Richard Montanari Read online

  The coffee, as always, was crap.

  'Some of you have probably seen me here before,' she began, trying to affect a tone of lightness and cheer. 'Ah, who the hell am I kidding? Maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe it's ego, right? Maybe I think I'm the shit, and no one else does. Maybe that's the problem.

  Anyway, today is the first time I've really had the balls to speak. So, here I am, and you have me. At least for a little while. Lucky you.'

  As she told her story, she scanned the faces. There was a kid in his mid-twenties on the right - killer blue eyes, ripped jeans, a multicolor Ed Hardy T-shirt, biceps of note. More than once she looked over at him and saw him scanning her body. He may have been an alcoholic but he was still most definitely on the make. Next to him was a woman in her fifties, a few decades of heavy use mapped in the broken veins on her face and neck. She rolled a sweaty cellphone over and over in her hands, tapped one foot to some long-silenced beat. A few chairs down from her was a petite blonde in a green Temple University sweatshirt, athletic and toned, the weight of the world just a snowflake on her shoulder. Next to her sat Nestor, the group leader. Nestor had opened the meeting with his own short and sad tale, then asked if there was anyone else who wanted to talk.

  My name is Paulette.

  When she finished her story everyone clapped politely. After that other people rose, talked, cried. More applause.

  When all their stories were exhausted, every emotion wrung, Nestor reached out his hands to either side. 'Let's give thanks and praise.'

  They joined hands, said a short prayer, and the meeting was over.

  'It's not as easy as it looks, is it?'

  She turned around. It was Killer Blue Eyes. At just after noon they stood outside the main church doors, between a pair of emaciated brown evergreens, already struggling through the season.

  'I don't know,' she replied. 'It looked pretty hard to begin with.'

  Killer Blue Eyes laughed. He had put on a short cognac leather jacket. A pair of amber Serengeti sunglasses were clipped to the neck of his T-shirt. He wore thick-soled black boots.

  'Yeah. I guess you're right,' he said. He clasped his hands in front of him, rocked back slightly on his heels. His good-guy, not-to-worry pose. 'It's been a while since I've done it for the first time.' He held out his hand. 'Your name is Paulette, right?'

  'And I'm an alcoholic.'

  Killer Blue Eyes laughed again. 'I'm Danny. Me too.'

  'Nice to meet you, Danny.' They shook hands.

  'I can tell you this, though,' he continued, unasked. 'It gets easier.'

  'The sobriety part?'

  'I wish I could say that. What I meant was the talking part. Once you get comfortable with the group it gets a little easier to tell your stories.'

  'Stories?' she asked. 'Plural? I thought I was done.'

  'You're not done,' he said. 'It's a process. It goes on for a long time.'

  'Okay. Like, how long?'

  'Did you see that guy in the red flannel shirt?'

  Danny was talking about the older man, the guy in his seventies, the guy in the wheelchair. 'What about him?'

  'He's been coming to meetings for thirty-six years.'

  'Jesus. He hasn't had a drink in thirty-six years?'

  'That's what he says.'

  'And he still wants one?'

  'So he says.'

  Danny looked at his watch, an oversized Fossil chronograph. The move looked just slightly less calculated and rehearsed than it probably was. 'You know, I don't have to be at work for a couple of hours. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?'

  She looked appropriately suspicious. 'I don't know.'

  Danny put up both hands. 'No strings. Just coffee.'

  She smiled. 'Irish?'

  'Bad Paulette. Bad, bad Paulette.'

  She laughed. 'Let's go.'

  They picked a place on Germantown Avenue, sat at a table near the window, small-talked - movies, fashion, the economy. She had a fruit salad. He had coffee and a cheeseburger. Neither would rate Zagat's.

  After fifteen minutes or so she held up her iPhone, tapped the touch screen. She did not dial a number, did not send a text or an email, did not make an entry onto her contact list or schedule something in iCal. Instead, she took a picture of Killer Blue Eyes, having earlier in the day deselected the option that attached the sound of a clicking camera to the operation. When she was done she looked at the cellphone's screen in mock frustration, as if something was wrong. Nothing was wrong. The photograph, which the young man could not see, was perfect.

