office to request the immediate presence of one of his people. I finally went into Brandt’s office.
He was on the phone, listening. He motioned to me to sit. After a couple of minutes, he said, “Thanks. I’ll get back to you,” and hung up. He tilted back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
“We’ve got Hill downstairs.”
“Has he said anything?”
“I haven’t asked. I thought you and someone from Dunn’s office might like to listen in. Kunkle smacked him around a little-claimed resistance.”
Brandt shook his head slightly. “What was your assessment of Ski Mask this morning?”
“Mid-forties, athletic, very precise and under control, cold as ice. He’s a fast-moving son of a bitch, I’ll give him that, and I would guess he has a military background, or at least that kind of training. And,” I added, “he doesn’t have an accent.”
Brandt gave me an odd look. “Did he kill that man?”
“No. He didn’t help him along any. He certainly abused him-tortured him might be better-but Haffner died just a tad before his natural time, maybe a full half hour, the way he looked when we found him.”
There was a knock on the door and an assistant state’s attorney named Powers stuck his head in. “You rang, Sahib?”
Brandt stood up. “Let’s find out what Mr. Hill has to say.”
On the way down, I told Maxine to get Kunkle. I didn’t want his nose any further out of joint. It took him thirty seconds to join us in the basement.
Hill was leaning with his forearms through the bars of his cell full of renewed self-confidence. “What’s this bullshit about some guy trying to ice me?”
“He hasn’t tried yet. When he does, he’ll probably succeed. He seems very good in that department.”
“Who is he?”
“We don’t know. We’re calling him Ski Mask for now.”
“Hey, I’ve been reading about him. What would he want with me?”
“Three years ago you sold some smack in a one-shot deal that ended up in the apartment of the black guy we nailed for Kimberly Harris’s murder. Do you remember that?”
Hill’s eyes rested warily on me. “I remember the murder.”
I pointed to Powers. “He represents the state’s attorney and is here to assure you total immunity for anything that might be said today, right?” Powers dutifully nos dointdded.
“So, you’re not under arrest, and we don’t want you for the deal or for anything else. We’re only after information. If you want a lawyer for some reason, be my guest, but understand that the only reason you’re in here is for your health. If you want to leave, you may leave.”
He smiled and looked at the bars before him. I gestured to Kunkle to turn the lock.
“Satisfied?”
He pushed the door open but then settled on the cell bunk with his legs crossed and his hands behind his head, feeling cocky. “What makes you think I had anything to do with that deal? It’s not like you can trace a serial number.”
“You were Haffner’s dying words. And you people have your trademarks-word gets around.”
He thought for a minute. “What’s this Ski Mask after?”
“We don’t know for sure,” I said. “We thought he might be a buddy of Davis’s-the black guy in jail-but he’s obviously connected to the girl who was killed, possibly the father of her unborn child. Whatever he is, he’s a nasty son of a bitch. He tortured Haffner.”
“To death?”
“He’s dead all right.” I saw no reason to belittle the impression.
Hill dropped his feet to the floor and rose to a sitting position. “It was a long time ago.”
Brandt smiled. “Haffner remembered-with a little help. You tell us what we want to know, and we’ll be able to spare you the same kind of help. If not, you’re on your own.”
“I’m on my own anyway. You guys obviously weren’t too useful to Ted. I’ll take my own chances.”
I turned off the floodlight. “It’s a free country, as they say. What about the deal?”
Hill rose and walked out of the cell. “I sold the stuff. I don’t know who to, though. He kept his face covered and whispered a lot-pretty corny.”
“Was there anything else about him? Young, old, tall, short-stuff like that?”
“Hard to tell, you know? It was at night, just for a couple of minutes, and he was wearing a shitload of clothes. He must have been sweating like a pig.” There was something in his eyes-a great sense of enjoyment. He knew what we were after.
I tried to indulge him. “Do we have to ask for your theory on why he was wearing so many clothes?”
His pleasure burst forth. He grinned broadly. “Could have been the hunchback.”
Kunkle muttered, “You asshole.”
I held up my hand. “You sure it was a hump? It might have been a disguise.”
“No, no. I’m sure. I mean, this guy freaked me out. He was so weird, you know? I couldn’t resist it. After we did the deal and he started to leave, I slapped him on the back, real frienck, ht='0em'›
He started for the stairs.
“You leaving?”
“Yup.”
“You may not live through the day.”
He smiled again, but this time I sensed little pleasure. “Yeah, well, the story of my life. Stay out of trouble, guys.”
We listened to his footsteps. When he reached the top, I turned to Kunkle. “Follow him. As soon as he settles down, call in and we’ll send reinforcements. If we’re lucky, we’ll keep him alive and grab Ski Mask at the same time.”
Kunkle left. Powers took the hint and followed suit after I thanked him for coming over. Brandt pulled out his pipe and began filling it. “You think Ski Mask’ll bite?”
“I’m hoping for anything; he’s under more pressure now. Maybe the best we can shoot for is just to keep them apart. The longer Ski Mask doesn’t know about the hump, the better.”
“You think this guy is still running around looking like Quasimodo?”
“Hell, I don’t know. Why don’t you call Danvers back and tell him to contact his DEA connection. It looks like we can rule out the short-term, low-dosage prednisone prescriptions-maybe that’ll speed things up a bit.” I hesitated before resuming. What I was about to say represented a major hurdle I wasn’t sure Brandt would be willing to take.
“I also think it’s time to bring in the state police.”
He busied himself lighting the pipe and setting up a smoke screen that totally obliterated his face. I’d never thought of pipes being that strategically handy.
When the smog cleared, I saw him nod his head impassively. “How do you want to use them?”
“Mostly to back up Kunkle. We could use them other places too, though.”
“Like where?”
“Like putting more pressure on Ski Mask. So far, we’ve been combing the motels and increasing patrols and talking to damn near everybody over the age of six, but he’s still been able to sit and watch, and to pop up at will. Kunkle suggested putting tails on some of us, trying to either catch him or dissuade him. It didn’t work this morning, but it was a good idea. Also, if the DEA comes through with a huge list, we’ll have that paper trail to track. The backlog of our normal work is starting to strain every desk in the department. We just need more help, period-for everything.”
Brandt nodded again. “All right, I’ll see what I can do. I might start with the sheriff ’s department, though.”
“All right. Sheriff ’s men for the noncombat stuff and state troopers to help cover Lew Hill.”
He took the pipe from his mouth and looked at me. “He really has you worked up, doesn’t he?”
“You didn’t see him with Haffner. This bastard’s a real number-a man who loves his work.”
Brandt nodded a third time. “I’ll make some phone calls.”
He led the way upstairs. At the top, looking his usual bird-dog best, was Stan Katz.
