What It Was

FIFTEEN

Vaughn drove over the Anacostia River, went north on Minnesota Avenue, and turned right on one of the single-syllable streets running alphabetically across the grid of central Northeast. The block ended in a circle, with a stand of thin woods split by a ribbon of creek. Boxy brick apartment buildings, housing residents on government assistance, were visible on the other side of the woods.

Vaughn parked his Monaco in front of one of several wood-framed, dilapidated single-family homes, took his hat off the seat beside him, and placed it on his head. He walked up a buckled, weeded sidewalk to the house whose address he had written in his notebook. A woman was on the porch in a folding chair, a sweated can of Schlitz in her hand. He could see, even in her seated position, that she was tall and long of leg. Her hair hung straight. She wore a shift with open buttons up top, and her bust was full and sat high and natural. Her feet were bare. A country girl gone hard in the city.

Vaughn stopped just shy of the porch steps. “Ma’am. I’m looking for a Monique Lattimer.”

Her eyes went from his head to his feet, slowly. “What kind of police are you?”

“Homicide. The name’s Frank Vaughn.”

“I ain’t see no badge.”

Vaughn showed her his shield and slipped the case back into his jacket. He could tell from her manner that courtesy would be a waste of time. Like the lawyers said, he’d have to just go ahead and treat her as hostile.

“Are you Monique?”

“Monique is me,” she said, and took a swig of beer. “You got a cigarette?”

Vaughn produced his deck, shook two out of it, and made a chin motion to her porch. “I can’t light you from down here.”

“Come on up, then.”

He took the steps to her porch. Used his lighter to fire up her cigarette, then his own, and snapped the Zippo shut. He carefully leaned his weight against a wood post that seemed to be rotting at its base.

Monique took a drag off the L amp;M and as she exhaled looked at the cigarette with distaste. Making it obvious that it wasn’t her brand.

“According to the DMV,” said Vaughn, “you’re the registered owner of a sixty-eight Buick Electra.”

“Yeah, it’s mine.”

“Gold deuce-and-a-quarter. Drop-top, right?”

“Hard.”

“I don’t see it.”

“That’s ’cause it’s not here.”

“Where is it, Miss Lattimer?”

She stared at the cigarette burning between her long fingers. “My brother took it this morning for a brake job.”

“Took it where? A garage, something?”

“I wouldn’t know. Said he had a friend was gonna work on it.”

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Orlando.”

“Lattimer?”

“Roosevelt. Like the high school.”

“Where can I find him?”

“Huh?”

“Does your brother have an address?”

“He stays with a girl over in Seat Pleasant, but I don’t know where she live at, exactly.”

“He got a phone number?”

“I expect he does.”

“Okay,” said Vaughn, taking a deep breath. “Where’s your place of employment?”

“I’m between jobs at the present.”

“How long you been out of work?”

“Two years, somethin like that.”

“High-end Electra will run you, what, five, six thousand?”

“I bought it secondhand.”

“Four grand, then. Where’d you get the bread for that much car if you’re not working?”

Monique shrugged and smiled a little, as if he had said something stupid. “I got a good deal on it.”

“Where?”

“Used-car lot.”

“Where?”

“Shit, I don’t know. Marlow Heights?”

“The dealership name would be on the title.”

“Damn if I know where I put that piece of paper. It’s in the house somewhere.”

“Maybe I could come in and help you find it.”

“If you had a warrant, you could.”

“I can get one.”

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“Then get one.”

Vaughn dragged on his cigarette and blew smoke toward Monique. It shattered when it reached her, and she did not blink.

“You know an Alfonzo Jefferson?” said Vaughn.

“Can’t say I do.”

“How ’bout Robert Lee Jones? Tall, light-skinned fella, goes by Red.”

“Sorry.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me what this is about?”

“I would if I gave a fuck.”

Vaughn grinned, took a last hit off his cigarette, and flicked it out onto her yard. “See you around, Monique.”

“Any time.”

Vaughn, energized, went back to his car and got in the driver’s seat. He had a look around the street, the woods, a makeshift playground with rusted equipment, the apartment buildings on the other side of the creek. Wouldn’t be hard to set up a stakeout here, but the watcher would have to be a black officer in plainclothes to blend in. Man or woman, didn’t matter, but it could be done.

Vaughn smiled at Monique as he drove away, and damn if she didn’t smile back. God, did he love his job.

Strange went over to Park View, drove his Monte Carlo down an alley, and parked behind the kitchen entrance to Cobb’s, the fish place on Georgia. Cobb, in his bloodstained apron, was sitting on an overturned milk crate, smoking a cigarette. Strange walked through the long shadows of late afternoon, noting with satisfaction that he had put much work in today.

He approached the aged but still hard proprietor and stood beside him.

“Mr. Cobb. My name’s Derek Strange. You remember me?”

