A Naked Singularity: A Novel (37 page)

“Don’t know, some fat guy.”

“That narrows it down. Why did he set it?”

“I don’t know. My attorney and the DA went up there for a bunch conference—”

“Bench.”

“—and the judge set that bail.”

“Was it the same DA you talked to at the precinct?”

“Yeah, they delayed the case until he came.”

“Fucker.”

“What?”

“Never mind. What do you want to do? They won’t guarantee anything until they hear what you have to say but it sounds to me like you’ll be getting out.”

“What should I do? I trust you man.”

“I don’t know. This cooperation shit never seems to work out. If this were an A felony with you facing fifteen to life or something I’d be the first to say run with it but this is a case where eventually I can probably get you something reasonable so maybe it’s not worth the risk. Of course that’s easy for me to say because I’m not serving day one regardless.”

“I want to do it man.”

“Okay, we’ll see what we can do then.”

“So what happens now? I’ve never done this before.”

“Read this. In a little while the DA and that cop are going to come back in here. They’re going to ask you questions about what you know. Some of the questions they already know the answers to and are just checking to make sure you’re being straight with them. That agreement you’re reading says that whatever you say at this meeting will not be used against you except under certain circumstances.”

“Like what circumstances?”

“Like read it. If you testify to something different or if they use what you say here today to develop other information.”

“What’s this part here?”

“That’s where you waive your right to have me present during the meeting.”

“Fine but you’re going to be here right?”

“No, that’s exactly what that means. I’m
not
going to be here.”

“Why not?”

“Because they know I have a lot of other clients and they don’t want me to be in a position where I might hear something pertaining to one of those clients.”

“If you’re not going to be here, then forget it. And I mean it too.”

“Good.”

“Okay I’ll do it. Never mind.”

“Okay.”

“Now what do I do?”

“Sign it . . . good . . . you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Brilliant. Oh yeah, like I just said, one of the things they claim is that the cop will ask you questions he already knows the answer to so they can judge whether or not you’re being straight with them and can be trusted.”

“So what should I do?”

“Well if you want to do this then you should tell them the truth so it will work out for you right?”

“Got you.”

Except that almost none of those precepts, those truly tried snippets and individually-wrapped datum that I thought I
knew
because they’d never previously failed to attach to that fact pattern to the extent that they reflexively exited my mouth promising to reassure with routine, would apply here to DeLeon. And this much should’ve been clear to me from jump based on the eyes I saw.

Because the four eyes that then entered the room were not dull and surrounded by the usual jaded masticated skin so endemic to that spent system. That skin that practically beseeched the clock to tick with greater speed, skin that announced a vacancy and slouched in its chair to make evening plans at 2:00 p.m. No, the eyes I saw then had causally shed that skin and instead now pierced the room with brilliant beams of light; and cast in this new light was the story of how the world looks to a twenty-year-old and what it becomes to a thirty-five-year-old. How those eyes had once looked upon their owner’s chosen arena and could only foresee a future, a life,
as seen on Television
. But how over time they grew weary and diminished. Out of self-defense they did this. The constant assault of mediocrity maybe did this along with the realization that the stupid, highly-mediated ideal they were secretly worshiping would in no way be approached. Not by someone who was clearly not a star but at best the supportive best friend or just the girl that establishes the killer’s vile m.o.

Then again there
were
those moments. Moments when those two disparate world views seemed to inch towards each other with the promise of sweet confluence. Moments when a person thought that, when all was said and done, maybe they would become that which they had previously envisioned. Or better yet they might see that, in fact, they had been this person all along and had simply been biding their time until this moment arrived eager to sweep them along in its momentum. And it was a sad thing, I thought, to see someone in the throes of what they believed might be one of those moments. Sad but compelling and I wanted mostly to stay and understand the cause.

And I don’t think that Assistant District Attorney for the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Roger P. Dacter, or Detective Adam D’Alessio of the Manhattan North Narcotics Unit were directing much thought my way because after we all mouthed some pleasantries and I gave them the signed Queen for a Day, they never did ask me to leave but instead Dacter started right in with what seemed like a standard kind of opening to a surprised DeLeon:

“Hello, Mr. DeLeon.”

“Oh, hello.”

“I know you’ve gone over the
Queen for a Day
with your attorney. Do you feel like you fully understand the terms of that agreement?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. It’s basically there to protect you and to make you comfortable in discussing matters with us openly. We’re not looking to hurt you based on anything you say here today, we’re just trying to get an idea of the best way for us to work together on this thing to our mutual benefit.”

“I want to get out man because—”

“Well I’m sure your attorney explained to you that we don’t make any promises until we hear in detail what it is you have to offer. Now based on what we discussed at the precinct the other day, well we’ve been able to confirm a lot of what you said that day and in our opinion, and I know Detective D’Alessio agrees with this, it’s very useful information and if it all works out you are going to be able to help yourself quite a lot. We wanted to talk to you today to follow up on what we spoke about last week, and this has yet to be decided but we’re probably going to want you out on the street working with us and working your time down. After today, if through your attorney we can agree to something, we’re going to end up making certain promises to you. First and foremost we’re going to promise to do the best of our ability to ensure your safety.”

“Can I get a new identity?”

“If we determine that’s necessary, yes. Believe me, we understand you’re putting yourself at risk by giving us this information. Detective D’Alessio is very familiar with all of the people you will be giving information about and I can assure you that we recognize the highly sensitive nature of this situation. Also you should realize that we have a very vested interest in making sure nothing happens to you in that regard. As I’m sure your attorney will agree, the criminal justice system is a very insular society. What I mean is, well, um. Word travels fast is what I’m saying. People have rabbit ears. I’m sure you know what I’m saying.”

“ . . .”

