He swallowed some more of his drink. He said, 'You know, you used to be a hell of a good cop. Maybe the booze is getting to you these days.
Maybe it's more than you can handle.'
'Could be.'
'Oh, hell.'He sighed heavily. 'You can take his money, Matt. A guy has to make a living. I know how it is. Just don't get in the way, huh? Take his money and string him for all he's worth. The hell, he's been on the other end of it often enough. Let him get played for a sucker for a change.'
'I don't think he killed her.'
'Shit.' He took his cigar out of his mouth and stared at it, then clamped his teeth around it and puffed on it. Then, his tone softer, he said, 'You know, Matt, thedepartment's pretty clean these days. Cleaner than it's been in years. Almost all of the old-style pads have been eliminated. There's still some people taking big money, no question about it, but the old system with money delivered by a bagman and distributed through an entire precinct, you don't see that anymore.'
'Even uptown?'
'Well, one of the uptown precincts is probably still a little dirty.
It's hard to keep it clean up there. You know how it goes. Aside from that, though, the department stacks up pretty good.'
'So?'
'So we're policing ourselves pretty nicely, and this son of a bitch makes us look like shit all over again, and a lot of good men are going to be up against the wall just because one son of a bitch wants to be an angel and another son of a bitch of a rug peddler wants to be governor.'
'That's why you hateBroadfield but- '
'You're fucking right I hate him.'
'- but why do you want to see him in jail?' I leaned forward. 'He's finished already, Eddie. He's washed up. I talked to one ofPrejanian's staff members. They have no use for him. He could get off the hook tomorrow andPrejanian wouldn't dare pick him up. Whoever framed him already did enough of a job on him from your point of view. What's wrong with my going after the killer?'
'We already got the killer. He's in a cell in the Tombs.'
'Let's just suppose you're wrong, Eddie.Then what?'
He stared hard at me. 'All right,' he said. 'Let's suppose I'm wrong. Let's suppose your boy is clean and pure as the snow. Let's say he never did a bad thing in his life. Let's say somebody else killedWhat's
-her-name.'
'Portia Carr.'
'Right.And somebody deliberately framedBroadfield and set him up for a fall.'
'So?'
'And you go after the guy and you get him.'
'So?'
'And he's a cop, because who else would have such a goodgoddam reason to sendBroadfield up?'
'Oh.'
'Yeah, oh.That'sgonna look terrific, isn't it?' He had his chin jutting at me, and the tendons in his throat were taut. His eyes were furious. 'I don't say that's what happened,' he said. 'Because for my moneyBroadfield's as guilty as Judas, but if he's not, then somebody did a job on him, and who could it be but a couple of cops who want to give that son of a bitch what he deserves? And that would look beautiful, wouldn't it? A cop kills a girl and pins it on another cop to head off an investigation into police corruption. That would look just beautiful.'
I thought about it. 'And if that's what happened, you'd rather seeBroadfield go to jail for something he didn't do than for it to come out in the open. Is that what you're saying?'
'Shit.'
'Is that what you're saying, Eddie?'
'Oh, for Christ's sake.I'd rather see him dead, Matt. Even if I had to blow his fucking head off all bymyself .'
'MATT? You okay?'
I looked up at Trina. Her apron was off and she had her coat over her arm. 'Youleaving?'
'I just finished my shift. You've been putting away a lot of bourbon. I just wondered if you were all right.'
I nodded.
'Who was that man you were talking with?'
'An old friend.He's a cop, a lieutenant working out of the Sixth Precinct. That's down in the Village.' I picked up my glass but put it down again without drinking from it. 'He was about the best friend I had on the force. Not buddy-buddy, but we got along pretty well. Of course, you drift apart over the years.'
'What did he want?'
'He just wanted to talk.'
'You seemed upset after he left.'