Cobb squinted against the low sun. “Refresh my memory.”

Strange said that he was the detective who had recently visited Cobb and asked about his former dishwasher, Bobby Odum, now deceased. Strange was wondering if Odum had ever been visited on his job site by a young woman. When Strange described her, Odum’s eyes came alive.

“Yeah, that young lady came by a couple a times.”

“When I stopped by before, you said you didn’t recall any of his relatives or friends.”

“You ain’t mention her, though,” said Cobb, flicking his hot ash toward a feral cat that was crossing in front of him in the alley. The cat, keeping low to the ground, darted away. “Girl like that’s hard to forget.”

“What do you remember about her?”

“Her bumps. The way she walked. How her big ass jumped around in her dress.” Cobb chuckled Cobighat Strange’s amused expression. “That’s right, young man. I might have some years on me, but that right there was choice.”

“What else?”

“I saw Odum kissin on her one day, right here, outside the back door. She was lettin him, but you know, any fool could see that she wasn’t into it. What I was thinking was, how’d a little man like Bobby get so much woman? ’Cause a girl like that has needs. You know what I’m talking about?”

“I do indeed,” said Strange. Something rustled inside him, like a snake in dry leaves.

He, too, had needs.

Vaughn entered the offices of the Third District headquarters and went to his desk. He found a memo slip taped to his phone. Martina Lewis had called and asked that he get back to him.

Vaughn visited with Detective Charles Davis, who was on the bubble, waiting to catch his next case. Davis was a young, stylish guy, one of the few blacks in this house who had been promoted to Homicide. Vaughn felt he was friendly enough with him to ask for a favor. Davis agreed to stake out Monique Lattimer’s house in exchange for something in return.

“I got you, Hound Dog,” said Davis. “But I’m gonna bank this one.”

“Count on it,” said Vaughn.

Their supervisor, Lieutenant David Harp, tall, white, whippet thin, middle-aged, and blue-eyed, with black slicked-back hair, came into the room and told Vaughn he wanted to see him in private.

“Right now,” said Harp.

Vaughn wiggled his eyebrows at Davis before following Harp back to his office. The white shirts rarely bothered him, and when they did he didn’t let it get under his skin. He wasn’t bucking for promotion. He already had the job he wanted. The only way they could hurt him was to fire him, and they’d never do that. Vaughn’s closure rate was top-shelf.

Harp was already behind his desk when Vaughn walked into the office. Vaughn took the hot seat, a hard chair set in front of Harp’s desk. He removed his hat, held it in his lap, and waited.

“Where you been, Detective?”

“Working my case. The Odum homicide.”

“The suspect is Robert Lee Jones, correct?”

Vaughn nodded. “Street name Red. We just need to put the bracelets on him. Charles Davis is gonna stake out a woman who’ll lead us to Alfonzo Jefferson, Jones’s partner. We’re close.”

“I’ve been tryin to get hold of you. You take your personal car today?”

“I’m more comfortable in my own vehicle, sir.”

“It has a two-way in it, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, si"3"to tr,” said Vaughn. “But sometimes I forget and leave it off.” Truth was, he didn’t like to be bothered with the constant crackle of the radio while he was doing his job. The talk over the police frequency almost never had a thing to do with him.

Harp drew a pencil from a leather cup and tapped it on his desk. “Your boy Red and his partner robbed Sylvester Ward in his own house. Happened this morning. Y’know that?”

“First I heard of it,” said Vaughn. He was intrigued, but he tried not to let his emotions play out on his face.

“Know who Ward is?”

“That would be Two-Tone Ward. The numbers man.”

“Correct. He reported the crime soon as it happened. But Ward didn’t call the MPD. He called his city councilman. And the mayor, for all I know. And then I got calls. More than one. Matter of fact, these politicians have been up my ass all day. They want to know when we’re gonna get this joker off the street.”

“I’m sorry about the trouble it caused you, sir. If you want me to explain the progress of my case to any of those gentlemen-”

“Fuck them.”

“Yes, sir.” Vaughn smoothed out the brim of his hat. “It’s unusual for a guy like Ward to call the authorities, even after he’s been victimized. I mean, there’s a code.”

“They broke it. Red and his partner beat Ward like an animal before they left his house. From what I hear, Ward wasn’t even resisting.”

“Sounds like my man.”

“What’s this guy’s problem?”

“Red Jones isn’t looking forward to retirement or old age, Lieutenant. He’s living for this summer. Today. People all over the city are talking about him. The notoriety pours gasoline on his fire. That’s what he wants.”

Harp slipped the pencil back into its cup. He relaxed his shoulders and sat back in his chair. “Bring the motherfucker in.”

“Bet it,” said Vaughn.

“And keep your radio on, Detective.”

Walking out of the offices, Vaughn put his hand in his pocket and touched a slip of paper. It was the message from Martina Lewis.