The Judgment Read Free Page B

chuckled softly. “He may look stupid, but he isn’t. He kept books, in code, but every dime is accounted for.”
    “Well, if that’s the case, you don’t have anything to worry about.” I paused. “If you’re honest.”
    He nodded. “I’m told the Mouse is going to be the chief prosecution witness against me.”
    I whistled. “That puts a different color on the horse.”
    “I’m also told the mayor is arranging everything, like the producer of a Broadway play. He’ll select the judge, the prosecutor, everything except the color of the courtroom walls.” He paused. “He’d like to select the defense attorney, too, if he could. Short of that, he’ll try to get to whoever defends me. This is one case he doesn’t want lost. Pick a good man, and the mayor won’t touch him.”
    “Wally Figer is one of the best. He wouldn’t be able to get to Figer.”
    Conroy’s eyes began to glitter once more. “That shows how out of touch you’ve been. Wally is the mayor’s personal attorney.”
    “Really?”
    “Anybody who’s any good has some connection with His Honor. Power and money pulls you in like a magnet. I want to be able to go to trial without wondering if thisis the day my own lawyer makes a small but intentional mistake that will send me to prison. Like I said, I need an honest man.”
    “Someone unlike yourself?”
    He raised an eyebrow.
    I continued. “How much did that suit cost? Or the shoes? You must have several thousand dollars on your body. That’s not the kind of clothing one associates with an honest, hard-working cop.”
    He chuckled, plucking at his suit. “So you think this is drug money?”
    “It’s a short jump to that conclusion.”
    He shrugged. “Do you know how much the city pays me in salary?”
    “No.”
    “Ninety thousand a year. On top of that, I teach as an assistant professor in criminal justice. Part-time. That brings in another twenty thousand. My wife is a commercial artist, a good one. Pick up any fashion magazine and you’ll see her work. She brings in another hundred thousand plus. We have no children, Sloan. I can afford the clothes, plus a Mercedes, if I wanted one. I spend on clothes, and that’s about all.”
    “Have you ever dipped into the fund?”
    He shrugged. “Once or twice. But it always went back the next day. And the Mouse always knew about it. He handled the money, physically. I left all that to him.”
    “How about his books?”
    “He explained the code to me. Every so often we’d go over how much we had. Informers don’t come cheap anymore. Other than that, I had no connection with the money or with the books.”
    “Just the Mouse.”
    “Yeah.”
    “If you’re on the level, the Mouse must have been stealing.”
    “I doubt it.”
    “You do? Even if he’s going to testify against you?”
    He looked past me again. “That’s the part that’s screwy. The Mouse controlled the books and the code. Even if he was looting the damn fund, no one would know, not even me, and certainly no one could prove it. Why he’s testifying I don’t know.”
    “The case will be a circus, you realize that?”
    He nodded. “Yeah.”
    “Frankly, I don’t want the case. I’ve had enough of these courtroom circuses to last a lifetime.”
    He shrugged. “I can’t blame you, I suppose.”
    “Have you talked to the Mouse?”
    “No. He’s disappeared. I put some of my best people out on the job of finding him. He doesn’t want to be found. Like I said, he may look like a dumb mountain, but he’s smart, street-smart.”
    “Obviously, you know the game plan. When are you supposed to be arrested?”
    “Tomorrow morning, at Police Headquarters. I’m supposed to surrender there with a lawyer. They’ll take me to Recorder’s Court and set bond.”
    “Who told you all this?”
    “The prosecutor. I don’t think he’s in on any of this, but it’s his office that’s bringing the charge. Like he said to me, he’s just doing his job.” Conroy sighed.