"Will Alex McKnight be able to help correct a serious mistake made almost 30 years ago in Detroit?"
Reviewed by Tanzey Cutter
Posted June 10, 2013
Thriller P.I.
Alex McKnight's final weeks as a police officer in Detroit
come back to haunt him when he receives a call from a
retired colleague that the young teen Alex was partly
instrumental in sending to prison for murder is being
paroled. There's always been a nagging question in Alex's
mind about Darryl King's guilt, since he never got to be a
part of the final results or the trial. Shortly after
King's arrest, during a routine inquiry, Alex's partner was
killed and Alex was shot three times; one of the bullets is
still lodged close to his heart. Maybe leaving his Paradise
home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for Detroit wouldn't be
such a bad idea. He could revisit old acquaintances,
especially good friend FBI agent Janet Long. The Detroit that Alex remembers is a mere shadow of its
former vibrancy. It is half the size it was with vacant or
burned out homes and buildings everywhere. Some
neighborhoods are nonexistent. It's a culture shock for
Alex, but he's determined to find out the truth of the King
case, especially when the arresting officer, now also
retired, begins to doubt King's confession. When another
murder related to the case occurs, it doesn't take long for
Alex to realize things are not as they seem. Now, if he can
just live long enough to discover what happened all those
years ago -- and the real identity of the killer. Steve Hamilton has written another compelling
addition to his continually outstanding Alex McKnight
series with LET IT BURN. As always, Hamilton's writing is
realistically stylized with three-dimensional characters
and atmospheric locales. You literally feel the heartbreak
of present-day Detroit in comparison to its former glory
days as the renowned Motor City. LET IT BURN is thrilling
crime drama at its very best.
SUMMARY
Alex McKnight doesn't leave Michigan's Upper Peninsula if
he can help it. He steers clear of Detroit in particular,
where he once worked as a cop. The city will forever remind
him of his partner's death and of the bullet still lodged
in his own chest. But a woman he can't shake has drawn him
back to finally see what's there between them. While he's in the city, he can't help but stop by his old
precinct. It's now closed, like the countless abandoned
buildings that surround it. His visit has reminded him of a
case he was working on during that last summer. After his
partner was killed and Alex left the force, the case was
solved, and a man was sentenced to life in prison for the
crime. Alex remembers something, a seemingly small piece of
the puzzle that he never got to share. But all these years
later, when he looks up the now-retired lead detective,
this new piece of information doesn't exactly get a warm
reception. The detective solved the case, after all, and
justice was served. Until Alex does a little more digging and finds out that
the real culprit might have gotten away. And might still be
out there, preying on more victims...
ExcerptChapter One
Summers die hard in Paradise.
The first time you live through it, and because this
place still has the "MI" as part of the address, you might
actually expect the summer to fade away slowly like it does
below the bridge. Down there, on a crystal blue day in
September, the sun shining hot and bright until it starts to
go down, you might feel a slight note of coolness in the
air, a note that makes you think of football and
back–to–school and leaves turning and all those
other bittersweet signs that the season is changing.
Something so subtle you might even be forgiven for missing
it the first time it happened. Especially if you didn't
want the summer to end.
Up here, on the shores of Lake Superior, there's a cold
wind that gathers from the north and picks up weight as it
builds its way across two hundred miles of open water, and
then, on a late afternoon in August – hell, sometimes in
July – that wind hits you square in the face and make its
intention quite clear, no matter how much you might not like
the message. Summer may not be
one–hundred–percent done, not just yet, but it's
been mortally gutshot, and it's only a matter of days until
it's gone.
It was late August this time around. Actual late August,
meaning an absurdly long summer. I've got six cabins
stretched along an old logging road, built by my father, and
in the summer I rent them out to a particular brand of
tourist who wants to get away from everything without
actually going to Canada or Alaska. They're mostly repeat
customers, because there's something about this place.
