick said.

“Let’s take this Lois woman, for instance,” Taylor continued. Nick could tell from that remark alone that Taylor had studied his investigative file in great detail. “Right now there is just a vague reference to her as being a friend of Angie’s. There’s no concrete tie between her and Benny. There’s no evidence that they even knew each other. She wasn’t at the scene, as far as we know, and we don’t even know what she looks like, other than she has long black hair like a million other people.”

“And your point is, Counselor?” Nick knew where Taylor was going; he just wanted to hear him say it.

“My point is, I can live with that evidence. You start filling in some of those blanks, however, and my case starts getting weaker. You see what I mean?”

“Yeah, I see what you mean. Benny might have had a female accomplice, but you don’t want me to continue to look for her because it might weaken your case, is that right?”

“Exactly,” Taylor responded.

“So we just let a murder suspect go because we caught somebody else?”

Nick could instantly tell he’d struck a nerve. Taylor’s warm smile turned to a sneer.

“Look, Walsh, I’ve tried to be nice about this. I heard about your interrogation of Avrile the other day. You treated him with kid gloves. Worse, you raised the issue of the woman and you didn’t follow up. It’s that kind of police work that fucks up a prosecution’s case, so don’t start talking to me about letting a suspect go. If I leave it up to you, both of them will walk.”

Nick made a move toward Taylor who took a step back. “I ought to smack you in the fuckin’ head, asshole,” Nick said. “I was solving murder cases when you were still sucking on your mother’s tit.”

Hitchens butted in at that point and stood between the two men. “All right, that’s it-end of discussion. Nick, the investigation is officially over at this point. We may reopen it down the road when Benny is convicted. For now it’s over-got it?”

“Sure thing, Chief. You’re the boss,” Nick replied, still looking directly at Taylor who wasn’t saying a word.

Nick was still seething as he walked out of the building. It never ceased to amaze him: somebody with money and a little fame gets killed and shitheads like Taylor start coming out of the woodwork and throwing their weight around. He was also sure that Tony Severino had broken the sacred code between partners and talked to the state attorney’s office behind his back. He didn’t have any hard evidence to support that suspicion but somebody had filled Taylor in on the particulars of Benny’s interview and Nick remembered the guilt in Severino’s voice earlier in the day.

What else did he tell them and why? Nick asked himself.

Maybe it is time to retire.