Hummers?”
“Yes. My staff use them to transport people and supplies.”
“What people and supplies?”
“All kinds.”
“Can you give me one example?”
“Some of the time, one will be used to pick up a visiting artist at her hotel and bring her to one of the clubs for a show.”
“You’re talking about your strip clubs, so it’s strippers?”
“Gentlemen’s clubs. The entertainers are exotic dancers, yes.”
“Got it. Why Hummers?”
“They’re big, they’re high, and they attract the attention of potential customers. They look as though you’re delivering something valuable. It’s like having an armored car pull up at the front door. People look to see what comes out.”
“Why do your vehicles have armor?”
As Kapak paused for a moment, Ospinsky interrupted. “Who said they had armor?”
“They both have steel plates welded to the insides of the doors. They have bulletproof glass on the side windows. Why do they?”
“It’s not illegal,” Ospinsky said to Kapak. “You don’t have to answer.”
“It’s all right, Jerry.” Kapak said to Slosser, “Do you know I got robbed just about a month ago right outside the Bank of America? I was there with the night deposit. It was probably because I drove there alone in my Mercedes.”
“I read the police report.”
“Then you can see the kind of things a businessman has to worry about. I would have been better off driving to the bank in a bulletproof Hummer with a couple of bodyguards.”
“Who did the robbery?”
“If I knew, I’d have told you already”
“I understand the North Hollywood division is investigating. Maybe they’ll be able to tell us both soon. But I was going to ask about the Hummers. Do you know where they are now?”
“Since you say it like that, I guess you have them”
“You’re right. They’re in our impound lot. Here are some photographs of them I got this morning.” He set them on the table in a row in front of Kapak.
He stared down at them for a few seconds. It was hard to imagine what had happened to his two vehicles to make them look that way. They appeared to have been pounded on all sides by a giant hammer. He became aware of Ospinsky leaning against his shoulder so he could get the best view of the pictures without craning his neck too much. His breath was horrible, a noxious vapor being rhythmically pumped into Kapak’s face. He shrugged Ospinsky off, then looked up at Slosser.
Slosser said, “What happened to your cars?”
“You tell me.”
“I think a few of your guys drove your Hummers to the Coventry Towers building site, trying to cause some trouble. The chain that secured the gate had been broken, so they weren’t invited.”
“Who are you accusing?”
“The crime scene people are running the fingerprints now, so we should know before long who was in the vehicles.”
“What if somebody stole both Hummers and drove them to the building?”
“What were your men doing at the building? Did you have some business with the Veruda Construction Company? Did your men have orders from you, or did they just go there on their own?”
“That’s all ridiculous,” Ospinsky snapped. “Don’t answer any of these questions.”
“Then was it a burglary? Were your men there to fill the two Hummers with tools and equipment?”
Ospinsky was incensed. “Another ridiculous accusation. Mr. Kapak is a businessman with no record that would suggest anything of the sort. He had two vehicles stolen from his company and then, apparently, utterly destroyed.”
“Stolen? We don’t have a theft complaint.”
“You will immediately after we’re free to file one. Mr. Kapak works in an industry that requires him to be at work late at night. His first notification that the vehicles weren’t parked at one of his clubs came from you—a police officer—at seven this morning, two hours ago, and six hours before he would usually be awake. The fact that he hasn’t reported the theft yet doesn’t prove it’s not a theft.”
“And it doesn’t prove it was, either.” He studied Kapak. “I don’t know you at all, but I had assumed you were a semilegitimate businessman.”
Ospinsky was getting angry. “What exactly does that mean?”
Slosser kept his eyes on Kapak, as though he had spoken. “You’re in a business that’s perfectly legal most of the time, but not very nice. You’re selling people things that aren’t good for them. And you keep bouncers and backup men on the payroll, but not to protect your customers. It’s the way the business works. I haven’t seen anything in your files that makes you stand out or worries me. Until now”
Kapak held his hand up so Ospinsky wouldn’t go into an oration. “What do you see now?”
“I’ve got to be honest with you. Coming in here with your lawyer all paranoid and you sitting there stone- faced and sullen just to tell me why your two cars turned up on a deserted construction site this morning, well, it doesn’t make me feel good about you. It’s the way a small-time guy running a criminal enterprise acts. And I’m not just guessing. I’ve spent a lot of time with people like that. Maybe after I’ve got my pension vested next year, I’ll quit and go to law school and make some real money. I know exactly what I’ll tell my clients. ‘Don’t act like you’re guilty.’ Simple.”
“Are you advising my client to waive his right to legal counsel?”
“I’m just saying it might be a good strategy to behave differently. If you come in and act like you’re preparing a legal defense when all you’re doing is reporting that you’re a victim of a crime, a cop gets suspicious. He wonders what you’re hiding.”
Manco Kapak said, “You’re right.” He looked at Ospinsky for a moment. “Gerry, maybe you ought to be getting to your office. Thanks for coming.”
Ospinsky said, “Do you think this man is trying to help you?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll call you later.”
Ospinsky shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He stood, stuffed his yellow notepad into his briefcase, and assumed an unnaturally straight posture to salvage his dignity, then left the room without looking back.
“I didn’t mean to offend him,” Slosser lied. “I was just making conversation. When you go into a police station, you generally have some specific business in mind. In this case maybe you want to report a car theft. You’ll be sent to talk to an auto theft officer. This may be the first time you’ve had a car stolen, but it isn’t his first. On average he’s seen maybe a thousand grand theft autos a year since the day he started. He knows exactly what you’re going to say and how you’re going to act. If you do or say something he doesn’t expect, he wonders why. He won’t stop until he knows the answer.”
Kapak said, “I hope you understand that for an ordinary man, it’s hard to know how to react to an early morning summons from the police.”
“You put on your shoes and come down and have a chat. Unless you’ve got something to worry about.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Like maybe there are drugs in the Hummers. Or blood. Or maybe you think I’m going to find out that there’s a child in Intensive Care at Cedars with Hummer tracks across his back.”
“None of that is true, I can tell you. I don’t get involved with anything that’s illegal. I run two gentlemen’s clubs, a dance club, a gym, and a couple of other businesses. Some years have been good, and some bad, but I never have time for things like drugs or whatever.”
“Is this a good year or a bad year?”
“A bad year. Did I tell you I got robbed?”
“Yes.”
“And besides that, my health isn’t too good.”
