But it was.
"I got a hit on your Rhode Island shooter."
"Let's have it."
"His name's Pietro Lambrasco, just as Billy said it was. And he's not mobbed up-"
"So what the hell is he?!"
"Let me finish. What I was saying is that he's not mobbed up here."
"Back in Italy?"
"Sicily, to be precise. The only reason we have it on record is that two of the guys in the Bureau were over there a couple of years ago to help with the murder of that judge who got blown up on the highway, the one from Rome. They exchanged a lot of info and computer files. This guy Lambrasco was in one of their files."
"What's his story?"
"A stone-cold hit man."
Justin stayed silent.
"You still there, Jay?"
"Still here." Another brief pause. Then, "Reggie, what the hell is a Sicilian hit man doing in Providence, Rhode Island, going after Bruno Pecozzi?"
"I was hoping you'd have the answer to that one."
Again, nothing from Justin.
"So what now?" Reggie asked finally.
"I'm going back to work on the dots," Justin said.
"Did you make your date for tomorrow night?"
"Yup," Justin said.
"You going to tell me what that's all about?"
"Nope."
"Then I guess I'll see you at eight-thirty."
"Yup," Justin said again.
24
David Kelley was not the brightest guy Justin had ever met. But the contractor was nowhere near the dim-witted lout as portrayed by the tabloids and the local news stations. It didn't take long for Justin to realize that he was talking to a competent blue-collar contractor who'd gotten in over his head-both professionally and personally. He had moved up to deal with the moneyed class and gotten caught up between the two worlds. He'd been exposed to a lifestyle so grand that he could never again look back at his own life and be totally content. But the people he serviced lived at a level he could never attain. Justin realized it was that very fact that made Dave Kelley such an appealing suspect for Larry Silverbush and his crew. Greed was usually a pretty safe motive. As was lust. Kelley was also a guy with a temper and a cruel streak. That was immediately apparent from the sneer on his lips and the anger in his voice. It was not a combination that added up to a very appealing personality. But Justin was convinced it also didn't add up to someone who had murdered Evan Harmon.
Staring at Kelley in his prison grays, Justin wondered what it was about him that had appealed to Abby. Maybe it was his crudeness. Maybe it was the fact that this was a guy who had never in his life dreamed of having a shot with someone like Abby, so maybe she liked the idolatry that came along with this relationship. It made Justin wonder what she had seen in him, what had made her search him out at Duffy's that night. He wondered if there was any link between him and Dave Kelley.
Then he thought maybe there was.
Cruelty.
He shook the thought away as best he could, because he realized that Reggie Bokkenheuser was staring at him. He had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Dave," Reggie said to Kelley, continuing the line of questioning she'd been pursuing, "what can you tell us about the stun gun?"
"What the fuck is there to tell?" Kelley said.
"Quite a bit," Reggie said. "It was used to torture a murder victim and certainly contributed to his death. And it was found in your possession after the murder."
"Yeah, I know where the fuck it was found. There's nothin' you're tellin' me or askin' me that's even the tiniest fuckin' bit new. I told everything to the lawyers and the cops and nobody fuckin' believes one fuckin' thing I say."
"Maybe it's because you're too eloquent and sophisticated for them," Justin said.
"Fuck you," Kelley spat back.
"Case in point," Justin said.
"Look, my own damn lawyers want me to plead guilty to somethin' I didn't do. You know how fuckin' insane that is?"
"Dave," Reggie said, "we believe you. Or at least we'd like to believe you. But you're not making this easy."
"Yeah," Kelley said and jerked his head at Justin. "I'm gonna trust this guy 'cause I know he's really rootin' for me since we're both bangin' the same bimbo."
"Dave," Justin said quietly and calmly, "let me try to explain it to you in a way even you might understand. I don't think you're an idiot, even though you're doing a really good impersonation of one. I think you're getting screwed-by the cops, by the DA, by your lawyers, and probably by the Harmon family. They all want to nail somebody-and they want to nail him quickly-and you're the prime candidate. But we know things they don't. And those things make us think that even though you're clearly a total asshole, you're an innocent asshole, at least as far as this murder's concerned. And as far as the bimbo's concerned, I don't think she's involved in this either. So the best way I can help her is to also help you. Even though I personally couldn't care less if you spend the rest of your life in jail or even if they stick a needle in your veins and put you out of your misery. But I don't want to see the wrong man-or woman-go down for this. So the way I see it, we're kind of your last hope. We're the only thing standing between you and twenty to life. Or worse. So what do you have to lose by talking to us without all the bluster and the swagger and the pretense?"
Kelley stared at Justin, his mouth slightly agape, and said nothing.
"Okay," Justin said to Reggie. "Let's go. This guy actually is as stupid as everybody thinks."
They both started to stand, but Kelley said, "Wait." And when they shifted back to him, he said, "What do you want to know?"
Justin and Reggie settled back into their seats across the small table from the imprisoned contractor.
"Tell us about the stun gun," Reggie said.
"It's mine," Kelley said.
"According to the arrest transcripts, you denied that at first."
"Well, what the fuck do you…" He glanced over at Justin and immediately he lowered his voice and softened his tone. "Yeah. I know. It was stupid. I was scared out of my freakin' mind and they were tellin' me it was the murder weapon, so I did the first thing I could think of and said it wasn't mine."
"Why'd you have one in the first place?" Justin asked.
"Animals. That's all, I swear to God. You know I don't just work out here-I do some work in the city and you start breakin' down walls and diggin' there and you got no idea what's gonna come out at you. Rats, bats… I hate fuckin' rats. So I got myself one of those things so I could torture the little bastards."
"You ever use it out here?"
"Yeah, sometimes. On raccoons and shit."
"You ever use it at the Harmons'?"
Kelley nodded. "Hey, you got a piece of gum or somethin'?"
Justin shook his head, but Reggie reached into her pocket and flipped a piece of sugarless Juicy Fruit across the table.
Kelley popped it in his mouth and chewed vigorously for a few seconds, then he said, "Yeah. I used it at the Harmons'."
"Keep going."
"Look, I kept it there sometimes. I kept all my tools there, so I just stuck it in with them. This was a big job for me, I mean the biggest I ever had. And I had a crew and everything, it was a lotta work, but sometimes I worked by myself. I figured why pay to get stuff done I could do, you know? So I was up there alone a decent amount of the time. Or alone with the two of them…"
"Abby and Evan?" Justin asked.
"Yeah. Or just one of 'em. Or with the greaseballs."
"You're referring to the housekeeper and butler?"
"Yeah. Great fuckin' butler-the guy could barely speak a word of English. You'd say, 'Hey, Pepe, can I get some ice water or somethin'?' and he'd stare at you like what the fuck are you talkin' about?"
"Did Pepe or his wife ever see you use the stun gun?"