Free Cool in Tucson by Elizabeth Gunn Page A

him, slapped on the cuffs and asked him if he wanted to help himself.  Had him on my team in half an hour.  Ace was a pro, he knew the drill.”  He had a way of nodding to himself between sentences, as if to endorse something he had just said.      
    “Ace was your snitch?  Oh, well, then—” She smiled and he smiled back, a flashy, assertive man who appeared to get his share of the groceries, maybe a bit over, every day.  The extra muscle must come from his efforts to work off some of the food, she thought.  He seemed pleased about his bulk, though; he wore his clothes snug.  “So,” Sarah said, watching his face, “you want to tell me who killed him?”
    When he laughed, the dark eyes almost disappeared into the round pillows of his ruddy cheeks.  “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if narcs knew as much as people think?  The truth is I’m really surprised to hear about this.” 
    “You are?  I thought narcs never got surprised.”
    “Be nice, now.”  A smaller smile this time, one quick gleam in his deeply tanned face.  “As far as I could tell, Ace was being very careful and playing strictly by the rules.  I mean, you know…street rules.”
    “Uh-huh.  Was he, um, an important player in the Tucson drug trade, reports of which we all agree are greatly exaggerated?”  Sarah thought the way drug interdiction worked, or mostly didn’t work, was crazy.  But it wasn’t on her worksheet and she had never been one to fight the system; she just threw a jab at it now and then to show she wasn’t intimidated.  Which when you come right down to it of course I am .  You didn’t get ahead in the Tucson PD by dissing the drug war.
    He gave her the standard heavy-lidded look she always got from narcs when her question had been indiscreet.  “We’re going to bust it wide open one day soon and then I’ll answer all your questions.”
    “I’ll look forward to that.  How was Ace doing for himself?”
    “Very well.”
    “And for you?  Were you satisfied with the quality of his information?”
    “Well, like the song says I was making a list and checking it twice.  But it looked very good.  I thought ¾ ” He sat up straighter and the tapping stopped. “Now it looks like I better check my list again.” 
    “I see.”  She watched him carefully while she asked the next question.  “You check off anything I might be able to use, will you be able to share?” 
    He looked friendly and candid as he said, “Oh, if I get a lead on Ace’s killer you can have it, Sarah, of course.  Could I ask, is the body at the Forensic Sciences Center?”
    “Yes.  Why?”
    “You mind if I take a look?”
    “My pleasure ¾ I’ll set it up for you.  An eyeball ID would be great right now.  If you see anything that doesn’t match with your memories, you’ll call me?”
    “Of course.  The autopsy hasn’t been done yet, has it?”
    “Two o’clock tomorrow.  You want to come?”
    “I can’t, I’ve got a—another thing.  But I’ll run by there and take a look right now, if that’s okay.”
    “I’ll tell them to expect you.”
    He started out, turned in the door and said, “Sarah, can I just—say something?  You could be looking for a very dangerous guy.”
    “You think?”
    “Well…Ace Perkins was experienced and tough, he wouldn’t go down easy.”
    “I suppose that’s true.”
    “You want to be pretty careful how you ¾ ”
    “Tony, I’m always careful.”
    “I’m sure.  Don’t take offense.  I just mean…Ace Perkins was no pushover.”
    “Understood.”  She got up and walked around her desk to shake his square, meaty hand.  “I do thank you for taking the time to come by,” she said, and smiled up at him graciously, because you could never have too many friends in narcotics.  But now, why was he holding onto her hand?  She met his eyes and realized that he was coming on to her, using a slightly more ham-handed version of the same move she had just used on Will