While they're here, they might go around the corner to
Tahquamenon Falls, or all the way up to the Shipwreck Museum
on Whitefish Point, stand there and look out at the vast
expanse of water, maybe think about the Edmund Fitzgerald
resting just a few miles out there, six hundred feet below
the surface. Come back and spend some time at the Glasgow
Inn. That's summer in Paradise.
I was at that very same Glasgow Inn that night. I was
sitting at the bar, instead of my usual place in front of
the fire, having given up my chair and the chair opposite to
a couple from Wyandotte. They were staying in one of my
cabins, and when they asked me where they should go to eat,
I had directed them here for Jackie's famous beef stew.
After that and a couple of cocktails, they looked to be
quite content, just sitting by the fire and looking at each
other.
As for me, well... There was nobody for me to look at.
I had just felt the northern wind and had come in to inform
Jackie that summer was on its last legs, something he never
enjoyed hearing. Which might be why I always made a point
of being the one to tell him. We have that kind of
relationship, I guess. I bother him on a nightly basis, and
in return he complains to me about everything in the world,
including my own presence in his bar.
Oh, and once a week, he drives across the bridge to bring
me back a case of real Canadian Molson.
"I don't think I can take another winter," he said to
me, as he banged down one of those Molsons on the bartop.
"You say that every year."
"This time, I mean it." He'd been here in Paradise,
Michigan going on thirty years now, and yet he still had
that Scottish accent. He'd tell you that he'd lost it, of
course, that he sounded just as American as I did. Just one
more thing he was wrong about.
There was a television above the bar. The sound was off,
but I was watching the Tigers play the Rangers. It was a
home game, in what I still thought of as their brand new
ballpark, even though it had been a few years now. Comerica
Park, one of those new–style parks that opened up into
the city, showing off all of the downtown buildings I had
once known so well. Three hundred miles from where I was
sitting, and what felt like a thousand years ago.
"I hear Arizona's nice," Jackie said. "I hear it's real
nice."
"They have rattlesnakes there," I said, not taking my
eyes off the television. "And scorpions."
Jackie scoffed at that, but I could tell the idea had
gotten to him. There weren't any rattlesnakes or scorpions
crawling around when he was growing up in Glasgow, and as
for Paradise... Well, you might find an eastern massasauga
rattlesnake if you really went out looking for one. But
you'd probably never find one in your bed.
"Summer's supposed to last more than a goddamned month,"
he said. "That's the part I just don't know if I can live
with anymore."
"I think we had double that this year. Besides, you love
the winters up here."
He just stood there looking at me, bar towel in hand,
like he was ready to smack me with it.
"It's cold as hell," I said, "it snows every day, and it
lasts forever. What's not to like?"
He shook his head, looking tired, like winter had already
begun.
"Seriously," I said. "You love winter because you know
this becomes the best place on earth. This bar, right over
there by that fireplace."
"With your sorry backside parked in front of it every
night, ordering me around. You're right, it doesn't get any
better."
He looked over at the couple by the fireplace.
"How old do you think those two are, anyway?"
"Hell if I know." I turned to give them a quick
once–over. "Forty, maybe?"
"Forty years old and they're sitting there looking at
each other like they're on their honeymoon."
"Second honeymoon," I said. "That's what they told me.
They wanted to go to the most
out–of–the–way place they could find
without having to fly."
"Which cabin do you have them in?"
"The last one. Now that I finally have it finished."
Meaning rebuilt and refurnished, after somebody burned it
down for me.
"End of the line," he said, nodding his approval. "Won't
be a soul bothering them there."
"You're sounding almost romantic, Jackie. Did you hit
your head today?"
"Smartass." He turned away from me and started cleaning
some glasses. This was the man who had survived the worst
marriage in the history of mankind, to hear him tell it.
Yet here he was, getting downright wistful at the sight of a
man and a woman who were obviously married and didn't seem
to hate each other.
