Mickey O'Hara nodded. And had his second unkind thought: We? We got the turd? In a pig's ass, we did. A nice lad named Charley McFadden got him, and is sick about getting him, and you didn't have a fucking thing to do with it, Ed DelRaye. Not that it's out of character for you to take credit for something the boys on the street did.
'So I heard,' Mickey replied. 'You were in on that, were you?'
'I made my little contribution,' DelRaye said.
'Is that so?'
'A plainclothesman from Narcotics actually ran him down; I'm trying to think of his name-'
'How are you doing with the Nelson murder?' Mickey O'Hara asked, as his John Jamison's with beer on the side was delivered.
'You wouldn't believe how many nigger faggots there are in Philly,' DelRaye said.
'What's that got to do with anything?'
'Off the record, Mickey?' DelRaye asked.
'No,' Mickey said. 'Let's keep this on the record, Ed. Or change the subject.'
'I think we better change the subject, then,' DelRaye said. He raised his glass. 'Mud in your eye.'
'I'm working on that story, is what it is,' Mickey said. 'And if we go off the record, and you tell me something, and then I find it out on my own and use it, then you would be pissed, and I wouldn't blame you. You understand?'
'Sure, I understand perfectly. I was just trying to be helpful.'
'I know that, and I appreciate it,' Mickey said. 'And I know what kind of pressure there must be on you to come up with something, his father being who he is and all.'
'You better believe it,' DelRaye said.
'What can you tell me about Nelson and the TV lady?' Mickey asked. ' On the record, Ed.'
'Well, she came home from work, half in the bag, and walked in and found him,' DelRaye said.
'She was his girl friend?'
DelRaye snorted derisively.
'I take it that's a no?'
'That's neither a no or anything else, if we're still on the record,' DelRaye said.
'I could, I suppose, call you an 'unnamed senior police Officer involved in the investigation,' ' Mickey offered.
'I wouldn't want you quoting me as saying Nelson was a faggot,' DelRaye said. 'Because I didn't say that.'
'Jesus Christ, was he?'
'If we're still on the record, no comment,' DelRaye said. 'We're still on the record?'
'Yeah. Sorry,' Mickey O'Hara said, and then went for the jugular. 'If I asked you, on the record, but as an 'unnamed senior police officer involved in the investigation' if you are looking for a Negro homosexual for questioning in the Nelson murder investigation, what would you say?'
'You're not going to use my name?'
'Scout's honor.'
'Then I would say 'that's true.' '
'And if I asked you how come you can't find him, what would you say?'
'There are a number of suspects, and we believe that the name we have, Pierre St. Maury-'
'Who's he?'
'He's the one we want to question most. He lived with Nelson. We don' t think that's his real name.'
'Colored guy?'
'Big black guy. That description fits a lot of people in Philadelphia. It fits a lot of people who call themselves 'gay.' But we'll get him.'
'But he's not the only one you're looking for?'
'There are others who meet the same description. The rent-a-cops on Stockton Place told us that Nelson had a lot of large black men friends.'
'And you think one of them did it?'
'When people like that do each other in, they usually do it with a vengeance,' DelRaye said.
'The way Nelson was done in, you mean?'
DelRaye did not reply. He suspected that he had gone too far.
'Mickey,' he said, 'I'm getting a little uncomfortable with this. Let's get off it, huh?'
'Sure,' Mickey O'Hara said. 'I got to get out of here anyway.'
Ten minutes later, Mickey O'Hara walked back into the city room, walked with elaborate erectness to his desk, where he sat down at his computer terminal, belched, and pushed the COMPOSE button.
SLUG: Fairy Axman?
By Michael J. O'Hara
According to a senior police officer involved in the investigation of the brutal murder of Jerome Nelson, a 'large black male,' in his twenties, going by the name of Pierre St.Maury, and who reportedly shared the luxurious apartment at 6 Stockton Place, is being sought for questioning.
The police official, who spoke with this reporter only on condition of anonymity, said that it was believed the name Pierre St.Maury was assumed, and suggested this was common practice among what he described as Philadelphia's 'large 'gay' black community.'
Mickey stopped typing, found a cigarette and lit it, and then read what he had written.
Then he typed, 'Do you have the balls to run this, or am I wasting my time?'
Then he moved the cursor to the top of the story and enteredFLASH FLASH. This would cause a red light to blink on the city editor's monitor, informing him there was a story, either from the wire services, or from a reporter in the newsroom, that he considered important enough to demand the city editor's immediate attention. Then he pushed the SEND key.
Less than a minute later, the city editor crossed the city room to Mickey's desk.
'Jesus, Mickey,' he said.
'Yes, or no?'
'I don't suppose you want to tell me who the cop who gave you this is?'
'I always protect my sources,' Mickey said, and burped.
'It's for real?'
'The gentleman in question is a horse's ass, but he knows what he's talking about.'
'The cops will know who talked to you,' the city editor said.
'That thought had run through my mind,' Mickey O'Hara said.
'You're going to put his ass in a crack,' the city editor said.
'I have the strength of ten because in my heart, I'm pure,' Mickey O' Hara said. 'I made it perfectly clear that we were on the record.'
'It will be tough on Mr. Nelson,' the city editor said.
'Would we give a shit if he didn't own theLedger?' Mickey countered.
The city editor exhaled audibly.
'This'll give you two by-lines on the front page,' he said.
'Modesty is not my strong suit,' Mickey said. 'Yes, or no?'
'Go ahead, O'Hara,' the city editor said.
FIFTEEN
It had been the intention of Lieutenant Robert McGrory, commanding officer of Troop G (Atlantic City) of the
