PART 35 by John Nicholas Iannuzzi Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t say that because the district attorney is against Puerto Ricans, or we should save him just because he’s Puerto Rican. But with a cop dead, Alvarado is going to have a difficult time showing he’s not guilty—not only because he’s Puerto Rican, but also because he’s colored, and he’s a junky.”
    â€œOh, yeah, that’s right, he’s a junky,” Soto repeated.
    â€œYou know Alvarado?” Mike asked.
    â€œWhich one is Alvarado, the dark guy or the guy who lives over here?” asked Soto, turning to point east across the rooftops.
    â€œAlvarado is the dark one.”
    â€œNo, I don’t know him. I seen him at the station house that night, that’s all.”
    Sandro’s eyes widened as the words floated into the night from Soto’s lips. “You were at the station house the night this happened, when Alvarado was there?” His eyes scrutinized every movement of Soto’s eyes.
    â€œAlvarado is the dark guy, right?” Soto inquired again.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œYeah, I went to the station house and was sittin’ there, you know, when they brought him in. They wanted me to identify the things that was taken from my apartment.”
    â€œAnd who else was there?” Sandro hoped he sounded casual. “Was there a woman there, someone who saw what happened?”
    â€œLet’s see. I was there first, then a couple of minutes later my wife came over with her mother”—he was raising a finger for each—“the girl from down the block, Asunta, and an Italian girl. Five I know of.”
    â€œThis Asunta, is she an abortionist, Puerto Rican?” Sandro probed.
    â€œI don’t know what she does. She lives down the street. She was the one who told the cops that the other guy, the guy who lived down the street, he owned the car, you know, the one double-parked, that he lived upstairs.”
    â€œDid she say anything about one of them coming out of the building?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œDid you talk to her, to Asunta, since this happened?”
    â€œAfter that night, you mean? No.”
    â€œIs that all the people who were there?” Sandro asked.
    â€œThat’s all when I was there. I don’t know about before me or later. There was lots of people going in and out.”
    â€œYou weren’t home at the time of the shooting, were you?” Sandro knew he hadn’t been.
    â€œNo, I was at work. I didn’t know anything until I got home that night, and then I seen all the police in the street.”
    â€œDid you speak to the police or any other people in the neighborhood since this happened, besides in the police station?”
    â€œI spoke to a lot of police and a lot of people.” He was very proud.
    â€œWhat did you hear?”
    â€œWell, I didn’t take it down or nothin’, you know?”
    â€œJust tell me whatever you remember hearing.”
    â€œThese guys was robbing my apartment, and this Italian girl saw them on the fire escape and told the police. And then the cop went up to the roof, and the dark guy had a fight with the cop. Then this dark guy—that’s your guy, right?”
    â€œYes,” Sandro replied with restraint.
    â€œWell, he shot the cop in the back, and ran down one of the other buildings.”
    Sandro’s face remained calm; the rest of him was jolted. “Were there witnesses who actually saw this happen?”
    â€œGee, I don’t know. Like.I said, I wasn’t paying too much attention, if you know what I mean. To tell the truth, I was a little scared, you know.”
    â€œMr. Soto,” Sandro said, “you might be able to help save a man’s life. It’s quite possible that Alvarado didn’t do this thing. If the police come around to see you again, if you see the other people in the neighborhood, perhaps you could lend us a hand, talking to them, asking questions.”
    Sandro