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I’D DONE ALL I could do at Roger Dzoriack’s apartment. Now I was back at the office, poring over anything I could find on philanthropic Bronx criminal Richard Deason’s family. Walter Jackson had been able to find the records of marriage and the birth of the son. The divorce decree was harder to find, but everything was in order.

Walter came out from his office and plopped into the chair next to my desk. Sometimes I cringed when he did that. I didn’t have faith in that wooden chair holding up to someone Walter’s size dropping into it so heavily.

Walter said, “I found everything on Deason’s ex-wife. She died of cervical cancer in Miami about six years ago.”

Ever since my own wife passed away from cancer, I always flinch on the inside when someone tells me about a cancer death. Immediately, I wondered about the son, who would’ve still been a teenager at that time. I saw firsthand what the trauma of losing a mother could do to children. And I was right there with them the whole time. What did this kid do with his father already dead?

Walter said, “I found some records on the son, Antonio. I couldn’t find any photographs anywhere. It looks like he was at the University of Miami and was renting an apartment in Coral Gables until about five years ago. Since then there’s almost no record of the young man. It’s a pretty good mystery.”

“A mystery I think we should unravel if we’re going to dig deeper into this case. These retired cops were connected to the Land Sharks and working in the Bronx. Plus, you said a couple of Deason’s thugs also died recently. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“You think it might be some kind of revenge?”

“Who knows? Could just be some kind of business arrangement that someone needs to expand their territory.” I paused and considered other options. “We’ve seen crazier motives. This one might have an almost cinematic quality. A son waits for years to get back at the cops who put his father in prison? Sounds like a movie I might watch.”

Walter said, “Not me. After experiencing all these bloody homicides up close by working here with you guys, I only like comedies and musicals. And I’m happy to sit through most Disney movies with the girls. Except The Little Mermaid .”

“What’s wrong with The Little Mermaid ?”

The big man shrugged. “I don’t know. She just gives me the creeps. What’s the difference between a sea creature on land and an alien from outer space? It just freaks me out. It always has. Every time we have a body wash up in the Hudson, I get a little nervous. Who knows what a crazy-ass mermaid might do.”

I had no answer for that.