“What’s the job like?”
“Pretty interesting. The first thing I had to do was to train my partner, a kid named Daryl, whose acne had not yet cleared up. He was the chief’s nephew at the time.”
“Sounds like a drag.”
“No, he was quick to learn, and he’s turned into a pretty good detective. His uncle is gone now, and so is the guy who replaced him. Last week, the chief and two captains resigned over a scandal.”
“What kind of scandal?”
“Fixing parking tickets, harassing gay guys on bicycles, hiring girlfriends as secretaries and fucking them in the supply room, 17
S t u a r t W o o d s
drinking on the job, you name it. Nothing big, just a lot of continuous horseshit. I’m currently acting chief of detectives—all six of them. They offered me the chief’s job, but I’m too old for the politics and the PR horseshit.”
“I don’t blame you,” Dino said. “I’m running the squad at the Nineteenth, and that’s almost more politics than I can stand.”
“What’s the most interesting case you’ve worked down here, Tommy?” Stone asked.
“Oh, that’s an easy one,” Tommy laughed. “We had a big drugs, murder, sex thing right after I signed on that involved some prominent locals, among them the local tennis pro. You remember a player named Chuck Chandler?”
“The guy who choked in the Wimbledon final some years back?”
“That’s the guy. The sports pages called it the Chuck Choke, and it stuck.”
“I hope he didn’t murder anybody.”
“Nah, he was pretty much the dope in the thing. There was one very hot babe mixed up in it, though. She’s doing time right now, ought to be out soon.”
“What’s it like living here?” Stone asked.
“Beautiful in the winter, spring and fall; hot as hell in the summer, but no worse than New York. At least we get the breeze. You like boats?”
“Sure, who doesn’t?”
“I’ll take you out for some snorkeling,” Tommy said. “Snorkeling and a few drinks. We got a very nice little yacht club here, and I’ll take you there for dinner. Tomorrow night?”
“Sure,” Stone and Dino said simultaneously.
“So,” Tommy said, “what brings you guys down here?”
“It’s winter, isn’t it?” Dino answered.
“I’m running a legal errand,” Stone said. “I’ve got to fi nd a guy and get him to sign some papers.”
“Anybody I know?”
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“I doubt it. Kid hates his father, but the old man needs his signature on some papers to sell the family business. Means a lot of bucks for the whole family, the kid, too, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble to persuade him.” Stone showed Tommy the old photo of Evan. Tommy looked at it and screwed his face up. “What’s his name?”
“Evan Keating,” Stone replied. “Know him?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Tommy replied. “I busted him in a drug case yesterday, but it ain’t going to stick.”
“Do you know where I can fi nd him?”