Sergio De La Pava - A Naked Singularity

“This might be difficult for a New York City detective to comprehend but most people can put two and two together and get four.”

“I see, so you had no inside information, just what you read in the papers?”

“Is this what you came to see me about? How I could know that the DeLeon killed was my DeLeon or should I say your DeLeon since he was cooperating with you guys and signed an agreement in which you collectively promised to protect him.”

“I had nothing to do with his cooperation as you know. I’m a homicide detective. And besides, from what I understand, he stopped cooperating well prior to his murder.”

“I see, can you blame him?”

“I’m more interested in what happened the night he and the others were killed.”

“Okay, well, good luck with that.”

“I thought maybe you could help me.”

“I’m sure I could.”

“Really? So you admit you have information?”

“None at all. But based on what I perceive to be the quality of you and your colleagues’ work, if put in charge of the case, I’m quite sure I could do better, meaning I could help you. That said, as you might have heard, I’m kind of on the other side of you guys so I don’t do much crime-solving.”

“Except that, as I said, based on my investigation, I think you happen to know a lot about this incident.”

“I think your exact words, twice, were that you knew what I had done. So what exactly is it you think I did .”

“I misspoke if I said that. Although it does occur to me that perhaps you better hope you’re right about my ability to solve crimes.”

“There’s no if you said that , that’s what you said. As far as what I know about what happened, I certainly don’t know anything that the DA and the detectives who were there for the meeting don’t know, so just talk to them. After that if you still want to talk to me, get me at work or through the DA.”

“Strange.”

“…”

“Strange I said.”

“What is?”

“Just that if a client of mine was brutally killed I like to think I would want to assist in the investigation as much as possible. I don’t know how to interpret your reluctance, unless you have something to hide that is.”

“Or unless, as is the case, I simply know I have nothing to say that could help your investigation.”

“Well, with all due respect, you couldn’t possibly know that without talking to me about it.”

“So talk, you’re right, tell me what you know and I’ll try to be of assistance.”

He looked at me with those mirrors and said nothing. I felt better. I thought he would leave. That I would never see him again. That everything would still be good. Then he asked if I was hungry and when I shrugged added that we should get something to eat and discuss what happened, that it would be better than him going through the courts and compelling me to talk and that it would be a means of clearing myself of any suspicion, not that there was any he was quick to add. I felt a form of violence well up in me at the sound of those last words. I wanted to seize his face with my bare hands and tear it off his head. I smiled and said sure.

We went to a nearby diner no one ever went to where even the limited staff seemed surprised to see us and maybe unsure of what to do in response. We ordered and started getting food in record speed. I felt anger mixed with mounting fear.

“So you knew about this big deal that was going to happen Wednesday morning right?”

“What big deal?”

“Yes, this big exchange on 123rd street that resulted in DeLeon being killed in the street.”

“No.”

“You’re saying you weren’t at the meeting with DeLeon and the DA?”

“No I’m not saying that, but that’s not what you asked me.”

“Well wasn’t the deal discussed at this meeting, a meeting that was attended by only you and four others?”

“Not to my recollection.”

“You’re saying the deal wasn’t discussed?”

“A deal was discussed as I recall. But it wasn’t for any Wednesday morning and it wasn’t at 123rd street either.”

“I see, when was it for?”

“A Saturday I believe.”

“Where?”

“Not sure but on the West Side somewhere, Riverside Drive maybe, but not on 123rd that I’m sure of.”

“Why did you stay for the meeting?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I was Mr. DeLeon’s attorney as you pointed out.”

“So you had inside information about this high-level deal that would be going down right? With all that money involved.”

“I guess not.”

“What do you mean? You just said you were there didn’t you?”

“I was there, that’s true, but apparently I didn’t posses any true information since it appears that Mr. DeLeon was either lying to the DA or the upcoming meeting he was talking about was subsequently cancelled. Or are you saying it in fact went off in the manner he said it would?”

“I can’t discuss that.”

“Thought you wanted my help?”

“Did you know he was giving the DA false information?”

“So it was false? Intentionally so?”

“Yes, it was. Did you know?”

“No, how could I given that neither the DA nor the detectives apparently knew and they were certainly a great deal more familiar with the subject than I was.”

“Of course DeLeon could have confided in you that what he was giving them was untrue and it follows that he could have gone so far as to give you the true information.”

“That’s funny, you think our clients tell us the truth huh? They don’t do it when it would benefit them, what would’ve been the reason for doing so here? What exactly is your theory Assado? That I knew when the meeting was really taking place and went there and killed DeLeon so I would have one less case to worry about?”

“When was the last time you saw DeLeon?”

“I guess the day he was sentenced, the day after the meeting with the DA as I recall.”

“Did you ever talk to him after that?”

“No, next I heard about it was the DA telling me he had lost him and would be asking for a warrant.”

“Did you tell the DA you had reason to doubt the information DeLeon gave.”

“No, that would assume I had a reason to doubt it.”

“So you believed it to be true?”

“I guess but I also didn’t give it much thought. It didn’t carry much importance to me either way. I just handled the cooperation, what happened after that was not really any of my concern. You sure you’re a detective?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Just that some of your questions betray an almost complete lack of understanding of a defense attorney’s role in representing a CI.”

He shut up and ate. I mentally debated plunging my fork into his face. I ate but not really. I stared at him. He was older with gray facial hair that made his face look like a baseball glove that had been left out in the rain. Thin too. The skin under his black eyes sagged and every vein on his hands bulged like rivers on a relief map. After an interminable time… he looked back at me.

“You asked before about my theory,” he said. “I think that somebody knew about that meeting Wednesday, knew a lot of money would be there. Somebody not directly involved, someone neither of the parties gave much thought to, and somebody they certainly didn’t expect to see on the night of the exchange. I think that this person or persons broke into 410 123rd Street at the time of the meeting with the intention of stealing the money and that as a result things got a little violent leading to the death of DeLeon and pretty much everybody else there. I think they got the money. I think they killed some people. That’s my theory.”