  'Problem?' he asked.

  She shook her head. 'No. It's just that I can never get much of a signal around here.'

  'Maybe you can get a signal outside,' Danny said. He stood up, slipped on his jacket. 'Want to give it a shot?'

  She hit one more button, waited until the progress bar made its way fully to the right, and said: 'Sure.'

  'Come on,' Danny said. 'I'll get the check.'

  They walked slowly down the street, wordlessly window browsing.

  'Don't you have to make that call?' Danny asked.

  She shook her head. 'Not really. It's just my mother. She's just going to give me shit about what a loser I am. I can wait.'

  'We might be related,' Danny said. 'Like closely related. I think we have the same mother.'

  'I thought you looked familiar.'

  Danny looked around. 'So, where are you parked?'

  'Just up this way.'

  'Would you like me to walk you to your car?'

  She stopped. 'Oh no.'

  'What?'

  'You're not a gentleman, are you?' she accused him flirtatiously.

  Danny raised a hand, three fingers up, Boy Scout style. 'I swear to God I'm not.'

  She laughed. 'Sure.'

  They turned the corner into a dim alleyway, heading toward the parking lot. Before they took three steps she saw the glint of the revolver.

  With a strong forearm Danny slammed her against the bricks and brought his face very close to hers.

  'You see that red Sebring over there?' he whispered, nodding toward the Chrysler parked near the end of the alley. 'Here's what we're going to do. We're going to walk over there and you're going to get in that car. If you give me any trouble, make a single sound, so help me God I will shoot you in the fucking face. Do you hear me?'

  'Yes.'

  'Do you doubt what I say?'

  She shook her head.

  'I want you to say it out loud. I want you to say "I understand, Danny.'"

  'I understand, Danny.'

  'Good. Good,' he said. 'Paulette.' He kept a hand on her, leaned away. 'You know, you've got great tits. You wear this loose shit to hide them, but I can tell. And you're a goddamn drunk. Do you know what a plus that is?'

  She just stared.

  'Me? I've never had a drink in my life. I just have this weakness for weak women. Always have.'

  He ran his left hand slowly over her right hip, his other hand remaining on the butt of the gun. He smiled.

  'I think we're going to do it right here. What do you think of that?'

  'You won't hurt me?'

  'No,' he said. 'But admit it, Paulette. There is something exciting about doing it in public. Especially with a total stranger.' He pulled down his zipper. 'But that's why you drink, isn't it? Because you hate yourself? Because you're a whore?'

  She didn't know if it was really a question. She remained silent. He continued.

  'Of course it is. And you know what? I bet you've gotten plenty loaded over the years, and fucked plenty of guys in alleys. Right?'

  This was definitely a question. When she didn't answer he took the revolver from his waistband and stuck it between her legs. Hard.

  'Answer ... the fucking ... question.'

  'Yes.'

  He ran the barrel of the gun up and down, applying even more pressure. 'Say it.'

  'I've fucked a lot of guys in alleys.'

  'And you loved it.'

  'And I lo
ved it.'

  'Because you're a fucking whore.'

  'Because I'm a fucking whore.'

  'I thought so.' He slipped the gun back into his waistband. 'You know that other girl? She gave me a hard time. She didn't have to die.'

  'The other girl?'

  'The redhead. The fat one. Marcy something, the papers said. Smelled like a cheap slut. Which she was, of course.'

  He leaned in, sniffed her hair.

  'You don't smell cheap,' he said. 'You smell good.'

  A shadow crawled slowly across the ground, pooling at their feet. Danny noticed, spun around.

  Behind him, a few paces away, stood the petite blonde from the AA meeting, the one wearing the green Temple University hooded sweatshirt. In her hand was a Glock 17, pointed at the center of Danny's chest.

  'My name is Nicci,' the blonde said. 'And I'm a police officer.'

  'Hi, Nicci!' Detective Jessica Balzano responded.

  During the previous three weeks, on her undercover assignment to catch the AA Killer, Jessica had been Paulette. No last name. Just Paulette. She discovered early on in the assignment that no one had a last name at AA.

