Bread (87th Precinct) Read Online Free

table and scratching his balls with one hand while tilting the bottle of beer to his lips with the other, he hardly seemed a candidate for Gentlemen’s Quarterly. His hair was uncombed, and he had not shaved since last Saturday when his vacation had started, and this was Thursday, and from the smell of him, he had not bothered to bathe, either.
    Carella did not like Parker.
    Parker did not like Carella.
    Carella thought Parker was a lazy cop and a bad cop and the kind of cop who gave other cops a bad name. Parker thought Carella was an eager cop and a Goody Two-Shoes cop and the kind of cop who gave other cops a bad name. Only once in Parker’s life had he admitted to himself that perhaps Carella was the kind of cop he himself might have become, the kind of cop he perhaps even longed to be, and that was when a body had turned up bearing Carella’s identification and it was presumed Carella was dead. Drunk in bed with a whore that night, Parker had buried his head in the pillow and mumbled, “He was a good cop.” But that had been a long time ago, and Carella had been alive all along, and here he was now, bugging Parker about a goddamn arson case when he was supposed to be on vacation.
    “I don’t see why this can’t wait till I get back,” he said. “What’s the big rush here? This guy married to the mayor’s daughter or something?”
    “No, just an ordinary citizen,” Carella said.
    “Yeah, so ordinary citizens are getting hit on the head every day of the week in this city, and we handle those cases in our own sweet time, and some we crack and some we don’t. This guy loses a bunch of wooden crap in a fire, and he gets hysterical.” Parker belched and immediately swallowed another mouthful of beer. He had not yet offered Carella a bottle, but Carella was already prepared with a brilliant squelch if and when Parker decided to extend at least a small measure of hospitality to a hardworking colleague.
    “Grimm feels he’s been victimized,” Carella said.
    “Everybody in this city is victimized one way or another every day of the week. What makes Grimm so special? I’m supposed to be on vacation. Doesn’t Grimm ever take vacations?”
    “Andy,” Carella said, “I came over here only because I couldn’t get you on the phone…”
    “That’s right, it’s off the hook. I’m on vacation.”
    “And I can’t find the file on this case. If you’ll tell me…”
    “That’s right, there ain’t no file,” Parker said. “I was only on the case a lousy two days, you know. I caught the squeal late Wednesday night, I worked the case all day Thursday and Friday, and then I started my vacation. How could there be a file on it?”
    “Didn’t you type up any reports?”
    “I didn’t have time to type up reports, I was too busy out in the field. Look, Steve, I busted my ass on this case, and I don’t need you telling me I was dogging it. I went over that warehouse with a fine-tooth comb,” Parker said, gathering steam. “I couldn’t find a thing, no fuse, no wick, no mechanical device, no bottles that might’ve had chemicals in them, nothing. I talked to…”
    “Is it possible the fire was accidental?”
    “How could it be? The two watchmen were doped, which means somebody wanted them out of the way, right? Okay, so why? To set fire to the joint.”
    “You think Grimm might’ve done it himself?”
    “Not a chance. All the stock was committed, he was ready to ship the stuff the next Monday morning. There were no records or books in the warehouse, he keeps those in an office on Bailey Street. So why would he burn down the joint? He’s clean.”
    “Then why wouldn’t you tell that to his insurers?”
    “Because I wasn’t sure. I only worked the case two days, and all I had at the end of that time was a pile of ashes. You think I was going to stick my neck out for Grimm? Screw that noise, buddy.”
    “Did you get anything from the night watchmen?” Carella asked.
    “They’re two old