I usually put my watch on the bedside table when I turn in. I groped around for it now but couldn't find it. I said, 'Broadfield?'
'I guess you were sleeping. Look, Matt- '
'What time is it?'
'A few minutes after six.I just- '
'Christ!'
'Matt, are you awake?'
'Yeah, damn it, I'm awake. Christ. I said call me, but I didn't say call me in the middle of the night.'
'Look, it's an emergency. Will you just let me talk?' For the first time I was aware of the band of tension in his voice. It must have been there all along, but I hadn't noticed it before. 'I'm sorry I woke you,' he was saying, 'but I finally got a chance to make a phone call and I don't know how long they'll let me stay on. Just let me talk for a minute.'
'Where the hell are you?'
'Men's House of Detention.'
'The Tombs?'
'That's right, the Tombs.' He was talking quickly now, as if to get it all out before I could interrupt again. 'They were waiting for me.At the apartment.Barrow Street , they were waiting for me. I got back there about two-thirty and they were waiting for me and this is the first chance I've had to get to a phone. As soon as I finish with you I'm calling a lawyer. But I'm going to need more than a lawyer, Matt. They got the deck stacked toogood for anybody to straighten things out in front of a jury. They got me by the balls.'
'What are you talking about?'
'Portia.'
'What about her?'
'Somebody killed her last night. Strangled her or something, dumped her in my apartment, then tipped the cops. I don't know all the details. They booked me for it. Matt, I didn't do it.'
I didn't say anything.
His voice rose, verging on hysteria. 'I didn't do it. Why would I kill thecunt ? And leave her in my apartment? It doesn't make any sense, Matt, but it doesn't have to make any sense because the whole fucking thing is a frame and they can make it stick. Matt, they'regonna make it stick!'
'Easy,Broadfield .'
Silence.I pictured him gritting his teeth, forcing his emotions back under control like an animal trainer cracking his whip at acageful of lions and tigers. 'Right,' hesaid, the voice crisp again. 'I'm exhausted and it's starting to get to me. Matt, I'm going to need help on this one.From you, Matt. I can pay you whatever you ask.'
I told him to hang on for a minute. I had been asleep for maybe three hours and I was finally becoming awake enough to realize just how rotten I felt. I put the phone down and went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I was careful not to look in the mirror because I had a fair idea what the face that glowered back at me might look like. There was about an inch of bourbon left in the quart on my dresser. I took a slug of it straight from the bottle, shuddered, sat down on the bed again and picked up the phone.
I asked him if he'd been booked.
'Just now.For homicide.Once they booked me they couldn't keep me away from a phone any longer.
You know what they did? They informed me of my rights when they arrested me. That whole speech, Miranda-Escobedo, how many times do you figure I read out thatgoddam little set piece to some fucking crook? And they had to read it out to me word for word.'
'You've got a lawyer to call?'
'Yeah.Guy who's supposed to be good, but there's no way he can do it all.'
'Well, I don't know what I can do for you.'
'Can you come down here? Not now, I can't see anybody right now. Hang on a minute.' He must have turned away from the phone, but I could hear him asking someone when he could have visitors. 'Ten o'clock,' he told me. 'Could you get here between ten and noon?'
'I suppose so.'
'I got a lot of things to tell you, Matt, but I can't do it over the phone.'
I told him I'd see him sometime after ten. I cradled the phone and tapped the bourbon bottle for another small taste. My head ached dully and I suspected that bourbon was probably not the best thing in the world for it, but I couldn't think of anything better. I got back into bed and pulled the blankets over me.
I needed sleep and knew I wasn't going to get any, but at least I could stay horizontal for another hour or two and get a little rest.
Then I remembered the dream I'd been yanked out of by his call. I remembered it, got a clean, vivid flash of it, and started to shake.
Chapter 3
It had started two days earlier, on a crisply cold Tuesday afternoon.
