The Murderers (Badge of Honor 6)

“Putting the mike back. The hooker opened the window and knocked the suction cup off.”

Martinez went to the window and looked out.

“No shit? Is it working now?”

“Yeah. The Lieutenant’s having a really good time,” Tiny said, offering Martinez the headset.

Martinez took the headset and held one of the phones to his ear. He listened for nearly a minute, then handed it back.

“Payne really went out on that ledge to put it back?”

“‘Neither heat nor rain…’” Tiny began to recite, stopping when there was another knock at the door.

Martinez opened it.

Detective Matthew M. Payne stood there. He was a tall, lithe twenty-five-year-old with dark, thick hair and intelligent eyes, wearing the gray cotton shirt and trousers work uniform of the hotel-maintenance staff.

“What do you say, Hay-zus?” Payne said. “Strangely enough, I’m delighted to see you.”

Martinez didn’t respond.

“Is it working?” Payne asked Tiny Lewis. Lewis nodded.

“Tony, now that Detective Martinez is here,” Payne said, “and the goddamned microphone is back where it’s supposed to be, can I take off?”

Harris did not respond directly. He looked at Tiny Lewis.

“Anything on what you have so far?”

“You mean in addition to the grunts, wheezes, and other sighs of passion? No. No names were mentioned, and the subject of money never came up.”

“Washington will want to hear them anyway,” Harris said, and turned to Payne. “You take the tapes to Washington, and you can take off. Let Martinez know where you are.”

“OK, it’s a deal.”

“Going out on that ledge was dumb,” Harris said.

“The Lieutenant’s inamorata knocked the microphone off,” Payne replied. “No ledge, no tape.”

“The Lieutenant’s what?” Tiny asked.

“I believe the word is defined as ‘doxy, paramour, lover,’” Payne said.

“In other words, ‘hooker’?”

“A hooker, by definition, does it for money,” Payne said. “We can’t even bust this one for that. No money has changed hands. The last I heard, accepting free samples of available merchandise is not against the law. When you think about it, for all we know, it was true love at first sight between the Lieutenant and the inamorata.”

Harris laughed.

“Get out of here, Payne,” Harris said. “You want to take off, Tiny, I’ll stick around until the other guy—what the hell is his name?—gets here.”

“Pederson,” Martinez furnished. “Pederson with a d.”

“I’ll wait. I find this all fascinating.”

“You’re a dirty young man, Tiny,” Payne said. “I’m off.”

FOUR