Buddy Boys Read Online Free PDF Page A

open and his tie askew. Henry remembered that the prosecutor’s hands were folded. Tony would recall that Hynes looked priestly.
    â€œWe agree to cooperate with you,” Henry said.
    â€œWe’ll do whatever you want,” Tony added.
    Hynes stood up.
    â€œOkay,” he said firmly. “Now I want names.”
    Henry and Tony were startled. They were being asked to give up other cops, to identify other cops as criminals, right now. Tonight.
    At that point, Tony spotted two piles of photographs stacked on the table across from him. An investigator started thumbing through a smaller pile of pictures.
    â€œWilliam Gallagher.” He held up the cop’s picture for everyone to see. “What does he do?”
    â€œHe would take things,” Tony began.
    â€œBrian O’Regan. What would he do?”
    â€œHe will steal things,” Henry volunteered.
    â€œRobert Rathbun. What would he do?”
    â€œHe’ll steal drugs.” Henry and Tony both agreed.
    â€œCrystal Spivey. What does she do?”
    â€œI think she does drugs,” Henry said.
    And so it went, with the prosecutors producing photographs and asking questions and the frightened cops giving up information. They worked through the smaller pile and then into the bigger pile. Winter and Magno identified approximately twenty-five of their fellow officers as men and women who would rob drug dealers, break into apartments, take money from dead bodies and use drugs. They spent the better part of an hour identifying their fellow police officers as robbers, drug users and car thieves.
    At one point a lawyer left the room to get an even larger stack of photographs. One by one, the police officers offered information—either good or bad—on every cop in their precinct, roughly two hundred people.
    After Henry and Tony had finished identifying the suspected criminals in the 77th Precinct, the investigators filed out of the room taking their photographs with them. Oddly, neither man felt shamed by what he had just done. The words had come from their lips freely.
    â€œDo you realize what we just did?” Tony asked.
    â€œWhat else could we do?” Henry said. “I ain’t going to jail.”
    â€œMe neither. Let’s just tell them what they want and get the hell out of here.”
    A moment later Hynes reentered the room with his aides. He offered his hand to Henry and Tony. The three men shook hands.
    â€œWe have a deal,” Hynes said, smiling.
    Henry and Tony remained expressionless. They were going home. Later Hynes explained that the men had been “unarrested.” He told them they would have to wear recording devices during the investigation and meet secretly with Internal Affairs operatives in the middle of the night. They were given a special telephone number to call day or night, something called a “hello number.” An investigator manned the phone twenty-four hours a day during the investigation, answering incoming calls with a simple, “Hello.” If discovered, the telephone number could not be traced.
    â€œYou can’t tell anybody about this investigation,” an aide said. “That means friends, family, and other cops. You can’t even tell your wife about this unless you can trust her. If word gets out, all bets are off. You go to jail.”
    Henry and Tony were advised that they would have to testify in court against the cops they caught stealing, probably some of their friends. Later, they would be asked to catalogue every crime they had ever committed. They would be given full immunity for all past crimes but murder.
    In exchange for their cooperation, Henry Winter and Tony Magno were given a simple deal.
    â€œNo jail,” Hynes promised. “No jail time whatsoever.”
    An investigator slid Henry’s gun and shield to him across the table. The officers were still on the job. They were told to report to work in the 77th Precinct on Monday