The Witness (Badge of Honor 4)

“Damn!” he said aloud.

The door swung open again.

“My father is the only Henry Matsi in the phone book,” Lari announced, “but I should tell you I’m hardly ever home.”

Then she was gone again.

“Henry Matsi, Henry Matsi, Henry Matsi, Henry Matsi,” Matt said aloud, to engrave it in his memory.

A minute or so later the door opened again, but it was not Lari. A chubby, determinedly cheerful woman bearing a tray announced, “Here’s our supper.”

“What are we having?”

“A nice piece of chicken,” she said. “Primarily.”

She took the gray cover off a plate with a flourish.

“And steamed veggies.”

“Wow!” Matt said enthusiastically. “And what do you suppose that gray stuff in the cup is?”

“Custard.”

“I was afraid of that.”

Five minutes later, as he was trying to scrape the custard off his teeth and the roof of his mouth with his tongue, the door opened again.

A familiar face, to which Matt could not instantly attach a name, appeared.

“Feel up to a couple of visitors?”

“Sure, come on in.”

Walter Davis, special agent in charge, Philadelphia Office, FBI, came into the room, trailed by A-SAC (Criminal Affairs) Frank Young.

“We won’t stay long, but we wanted to come by and see if there was anything we could do for you,” Davis said as Matt finally realized who they were.

You could tell me you just arrested the guy who wants to get me for shooting Charles D. Stevens. That would be nice.

What the hell are they doing here? What do they want?

Mr. Albert J. Monahan was talking with Mr. Phil Katz when Sergeant Jason Washington came through the door of Goldblatt & Sons Credit Furniture & Appliances, Inc., on South Street. Mr. Monahan smiled and seemed pleased to see Sergeant Washington. Mr. Katz did not.

“Good evening,” Washington said.

“How are you, Detective Washington?” Mr. Monahan replied, pumping his hand.

Mr. Katz nodded.

“I guess you heard—” Washington began.

“We heard,” Katz said.

“—we have the people who were here locked up,” Washington continued. “And I hope Detective Pelosi called to tell you I was coming by?”

“Yes, he did,” Monahan said.

“What I thought you meant,” Katz said, “was, had we heard about what the Islamic Liberation Army had to say about people ‘bearing false witness.’”