"From what time to what time?"
"From about… from about ten to eleven."
"And then what'd you do?"
"I drifted around."
"Who saw you drifting?"
"Nobody. What do I need witnesses for? You trying to hang the Hernandez kill on me?"
"What makes you think he was killed?"
"He hung himself," Collins said.
"Okay, but what made you call it a kill?"
"A suicide's a kill, ain't it?"
"Why should we try to hang a suicide on you?"
"How do I know? What else you got me in here for, if not that? You're asking questions about that night, ain't you? You're asking me if I knew Annabelle, ain't you?"
"You did know him."
"Sure, I knew him."
"From the neighborhood or from the Sea Scouts?"
"What Sea Scouts?"
"In Riverhead."
"Oh, you mean the Junior Navals. That ain't the Sea Scouts. Yeah, yeah."
"Where'd you know Mm from?"
"I used to say hello when I lived in the neighborhood. Then, when I met him at the Navals, we got a little friendly."
"Why'd you say you guessed you knew him? If you got friendly, then you knew him."
"Okay, I knew him. Is that a crime?"
"Why'd you go to the Navals?"
"I didn't belong. I only went to watch the marching. I like to watch guys march."
"You'll do a lot of marching where you're going," Havilland said.
"Yeah, you got to send me there first, cop. I still ain't heard no charge. Are you booking or just looking?"
"You're a pusher, aren't you, Collins?"
"You're dreaming."
"We've got three kids who made a buy from you. One is ready to identify you."
"Yeah? What's his name?"
"Hemingway."
"What're the other two called? Sinclair Lewis and William Faulkner?"
"You read a lot, Collins?"
"Enough."
"This kid Hemingway doesn't read. He's a junkie. He bought a sixteenth of heroin from you on the afternoon of December 20th. One of our detectives nabbed him right after he made the buy."
"So that's why I was being fol…" Collins cut himself short.
"What?"
"I didn't say nothing. If your Hemingway made a buy, he didn't get it from me."
"He said he did. He said it came from you."
"I don't know what a sixteenth of H looks like."
"Did you know Hernandez was a junkie?"
"Yeah."
"He ever shoot up with you?"
"No."
"You never saw him shoot up?"
"No."
"How do you know he was a junkie?"
"Word gets around."
"Ever see him with any other junkies?"
"Sure."
"Who?"
"I don't know their names."
"Ever see him with a junkie named Larry Byrnes?" Byrnes asked.
Collins blinked.
"I said Larry Byrnes," Byrnes repeated.
"Never heard of him," Collins said.
"Think hard. He's my son."
"No kidding? I didn't think cops had junkie sons."
"Did you happen to see my son on the night of December 17th?"
"I wouldn't know your son from a hole in the wall."
"How about the morning of December 18th?"
"I still don't know him, night or morning. How would I know him?"
"He knew Hernandez."
"Lots of guys knew Hernandez. Hernandez was a pusher, didn't you know that?" Collins paused. "Hell, he even pushed at the Navals."
"We knew it. How'd you know it?"
"I seen him sell a couple of times."
"To whom?"
"I don't remember. Listen, you think I know the names of every junkie in the neighborhood? I never fooled with that crap myself."
"You fooled with it on the twentieth, Collins. Two days after we found Hernandez dead, you were fooling with it."
"This Hemingway kid used to be one of Hernandez' customers."
"Yeah? Maybe he bought that sixteenth from Hernandez' ghost, then."
"He bought it from you."
"You're gonna have a hell of a time proving that, cop."
"Maybe not. We've had a man following you for the past few days."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"So why didn't he pinch me? Listen, you find any stuff on me when you pulled me in? What am I here for, huh? I want a lawyer."
"You're here on suspicion of murder," Byrnes said.
"You mean…" Again, Collins stopped short.
"What, Collins?"
"Nothing. Hernandez hung himself. Just try pinning that one on me."
"Hernandez died of an overdose."
"Yeah? So he was careless."
"Who put that rope around his neck, Collins?"
"Maybe your son did, Lieutenant. How about that?"
"How do you know my rank?"
"What?"
"If you don't know my son, and if you don't know anything about my son, how the hell do you know my rank?"
"One of your bulls called you Lieutenant. What do you think?"
"Nobody's called me anything since you got here, Collins. Now how about it?"
"I guessed. You look like you got leadership qualities, so I figured you were the boss. Okay?"
"Larry says he knows you," Byrnes lied.
"Who's Larry?"
"My son."
"Yeah? Lots of guys know me who I don't know. I'm popular."
"Why? Because you're pushing junk?"
"Only thing I ever pushed was my sister's baby carriage. Get off that kick, cop. It leads nowhere."
"Let's try another kick, Collins. Let's try cards."
"What about them? Want to play some?"
"You ever play cards?"
"Sure, I do."
"You ever play with a kid named Batman Di Luca?"
"Sure."
"Who else was in that game?"
"Which game?"
"The night you played."
"I played cards with Batman a lot. He can't play to save his ass. I always win."
"What's a gunsel, Collins?"
"Huh?"
"A gunsel."
"Oh." Again, Collins blinked. "A guy who's hired to wash somebody."
"Pronounce it."
"Gunsel. Say, what is this, an English class?"
"When did you find out what a gunsel was?"
"I always knew."
"You found out that night of the card game, didn't you?"
"No, I didn't. I always knew."
"Which night, Collins?"
"Huh?"
"You said you knew what a gunsel was before that night of the card game. Which night are we talking about?"
"The… the last time we played, I guess."
"And when was that?"
"About… about two weeks ago."
"And who played?"
"Me, Batman, and another guy."
"Who was the third guy?"
"I don't remember."
"Batman says you brought him down."
"Me? No, it was Batman. I think he was a friend of Batman's."
"He wasn't, and he isn't. Why are you protecting him, Collins?"
"I ain't protecting nobody. I don't even know who the guy was. Listen, I'd still like to know what you're driving at. You guys think—"
"Shut up!"
"Well, I got a right—"
"What happened on that night of the card game?"
"Nothing."
"Who first mentioned the word 'gunsel'?"
"I never heard it mentioned."
"Then why'd you mispronounce it?"
"I didn't mispronounce it."
"You pronounced it correctly?"
"Sure, I did."
"How'd you pronounce it?"
"Gunsel."
"When was this?"
"The night we…" Collins stopped. "Anytime I pronounced it."
"You said it wasn't mentioned on the night of the game."
"I said I never heard it. Maybe it was mentioned, how should I know?"
"If it wasn't mentioned, where'd you get the nickname 'Gonzo'?"
"Gonzo? Who's got a nickname Gonzo? Everybody calls me Dickie."
"Except those three kids who came to make the buy from you."
"Oh? Well, that explains it. You've got the wrong guy. You're looking for a Gonzo. My name is Dickie. Collins. Hey, maybe that's where you slipped up. Collins and Gonzo sound a little—"