Page 100 of My Rock Star Neighbor
A sting operation?Could it be?No way.Not with the handwriting proof and my missing rat.
“Is that how you figured out this was happening?”I ask.“You were doing an internal investigation, and the property manager explained it in that way?”
“Yes, exactly.I can understand how hard it is to resist that extra money, of course,” he says.“I’ve discussed this with Johnson, and we think Galliano and Pommer have teamed up to do this to get extra money.Galliano needs money to support his daughter’s career.He paid off an inspector who’s been threatening bars with fines unless they let his daughter play.You know that.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Demoraux came clean to us.You have the proof.You have a list of the bars where the tickets were issued…and then quickly resolved.”He chuckles.“Ophelia was offered spots at all of those places.”
Except that Ophelia never played at any of those bars.I confirmed that.
“Think about how little money Galliano makes as a deputy commissioner on a government salary and how much money he spent on her education.He’s also paid for publicity for her band.And it’s even worse for Pommer.Four children.What was he thinking?”
He drinks his tea.
“Pommer has huge debts,” he says.“He thought he was going to inherit money from his dad, but it turns out his dad was swindled out of his earnings by some fraudster.Pommer is in trouble, and he doesn’t want to tell his wife.Those two might be in this together.They’re close.I followed Pommer last Saturday, and he met with Demoraux.”
“So this started with one property manager, but then once the deputy commissioner discovered this, instead of reporting it, he decided to take a cut?”I ask.
“That’s what we think happened, but our internal investigation is ongoing.”
“The property manager puts the deputy commissioner’s cut in a book in a library, and that book is picked up at the library by the deputy commissioner, right?”
He tilts his head.“You’ve got it.And Galliano was at the Harlem Library last Saturday, ready to pick up the money, right?”
Yes, except Galliano seemed to have no idea what to pick up.Ward must have seen Galliano at the Harlem Library last Saturday.Nick was right that Ward came in and left.Wait.This is proof that Ward knows we were at the library too.
It’s time to stop playing cat and mouse and see if he has a comment.
“And yet, you seem to be signaling via your Instagram posts which library and book,” I say.
His eyes narrow.“Purely coincidental.I like to do posts featuring different libraries.I don’t think I feature any particular book.”
“No.But Beatrice gave you a book with aCaper Crushbookmark, and we found one thousand dollars in cash in that book.”
He blanches but quickly recovers.“That’s the proof you have?”
“No, not all.I also have the handwritten letter you sent, asking for more.And proof that it is your handwriting.”
He leans in.“That was part of the sting operation.”
“Is that your on-the-record comment?Is Johnson going to confirm that you were doing a sting?”
Red-hot anger flares across his face.“No comment.You publish that article, and I’ll sue your paper.You’ll never work in this town as a reporter again.”He storms out.
“It’s totally him,” Nick says in my earpiece.“Should I join you?”
“No.Hang back by the blind corner.He was very angry.”
“Then I should join you.”
“Not yet.I need you as backup.Ward was angry enough to do something stupid.”
And I’m keen enough for this promotion toalsodo something stupidand let myself walk into his trap.But I have Nick as backup, and he will call the police if he thinks it’s unsafe.That was our compromise.
I text my boss what Ward said off the record and that Ward has no official, on-the-record comment.And that I think the other deputy commissioners are not involved.
I pay for both our teas (thanks, Ward) and exit.It’s dark already at five p.m.There has to be a reason he chose Doyers Street.
