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David Katz. She let it pass.
"Daddy?"
"Um?"
    "When a policeman shoots somebody , kills somebody ... is it something you ever get over?"
    "Sweetheart, what do you say we talk about some thing nicer."
"Because I want us to learn to be more open. Maybe that's a bad place to start but I've had a whole lifetime of you never opening up to me. I've also had a whole lifetime of mom telling me never to bother you with my problems and never to say anything that might worry you."
     
Lesko frowned at her.
"I'm sorry. Forget it."
"Susan, that last part. Is it true?"
"Of course it is."
"I never knew that. I really didn't."
"It's okay."
"It's not okay. What did she say exactly?"
    "She would just talk to me about how dangerous your job is and how you had to have your head clear at all times. And how she didn't want you getting hurt because your mind was on a broken washing machine or any of my little schoolgirl problems."
    "Little schoolgirl problems. Are those your words or hers?"
"Mom's."
"With due respect, she could be a real jerk at times."
"It's okay, daddy."
    "As for your question about shootings it's not so much that I don't want to answer ... it's just that gen eral questions can lead to specific questions and there are certain things you and I should never ask each other."
"That isn't true. It shouldn't be true."
    "Fine. Then let's talk about your sex life. I realize you're a big girl and the recent stuff is none of my business so well just talk about whatever happened while you were under my roof. Don't start until I get my pad out."
"You've made your point, thank you very much."
    Susan sipped her second glass of Chablis, sent over by Buzz Donovan, the retired U.S. Attorney.
"Daddy, have you seen Harriet Katz?"
    "Not for a while. I hear she's moving to Florida. It'll do her good."
    "Could I ask you a question about David?" Lesko waited. She saw that same odd look.
    “Would you have turned him in if you knew what he was doing?”
    “Most people think I probably had a piece of it .”
    “Most people don’t know you. You’re the single most honest man I've ever met."
  "Let's not go crazy here."
  "You wouldn't take a dime."
      "Sweetheart," Lesko tapped his Seagram's glass, "if someone wants to buy me drinks, or dinner, or give me some free tickets, I'm not about to read him his rights."
  "That's different."
      "And that word is part of the problem. You can find a way to say 'that's different' about anything. David thought that stealing from drug dealers was different from knocking off a payroll."
      "What would you have done if you knew? Would you have turned him in?"
  "No."
      "Because cops don't turn in cops? No matter what he did?"
  "Not no matter what. Just not for that."
  "What would you have done?"
      "What I wish I'd done is ask more questions when I first saw he was spending more money than he should have had. But it wasn't like he was buying jaguars. It was just things like new clothes and a watch and picking up more than his share of checks. Besides, it didn't go on all that long."
  "But if you'd actually known. What then?"
  “ That's not really a useful question, Susan."
      “ Please? I want to see ... please tell me." What she almost said was that she wanted to see how well she knew him. But she did know him. She saw the anger come flowing right through his eyes. She saw the look that made people afraid of him.
    "I would have taken him into a quiet room," his voice came softly through his teeth, and I would have kicked the living shit out of him. He would have told me where ever y dollar was that could be converted back to cash. I would have stayed on top of him until we had it all and then I would have taken him down to Catholic Charities and stood behind him while he made a large, anonymous donation."
"From David Katz to Catholic Charities?" "An object lesson."
    "It still bothers you. Talking about David Katz, I mean."
"Lately, I guess. I don't know."
"Why lately?"
    Lesko hesitated. But what