Free The White Flamingo by James A. Newman Page A

you r son, now. Pay what you have to pay to get him out on bail.”
    “I’ve tried. Negotiations broke down. I don’t know how long he will last in there. He isn’t like other boys, he, is well ...”
    “Special?” Hale offered.
    “I’m not sure I like your tone, young man. The word I was looking for before you rudely interrupted is sensitive .”
    “Tough city for a sensitive boy, Mrs Bell,” the Detective said.
    “ Miss Bell. He likes it here.”
    “Daresay,” Joe handed her a card.
    She read it. “I’ll give you five thousand dollars to find out who did this. Another five thousand to get him out,” Miss Bell said.
    “Ten thousand to spring him free?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well , that’ll put the kids through school for another year.”
    “You have children?”
    “No.”
    “Then why…?”
    “Just making conversation, lady.”
    “I see.”
    She didn’t.
    “It’ll cost more for a conviction. Miss Bell, you smell like money if you don’t mind me saying,” Hale said moving closer to her. “I heard you were a pin-up girl back in the day?”
    “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
    “It doesn’t, lady. Excuse my friend. I’m training him,” the Detective said. “He’s all mixed up.”
    “Perhaps you should try putting him on a leash.”
    “I have. The trouble is he likes it.”
    “Really,” she looked at Hale. “He doesn’t seem the type.”
    “He’s submissive. He just craves attention.”
    “Well, about Seb. I just want him out and back at home.” She dug about in her purse and pulled out a brown jiffy envelope. “The police wouldn’t take it. So I guess you two will have to do.”
    “I’ll get him out,” Joe said. He took the envelope and weighed it in his hand. Felt like about 5 k and it felt rude to check. “But I think your son has been in too deep. There’s a certain depravity in this city. Some swim in it and survive. Most sink. Your son is close to sinking. You might want to teach him a few lessons. Play hardball with the purse strings. Make him get a job. Lazy hands and the devil…”
    “I don’t need parenting advice, thank you very much.”
    “You’re right. It’s probably too late for that. I’ll get him out, Miss Bell, but I’ll tell you, this town doesn’t need Sebastian, and Sebastian doesn’t need this town.”
    She gave the Detective a card. She spoke. “Here’s my address. You come up and see me tonight, you understand?”
    “I’ll do that. Right now, you go inside and see your son, lady. He wants his mommy at a time like this.”
    She walked away, high heels clicking along the tiled courtyard. She still had the legs and the ass of a catwalk model. She still had it and by the Lord above, she still knew it.
    They were pulled away from watching Miss Bell’s behind by the sound of rapid talking inside the station.
    Joe and Hale both understood at the same time.
    There had been another one.
     
     
     
    S EVENTEEN
     
    THE KILLER cleaned the knife and put it back into the kitchen rack. He emptied the contents of his satchel and hid the bag under his bed. The Killer walked into the bathroom and opened a medicine cabinet. He looked at the five bottles inside the medicine cabinet and briefly read the labels. The Killer began to open the bottles, taking one from here and two from there until he had a little pile of tablets in his hand. He walked back into the studio and put the tablets on the table. He opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. He swallowed the tablets using the water to wash them down. He masturbated twice. Once on the sofa. Once on the bed.
    He took out the map and considered the next location. The first two had been easy. He had not needed to move the bodies in order for the ritual to work. Ah, he almost forgot the souvenirs. He reached into his pocket and felt it soft and smooth between his fingers. Yes, the souvenir. The transvestite’s liver.  The second part of the jigsaw puzzle. He placed it on the