Employee of the Year

Chapter 4 - Good Cop, Bad Cop

Thursday, June 16. Third day after the murder

Even as I slept my mind was sifting through memories from the past year. The golf club in the parking lot. The ping pong tournament. The gangster in the living room, breaking bones with his hammer.

I woke to the sound of a ringing phone. Another call from the police station. This time it was a different detective. A woman named Zenaida Martinez, with a soft, friendly voice that instantly put me at ease. Her words were night and day compared to the way Kowalksi came after me in the station.

"I think maybe there was a misunderstanding with my colleague," she explained. "Elliot gets all tensed up and doesn't realize what he's saying."

"He seemed very sure of himself."

"Oh, he's confident all right.  He comes on too strong. This confuses people."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I am not sure exactly what he told you, Mr. McCarthy—or should I call you Cuauhtemoc?" She knew how to pronounce it.

"Call me Temo."

"Well, Temo, I think Elliot may have given you the impression that you were a suspect, but to be honest we're just in the early stages of this investigation.Lots of things we don't understand. We're just trying to talk with everyone who had some connection to the victim."

"OK." I swallowed nervously. The more Martinez explained herself, the more she scared me. I began to think she was actually a hell of a lot more dangerous than her hard-nosed partner. With Kowalski at least you knew where you stood. Martinez was going to play it soft and sweet and see if she could lay a trap. "I already talked to your partner. I told him everything I saw."

"Of course you did. We appreciate that. Like I said, we're talking to everyone who worked with Roland. People like Lenny Wilkins and Charlie Park from security. But I did want to ask you about another colleague. Can you help me understand what happened with Ned Santini?"

I paused for a moment, shocked and perplexed. They couldn't possibly think this murder was related to poor old Ned?

"With all due respect, Ms. Martinez, why are you coming to me for information about Ned?"

"Well, it seems you two had a close relationship."

"We just worked together in the call center. That's all."

"Still, if you could give us your view of what happened to him."

"I'd love to help," I lied. "But here's the thing. The company HR department told us not to talk about that. I mean, I don't want to lose my job for breaking company policy. I got a baby on the way. Maybe you could check with my company first. They probably know more about Ned's case than I do anyway."

A long silence followed. I held my breath and waited to see if she was going to go for it.

"Quite right, quite right," she said finally in that friendly and unassuming tone that sent shivers. "I understand where you're coming from. I don't want to put you in an unreasonable position with your job and all. I'll contact your company's Human Resource Department. Thanks, Temo. Congratulations on the baby."

Martinez hung up the phone. I knew my next step.

Ned had worked at the call center longer than any of us. With his salt-and-pepper hair, his earnest chuckle, and his Santa Claus belly, he reminded me of the grandfather I wanted but never had. Ned had a lot of those qualities that made you think about how the world should be, not how it the world really is. He was another one who wasn't exactly cut out for the zero sum game we had to play at Passion.