Carnal Curiosity (23 page)

“Where’s Nita?” Bill said. “She should be here.”

“You two won’t be seeing each other for a while,” Connor said, “but Anita is talking to some other detectives, and she’s being very cooperative.”

“The fuck she is,” Murphy said.

“We’re prepared to be lenient on some of the burglary charges against you, Bill, if you’re willing to help us with another case.”

“Another case?” Murphy asked.

“I’m talking about the people who stole the pictures that you stole from them.”

“Oh, those guys. I don’t know them.”

“How about the people who live at the East Sixty-first Street address where you stole the van and the pictures?”

“I don’t know them, either.”

“Do you know somebody named Don Dugan?”

Murphy’s eyes opened a little wider. “I’ve heard the name.”

“In what connection have you heard the name?” Connor asked.

“Tell you what,” Murphy said, “I’ll tell you everything I know about Dugan if you’ll drop the burglary charges.”

“I can’t promise you that, Bill, because I don’t know what you
know. Now, you tell me all about Dugan, and then we’ll see what we can do.”

The attorney, Cutter, nodded to him.

“I can give you enough to help you solve a major robbery,” Murphy said.

“What robbery is that?”

“A lot of big-time jewelry was stolen.”

“We might be able to deal, but you’re going to have to give us names and dates, and what you give us is going to have to lead to convictions. And you’ll have to testify. Why don’t you start by describing the crime, and we’ll see if it matches up with anything we’ve got on our books.”

Dino picked up a phone and called an assistant district attorney. “Come down to interrogation room two,” Dino said. “Something interesting is going on.”

“Be right there,” was the reply.

50

B
ill Murphy whispered with his attorney for a couple of minutes. The door to the observation booth opened, and the ADA, Shirley Kravitz, came in and sat by Dino.

“What?” she asked.

“This guy is facing dozens of burglary charges,” Dino said, “but he says he can give us information about a major crime, if he walks.”

“Anybody promise him anything?”

“Jim Connor is too smart an interrogator to do that, but let’s listen and see what he has to say.”

Murphy finished talking with his attorney. “Okay, I’ll tell you this much. The crime I’m talking about was committed in a fancy apartment building on Fifth Avenue in the Sixties. There was a big dinner party, and some people came in with guns and stole all their jewelry.”

“And who was behind this robbery?”

“That’s it, until we have a deal,” Murphy said.

Dino turned to Kravitz. “You know about this robbery?”

“Everybody knows about it,” she said.

“Is clearing it worth bouncing this guy from the burglary charges?”

“You got his charge sheet?”

Dino handed her a file folder. “He has a record for burglary, did eight months at Rikers while trying to strike a deal, and finally got time served.”

“What’s the value of the stolen jewelry?” Kravitz asked.

“Upwards of twenty million,” Dino said. “And the victims were some very important people.”

“Okay, I’ll bite, if we can get a conviction out of what he says and if he testifies.”

“How about bail?”

“A hundred grand.”

Dino pressed the intercom button, and Connor picked up the phone. “Yeah?”

“Kravitz is here. She’ll drop the charges and give him a hundred thousand bail if he gives us the whole ball of wax and testifies.”

“Okay.” Connor hung up. “You’re in luck, Bill. The DA will deal if you give us the whole thing.”

“Bail?” his attorney asked.

“A hundred thousand.”

“He had more than that in the van when you busted him.”

“That’s the proceeds of stolen goods,” Connor pointed out.

“It’s genuine U.S. currency, and as of right now, he’s guilty of nothing. He needs his money back. And he needs his girlfriend out, too.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Connor said.

“Tell him, Bill,” Cutter said to her client.

“Okay,” Murphy said, “I had a cell mate at Rikers I got to be buddies with. He called me three weeks, a month ago, and asked me if I wanted into a big-money job.”

“What did he tell you about the job?”

“He said that the boss had somebody on the inside at the building, and that getting access would be easy. The alarm system would fail to work, and nobody there would be armed. We’d walk in with shotguns, get everybody on the floor and strip them of every piece of jewelry, including the men’s wristwatches, and get out in a waiting vehicle. The best part was that we’d be paid within five days.”

“How much?”

“He didn’t know, but he said it would be big for a couple of hours’ work.”

