Warren Hammond: Kop

“Okay.” Straight to business. “What do we have so far?”

Yuan Kim’s face was soaked in sweat. His glasses slipped down his nose. “What the hell’s goin’ on, Juno? Why are you taking over our case? You haven’t worked a hommy in ten years.”

“Take it up with the chief.”

Josephs said, “The chief put you on this? Does he know the vic or what?”

“Beats me. He just said he wanted me to work this stiff.”

“You still takin’ care of his dirty laundry, Juno? I know you two are still buds, but enough is enough. I’d tell him to fuck off and take care of his own shit.”

Kim wiped his forehead with his index finger and flicked the sweat to the ground. “This is bullshit. Chang can’t just take our case and give it to a vice cop. No offense, Juno, but this is our case.”

Josephs scoffed at his partner. “Get over it, Kim. We got three missing-persons cases to work. If the chief wants Juno to work this one, fine by me. I just don’t see what Juno gets out of workin’ a homicide after all this time.”

I was getting irritated. “Leave that to me, okay? What I do is my business. I don’t need you humps telling me this is fucked up. I already know that.”

Josephs said, “That’s cool, Juno. No need to get pissy. We’re all on the same side. Isn’t that right, Kim?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” He said it in an unconvincing mumble.

I asked, “You guys know a detective named Maggie Orzo?”

Yuan Kim replied, “Yeah, but she’s no detective. She’s fresh out of the academy.”

“She’s a detective now. The chief’s partnering me up with her on this one.”

Josephs started chuckling. “Holy shit. Hooking you up with a rookie on a murder case? First, I thought Chang was using you as his errand boy. Now, I think he must be punishing you. That or he’s gone fucking ape shit. I never heard of anything so crazy in my life.”

“What’s she like, Kim?”

He pushed his glasses up his nose. They just slid back down. “She’s solid. Smart and tough. Still, I think she’s a little green for a job like this.”

“A little?” Josephs was winding up. “She’s a rookie. Juno’s gonna have to work twice as hard just to keep her from screwing things up. Hell, she’s gonna start puking the minute she sees that body.”

Kim shook his head, “She’s not like that, Mark. You don’t even know her. I’m telling you, she’s solid.”

“What the hell you talkin’ about? You got a crush on her or what?”

“No.” Kim said it too fast. It came off defensive. “I’m just saying she’s not your typical rookie. She’s got a way about her.”

“Shit, you’re in love with her, aren’t you? You believe this shit, Juno?”

Kim was getting flushed. “Fuck you, Mark. I am not in love with her. She’s just not what you think. She’s not the type to lose her shit just because she sees a corpse, okay?”

“She’s comin’ here, right, Juno? This is gonna be good. I can’t wait to see her on her knees heaving her guts out. Hey, Kim, you gonna hold her hair back?”

“She’s not going to puke.”

“You wanna put some money on that?”

“I told you she’s not going to puke.”

“I got five thousand says your girlfriend is going to blow her breakfast all over this alley. You want in on this, Juno?”

I said, “No way, I don’t want any part of this. I have to work with her.”

Josephs prodded. “C’mon, Kim. You in or not?”

“Five thou?”

“Yeah five…whatever you want. I don’t give a shit.”

“You’re on. Five thousand.”

“Yes! You sure you don’t want in on this, Juno?”

“I’m sure. Now, can we move on? Fill me in.”

Kim pushed up his glasses and held them in place for a few seconds. “We don’t know much yet. You know Rose?”

She ran the Lotus. “Yeah.”

“She called it in two hours ago. One of her whores came out here bringing out the trash. She spotted the body and tossed the trash-” He paused to point to a bag on the ground. “-then ran back in, literally screaming bloody murder.”

I wiped my brow. “The chief told me he’s Army.”

“Yeah, we bagged the vic’s wallet. He’s an officer.” Kim checked his pad. “Lieutenant Dmitri Vlotsky. No cash in the wallet. Could have been a robbery, but I doubt it. Whoever it was butchered him pretty bad.”

A female voice came up behind me. “Excuse me, I’m looking for Detective Mozambe.”

“I’m Juno Mozambe.”

“Hello, I’m Maggie Orzo.” She put her hand out for a shake.

I shook hands with her. I made it a quick shake, and I made sure to say something at the same time so she wouldn’t notice my quaky hand. “Nice to meet you, Detective Orzo.”

“You better call me Maggie if we’re going to be partners.”

Partners. We’ll see about that. “Maggie it is,” I said.

I could see right away why Yuan Kim had eyes for her. She was young with a confident smile and her hair was done up in the latest style. She was wearing a stylish outfit that made her look far too nice to be a cop. Cops didn’t wear “outfits.” Her most striking feature was her eyes, which were a stunning sky blue. Her dark hair and olive complexion told me those eyes couldn’t have been her birth eyes. Surely, she’d been born with brown eyes. She had to be rich. How else could she afford replacement eyes? Knowing her eyes weren’t original, I wondered what else wasn’t…maybe that perfect little nose, or maybe those round lips, or how about those nice ample breasts. After taking in the complete package of Maggie Orzo, I decided that I really didn’t care what was original and what wasn’t.

She said, “Must’ve been quite a surprise to find out you had a new partner.”

“Yep,” I said without trying to hide my unhappiness. Pretty or not, I didn’t need a partner slowing me down. “We’re just getting started.”

Maggie Orzo looked at a smitten Yuan Kim. “Hi, Kim.”

Kim was looking stupid as he pushed his glasses back up. “H-hey, Maggie, this is my partner.”

“Nice to meet you, Maggie. I’m Mark Josephs. Kim here has been telling me all about you. I think he likes you.”

Kim looked stupid-angry.

Maggie Orzo changed the subject. “What have we been able to determine so far?”

Josephs said, “The coroner is still working the body. Why don’t you come check it out?” He gave me a look as if to say, “Watch this,” then he talked to Maggie, real patronizing. “Now, are you sure you’re ready for this?”

She was emphatic. “I’m sure.”

She walked deeper into the alley. We all followed her past some garbage cans and around the corner. Sweat streamed down my face and back. My shirt was soaked through. The ripe smell of the corpse was overpowering in the heat. Blood was pooled on the pavement. Lizards chattered in small groups, waiting for an opportunity to scavenge while flies buzzed around our heads.

Koba’s head coroner, Abdul Salaam, was hunched over the body. How did he still do it at his age? Down on his knees, with the heat kicking off the pavement like that. Abdul was one of the few guys around who was older than me, in years, that is. In attitude, he must have been half my age. Abdul and I went way back, old friends. “Hey, Abdul.”

He looked up, squinting through his too-thick glasses. “That you, Juno?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m working this case, with Officer Orzo here.”

He tried to wave the flies away, his bloodied gloves acting more like a magnet than a repellant. “I don’t get it,” he said.

“Paul sent me.”

“Doesn’t he know that you’re too old for this kind of work?” he said with his poker face.