“Yeah, but my lieutenant told me I had to see the bureau chief. There’s a problem with a cross-complaint and he said you’d know what to do. You’re the chief, right?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“What’s the problem? Tell me what kind of case you’ve got.”
Corchado explained that he and his partner had responded to a 911 call shortly after eleven last night.
“Neighbors had called it in housing project in the two-three.” East Harlem.
I asked if he’d met the victim.
“Yeah, she was a mess. A kid, fifteen. Taken to the rooftop from the elevator on her way home. Put up a struggle. Lots of blood, mostly from her nose, I think, when he punched her to shut her up.”
“Did he rape her?”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s what she said. She was crying so bad we didn’t talk to her a lot. Ambulance took her to the hospital.”
“How did you get the guy?” I asked.
“Easy. She knew him. Said he had gone to junior high school with her older brother. So when they took her to the hospital my partner and me went to the apartment to get her brother. We told him what happened and that his sister said that it was Otis who did it.
“Her brother, Kenny, was wild, ma’am. He knew exactly who Otis was and what apartment he lived in. Told us the guy’s real name was Herman Myers, but they called him Otis ‘cause he used to ride up and down in elevators, waiting for old ladies to get on so he could rob ’em. Just got out of jail on the robbery cases a few weeks ago. Took us right to the apartment, we knocked on the door, and when Otis came out into the hallway to talk to us, we locked him up.”
“Nice collar,” I told Corchado.
“Is it your first felony?”
“Yeah, actually it is.”
“Well, congratulations. You can feel good about this one.
Laura will send you down to Sarah’s office and you’ll have him indicted by the beginning of next week.“
“Yeah, but there is a problem. Otis… well, his lawyer called the precinct and wants to file a cross- complaint.”
“What?”
“Well, Miss Cooper, Kenny hit the defendant in the head with a baseball bat. Otis is in the hospital – took a bad crack to the head. That’s why the lieutenant told me to see you.
Do we have to lock Kenny up, too?“
“Christ, how did you let this happen?” I asked, as my pleasure over a good arrest turned to annoyance.
“Kenny followed along with us to point Otis out,” Corchado explained, ‘and I guess he was carrying the bat. He just came back from playing ball so I didn’t think nothing of it. He was real quiet until we put the cuffs on Myers, then he started to cry and all. He kept saying, “Why’d you do it to her, she’s just a baby. Man, Why’d you have to do it? She was a baby.”
“Right before we got him to the patrol car, me and my Partner on each side of him so nobody could interfere, Otis turns back to Kenny and says, ”Shit, she was no baby. Her hole was so big I almost fell into it.“
I closed my eyes at the thought of the way that must have stung poor Kenny, whoever he was.
“Miss Cooper, it was so fast I never saw it coming. Kenny just reeled back and landed the bat square on Otis’s head, and he fell to his knees like he was a sack of sugar.
“Give Kenny a medal,” mumbled Mike from his chair in the corner.
“Lucky you don’t have to worry about brain damage – it doesn’t sound like Otis’s elevator went to the top floor to begin with. When I came on the job, kid, taking a defendant to be arraigned with his head wrapped in bandages was the sign of a good cop – we didn’t have to let civilians do it for us we could whack ‘em ourselves.
Stand ’em in front of the judge with their heads wrapped in bandages. Turban jobs. ”Yeah, Your Honor, he resisted arrest, sir. Put up quite a struggle.“ Before all the ACLU crap started you could really get some street justice.”
I rolled my eyes as Mike played with the rookie.
“Ignore him, Corchado. Just go see Miss Brenner for the rape arrest.
She’ll take good care of you. As for the cross-complaint, give me the papers.“ I took the package and found the D.A.”s data sheet, the space for the write-up of the case summary. Across the top of the complaint made by Myers for assault, I scrawled in large letters: “Decline to prosecute.
Reason: Interest of justice as per Alexandra Cooper, Chief, SCPU.“
“What do I tell his lawyer, Miss Cooper?” Corchado asked.
Oh, the beauty of prosecutorial discretion.
“You tell him that Miss Cooper said that he hopes Otis’s head hurts so bad and for so long that the next time he even thinks about having an erection, it’s so painful that he thinks twice and can’t get it up.”
“Way to go, blondie,” Mike cheered as Corchado left the room.
“A chance to spend a few days with me, a couple of solid new cases, a murder to solve, and your charming good nature comes right back to the surface. Book ‘im, Corchado.”
“What’s the name of the Chilmark police chief?” Mike asked, picking up my phone to dial the call.
“Wally Flanders,” I answered.
“Why are you calling?”
“Just to see what they’re up to. Any leads, any news.”
I walked out to Laura’s desk to check on my messages.
Laura began to recite them to me: “Your mother called.
She expects to hear from you once a day until this is all resolved. She said the rabbi from your old synagogue called to see if you needed any counseling.“
“Call her back. Reassure her that I’m fine. I’m getting all my spiritual guidance from Monsignor Chapman, for the moment.”
“Nina called from L.A. Can you imagine, she was up at six forty-five to make the call?” said Laura, knowing most of my pals well enough to offer editorial comments on the messages.
“She says it’s a huge story on the Coast. Not you, of course, but Isabella. Nina says Isabella made herself so unpopular since she hit it big two years ago that everybody in Hollywood has a motive… except O.J. Simpson!”
“What else?” I asked, seeing a list of names on her pad.
“Sarah’s in. She understands the situation and will assign all the new cases. A lot of your friends have been calling – I’m just taking names and telling them to keep in touch with Joan Stafford. Diane Sawyer called and wants to know if you can do ”Prime Time“ with her this week nothing procedural, nothing about the case, just reminiscences of Isabella. I referred her to Brenda. Same for Liz Smith, she wanted a quote from you.
“And Detective Wallace is here with his witness. I’ve gotten her coffee and a newspaper and she’s in the waiting-‘ Laura was interrupted by Mike calling out to me with his hand cupped over my phone, ”Hey, Coop, you expecting some guy named Spiegel on the private line?“
“You know it’s Segal, you jerk. Can’t you be civil to him?
Now get out of here for a minute go say hello to Mercer Wallace and tell him I’ll be with him as soon as I get off the phone.“
“Oh, Jed, thank God you called,” I gushed into the receiver, unable to articulate anything that sounded less like soap opera dialogue and more like the paralyzing terror that had knotted my stomach. I was talking over his words as he was saying, “Alex? Alex? I can barely hear you,” through the crackling static of a transatlantic line.
“Do you know what happened, Jed? Are you still in Paris?
Have you heard anything about the murder? Are you going to be home soon?“
I kept spitting questions into the phone, and with the awful echoing in the bad connection I was missing the answers that Jed tried to give back.
“Yes, Alex, I know all about it. My secretary filled me in first thing this morning, and the story of the murder is even big news today in Europe. I’m worried about you though it must be awful for you.”
I don’t know why I tried so hard not to cry as I talked to him: “I need you so badly. Please come back I just want you to hold me. Please let me know when you’ll be home.”
