DIRTY SALLY
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4
(Continued)
"Jake,
I want you all over the Missing Persons files."
I slid him a folder. "See what you can find in
the right age range, check blood types if you have
them. Keep an 'A' file of everything that looks possible,
a 'B' pile of everything that's not impossible."
"Big
fuckin' file," he said.
"You'll
need those handy when we find more information."
Jeffries:
"If we do."
"Homicide
is the final act of aggression," I said, shooting
Joey's words at Jeffries. "Final and irrevocable.
You came to this squad so you'd never have to ask
questions like right or wrong. Once a guy kills somebody,
he's wrong. Enjoy it." Silence as I handed out
copies of a map I'd drawn grids all over and slid
a manila file to Jeffries.
"Jeffries
and Milsap, this is a printout of the butchers in
the area. Ask questions and search the premises."
Jeffries
snorted. "Got no warrant."
"Tell
them if they volunteer you'll be out in ten minutes.
If they don't, you'll have to close them down to do
a thorough search when the warrant comes. Torbett
and Waller, I want you to talk to Vice and get a list
of pimps in Charlie Sector, names, photos, records,
haunts.
Divvy
them up and start rousting. Start with anyone who
has cases pending, especially possession or Assault
and Battery. Make 'em rat out their friends. After
that, Jeffries take area A, north of East Twelfth
and west of the ravine. Milsap area B, including the
methadone clinic; Torbett C, including Planned Parenthood;
and Waller D. Start close to the dump site and work
outward. The stores and bars listed at the bottom
are places where I know people. I'll take those and
the Casa Rosa complex. We'll meet back at Casa Rosa
at five with whatever we got so far and regroup."
Jake
asked, "What are we gonna call her?" I'd
given it some thought. "Sally."
Jake
hummed, "Mustang Sally."
Waller
suggested, "Long tall Sally."
Jeffries
said, "Dirty Sally, " the name of a university
area bar with a penchant for vice.
I
nodded. "Let's just call her 'Sally'." Everybody
seemed to go along with it. But I could tell which
one would stick.
Jeffries:
"Why Charlie Sector?"
"If she was a streetwalker it's fifty-fifty she worked
there. If she was a junkie she probably scored dope
there. We know that's where she landed."
Torbett:
"What do we ask?"
"Talk
it up. What kind of action is going on in the neighborhood?
What's anybody heard? Any fights? Lovers' spats, angry
pimps, whores looking to get out, cults..."
Waller
with a sparkle in his eye: "Did anyone notice
a girl they haven't seen lately?"
"With
scabby knees," Jeffries said, and laughed.
No
motive, no suspects, no ID on the victim. The best
thing we had was a doer who didn't mind fucking with
the cops, and cops glad for the excuse to roust some
pimps. Small pieces of a big puzzle. And the black
charm she swallowed. If it wasn't the perfect crime,
it would do until something better came along.
But
I'd been disciplined twice. Sally was my chance to
become a rising young detective again—my last
chance. Jeffries whispered something to Milsap loud
enough for me or anyone else to hear about "Tonto"
not being much good without "the Lone Ranger."
Or at
least I thought he did.
Milsap
said, "Hey, what's the matter with Reles?"
Jeffries
said, "Some cops don't handle stress so good.
Depends how you grew up."
I
said, "Hey, Jeffries, did I tell you about my
dream?"
He
eyed me. "No."
I
leaned into the light of the projector, Crazy Reles.
"I dreamed we were in prison and you were my
bitch."
The
squad froze. Terror slammed Jeffries's huge face. "Whut?!"
"Yeah,
there we are in Huntsville and I'm fuckin' your fat
ass." I punched my palm. "Bam! Bam! Bam!
I wonder what it means."
Miles
covered his eyes. Another moment of dead silence before
Waller broke it with a guffaw and flicked on the lights.
The squad broke into laughs except for Jeffries himself,
beet red and breathing heavily like a cornered animal,
and Torbett, who never laughed, only listened.
I
looked around the table. "The first seventy-two
hours determine everything. Public Information is
doing a good job of keeping a lid on this. Today the
big story is a bus accident. No guarantees for tomorrow.
When the press comes in, figure Jack the Ripper stories,
mutilation pictures, Denton'll get curious. And we
fuckin' well better have something to show her."
"I'll
show her a luncher," Jeffries muttered.
"Have
lunch on your own time," I said. "We're
not eating this one. That goes for the rest of you.
Before someone turned her out on the street she went
to high school with your kid sister. This guy's good
at cutting up girls. If he's done it before he'll
do it again. So you can dick around till he finds
a classier victim or you can do your fuckin' job and
find out who hacked up Sally."
But
before we could guess who killed her we had to find
out who she was, this faceless girl who was so important
that someone cut her up and left the rest for pickup.
Who was she and who needed her this dead?
And
how many more would be gone before we found out?
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