Whitetooth Falls by Justin Joschko

Author:Justin Joschko [Joschko, Justin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: epub, ebook, QuarkXPress
ISBN: 978-1-950305-13-1
Publisher: JournalStone
Published: 2019-10-12T00:00:00+00:00

26: SÉANCE WITH THE BABA YAGA SET

THE ROOM RUSTLED with the furious scratching of pen on paper. David bent over his desk, right hand scribbling. The tendons in his wrist twisted ever-tighter, begging for reprieve. He finished his jottings with a final flourish and tossed the pen aside. His arm muscles sighed. He probed a thumb into the bony groove at the back of his wrist and massaged the tender meat there. The figures were rough, the lettering chicken-scratch, but it was all there. He ran his tongue over his parched lips, and signalled Walter over with a flap of his hand.

“What you got, Davey?”

“I went through the case files over the past couple of years, looking at arrests for drug dealing, prostitution, assaults, the usual scumbaggery. I took all that, plus all the stuff’s been going on over the past few months, and I put together a timeline.” David motioned to the paper, which depicted a long rightward-facing arrow. Lines leading to notes or doodles branched off its length. He tapped the leftmost side. “Luka Volchyin seems like a bit player at first. His name doesn’t get much traffic. But comb close enough, and something seems off. Like here, last February. Ted Bailey pulls in a couple of guys caught slinging dope out near the Sundown Lounge. Guys are bush league, and they roll over like puppies, tell Bailey they’re selling for a mid-level guy called Lucky Luke. The Downer’s Ballaro territory, so Bailey figures they’re cooking up some bullshit, but the guys stick to the story, say they’ll testify, whatever they gotta do.”

“Yeah? Then what? They clam up?”

“Then nothing. No follow-up. One of the guys gets picked up on a possession charge six months later, no connection. The other guy’s gone.”

Walter sucked the curly tip of his moustache. “You talk to Bailey about it?”

“Yeah. He looks at me kinda fuzzy, says he sort of remembers. The whole thing fell apart before it got to trial. I push, but all I get’s more waffling.”

A frown creased Walter’s face. “You think Bailey’s bought?”

David laughed. “A bought cop would have a better story up his sleeve than that. There’s a million smarter ways to graft, if that’s what you’re into, and Bailey’s no dummy. What’s more, this same thing happens more than once. Each time, a couple of toughs mention Lucky Luke, and the trail goes quiet. That’s when I realise that for the last year and a half, this guy’s been selling coke, dope, escorts, all on Ballaro territory. And getting away with it. Look.” He traced the men along the arrow, stopping six inches from its tip. “All this time, with impunity. No retaliations. No messages. I checked hospital and police records for all the guys who got brought in selling for Luka. A few got arrested for dumb shit outside the game, but no one’s thumbs got broken, no one took a tumble over the Falls in a burlap sack.”

“Ah, come on,” said Walter. “There must’ve been something.”

“Nothing that worked.

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