Page 103

CHAPTER 101

brADY CALLED WHILE Bao and I were leaving MacBain’s.

“Boxer, I need you now in Observation One.”

“Bao and I will be right there,” I said. “What’s this about?”

“We have Doug Bernardi in the box with Chi and Cappy. Mike Randall has already been interviewed. I’ll fill you in when you get here.”

I hurried Bao out onto the street, telling her what Brady had told me as we crossed Bryant. Once we were in the Hall on the fourth floor, I led Bao to the observation room closest to Interview One, where Brady and Conklin just about filled the small anteroom to the walls. Brady stepped outside and told Bao and me how the Randall interview had ended.

“We’re holding Randall as a material witness so we may get to keep him for forty-eight hours. He said that he had seen Warren Jacobi a couple dozen times in the last decade and had had a few drinks with him at Julio’s.”

“Julio’s. The matchbook.”

“Yes, a definite maybe,” Brady said. “But either of them could have picked it up at the bar already inscribed—”

“‘I said. You dead.’”

Brady cracked a smile, then said, “Let’s go observe Interview Two. Chi and Cappy are just starting with Bernardi.”

Observation outside Interview Two was a mess: paper napkins on the table, empty paper cups on the floor near the trash can, pads and broken writing implements lying where they had fallen or were flicked. But it was empty, and Brady, Bao, and I had room to breathe. We could easily see through the one-way glass. The mic was on and the cameras were rolling.

Cappy and Chi were interviewing Doug Bernardi, Chi’s former patrol partner. Chi was sitting in a folding chair next to Bernardi, Cappy sat across from him, and there was a beat-up metal table between them. I faintly remembered Doug Bernardi. He had a stern look, a slight build, and a nervous tic. He was tapping the table between himself and Chi in rhythm. One. One, two, three. One. One, two, three.

Chi said, “Doug, we’ve known each other for too long for me to lie to you. I know you and Jacobi had your issues, and honestly, I thought what he did was wrong, dismissing you like that. I told him so. But I couldn’t move him.”

“I know all that, Paul. I know it was Swanson who pushed us out. I was pissed at Jacobi for a while, but life did not stop and I got way over it. I read in the paper about Jacobi being killed, and I sent flowers to the church. So did Mike. Neither one of us ever touched him, crossed swords with him, or killed him. We had no cause. He was like someone you used to know in school. Not an enemy. Not a feature in your life.”

“Doug, I’ve got a couple of questions. Bear with me.”

“Let me guess. Where was I Monday morning a week ago?”

Chi smiled. “Okay. Right. Where were you?”

“What time in the morning?”

“Say, six o’clock.”

“What do you think? I was in bed, asleep next to my wife.”

“Did you go to work that morning?”

“Yes, Paul, I went to work. I own a security firm. I don’t clock in. But I was there at eight. Going through paperwork. Greeting the staff as they came it. Reading headlines in the news that Jacobi had been killed. And now I have a question for you.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Why the hell are you talking to me?”

Cappy said, “Several people have reported that a couple of cops killed Jacobi. We have photographic evidence of you and Randall talking to Jacobi.”

“That’s bull. Cappy. We were seen talking to him? Talking. That’s evidence?”

“It’s enough to hold you as a material witness while we check it out.”

“Now, hear me. I have seen Jacobi casually a couple dozen times in the last twelve or thirteen years. We’d have to look up when I left the job to be sure of the approximate date. Go ahead and ask your questions. But I’m telling you the truth,” said Bernardi. “I didn’t kill him. And I’d swear on my family Bible that Mike Randall didn’t touch the guy, either. Let me see this photograph,”

“It’s evidence, and I don’t have it to show it to you. But it does exist.”

“Am I under arrest?”

“As of this moment, no, but I’m putting you under pre-charge detention. You know how it goes. You have the right to an attorney, you have the right to remain silent …”

Bernardi’s hand was flat on the table, and he used his arm as leverage to sharply get to his feet. “I want my lawyer.”

“Fine,” Cappy said. “Paul and I will take you upstairs to holding and you’ll get your phone call.”

Doors opened. Conklin and Alvarez left the observation room, ready to escort Bernardi up to the jail on the sixth floor.

Sonia Alvarez said, “Mr. Bernardi, please come with us.”

Bernardi ignored her completely.

Cappy stepped in. “Do what Alvarez says, Bernardi. Don’t make this whole thing worse.”

Chi said, “I’ll go upstairs with you, Doug. I’ll call your lawyer myself if you want. Save your one phone call to call your wife.”

I’m a pretty good judge of character, and I thought Bernardi was telling the truth. But hell. He was a cop once, and he knew the drill.