“Yeah.”
“What the hell did you do to piss off Mota? From what I hear, that queen’s got a tiara up his ass over you.”
“Anybody buying his BS?”
“Nobody I’ve talked to. The hommy boys are fed up with him meddling in their case. Rumor has it Froelich and he were lovers. You know anything about that?”
“Yeah, that one’s true.”
“Damn. Didn’t know Froelich swung that way.”
“I need some info.”
“Can’t help you.”
“Just some simple questions about an old case.”
“Listen, Juno, you know I always respected you and the chief. I really did, but these are different times.”
“I just-”
“I can’t help you. Shit, if anybody found out I was talking to you…”
“Just some sim-”
“I can’t take any chances until you get cleared.”
I raised my voice. “I have been cleared. I was questioned and cleared by Rusedski himself.”
“People are dying all around you, my boy. You heard Kripsen and Lumbela got killed?”
“No.” Seeing wasn’t the same as hearing.
“They got necktied. Word is you and that Deluski kid were chummy with them.”
I looked over at Deluski. He had his head in his hands, probably wondering if he’d ever be able to shake these questions. Wondering if he’d ever be able to erase the stain of sins.
The kid needed to chill. This was just a negotiation. He was mistaking Jeljili’s questions for accusations. Everything in this city was negotiable. Everything. I spoke into the receiver. “I don’t make the kind of scratch I used to.”
“Don’t gimme that. I know you, Juno, you always got something going. Am I right?”
Deluski gave me a bewildered stare while we haggled over price.
The money settled, I asked my question: Bronson Carew. Rape complaint. I want the whole story.
“Yeah, I remember that kid. He was one scary freak. He came in with this vid, said it proved he was raped.”
“You watched it.”
“I watched the whole thing. Hours and hours of it. Must’ve been shot over several days. It looked like they were living in an abandoned house, just a crappy old mattress on the floor.”
The party house where he’d staged Franz’s body. And later Froelich’s and Wu’s.
Jeljili rolled on. “I couldn’t help the kid. He wasn’t raped. He never objected, never said no. He didn’t cry or call for help.”
I already knew the answer but asked anyway. “Who was the alleged assailant?”
“Franz Samusaka. A rich kid. Father’s an oil tycoon.”
I clicked the new facts into place. “I know who he is. Did you question him?”
“Absolutely. Found out his house was broken into the day before Carew came into KOP. Didn’t take a genius to know Carew was the burglar.”
I processed the new info, incorporated it into the building narrative.
Jeljili continued, “Franz Samusaka denied the rape. Said it was consensual, which it was. This freak was digging for gold. Scored some high-class ass and now he wanted to get something for it.”
“Did Carew say he wanted money?”
“No. But it’s obvious, isn’t it? The Samusaka kid wanted me to return his stolen property, but I couldn’t do that.”
“Of course not.”
“This was evidence in a potential rape.” I could practically hear him smile, he was so pleased with himself. Translation: he wanted to get paid. “That was when Franz called in Froelich and Wu. He knew them somehow.”
“And?”
“And they brokered an arrangement.”
“The vid?”
“I heard it got lost.”
Of course it did. “That it?”
“That’s it.”
I tossed the phone into the fountain. “Let’s move.”
I took a chair next to the wall so I could look down on the Square.
Deluski went to the bar to pick up drinks, and came back saying, “I don’t get it. I thought Ang Samusaka staged the break-in in order to cover for the fact that he trashed his father’s study.”
I sipped my ice water, eyes tracking a panama hat that had just entered the Square. Its owner walked with a second man. It was too dark and too far to see faces, but I knew who they were. They walked toward the fountain.
Deluski was still waiting for an answer. “Well?”
I’d already reasoned it through. “Ang found the mess in his brother’s room after Carew broke in to steal the alleged rape vid. Then Ang took the opportunity to ransack his father’s study before reporting the break-in to the police. Whatever Ang found, he’s been using it to blackmail his father ever since.”
“But that doesn’t explain how Carew could’ve broken in without leaving any jimmied doors or broken windows.”
“True.”
Panama circled the fountain. Mota climbed onto a park bench so he could get a better view of the crowd. I aimed my left index finger in their direction, cocked my thumb like it was an antique-style gun. Bang.
“So how did Carew get inside?”
“Somebody must’ve let him in.”
Panama stepped into the fountain, water up to his knees, reached down and fished out Deluski’s phone. He held it up for Mota to see.
I aimed my finger. Bang.
He got out of the fountain and spiked the phone on the ground, drawing startled glares from passersby.
A smile came to my lips. I reveled in their frustration. They had scored some early points on me, but that was before my head was straight. Before I’d purged the booze out of my blood. They couldn’t match me now. I was a fucking master.
They moved out, heading in the opposite direction. I pumped finger shots into their backs. Bang, bang, motherfuckers.
I stared at the ceiling. Snails. It had to be the snails.
I heard Maria call my name from down the hall and sat up on the bed a second before she stepped through the curtain. “Hey, I can’t stay for long or Chicho will miss me. The evening rush will be starting soon.”
“What’s up?”
“Just wanted to make sure you’re still breathing.”
I gave her a wry grin and sucked in a couple life-proving deep breaths.
“Where’s Deluski?”
“He’s trying to track down the bastard who did this to me.” I lifted my arm. “The guy went off-grid a year ago.”
“But you know who he is?”
“We do.”
“So what are you doing lying around here?”
“Thinking. Ever seen anybody drink snail juice?”
