Cozy: Smith, two chairs, a table–a newspaper covering the top, a little mound underneath. Bud sat down. “Is I.A. tailing me?”
“Yes, and other likely indictees. It was your chum Exley’s idea. The lad has a piece of Chief Parker’s ear, and he told him that you and Stensland might be driven to commit rash acts. Exley vilified you and many other fine men on the witness stand, lad. I’ve read the transcript. His testimony was high treason and a despicable affront to all honorable policemen.”
Stens–holed up on a bender. “Don’t that paper say we been indicted?”
“Don’t be precipitous, lad. I’ve used my piece of the chief’s ear to have your tail called off, so you’re with a friend.”
“Lieutenant, what do you want?”
Smith said, “Call me Dudley.”
“_Dudley_, what do you want?”
Ho, ho, ho–a beautiful tenor. “Lad, you impress me. I admire your refusal to testify and your loyalty to your partner, however unfounded. I admire you as a policeman, particularly your adherence to violence where needed as a necessary adjunct to the job, and I am most impressed by your punishment of woman beaters. Do you hate them, lad?”
Big words–his head spun. “Yeah, I hate them.”
“And for good reason, judging from what I know of your background. Do you hate anything else quite so much?”
Fists so tight his hands ached. “Exley. Fucking Exley. Trashcan Jack, he’s gotta be up there, too. Dick Stens is giving himself cirrhosis ’cause those two squealed us off.”
Smith shook his head. “Not Vincennes, lad. He was the stalking horse for the Department, and we needed him to give the D.A.’S Office some bodies. He only snitched twenty-year men, and he took the blame for the liquor you brought to the party. No, lad, Jack does not deserve your hatred.”
Bud leaned over the table. “Dudley, what do you want?”
“I want you to avoid an indictment and return to duty, and I have a way for you to do it.”
Bud looked at the newspaper. “How?”
“‘Work for me.”
“Doing what?”
“No, more questions first. Lad, do you recognize the need to contain crime, to keep it south of Jefferson with the dark element?”
“Sure.”
“And do you think a certain organized crime element should be allowed to exist and perpetuate acceptable vices that hurt no one?”
“Sure, pork barrel. The game’s gotta be played that way a little. What’s this got to do-”
Smith yanked the paper–a badge and .38 special gleamed up. Bud, scalp prickles. “I knew you had juice. You squared it with Green?”
“Yes, lad, I squared it–with Parker. With the part of his ear that Exley hasn’t poisoned. He said if the grand jury didn’t hand down a bill against you, your refusal to testify would not be punished. Now pick up your things before the proprietor calls the police.”
GLEAMING–Bud grabbed his goodies. “There’s no goddamn bill on me?”
Ho, ho, ho–mocking. “Lad, the chief knew he was giving me a long shot, and I’m glad you haven’t read the Four Star _Herald_.”
Bud said, “_How?_”
“Not yet, lad.”
“What about Dick?”
“He’s through, lad. And don’t protest, because it’s unavoidable. He’s been billed, he’ll be indicted and he’ll swing. He’s the Department’s scapegoat, on Parker’s orders. And it was Exley who convinced him to hand Dick over. Criminal charges and jail time.”
A broiling hot room–Bud pulled his necktie loose, closed his eyes.
“Lad, I’ll get Dick a nice berth at the honor farm. I know a woman deputy there who can fix things, and when he gets out I’ll guarantee him a shot at Exley.”
Bud opened his eyes; Smith had the _Herald_ spread full. The headline: “Policemen Indicted in Bloody Christmas Scandal.” Below, a column circled: Sergeant Richard Stensland flagged on four charges, three old-timer cops billed, Lentz, Brownell, Huff swinging on two bills apiece. Underlined: “Officer Wendell White, 33, received no true bills, although several sources within the District Attorney’s Bureau had stated that first-degree assault bills seemed imminent. The grand jury’s foreman stated that four police-beating victims recanted their previous testimony, which had Officer White attempting to strangle Juan Carbijal, age 19. The recanted testimony directly contradicted the testimony of LAPD Sergeant Edmund J. Exley, who had sworn under oath that White had, in fact, attempted to grievously injure Carbijal. Sergeant Exley’s testimony is not considered tainted, since it resulted in probable indictments against seven other officers; however, although the grand jurors doubted the credibility of the recantings, they deemed them sufficient to deny the D.A.’s Office true bills against Officer White. Deputy D.A. Ellis Loew told reporters: ‘Something suspicious happened, but I don’t know what it was. Four retractions have to supersede the testimony of one witness, even as splendid a witness as Sergeant Exley, a decorated war hero.”‘