You Make Me Feel So Dead (21 page)

‘Anything's possible, bubby,' he said. ‘But you can go down and see him. They'll let you in because you represent me.'

‘Yeah, and they're supposed to let him out because we've got the bail money.'

‘They're screwing around with that,' he said, ‘but they wouldn't screw with Kaminsky seeing his own client – and you represent Kaminsky. Don't you forget that.'

‘I won't.'

‘I'll talk to you later.'

We hung up. I was using a phone in the lobby of the Sands, and Jerry was standing by.

‘Let's go,' I said.

‘Where?'

‘To see Danny,' I said. ‘I want to take everything we've learned and run it by him.'

‘We ain't learned much,' Jerry observed.

‘So it won't take that long.'

We got into the Caddy and drove down to the police station.

I got in to see Danny, but Jerry didn't.

‘One at the time,' the cops told me.

Not sure if that was actually the rule, but I told Jerry, ‘It's OK, wait out here.'

‘Sure, Mr G.,' he said, ‘I'll wait outside. Bein' in a police station gives me the willies, you know?'

‘Yeah,' I said, ‘I know.'

They took Danny out of his cell and put him in a room so I could see him. He was seated at a table, handcuffed. He looked more rumpled and messed up than I'd ever seen him, and he had a welt over one eye.

‘What's that from?'

‘Fella wanted my bunk,' he said.

‘Did he get it?'

‘Whatayou think?'

I didn't think so. I sat down across from him.

‘I don't know how much time I've got so I'll talk fast,' I said.

I told him we'd checked out all three men he suspected could be Kroner. I told him what we'd found out, and what Frank had done. I told him everybody who was helping.

‘Jesus, Eddie,' he said, ‘you got Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Elvis Presley workin' on this?'

‘And me and Jerry.'

‘Well, sure, I know that, but these other guys … How'd you do that?'

‘They all volunteered, Danny.'

‘Or you volunteered them.'

‘Nope, it was their own decision,' I said.

‘Well,' Danny said, ‘tell 'em all I appreciate it – especially Elvis. I mean, he was willing to put up two hundred grand for me.'

‘You can tell them that when you get out.'

‘Yeah,' he said, ‘whenever that is.'

‘Kaminsky says he's meeting with the judge today,' I said. ‘In his chambers. He'll get you out.'

‘Yeah, I know he will,' he agreed, but he didn't sound very convincing.

‘What about this Scaffazza guy?' he asked. ‘Think you can make a case for him killin' Reynolds instead of me?'

‘I don't know,' I said. ‘What would his motive be?'

‘I don't know … money?'

‘Possibly. What about these three suspects of yours? What do you think of them?'

‘I think one of them is Kroner.'

‘I gotta tell you, Danny,' I said, ‘that doesn't seem likely.'

‘This kind of case is tricky, Eddie,' he said. ‘If they all convinced you guys, I still think one of them is doin' a better job than the rest. One of them's gotta be him, but even if he is, there's no proof he had anything to do with the murder.'

‘All we have to do is connect Reynolds to one of them,' I said. ‘Look, Danny, I need a DMV contact.'

‘What for?'

I told him how Hargrove had messed with the old lady's memory about the license plate she'd seen.

‘That sonofabitch.'

‘I want to run the plate the other three ways and see if we come up with somebody who looks like you.'

‘You're a smart guy, Eddie,' he said. ‘Yeah, we got a DMV guy. Talk to Penny, she'll give you the number. How's she holdin' up?'

‘Like a trooper.'

‘When do you think you'll be seein' this Scaffazza?'

‘As soon as Frank gets the call,' I said, ‘and he wants to go with me.'

‘Well, you make sure you take Jerry with you.'

‘We will.'

‘Anything else?'

‘Yeah,' I said, ‘have you thought about another lawyer? The guys have sort of hinted they can get you somebody a little more high profile.'

‘Kaminsky's my guy, Eddie,' he said. ‘Don't worry, he'll get me out.'

‘OK,' I said, ‘if you trust him, so do I.'

‘I trust him like I trust you.'