“What’s your buddy’s name?”

“Jerry Kowalski.”

“With a
J
or a
G
?”

“Jerome.”

Connor made a note, and Dino, next door, called for Kowalski’s record.

“And who were the other guys?”

“I didn’t get any names, but two of them were brothers, and they were Kowalski’s cousins.”

“And who was the big guy?”

“I was told I’d have to go see him if I wanted the work. I was to meet him on a street corner at a certain time.”

“What corner?”

“Forty-second and Third Avenue.”

“Did you meet him?”

“They drove up in a black van with dark windows. Jerry was driving, and I got in the front passenger seat. The big guy was sitting directly behind me, and he had a hat over his face when I got in.”

“Go on.”

“He told me the pay would be fifty grand each. And that we’d be paid in five days. I asked how he would guarantee payment. He said if I didn’t get paid in five days, I could kill Jerry.”

Connor and Cohn both laughed.

“I told him I’d do it, and he said Jerry would be in touch. I got out of the van at Fifty-seventh and Third. I couldn’t exactly see the guy, but I could see in my peripheral vision that he was not just the big guy, but a
really
big guy.”

“How big?”

“Tall, broad shoulders. His head was about touching the headliner.”

“Anything else? An accent?”

“No accent. He sounded like one of those radio announcers, big, deep voice.”

“What happened next?”

“Jerry called me a couple of hours later and told me they had a full team so wouldn’t need me, but he said the big guy had liked me, and that there’d be another job soon, something even bigger, and a lot of money.”

“Anything else? Anything at all?”

“He said he’d call me about the big job. He can’t call me in here.”

“Excuse us a minute,” Connor said. He and Cohn got up, left the room, then let themselves into the observation booth.

“What do you think?” he asked Dino.

“I think I know what the big job is going to be,” Dino replied. “It’s something that Dugan’s woman is working on at Strategic Services, a private jewelry show at a new hotel uptown.”

“What’s your recommendation?” Kravitz asked him.

“I think you should spring him, give him his money, then let him make contact with Kowalski.”

“When is the jewelry show?”

“A week, ten days. If Murphy is on the inside, we could bag the whole team and put away Dugan and the woman, Crane Hart.”

“Okay,” Kravitz said, “I’ll buy into that, but I’m going to have to go to the deputy DA with it, and he’s out this morning.”

“What are we going to do about the girl, Anita Mays? She’s his brain. I think he’d be lost without her.”

“Well, we can’t spring her, because we haven’t got her,” Dino said. “We can offer to drop her charges and pull the APB that’s out on her. You game?” he asked Kravitz.

“I’ll take it to the DDA,” she said. “I’ll beg, if I have to.”

51

S
tone was having a sandwich at his desk when Dino called.

“Hey.”

“Hey. We had a good morning with Bill Murphy.”

“Anything new on the girl?”

“Let me tell you the whole story: Murphy was nearly in on the jewelry robbery at the Coulters’ apartment, but they didn’t use him. However, there’s a good chance they’ll use him on the hotel jewelry show robbery. We sprung him and pulled the APB on the girl, so that he can make contact with his connection to Dugan.”

“Did he identify Dugan?”

“He met with him, but couldn’t see him. He even described his voice, like a radio announcer.”

“So we still don’t have him?”

“Be patient. If Murphy gets asked along on the picnic, then we’ll spray all the ants, and one of them will give us Dugan.”

“And Crane?”

“Yeah, I guess. If we get Dugan, I think he’ll roll on her.”

“Right, he’s that kind of gentleman.”

“Now, what you and I have to do is meet with Mike Freeman and figure out how we’re going to cover the hotel robbery. And we don’t want Crane to know about the meeting, so let’s do it at your office.”

“When?”

“Anytime you’re both free, I’ll shake loose.”

“What have you got in mind for covering the robbery?”

“My idea is to throw everything we’ve got at it, but I expect Mike is going to have some ideas, too.”

“Well, I don’t have any ideas, so I’ll listen to you two.”

“First time I ever knew you not to have any ideas.”

“Tell you the truth, this one is so big that it seems more like a military operation than a bust, and I’m out of my depth there.”

