“Sarah, get me Detective Wally Samuels in L.A. You’ll find his number in the files.”
“Okay, Boss.”
A few moments later his intercom buzzed. He picked up the phone. “Lowell.”
“Hey David, nice to hear from you.”
“Wally, how’s the left coast?”
“Still here. Why? Do the stars say it’s time to leave?”
“Not yet. But if we don’t change our ways, it shouldn’t be long before Arizona is beachfront property.” He laughed.
“What can I do for you? I assume this call has to do with our dear Karen Sweeney?”
“Yes,” said Lowell. “I’d like to thank you for dropping her in my lap.”
“Now David, you’ve met her. Do you think there’s anything I could have done to stop her?”
“Tell me about her.”
“She’s willful, arrogant, and can be nasty.”
“Uh huh. Is she a good cop?”
“One of the best,” said Samuels. “She’s tenacious and focused, and she can take care of herself.”
“That I know.” He told Wally about the carjacking incident.
“That’s our Karen, always sticking her nose into everything. She’s a whiz at martial arts. I think she’s overcompensating for her size.”
Lowell could hear a lighter flick. “Still smoking, huh?”
“I’m trying to quit. I’ve tried gum, hypnosis, doctors, everything. Hell, right now I’ve got my office door locked, and I’m almost hanging out my window. I feel like a criminal every time I light up.”
“Good luck with it.”
“You ever smoke?”
“Briefly, in my late teens. But I never really liked it and I quit very early on.”
“Well, I wish I could. Especially living here in L.A. where everyone’s into all this health crap. You should see the looks I get.”
“What do you think about all of this?” asked Lowell.
“You mean about Karen being in New York?”
“Yes. Do you think there’s something to it?”
He heard Wally take a big puff. “Karen is usually clear-headed and very professional. I know she seems to be a bit of a firecracker, but when it comes to police work she’s one hundred percent. But this business is something else. She tell anything about her uncle?”
“Not much.”
“I think it’s a difficult subject for her. Mickey Broad was more than just her uncle. Karen’s father died when she was about ten and in many ways her uncle filled the void. He was close to his sister, Karen’s mother, and would often be at their house. He took Karen to ballgames, and sometimes on stakeouts. I think he’s the reason she became a cop. She took his death very hard.”
“So,” said Lowell, “she came east to follow a lead.”
Wally puffed again. “And you want to know if this lead is legitimate or if she’s just off the deep end.”
“Something like that.”
Wally cleared his throat. “I can’t tell you. Karen has a sixth sense about people. She can sometimes tell right off the bat if someone’s lying. But this is so personal I’m just not sure if she’s seeing things clearly or not. But I wouldn’t reject it out of hand.”
“Okay. What do you know about Mickey Broad?”
Samuels took a puff, and then coughed violently. “Damn.” He coughed again. “I met him a couple of times through the years, mostly at social functions. He came to a retirement party we had for one of our sergeants and, I think, a Christmas party. But I don’t know much about him personally at all. Why?”
“It’ll help me understand the situation better if I know who the players are.”
“Well, sorry I can’t help you there.”
“That’s alright. I’ve got my methods.”
“What do you think of Luigi?” asked the cop.
“He’s redecorating my house for me. Thank God I have Julia or I would be losing my mind.”
Samuels laughed. “Well, good luck with it all. And let me know how it works out.”
They hung up.
Lowell buzzed Mort. “Get me the birth information for an L.A. detective named Mickey Broad. He was born in New York, sometime in the fifties or early sixties, I would guess, possibly the Lower East Side.”