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Authors: Grace F. Edwards
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had looked in Gary Mark’s eyes. And what I had seen was unmistakable.
I also wanted to let Tad know that when he had walked into the precinct that first time with that prisoner,I had figured something out immediately. In fact, what I had felt was as close to an epiphany as I was likely to get. In the time it took to blink, I had concluded that of all the men I had known and loved and hated and fought and lost and loved again, this one was going to be the very next and the very last. It had happened that quickly.
“Sometimes two minutes is enough,” I said, “if you know what you’re looking for.”
The waitress recommended the broiled snapper and baked plantains and we ordered more beer. The soft reggae echoes of Bob Marley drifted from the CD near the kitchen and should have been enough to calm my nerves, but I was thinking of Deborah’s warning: Don’t let me read about you in the papers. Pull Alvin out and forget it …
But I couldn’t forget. If she came up blank, I made a mental note to call another friend. But I couldn’t sit in St. Nicholas Park and share down-home fried chicken and banana pudding with Melissa Stewart. She was one of the few black female partners in a top firm on the Street. I’d have to push my plastic and take her to Windows on the World and then probably dip her in mimosas to get her to talk. But at least she’d know of Gary Mark if he worked anywhere near Wall Street.
“What did you find out about the gold caps?” I asked.
Tad shook his head in disgust. “Nothing. Dead end. One dentist told me those caps were the cheap ones, the kind that someone can put in and snap out when they needed to. And that so-called diamond in it wasn’t worth a dime. And there’re no reports of any recent visits for tooth repair, at least not around here, so I guess Morris didn’t do much damage to the guy who grabbed him.”
“And Erskin Harding was killed simply because he tried to keep Morris from being snatched?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. He may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time but we don’t know yet.”
I remembered Alvin’s question: “Why’d they have to kill him? They didn’t have to kill him.”
It was true. They didn’t have to. Erskin had not been in the wrong place. It was a deliberate hit …
“What’s Danny doing?”
“Danny seems to be up against a stone wall as well. Matter of fact, I was wondering about what you told me about that boy Clarence.”
I looked up quickly, wishing I had kept my mouth shut until I found out more about Clarence.
“Tad, let me handle Clarence.”
“Let you handle—uh-oh. Do I hear social consciousness kicking in? The boy comes from a deprived home, et cetera, et cetera, and will respond to love and attention and confess all.”
“That’s not it and you know it. I don’t think there’s anything for him to confess.”
I was becoming more annoyed, imagining how Tad would handle the situation.
“Let me speak to him, Tad.”
“Why?”
“Because somehow, I don’t feel right about the idea of a seventeen-year-old murdering—”
Tad held up his hand. “Please. You haven’t been out of the department that long. Have you forgotten what Riker’s looks like? Place is a zoo, packed to the rafters with seventeen-year-olds. And they’re not there for playing hooky.”
I folded my arms and gritted my teeth.
“I don’t know about the ones at Riker’s. I don’t feel right about
this
seventeen-year-old.”
“That’s what most of their mothers say: ‘This is happening to my boy and it’s not right,’ even though the angel was caught with the gun still smoking in his hand.They look you right in the eye and say ‘My child didn’t do it.’ ”
The waitress brought our dinner but I had lost my appetite. A minute later Tad noticed that the red snapper on my plate was untouched, so he whispered, “Okay, okay. You work on the kid. I’ll see if anything else turns up about Harding.”
I gazed at him across the
I also wanted to let Tad know that when he had walked into the precinct that first time with that prisoner,I had figured something out immediately. In fact, what I had felt was as close to an epiphany as I was likely to get. In the time it took to blink, I had concluded that of all the men I had known and loved and hated and fought and lost and loved again, this one was going to be the very next and the very last. It had happened that quickly.
“Sometimes two minutes is enough,” I said, “if you know what you’re looking for.”
The waitress recommended the broiled snapper and baked plantains and we ordered more beer. The soft reggae echoes of Bob Marley drifted from the CD near the kitchen and should have been enough to calm my nerves, but I was thinking of Deborah’s warning: Don’t let me read about you in the papers. Pull Alvin out and forget it …
But I couldn’t forget. If she came up blank, I made a mental note to call another friend. But I couldn’t sit in St. Nicholas Park and share down-home fried chicken and banana pudding with Melissa Stewart. She was one of the few black female partners in a top firm on the Street. I’d have to push my plastic and take her to Windows on the World and then probably dip her in mimosas to get her to talk. But at least she’d know of Gary Mark if he worked anywhere near Wall Street.
“What did you find out about the gold caps?” I asked.
Tad shook his head in disgust. “Nothing. Dead end. One dentist told me those caps were the cheap ones, the kind that someone can put in and snap out when they needed to. And that so-called diamond in it wasn’t worth a dime. And there’re no reports of any recent visits for tooth repair, at least not around here, so I guess Morris didn’t do much damage to the guy who grabbed him.”
“And Erskin Harding was killed simply because he tried to keep Morris from being snatched?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. He may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time but we don’t know yet.”
I remembered Alvin’s question: “Why’d they have to kill him? They didn’t have to kill him.”
It was true. They didn’t have to. Erskin had not been in the wrong place. It was a deliberate hit …
“What’s Danny doing?”
“Danny seems to be up against a stone wall as well. Matter of fact, I was wondering about what you told me about that boy Clarence.”
I looked up quickly, wishing I had kept my mouth shut until I found out more about Clarence.
“Tad, let me handle Clarence.”
“Let you handle—uh-oh. Do I hear social consciousness kicking in? The boy comes from a deprived home, et cetera, et cetera, and will respond to love and attention and confess all.”
“That’s not it and you know it. I don’t think there’s anything for him to confess.”
I was becoming more annoyed, imagining how Tad would handle the situation.
“Let me speak to him, Tad.”
“Why?”
“Because somehow, I don’t feel right about the idea of a seventeen-year-old murdering—”
Tad held up his hand. “Please. You haven’t been out of the department that long. Have you forgotten what Riker’s looks like? Place is a zoo, packed to the rafters with seventeen-year-olds. And they’re not there for playing hooky.”
I folded my arms and gritted my teeth.
“I don’t know about the ones at Riker’s. I don’t feel right about
this
seventeen-year-old.”
“That’s what most of their mothers say: ‘This is happening to my boy and it’s not right,’ even though the angel was caught with the gun still smoking in his hand.They look you right in the eye and say ‘My child didn’t do it.’ ”
The waitress brought our dinner but I had lost my appetite. A minute later Tad noticed that the red snapper on my plate was untouched, so he whispered, “Okay, okay. You work on the kid. I’ll see if anything else turns up about Harding.”
I gazed at him across the
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