Then it occurred to me. This was a bar in a town that
saw its fair share of hunters in the fall, snowmobilers in
the winter. Which means lots of men. Birdwatching had
become the big thing in the spring lately, meaning mostly
women. Then families in the summertime. A mom and a dad,
yes, but also a couple of kids along to complain about how
their cell phones don't work up here. The one sight you
don't see too often in Paradise, Michigan is a
moony–eyed couple, whether on their first honeymoon or
their second.
The man caught my eye and raised his glass to me. I
raised my bottle of Molson in return.
I'd been married myself once. A long time ago, to a
woman I met when I went back to college after baseball. A
woman I didn't have much in common with, aside from the "Mc"
in our last names. Jeannie McDonald, who became Jeannie
McKnight, who went back to being Jeannie McDonald again.
Who may have then remarried and changed her name yet again.
I'm ashamed to say I don't even know if she did, or if she
still lives in Michigan. If we had had children together,
the story would be different, I'm sure. Or if I ever paid a
cent of alimony. At least that way I would have had an
address to send checks to. As it was, she just left. Just
walked away. I got the divorce papers in the mail, I signed
them, I sent them back to her lawyer, and then we were done.
I wonder if she feels guilty. Wherever she is now,
whoever she's with, I wonder if she looks back at the way
she bailed out on me a few weeks after I got shot and has
any regrets.
Hell, I wonder if I'd even hold it against her now. I
think I knew, way back when, that we'd never last, shooting
or no shooting. I think we both knew.
I sat there at the bar, looking at my bottle as the
Tigers played in silence above my head. There'd been a few
women in that lost year after I left the force. Then I'd
come up to Paradise thinking I'd sell off my father's cabins
and had ended up staying here. Something about the place
had spoken to me. Like this is where you really belong,
Mister. In the midst of these trees bending in the wind.
On the shores of this cold lake. This stark lonely place on
the edge of the world, which also turns into the most
beautiful place on earth for the few days they call summer.
Then there was Sylvia, the wife of a rich man who thought
I was his friend. Then Natalie, a cop from Ontario, someone
who'd lost her partner, just as I had. Someone who may or
may not have turned out to be the right person for me, if I
had ever gotten the chance to find out.
No. God damn it. No.
I put the bottle down. This is not where you want to be
going tonight, I said to myself. This is not going to make
you feel one little bit better about going back to that
cabin alone.
"What's with you?" Jackie said.
"I'm fine."
He narrowed his eyes at me like he wasn't buying it.
Which made it feel like the right time to leave. A minute
later I was outside in the cold night air, looking up at the
stars and listening to the soft waves just behind the tree line.
I got in the truck and took the left turn down that old
logging road, deep into the woods, passing my one neighbor's
cabin. Vinnie Red Sky Leblanc, a blackjack dealer over at
the Bay Mills casino. He'd gotten into some trouble and I'd
been watching out for him. The lights were on at his place
and everything looked normal, so I gave him a honk and kept
driving. My cabin was the first, the one I'd helped my old
man build back when I was eighteen years old and on my way
to play single A ball. Back when I was young, stupid, full
of energy, and I didn't have a nine–millimeter slug
sitting half a centimeter from my heart.
When I got inside, I saw the light flashing on the
answering machine. I don't get a hell of a lot of calls. I
hit the play button and listened to a voice from my distant
past.
"Hey, Alex McKnight! This is Tony Grimaldi. Remember
me? I was a sergeant in the First Precinct, way the hell
back when. I hope you're doing okay, and I hope you don't
mind me calling you out of the blue. But I'm really just
making a courtesy call and I'd appreciate it if you could
give me a call back."
He gave me his number. Then he signed off.
I stood there looking down at the machine, wondering why
in God's name a desk sergeant from the old precinct would be
calling me. I checked the time. I was in early, thanks to
Jackie being an extra pain in the ass that night. So I
figured what the hell, give the sergeant a call back.
I dialed the number, making note of the 734 area code.
