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Chapter 61
I decided tomake my move in plumbing. The justice was meticulously inspecting three or four brands of toilet parts. I suppose close study is how one becomes a successful lawyer, college professor, and Supreme Court justice.
Interviewing well-known people can breed false familiarity, the feeling of knowing them from TV or movies or speeches. In fact, all you’re seeing is the character they play. I don’t care who you are or what you investigate, having a preconceived notion about a suspect influences the interview.
I once interviewed a well-known music producer who was accused of running down a rival with his SUV. I’d seen the music producer on TV and concluded he might’ve been talented making albums, but he wasn’t particularly smart. At least in the way we normally define smart people.
It wasn’t till we got into the interview, with his attorney present, that I learned he was a graduate of the University of Michigan and had earned a master’s degree in accounting before his music career had taken off.
I didn’t need that surprise right at the beginning of our interview. It turned out, even with a master’s from a good school like the University of Michigan, the music producer had poor judgment. And a temper. That combination rarely works out well. In fact, he had threatened his rival the night before, and the rival’s girlfriend had the voicemail recording.
Eventually he pled guilty to manslaughter, and he was still at a prison in upstate New York. Common sense is always more important than money or even a decent education. The problem is that you can’t teach common sense.
I stood, looking up at a wall full of replacement parts for sinks. Like a fisherman, I remained patient. I was letting my fish swim toward me. The justice moved on from toilet parts until he was about five feet away from me.
That’s when he surprised me. Maybe shocked is a better word.
Justice Steinberg turned to me just as I was glancing in his direction. His brown eyes showed no concern or apprehension. He just looked at me and said, “I wondered how close you’d try to come to me in here.”
My throat went dry. I could think of nothing to say. Then I blurted out, “So you know who I am?”
He chuckled. “Detective Bennett, at this point everyone in Washington, DC, knows who you are. It’s just that most people don’t realize what you are.”
“A homicide detective.”
The justice smiled and said, “I was thinking more along the lines of a giant pain in the ass.”
