She wouldn’t let it drop. “Hey, I know the government isn’t perfect, but they try to do the best for the people.”
“If they wanted to do the best for the people, they wouldn’t have sold off the Orbital and the spaceport to a bunch of offworld corporations. They sold out Lagarto for their own profit. This planet would be sitting pretty by now if we were running the mining operations.”
“That happened a long time ago, and they had no choice. They needed to get the government out of debt.”
“They had a choice, and they chose their own interests over ours.”
We sat silently for a few moments, then she said, “All I know is I’ve met the mayor a few times. He seemed genuine to me.”
“Friend of your parents?”
“Acquaintances. My mother supported his campaign.”
Figures. She couldn’t find out we were hunting the mayor. She was liable to run to her mother. “What about your father? Doesn’t he support the mayor, too?”
“My father’s dead. Murdered during a mugging. They executed the son of a bitch that did it.”
I creaked out an apology as I began to understand why the rich girl had gone into police work.
“It was a few years ago,” she said. “I was just a teenager.”
“Do you miss him?”
Maggie’s raised eyebrows voiced a silent, “What do you think?”
“Sorry. Stupid question,” I said with the sad realization that to me the answer to that question wasn’t at all obvious.
Maggie said, “I especially missed him last night. My mother can’t stand it that I’m a cop. I made the mistake of calling her last night to tell her that I got my first case. You should’ve heard the way she laid into me. It’s that kind of crap that made me move out before I could find a proper place. I figured living in a hotel was better than listening to her every night. If my father was still around, he’d be able to settle her down some. He was good at keeping her off my back. He wouldn’t be happy with me being a cop either, but he’d respect my decision.”
“Why does being a cop make your mother so upset?”
The bread arrived, steaming and golden brown. Maggie broke it down the middle, careful not to burn herself. “She wants me to work for my brother in the family business.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Yeah, but she wants my brother to be in charge of everything. I’m just supposed to do all the grunt work while he gets to make all the decisions.”
“Because he’s a man?”
“That, and he’s older. Listen, I love my brother, but I’m not willing to take the backseat.”
“Do you think you would do a better job than he would?”
“I doubt it.” Maggie pushed a piece of bread through a puddle of honey at the plate’s edge. “You used to be partners with Chief Chang?”
“Twenty-five years ago.”
“Is he dirty, too?”
“Whoa, you’re getting into dangerous territory now.”
“So he is dirty.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you didn’t deny it. Are the rumors true about Chief Chang and the Bandurs?” Maggie looked at me with her blue, blue eyes.
“You’ve got no sense asking me a question like that. If he was dirty, how do you think he’d react if he found out you’re checking up on him? Trust me, Maggie; you don’t want to go down that road.”
“If I’m going to work with you, I think I should know who you are, where your loyalties lie. How else can I depend on you?”
“As far as this case goes, my only priority is to catch Lieutenant Vlotsky’s killer. Nothing else matters.”
“I’m not sure that’s good enough for me.”
“It’ll have to be.”
We asked the waitress for directions to Jhuko Kapasi’s neighborhood-close enough to walk, which was good since cabs were hard to come by in Loja.
It was still misting when we left. It felt cool on my face. Water flooded the intersections. An occasional car splashed through with a salamander’s tooth of clearance over the high water. Shopkeepers swept brown water off the walks with wide brooms. When the sun broke through, steam rose off the asphalt, and sweat ran down from under my arms.
We found Kapasi’s house. A falling-apart pigsty set behind a trashed-up yard. We climbed the caved-in steps to the door and tried knocking-no answer. I went in with Maggie right behind me. A blast of cage-rattling hisses and snaps scared the shit out of me. Maggie jumped and let out the smallest scream. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. Caged lizards were stacked to the ceiling on every side. Some sat on their haunches clicking and spitting; others puffed out throat pouches and bobbed from side to side; still others watched indifferently as we tried to recapture our composure. Since Jhuko had been gone, and his sister disappeared, Sanje Kapasi must’ve decided to move his lizards up from the basement.
“Who the f-fuck are y-you?” Sanje Kapasi, Jhuko’s brother and ’guana keeper, appeared from behind a pen. He wore an unevenly buttoned shirt and falling-down pants. His oil-slick hair poked out on the sides, and his mouth hung perpetually open, revealing half a mouthful of brown-to-black teeth.
I said, “We’re the police, Sanje. We want to talk to you. We’re sorry we scared your lizards.”
“Th-that’s okay. I’m Sanje.”
“I’m Juno, and this is Maggie.”
“Hi, J-Juno and Maggie. I’m Sanje.”
I scanned the surroundings-no chairs. “Is there a place we can talk?”
“Yes, this is a good place to talk.”
“I was wondering if you had a place that is quieter. I’m not sure I’ll be able to hear what you have to say.”
“Okay, quieter, quieter.” He tottered down the hall, head bowed, arms held stiff at his sides. We followed him. The stench was incredible. Lizards crawled loose on the walls and ceiling. Dried excrement crunched under our feet. We entered the kitchen. A monitor, the heavyweight of fighting lizards, was chained to the stove. It was straining for a piece of maggot-covered meat on the floor. Its teeth were metal implants that snapped like a spring- loaded trap. In some places, its skin clung taut over rippled musculature. In others, it bunched into loose folds like a sheet on a used bed. A clumsy Sanje Kapasi almost tipped himself over kicking the meat into the dragon’s reach, where it was snatched up and swallowed whole.
I stayed a safe distance from the monitor. Maggie stayed safer by standing behind me.
“Thank you, Sanje. It is much quieter in here. Now we can talk.” Again no chairs. We’d have to interview him standing.
“Y-you’re welcome, Juno and Maggie.”
The kitchen was a lizard free-for-all. Scope the iguana bathing in the sink. Check out the tuatara sunning in the light fixture. I kicked a gecko off my shoe, sent it tumbling into the wall.
I refocused on the metal-mouthed monitor. There were burn marks on its sides, some healed over, some fresh. The floor was lined with hundreds of scorches. I asked Sanje what they were from.
“Oh, they’re funny. Here, watch, watch.” He grabbed a broomstick and poked at the monster, tapping its sensitive nose. The monitor’s claws extended in anger, two centimeter lasers burning black lines into the wood as it scrabbled to defend itself. “W-when he sleeps, sometimes he dreams and his claws come out, a-and he burns himself. It’s funny.”
I said, “We want to ask you some questions about your brother, Jhuko. Will that be okay?”
“Jhuko’s not mad at me anymore.”
“Was he here?”
“Yes, b-but the Army man came, and he took him away.”
“When did the Army man come?”
