Dave Zeltserman - Small crimes

I didn't wait long before a young kid came down to the lobby to see me. He couldn't have been much older than twenty-five. While it was only a few minutes past six in the morning, he already looked disheveled. His shirt sleeves were haphazardly rolled up and his tie was crooked and uneven. He squinted as he moved slowly towards me. At about three feet away he stopped and held out his hand in a quick, jerky motion.

'You're Joe Denton, right?' he asked.

I ignored his hand and nodded. I was tired of the pretense that anyone actually gave a crap. He stood awkwardly for a moment and then pulled his hand back.

'I'm Steven Wolcott,' he said. 'I'm an assistant news director here. I have to admit, I was surprised to get your call. What can I do for you?'

'I have a proposition I'd like to make.'

'Sure.'

'Can we go to your office and talk about it?'

'I'm sorry, yes, of course. Let's go upstairs.'

I followed him to the elevator. After we got in it, he let out a nervous laugh. He told me there'd been some talk about trying to get me in for an interview.

'You know,' he added, 'ask you questions about what's it like to be out of jail, how people are treating you, whether you have any remorse, stuff like that. You know, give you a chance to get your side of the story out.'

I didn't bother answering him. Once he realized I wasn't going to say anything he gave another short nervous laugh. He tried some more small talk and then stood awkwardly the rest of the way up. When the elevator door opened, he stepped out quickly.

I followed him through the office to a small conference room. After I took a seat, he asked whether I'd like some coffee. I told him I would and asked if he had anything to eat. When he came back, he brought me a cup of coffee and three doughnuts on a paper plate.

He took a seat across from me and clasped his hands behind his head, trying to look calm and in charge, but I could see a mix of eagerness and nervousness in his eyes.

'Tell me about your proposition,' he said.

I took a long sip of coffee and then asked him if he ever heard of Manny Vassey.

He thought for a moment and shook his head. 'Sorry, I've never heard of him.'

'You should've.'

'Why's that?'

'Manny's been running a number of criminal enterprises out of Bradley County for years. Bookmaking, loan sharking, extortion, drugs, prostitution – you name it, he's got his hands in it. And though he operates out of Bradley, his businesses go across the state.'

'Really? Jeez, I wonder why I've never heard of him before.'

I shrugged. 'He's a smart man. He pays off the right people and keeps things quiet. Manny's in the hospital now dying of cancer. His psychotic son, Junior, has taken over and is expanding the business. Junior is now manufacturing crystal meth and distributing it through college clubs that he's forcing owners to sell to him.'

He blinked several times, making a face. 'How much of this can you prove?' All of it.'

'Do the police know about this?'

'I don't know about the crystal meth part, but yeah, you got guys on the Bradley police force and in the sheriff s office who know what Manny's been up to. Too many of them are on his payroll to do anything about it.'

I couldn't read from his expression whether he believed me. He could've either been dumbfounded by the whole thing or thought I was nuts, or maybe that I was trying to use them for some private vendetta.

'So what's your proposition?' he asked. 'Do you want to be interviewed on the air about this?'

I shook my head. I want to take a cameraman and reporter out with me and show them Vassey's operations in the works. Where his bookmaking and loan sharking operations are headquartered, his crystal meth lab, show his clubs in the act of distributing it, all of it. And I want it shown tonight on your ten o'clock news.'

'Wow. I don't know if we could do something like that-'

'I want a decision now. Otherwise I'm taking this to one of the Boston stations.'

He looked rattled. 'I can't make this type of decision,' he said. 'The news director will have to agree to this.'

'Let's talk to him, then.'

'Her. Eileen Bracket. And she doesn't get in until eleven.’

‘Call her up.'

'I can't do that. I'd be waking her up. Eileen doesn't leave here until midnight every night.'

I started to stand. He held his hand out to stop me.

'Wait, okay?' he asked. He bit o» his lip as he tried to make a decision. 'I'll call her from my office. Just wait here, okay?'

He left the room in a hurry. While waiting, I ate one of the doughnuts and finished my coffee. Then I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. The next few hours were going to be critical. I had to break Junior's operations wide open for what I had in mind to work.

It didn't take long for the kid, Wolcott, to come back. As he took a seat across from me, he looked more harried than disheveled. He tossed a pad of paper in front of him and tapped his pen nervously against the edge of the table.

'Eileen's on her way,' he said. 'It's probably going to take her forty-five minutes to get here. In the meantime, I need some background information.'

'Go ahead.'

'How long have you known about this?’

‘A long time.'

'Can you please be more specific. '

‘Maybe fifteen years.'

And you said that other police and sheriff s officers are being paid to ignore Mr. Vassey's illegal businesses?’

‘Yes.'

'Could you give me their names?'

'No.' I shook my head. 'You can investigate this yourself later and figure out who's on Manny's payroll.’

‘You can't give us any names?'

'No. I'm going to help you expose Junior's operation, but that's all. There is police corruption involved, but you're going to have to discover that yourself.'

'What about the sheriff of Bradley County?'

I hesitated for a second as I tried to decide whether that was a lucky guess or if it was common knowledge that Dan was crooked. I shook my head. 'I'm not ratting any police officers. At least not directly.'

He made a face as if he wanted to argue with me, but it passed. 'Okay,' he said. 'Let's move on. Where are you going to be taking our people today?'

'What do you mean?'

'I need the location of this crystal meth lab, you know, and the other places.'

'If I give you that you won't need me.'

"That's not why I'm asking for it. We want to do our own checking on these locations. We're going to need to do this if we're going to put a story out by ten tonight.'

'Sorry. You'll know the locations when I take your people to them.'

He swallowed back what he wanted to say and then gave kind of a whimsical smile. "There's not much point to this, is there?' he asked.

'Doesn't seem to be.'

‘

‘Why don't I leave you alone, then, until Eileen comes.'

'Sure. I could also use another cup of coffee.'

He was shaking his head when he left the room, but he brought me back a fresh cup. I didn't wait alone for too long before Eileen Bracket showed up, probably no more than twenty minutes. She was about fifty, thin, with a hawk nose and sharp angles all around. She must've rushed over – her hair was still damp from a shower and she had no makeup on, making her thin angular face appear drab and bloodless. As I looked at her, I couldn't help noticing that she had the palest blue eyes I'd ever seen.

Wolcott introduced her to me. Shaking her hand was like holding a cold piece of bone. She took a seat across from me and Wolcott pulled up a chair next to her.

'Steven filled me in on your proposal,' she said. I have one question, Mr. Denton – why?'

'What do you mean?'

'Why do you want to do this?'

'Because I was a lousy cop,' I said. 'I want to make amends for all the years I let people down.' "That's bullshit.'