Black and Blue and Pretty Dead, Too by Mark Zubro

Author:Mark Zubro
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: MLR Press
Published: 2011-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

They met the owner of the Raving Dragon at the bar. Wilson and Roosevelt were already there. A floor fan sat in the open door blasting air from inside out. Upon entering, they saw a back door wide open. Rotating at full speed was another fan two feet from this far opening. The crosswind they created seemed to annoy the air rather than dispel the humidity. All the lights inside were on, but it was the outdoor light that made the difference and allowed the greatest clarity.

Lester Ballard was the thin and gangly bartender from the night before. He wore cut-off jeans and a white muscle T-shirt. In this light Turner could make out many of Ballard’s tattoos. A lot of them seemed to be complex figures of medieval European and ancient Chinese dragons.

Wilson and Roosevelt greeted them. The five of them squeezed into the same booth Turner and Fenwick had been in the night before.

Ballard said, “I didn’t know you guys knew Judy. I’m sorry. I might have been more helpful last night. I didn’t know you were good guys.”

“When did Callaghan get here this morning?”

Ballard turned to Wilson. “You’re sure it’s okay to tell them all this?”

“Absolutely,” Wilson said. “I’d recommend it.”

“He showed up a few minutes before you did.”

Fenwick said, “He lied to us.”

Turner asked, “Did he tell you where he’d been?”

“No. He came in with two other guys. One was the one who came up to the table, Claude Vereski. The other was the one who caused the problem in the washroom, Bert Lensky. They were drunk when they came in, laughing and carrying on. Like they were happy and partying. Of course, they were like that half the time.”

Ballard didn’t know the name of the cop who’d been in the washroom when the fight started nor did he know the one who had tried to give Turner friendly information.

“What happened the night of the original fight?”

“I wasn’t here so I’m not sure. I live above the bar. First I knew about it was when cop cars started showing up.”

“How did that video surface?”

“When the beat-down happened, nobody said anything about any video. The few not-cop patrons cleared out when the rest of the police started showing up. The cops didn’t want any witnesses. They wanted it covered up. I saw the guy who made the video on television. I don’t remember seeing him in here before.”

“Did Boyle show up that night?”

“Sure. Half the damn department did. It was a mess. They were desperate to find out who called the paramedics. They figured it was one of the patrons, but it was way too late by then.”

“Do you know the reporter who broke the story?”

“I saw him on the news. I never saw him in here.”

“Had Belger and Callaghan fought before?”

“Jesus, they were always at each other. Mostly verbally.”

“About what?” Fenwick asked.

“Stupid, stupid stuff. They’d agree that bosses were assholes and then they go off on some weird tangent, and they’d argue and get into it.”

“Nobody caught those on video?”

“It wasn’t the first time they got into it.

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