“That was him,” Milham said.
“Mr. Foley, we’re investigating the shooting at the Inferno Lounge,” Matt said.
“Wasn’t that a bitch?” Frankie replied. “Jesus, you don’t think I had anything to do with that, do you?”
“We just have a few questions we’d like to ask,” Matt said.
“Such as?”
“Mr. Foley,” Wally Milham said, “would you be willing to come to Police Administration with us to make a statement?”
“A statement about what?”
“We’ve learned that you were in the Inferno Lounge that night.”
“Yeah, I was. I stop in there from time to time. I guess I was there maybe an hour before what happened happened.”
“Well, maybe you could help us. Would you be willing to come with us?” Wally asked.
“How long would it take?”
“Not long. We’d just like to get on record what you might have seen when you were there. It might help us to find the people who did it.”
The smart thing for me to do is look like I’m willing to help. And what the fuck choice do I have?
“Yeah, I guess I could go with you,” Frankie said.
“We’ve got a car right over there, Mr. Foley,” Matt said. “And when we’re finished, we’ll see that you get wherever you want to go.”
Frankie got in the backseat of the car and saw for himself that the story that went around that once you got in the backseat of a cop car, you couldn’t get out until they let you; that there was no handles in the backseat was bullshit. This was like a regular car; the handles worked.
He got a little nervous when he saw the two detectives having a little talk before they got in themselves. They had their backs to him, and talked softly, and he didn’t hear what Detective Milham said to Detective Payne:
“This asshole thinks you’re hot shit, Matt. Sometimes that means they’ll run off at the mouth. When we get to the Roundhouse, you interview the sonofabitch. Charm the bastard.”
“You think he did it?”
“This fucker is crazy. Let’s see what he has to say.”
* * *
STATEMENT OF: John Francis “Frankie” Foley
DATE AND TIME: 5:40 p.m. May 22, 1975
PLACE: Homicide Division, Police Admin. Bldg. Room A.
CONCERNING: Robbery/Homicide at Inferno Lounge
IN PRESENCE OF: Det. Wallace J. Milham, Badge 626
INTERROGATED BY: Det. Matthew M. Payne, Badge 701
RECORDED BY: Mrs. Jo-Ellen Garcia-Romez, Clerk/typist
I AM Detective Payne. This is Mrs. Garcia-Romez, who will be recording everything we say on the typewriter.
We are questioning you concerning the murder homicide at the Inferno Lounge.