‘The eggs that had to be laundered at Greenpoint Carton?’
‘The very same eggs. Fact is, Harry, it was Luna who set up Clarence Spott seven years ago. Luna knew Spott would be transporting product because Luna sold the product to Spott in the first place. But you said something about an item that would seal my fate. I gotta admit, I’m anxious to hear what it is.’
I leaned back in the seat and allowed the air to fill with the hum of the refrigerator behind the bar and the faint buzz of a small neon sign in the front window. The sign’s tubing was curled and twisted to form a tiny green leprechaun. Right eye closed in a leering wink, the leprechaun’s head was tilted to one side. A line of script above his top hat announced: HARP.
Behind the bar, Mike was leaning forward, one elbow resting in a puddle. His eyes were hard-focused, his attention given over to our little drama. When Adele was the one to break the silence, Mike’s head shot up as though he’d been punched.
‘Have you ever had sex with a woman, Linus?’ she asked. ‘I don’t mean a whore. I mean a woman who wanted to be in bed with you.’
Potter thought it over for a minute, his expression unchanging, then, without looking at Adele, said, ‘You’re pushin’ the wrong buttons, Harry.’
Adele replied before I could speak. ‘It was me who went to the DA. Don’t blame Harry. I’m the one. If you have a complaint, you should direct it to me. That’s assuming you have the balls to look a woman in the eye.’
When Linus didn’t respond, I confirmed Adele’s statement. ‘Would ya believe, Linus, that in spite of everything we did, all our efforts, an Inspector named Thaddeus Clark told me that I should mind my own business? That’s why Adele went around the job, why she used her connections to push the DA into convening a grand jury. That grand jury, it’s gonna look at everything, from Clarence Spott to Dante Russo. And what they’re gonna come up with, sooner or later, is you.’
‘This I already know.’
I leaned forward over the table, my face gradually becoming more animated as I went on. ‘Look, here’s the way I see it unfolding. The memory David Lodge recovers leads him to Pete Jarazelsky, who is then persuaded to come across with additional details. Nobody’s fool, Pete soon warns certain compromised parties back in New York. There isn’t any rush, since Jarazelsky’s beating occurs six months before Lodge is released.’ I paused long enough to take a breath. I was going to run a bluff here. Though I’d made a mental note to ask Deputy Warden Beauchamp for a list of Jarazelsky’s visitors, I hadn’t actually done it.
‘The first thing I asked myself was exactly who Jarazelsky contacted after the beating. The second thing was the means by which this communication took place. A phone call, a letter, or person-to-person. As it turned out, the right choice was door number three. The right choice was Linus Potter, who also visited Pete Jarazelsky whenever he went to see David Lodge, two good deeds for the price of one. Tell me, was Jarazelsky smart enough to hold something in reserve when David Lodge fell upon him? Like your name?’
Potter raised his mug and stared at the few inches of beer at the bottom. The beer was flat and he swirled the mug several times before drinking.
‘Seems like the last one,’ he declared, ‘outta be better than that.’
He set down the mug and raised his eyes to mine. They were as opaque as ever, but this time I was glad. If I’d been wrong, Potter would have been unable to conceal his triumph.
‘When Davy cornered Pete down in the prison laundry,’ he said, ‘it was like a gorilla dropped out of a tree to land on a kitten. Pete had no defense whatsoever. Now, ya gotta figure Pete was terrified, what with the rumors that Davy killed a guy in Cayuga. But Pete was smart, too, and he’d been inside for a long time by then. He only gave up Szarek and Russo.’
‘And that left you to play the good guy with David Lodge.’
‘Me and Ellen.’ Potter lapsed into a momentary silence, his eyes dropping to the table. Finally, he said, ‘Davy couldn’t be reasoned with.’
‘Neither can Pete.’ I waited a moment, but Potter had nothing to say. We were coming to the end and we both knew it. ‘Being in Attica presents Jarazelsky with advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, he’s safe. Even if you kill them all, Ellen Lodge and whoever else is involved, you can’t eliminate Jarazelsky. On the other hand, Pete’s isolated. He has no idea what’s going on down here. He’ll find out, of course, and when he does, my bet is that he’s on the phone to the DA within twenty-four hours. That’ll be it for you, Linus, unless you move first.’
The phone rang at that moment. I think Mike Blair would have preferred to ignore it, but he finally stepped away from the bar after the fifth ring. When he did, Adele reached into her purse to withdraw the S amp;W revolver.
‘You asked before, about why,’ she said. ‘About why Corbin didn’t quit. Now, I’m going to tell you. Corbin would never admit this, but he takes crime personally.’
Mike Blair picked up the phone and muttered a few words into the mouthpiece. When he hung up and turned to find Adele pointing the. 38 at Potter’s head, he decided to remain where he was.
‘When you commit a crime on Corbin’s watch,’ Adele continued, ‘he sees it as an act of contempt. For him, it’s like being challenged on the street. If you ignore the insult, your entire world implodes. This is a narrow view, and quite emotional at its base, but it’s still a view that produces results. This was especially true in your case, Linus. In fact, your intrusion so upset my partner that he risked his career in order to bring you down. See, from Corbin’s point of view, Linus Potter’s decision to pit his intelligence and abilities against Harry Corbin’s was more than a challenge. It was a calculated act of disrespect by a marked inferior. That’s really why he came to Sparkle’s in a blizzard. To show you that no pin-head freak can beat Harry Corbin at the game of policing. To show you face to face. Tell me something: how do you like it? Does it feel good? Does it feel as good, for instance, as hitting me in the face with a bat?’
Potter’s mouth expanded into a tight and bitter smile. His eyes began to shift again, back and forth, from pure hate almost to the point of regret.
‘You’ll have to excuse my partner,’ I said. ‘She tends to over-analyze. But it does seem to me you have a pair of viable options, Linus. And one that’s not viable. Let’s take the last option first. You could walk out the door right now and hide behind your lawyer. That would buy you a couple of weeks of freedom. But you don’t really want that, not after the way you’ve been humiliated tonight. You realize, of course, that once the story of what happened here gets around, you won’t be able to leave your house. Knowing, as you will, that everybody else knows, too.’
Once again, Mike Blair spoke up. Again, he made a plea for calm. This time, Linus Potter responded first. ‘Shut up, Mike,’ he said. Then he jerked his chin in my direction. ‘The viable options,’ he said. ‘Let’s hear ’em.’
‘The first one’s called redemption. I’m not armed, Linus. The shooting board took my weapon. If you wanted to, you could show me the error of my ways right this minute. And when you think about it, killing me, killing my partner, even killing good old Mike — it wouldn’t make all that much difference. You’re already on the hook for life without parole. Plus, if you redeem your honor, it’ll do wonders for your self-esteem.’
Potter shifted his weight to allow the right side of his unbuttoned jacket to fall to the side. ‘And what’s the downside?’ he asked.
‘The downside is that Adele’s pointing a gun at the back of your head, so you’re gonna have to be really quick.’
The information had no discernible effect on Linus Potter. ‘What’s my other option?’
‘The freak’s not gonna like this one, Linus, not one bit. The other option is confession, which is good for the soul, but not for the freak. Ellen’s still holding out. Jarazelsky’s in the dark. That gives you the option of being first. Now I know you’ve employed this line yourself, so I’m not gonna belabor the point. But if you want, we’ll take you down to the DA, right now, and you can cut that good deal.’