Стюарт Вудс - Barely Legal

“Hi, Herb. Still worried about being shot at?”

“Hadn’t occurred to me. Do you happen to know a narcotics detective by the name of Marvin Kelly?”

“What about him?”

“Is he dirty?”

Dino blinked. “You call me up in the middle of The Daily Show to ask me if one of my detectives is dirty?”

“It’s not a casual question, Dino. I got fucked into handling a criminal case, and I’ve got a college-age kid facing jail time if I can’t save him, which I’m ill equipped to do. Kelly’s the key witness, so if he’s got a weakness, I need to know.”

“Is this a good kid?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to make a phone call, see if there’s something can be done?”

“The kid’s already rejected a plea bargain. I was supposed to walk into court and accept it, but the kid refused to accept the plea, says he’s innocent, and now I’m on the hook.”

“What was he caught with?”

“Half a kilo of coke.”

“What was the deal?”

“Two years’ suspended sentence, community service, and the kid walks.”

“Are you kidding me? And you kicked that deal in favor of badmouthing one of my cops?”

“I wanted to take the deal. The kid turned it down.”

“So beat some sense into him.”

“The kid makes a good case, Dino.”

“What’s that?”

“Why should he take the plea if he’s innocent?”

“What makes you think he’s innocent?”

“The fact that he won’t take the plea.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. What are you, a fucking idealist? We live in the real world, Herbie. Sometimes something is wrong and you can’t fix it. Sometimes you have to do something else so it evens out. Kid getting framed isn’t fair. Kid walking on a drug charge isn’t fair. It’s a wash.”

“You want to come down to court and tell him to take the plea? Maybe hearing the commissioner of police explain the pragmatism of law enforcement would have more effect.”

“Fuck you, too, Herbie.”

Dino hung up the phone.

Viv was about to snap the TV back on when she saw the look on his face. “What’s the matter?”

Dino sighed. “Ah, hell.” He picked up the phone. “Sorry to bother you this time of night. Get me everything there is to know about a Detective Marvin Kelly.”

Dino met Stone for breakfast. Stone had been surprised to get the call. He and Dino often had lunch or dinner, but not often breakfast. Stone figured Dino had something on his mind.

Stone had just taken his seat when Dino walked in, looking agitated.

“Do you mind if I have Herbie whacked?” Dino inquired.

“What’s he done now?”

“He called me last night to ask if one of my cops was dirty.”

“Is he?”

“I can have more than one person whacked, you know,” Dino said with a meaningful look.

“Who is he?”

“Detective Kelly, Narcotics.”

“Do you know about him?”

“I know about all my officers. That’s what being commissioner is all about.”

“I’ll see you get a letter of commendation.”

“I’d prefer a cash kickback.”

“May I quote you on that?”

“If you want your car ticketed and towed every time you park it.”

“Fred stays in the car when it’s parked.”

“Then you’ll also have to bail him out.”

“I get the feeling you’re bantering to avoid talking about Detective Kelly.”

“Good guess. Detective Kelly is the type of cop that gives other cops a bad name. It’s not just that he’s dirty. He flaunts it. He’s connected to Tommy Taperelli, a big-time mob boss. Does him favors, helps him out of tight spots, looks the other way. He has other unsavory connections, but Taperelli’s the biggest.”

“And you want to whack Herbie for asking if the guy is dirty?”

“Well, I can’t kill Taperelli.”

“What’s his story.”

“High-class mobster, big-time racketeer. He runs a trucking business and handles the import-export of a number of items, many of them legal. The few that aren’t fund the rest. He claims he’s not into drugs, but any number of the bosses he runs are. Meanwhile, he keeps his hands clean and has ties to several politicians and big businessmen. Prides himself on his connections. Conversely, prominent people pride themselves on being connected to him. Having a Vice cop in his pocket is no surprise. It’s his standard MO.”

“Did you tell Herbie?”

“Of course I did. He could get killed messing around with goons like Taperelli.”

“He’s got more sense than that.”

“He does now. I seem to recall him walking up to a mobster by the name of Dattila in broad daylight and shooting him twice in the head.”

“He was justified.”

“Yeah, and he’d be dead if the police hadn’t raided the place and disarmed all of Dattila’s men an hour before. Herbie didn’t know that, and he did it anyway.”

“He’s a different person now.”

“He’s engaged to a hooker... again.”

“Why’s he still in court?” Stone said, sidestepping Dino’s point. “I thought he was just filling in for one day.”

“The lawyer had complications that are keeping him in the hospital. Herbie’s on the hook.”

“What’s Detective Kelly to him anyway?”

“He’s the witness Herb’s going to cross-examine.”

“Herbie’s going to walk into court and try to prove he’s a bad cop?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Is that safe?”

Dino shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Herbie got to court to find that reinforcements had arrived. Unfortunately, they were not in the form of James Glick, but rather his client’s father, who seemed more likely to horsewhip the boy than offer any source of comfort. The councilman managed to tear himself away from haranguing his son long enough to demand why Herbie had rejected the plea bargain he had worked so hard to set up, whereupon his son jumped in saying he was the one who had rejected it, and the whole merry-go-round began again.

Having observed Herbie’s entrance into the building, Mookie went outside and called Taperelli. “The lawyer’s here.”

“Which one?”

“Fisher.”

“What about Glick?”

“He’s not here.”

“Shit.”

“His name’s Herb.”

“What?”

“The lawyer. His name’s Herb Fisher.”

“Right.”

Taperelli already knew that. He’d called the firm first thing in the morning and asked for an attorney named Fisher. The switchboard girl said, “We have a Herb Fisher, but he’s not in yet.” Taperelli had hung up, hoping that meant the man was coming into the office and not going to court. No such luck.

“You want me to talk to him?”

“Fisher?”

“Yeah.”

“Not in court. When they break for lunch.”

“Should I lean on him?”

“Depends what he does in court. If he keeps stalling, give him a talking-to. If he takes a dive, let him go. If you’re not sure, call me.”

“Gotcha.”

“Whatever you do, call me.”

“What if they decide to take a plea?”

“Shoot him in the fucking head.”

Herbie waited until his client’s father had taken a seat in the gallery before resuming his place at the defense table.

Before he could even sit down, David tugged him by the sleeve. “I thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

“The detective testified that he searched me and found the cocaine. Like he found the envelope, and took it out of my pocket.”

“Yeah. So?”

“That’s not what happened. When he put me under arrest he told me to empty my pockets. I did. I took the envelope out of my jacket pocket.”