“What I mean is that if something happens to you, if we get a reputation for not being able to protect our informants we’re not going to be in the business of getting defendants to cooperate very long. You understand? Good. So that’s one of the things we promise you. The other is the one most defendants are principally concerned with and that’s leniency with respect to your eventual sentence. If we enter into an agreement, you’re ultimately going to be responsible for your sentence in that the more helpful you are to us the better the deal you’ll receive. Now all this would be set forth in an agreement much like this one. And that agreement would spell out in detail exactly what is expected of you. Obviously if the time comes where you agree to cooperate with us, you will read that agreement and go over it with your attorney to make sure you wish to enter into it. But I just wanted to go over briefly, right at the outset, what in general terms would be expected of you so there’s no confusion. Again, we’re trying to do right by you so we want you to know the ways you can screw this up and end up doing more time than you have to. Believe me we want this to work out as much as you do so I want to make sure you’re comfortable with the parameters before we go any further.”

“Okay.”

“First and foremost you have to be honest with us.”

“I know, of course.”

“I say that because you may be tempted to try to minimize your involvement in certain activities to protect yourself or even exaggerate your involvement in others in the belief that you will help yourself in that way. I’m here to tell you, don’t do that. You’ll only hurt yourself. First of all, a lot of the things that we’re going to discuss today we already know the answer to. So if we catch you in a lie, we’re simply not going to use you. More importantly we may not catch you in a lie now but if we realize later that you lied to us we will terminate our agreement and ask that you be sentenced to a high number. This is absolutely the most important thing you have to realize. Our agreement, if there eventually is one, will be contingent on you providing only truthful information and if necessary testifying truthfully. If you don’t live up to that promise then you’re not entitled to any break on your sentence. Do you understand?”

“Solutely.”

“The reason for that is clear. If you are caught in a lie, and that means by a defense attorney or by anyone else, then your credibility is destroyed and you become useless as a witness. That’s why our promise of a sentence is not tied to us achieving any particular result. It’s tied to you being truthful. If you do that, and put forth a good faith effort, you will get the promised sentence. Now realize that a good faith effort means meeting with me or the detective whenever you’re scheduled to, testifying both in front of the grand jury or at trial if necessary, meeting with us to prepare that testimony, and basically being available to do whatever we deem necessary to the successful prosecution of the individuals we arrest as a result of your information.”

“I thought the main thing was the money and the drugs.”

“Well, we’re going to discuss all that. Certainly this case is unique in that there is the potential for the seizure of well, um, quite a bit of narcotics and money. But we also anticipate that a few people will be arrested hopefully including, but not limited to, Red Bags himself.”

“I don’t know about testifying against those guys. Will they see my face?”

“Well let’s not get ahead of ourselves because that would be a ways down the line. Basically with the cooperation agreement, if we eventually enter into one, if you keep your promise, if you always tell us the truth, and if you appear when we ask you to appear, then we will keep our promise of keeping you safe and giving you a lighter sentence. Do you understand all that?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any questions about anything I’ve said.”

“No.”

“Okay. In that case I’m going to turn you over to the brains of the operation, Detective D’Alessio. As you know from the precinct, he’s familiar with that area and the individuals involved so he’ll know how to best use your information so that it has the most favorable impact for you. Detective?”

“Hi Ramon.”

“Hi.”

“Oh here he is. This is my partner, Detective Gans, he’s going to sit in as well.”

“Hello Ramon, counsel.”

“Hey.”

“Actually I’m going to step out for a minute and get a soda and maybe a snack. Okay Adam?”

“Fine. Ramon, the way I want to start is.”

“Can I get you something Ramon?”

“Um.”

“A soda? You want a soda? A sandwich? What do you want?”

“Soda.”

“And what kind of sandwich?”

“No.”

“Any kind?”

“No I don’t want a sandwich.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“It’s free you know.”

“No thanks.”

“Okay I’ll be right back. Anybody else?”

“No.” (
pl
.)

“As you know we’re looking for information on the operation at 127th.”

“What kind?”

“What do you mean?”

“No, I’m talking to Ramon. What kind of soda Ramon?”

“Coke.”

“Coke or Pepsi?”

“He said Coke.”

“I know but did he say Coke because he thinks that will be easier for me to get or does he really prefer Coke? Because I can probably get Pepsi.”

“Okay, Pepsi.”

“You like Pepsi better right?”

“Yeah.”

“Diet or regular?”

“Regular.”

“Caffeine?”

“Huh?”

“You want caffeine with that, because I can get caffeine-free.”

“No I hate diet.”

“Who said anything about diet?”

“You said caffeine-free Pepsi.”

“No I know, but that doesn’t mean diet. I can get you regular Pepsi without caffeine.”

“Pepsi does that? You sure?”

“Sure they do that.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s right.”

“I think it has to be diet.”

“No I’m sure of it, it’s the gold can.”

“That’s the gold can?”

“The gold can’s diet.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“No, it means caffeine free.”

“I’ll take the gold.”

“Great, I’ll be right back.”

“How do they get the caffeine out?”

“And without making it diet.”

“Dude knows his soda.”

“Let’s not wait for him to return. What I want to do, Ramon, is not ask you a bunch of questions right off the bat but rather have you describe in detail, almost like a resume or whatever, how you came to be involved with Red Bags and his crew selling out of 127th okay?”

“Okay.”

“Once you’re done doing that, we’ll get into the specifics and I’ll ask you any questions we might have, with an emphasis obviously on the upcoming exchange that’s scheduled. All right?”

“All right.”

“Good. So let’s not wait for Gans to come back, let’s get started.”

DeLeon’s lips tightened as he looked around and for a moment I thought he had changed his mind. But then I realized that this was more like a dramatic pause from someone enjoying the minor spotlight and incredibly the stupid pause was working because now even I wanted to hear what he would soon say.