Nic couldn’t stand being interrupted in a goal, but when the police
captain called him in for questioning, it was best to make that the top
priority. While Yaritza went about searching for a new shrink, he sat in
Corday’s office. The captain apparently had the hurry-up-and-wait philosophy,
as he had summoned him to come ASAP, and then made Nic wait for a half-hour in
his office. Luckily, Nic had brought Ray
Stevens’s autobiography with him to stay occupied.
Finally, Corday came in, slammed the door, then sat at his desk. “I
don’t like bullshit, Viernes.”
“Then don’t shovel it.”
“I think you’ve been shoveling it since coming to town.”
“Nonsense. I sold my garden tools years ago.”
“I want to know why Detective Esteban’s handcuffs were attached to
Gerard Gillis.”
“He tried to shoot me.”
“And she shot him.”
“With her own gun, which she has a permit for.”
Corday sat back. “I want an explanation.”
“About?”
“Why you’re in Las Vegas
Nic nodded, then leaned forward.
The witty repartee wasn’t working, so maybe a little truth might ease the edge.
“My partner in Reno
Corday’s eyes went up. “Esteban is not allowed near that case.”
“She hasn’t been near it. I have.”
“So how did she come to shoot Gillis?”
“She followed me and saved my ass. Did she give you his gun?”
Corday closed his eyes and sighed while nodding. “And he is in police
custody at the hospital for the bullet wound. After that he’ll probably be
freed.”
“What?”
“She could have just taken the gun from him. The wound was unnecessary.”
“Not even an arrest, a citizen’s arrest, for attempted murder? Assault
with a deadly weapon? I’ll give a sworn statement if you want!”
“What I want are answers, goddamn it!”
“What do you want to know?”
“Why was he shooting you?”
“He thought I had something. I didn’t.”
“What is it?”
“A key to a safe deposit box.”
“Is it his?”
“No.”
“Then whose is it?”
“It’s registered to Oscar DeBartolo.”
Corday slowly nodded. “Robertson’s killer.”
“An employee of Jefferson-Brown named Ted Clayton wants it. DeBartolo’s,
or rather Damien Tyler’s, killer Roman Wells gave it to me. He told he the key
leads to something big. I’m just trying to follow through.”
Corday tapped his pencil on the desk in thought. He was not as angry,
but not happy, either. The story was intriguing him against his will. “Did you
find the bank where the key came from?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They demanded it back. I politely said no, they insisted, I said no.
But then I did something stupid.”
“I bet.”
“I asked the people there to tell Ted Clayton, who was listed as the
key’s next-of-kin, to meet me on top of the Stratosphere.”
“And you met Gillis.”
“And one other more civilized guy named Erskine.”
“I don’t have Gillis in our files, and I don’t know about Erskine.”
Nic nodded. “Isn’t it strange that a law firm supposedly into family
practice is engaging with mercenaries?”
Corday shrugged. “Until now I hadn’t heard of anything.” He then sighed
resignedly. “All right, you can go. Just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Corday stood and looked into Nic’s eyes. “You look like a decent guy, so
I’m cutting you a break, plus because Esteban is generally a good judge of
character. But let me give you some warning. If I ever hear of you involved in
gunfire without justification, I’ll trump you up on something. Understood?”
Nic nodded. “Fair enough.”
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