Final Cut by Colin Campbell

Author:Colin Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down & Out Books

McNulty leaned back in the chair as best he could. It had a straight back and was bolted to the floor. It wasn’t a chair you leaned back in. He didn’t know all the ins and outs of the criminal justice system, but he knew about culpable homicide. It was like a step down from manslaughter but a step up from accidental death. Like causing death by dangerous driving; you didn’t do it on purpose, but your negligence killed the guy. There was no intent, but you were culpable.

“The guy got hit by a car.”

Armstrong kept his hands on the table.

“He did.”

McNulty couldn’t get comfortable in the chair.

“I wasn’t driving it.”

Armstrong brought his hands together and linked his fingers.

“You ever have the situation in England? Where somebody being chased in a stolen car gets killed in a crash? And there’s a public outcry because he wouldn’t have been killed if the cops hadn’t been chasing him?”

McNulty raised his eyebrows.

“Wouldn’t have got killed if he hadn’t stolen the car, either.”

Armstrong straightened his fingers so his hands looked like a porcupine.

“Still an outcry. Still an investigation.”

“The kid wasn’t in a stolen car.”

Armstrong separated his hands.

“He was being chased out into traffic. Three witnesses saw it. You were right behind him. Then, blam.” He slapped the table. “Culpable homicide.”

McNulty turned sideways in his chair and stretched out his legs. He rested one arm across the back of his chair and leaned back slightly. It was the best he could do to appear more relaxed. He didn’t feel relaxed.

McNulty looked at the detective.

“There was this photo in the papers one time. Big headlines. A cop at a football match was kicking a fan in the head. The fan’s curled up on the ground. The copper’s boot is frozen right in front of his face. Huge scandal. Police brutality. All that shit.”

He rested his other arm on the table.

“Lasted for days. They wanted the cop’s job. But eventually they found TV footage of the pitch invasion, and it turns out the fan had collapsed in front of the running cop. The cop was in mid-stride and had to change direction. He threw himself to one side to avoid the fan and the photo was taken just at the point where he brought his leg up and overbalanced backward. Freeze frame. Looks like he’s kicking the kid in the face.”

Armstrong knew where McNulty was going with this.

“Your point being?”

McNulty drew his legs in and sat upright.

“Brad Semenoff didn’t run into traffic. The car ran into him.”

He stuck his chin out to emphasize the point.

“And I wasn’t chasing him. I was trying to give his phone back.”

He took the second AC’s phone out of his pocket.

“Not culpable homicide—murder. By the driver, not me.”

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