Show of Evil

'Almost a contact shot, I'd say,' he remarked.

Shock nodded. 'Burned his eyebrow off and fried half his face. Couple of inches at best. Probably wasn't necessary. They're both insurance shots.'

'Anything happening in the bedroom?' Stenner asked.

Shock shrugged. 'Take a look.'

'Delaney doesn't look very surprised,' Vail said as Stenner walked into the other room.

'Maybe he was blinking when he got it,' Shock said.

'Probably knew who did him, wouldn't you say?'

'I'd say that's a pretty safe assumption. I mean, what the hell was he doing, anyway, traipsing around the living room with his unit hanging out?'

'Maybe his wife did him.'

'Or girlfriend?'

'Or boyfriend.'

'That, too.'

'I have a friend who says she's the only person in town that didn't have a reason to kill him.'

'You ever have a run-in with him, Marty?'

'Nah. He always sent Firestone to do his dirty work.'

'He's another one.'

'Maybe we can pin it on him.'

Shock laughed. 'I like the idea.'

'Eckling have a lot of boys working on this?'

'Half the force.'

'I'll bet he does,' Vail said. 'He can feel the heat already. This is going to give every politico in the city an enema.'

'Like maybe one of them'll be next?' Shock said, and snickered.

'Guilty conscience,' said Vail, and they both started to laugh.

'You two don't have much respect for the dead. After all, he was chairman of the city council, head of the finance committee, head of the city's Democratic Party…'

A short, dignified Japanese American with black, closely cut hair and tortoiseshell glasses entered from the bedroom. Oichi Okimoto, wearing a surgeon's paper robe and plastic boots and gloves, strode back into the living room. 'How're you, Martin?' he asked as he walked past.

'I'm not getting enough sleep lately,' Vail said.

'At least it's more comfortable than the landfill.'

Okimoto, at thirty-six was one of the best forensic scientists in the business, walked across the room, carefully moved a straight-back chair to a corner, and sat down on it backward, folding his arms over its back and leaning his chin on them. He perused the room without saying a word. Vail took out his cigarette pack and Okimoto said, without turning his head, 'Don't light that, please.'

'You taking samples of the air, Okie?' Vail asked.

'It annoys me.'

Vail put the cigarettes away and everybody stood around waiting for Okimoto to finish thinking. Three minutes crept by. Finally Okimoto got up and returned the chair.

'We're through, so you may as well go home,' he said to Vail. 'Except for that mess over there, the place is immaculate. Here's what I can tell you. There's no sign of forcible entry. Wet towels on the bathroom floor. Tuxedo's laid out on the bed. He's wearing a gold, waterproofed Rolex - not a knockoff - worth about ten K, and his wallet, credit cards, et cetera, plus three hundred and eighteen dollars in cash, are on the dresser.'

He looked back at the body.

'I think - think, okay - somebody he knew, somebody with a key, entered the apartment while he was in the shower. Delaney finishes, gets out, towels off, comes in here to get a drink from the wet bar over there in the corner. He thinks he's alone, so he doesn't bother to put anything on - if he had answered the door or heard