Drop Shot

"That's how we see it," Gerard said.

"A cool customer."

"Very."

"Any prints on the gun?" Myron asked.

"Nope."

"Any witnesses to the shooting?"

"Several hundred. Unfortunately all anyone remembers is the sound of the gun, and Valerie toppling over."

Myron shook his head. "The killer took a hell of a chance. Shooting her in public like that."

"Yeah. A major case of brass balls."

"You got anything else?"

"Just a question," Gerard said.

"Shoot"

"Where are our seats for next Saturday?"

Chapter 17

Esperanza had neatly stacked two piles of six-year-old press clippings on Myron's desk. The pile on the right – the taller pile – was made up of articles on the murder of Alexander Cross. The smaller stack was on the hospitalization of Valerie Simpson.

Myron ignored the third stack – the one with his messages – and started sifting through the pile on Valerie. The story was already familiar to him. Valerie's family had claimed she was "taking time off," but a well-placed source leaked the truth to the press: the teen te

The media coverage was only mildly intense. Valerie was already a has-been in the te

But the most interesting rumor, the one that really snared Myron's attention, appeared in two separate papers. According to several "u

Might be something, might be nothing. Pregnancy rumors always surface when a young woman goes into hiding. Still…

He moved on to articles on Alexander Cross's murder. Esperanza had limited her search to Philadelphia area periodicals, but the material was still immense. The stories basically followed the police version. Alexander Cross had been at a party at his snooty te

Senator Cross and his family had not commented on the case. According to the senator's spokesman, the family was "in seclusion" and was "relying on law enforcement agencies and the justice system," whatever that meant.

The press focused on the manhunt for Errol Swade. The police were confident to the point of cocky that Swade would be captured within a matter of hours. But hours turned to days. Editorials harshly criticized the police for not being able to nab one nineteen-year-old drug addict, but the Cross family remained silent. The story provoked the standard public outrage – why, editorials demanded to know, had a lowlife like Errol Swade been let out on parole in the first place?

But the anger fizzled, as it always does in such cases. Other stories began to take precedence. The coverage trickled from front page to back page to oblivion.

Myron checked through the pile again. The police shooting of Curtis Yeller had been neatly glossed over. There was no mention of an internal affairs investigation into the incident None of the usual reactionaries protested the police "brutality," which was strange. Usually some whacko managed to get himself on television, no matter what the facts, especially in the case of a black teen being gu

Wait. Hold the phone.

An article on Curtis Yeller. Myron had missed it the first time because it'd been printed the day immediately following the murder. Very early for this kind of piece. Probably sneaked in before Senator Cross put his foot down – but that might just be conspiracy paranoia on Myron's part. Hard to tell.

It was a small article on the bottom corner of page 12 in the metro section. Myron read it twice. Then a third time. The article was not on the shooting in west Philly or even the police's role in said shooting. The article was on Curtis Yeller himself.

It started out like any puff piece: Curtis Yeller was described as an "honor roll student." Not a big deal really. A psychotic child molester with the IQ of a citrus beverage was suddenly dubbed an honor student when killed prematurely. Very Bonfire of the Vanities. But this story went a bit further. Mrs. Lucinda Elright, Curtis Yeller's history teacher, described Curtis as her "best pupil" and a boy who "had never even gotten a detention." Mr. Bernard Johnson, his English teacher, said Curtis was "unusually bright and inquisitive," "one in a million," and "like a son to me."

The usual death hyperbole?

Perhaps. But school records backed the teachers up. Curtis had never been on report. He also had the best attendance record in his grade. On top of that, his transcript reported a 3.9 average, his sole B coming in some sort of health class. Both teachers firmly believed that Curtis Yeller was incapable of violence. Mrs. Elright blamed Curtis's cousin Errol Swade, but no specifics were given.

Myron sat back. He stared at a movie still from Casablanca on the far wall. Sam was serenading Bogie and Bergman as the Nazis moved in. Here's looking at you, kid. We'll always have Paris. You're getting on that plane. Myron wondered if young Curtis Yeller had ever seen the movie, if he had had the opportunity to behold the celluloid image of Ingrid Bergman with tears in her eyes at a foggy airport.

He picked up the basketball from behind his desk and began spi

Esperanza came in. She sat down and waited in silence.

The ball stopped spi

She read it. "A couple of teachers said something nice about a dead kid. So what? Probably misquoted anyway."

"But this is more than just a couple of casual comments. Curtis Yeller had no police record, no school record, a nearly perfect attendance record, and a 3.9 GPA. For most kids that's a hell of a statement. But this was a kid from one of the worst parts of Philadelphia."

Esperanza shrugged. "I don't see the relevance. What difference does it make if Yeller was Einstein or an idiot?"

"None. Except it's just one more thing that doesn't add up. Why did Curtis's mother say he was a no-good thief?"

"Maybe she knew more than his teachers."

Myron shook his head. He thought about Dea

"Why?"

"I don't know. Win thinks she's being bought off."