Bronx Requiem(101)

Manny said, “Shit, his daughter getting whored out for a corrupt CO—that would’ve definitely sent Packy over the deep end.”

“It did. That’s why he headed straight for Bronx River Houses to get his daughter. But I still haven’t explained Palmer’s motive.” Beck held up the ledger books Amelia had found. “If Derrick Watkins was making three hundred thousand a year with his stable, Oswald Remsen had to be making much more. Maybe millions. Now here’s where it connects to Palmer. Turns out Oswald Remsen was also a big wheel in the correction officers’ union. When things went down up there between us, he denied ordering anybody to kill Packy, but said he had the connections to do it. Said he’d ‘paid his dues.’

“I didn’t know what that meant. Who he was connected to? Before I came back here, I went online. It took about five minutes to figure out the correction officers’ union does a ton of lobbying in Albany. The chief lobbyist for the New York correction officers’ union is John Palmer Senior.”

“Fuck.”

“I’m betting Oswald Remsen put a lot of money into that man’s pocket. It all fits. Oswald knew an inmate had tipped off Packy about his daughter being turned out by those pimps in Eric Jackson’s set. Remsen knew Packy was getting out on parole. He wanted to make sure Packy didn’t make any waves. I believe Remsen called John Palmer Senior, who, in turn, called his son, an NYPD detective working in the Bronx, and told him to make sure Paco Johnson didn’t cause any trouble for them.”

Demarco asked, “By killing him?”

“No. I don’t think Palmer Senior ordered his son to kill Packy. He wouldn’t want his golden boy to do that.”

Demarco asked, “Then why did he?”

“At first, I didn’t see it. I remembered back when we found Derrick Watkins, I didn’t think he’d shot Packy. I thought one of his crew did it. Trying to make a name for himself. But there was someone else trying to make a name for himself.”

Demarco said, “John Palmer Junior.”

“Exactly. His father tells him check on this guy Paco Johnson who might be causing trouble about his daughter living with a pimp at Bronx River Houses. I think the plan was to intervene and violate Packy back to prison. Simple. Problem solved.

“But Packy moved too fast. Next thing he knows, Palmer hears a bunch of 911 calls about a disturbance at Bronx River Houses, which is in the precinct right next to his. Palmer makes a beeline over there. Or maybe he was already snooping around Bronx River Houses trying to find the daughter before his midnight-to-eight shift.

“Packy is calling out Derrick Watkins. Trying to find his daughter. They beat the shit out of him. Cops start arriving. Palmer doesn’t want to disappoint Daddy. He has to make sure this doesn’t get worse. He follows Packy out of the complex until he walks into Palmer’s precinct. Now Packy is on his turf. What does Palmer see? The guy his father warned him about, already making trouble. A broken-down ex-convict, already half dead from a beating. But he sees more. He sees an opportunity to take care of a problem for his father, and a chance to advance his career. He walks up behind Packy, puts one in his head with his throwaway piece.”

Beck pointed his forefinger like a gun barrel. “Opportunity. Impulse. Pop. One shot. Packy is dead in the gutter. Daddy’s problem is taken care of, and John Palmer is on the way to solving his first murder.

“Palmer had the weapon. He had the opportunity. He had the motive. In fact, two motives.”

For a few moments, no one said a word. And then Manny Guzman spoke. “He should have gotten away with it. Packy was a nobody.”

Beck said, “He should have, but he’s not.”

There were a few moments of silence while everybody at the table absorbed what Beck had told them. And then Ciro Baldassare asked, “How’s Palmer not going to get away with it?”

Beck didn’t answer.

“Hold on, boss. You really thinking about takin’ out a cop?”

Beck sat back. “Let’s not worry about that now, Ciro. First, we have to figure out how to get Manny and Demarco off the hook for shooting Jerome Watkins and Tyrell Williams. And me for shooting Derrick Watkins, and you for the attempted murder of an NYPD detective. And, we have to do it in a way that doesn’t implicate Amelia for shooting Derrick Watkins and Tyrell Williams.”

Manny added, “And we gotta make sure Jackson’s crew doesn’t kill her. Or any of us.”

Demarco said, “Plus, we have to do it fast, before the NYPD comes down on us and locks us all away, maybe this time for good.”

Willie Reese rose his big hand.

Beck said, “Yeah?”

“Plus that other guy.”

“What other guy?”

“You said there were six. You took care of five.”

Beck smiled. Willie Reese never failed to surprise him. He reached in his back pocket and held up the envelope with the name Janice Elkins had written on it. He tossed it onto his pile of documents.

“Plus that other guy.”

Reese nodded and told Alex Liebowitz, “Computer man, don’t lose that name.”

Manny said, “So back to my question. What’s first, James?”

“First, I talk to Amelia.”





60

Beck left the others sitting at the table and headed for the third floor, where there were several bedrooms for guests. Amelia had picked the one at the far end.