The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly [44]
“You forgot something, didn’t you?” I said.
I spoke without moving my jaw because somehow moving my jaw set off the pain receptors in my rib cage.
“What’s that?” Stilwell asked.
“You never asked me to describe my attackers. You didn’t even ask what color they were.”
“We can get all of that on our next visit. The doctor told us you need your rest.”
“You want to make an appointment for the next visit?”
Neither detective answered. They wouldn’t be coming back.
“I didn’t think so,” I said. “Goodbye, Detectives. I’m glad the Crimes Against Persons Unit is on this. Makes me feel safe.”
“Look,” Stilwell said. “Likely this was a random thing. Two muggers looking for an easy mark. The chances of us—”
“They knew who I was.”
“You said they recognized you from the TV and the newspapers.”
“I didn’t say that. I said they recognized me and made it appear as though it was from TV or something. If you really cared about this you would’ve made that distinction.”
“Are you accusing us of not caring about a random act of violence in this community?”
“Pretty much, yeah. And who says it was random?”
“You said you didn’t know or recognize the assailants. So unless you are changing your mind about that, there is no evidence that this was anything other than a random act. Or at best a lawyer hate crime. They recognized you and didn’t like that you defend murderers and scumbags and decided to relieve their frustrations on your body. Could’ve been a lot of things.”
My entire body throbbed with pain ignited by their indifference. But I was also tired and wanted them gone.
“Never mind, Detectives,” I said. “Go on back to Crimes Against Persons and fill out your paperwork. You can forget about this one. I’ll take it from here.”
I closed my eyes on them then. It was the only thing I could do.
* * *
The next time my lids came open I saw Cisco sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, staring at me.
“Hey, Boss,” he said gently, as if his usual booming voice might hurt me. “How’s it hanging?”
I coughed as I came fully awake and that set off a paroxysm of pain in my testicles.
“Feels like it’s still about a hundred eighty degrees to the left.”
He smiled because he thought I was delirious. But I was lucid enough to know that this was his second visit and that I had asked him to do some sleuthing when he had come the first time.
“What time is it? I’m losing track, sleeping so much.”
“Ten after ten.”
“Thursday?”
“No, Friday morning, Mick.”
I’d been sleeping more than I realized. I tried to sit up but the movement set off a burning wave of pain across my left side.
“Jesus Christ!”
“You okay, Boss?”
“Whadaya got for me, Cisco?”
He stood up and came to the side of the bed.
“Not a whole lot but I’m still working it out. I got a look at the police report, however. Not a lot there but it did say that you were found by the night cleaning crew that came in about nine o’clock to work in the building. They found you out cold on the garage ramp and called it in.”
“Nine o’clock wasn’t too long after. Did they see anything else?”
“No, they didn’t. According to the report. I plan to be there tonight to interview them myself.”
“Good. What about the office?”
“Me and Lorna checked as best we could. It doesn’t look like anybody was in there. Nothing missing, as far as we can tell. And it was left unlocked the whole night. I think you were the target, Mick. Not the office.”
The medication drip worked on a regulated feed system that parceled out the sweet juice of relief according to impulses sent from a computer in another room and programmed by someone I had never met. But at that moment that computer nerd was my hero. I felt the cold trickle of a boost moving through my arm and into my chest. I was silent as I waited for my screaming nerve endings to be calmed.
“What are you thinking, Mick?”
“My mind’s a blank. I told you I didn’t recognize them.”
“I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about who sent them. What’s your gut tell you? Opparizio?”