‘Don't worry, Danny,' I said. ‘We're all workin' on this for you.'

‘I appreciate it,' he said, ‘and look into those three guys a little deeper. I'd swear one of them is Kroner.'

‘OK,' I said, ‘I'll get my team back on the job.'

‘Your team,' Danny said, with a lopsided grin. ‘Some team.'

‘I'll see you soon,' I said, ‘on the outside.'

I started for the door, then stopped.

‘What?' he asked.

‘Your gun.'

‘What about it?'

‘The cops claim it's the murder weapon.'

‘Impossible.'

‘Is it your only gun?'

‘No, I have one other. I keep it at home.'

‘What kind?'

‘A thirty-two.'

‘Could someone have gotten ahold of your thirty-eight and killed Reynolds with it?'

‘That would've been kinda hard.'

‘Why?'

‘Because I had my gun on me the day of the murder.'

‘The whole time?'

‘Yep.'

‘Never put it down?'

‘Nope.'

‘Damn.'

He nodded. I left as a guard took him back to his cell.

J
erry was waiting out in front of the building, like he said.

‘How's the Shamus?' he asked.

‘Holdin' up,' I said. ‘He's confident that Kaminsky can get him out.'

‘So he don't want a new lawyer?'

‘Nope.'

‘Whatta we do now?'

‘We go see Penny,' I said. ‘She's going to hook us up with someone at the DMV to check those plate numbers.'

‘Fremont Street?'

‘Right.'

‘Here's the number,' Penny said, turning her Rolodex around to face me, ‘but why don't you let me call him, Eddie? He knows me? You won't need to explain so much.'

‘OK, Penny,' I said, taking out the slip of paper with the numbers on it. ‘Give him these and let's see what comes back.'

She sat down at her desk and dialed. I drifted into Danny's office, with Jerry behind me.

‘So that's gettin' done,' he said. ‘Now what?'

‘Danny insists one of the three men we checked out is Kroner,' I said. ‘I need more information about him.'

‘From where? And who?'

‘From Chicago,' I said, ‘and I don't know who. Not yet. But we also have to address the question of the gun.'

‘How do we do that?' Jerry asked.

Before I could answer, Penny came in and said, ‘OK, our guy is working on the plate numbers.'

‘Good,' I said. ‘Penny, do you have a key to Danny's apartment?'

Her face colored slightly and she said, ‘I don't, but there's an extra in his desk.'

She went around behind Danny's desk, opened the drawer and came out with two keys.

‘The downstairs key, and his apartment door key,' she said.

‘That's it?' I asked. ‘That's all I'd need to get inside?'

‘Yes?'

‘Do you know what this key is for?' I asked. It was a third, smaller one.

‘No.'

‘Does he have any other keys?'

‘Well, office keys, keys to his file cabinets and desk …'

‘Any safety deposit box keys?'

‘Not that I'm aware of.'

This one didn't look like a safety deposit box key, but Jerry had another idea.

‘What about gun safe keys?' Jerry asked.

‘A gun safe?'

‘A safe where he'd keep extra guns,' Jerry said. ‘Does he have one of those?'

‘I … don't think so.'

‘Penny,' I said, ‘not that we don't believe you, but Jerry and I are going to search this place, and then Danny's apartment.'

‘Why?'

‘The cops insist that Danny's gun killed Reynolds.'

‘That's impossible.'

‘No,' I said, ‘what's impossible is Danny killin' Reynolds when he says he didn't. That doesn't mean somebody else didn't kill him with Danny's gun.'

‘But he told you he had it on him the whole day,' Jerry reminded me.

‘I know,' I said. ‘I just want to search to be thorough.'

‘All right,' Penny said. ‘I can help.'

‘No,' I said. ‘I want you to go home, Penny.'

‘Why? I can help here, and then at Danny's apartment.'

‘If it ever comes up that we searched Danny's place I want to be able to say you weren't there.'

‘Why?'

‘Because somebody – a cop, a lawyer, a jury – will have a hard time believing that you didn't cover up evidence for the man you love.'

Now she colored furiously.

‘I never said—'

‘I know,' I cut her off. ‘I said it. Go home, Penny. I'll call you and let you know when we're done.'

