“Of course not,” Annie said, tucking the photos back into the folder. She flipped it closed, dropped it into the satchel, removed a business card, and handed it to Sharon. “You can call me if you think of anything else that might be important.”
Sharon took the card, glanced at it, and smiled. “I’ll be happy to.”
“I’d better let you finish your lunch and get back to work before Mr. MacKay gets after you,” Annie said, as she stood. “I know what he can be like sometimes.”
“He’s okay,” Sharon said. “I know how to handle him.” She giggled. “His bite’s not half as bad as his bark.”
They said goodbye and Annie left the room, waved at Mr. MacKay on the way out, and went to her car.
The revelation Werner Shaft and Michael Norton socialized on occasion was interesting. Though Tammy Norton claimed otherwise, Annie wondered if the woman was more aware of that relationship than she let on.
Chapter 39
Thursday, 12:54 p.m.
WHEN HANK AND KING returned to the precinct, they were notified of the arrest of Stanley Asher. According to the report, Asher attacked Rocky Shaft in the parking lot behind Shaft’s place of employment. Hank grinned when he saw Jake’s name on the report.
A background check on Asher turned up nothing unusual—no criminal record, no prior arrests, and no pending warrants.
Hank let Asher stew in the holding cell while he went over his notes from the Harland Eastwood interview. It hadn’t broken the case open, but they had gleaned some information about the heist.
He was convinced Eastwood told the truth when he said his boss had no idea who robbed them of their ill-gotten gains. Once this case was over and done with, the names of any surviving robbers would be made public, and Hank suspected there would eventually be repercussions. The drug lords couldn’t afford to let that go—it was bad for business.
Hank pushed back his notes, stood, and turned around. King sat at his desk, his chair tipped back, one foot resting on the faux oak top. King browsed some paperwork, and Hank was surprised to see him putting in some rare desk time.
“Let’s talk to this Asher character,” Hank said, as he approached his partner.
King’s chair dropped forward with a clunk and his feet hit the floor. He tossed the papers onto his desk, yawned, and stood. “He’s in interview room one. I had him brought up a few minutes ago.”
King led the way across the floor and down a short hallway to the interview room. An officer stood outside the door to make sure Asher stayed put. He nodded at the detectives and stood aside as they approached.
Stanley Asher sat at the metal table gazing at his fidgeting hands. He glanced up briefly, a sullen look on his face when Hank pushed open the door and entered.
King stood and folded his arms, leaning against the wall, while Hank took a seat across the table from Asher, sat back, and observed the suspect.
Asher avoided Hank’s gaze for a few moments longer as the cop sat in silence. Then the man’s curious eyes turned upward, caught Hank’s stare, and his hands became still.
“Why’d you attack Rocky Shaft?” Hank asked.
Asher dropped his hands to his lap, rocked back and forth in his chair, and remained quiet.
“Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,” Hank said. “That’s a serious charge.” He leaned forward. “With the intent to cause bodily harm.” Hank looked at King and shrugged. “Who knows? The crown might want to pursue an attempted murder charge.”
Asher’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t try to kill him. I only wanted to teach him a lesson.”
“He’s got a cracked rib,” Hank said. “That’s serious, and you could’ve killed him.”
Asher gritted his teeth. “He murdered my cousin. Michael and I were like brothers when we were young. My parents took him in when his mother and father died. We practically grew up together.”
King bounced off the wall. “That’s a sad story.” He leaned in. “Now, how do you know Shaft killed your cousin?”
Asher looked up at King. “I saw it on the news.”
“There’s no proof it was Shaft,” Hank said. “You’re looking at serious jail time for assaulting someone who might be innocent.”
“Do you know Rocky Shaft?” King asked.
The suspect shook his head. “Never met him before.”
“How did you find him?”
“It wasn’t hard. His name and picture was on the news and I tracked him down.”
“Tell me about Michael Norton,” Hank said.
“What do you want to know? He’s dead now. We’ve always been close, and even after we went our own ways, we still hung around sometimes.”
“If Shaft didn’t kill him, do you have any idea who else might’ve wanted him dead?”
Asher shook his head. “No.”
King bent over the table. “You and Rocky Shaft were involved in a robbery a few months ago,” he said. “Tell us about that.”
Asher looked confused. “What’re you talking about?”
“Norton was a criminal,” King said, as he straightened his back. “Are you telling me you didn’t know about that?”
Asher hesitated. “I knew he went to prison a few years ago, and he might’ve been involved in some shady deals after he got out, but I wasn’t part of it.”
“What kind of deals?” Hank asked.
Asher licked his lips and looked at Hank. “Can you get my charges knocked down to simple assault if I tell you?”
“Depends on what you have. I can probably convince the crown to drop the attempted murder charges.”
The suspect frowned. “I … I don’t want to go to prison.”
“That might be up to Shaft. If he presses charges, you’ll be lucky to get by with aggravated assault.”
Asher rocked in his seat, rubbing his hands together. He sighed deeply, and then spoke. “Michael was involved in the heist you mentioned. He told me about it. I swore to keep quiet, but he’s dead now, so you can’t do anything to him.”
Hank leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. “Who else was involved?”
“I … I don’t know. More than just him, but I don’t know who.”
“Where’s the money?” King asked.
“I don’t know. Why would he tell me?”
“I thought you two were close?”
“Sure, but … he didn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask.”
King swung a chair over to the desk, flipped it around backwards, straddled it, and laid his arms on the back of the chair. He looked intently at Asher. “Who killed Werner Shaft?”
Asher shook his head and looked back and forth between the detectives. “I honestly have no idea. They said it was Michael, but I know it wasn’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because he’s not a killer. He was a good guy.”
“A good guy who robs people,” King said dryly. “Don’t forget, he was in prison for burglary.”
Asher jutted his chin. “Yes, he was. But in all those cases, I’ll bet you won’t find one case where anyone got hurt.”
“You seem to know a lot about his crimes,” Hank said. “Except the one we’re asking about. Why is that?”
Asher shrugged. “Everything I know is public information. I followed his case, and I was in contact with him while he was inside, but we never talked about what he did. And I know he never hurt anyone.”
Hank looked at King and jerked his head toward the door. They stood and King followed Hank into the hallway.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” Hank said. “He’s just a guy who decided to take matters into his own hands. It was a dumb move, to be sure, but I guess he figures blood is thicker than water.”
King nodded. “Yeah, you might be right. I don’t think he knows anything else.”
“All right. Book him for assault, and at least he’ll be handy if we need to talk to him again.” Hank turned away and then stopped. “See if you can convince Shaft to let this guy off with simple assault. He doesn’t belong in prison.”