Page 80 of The 24th Hour
Bailey led Alvarez to the door to the cage, opened it to let her inside. He said, “Padre, this is Inspector Alvarez from the San Francisco PD.”
Padre turned to look up at her. He gave her a second look and whistled through his teeth.
Alvarez ignored the whistle and took the seat facing the prisoner, with a clear view of Bailey, who was standing to her right outside the cage.
“Mr. Rochas—”
“You can call me Padre.”
“And you may call me Inspector Alvarez,” she said.
“Como esta?” he said with a smile.
“Pretty good, Padre, and you?”
“I guess we’ll both know after we talk. If I board a plane to Mexico City tonight, I’ll be hanging by my neck in my cell in a week. What do you want me to say?”
Alvarez said, “I’m going to tape our conversation, Padre. Save us a lot of time.”
Alvarez set up her phone on the table and pressed the button to record.
“Let’s start over again, Mr. Rochas. I’m Inspector Alvarez, SFPD Homicide. Sergeant Bailey has reported comments from confidential informants—”
“Snitches.”
“—that you had a relationship with Jamie Fricke. Did you go to his wife Holly’s funeral service in Pacific Heights about six months ago?”
“Says who?”
Alvarez picked up her phone, went to the photo gallery app, and opened Cappy’s photo of someone who may have been Rochas. She held it up to his eye level, out of reach of his cuffed hands. “Is this you?”
Rochas laughed. “I was there.”
“But you didn’t know the deceased.”
“I went out of respect for her husband.”
“Did you have anything to do with Holly Fricke’s death? Did you know about a plan for her death or take some role in a plan? Did you pull the trigger?”
Rochas grinned. For a second, gold teeth flashed under the fluorescent lights.
“Inspector, you think if I had anything to do with that whore’s death I should tell you?”
“Up to you, Padre. If you took part in her murder, you might not be going back to Mexico and life in prison. Life might be as long as a few days.”
Rochas laughed. “What you might call an interesting proposition. I have a better one. Take me back to the City by the Bay for questioning. See what I say.”
Alvarez said, “Answer the question, Padre, or I’m saying, ‘Vaya con Dios.’”
“Okay, okay, I had nothing to do with Holly Slut’s death. Nothing. Not word. Not deed.”
“Thank you,” Alvarez said. “Same questions about Jamie. The street is talking, saying you feel James suckered you into a sports bet on the Bleus while you were cruising around Vegas. That you held a grudge against him because he wouldn’t make you whole.”
“What does ‘make whole’ mean?”
“It means to reimburse you, pay you back for your loss.”
“Right. I lost a quarter of a million dollars. He wouldn’t pay me back. He was a snake and everyone knew it. You want me to confess to killing him, so we go back to Frisco? I awaittrial. And maybe go free? Maybe take you to a good restaurant to celebrate.”