‘And what you find,' she said, ‘if anything.'

‘I promise.'

‘OK,' she said. She went out to her desk and grabbed her purse. ‘I'm going,' she called out.

I looked at Jerry. ‘Make sure she goes out the door.'

‘Right.'

He went into the outer office and walked Penny to the door, and out. Then he came back in.

‘I think she's mad at me.'

‘She'll get over it. Let's take a look around.'

‘In here and out there?'

I hesitated, then said, ‘Oh hell, sure. Let's go all the way. You take the outer, and I'll look in here.'

‘And what are we lookin' for?'

‘I don't know, Jerry,' I replied. ‘Like I said, I'm just tryin' to be thorough.'

‘Right, thorough.'

He went into the other room.

‘Thorough,' I called out, after a few moments, ‘but neat!'

T
he only thing that had anything to do with a gun was in a bottom drawer of Danny's desk. It was a kit he'd used to clean his weapon. Nothing but oils and cloths, and brushes.

Jerry came walking in and said, ‘I got nothin'.'

‘OK,' I said, ‘me, neither.' I looked at him. ‘That could be good or bad, right?'

‘Right.'

‘OK,' I said, ‘let's go to his apartment.'

On the way down the stairs he asked, ‘Can we get somethin' to eat on the way?'

‘Sure,' I said, ‘somethin' we can take along with us. Burger and fries?'

‘And a shake?'

‘And a shake.'

‘Sure,' he agreed.

We hit the street and walked to the Caddy.

We entered Danny's place carrying a bag of burgers and fries.

‘Let's eat it in his kitchen,' I said. ‘I don't want to leave grease all over the place.'

‘OK.'

We found two beers in his refrigerator to wash it all down with.

‘Hey,' he said, ‘we're gonna see Elvis perform tonight, huh?'

‘I hope so.'

‘What?'

‘I just mean things have to go right for us to have time to go.'

‘Mr S. and Dino will be there.'

I didn't respond.

‘Mr G.?'

‘Huh?'

‘Whattsa matter?'

‘I was just thinking that Frank might know somebody in Chicago we could use to run down information on Kroner.'

‘Wanna give him a call?'

‘Yeah,' I said, ‘but let's have a look around first, huh?'

‘Sure,' he said, taking his second burger out of the bag, ‘as soon as we finish eatin'.'

We did a thorough search of Danny's apartment, just in case – for whatever reason – he hadn't told us, or Penny, about another gun.

Jerry and I examined the lock on his front door, and all his windows, to see if we could figure out if any of them had been forced.

‘That's it,' I said, frustrated.

‘Nothin' here, nothin' at the office.'

‘Wait …'

‘For what?'

‘Danny told me he had another gun here,' I said. ‘A thirty-two.'

‘Where is it?'

I looked around, as if I'd see it just lying in the open.

‘We missed it,' I said. ‘He has a hidey-hole around here someplace.'

‘Ask him.'

‘I could do that,' I said, ‘but we're smart, right?'

‘You are,' Jerry said.

‘Yeah, right,' I said. ‘Come on, we can figure this out. False wall, loose floorboard, something. Come on, once more through.'

‘OK,' he said, ‘but let's switch.'

We had divvied up the apartment 50-50, so his idea to switch was good. One of us might find something the other one missed.

‘Good idea.'

We went at it again.

‘Mr G.?' Jerry called a short time later.

I walked into the kitchen, found him with several large bowls on the counter. I realized he had emptied all of Danny's cereal into the bowls. I hadn't done that.

‘Did you find the gun?'

‘No,' he said, ‘but I found this.' He held up a brown envelope, sealed and rubber banded. From the shape of it, it wasn't hard to figure out the contents.

‘Cash?' I said.

‘Feels like it.'

‘Put it back, Jerry.'

‘Ain'tcha curious about how much it is?'

‘Yes,' I said, ‘but put it back. That's not what we're looking for.'

He shrugged, put it back in the cereal box, and then started pouring cereal back into the boxes from the bowls.

‘You check the freezer?' I asked.