know it. God bless computers, right?'
'How did Bernardino's name come up?'
'Oh, his name has always been on the front burner. He's spoken here many times. He was a local hero, you know. Everybody tried to get him to fix their parking tickets.' Al laughed again. 'Not that he'd do anything to help,' he added quickly. 'But he was useful with security issues. He helped us out… and, of course, a few years back when that girl was murdered in Chinatown, we did an article on him in the alumni magazine.'
April flashed again to her first big case, the one that had made Bernardino notice her. She'd been the link to the family after the little girl was kidnapped by a neighbor for ransom. She was the only one in the unit who could speak Chinese.
'Then we had a theft here. It wasn't even Bernie's territory, but he helped us out with it. A real nice guy.' Al Frayme nodded. 'A good cop.'
'When was the last time you saw him?'
'Oh…' Frayme scratched his chin. 'Let's see. Hmmmm. I don't know that I saw him. I called him a few times.'
'Why?'
He grinned. 'His name came up when he won the lottery. He was a big winner. You knew that.'
Mike shifted from one foot to the other. 'And?'
'Well, it was a natural progression. He's always been a great friend to the university. My job is to make the ask. I knew him the best, so I was the one to make the ask.'
'You called him up?'
'Oh, yes, several times.'
'Where did you call him?'
'I called him at the precinct before he left. I called with my condolences after his wife died. Let's see.' He pursed his lips. 'I called a few weeks later to see how he was doing. We were going to have lunch, but-'
'How do you make the ask?' Mike broke in.
'Why do you want to know all this?' He looked bewildered by the interest.
'Two of your donors and personal friends were murdered. Struck with a karate chop.' Mike demonstrated.
He laughed some more. 'A karate chop? I don't think so.'
'Why not?'
He looked at his hands for the first time. 'From what I've heard it's not that easy. You might be able to disable somebody for a little while. But kill, no. Maybe a child,' he amended.
'You seem to know a lot about it.'
'I just use it for balance. Am I a suspect?' he asked, stroking the blade of his left hand.
April guessed he was left-handed. It was time to pin down the ME on which arm the killer had used to yoke Bernie. The death report hadn't come in yet, and not even the preliminary death report was in on Birdie. Gloss was being thorough. He had speculated on the scene that a blunt weapon, maybe the side of a hand,
'You do karate?' Mike asked.
'I think you know I do. Or you wouldn't be here. It doesn't make me a killer. Lots of people do it.'
'True, but probably none of them know both victims.' Mike and April did not look at each other as Al laughed comfortably.
'Well, you can rule me out. I love God's creatures. I couldn't kill a cockroach.'
'That's good to know. Then you won't mind telling us where you were the last two Wednesday evenings.'
'Oh, that's easy. I was right here. This is our big season. Graduation, reunion. I'll be working pretty much twenty hours a day until the end of June. Our office has a big goal this year.'
'What kind of goal?'
Al made a face. 'Ten million.'
'Is that unusual?'
'It sure is. The alumni office does not traditionally go after the big donors. We're on notice, like everyone else.'
'Did anyone see you?'
'When?'
'The last two Wednesday nights?'
'Oh, I don't count them, but I'm sure. There are plenty of people around here all the time.'
Mike made a note, then changed the subject. 'Tell me about making the ask.'
Al lifted his eyes to the ceiling. 'Oh, God. It's an art, and I love it. People don't always know that they need to give back. But they really do. The fun part is opening their eyes to the need. They're so happy when it comes together for them.'
'What do you mean, people need to give?' April spoke for the first time. He shifted his eyes to her and gave her an odd smile.
'Have you ever noticed how messed up rich people are?' he asked.
'More than nonrich people?' Mike asked solemnly.
'Oh, of course. Rich people have a limitless amount to give. They buy their wives, have a kid or two, spoil them all with indulgences you wouldn't believe.' He let his eyes crinkle at those indulgences. 'Then they leave them for prettier women who smell good. I see it all the time.' He dropped his eyes to his half-eaten sandwich, which was beginning to smell.
April's nose twitched. Brie cheese, that was what it was. Warmed by the hot bread, it was beginning to soften around thin slices of prosciutto ham. And reek.
Many old-style Chinese, who could tolerate any odor of garbage, were totally repulsed by the smell of cheese. Thousand-year-old eggs (buried for weeks in crocks in the backyard) and a whole host of other fermented foods that stank to heaven were considered lovely and fragrant, but cheese products? Disgusting. April was first- generation American with old views stuck deep in her psyche. She swallowed her aversion to the rank smell and thought about Brenda and Burton Bassett.
'How do they need to give?' Mike echoed her thought. This question put Al in an expansive mood.
'Most of the money that comes to us isn't old, you know. The students who come here don't have anything. It's not like Harvard and Princeton, where families go way back. This is a down-to-earth kind of school. A lot of our kids work their way through. Frankly, we make them what they are. Down the line they become big earners. A surprisingly large proportion of our graduates make big money.'
'And where does guilt fit in?'
'Oh, you want to be educated.'
'Of course. What happens when they don't give?'
'They feel bad, really bad. You have no idea. People who don't give are selfish. They hurt other people.' He tapped his head. 'Psychology. If they give back, they feel better.'
'What if they don't want to feel better?'
'I feel sorry for them, I really do.'
'Did you feel sorry for Lieutenant Bernardino and Martha Bassett?'
'Very sorry,' he said sadly. 'I'll miss them.'
Forty-four
April left Mike with the suspect and went downstairs to make some calls. Woody Baum showed up in the unmarked unit she'd requested and waited in the car. Two good-looking uniforms borrowed from the Sixth idled by the front door of the building. Three bigger ones guarded the room where Mike was showing muscle while getting educated by a nut. April was on the phone for close to an hour. She called Hagedorn at Midtown North to check on his progress with the Bassett heirs. He'd done his homework.
