“See, that’s what an investigation is,” she said, trying to keep her tone a step up from mocking. “That’s what I’m doing. Investigating. And please stop saying it’s your building, because it’s not. I’ve got an idea of who owns this building, and if I were you, I’d be cooperating with us so that we can go about our business.”
“We got lawyers.”
“So do we. Plenty.” She eyed him keenly. “You know anything about how that dead homeless man got into this building?”
“What? No!”
“So if I go back a few hours and look at surveillance video from two or three points on this street, I won’t see someone with a key opening the door for him?” Cana opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. “That’s a good instinct, staying quiet. What about the other guy?”
“What other guy?”
“The guy at the bottom of the elevator shaft.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” he said, his eyes widening. “What happened to him, anyway?”
“That’s what we’re investigating.” She looked closely at him. He was an asshole, but about this, she did not think he was lying. “Someone let the homeless guy in. I’m not sure how the other one got in, but this building is an encyclopedia of DOB complaints, so I’m guessing it wasn’t hard. You’re going to be answering for quite a few things, so be cooperative.”
Cana left with the cop, but before Letty could restart the interview, her partner, Kevin Ito, called down the stairs. Of Japanese descent, Kevin was slight with a crewcut and round glasses. He motioned her up a few steps.
“What is it? I’m trying to get through this interview.”
“A couple of things,” Kevin said. “The body in the elevator shaft? MLI found a photograph of your witness, that old Black guy, in his pocket.”
“Wait. My witness downstairs?”
“Yes.” He pushed the John Lennon glasses up his nose. “One other thing—they found ID on the body. His name is Evan Bolds.”
CHAPTER 62
Ninth Precinct Squad Room
East Village, Manhattan
3:32 a.m.
“I was sorry to call so late,” Letty said to Zochi upon her arrival to the Ninth Precinct. “Your duty lieutenant said you were on the turnaround and might not be sleeping anyway. He gave me your number.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said. She didn’t know Letty, but she already respected her as a detective. Once things had calmed down and she was back at the squad room, Letty had done the right thing—dug up data on Bolds and also the mechanism by which it seemed the homeless victim had been killed. By connecting a few dots through the NYPD online system, she was able to see that a Detective Xochitl Hernandez from the Sixtieth Precinct was working on a case with a similar mechanism of death. On top of that, the deceased in Letty’s case, Evan Bolds, was the subject of a court case that Hernandez’s suspect had been working on right before he himself had been arrested. The connection was enough to attempt late-night contact with Hernandez.
Zochi wasn’t sure what to make of Letty’s case. DeSantos was in custody, so he wasn’t the perpetrator. The details were intriguing, though. One person had been killed in the same way her victims had. The other body had been a legal target of her suspect when he was still with the AG. She didn’t expect much, but who knew? Maybe DeSantos was still involved somehow and not working alone. Maybe he was still pulling strings from Rikers. She had seen that before. There was also a surviving eyewitness she could interview. All things considered, it was worth coming in early for and checking out. Letty was right; she didn’t sleep much on the turnaround anyway. She suited up and sped down to the city through warm night air with no traffic. Now in the squad room, the two women stepped away from the flurry of activity for a cup of coffee.
“What time did you come on?” she asked.
“Nine o’clock,” Letty said. “The bodies are packed up and the scene is secure, but there’s brass everywhere and everyone wants to be briefed. I doubt I’ll get out of here in under twenty-four hours.”
“Well, overtime.”
“Yep. First double homicide we’ve seen in a while.” Letty blew on her coffee. “I feel bad for this witness, Nate Porter? Seems like a nice old guy.”
“I don’t know anything about him,” Zochi said. “What he knows could shed some light; you never know. You sure he’s ready to talk to me?”