what he had on now. He looked more like the guy who comes over to detail your car than a superior court judge. Amador pushed aside the remains of his breakfast to make room for us as we slid our trays onto the table, straddled the small wood chairs, then both stuck perfect butt-first landings.
“I’m hearing for the first time this morning that you guys drew the black ace.” He turned to Hitch. “You didn’t mention that yesterday, Detective.”
“If you mean Nix Nash picked the Mendez case to fuck with, then yeah, that’s us, Your Honor,” Hitch replied.
“That’s why I wanted to see you as soon as possible.” The judge looked at his watch. “I’m running a little late. I have some motions to hear in half an hour, so let’s skip the small talk and just get to it.”
“Yes, sir,” Hitch said
Judge Amador pushed an iPhone with a set of earbuds plugged into it across the table at us.
“You guys can share the earbuds. I don’t want to play this through the phone speakers in a crowded restaurant. It’s cued up. You’ll see it’s a little sensitive.” Hitch scooted his chair closer to mine and we each inserted a bud. I positioned the iPhone between us so we could both see the screen and hit Play.
We were looking at a video being taken through the side window of a car parked in an underground garage. The shot finally settled on a department-issue blue sedan as it chirped in behind a red Chevy Caprice, blocking it just as the Caprice was reversing out of its stall. Stephanie Madrid got out of the blue sedan and slammed the door as Lita Mendez threw open the Chevy’s door and angrily stormed up to confront her. From the wall markings on the garage I recognized it as the parking structure located directly behind the municipal courthouse. Both women were dressed in conservative court attire.
“I’ve had enough of your bullshit!” Lita screamed. It was just barely audible from the distance. Then she got right in Captain Madrid’s face. “Move your fucking car!” Lita yelled.
“You little whore,” Captain Madrid responded, her face purple with rage. “All that shit you pulled in there. How many lies do you think you can get away with?”
“Get out of my way,” Lita said, stepping forward, moving directly into Stephanie Madrid’s space. “I want to leave. You’re blocking me.”
Without warning, Captain Madrid pushed Lita back to create some space between them. Lita was now against the trunk of her car.
“It’s not just me,” Madrid snarled. “There are others. You’ve been warned. Continue on this path at your own peril.”
Then Stephanie Madrid turned and started back to her car, but Lita stepped forward and swung her large purse, hitting Stephanie between the shoulder blades. Captain Madrid pivoted smartly and threw a wicked overhand right. It was the kind of punch every recruit was taught at the academy-straight from the shoulder. It landed in the middle of Lita’s forehead. The smaller Hispanic woman went down as if her legs had been yanked out from under her. Hitch and I watched in amazement as the captain now knelt down over Lita and hissed something inaudible at her.
Then Captain Madrid stood and walked to her department-issue sedan, her face a mask of rage. She slammed the door and pulled out. A minute later, Lita Mendez stood up, got into her Caprice, and pulled away as well.
When it was over I looked at the judge, who had been watching us carefully.
“How did we ever solve these damn things before cell phones?” he said dryly.
“Where’d you get this?” I asked.
“Court clerk. She was eating a late lunch in her car after a pretrial conference in Judge Lambert’s chambers. She brought it to me this morning because she knew the Madrid-Mendez case was in my court.”
Hitch and I sat looking at him, not sure of what to say.
“Of course, that video only strikes to motive and possibly to premeditation if a murder charge is ever filed,” Amador said. “But as it is, I need to caution you that while provocative, this doesn’t prove Captain Madrid killed Lita Mendez. Just that they argued and she hit Lita after being attacked.”
“Yes,” I said. “We understand.”
“You need to handle this very delicately,” he went on. “It certainly needs to be addressed, but if this falls into the wrong hands, careers could be destroyed.”
“By ‘the wrong hands,’ do you mean
“I mean anybody. Certainly Captain Madrid has a lot to explain. Here’s a quick legal take on that video from a judge’s point of view: Madrid initiated the dispute and then pushed Mendez. I’m sure Captain Madrid will argue that’s because she was being crowded by an out-of-control woman and the push was an attempt to create separation. But viewed differently, it could also be called assault. Lita swinging her purse is a clear case of battery. So when Captain Madrid swung back, she can claim she was defending herself. But like most of these things, it’s not clear-cut. Captain Madrid, as a sworn badge carrier, was certainly out-of-bounds. There is no excuse for what she did, but those two have an ugly, contentious history. They’ve been warring for years.”
“Can we keep the cell phone for a few hours until we can get this video transferred?” Hitch asked.
“Go ahead, but get it back to me as soon as you can.”
“This court clerk,” I said. “Will she stay tight?”
“Her name is Kathy Putnam. She used to be my clerk a few years ago. She understands how sensitive this is.”
“Thanks, Your Honor.”
He stood, gathered up his things, said, “Good luck.”
We sat there in brooding silence, neither of us speaking for a good minute.
“I think I can hear that oboe now,” I finally said.
CHAPTER 27
“Shit,” Captain Calloway said after watching the iPhone video of Lita Mendez fighting with Captain Madrid. We were in his office with the door closed. Jeb locked the iPhone inside his desk drawer as if he wanted to get the offending evidence out of his sight forever.
“Technically, that video is grounds for an administrative assault complaint against Captain Madrid,” I said. “We should probably prepare a charge sheet, confront her with the video, and start a normal IAG Board of Rights proceeding immediately. But we’ll be filing against our own head of Professional Standards Advocates Section and that’s gonna produce a disaster. It could also lead to a criminal charge against Captain Madrid for Lita’s murder.”
“I get it. I don’t need it explained to me!” Jeb snapped angrily.
Captain Calloway was a damn good commanding officer who we all called the Haitian Sensation. You seldom give a commander a funny nickname unless he’s well liked, which Jeb was. He was born in Haiti and immigrated here as a boy, then became a naturalized citizen. The captain was only five foot eight, but he had a muscular comic book hero’s build and a bullet-shaped shaved head, hence the moniker. But like most commanders, Jeb hated high- stakes situations involving internal politics.
“What should we do? We need some direction, boss,” I prodded gently. “We really need to pursue this, but as you can see, it’s full of complications.”
“You talked to Captain Scully?” he asked, hoping Alexa had already weighed in, taking him off the hook.
“No, sir. We came to you first.”
“Yeah, okay … okay. Good.” He was fiddling with the ruler on top of his desk and finally slapped it down hard on the leather pad. Then he got to his feet and said, “You guys just took on Hannah Trumbull’s cold case, right?”
“Yes, sir,” I said. “It’s become part of the
“Yeah, I know. Alexa discussed it with me. I’m not convinced you guys taking that case is smart.”
“If we were smart, we’d have offices in Century City and big movie careers,” Hitch said, grinning.
“Don’t start up with me on that, Hitchens,” Jeb warned, then heaved a big, tired sigh. “Okay, look. I need to bring a few other people in on this before we make a move on Captain Madrid-Alexa and Deputy Chief Bud Hawkins
