Reach the Shining River Read Online Free PDF Page B

about an execution. Or a river dump.”
    Mickey reached back and tapped his cigarette over the ashtray.
    Emmett lifted a Connemara marble paperweight from his desk and passed it from hand to hand. “It’s the musician I’m interested in,” he said.
    “This a county case?”
    “Strictly speaking, no. The body, it’s claimed, was found inside the city limits. South bank of the river. Where precisely is a mystery.”
    “And the boys downtown aren’t sharing jackshit.”
    “I haven’t bothered asking.”
    “Why alert them to your interest?”
    “Exactly.”
    “The only people city homicide hate more than killers are county dicks.”
    Emmett spread his hands like a preacher.
    Mickey pointed at himself. “And you’d like your old pal Mick to somehow pull the jacket for you. Discreetly, of course.”
    Ah, Mickey. He hadn’t lost it. And now that he had a focus for his restless mind, the hostility had eased. Not quite their old rapport, OK, but common ground.
    “Not that you’d find much of interest in the file,” Mickey said.
    “What makes you say that?”
    “Manner of his death. If this is what it appears to be, the boys who pulled the trigger probably attend the annual police barbecue. No way their chums on homicide are going to do any serious digging.”
    “Is it as bad as all that?”
    Mickey checked to see that the door was closed. “Something tells me you know this already, but here you go. Every captain in the department has to produce a list of hookers in his district and submit it to Chief Higgins’s office. Update it on a regular basis. The idea being that the chief can then determine the amount of tribute due him. And who runs the trade and collects the vig? Our boys in the North End. And that’s just one of many activities. Every gambling room in the city pays weekly juice to Carrollo’s men. And it’s not a muscle payment – it’s to keep the cops away. You also got the numbers rackets, the strip clubs, the unbonded liquor. Not to mention what gets squeezed from legitimate merchants.”
    “I get the picture, Mick.”
    “It’s big business. Are the cops running the show or the gangsters? Does it matter? Call it a marriage. And like every marriage you got your squabbles. That need to be dealt with.”
    “A man was killed.”
    “Because he got in the way. Or didn’t make a payment. Or found out something he wasn’t supposed to. If he was a club musician, that’s where a lot of these activities are centered. I would guess this is not a complex case.”
    “It’s complex for someone. A wife. A mother. Children, perhaps.”
    Mickey crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. “Don’t go righteous on me, Emmo. Remember, I’m the one got bounced from the job because I wouldn’t play ball. While you…” He blew smoke from his lungs and took in the office with a wry twirl of his hand.
    Emmett ran a palm across the smooth baize of the desktop. Play games with Mickey and you better play fair.
    “Well, I intend to investigate,” Emmett said.
    “And you still want the jacket?”
    “I do.”
    Mickey’s hands met at the fingertips and he tapped his lips with his forefingers before pointing at him. “Because of what isn’t there, right? Because of what its gaps might tell you.”
    Emmett got up from his chair and looked out the window. The guy was too good. “Let’s get the file,” he said.
    “I’ll see what I can do. For old times’ sake.”
    Mickey stood up. “I’m due down the hotel,” he said. “Still gotta make a living.”
    “One other thing.”
    “Yeah?”
    Emmett faced him. “It’s not just the jacket,” he said. “Maybe you can ask around. See what you scare up.”
    “Is this part of the favor?”
    “I’ll pay you.”
    Mickey smiled. “How much?”
    “Better than whatever you’re getting at the hotel, guarantee you that. And regular. I’m not going to solve this overnight.”
    “I don’t need any handouts, Emmo.”
    Emmett came round the desk. “Look, I need