  Behind Detective Nicolette Malone stood two other detectives, as well as a veteran patrolman named Stan Keegan. At either end of the alley were a pair of sector cars.

  Danny looked at Jessica, his hands trembling now. 'You're a cop?'

  Jessica stepped back, drew her own weapon from a holster at the small of her back, leveled it. 'Put your hands behind your head and interlace your fingers.'

  Danny hesitated, his eyes shifting from side to side.

  'Do it now.''

  Danny froze.

  'Suit yourself,' Jessica said. 'But if you don't do what I tell you to do, you will die where you stand. In an Ed Hardy T-shirt, no less. With your zipper down. Your call.'

  The suspect, whose real name was Lucas Anthony Thompson, seemed to realize his two choices. He was leaving this alley either in handcuffs or on a gurney. In an instant his will was broken. His shoulders sagged. He put his hands on top of his head, fingers interlaced.

  Jessica had seen it a hundred times. And it never failed to warm her heart.

  Gotcha.

  Nicci Malone stepped forward, pulled the weapon from the suspect's waistband, handed it to Officer Keegan, who put it in an evidence bag. Nicci then swept the suspect's legs from beneath him. He hit the ground hard, face down. An instant later Nicci dropped a knee into the center of Thompson's back, cuffed him.

  'It's almost impossible you're this fucking stupid,' Nicci said.

  Jessica holstered her gun, stepped forward. Each grabbing an arm, the two detectives pulled the suspect roughly to his feet.

  'You are under arrest for the murder of Marcia Jane Kimmelman,' Jessica said. She read him his Miranda rights. 'Do you understand these rights?'

  Thompson nodded, still dazed.

  'You have to answer out loud,' she said. 'You have to say "yes."'

  'Yes.'

  'Actually, I want you to say, "Yes, I understand, Detective Goddess Balzano.'"

  Thompson didn't say it. He was still a bit stunned.

  Ah, well, Jessica thought. Worth a shot. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the small digital recorder. She rewound the recording, clicked Play.

  You know that other girl? She gave me a hard time. She didn't have to die.

  Jessica clicked off the recorder. Thompson hung his head.

  They had plenty with which to charge him. An eyewitness, a good sampling of DNA, ballistics. The recording was just icing on the cake. The DAs office loved recordings. Sometimes a recording made all the difference in the world.

  As uniformed officers led Thompson away, Officer Stan Keegan leaned against the brick wall, crossed his arms over his kettle-drum chest, a Cheshire-cat grin on his face.

  'What's so funny?' Jessica asked.

  'You two,' he said, nodding at her and Nicci. 'I'm just trying to figure out which one of you is Batman and which one is Robin.'

  'Batman? Dream on, mortal,' Jessica said. 'I'm Wonder Woman.'

  'And I'm She Hulk,' Nicci added.

  The two women bumped fists.

  There was a young man standing next to the sector car, talking to one of the uniformed officers. He was tall, dark-haired, lanky, and had about him a nervous energy. He carried an expensive-looking digital video camera. Jessica soon realized who he was, and what he was doing there.

  She had gotten the memo the week before, and had forgotten all about it. Somebody from Penn State was making a documentary about the homicide unit - a day-in-the-life sort of thing - and the directive from high on high was to cooperate. The memo said the filmmaker would be there for a week.

  As Jessica approached, the young man noticed her. He smoothed his hair with his free hand, stood a little taller.

  'Hi,' he said. 'I'm David Albrecht.'

  'Jessica Balzano.'

  They shook hands. David Albrecht wore a gold crucifix around his neck, along with a Nittany Lions long-sleeved T-shirt. He was cleanshaven, save for a sparse bleached-white soul patch beneath his lower lip. It was the only thing keeping his face from being feminine.

  'I'd know you anywhere,' he said. He pumped her arm with a little too much enthusiasm.

  'Really? And why is that?' Jessica asked, retrieving her limb before it was shaken off.

  Albrecht smiled. 'I do my research. You were in that Philadelphia

  Magazine feature a few years ago, the one about the "new breed" of female detective. Remember that?'

