Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [readnow TXT] 📗

“You are harassing and persecuting us, implying that my son was involved in theft and drugs, insinuating God knows what…!”

I sighed heavily. “I apologize, without reservation.” He looked suspicious, but I spread my hands and said, “Sometimes our job is very difficult and we are required to do things that can be very upsetting for the families of victims. However, that is no excuse for having upset you and your wife at this extremely difficult time. On my own behalf, my partner’s, and the department’s, Mr. Irizarry, I am very sorry if we have upset or inconvenienced you.”

He stared at me, grunted, and asked, “Well, what do you want?”

I sighed. “This is turning out to be a very complicated case, sir—very complicated indeed—and we would be genuinely grateful for some guidance.” I stopped and gestured at him with my open hand. “Would you care for some coffee?” I smiled. “I know you appreciate a good coffee, Mr. Irizarry. I do myself. I can get you a cup of freshly ground Colombian instead of the stuff from the machine…”

He shrugged and straightened his jacket. “Well, if you have some decent coffee…”

I looked at Dehan. “Would you mind, Carmen? The good stuff…”

She smiled at Ed, said, “Sure,” and got up and left. When she’d left, I leaned back in my chair and frowned.

“How well did you know Mick Harragan?”

The question caught him off guard and he studied my face a long time before deciding how to answer.

“I knew him.”

“Oh, I know that, Mr. Irizarry. I was just wondering how well you knew him. Was he a part of your social circle, for example?”

He gave an astonished laugh. “Hardly! I was building myself a career as a champion of the oppressed Puerto Rican and Latino section of the community in the Bronx. It would hardly have been wise to befriend an Irish cop like Mick Harragan!”

I nodded vigorously, like I agreed with him one hundred percent. “Exactly!” I said, “That is precisely what I thought you would say, and it makes perfect sense. Detective Dehan and I were the team who exposed Mick Harragan’s corruption.”

The door opened and Dehan came in with a china mug of aromatic coffee. She smiled as she set it down in front of him. “Forgive the inelegant mug. I’m sure it’s not what you are used to!”

She laughed and he dismissed her with a curt nod.

I said, “You were, then, aware of his reputation at the time, as a bent cop.”

He snorted, smelled the coffee, and sipped. “Reputation!” he said, setting down the mug again. “It was a given. We all knew it and took it for granted. You couldn’t get anything done in that neighborhood without going through Harragan. He ruled the roost.”

“Did you have to go through him to get your practice established?”

“No! Certainly not. He knew better than to try anything with me.”

I nodded. “Again, that is what I thought you would say. You have, as you say, a reputation in the neighborhood as a champion of the people, and in particular the people of the Latin-American community.”

He sipped his coffee again and seemed to enjoy it. “Naturally.”

I scratched my chin. “Which is why I was surprised when I came across this photograph.” I took it from the folder in front of me and slipped it across the table. It was the picture that Pauli had shown us, where Ed had his arm around Rosario, and Harragan was there in his barbeque clothes.

He stared at it for a long while. He started to speak several times, but each time seemed to swallow the words before he spoke them. Finally, I said, “This was before you moved, right? That is your house.”

He nodded and finally said, “I had no recollection. I don’t know why he’s there. Perhaps somebody else…”

I allowed my eyebrows to float up on my skepticism. “Matt…? Sue…?” I gave him a moment. When he looked up at me, I smiled and added, “Rosario…?”

He reached for his coffee and took a long pull. After he’d set the mug down, he said, “I don’t recall.”

Dehan gave a little cough. “Were you aware, Mr. Irizarry, that Mick Harragan was the detective in charge of investigating Rosario’s rape and murder?”

“I may have been, I don’t remember. It was a long time ago. I know that neighborhood was on his beat.”

She reached out and took his mug. She peered inside it. “You’ve practically finished. I’ll get you another one.”

He watched her leave the room with hunted, haunted eyes, aware something was wrong but not sure what. I enlightened him.

“Were you aware, Mr. Irizarry, that semen was recovered from Rosario’s body, and the lab ran a DNA test on that semen?” He went ashen. I went on. “No match was found on the database, but Harragan never took swabs from any of the people in her social circle, any of the men close to her. What do you think we will find, Mr. Irizarry, when we compare that profile with the DNA in the saliva on that mug?”

His hands were trembling and his breathing had become erratic. “You can’t. It doesn’t prove anything…”

“Why don’t you tell me, counselor, about your relationship with Rosario Rojas?”

Again he seemed unable to speak. Finally, he shook his head. “This interview is over. You have framed and manipulated me. You have acted in bad faith and cornered me when I was trying to cooperate. You have stolen my DNA. It will be declared inadmissible.”

He went to stand but his legs were trembling so bad he had to support himself on the table with his hands.

“You know that’s not true, Eduardo. You know that DNA is going to tie you to Rosario’s murder, and the best thing you can do is start cooperating with us right