Bad Habit by JD Faver

badge and asked who was in charge. He was directed
to a tall African-American man in plain clothes.
    “ Are you Sergeant Tolliver?” he
asked.
    The large man turned with his back
bowed and his chin jutting at an angle. “I’m Sergeant E. E.
Tolliver. Who wants to know?” His rich baritone was softened by his
Texas accent.
    The uniformed officer beside him
had a mostly black German shepherd on a leash. The dog’s ears were
on alert and he eyed Angel suspiciously.
    “ I’m Detective Garcia and I’m way
out of my jurisdiction.” He handed his badge to the Sergeant and
dug a card out of his pocket.
    A deep crease between the
Sergeant’s brows attested to his perpetual frown. “New York City?
You are a long way from home, but you don’t sound like no Yankee.
Why are you here?” He returned the badge but kept the
card.
    “ I’m from San Antonio originally,
but I live in New York. I came down on a case. What’s going on
here?”
    “ There’s been a homicide. Do you
have anything to tell me about it?” The Sergeant glared at Angel
with the same suspicion as the dog.
    “ Who was the victim?” Angel
asked.
    “ Look for yourself. He’s got no ID
on him.” The Sergeant stepped back to reveal a crime scene tech
taking pictures and another gathering evidence from around the
body.
    Angel stepped closer and recognized
the crumpled form. He squatted on his haunches. The corpse stared
into the trees with a surprised expression on his face. His glasses
were missing and the comb-over had flapped down to cover his right
ear. The front of his shirt was stained with a large amount of
blood and his pockets had been turned inside out.
    “ Well, do you know him or not?”
Sergeant Tolliver drew his brows closer together and jutted his
chin out even farther.
    “ I know his name. He’s a local PI
named Marcel Farmer.”
    “ And just how do you happen to know
his name?” The sergeant planted his fists on his hips and leaned
over Angel.
    Angel stood up and Tolliver stepped
back abruptly.
    “ He was indirectly involved with my
case.” Angel took a few steps away from the crime scene.
    “ Well I guess you just better start
talking about your case then because I’m thinking you could be
involved with this Marcel Farmer’s demise.”
    Angel raised a skeptical brow. “I
flew down to follow up on a lead. A man was killed in New York City
and his girl friend went missing. The woman’s only relative is a
nun and she teaches at St. Pius.” He decided to leave out Teri’s
identity to prevent her being drawn into this case.
    “ How does that have any bearing on
this man being killed?”
    “ I wish I knew. Farmer was hired by
someone to search for the woman. He was keeping surveillance on the
nuns in case the missing woman showed up.”
    “ And you know this
because...”
    “ Because I was doing the same
thing.” Angel grinned at him, but didn’t get any change in the
sergeant’s demeanor. “I confronted him a couple of nights ago. I
wanted to make sure he wasn’t one of the killers.”
    “ And how did you happen to turn up
here so conveniently tonight? Did you have some reason to think Mr.
Marcel Farmer would meet his maker right here in the early morning
hours?”
    “ I received a call from one of the
nuns. She was worried about the commotion so I promised her I would
check it out.”
    “ You don’t mean to tell me that a
nun could see these goings on from a block away?” Tolliver’s voice
had taken on a strident tone and his upper lip was curled back in a
snarl.
    “ The nun’s apartment is right up
there.” Angel turned and pointed to the second story landing in
front of the apartment. He thought he saw movement at the window as
though someone had been peering out from behind the
curtains.
    “ They let them nuns live there?”
The sergeant sounded incredulous. “I thought they keep them all
locked up behind walls.”
    “ It’s a new day, Sergeant,” Angel
said.
    The sergeant, missing his meaning
looked