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I nodded. "I got to know him a little. He'd come inside the shop first thing in the morning and buy a cup of coffee whenever he had a little money, but pretty soon I just started giving him a cup and maybe a Danish. I didn't want to take his money."
The chief gave me a sympathetic smile.
"He'd drink his coffee and then talk for a little while – you know, telling some great stories about his life. All the customers knew him. Then he'd leave and go to wherever it was he spent his days."
"Do you know where he went, Laila?"
"No. I did always wonder, though. But I don't think he was going too far from our neighborhood in the Piazza. He was most always around again by nightfall."
"You said all the other customers knew him. What did they think of him?"
"Well, most of them liked him. He always sat at a little corner table across from the register. A few avoided him, but most just listened to his stories and some would give him a little money.
"He never caused us a problem. He never stayed long. He would just drink his hot coffee and tell a story or two." I looked up at the chief. "He was educated. Smart. Did you know that?"
Chief Hayes shook his head. "No. I'd never heard of this man until he was found dead."
"I think his last name might have been Collins, but I can't say for sure. Though I've been wondering – have you found any more information on him? Anything more about his family? I know he's got a brother, but he's – "
"I'm sorry, but I can't say anything more about the case. We're still investigating. All I can say is that we know he died of an overdose. It's easy for an addict to shoot up a little too much, or to get something that's stronger than what they're used to."
I shook my head vehemently. "But that's just it. John was not a drug addict. I'm sure of it. On – on the day he died, he'd talked to me about all the bad stuff he'd seen on the streets and how his brother went to prison on a drug charge. He never touched any drugs of any kind."
The chief looked at me like I was a little girl who just didn't understand. "Unless you're an expert, it can be very hard to tell whether somebody is on something or not. You only saw John for very short periods a few times a week. That wouldn't give you enough time to be sure."
"But he said – "
"Laila, the needle was still in his arm. The autopsy and toxicology reports are still pending, but I'm afraid there just isn't much doubt about what happened."
I closed my eyes.
"We’re stepping up our resources to combat the homeless and drug problems. So far, it's been concentrated in an older part of West River. We don't want it to show up here."
"Yeah. Not in Uptown." I remembered what the grungy dealer had said to me, but I wasn't about to mention that to the chief of police.
"Now, we can usually track down the source that provided the drugs, even though it could be almost anyone. It might be someone who works in the medical field and is addicted themselves, or somebody who goes outside West River to get dope to sell."
He leaned forward and smiled patiently. I knew he thought he was teaching me something. I didn’t let on that I knew where anyone could find drugs to buy in West River, and it had nothing to do with the medical field.
I stood up to leave. "But let me ask you a question," said the chief. "Did you ever see anyone talking to John?"
"Well, some of the customers would talk to him a little. They usually just said 'hi' and maybe gave him a dollar or two. But that's about all."
"You sure?"
I thought about it again. "There were a few who looked down on him, or tried to ignore him. But either way, I never saw anyone talk to him for very long."
Then I realized something. I didn’t know where he died. I knew it wasn’t in front of Roasted Love. "Where was he found?" I whispered.
"He was found in an alley on the rough side of the old downtown area. From what you told me about where he was spending his nights, I'm supposing he went back down there during the daytime."
"Okay. Thank you. I hope you find whoever – I hope you find out what happened."
"We will."
When I left the station, I had a lot to think about. The thing that stood out to me was why John would spend the night on the Piazza, in front of Roasted Love, and then walk all the way back downtown to spend his days.
Unless he hadn't been doing that at all, no matter what the Chief thought.
