to keep a ho for a while. But pretty soon, she stop being a ho for the man and think she a lady. If a rich man wants a lady, he don’t come to the stro looking for one or dial one up from an escort service.”
“How long’s it been since she worked the corner?”
“Four, five years, maybe more.” Tanya stuffed the last bite of cheeseburger in her mouth, wadded up the wrapper, and threw it on the floor. “Blondie was always chirpy happy. Never a bad day. A sweetie pie. Always get along with everybody. I think that even when she had lots of regulars and was making plenty of money, she came out here for fun. You know—the thrill of a new dick. Just like with you, Sinclair. I bet when they make you chief of police, you still get in your po-lize car and come out here.”
“You don’t have to worry about me making police chief,” Sinclair said with a grin. “Who else might know what she’s been up to recently?”
“Talk with your friend Jimmy.”
“Jimmy?”
“Yeah, you know. Sheila’s old man.”
“I thought Jimmy was still in Santa Rita.”
“He been out at least a month.”
“Where’s he hanging?”
“Down here or maybe at the Palms.”
“What will Jimmy tell me when I talk to him?”
“He might tell you that he knows Blondie ever since she got off the bus. He watched over her back then. When Blondie stopped working the corner and she still come out here, most the time it was to check on him. Couple years back, Jimmy was tweaking bad, shooting a hundred dollars a day. Blondie makes some calls and gets him into a thirty-day program in Napa. People say she paid for it.”
“So Jimmy was her pimp back in the day?”
“Maybe at first, but she probably went independent quick.”
“Did she have any problems with anyone, anyone who would want to hurt her?”
“All the girls loved her. There was no competition. Some men like her Barbie look, some like full-figured dark meat. Never heard a trick say she didn’t treat him good. But you know, Sinclair, sometimes a john can go off.”
“Have there been any weird or rough tricks around lately?”
“No more than usual.” Tanya loudly sucked the last of her milkshake through the straw and threw the cup on the floor next to the wrapper. “I didn’t ask because I know you homicide, and if you asking about Blondie, it means she dead. How’d she die?”
“Someone shot her and hung her from a tree out in East Oakland.”
“Honey, that’s some cold shit. You gonna get whoever did that?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m gonna get him.”
They dropped Tanya off on her corner and headed up Market Street. “You were awful quiet,” Sinclair said to Braddock.
“I know better than to interfere when you’re working your Sinclair charm with the ladies.”
“Yup, buy a girl dinner and they put out for you.”
“Is the Jimmy she mentioned the famous CI I’ve heard so much about?”
“Jimmy Davis, confidential informant extraordinaire. I popped him for a two-eleven strong arm when I worked robbery. He was a tennis-shoe pimp, running two or three old worn-out whores at Thirtieth and Market and supplementing his income by robbing tricks. I had three robbery cases on him. Needless to say, none of his victims were too thrilled about testifying. Who’d want to admit that when you’re getting head from some skanky whore, a guy yanks open the car door and rips your wallet out of your pants? But I told Jimmy he was looking at five to ten with his past record. He came up with the names of the crew that was responsible for twenty bank jobs in the Bay Area. I had one of the cases—three guys all wearing masks who hit the Wells Fargo. The FBI coordinated the cases from eight different cities. They had no leads, but Jimmy’s info was enough for me to get a search warrant. From there, I had enough evidence to arrest the suspects and clear all the cases. Of course, the FBI tried to take credit for it.”
“Did Jimmy walk on the strong-arm robberies he committed?”
“I could have gotten him a pass, but he was out of control and needed to go away for a while, so I asked the DA to offer him six months.”
Braddock smiled. “And thus the relationship was formed.”
“He’s called me with tips ever since, and helped me solve three murders. If anything’s happening along West Mac or the San Pablo stroll, Jimmy knows about it. But