'Me too,' I said. 'They know why he wanted information?'
'No. They reminded me that it was twenty-eight years ago.'
'Anything else bother you?' I said.
'Like, why did they query us?' Samuelson said. 'Why didn't they query San Diego?'
'My question exactly,' I said.
'That's scary,' Samuelson said. 'Anyway, I called a guy in San Diego, and he checked into it and called me back and said they got the same query.'
'Any reason?'
'None on file.'
'So they weren't sure where he was,' I said.
'But they thought he was in Southern California,' Samuelson said. 'I checked San Jose and Oakland, where I can call in favors, and they got no record of any query on Leon Holton.'
'So they were looking for him,' I said.
'I'd guess,' Samuelson said.
'But it wasn't an arrest query.'
'No. Just information.'
'So what'd they want?' I said.
'I've done all I can for you,' Samuelson said. 'You'll have to ask them.'
'Thanks for your help.'
'I'm not doing you a favor,' Samuelson said. 'Leon the Coyote is ours now, and I'd like him out of circulation.'
'To protect and serve,' I said.
'And kick some ass,' Samuelson said. 'When we can.'
42
Leon Holton spent five years in Walpole for attempting to rob a liquor store on Dorcester Avenue in 1960,' Quirk said.
We were sitting in his office. Quirk had one foot up on an open file drawer in his desk. The crease in his tan flannels was still intact. His blue-and-tan-striped tie was loosened. His blue oxford shirt was open at the neck. His blue blazer hung wrinkle-free on a hanger on a hat rack near the door. Quirk thumbed through the thin manila folder for a moment.
'Paroled February second, 1965,' Quirk said.
'Coincident with Abner Fancy,' I said.
'Who the fuck is Abner Fancy?' Quirk said.
I told him about Shaka and about nearly everything else I had. He listened without speaking.
When I was done, he said, 'The fucking Bureau.'
'My thought exactly,' I said.
'They're hard to fight,' Quirk said.
'Maybe,' I said. 'But I think Epstein's with us.'
'I know Epstein. He's straight, but he's a career guy in the Bureau. He can't do too much without blowing his career.'
'I know.'
'Which is why he's using you,' Quirk said.
'I know.'
'Me too,' Quirk said.
'I know,' I said.
'So where are you going to go from here? You got more info than the Census Bureau, and you still got no fucking idea what went down in that bank twenty-eight years ago?'
'If I could find Bonnie Karnofsky,' I said, 'I bet she'd know.'
Quirk's door opened, and Belson came in. He looked at me.
'I saw Hawk outside with the motor running,' he said. 'I thought you might be sticking up headquarters.'
'That would be big money,' I said.
Quirk said, 'Sit down, Frank, we need to think some stuff through.'
Belson took the other chair. He was thin with a blue beard shadow that was always there no matter how recently he had shaved.
