Rob Chalmers worked from an office on West Devon Avenue, just inside the northern city limit. The beige-brick building was set back from the street three doors from Novelty Golf & Games, where replica elephants, circus seals, a statue of liberty, and a helmeted conquistador adorned the mini-golf greens. No one played on the cold March afternoon, and the Astroturf looked beaten down. ‘Like the rest of us at funnyland,’ Kelson said as he pulled past.
In the law firm office, a receptionist in a tight wool dress and thick-framed glasses took Kelson’s name and asked him to wait. The classical music piping into the room reminded him of doctor offices he’d visited since getting shot, and he said, ‘I don’t like needles.’
As if he’d spoken perfectly sensibly, the receptionist said, ‘Me either.’
Ten minutes later, a short-haired man in a navy-blue suit came from a door behind the reception desk, smiled like an old friend, and said, ‘Mr Kelson?’
They went back to a windowless interior room, lighted by a row of fluorescent bulbs. When Kelson was still a cop, he sometimes put suspects in a room like this and left them until they became jittery, but the lawyer seemed at ease and interested in making Kelson feel at ease too. He offered him a chair and, when Kelson took it, sat across from him and folded his fingers over his belly. ‘What can I do for you?’ he asked.
‘I killed one of your former clients,’ Kelson said.
‘Yes, I know.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Sure. You’re Sam Kelson. Ex-narcotics cop. Recently in the news again for a variety of incidents. You met Alejandro Rodriguez in tragic circumstances.’
‘That’s me. Tragic.’
‘For Alejandro at least.’
‘I’m hoping you can give me some information about him.’
‘I thought perhaps you wished to hire me to handle your recent troubles. If so, I would need to turn you down. Conflict of interest.’
‘Because of Bicho?’
‘Alejandro, yes. And an ongoing relationship with family members.’
‘That’s what I’d like to hear about. His family. Especially any funny uncles.’
The lawyer didn’t quite laugh at Kelson. ‘I work for them. I can’t divulge anything.’
‘Not even who they are?’
‘I would consider that a breach, as would they.’
‘I understand his mother’s dead.’
‘That’s true.’
‘And his father too?’
‘OD’d a year before the mother died,’ Chalmers said.
‘So it’s just the uncle and a grandmother.’
He smiled instead of answering. ‘May I ask why Alejandro’s relatives interest you? Are you considering legal action against them?’
‘No, I’m worried they’re trying to rip me apart.’
‘I doubt that.’
‘They’re part of a small circle who might do it. Them and a midget named Hugo Nuñez and a pretty redhead.’
‘I can’t pretend to understand what you’re talking about,’ Chalmers said. ‘But I assure you that Alejandro’s relatives are upstanding members of the community. I believe you would respect them.’
‘I would feel better if I could check them out myself. I’ll trade you.’
‘Pardon me?’
Kelson said, ‘I’ll give you information about Bicho’s death if you’ll tell me the relatives’ names.’
‘I don’t work that way.’
Kelson said it anyhow. ‘I might have shot Bicho first. Before he shot me. That part of my memory is gone.’
The lawyer nodded. ‘I’ve heard the rumors.’
‘You shouldn’t have. It’s whisper-whisper – and only around people involved in the investigation.’
‘Whenever there’s a police-involved shooting, there’re rumors,’ the lawyer said. ‘People wonder, did the cop really sense immediate, life-threatening danger? Did the victim really own the gun found on his body? Or, in your case, did the boy really shoot first? But may I ask another question – perhaps a sensitive one? Are you getting help? Therapy?’
‘Once a week,’ Kelson said. ‘Twice if I need it.’
The lawyer kept his fingers laced over his belly. ‘You should consider taking advantage of everything they make available to you.’
On his way out, Kelson stopped at the receptionist’s desk. ‘Can you tell me his hourly rate?’ he asked. When she told him, he said, ‘That’s a lot for this neighborhood. Does he do pro bono?’
‘You know how you feel about needles?’ she said. ‘That’s how he feels about giving work away for free.’