“Ning?” I repeated. “That name sounds familiar.”
“You might have read about the case,” Lopez said. “Paul Ning is a scumbag who murdered a man one night over a gambling dispute. He pursued the victim into the Sixth Precinct to kill him, which is how I wound up investigating it. My partner and I made a solid case, and the prosecutor did a good job. So if Paul were just any scumbag, I’d be nice and warm at my desk right now instead of pounding the pavement all over Chinatown helping make sure a three-year-old case will hold up and the conviction won’t get overturned. But Paul is actually Joe Ning’s youngest brother—”
“Okay, that’s the name I’ve heard before,” I said. “Also known as Uncle Six, right?”
He nodded. “I thought that might be why Paul Ning’s name sounded familiar to you. His brother gets into the news a lot. Which is why Paul’s trial was news—and why his appeal will be news, too. Especially since Uncle Six has deep pockets, so the lawyer he’s hired is the kind of sleazebag who’s always doing TV interviews.” Lopez added with disgust, “He’s also the kind of lawyer who gets killers off the hook, so we’ve got to be thorough, or Paul might walk.”
I gestured toward Quinn, who was obviously enjoying his lunch. “Was he the other investigating officer, then?”
“No, that guy left the force. Now he’s making six figures a year in private security. And he’s probably warm and dry today,” Lopez said bitterly. “Andy’s my new partner at OCCB. So, for his sins, he’s out here stomping through ankle-deep slush with me.”
“But at least he’s enjoying his lunch.” Thinking about how relieved Lucky would be, I added, “Well, good luck. It certainly sounds like Paul Ning is someone who ought to stay behind bars.”
“He sure is,” Lopez confirmed.
Warm enough now, I started unbuttoning my coat. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Officer Novak and to Ted.” I led the way over to my colleagues’ table.
Novak was by now really getting into playing with Archie’s weapon, practicing the first few moves in a sword-form that the kung fu master was teaching him.
“Yes, you’ve got it now. That’s right,” Archie said approvingly to the patrolman. “You should start coming to my school. We could really develop your natural abilities.”
“You think?” Novak said, looking interested.
I interrupted to introduce the patrolman to Lopez.
Novak blinked. “Who?”
“Detective Lopez,” I repeated. “The person we’ve been waiting for.”
“Oh!” Novak looked surprised—then embarrassed. “Oh, right.” He handed the sword back to Archie. “Glad you’re here, detective! Um, I guess I should have . . . I mean, I know I should have called this in, but Miss Diamond said—”
“Miss Diamond was right, and I want to thank you for waiting around for me,” Lopez said, at his most cordial as he extended a hand to Novak in greeting. “I know you’re probably eager to get back to your beat, so I’ll only take a minute or two of your time.”
Novak nodded, his mouth hanging open a little. He apparently hadn’t expected the charm offensive.
“And this is Ted,” I added, as our writer-director-producer rose to his feet.
For all his failings, Ted was a nice guy who’d been taught basic manners, so he thanked Lopez for coming here to help us out today. Lopez briefly explained that he was going to help with some other things, too, after he was done talking with Novak. He suggested that Ted organize his thoughts about what might be needed to keep production rolling and asked him to grab a copy of the script so they could go through it together.
Then Lopez said to me, “It smells so good in here, I can’t stand it. Would you ask Andy to order something for me?”
“Sure.” While Lopez took Officer Novak aside for a quick word, I joined Detective Quinn at the lunch counter and conveyed this request.
“Okay.” Quinn signaled to the waiter, then said to me, “He likes pork, doesn’t he?”
I realized I had no idea, so I shrugged.
“Is he the one who’s allergic to shellfish? Or am I thinking of someone else?” Quinn added, “I’m the new guy at OCCB. Still figuring out who’s who. And who eats what.”
“I don’t know if he has any allergies.”
“I thought you were the girlfriend?” Quinn said. “Or recently ex-girlfriend? Or possibly the maiden to be wooed and won back?”
“I only know that he like chili dogs,” I said stonily.
“Yeah, I did know about that one,” Quinn said with a grin. “It’s kind of an addiction with him. All right. Let’s just get a few different things, and I’ll eat whatever he doesn’t want. The food here is great!”
Quinn placed the order while I gave a friendly farewell wave to Officer Novak, who was on his way out the door, looking satisfied with the way things had worked out.
“I’ll see you soon, Archie,” he called, so I supposed Archie had gained a new student today.
Lopez went back to the ABC table and sat down with Ted, who handed him a copy of the script.
Quinn looked at the two of them with a puzzled frown. “What’s he doing now? Auditioning?”
“No.” I explained the favor Lopez was doing for me.
“Man, as busy as we are, he’s taking time out to do that for you? He really is into you, isn’t he?” Quinn looked me over and added, “Not that it’s hard to understand the attraction.”
“Seems the least he could do,” I said. “After all, I lost my job because of him.”
“No, you lost your job because you were working in a mob joint that got busted. And everyone who worked at Bella Stella lost their jobs that night, Miss Diamond,” he pointed out. “But you’re the only one Lopez is doing handsprings for, to try to make sure her new job works out.”
“Not handsprings,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable. “It’s a simple favor.”
“Right,” Quinn said. “Because a guy who’s putting in overtime on a major OCCB case and trying to keep some scumbag killer from getting set free by the TV lawyer who his tong-boss brother has hired . . . That cop has boatloads of time left over to meet with your dipshit director and walk the kid’s applications through NYPD’s movie unit. Uh-huh.”
“I thanked him nicely,” I said defensively.
“How about you do something nice for me,” Quinn said, “and cut Lopez some slack? Or work things out with him.”
“What makes this any of your business?” I demanded, offended now.
“Because I’m his partner. I have to put up with him every damn day. You haven’t been around. I have.” Quinn gave a weary sigh. “I’ve only known him a few weeks. They tell me he’s usually a pretty even-tempered guy. He’s just going through a bad patch, they say. He’ll pull himself together and get over it . . . But, I swear, there are days he’s so hard to live with, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to be carrying a loaded gun.”
“Now you’re scaring me.”
“I’m just saying, when a guy acts like this . . . it’s usually because of a woman.” Quinn’s attitude softened a little as he said, “Look, I know what he did to you. Well, okay, everyone who was at Stella’s knows what he did.”
“Yes,” I said with resignation. “They do.”
“And he should pay for it. If you ask me—”
“No one did.”
“—he is paying for it. But the problem, Miss Diamond, is that I’m paying for it, too.” Quinn looked imploringly at me. “So for my sake, couldn’t you give him another chance?”