That was one of the new codes split off from the original
313. If you still had a 313, that meant you were either in
Detroit, or close enough to see it from your front door.
"Alex, is that you?"
"Sergeant Grimaldi," I said. "How have you been, sir?"
"You can call me Tony now. I don't wear a badge anymore."
A half beat of silence then, as we skipped over my
comeback. I wasn't wearing a badge anymore, either. I
hadn't worn one in many years.
"How long have you been out?" I said.
"It's over ten years now. Hard to imagine. But most
days I don't miss it much, to tell you the truth."
"I hear ya."
"Nothing like it, of course. You know what I mean."
Another half beat.
"I know what you mean," I said. "You're absolutely
right. But how did you ever think to get ahold of me after
all this time?"
"Well, like I said in the message, it's just a courtesy
call. I play golf with a few of the actives, and one of
them happened to mention you. He was going to call you
himself, but I told him I'd love to catch up with you."
"Okay. Glad you did." That's what I said, but it still
wasn't making any sense.
"I understand you're still drawing the disability, so
obviously they had all of your contact information."
Disability. Not exactly my favorite word in the world,
but I guess that's what you had to call it officially. When
an officer gets shot on the job, he's eligible for
two–thirds of his salary for the rest of his life. I
don't make a point of telling most people that, because
they'll inevitably look at me and try to see how it is I'm
supposedly disabled now. I mean, I can't raise my right arm
all the way anymore. I can't throw a ball, which would have
been more of a big deal back when I was a catcher, I
realize, but not so much now. If you really pressed me, I'd
just have to tell you that I took three bullets and only two
came out, and I'm supposed to go get periodic X–rays
to make sure that third bullet isn't migrating closer to my
heart, at which point it could kill me.
I'm supposed to go get those X–rays every year, but
I don't. And I'm supposed to feel either guilt or gratitude
or a mixture of both every time I get one of those checks in
the mail, but I don't feel that, either. Mostly I just try
to forget it ever happened.
"So what did you have to tell me, Sergeant? I've never
gotten a courtesy call before."
"I told you, call me Tony, please. But here's the deal.
You remember a case you worked on, that last year you were
on the force, where you ended up putting away a guy named
Darryl King?"
I was confused for exactly one second, because I never
made detective and so technically I never really worked on a
"case." But as soon as I connected the name to the crime it
all came back to me. You don't see a crime scene like that
without remembering it for the rest of your life.
"Darryl King," I said. "In the train station."
"You forgot ‘With the knife.'"
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, bad joke. You know, like in that game? Colonel
Mustard, in the library, with the lead pipe?"
That's cop humor for you. A way to distance yourself
from the most horrible crimes of all. A way to keep your
sanity.
"I've been away too long," I said. "But seriously, why
are we talking about Darryl King? Don't tell me he's
getting out."
"He is. Believe it or not."
"That makes no sense. He drew a lot more time than that,
didn't he?"
"Tell me about it. But remember how he was, what,
sixteen years old?"
"I don't remember exactly, but that sounds about right."
"Yeah, sixteen. Tried as an adult. It's been a real
thing in the court lately, going back over those cases with
youthful offenders."
"Like what, we were supposed to just send him home with a
warning because he was a minor? Stop killing people or
we'll take away your allowance?"
"Hey, I'm just the messenger here, Alex. You're
preaching to the choir."
"Sorry, it's just..."
"I know, I know. Believe me. I've seen a few other
cases like that. Maybe not as bad as this one. But bottom
line, the kid's spent his whole adult life in prison. I
don't know where's he going to live, what he's gonna do, but
I do know he'll be out in a few days. Not that I expect him
to come looking for you or anything."
"No, probably not. Good luck finding me, even if he
wanted to."
The sergeant laughed at that. "Yeah, what, you're where,
in Paradise? I gotta be honest, I had to look up where that
is before I called you."
"It's a long way from Detroit," I said. "I don't think
I'll have to watch my back."
