The Last Innocent Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

that Ortiz was one of his best vice cops. It all balanced out.
    “As I was saying, the public defender is claiming that the prostitution laws are being unfairly enforced, because only the…er…females are being arrested. Since the statute makes anyone guilty who offers or agrees to have sex for a fee, the PD is saying that that includes the trick too.
    “Chief Galton agrees. You ladies will work with a male cover. You are to stay within eye contact at all times.”
    “Sergeant?” Darlene asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I’ve been thinking about this. We’ll be dressing up like prostitutes, right?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, what about entrapment? I mean, isn’t that planting the idea in the john’s head?”
    “The legal adviser said it’s not, but it’s best to let him bring up the subject of sex and the price.”
    “How far are we going to have to go to make a bust?” Louise asked.
    “Yours is made pretty well already,” Ortiz said. Coffin laughed, then looked embarrassed and stopped.
    “Come on, Bert, for chrissakes. This is important,” Ryder said.
    And it was important, Darlene thought. And goddamn Ortiz and Coffin and Neale. Why wouldn’t they take the women seriously instead of treating them like secretaries in uniform?
    “That’s a good question. The way the law reads, you don’t have to…er…uh, have sexual relations with the trick to make a case. The law is broken if the male offers or agrees to have sexual intercourse, which you ladies know what that is, or deviate sexual intercourse, which is, uh, as the statute says, contact between the, er, genitals of one person and the, er, mouth or, er, anus of another.”
    Ryder blushed. Actually blushed! Darlene wanted to laugh, but it was too sad a state of affairs. Why wouldn’t he say “blow job” or “asshole” or any of the other words he used when women weren’t around?
    “So if you get such an offer for money, you can make the arrest.”
    “How are we going to work this?” Ortiz asked.
    “I don’t want any arrests made alone on the street. We don’t want anyone freaking out on us. Bring the trick to your male cover. There’s less likelihood of trouble with a man there.”
    “What if the trick wants you to get in his car?”
    “Absolutely not. We don’t get into cars. I don’t want you ladies isolated from your cover. If a trick asks you to get in his car, tell him there are cops around, and they’ll make a pinch if they see you get in the car. Suggest a meet where your male cover is waiting. If the trick insists, brush him off.
    “Okay, any more questions? No? Good. Now, I want good collars. There are certain judges, and you know who I’m talking about, who are going to jump at a chance tothrow out these cases. You just wait until we bag a doctor or some big-shot attorney. So don’t give them the chance.
    “All right, I want Tallant and Coffin to work the area around Ninth and Burnside. Louise, you and Neale take the area by the Hilton. And Darlene and Bert, you take the park blocks.”
     
    D ARLENE STRAIGHTENED HER tight black miniskirt and dipped her knees so she could adjust her blond Afro wig in the sideview mirror of the unmarked police car. The California-surfer-girl effect produced by her straight blond hair, large blue eyes, and deep tan had been destroyed by false eyelashes, tons of pancake makeup, and gobs of red lipstick. Grotesque, she thought, as she put the finishing touches on the wig.
    “Not bad, Darlene,” Ortiz chuckled. “You may be in the wrong line of work.”
    “Stuff it, Bert,” she snapped, still angry at him for the incident in the squad room.
    “You know, Darlene, your trouble is you never took the time to get to know me. Now, if we had a drink after the shift, you’d get to see the real me.”
    “Look,” she said, straightening and looking him in the eye, “I don’t have time for any of your macho shit tonight. Hand me my coat, please.”
    There was heavy emphasis on the “please.” Ortiz