“Set the meeting with Mike, and we’ll see. I’m betting that you’ll be talking your head off.”

“Whatever you say.”

“I wish you’d say that more often.”

—

B
ill Murphy stood in front of a desk in a judge’s chambers and stared forlornly at the pile of his money on the judge’s desk.

“I don’t have nearly enough meetings like this,” the judge said, fingering a stack.

“Thank you for meeting us in chambers, Your Honor,” ADA Kravitz said. “It’s important that word doesn’t filter out about this deal, because Mr. Murphy will be assisting us in preventing a major crime.”

“I got that,” the judge said. “So all this cash is mine to keep?”

Beth Cutter spoke up. “Judge, you can do with it as you will, as long as my client gets a bail receipt in that amount.” She handed him the document; he looked it over and signed it, then he opened a desk drawer and raked the cash into it.

“Detective Connor,” the judge said, “I want two armed, uniformed officers to take possession of these funds and give
me
a receipt.”

“They’re waiting outside, Judge. I’ll send them in.”

“Okay, Mr. Murphy, you’re free on bail.”

“Unhook him,” Cutter said to Connor, and Connor did.

“Here are the keys to your van,” Connor said, handing them over to Murphy. “Everything that was in it is now in a police custody locker, except your motorcycle, which actually seems to be registered to you, instead of being stolen.” He handed Murphy an envelope. “You can have some walking-around money from your stash.” Murphy didn’t thank him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Cutter said. “Oh, and here’s your cell phone.” She handed it over, then led him out of the building and down the street to the police compound, where the van was waiting. “Now, listen to me, Bill,” Cutter said. “You’ve gotten a once-in-a-lifetime, get-out-of-jail-free card, and now you’re going to have to earn it, so don’t get any ideas about leaving or skipping out.”

“Don’t worry,” Murphy said.

“And you’re going to have to make this robbery setup happen. If you don’t get the job, you’re going to find yourself back inside, and with everything they’ve got on you, you’ll do a
lot
of time.”

“I get it.”

“Another thing—all the stolen stuff that was in your shop is still in your shop.
Don’t try to sell any of it.
It’s not yours. If you need more cash, sell your motorcycle.”

“All right, all right, Beth. I appreciate the deal you got me, and I won’t blow it, I promise.”

“And you owe me three grand,” she said.

Reluctantly, he produced the envelope with his walking-around money and paid her.

“Okay, get out of here.” She walked away.

Murphy got into the van and started it. Cutter had a word with the guard at the gate, and he was waved through. He was so happy, he was nearly in tears.

52

M
urphy found that his apartment under the shop had been tossed, but not destroyed. The contents of the office desk upstairs had been emptied onto the floor, and he rummaged among the detritus until he found Nita’s address book and her sister’s number.

“Hello?”

“Berta, it’s Bill. Let me speak to Nita.”

Berta was wary; she had never approved of Murphy. “Who says she’s here?”

“She does.”

Berta didn’t bother to cover the phone. “Nita!” she yelled. “The idiot is on the phone!”

Nita picked up an extension. “Okay, Berta, I’ve got it.
I said, I’ve got it!
”
Berta hung up. “Bill?”

“I’m here, baby.”

“Are you on a jail phone?”

“Nope, I’m in the office, sitting at the desk.”

“Take down this number,” she said. She gave him her
throwaway cell number. “Now, go buy a throwaway, then call me back.”

Murphy let himself out of the shop and found a RadioShack on Sixth Avenue, then he went home and called the number.

“Bill?”

“It’s me.”

“What the hell happened?”

“Beth Cutter cut a deal, and I got sprung. So did you.”

“Me? I’m not in jail.”

“They yanked the APB as part of the deal. I’m free on bail, and you’re just plain free.”

Anita took a deep breath and let it out with a whoosh. “Wow! I thought I’d be on the run forever.”

“We’re going to walk away clean, don’t worry about it.”

“And who do we have to kill to pull that off?”

“It’s not as hard as it sounds. Jerry Kowalski is going to call me about a big job that’s coming off soon. All I have to do is tell the cops where, when, and who and testify. No more charges! And I think I’ll get all the money back, too. They let me use a hundred grand of it to make bail and gave me another ten of it to live on. I had to give Beth three grand.”