W.E.B Griffin - The Murderers

“OK,” O’Hara replied. “I would like to be there, Peter, when you and Weisbach serve your warrants.”

“I’m sure Peter can arrange that, Mickey,” the Mayor said. “Can’t you, Peter?”

“Yes, sir,” Wohl said as he took the press release from his father and started to read it.

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you could find Staff Inspector Weisbach at Peter’s office in the morning,” the Mayor said.

“I got to go find a phone,” O’Hara said.

“Matt,” Carlucci said to Chief Lowenstein, “are you having problems with Commissioner Czernich’s reorganization plan?”

“‘ Commissioner Czernich’s reorganization plan’?” Lowenstein quoted mockingly. “Hell no, Jerry. I know where the Commissioner gets his ideas, and I wouldn’t dream of questioning his little inspirations.”

Chief Wohl chuckled.

“But I would like to know what the hell’s going on,” Lowenstein added.

“Well, apparently the Commissioner thought that since Allgood decided to retire, Internal Affairs needed some reorganization.”

“Why?” Lowenstein pursued.

“To put a point on it, Matt, because it wasn’t doing the job it’s supposed to do.”

“You got something specific?”

“Yeah, I got something specific,” Carlucci said unpleasantly. “That surveillance Peter has been running, that tape I got this morning, because Payne climbed out on a ledge and put the microphone back? It recorded a conversation between Lieutenant Seymour Meyer of Central Police Division’s Vice Squad-your friend, Matt-and Paulo Cassandro. You know who Paulo Cassandro is, right?”

“Take it easy, Jerry,” Chief Wohl said.

“I know who Paulo Cassandro is,” Lowenstein said softly.

“What they were talking about, Matt, was that Meyer and his good buddy, Captain Vito Cazerra-you know Cazerra, don’t you, Matt? He commands the Sixth District?”

Lowenstein didn’t reply.

“I asked you if you know Captain Cazerra,” the Mayor said nastily.

“Yeah. I know him,” Lowenstein said.

“As I was saying, we now have a tape of Meyer telling Cassandro that he and Cazerra don’t think they’re getting a big enough payoff from the mob for letting a Polack whore from Hazleton named Harriet Osadchy run a call-girl operation in our better hotels. You know Harriet Osadchy, Matt?”

“No, I don’t know her,” Lowenstein said.

“We also have what must be a couple of miles of tape of your friend Meyer in the sack with a half-dozen of Harriet Osadchy’s whores.”

“Jesus!” Lowenstein said.

“Now, I know and you know and Commissioner Czernich knows how hard it is to catch somebody actually taking money. But the Commissioner was very disappointed to learn that Internal Affairs didn’t take a close look at Meyer even after they got an anonymous call about the sonofabitch screwing Osadchy’s whores in every hotel in Center City.”

“They get all kinds of anonymous-”

“Goddamn it, Matt,” Carlucci flared, “don’t you start to make excuses.”

“-calls,” Lowenstein went on, undaunted. “A lot of them from disgruntled people just trying to make trouble.”

“Yeah, well, this disgruntled person-Peter thinks he’s a retired cop working as hotel security-was so disgruntled that after he called Internal Affairs twice and nothing happened, he wrote me a letter.”

“And you put your own private detective bureau to work on it,” Lowenstein said bitterly.

“My own detective bureau?” Carlucci replied icily. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lowenstein. But if you have a problem with Commissioner Czernich asking Special Operations to look into something I gave him that neither your detective bureau nor Internal Affairs seem to even have heard about, why don’t you ask for an appointment with the Commissioner and discuss it with him?”

There was a tense moment when it looked as if Chief Lowenstein, who had locked eyes with the Mayor, was going to reply.

“Jerry, what’s the relationship between EAU and Special Operations-I guess I mean between Peter and Weisbach-going to be under this reorganization?” Chief Wohl asked.

Did he ask that to change the subject to something safer? Peter Wohl wondered. Or does he see it as a threat to my career?

The question clearly distracted Mayor Carlucci. He glanced at Chief Wohl in confusion.

“Just a minute, Augie,” Carlucci said, turning back to lock eyes with Lowenstein again.

“Lowenstein and I were talking about the Commissioner,” he went on. “The Commissioner and I were discussing the Overnights this morning. When he can find the time, he brings them by my office, to keep me abreast of things.”

It was common knowledge that at whatever time in the morning the Mayor of Philadelphia arrived at his office, he could expect to find the Police Commissioner of Philadelphia waiting for him in his outer office. The Police Commissioner’s own day began when the Mayor was through with him.

“And the Commissioner had an idea. You saw the Overnights this morning, Chief Lowenstein?”

Lowenstein nodded.

“Excuse me? I didn’t hear you, Chief.”

“Yes, sir, I saw the Overnights,” Lowenstein said.

“The double murder in the Inferno Lounge on Market Street? Did that catch your eye?”

“I was at the scene.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Then you know that Detective Payne was the first police officer on the scene?”

“I saw that.”

“Well, the Commissioner saw it too, and he asked me, what did I think of asking Peter, when he could spare him, of course, to send Payne over to Homicide to help Detective Milham on the investigation. Milham has the job, right? Your detective who can’t keep his pecker in his pocket?”

“Detective Milham has the job,” Lowenstein said, flat-voiced.

“Yeah, right. Well, the Commissioner said that maybe if Peter sent Payne over there, Payne might learn something about how a Homicide investigation is conducted. And he’s a bright kid, he might learn some other things, too. About other investigations Homicide is running, for example. Things that would be of interest to Peter and Weisbach in carrying out their new responsibilities.”

“You realize the hell of a spot you’d be putting the kid in, Jerry, sending him into Homicide that way? There’d be a lot of resentment,” Chief Wohl said.

“Augie, I’m sure the Commissioner has considered that,” the Mayor replied. “So anyway, I told the Commissioner that he’s the Police Commissioner, he can run the Department any way he pleases, do what he wants. If the Commissioner does decide to ask Inspector Wohl to send Detective Payne over there, are you going to have any problem with that, Chief Lowenstein?”

Lowenstein now had his temper and voice under control.

“I have no problem, Mr. Mayor, with any decision of Commissioner Czernich,” he said.

“Good,” the Mayor said. “What do they call that? ‘Cheerful, willing obedience’?” He turned to Chief Wohl. “You were asking, Augie, what Peter’s relationship with the Ethical Affairs Unit is going to be?”

“That press release wasn’t very clear about that.”

“I thought it was perfectly clear. Peter and Weisbach have worked together before, and I can’t imagine they’ll have any problems.”

Oh, shit! Peter thought. What that means is that I’ll be in the worst possible position. I’ll have the responsibility, but no authority.

“I thought I taught you years ago, Jerry,” Chief Wohl said, as if he had been reading his son’s mind, “that the worst thing you can do to a supervisor is give him responsibility without the necessary authority.”

The Mayor’s face suggested he didn’t like to be reminded that anyone had ever taught him anything.