  Jessica remembered the article well. She had fought against it but had lost the battle. She was not crazy about having details of her personal life made public. Police officers, especially detectives, were big enough targets for crazies as it was.

  'I remember,' Jessica said.

  'And I followed the Rosary Killer case pretty closely.'

  'I see.'

  'Of course, I was in high school then,' Albrecht said. 'I went to a Catholic school. We were all pretty mesmerized by the story.'

  High school, Jessica thought. This kid was in high school then. It seemed like yesterday to her.

  'By the way, that was a great photo of you on the cover of the mag,' he added. 'Real Lara Croft. You were kind of a pinup for a lot of the guys at my school for a while.'

  'So, you're making a movie?' Jessica asked, hoping to get off the subject of the article.

  'Gonna try. Making a feature is a lot different from making a short. I've done mainly webisodes so far.'

  Jessica wasn't really sure what a webisode was.

  'You should stop by my site and check some of them out,' Albrecht said. 'I think you'll like them.'

  He handed her a card bearing his name and a website address.

  Jessica did the polite thing, scanning the card before putting it into her pocket. 'Well,' she said. 'It was great meeting you, David. Anything you need.' She didn't mean it, of course. She pointed at the just-arrived police transport van. 'I've got to get this started.'

  Albrecht held up a hand. 'No sweat. Just wanted to introduce myself.' He smoothed his hair again. 'I'll be around, but you won't even notice me. I promise not to get in your way. I'm a mouse.'

  A mouse, Jessica thought. We'll see about that.

  Two hours later, with paperwork completed, reports filed, and suspect delivered to the police administration building at Eighth and Race Streets - commonly known as the Roundhouse - the team met at a restaurant called the Hot Potato Cafe on Girard Avenue.

  In addition to Jessica and Nicci Malone there was veteran detective Nick Palladino, as well as a relatively new detective in the unit, Dennis Stansfield. Stansfield was in his early forties and was God's gift to women, at least in his own mind. His clearance-rack suits never quite fit, he wore too much cologne and, among his many annoying habits, he seemed to be in constant motion, as if he always had somewhere else to be, something else to do that was far more important than talking to you.

  He had only been wi
th the unit for a few months and had yet to make a friend. No one wanted to work with him. His abrasive personality was only one of the reasons. His sloppy work habits, and his uncanny ability to get a witness to clam up immediately, were two others.

  Jessica and Nicci held down one side of the table, while Stansfield and Nick Palladino sat on the other.

  Nick Palladino - whom everyone called Dino - was a lifer, a South Philly boy with a knack for sniffing out con men and thieves, two categories of criminal of which the city of Philadelphia had no shortage.

  They were all on duty for a few more hours, so it was coffee and Cokes for now. They lifted a glass to their day.

  Lucas Anthony Thompson, 26, late of Port Richmond, currently a guest of Hotel Homicide, stood accused in the aggravated murder and sexual assault of a young woman named Marcia Jane Kimmelman. According to witnesses, the two had met at an AA meeting in West Philly but, because last names were never used, no one knew who Thompson was. They had a general description, but that was about it.

  Marcia's body had been found in a vacant lot on Baltimore Avenue near 47th Street. She had been sexually assaulted, shot once in the head with a .38 at close range. Three months later Thompson met and attacked a young woman after a meeting in Kingessing, but the woman, a secretary for Comcast named Bonnie Silvera, survived. DNA found in semen left behind by her attacker matched that of Marcia Kimmelman's killer. Bonnie Silvera gave police a highly detailed description of Thompson, and there began an undercover operation that ultimately involved a dozen detectives and brought them to more than six districts.

  'So how'd you ID him?' Dino asked.

  Nicci deferred to Jessica. 'Talk to the mastermind.'

  'Well, we had a little help from the Audio Visual Unit on this one,' Jessica said. 'But when Thompson and I were sitting in that coffee shop I took his picture with my cellphone. Then I sent the photo via SMS to Nicci's phone. Nicci and two uniforms were out in the van, about half a block away, with Bonnie Silvera. A few seconds later Nicci got the photo, opened it, showed it to Bonnie. The witness made the positive ID, Nicci sent me a text, letting me know we were on, and we knew we had him.'