Andrew Vachss - Footsteps of the Hawk

"The ribbons were tied around their necks?" Hauser asked. "You're saying some beat cop pulled them off?"

"No," I said, watching the reporter's eyes, now steady behind the glasses. "That couldn't be. See, the red ribbons, they were inside the bodies. Way inside. You wouldn't find them until you did the autopsy."

"Unh," Hauser grunted, half to himself. "So you're saying the ME's office is in on this?"

" I'm not saying anything," I reminded him. "It's this cop who's saying it."

"You know which of the MEs did the autopsies?"

"No. I don't have any of the paper. I guess I could get it. Or copies, anyway."

"You have a read on this? A personal one?"

"No. Me, I'm clueless. Somebody's playing, but I don't even know what the game is."

"Why me?"

"You're Morelli's legacy, right? I figure, you can check some places I can't go— I can go places you can't too. We put it all together, maybe I crack the case and you get a hot story," I told him, playing the PI role to the hilt.

"That's all?" Hauser asked, his face a study in skepticism.

"Everything," I promised him, back to lying.

"There's nobody you're protecting? Chips fall where they may?"

"You got it."

"And what we know , actually know , not guess …what we know is that this guy Piersall did something to some hooker in Jersey, pleaded guilty, and he's doing a short stretch for it, right?"

"Right."

"And he got tried for a sex murder here in the city, and he got convicted of that too?"

"Right."

"And there was a red ribbon inside the woman who got murdered…but not inside the woman who got beat up?"

"Yeah. Nothing inside the New Jersey woman, the only red ribbon inside the New York woman, the one who died."

"And you got a source inside NYPD that says there are two more sex murders…?"

"Right."

"With red ribbons inside both of them…?"

"Right."

"But that the ribbons don't show up on the autopsies?"

"That's it."

"So either the cop's lying, or someone removed the ribbons…?"

I just shrugged, waiting.

Hauser pretended to be thinking it over, but I knew it was no contest— he was a bloodhound, and he had the scent. Finally, he looked over at me. "I'll take a look," he said. "No promises."

"It's a deal," I said.

The first step was to check my back–trail. Belinda hadn't been wired— I could tell that as much by the dialogue as the body search— you could replay our whole conversation for a grand jury and I'd still be as safe as a Kennedy in Massachusetts. But it didn't ring true, none of it. Mojo Mary offers me sex after she got paid. And Belinda doesn't even flash a smile when it might have cut her some slack. I never worry about what side I'm on. It's always the same one— mine. Sometimes that side's in the middle…and what I care about then is staying out of the crossfire.

The obvious answer was a crew of cops, working me for those mad–dog homicides in the Bronx a couple of years ago. But they didn't have a thing on me. And I haven't carried a gun since.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not crazy— I know the guns didn't do the killing— I know it was me. The guns just made it easy. So easy. Shooting, it's a different head than stabbing, especially with a high–tech piece like the Glock I used that time, so silky smooth it was like squirting death out of a hose. Close–up work, that takes a different mind. It's messier, more involved. Riskier too. The drive–by boys, it's like playing a video game to them. Not real. Electronic beeps sound in their sociopathic minds. The targets they shoot, they aren't human— they're little two–dimensional objects. You hit one just right, it falls down.

Technology changes things— the closer it gets to the street, the higher the body counts. Today, when one high–school kid bumps into another in the hall, one of them says, "I'll see you after school." But it's not a fistfight they're talking about. Not knives or bicycle chains either. Today, even the worst wimp can deliver a full–clip message. It's techno–magic— bang, the other guy's dead.

But why would Belinda warn me about Morales if she was working with him? Besides, I couldn't imagine Morales working with any partner but McGowan. Morales is a surly, hair–trigger straight arrow— not the kind of partner anyone in NYPD wants. A fucking thug for justice, that's Morales. I'd always figured he had everything a good manhunter needs except for one thing…patience. But maybe I'd underestimated him.

I couldn't do anything until tomorrow anyway I stopped back by the office, grabbed Pansy and took off for the Bronx.

"You are surely one beautiful girl," Clarence said to Pansy, remembering her from a long–ago day in Central Park. Pansy doesn't understand words, but she reads tone of voice perfect— she rubbed her big head against Clarence's pants leg, purring deep. I left the two of them and went looking for the Prof.

"Sit down on those punches," the Prof was barking at Frankie. "This ain't no fencing match— drive those shots home. Come on! "

Frankie circled a thick–bodied black boxer in the sparring ring, stalking, not punching much. The other guy was so relaxed he looked almost sleepy, slipping Frankie's punches with practiced ease. Somebody rang the bell, and both fighters returned to their corners. The Prof was up on the ring apron in a flash, talking urgently to Frankie.

"You too light for the fight, boy? This ain't no aerobics class. Box the motherfucker, understand? Box him in. Punches in bunches, that's the ticket here. Now, go out there and dump that chump!"

Frankie nodded, never taking his eyes from the other guy, who was also seated, joking with his cornermen. When the bell rang, Frankie lumbered off his stool toward the center of the ring, holding out one gloved hand for the other fighter to touch. "This ain't the last round, stupid!" one of the black guy's cornermen yelled.

"It is for you, sucker!" the Prof shot back.

Frankie bulled his way forward. The black guy backpedaled to the ropes, leaned against them easily, his sleek upper body glistening with sweat as if to emphasize how slippery he was. Frankie fired a left hook, grunting with the effort, then doubled with the same hand. The black guy slid away, but Frankie's overhand right was already launched. The black guy turned his head and the punch caught him on the neck. He stumbled once, and Frankie was on him like spandex, legs spread, knees locked, pounding hard enough to drive railroad spikes. The black guy tried to clutch Frankie but he was too late— the uppercut lanced between their bodies— the black guy's eyes rolled up and he went down face–first. Frankie turned away and came toward his corner, exposing his wrists so the Prof could take off the gloves.

Nobody bothered to count.

Frankie was breathing hard on his stool, but I could see he wasn't exhausted, just pumped up. The Prof kept up a steady patter of reassuring nonsense— Frankie didn't seem as though he was listening. He hit the showers. The Prof came over to where I was standing.

"Boy hits like a jackhammer, don't he?"

"Sure does," I agreed. "It's like a switch goes off in his head."

"Yeah, that's the trick. That's what makes him tick. You trip that switch, he's one mean sonofabitch."

"You know where the button is?"

"No. Sure don't, son. I thought it was a race thing when we first got started. But when Frankie goes on full boil, I don't think he sees color at all."

"What, then?"

"I glommed his act, and that's a fact," the Prof said. "The kid would have been glad to have your father."

"I never knew— "

"Right," the Prof cut in, his tone closing the door. "Look, schoolboy, Frankie's about ninety percent hate and twenty percent mean, but he only goes off inside the ropes. At least, now he does."