April already knew this, but Mike clearly didn't. 'Nice of you to let us know, Hagedorn. So, who's talked with Liberty so far?' April asked.
'Just the lieutenant and me. Chang hasn't gotten here yet.'
It was Kiang, but April didn't bother to correct him. 'What did he say?'
'Who, Liberty? He said he wanted to talk to his lawyer.'
'I'd like to see him,' April murmured.
Hagedorn returned to his forms. 'Hey, you've got four, five hours before he goes downtown. Why not, you're the primary,' he added, then laughed. 'He's in the interview room.'
April glanced at Mike again. The tiny no-no motion of his chin told her not to break Hagedorn's neck just yet. She turned away to take her coat off in her office, trying to clear her head of usless things. Mike opened her office door. He'd taken his coat off, too, and combed his hair. 'You thinking what I'm thinking?' he asked.
April frowned. 'It's pretty hard to find prints on a handgun, particularly one that's been tossed around in the snow. How would that—?'
'That's what I'm thinking.'
She shoved her purse in the drawer and slammed it.
'Let's go talk to him.'
They filed through the squad room to the interview room where Liberty waited alone. From the back it looked as if he had his head down and was resting on the table. But when Mike and April got inside, they saw that he'd been cuffed to the leg of the table and couldn't sit up. An indication of what Hagedorn thought of him. Nice. At the sound of the door opening, Liberty turned his head.
'Oh, you two,' he muttered. He looked worse than the last time they'd seen him. Now he was pale, ex- hausted—and much of his hair was gray.
'How long have you been here?' Mike asked.
'About an hour. Where were you? You missed the fun.'
'Sorry about that.' Mike gestured vaguely.
Liberty rattled the cuffs. 'I'm new at this. What happens when a person needs a bathroom?'
'Have you asked anybody?' April asked.
Liberty averted his eyes. 'No one seemed interested. Maybe they wanted me to pee in my pants.'
Mike slipped a key from his pocket and snapped off the cuffs and jerked his chin at April. She moved aside to let them out of the room. A few minutes later they were back. Still no cuffs. Liberty sat in the same chair as before.
April stuck a fresh tape in the recording machine on the table, pushed a button, and told it what day and hour it was, where they were, and who was in
the room. Then she told Liberty the tape was for his own protection.
Mike was the first- to talk. 'You've gotten yourself in a lot of trouble. Why don't you tell us what happened.'
'Thanks for taking off the shackles, but I'm going to wait for a lawyer.'
'Did they tell you how long a wait that would be?'
'What do you mean?' '
'You might not get to see a lawyer or anyone else until sometime tomorrow. Right now we're the only friends you've got. You could tell us what happened' and save a lot of time.'
Liberty licked his lips.
'You want a Coke or something?' April asked.
'I called someone.'
'That's good, but the legal process takes time. You know you've fucked up big-time. You've got yourself involved in a homicide they can pin on you. You're locked in the system now. There's no getting out.' Mike shook his head. 'I thought you were smarter than that. Now why'd you go make it harder for yourself?'
Liberty scowled at him. 'I didn't want to end up chained to a table.'
April moved a chair away from the table and sat down.
'Like a dog,' Liberty added.
Her eyes flickered. At central booking she'd seen prisoners chained to the walls so they couldn't even sit down. Liberty's shirt was wet. April could smell his fear.
'Now getting chained to a table is personal. I'd take that as a personal thing, how about you?' he asked.
'They tell you about the evidence they have against you?' The expression on Mike's face was of benign interest.
'I don't blame the media for what they do,' Liberty said. 'They can make up any stories they want. But you people are supposed to uncover the truth.'
Mike sucked on the ends of his mustache. 'And?' 'You fuckers couldn't investigate your way out of a paper bag.'
'You ducked out two days ago,' April said softly. 'Did you finally find your wife's killer?'
He turned around to look at her. 'Somebody shot the man, I'll never know what he knew or what he did.'
'Did you shoot him?'
Liberty shook his head. 'I couldn't have shot him. I don't have a gun.'
'Uh-huh. What happened?' April asked.
'I wanted to talk to him. I tried to go to the club where he hangs out, but I couldn't even get close. There was a police raid going on. I heard a shot, but I didn't know then who had gotten shot. The cops, everybody, were running around. Two guys came across Broadway at us. One of them had a bandana tied on his head. He had a ridge of gold teeth.' Liberty touched his top teeth. His face was gray.
'Us?' Mike said, quickly taking over.
'What?'
'You said us.'
Liberty looked annoyed. 'A slip of the tongue. The guy with the gold teeth shot Jefferson.'
'This sounds like a fairy tale,' Mike said.
'The fuck it is. Can't any of you do your job?'
'I'm doing my job.' Mike shook his head sadly. 'I've always admired you, man. I thought you were intelligent. But even a dumb cop like me wouldn't buy a story this weak. If the phantom with the gold teeth shot Jefferson, how come your prints are on the gun?'
Liberty was shocked. 'Huh? Couldn't be.'
'That's what they got. Now why don't you tell us about the woman downstairs who wants to make a statement, and how your prints got on the gun that killed Jefferson.'
April shot a look at Mike. His expression didn't change as Liberty hesitated, then started speaking. When he was finished April went out for a mug shot of Julio.
47
Two hours later Lieutenant Iriarte's face was affable as he waved April and Mike into his office. Hagedorn was still up to his nose in arrest forms and didn't bother to acknowledge them as they passed his desk. April eased into the office and lowered her eyes so Iriarte couldn't read the situation . in them. Mike was almost a head taller than the lieutenant. He was also in better shape. His full mustache made Iriarte's thin one look anemic. He didn't have an angry expression or look a bit tired after twelve hours on the job. Standing in front of Iriarte's desk with his arms by his sides and his cowboy-booted feet apart, Mike looked like a showdown in the making. April dropped the tapes that she'd made of their interviews with Liberty and Belle Lindsay on the desk. The two of them had corroborated each other's story for the last two days, and last night in particular, in all the - essential elements.
Iriarte's face flashed annoyance. 'Don't tell me he said something,' the lieutenant began.
'Who?' Mike asked.
'You know who: Liberty. You talked with him. So, what've you got?'
'What did he say before?' April asked.
