Melvin answers when I call. I ask how they’re holding up and he says they’re getting by. I enquire as to the various relationships in play. How were things between Claire and JJ, JJ and his son Curtis. Curtis and Clair. Melvin says that everything was fine. There was a little bit of tension between JJ and Curtis about how to manage JJ’s music catalog. They were alike in some ways, one of them being that they were both hotheads. Melvin didn’t think it was anything more than normal family stuff.
He said all of the rights reverted to Curtis but that both he and Claire were taken care of. That’s a big motivation off the table if Melvin’s shooting straight with me. Not that I think either he or Claire had anything to do with this. It’s unlikely that Curtis is complicit but I still want to sit down and talk to him, just to get the measure of the guy. People will do crazy things when there’s a lot of money on the line. Hell it doesn’t even have to be a lot of money.
I ask to talk with Claire and Melvin goes to check on her. When she comes to the phone she sounds like she’s spent. I go over everything with her again seeing if anything else pops up that I missed. I ask about the squatter in 3C but she doesn’t have any information. She tells me that people in the building would occasionally help out those who were less fortunate so it wasn’t uncommon to see someone who looked down on their luck in the building. I ask if she knows Josie. She says she’s seen her before and made small talk in the elevator. Josie is an African American woman. She’s a street painter creating murals featuring elephants and lions and such. I thank her for her time and begin planning my next move.
My best bet I figure is to try and track down Phil Philips. He’s a man about town you could say and if anyone would know where Josie hangs out, it could be him. So I beat the bushes and find Phil holding up a light post over on 3rd. Turns out Phil’s a bit of an art fan and is familiar with Josie. He tells me that she’s dating one of the Pinks but she likes to express her artistic creativity in areas where maybe it’s not appreciated. So right now she’s laying low, waiting for the heat to blow over. I slip him a few bucks and ask if he’d be willing to set up a meeting. He says he’ll ask around and let me know.
With that outta the way there’s not much for me to do except head back to the office. I mean sure, I could chase my tail all around town but JJ is already dead so I feel like the best course of action is to let this come to me. On the way I stop to pick up a few things for the office. It saves Janice the trip and besides I’m already out.
When I get to the office there’s the sound of a commotion inside. I pause to assess the situation and immediately recognize Agent Johnson’s voice. It sets my nerves on edge but I grit my teeth and go inside. The office is a mess, Agent Johnson has decided on using the John Costa method of investigation and intimidation. I give Janice an apologetic look before laying into Johnson. He gives as good as he gets and we take the “conversation” into my office where he plants himself in my chair.
I’m almost blind with fury at this point and it’s all I can do to keep from punching the shit outta that sanctimonious prick. I ask him what he wants and he says DeLuca, plain and simple. What that has to do with me is still beyond me. He goes on and on with his threats and insinuations about how I’m wrapped up in it. That I’m somehow a shill for the mob and that I killed Dick Williams.
That gives me pause. I tell him that yeah I shot him since he was tryin’ to kill me, in my own apartment no less but he survived and went to jail. Turns out Williams was murdered in jail and he thinks that I talked DeLuca into taking him out. Probably more likely that someone found out he was a cop. They don’t like cops in jail, that’s no secret.
Finally I decide to tell him about what happened with the Marcus Woodard case. I figure maybe it’ll put things in perspective and he’ll cut me some slack. It does not have the desired effect. In fact, maybe it makes things worse. Finally I flat out refuse to get involved in taking down DeLuca. Things like that are way above my paygrade. Usually I get hired to catch a cheating spouse or find a missing item or even deliver subpoenas. Mob business isn’t for me.
Johnson storms out threatening to lean on Sharleen Woodard which is fine by me. It gets him outta my hair for a while and she can substantiate the relevant parts of my story. I apologize to Janice and help her clean up. She’s upset but she’s holding it together. I put on some coffee while we’re cleaning and we talk for a bit.