“In exchange for what?”
“In exchange for some advance warning on your future articles.”
Katz jammed his hands into his pockets, but kept quiet.
“You want to read the articles first?”
“Well, if not read them, at least hear about what’s going into them. This isn’t too ominous, by the way. It amounts to merely hearing both sides of a debate before publication-pretty standard practice.”
“When we choose it to be. There are a couple of problems I can see, the most practical of which is finding one of you guys in the middle of the night before we go to press. This morning’s story didn’t have much lead time, and I wouldn’t have been able to waste more of it chasing after you.”
“I understand. That’s an unusual circumstance.”
“There is one more important point. If we tell you what we’ve got before we publish, that opens the door to a lot of similar interference. People could legitimately lay claim to the same right we give you. Every board meeting, every feature article, every sports report would be open to the same scrutiny. We’d nevny. icleer be able to get to the printers.”
Brandt pulled his prop out of his pocket and started fiddling. “I understand. It’s hardly a new argument, nor is mine for that matter. In fact, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t even have this conversation. In our cases, it’s an I-do-my-job-you-do-yours kind of world-it has to be that way. But, and please pardon the cliche, this is somewhat of a special case. We may have put the wrong man in jail. We have to either find enough to get him off the hook, or nail someone else in his stead. If we don’t do one or the other, he stays where he is. The legal process put him in; it’ll have to get him out. But it can only do so with our help. If you folks find something and publicize it before we can nail it down, it might blow his chances at getting out. I don’t want to censor anything you might get; at the most, I might ask for a little time before you publish it.”
“I don’t like it.” Katz muttered. He turned away from the window at last and faced us. “I mean, it sounds swell and bighearted-you guys working overtime in order to clear an innocent man. But it doesn’t have to be true. I’m not calling you liars, but look at what you’re facing. There are two alternatives: you reaffirm Davis’s guilt and get rapped on the knuckles for having been slightly sloppy; or you discover he’s totally innocent, and you all get fired and sued within an inch of your lives. You’d like us to believe you’re hell-bent on suicide. I’m a little skeptical.”
“It is true,” Bellstrom added, “that by clearing everything through you first, we jeopardize the integrity of the facts as we find them. You could conceivably influence us to color things just enough to change their meaning. Look, Stan may not like to admit it, but we both know you folks are okay. We’ve worked well together over the years. But the fact remains that we’re lambs and tigers-I’ll resist saying who’s which-we’re natural enemies. We may spend most of our lives in perfect harmony, but that doesn’t mean that one morning Mother Nature won’t suddenly remind us of who’s who, and then it’s best friend-for-breakfast time.”
Brandt sighed. It wasn’t noon yet, and I could feel him staring ahead at a long, long day of similar conversations. “So. No deal.”
Bellstrom gave him his most sympathetic smile. I’ll grant him that-he had the perfect personality for this kind of discussion. “I’m afraid not, Tony, at least not formally. Let’s leave it that we’ll play it by ear. On the assumption that our hearts are all in the right place, that ought to be enough.”
Brandt gave him a weary look. “I’m sure Davis would agree.”
Bellstrom stood to leave and wagged his finger. “Cheap shot, Tony.”
Brandt nodded and stood also. “I know. Sorry. Look, the earlier offer still stands. I have to huddle with the board soon, but afterward I’d like to let Stan in on some of the detail stuff. There’s no point letting people think Ski Mask is more of a menace than he is, and what we’ve got won’t jeopardize what Joe’s looking into right now.”
“All right. Thanks. Is that okay with you, Stan?”
“Sure, as long as I don’t have to promise I’ll publish any of it.” Brandt shook his head. “Christ, what a hard-ass. I think you’ll consider it news, even coming from me.”
“That reminds me, Stan.” I asked. “How did you link up with Susan Lucey?”
Stan smiled and shook his head.
“Come on, Stan, give him that much.” Bellstrom nudged his arm. “It’s not like you’re revealing a source.”
Katz was obviously torn between keeping a secret and revealing his cleverness. He finally gave in. “I followed you. After you left her place, I had a chat with her myself. You made a big impression on her and she wasn’t very giving, although I sure as hell was-she’s very expensive. Anyway, I didn’t learn much, but I left her my number and told her to call me-that I’d make it worth her while.
“So she calls me in the middle of the night. She’s been beaten up; you’re nowhere to be found; she feels totally betrayed. She said she asked for protection and you ignored her. All of a sudden, she wasn’t so keen on you, so she spilled her guts. That’s about it. You ought to be nicer to your snitches.”
He was right.
21
“Who is it?” she asked from behind the door.
“Joe Gunther. The cop who talked to you yesterday.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“I came to see how you were.”
“Lousy, thanks to you.”
“I’ve got a peace offering.”
The door was almost ripped off its hinges. Her face, its left side badly bruised, was red with fury. “A peace offering? What the hell do you think this is? A lover’s spat? Your first visit gets me beaten up, this one’ll probably get me killed, and you have a peace offering? You’re a real head case, you know that?”
Her hand was half lifted to strike me, so I filled it with what I was holding. It was an automatic coffee maker. It looked more extravagant than it was; the whole thing had set me back about fifty dollars. That was certainly less than meeting me had cost her.
She stared at it with her mouth open. A gust of wind blew past me and hit her in the face. She grabbed my coat, pulled me inside and slammed the door. “Don’t get any ideas. I just don’t want to catch pneumonia.” Still, she kept the coffee maker.
“What the hell made you choose this?”
“I noticed you didn’t have one.”
She peered at it closely. “You think this cheap piece of crap is going to get you off the hook?”
I didn’t answer.
She gave me a long baleful look. “The bastard hurt me-bad. I asked you for protection.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“That doesn’t do me a hell of lot of good, does iink Ssked you ft? I’m not going to get much business looking like a smashed grapefruit, am I?” I was probably reaching, but I thought some of the heat had gone out of her.
“No.”
“So what gives you the balls to drop by with presents, huh?”
“Nothing. That’s it. I just wanted to see if you were okay. I paid your hospital bill.”
She shook her head and crossed the room to put the machine on the kitchen counter. “Bully for you. You really are a bastard, you know that? I ought to shove this thing down your throat.”
“I won’t stop you.”
She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. She was wearing blue jeans and a sweat shirt of dubious cleanliness. “Where the hell were you, anyway? I thought you cops were supposed to keep in touch with each other.”
“A partner of mine got killed a week ago. His widow got back home from her daughter’s last night, so I went over to keep her company. I thought she might be lonely, her first night back in her own house. I forgot to leave word where I was.”
She didn’t say anything for a few moments, and when she did, her voice had finally softened. “Was that the guy who died in the car crash?”
“Yeah.”