The Darkness - Jason Pinter [71]
"Yeah. I'll let you know when I form it. You can
play bass?"
"Always saw myself as more of a saxophone man. You
know, Charlie Parker. Sure you don't have a black uncle?"
"Hey, man, you know how my father plays hide-andseek with the truth. It wouldn't shock me. But as far as I
know I don't."
"Gotcha. Take it easy, Henry."
"Later, Curt."
I hung up the phone. I noticed Jack had come over, and
was standing next to my desk.
"Was that your buddy Sheffield?"
I nodded, leaned back in my chair and stretched.
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"I don't get it. Curt knows this stuff, and he said
nobody in the department has heard one word about
this new drug."
"Is it possible his ear is just a little too far from the juice?"
"It's possible, but Curt's been pretty reliable when it
comes to big stories."
"Well, until we hear otherwise, we have to assume
that the Wicked Witch of the West Side scooped us fair
and square."
"I don't think that's going to make Wallace like us any
more."
"No. He'll bitch and moan for a day or two, until we
break something big and Ted Allen at the Dispatch has
to eat a nice big turd sandwich."
"He has to deal with Paulina every day. That's gotta
be enough punishment for one man."
Jack laughed. It felt strange, though, as though he was
laughing more to gauge my reaction than out of actual
emotion. Then he stayed silent for a minute, just thinking.
"So where are we at?" he said. "It seems like our number
one lead got himself a one-way ticket to the big adios."
"Well, my gut says for certain that Kaiser knew
exactly what I was talking about when I asked him about
718 Enterprises. Of course he was killed before I could
get any deeper."
"So think about this, sport," Jack said. "I'm guessing
Kaiser's demise was not due to a leak in his gas stove.
He was killed. So who benefits from Kaiser being out of
the picture? And why kill him now?"
"It was probably no secret that we were looking at him,
so whoever killed him was worried he would talk."
"Did he seem like a talker to you?"
"Are you kidding? If he'd given me another thirty
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203
seconds he would have told me what his wife was like
in bed."
"So someone ices him before he can talk. Who?"
"I'm pretty sure it's this blond guy the doorman saw
coming at odd hours. He clearly had business with Kaiser
that couldn't take place during the light of day."
"Didn't you say his wife left when he came over?"
"Yeah," I said. "Mrs. Kaiser left and went to a coffee
shop on the corner. She let this guy and Brett do their
thing, then she'd just come back like she'd gone to the
beauty salon. Nothing strange about her attitude, according to the doorman."
"So you know who we have to talk to now?" Jack
said.
"Victoria Kaiser. Wonderful. Nothing I need more than
bothering a grieving widow."
"You're too mushy, Parker. If I was a grieving widow..."
"You'd be a pretty widow," I said. Jack ignored me.
"If I was a grieving widow, I'd sure as hell want to find
the bastards who killed my husband."
"Isn't that the job of the NYPD?"
"Yeah. And they did a real bang-up job investigating your brother's death. Since Stephen Gaines is connected to 718--per your estimation--I have a funny
feeling the NYPD might be taking this whole thing a
little lightly."
"Why would they do that?" I said.
"Easy," Jack said. "For whatever reason, somebody
over there thinks it's in their best interests to let this story
slide. And that's where we come in, little buddy."
"Okay, Gramps. Let's see if we can get in touch with
Mrs. Kaiser."
Jack stood up. I noticed a bulge in his pants pocket.
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Jason Pinter
"What the hell do you have in there?" I asked, slightly
worried and a little grossed out at the same time.
"This? Just a soda." He took the can out of his pocket.
"You walk around carrying soda cans in your pants."
"Just in the office. Need a little sugar rush from
time to time."
I acted as though that made perfect sense.
"How's the...are you still on the wagon?" I asked. I
wasn't sure how Jack would