'Are you going to tell me, or what?'
'This is to be kept quiet.'
'Sure.'
Morelli hesitated. Clearly a cop between a rock and a hard place. Another exhale. 'If this gets around . . .'
'It won't!'
'Three months ago a cop was killed in Philadelphia. He was wearing a Kevlar vest but he caught a couple high- penetration rounds square in the chest. One tore into his left lung; the other hit the heart.'
'Cop killers.'
'Exactly. Illegal armor-piercing bullets. Two months ago Newark had a real effective driveby where the weapon of choice was a LAW—Light Anti-Tank Weapon. Army issue. Significantly decreased the population of the Sherman Street Big Dogs and turned Big Dog Lionel Simms's new Ford Bronco into pixie dust. The casing from the rocket was recovered and traced to Fort Braddock. Braddock ran an inventory and discovered some munitions missing.
'When we got Kenny into custody we put his gun through NCRC, and what do you think?'
'It came from Braddock.'
'Yeah.'
This was an excellent secret. This made life much more interesting. 'What'd Kenny say about the hot gun?'
'Said he bought it on the street. Said he didn't know the vendor by name, but he'd work with us to try to make an ID.'
'And then he disappeared.'
'This is an interagency operation,' Morelli said. 'CID wants it kept confidential.'
'Why did you decide to tell me?'
'You're in the middle of it. You need to know.'
'You could have told me sooner.'
'In the beginning it looked like we had good leads. I was hoping we'd have Kenny in custody by now and wouldn't have to involve you.'
My mind was moving at warp speed, generating all sorts of wonderful possibilities.
'You could have bagged him in the parking lot when he was doing his thing with Julia,' I said to Morelli.
He agreed. 'I could have.'
'That might not have told you what you really wanted to know.'
'Which is?'
'I think you wanted to follow him to see where he was hiding out. I think you aren't just looking for Kenny. I think you're looking for more guns.'
'Keep going.'
I was feeling really pleased with myself, now, trying hard not to smile too wide. 'Kenny was stationed at Braddock. He got out four months ago and started spending money. He bought a car. Paid cash. Then he rented a relatively expensive apartment and furnished it. He filled the closets with new clothes.'
'And?'
'And Moogey was doing pretty good, too, considering he was living on a gas station attendant's wages. He had a megabucks car in his garage.'
'Your conclusion?'
