I hunted down Butch. I got him on his cell phone. I asked him what he knew about the note. The e-mail. Not much, he told me.
Who was the e-mail addressed to?
I don’t know.
Can we get a copy?
Whoa, Rick, he said. That’s a tall order. That’s a really fucking tall order.
I know, Butch. I hate to push it. You’ve been so great. But I think we’re on the verge. One last piece of the puzzle. That’s all we need. I just know this is connected to Larry Silver. I can feel it in my bones.
Dorita raised her eyebrows.
I ignored her.
If this doesn’t crack it, I said, I won’t ask any more favors. Promise.
Crack what, Rick? The guy threw himself out a window.
Maybe, I said. Maybe not. And whether he did or not, there’s still the ‘why’ of it. You know that.
There was a note.
So what? Anyone can type a note.
Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s not that I don’t want to do you the favor. You know I want to do it for you. But I’m not sure it’s possible. Shit. I don’t think I can get near it.
Can you at least find out what’s in it? Can you ask around?
I’ll see what I can do, Rick.
You’re a prince, man. I’ll buy you a beer.
You’re all heart.
I know. It holds me back.
I told Dorita what Butch had said.
Next step is to track down Jules, she said.
Maybe we should give him some time to settle down.
I’m not sure there’s time now.
Why not?
I don’t know. It’s a feeling. People are dying.
One person died.
Two, counting Larry Silver.
Okay, two.
Things come in threes, Ricky.
And I thought you had such a scientific mind.
Everything in its place, darling. I’m not saying I’m right. I’m just saying I have a feeling.
Let’s go with your feeling, I said. There’s not much else to go with.
I knew you’d see it my way.
I knew you knew that.
I guess you win then.
Finally, I said. Hey, don’t you think the way to Jules goes through Lisa? And isn’t she the weak link? Why don’t we try her first?
I’m not sure I agree that she’s the weak link. Just because she’s a woman? Is that what you’re saying? I mean, we’re dealing with a guy who slices up his gut with razor blades.
Good point. But I’ve dealt with both of them, and I’m telling you, he’s a tough nut to crack. She, on the other hand, seems to be constantly on the verge of breaking down, telling me something. Just my feeling.
Now you’ve got a feeling?
Yup. One of my very own.
My, you’ve become so sensitive in your old age.
It happens.
So it’s your feeling against mine?
No. I figured my reasoning was so compelling you’d be obliged to agree.
Ah, I’m quite sure you’re wrong about that. But I’m willing to do it your way, if only to create the illusion that you’ve finally made a contribution to the enterprise.
I’ll ignore that.
Suit yourself.
Where we’d find Jules, we’d no doubt find Lisa. Of course, they’d be together. An inconvenient detail. Back to Plan A.
We went to the loft.
We looked at the alley on the way.
It looked like an alley.
We rang the bell.
We were buzzed in. No questions asked. All of a sudden everybody seemed to want to talk to us.
I put it down to my natural charm.
Saw you from the balcony, Jules said when he opened the door.
He was sullen, but not overtly hostile. His anger seemed to have played itself out. Something about getting out of the police station, maybe.
Lisa was there, preparing drinks.
Hi, Lisa, I said.
Hi, she replied, without turning around. Familiarity or contempt, I wasn’t sure. Perhaps a bit of both.
You got a lot of nerve coming here, Jules said in a flat voice.
You let me in, I replied.
I did, he shrugged. You got me there.
It was time for tough love. Nothing else was working.
Listen, Jules, I don’t know what you were talking about at the station house. ‘Fucking with Lisa.’ I haven’t been fucking with Lisa. We just talked once. Before you got here.
Sure.
Let’s get this cleared up. I don’t need you fucking with me. I don’t need you at all, actually. We don’t have your father to pay the bills anymore. I should send you back to the public defender. But I’m not like that. I finish what I start. I’d think you might appreciate that a bit. And you sure as hell need me. What the fuck else do you have?
He seemed to think about that.
I don’t need shit, he said.
Fine. That’s your attitude, good luck to you. Have fun in Sing Sing.
I got up to leave. Dorita gave me an exasperated look. Setting up to play good cop.
She didn’t have to.
Okay, okay, said Jules. Sit the fuck down.
He shrugged. He spread his hands. A gesture that could be taken as a small show of humility. A reluctant welcome.
I sat down.
What? he said.
What what?
What you want to know?
Lisa came over with the drinks. Scotch for me. Cosmo for Dorita.
Oh, said Dorita, my favorite. Thanks. How did you know?
Look at you, said Lisa. It was a cosmo or a Tom Collins. I had a fifty-fifty shot.
Dorita was speechless. It was a rare and disconcerting sight. Though not unpleasant, in its way.
You’ve been a bartender, I said to Lisa.
Sure, she said. I’ve been everything.
I turned back to Jules.
What we’d like to know, I said, is everything you know about your father’s death. Every detail. God is in the details.
Ain’t no God.
It’s just an expression, Jules. Try not to be so literal-minded.
I’ll work on it.
Good. Now, can you tell me everything you know?
I don’t know shit.
Jesus, Jules. This is getting a bit boring. Do you always have to say that?
I say the truth. Sorry you don’t like it.
You’re telling us you don’t know a single thing that might shed any light on how your father died?
Nope. Don’t know shit.
Jules. You and I both know that’s not true.
What the fuck do you know?
It was time to pull a bluff. Nothing else was working. Ingratiation. Intimidation. Subtlety. The kid was too messed up to respond to the usual techniques. I had to take a chance. Go with a hunch. A stab in the dark. If it didn’t work, I’d find a way to recover. Turn it into a joke. Whatever.
I know you were there, I said.
It stopped him cold.
He stared at me. Lisa came over and sat next to him. She put her arms around his neck. She didn’t look at us.
I stared back at him. I waited.
The fuck you say? he said at last.
You were there, I repeated.
Where?
I laughed. I didn’t elaborate. The room had grown cold.
Get the fuck out, he said. Get the fuck out of here.
That again? I said. It’s not going to work, Jules. I’m here to help you. You can’t seem to get that into your head. I’m your lawyer. I need to know the facts. And I might leave here, but I’m not going away.
We’ll see about that, he said.
He said it with an intensity that I felt as a physical blow. My body tensed. What door had I opened here? What rock had I turned over?
It was a threat. A physical threat.
He got up. Started walking toward me.
An immediate physical threat.
Okay, okay, I said. We’re leaving.
We got the hell out of there.
Where in God’s name did you get that? Dorita asked once we were safely in the street.
I don’t know, I said. It just came to me. I didn’t think it out. He was just so fucking calm about everything. And this is a kid who cuts himself. It didn’t make sense. There had to be something more. And why wouldn’t he tell us where he was? Why wouldn’t he take the opportunity to show he didn’t have anything to do with his father’s death? He knows he’s a prime suspect, with all that anger in him. And then it hit me. The phone calls. Raul and Ramon were using FitzGibbon’s offices. The phone calls didn’t have to be to FitzGibbon. They could have been to Raul, or Ramon. So I took a stab. What the hell.
I’m in awe.
About time.
So, my little genius, what were the phone calls about?
I haven’t figured that out yet. But I feel close. I feel really damn close.