C Is for Corpse

Borden had told me that a kid named Alfie Leadbetter would be working the three-to-eleven shift at the morgue. The guy was a friend of his and he said he d call ahead and let him know I was coming out.
    I hauled out my typewriter again and made some notes. What was this? What did the corpse of a black man have to do with the murder of Dwight Costigan and the blackmailing of his former wife?
    The phone rang and I picked it up like an automaton, my mind on the problem at hand. "Yes?"
    "Kinsey?"
    "Speaking."
    "I wasn't sure that was you. This is Jonah. You always answer that way?"
    I focused. "God, sorry. What can I do for you?"
    "I heard about something I thought might interest you. You know that Callahan accident?"
    "Sure. What about it?"
    "I just ran into the guy who works Traffic and he says the lab boys went over the car this afternoon. The brake lines were cut just as clean as you please. They transferred the whole case to Homicide."
    I could feel myself doing the same kind of mental double take I'd done just minutes before when I finally heard what the name Blackman meant. "What?"
    "Your friend Bobby Callahan was murdered," Jonah said patiently. "The brake lines on his car had been cut, which means all the brake fluid ran out, which means he crashed into that tree because he rounded the curve with no way to slow down."
    "I thought the autopsy showed he had a stroke."
    "Maybe he did when he realized what was happening. That's not inconsistent as far as I can tell."
    "Oh, you're right." For a moment I just breathed in Jonah's ear. "How long would that take?"
    "What, cutting the brake lines or the fluid running out?"
    "Both, now that you mention it."
    "Oh, probably five minutes to cut the lines. That's no big deal if you know where to look. The other depends. He probably could have driven the car for a little while, pumped the brakes once or twice. Next thing he knew, he'd have tried 'em and boom, gone."
    "So it happened that night? Whoever cut the lines?"
    "Had to. The kid couldn't have driven far."
    I was dead silent, thinking of the message Bobby'd left on my machine. He'd seen Kleinert the night he died. I remember Kleinert mentioning it too.
    "You there?"
    "I don't know what it means, Jonah," I said. "This case is starting to break and I just can't figure out what's going on."
    "You want me to come over and we'll talk it out?"
    "Not, not yet. I need to be by myself. Let me call you later when I have more to go on."
    "Sure. You've got my home number, haven't you?"
    "Better give it to me again," I said and jotted it down.
    "Now, listen," he said to me. "Swear to me you won't do anything stupid."
    "How can I do anything stupid? I don't even know what's going on," I said. "Besides, 'stupid' is after the fact. I always feel smart when I think things up."
    "God damn it, you know what I'm talking about."
    I laughed. "You're right. I know. And believe me, I'll call you if anything comes up. Honestly, my sole object in life is to protect my own ass."
    "Well," he said grudgingly. "That's good to hear, but I doubt it."
    We said our good-byes and he hung up. I left my hand on the receiver.
    I tried Glen's number. I felt she should have the information and I couldn't be sure the cops would bring her up to date, especially since, at this point, they probably didn't have any more answers than I did.
    She picked up the phone and I told her what was going on, including the business about Blackman in Bobby's address book. Of necessity, I told her as much as I knew about the blackmailing business. Hell, why not? This was no time to keep secrets. She already knew that Nola and Bobby were lovers. She might as well understand what he had undertaken in Nolas behalf. I even took the liberty of mentioning Sufi's involvement, though I still wasn't sure about that. I suspected that she was a go-between, ferrying messages between Nola and Bobby, counseling Bobby, perhaps, when his passion clashed with his youthful impatience.
    She was quiet for a moment in the same way I had been. "What happens now?"
    "I'll talk to Homicide tomorrow and tell them everything I know. They can handle it after that."
    "Be careful in the meantime," she said.
    "No sweat."

Chapter 26
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    There was still an hour and a half of daylight left when I reached the old county medical complex. From the number of parking spaces available, it was clear that most of the offices were closed, personnel gone for the day. Kelly had told me there was a second parking lot