“As Lieutenant Malone, I can’t tell you,” Malone said. “But we’re off duty, right? And you’re Charley, and I’m Jack, and this won’t go any further?”
He saw Payne’s eyes appraising him.
Is he going to go to Wohl first thing in the morning? “Inspector, I think I should tell you that that new lieutenant can’t keep his mouth shut.”
Fuck it, I sense an opening here to get to McFadden. If I can get McFadden to agree not to tell Wohl about finding me at Holland’s, Payne will probably, or at least possibly, fall in line. And if he doesn’t, if I blow this, things can’t get any worse than they are now.
“Okay, Jack,” McFadden said. “Out of school, what’s going on in the morning?”
Malone saw Payne’s eyes flash between him and McFadden and back again.
Shit! He’s suspicious as hell.
“If I did, Payne, would you feel you had to tell Inspector Wohl I told him?”
Payne met his eyes. Then he picked up his bottle of beer and took a pull at it.
“Lieutenant,” Payne said. “I don’t really know what the hell is going on here.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“We’re out of school, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“No, then. I would not tell the Inspector you told Charley about what’s going on at half past four in the morning. I was going to tell him anyway. I was just pulling his chain, not telling him before. That’s not what’s bothering me.”
“What is, then?”
“You showed up at the school tonight, for one thing. ‘Call me Jack,’ and ‘Let me buy you fellas a cheese-steak,’ for some more.”
Christ, I’m losing control. Am I just bad at this? Or are these two a lot smarter than I gave them credit for being?
“I went out to the school because I thought you were taking heat for something that was my responsibility.”
“What do you want from us, Lieutenant?” Payne asked, both his tone of voice and the look in his eyes making it clear he hadn’t bought that at all. “Has it got something to do with Charley finding you snooping around Holland’s body shop?”
Christ, he already knows! What did I expect? Well, fuck it, I blew it.
“Are you going to tell Inspector Wohl about that?” Malone asked.
“Unless you can come up with a good reason I shouldn’t,” Payne said.
Malone glanced at McFadden. He recognized the look in McFadden’s eyes. He had seen it a hundred times. A cop who knew that the suspect had been lying all along had just told him he knew he had been lying all along, and was waiting to see what reaction that would cause.
And I am the guy they caught lying.
When all else fails, tell the truth.
“Holland is dirty,” Malone said.
“How do you know?” McFadden asked, picking up another rib.
“You’ve been on the street,” Malone said, meeting McFadden’s eyes. “You know when you know someone’s dirty.”
“Yeah,” McFadden said. “But sometimes when you know, you’re wrong.”
Charley McFadden’s response surprised Matt Payne.