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“Peter,” he said. “Good to see you. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Thank you for seeing us.”
“Mike,” Callis went on, shaking Weisbach’s hand, and then turned to Payne. “Nice to see you, too. Give my best to your dad.”
“Thank you, sir, I will.”
“Now what can I do for you?”
“This is confidential, Mr. Callis,” Wohl said. “We would appreciate it if what we say doesn’t get out of your office.”
“I understand.”
“Mike, show Mr. Callis the pictures,” Wohl ordered.
Weisbach handed Callis a thick manila envelope.
“The first ones are the photographs Homicide had taken in Leslie’s backyard,” Weisbach said. “They show the photo of Officer Kellog and the tape cassettes in the garbage pile.”
“I’ve seen them.”
“Next are individual photographs of each cassette, taken this morning in the Forensics Lab.”
Callis flipped quickly through the 8-by-10-inch photographs of the individual cassettes. Each bore a legend stating what was portrayed, and when the photographs were taken.
“OK,” Callis said. “So tell me?”
“We have an interesting thing here,” Weisbach said. “The cassettes are evidence in the Leslie case. They may also, down the line, be evidence in other cases.”
What the hell is he talking about?
“I’m afraid I don’t understand, Mike.”
“This is what is confidential,” Wohl said. “The Widow Kellog appeared at Jason Washington’s apartment and announced that the entire Narcotics Five Squad is dirty. She went so far as to suggest they were responsible for her husband’s murder.”
“We know now, don’t we, Peter, that’s not the case?”
“We know that Leslie murdered Officer Kellog. We don’t know if anyone in Narcotics Five Squad is dirty.”
“Peter, the gossip going around is that Mrs. Kellog…how should I put it?”
“Mrs. Kellog was estranged from her husband,” Wohl said.
“…and—how shall I put it—‘involved’ with Detective Milham. I’m sure that you have considered the possibility that she just might have been…how shall I put it?”
“‘Diverting attention from Milham’?” Wohl suggested. “She received a death threat. A telephone call telling her to keep her mouth shut, or she’d get the same thing her husband did.”
“Oh, really?”
“And she told Washington that her husband bought a condo at the shore, and a boat, both for cash. Very few police officers are in a position to do that. Mike has already checked that out. They own a house and a boat.”
It was obvious that Callis was not pleased to hear of this new complication.
“Isn’t this sort of thing in Internal Affairs’ basket? And what’s it got to do with the tapes, in any event?”
“I wish it was in Internal Affairs’ basket,” Wohl said. “But I had a call this morning from the Commissioner, who gave it to Special Operations.”
“You really are the Mayor’s private detective bureau, aren’t you?” Callis observed. When Wohl did not reply but Callis saw his face tighten, Callis added: “No offense, Peter. I know you didn’t ask for it.”
