LITMIR.BIZ

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harsh voice immediately.

      “This is Superintendent Wigmore. Meet me at the Oceanside Lounge. Immediately!”

       chapter twenty-four

      Danny spotted Wigmore sitting alone in the lounge. Wigmore scowled at him and nodded toward a chair. Danny sat down as the waiter approached the table.

      “Bring me another Glennfiddich on the rocks,” commanded Wigmore. “This time, bring the Scotch on the side.” He gestured toward Danny and said, “Nothing for him; he won’t be staying.”

      Wigmore waited until the waiter left, then said, “Tell me, O’Reilly, why do men pay prostitutes money?”

      “Sir?”

      “A simple question.” Wigmore’s voice became sarcastic. “Surely you’ve been a policeman long enough to have heard about prostitutes.”

      “Men pay prostitutes money in exchange for sex,” said Danny.

      “Any other reasons?”

      “Not that I can think of.”

      “Do you think it conceivable that a man who has engaged a prostitute would murder her if she was perhaps going to spill the beans on him, so to speak?”

      “Yes, sir. I guess that is conceivable.”

      Wigmore stared smugly at Danny while the waiter returned with his order.

      “Ice in your glass, with the Scotch on the side,” said the waiter, somewhat contemptuously.

      Wigmore waited until the waiter left before continuing. “So, O’Reilly, you’ve answered why you paid a prostitute — Miss Doyle — money.”

      Danny was shocked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t know any Miss Doyle!”

      “Come come now, O’Reilly. You paid Miss Christine Doyle’s bill for her at a garage. With the tow bill it came to over $800.”

      “Crystal! I didn’t know her real —”

      “Oh, of course. You would have known her by the name she uses for customers.”

      “I wasn’t a customer!” The edge to Danny’s voice revealed his anger.

      “We’ve got your credit card receipt! An auto mechanic identified your photo as being the man who paid her bill! He also saw you and a woman hugging her in the garage parking lot.”

      “That woman was my wife.”

      “I see. You and your wife are into … group activities, are you?”

      Danny seethed with anger. He opened and closed his fists under the table to control his rage. “We were simply helping her out! Her car broke down. She needed help!”

      “Forget the charade, O’Reilly! Homicide traced the cell number! You just told me you couldn’t think of any reason a man would pay a prostitute except for sex. She was talking to you on the phone the next day when she was murdered! What have you got to say about that? It appears to me that you may have been involved in her murder!”

      Danny fought to keep his composure. This son of bitch wouldn’t have called me here if he really believed what he was saying. Danny glared at Wigmore and said, “Right! Let’s forget the charade! What do you really want?”

      “Don’t get snarky with me, O’Reilly! I know Taggart is involved! I warned you before about him! People dying around him is nothing new. Think about it! Since you’ve been his partner, there was this Leonard character in the back alley. Now a hooker is murdered while talking to you, and you not only don’t inform me, you also don’t report it to Homicide!”

      Danny started to protest, but Wigmore held up his hand to silence him, then continued, “Just for argument’s sake, even if you did help this hooker with her car and happened to introduce her to your wife, it’s against policy. However, as a police officer, not reporting what you know to Homicide is obstruction of justice! And that’s a criminal matter! You’re already in trouble for neglect of duty in regards to the PM. Now this!”

      “I — I didn’t report it because I just thought the phone went dead. She just phoned to say goodbye. I thought she was moving back east.”

      Wigmore shook his head. “Get it through your skull, O’Reilly. I warned you not to get sucked into Taggart’s world. I even understand that you’re scared and that’s why you just lied to me. It’s Taggart I want, but if you continue to act dumb and not cooperate, then you’ll both end up in the same cell.”

      “It’s not that I’m not cooperating, it’s just that he isn’t doing anything wrong.”

      Wigmore chuckled, shaking his head, then said, “So there would be no problem with me scheduling you to take the polygraph? Start off with about a dozen questions concerning policy matters, then look at criminal matters. Questions like: did you intentionally hinder the investigation into Christine Doyle’s murder?”

      Wigmore picked up on the look of fear on Danny’s face. Or is it guilt? It triggered a response like a shark to blood. He leaned across the table until his breath was in Danny’s face. “Perhaps question if your actions contributed to her murder?”

      Danny stared back at Wigmore. He didn’t know how to respond. He wondered what he would say to Susan.

      Wigmore leaned back in his chair. He had made his point. “I’ll be out of town for the next two days. I expect to hear from you on Monday. With the weekend, that gives you four days to think about it. By then, if you decide not to spill the beans, I’ll demand a full Internal. Starting with slapping you on the polygraph!”

      It was noon when Danny walked into the office. Jack was already there, and by the amount of paper piled up, he had been at work for a while. Danny plunked himself down.

      Jack looked at him and asked, “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve been up all night.”

      “Nothing’s wrong.”

      “If you’re that upset about these searches, I told you, I’ll do them myself!”

      “I’m just tired. A lot happened last night for me to think about.”

      “It was a good night. I’ve got more good news. I found a report from Vancouver City on Asian gangs. Two Vietnamese brothers who were controlling speed distribution in Chinatown, as well the west side, disappeared last year around the May long weekend, leaving their cars, money, and homes untouched.”

      “It looks like our friend is telling the truth.”

      “I think we can chalk them up as crab bait. I also wandered into Popeye’s this morning. No sign of an alarm system. We’ll do it tonight and Rolly and Wizard’s places tomorrow night. Go in a couple hours after midnight. Shouldn’t be anyone around.”

      Danny silently nodded his head. Three break-ins. Wigmore would be happy with that. Or would he still wait for Jack to get caught with the ultimate crime? As Jack said, it’s just a matter of time…. Wigmore’s words lit up the closets of his mind like neon lights. Don’t get sucked into his world! Breaking the law … murders … Jack’s world. He saw Jack studying his face and turned away. He had to make a decision.

      “Jack, if we’re going to be that late, then I’ve got some personal business to take care of this afternoon. Do you mind?”

      “No, go ahead. I’m going to meet Natasha for dinner. Let’s meet back here at midnight.”

      “What is it, honey?” Susan asked. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

      “I have to talk to you.”

      “Sounds serious.”

      “It is.”

      Danny sat at the kitchen table with Susan. The words suddenly spilled out of him.

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