Page 112

“So what we’re going to do now,” he went on, “is start from the beginning, once again, to see where we took the wrong turn. We’re going to do this very slowly, to see where what you saw agrees with what Mickey saw, or where it disagrees. Detective Harris”-he pointed to a huge salesman’s case on the banquette seat beside Harris-“has brought with him records and reports that he and others have compiled that he thinks will be useful. We’re going to see if what you and Mickey saw agrees or disagrees with what other people saw, or thought they saw, and if it disagrees, how it disagrees. You still with me, Double-A Zee?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“If either you or Mickey thinks of something-anything- or if you have a question while we’re doing this, speak up. I’ll do the same. Okay?”

O’Hara and Amal al Zaid nodded their understanding.

“Let’s get some more coffee,” Washington said, waving for the attention of the shift manager, who was hovering nearby to see what he could see, “and then Tony can begin.”

Tony Harris took a sheaf of paper from the salesman’s case, took off a paper clip, and divided it into four.

“This is the chronology as I understand it,” he said, as he slid copies to Washington, O’Hara, and Amal al Zaid.

“We know for sure that Mrs. Martinez called 911 at eleven-twenty P.M. We have that from Police Radio. And we know that at eleven-twenty-one, Police Radio dispatched Officer Charlton. So I sort of guessed the time of the events before that.”

He waited until the shift manager had delivered a tray with coffee.

“If I get any of these details wrong, Double-A Zee, even if it doesn’t seem important,” Harris said, “speak up. Same for you, Mickey.”

Both nodded again.

“Okay. Sequence of events,” Harris said. “Double-A Zee was standing there”-he pointed-“mopping the floor, when he saw the doers come into the restaurant. How long had you been there, Double-A Zee, when they came in?”

“A couple of minutes.”

“A couple is two. Maybe several?”

“I keep the mop bucket right inside the kitchen door,” Amal al Zaid said. “What happened was when I cleaned the table-”

“This table?” Harris interrupted.

“Yeah. I see that the people who’d left had knocked a cup of coffee-what was left of one-on the floor. So I went in the kitchen, got the mop and bucket, and come back. It wasn’t a big spill, but it was right in front of the kitchen door-”

“The one on the left?” Harris interrupted.

“Yeah. The Out one, they come through with full trays and they couldn’t see the spill.”

“I understand,” Harris said.

“So I figured I better clean it up quick, and I did.”

“And you’d been there a couple, like two, minutes and the doers came in?”

“Right.”

“Why did you notice, Double-A Zee?” Washington asked.

“Excuse me?”

“You were mopping the floor, paying attention to doing that. Why did you notice these two?”

Amal al Zaid thought that over carefully before replying: “I looked at the clock over the door. They was standing under it.”

“And why did you pay attention to them?” Washington asked, softly.

“I could tell they was bad news,” Amal al Zaid said.

“How?”