Read Online Shot of Tequila by J. A. Konrath - Free Book Online

claim it all on my insurance.”
    “Run through the whole thing, from the top.”
    Binkowski did, painting a much clearer picture then the vague one he’d given an hour earlier. Clearer, yes, but still highly suspect in Jack’s mind.
    “So this guy shot Billy Chico, in self-defense, and only took two thousand dollars instead of the entire contents, which were how much?”
    “About five grand.”
    “So where’s the other three grand?”
    “In a box of Courvoisier Grand Reserve on my cognac shelf.”
    Jack nodded at Benedict, who then went to go check on it.
    “Don’t destroy my store!”
    “We won’t if you’re telling the truth, Mr. Binkowski.”
    “I am. I swear.”
    Daniels looked deep into his pleading eyes and had the feeling she’d finally heard the truth. He’d been holding on to the lie in an effort to make a couple more thousand dollars from the insurance company, and that made some sense. But that was the only part of the story that did.
    “Mr. Binkowski, we’re going to have you work with a police artist, see if you can put together a picture of this guy. How tall did you say he was again?”
    “Under five-six.”
    It would be a simple maneuver to program the computer to bring up the files of all short white males with tattoos. How many could there be? They’d have a name within an hour or two. Unless he didn’t have a record, which was unlikely with the cold-blooded way he had killed Chico.
    Benedict re-entered the interrogation room and gave Jack a nod, indicating they’d found the money.
    “Okay, Mr. Binkowski. Thank you for your cooperation. Someone will be with you shortly to take you to our sketch artist.”
    “What about my money?”
    “You’re money is safe, Mr. Binkowski. But if I were you, I’d make an extra hard effort to remember every detail about this guy. It would be a shame if your insurance company were to learn you were trying to scam them.”
    Binkowski nodded, his frown as long as the night.
    Jack walked briskly over to Benedict and led the way down the hall on the third floor of the 26th Precinct. It was coming up on one in the morning, but the activity in the building was loud enough to force the volume of their conversation higher than normal speaking level.
    “So you think it was a private debt, or that this Butterfly guy was collecting for someone connected?” Herb asked.
    “Someone connected. He’s got to be well paid, or at least well paid enough that he wasn’t tempted to take all of Binkowski’s money. Just what was owed. What kind of killer would turn his back on a free two grand?”
    “He was making sure Binkowski wouldn’t ID him, banking on his greed.”
    “That could be part of it. But there’s something else here. What do you think about this self-defense angle?”
    “Chico had a gun on him. Could be self-defense. If he was really collecting a debt, what good would killing him do? He’d wait for Chico to finish, like Binkowski said. Except Chico didn’t finish. Instead he panicked, turned the gun at Butterfly, and Butterfly shot him.”
    “Maybe.”
    They hung a left at the end of the hall and Benedict led them into the stairwell. Unlike the rest of the building, the stairwell wasn’t heated, and the temperature was a good twenty degrees cooler. Because of this anomaly, lining the edges of the stair on every floor were brown paper bags and lunch boxes, left there by night patrol cops who wanted to keep their sandwiches and soda cold. Benedict and Daniels took the stairs down, ignoring the bags.
    “Doesn’t a threat work better than a bribe?” Daniels asked, still pondering why Butterfly hadn’t taken all the money, just a part of it.
    “Sometimes. Sometimes a bribe works better because then the person incriminates himself, and is then on your side.”
    “You ever been tempted?”
    “Who hasn’t? Christ, remember that time in Vice, when we raided that drug house? More money on the table than I made in ten years.”
    “You take