"No, like I said, I don't expect this kid to do anything.
I keep calling him a kid, I realize, and he's not a kid
now. But you know what I mean. You just need to let people
know."
"I understand. So you called me..."
"And Detective Bateman, yes."
"Wow, Arnie Bateman," I said. "Another name I haven't
heard in a long time."
"Yeah, he's off the force now, too. Left right around
the same time I did. Things were just getting a little too
crazy in the department. More and more politics every year."
"Okay, so me and the detective. I assume you're letting
the victim's family know, too?"
"The court system does that. Certainly won't be me, and
no thank you, anyway. That would be a whole different thing."
"I can't even imagine," I said. "I remember talking to
the husband. It's been a long time, and maybe he's moved on
with his life. Gotten married again, I don't know. But in
a way it probably feels like it just happened, you know?"
"Exactly. Now they're telling you the guy who killed
your wife is going to walk free."
"I still can't believe it," I said. "Was it first degree
murder in the end?"
I wasn't there for that part. I was in the hospital when
the trial took place, or maybe I was already out of the
hospital and off the force and living through my lost year.
"Second degree, I think. After they cut that deal or
whatever they did. But still. It's not right."
"Well, I appreciate the call, Sergeant. It was good to
hear from you."
"Tony, damn it. And you know what? We have to have a
drink sometime. You ever get down this way? I live in
Plymouth now."
"Plymouth? Really?" Last I saw it, Plymouth was a
little town in the middle of a corn field or something,
twenty miles west of Detroit on the way to nowhere.
"Yeah, you wouldn't recognize the place now. But look
who's talking, anyway. At least you don't have to look up
Plymouth on the map."
"Fair point."
"But I mean it, Alex, I should have called you a long
time ago. It's not right to lose touch like that. You
gotta get down here so we can catch up for real. We'll have
that drink and your money's no good down here."
"Next time I'm downstate. I promise."
"You'd better, Officer. That's an order. You take care
of yourself, all right?"
I promised him I would. Then we both hung up and I'm not
sure either of us really thought we'd ever see each other again.
**********
An hour later, I was still thinking about the call. That
name, Darryl King, which had been so important to me, so
long ago. To the whole city of Detroit, really, in that one
hot month of June. I had done my small part to bring him to
justice, and then my own life had gotten turned
upside–down, just a matter of days later. I had had
no reason to ever think about him again. Until now.
I was in my truck, rolling down to the end of the logging
road, past four empty cabins. The one family in the second
cabin had just left that morning. That left only the couple
in the last cabin, the same couple I had seen that evening,
down at the Glasgow. The lights were on when I pulled up.
I could see that they were inside.
I took an armload of firewood from the bed of my truck
and stacked it next to the front door. Then the door opened
and the man was standing there, looking out at me.
"Don't mean to disturb you," I said. "It's just getting
a little cold tonight, so I thought I'd leave some wood."
"It's August," he said, with some kind of fake outrage.
"It's not supposed to get cold."
He thought that was pretty funny. When he was done
laughing, he thanked me for the wood.
"This has been such a great week," he said. "We really
love it up here."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that."
"It's not even that cold in here, but I think I'll start
a fire anyway. It really gets Gloria in the mood, if you
know what I mean."
I just nodded at that one. Definitely more than I needed
to hear, but what the hell. You're lucky enough to be alone
with someone who loves you, in a nice cozy cabin at the end
of the road in the most remote place you could ever find
yourself in. Your real lives, all of your responsibilities
and all of the demands, they're all are back home, three
hundred miles away. Why not pretend you're newlyweds again?
"You have a good night." I got back in my truck and
drove back down that lonely road to my lonely cabin. I had
already made the decision by the time I got back inside.
I called back my old sergeant, surprising the hell out of
him, I'm sure. I told him I'd be coming back downstate to
take him up on his offer of a drink.
Then I made one more call.
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