“Of Azor,” Waterson said. “Convince him to stay with her, to pray harder, to try to rid himself of these demons. And to make sure he kept it to himself. That was all I said!”

Gilda said, “Mr. Waterson, you know the deal has been cut. No matter what you say, things can’t get worse for you.”

Webster said, “Why don’t you level with us?”

“But I am—”

“You can hide behind your lies with us,” Kent broke in. “But you can’t lie to God. He knows what was in your heart.”

Martinez said, “Where did you know Polinski from?”

Waterson gulped down water. Again, he covered his face, then dropped his hand on the table. “Azor had me deliver some checks to him.” He paused. “To him and a man named Emmanuel Sanchez, aka Grease Pit. Checks for this Peoples for the Environment Freedoms Act that Azor was hepped up on. I never understood it. But I was his lawyer. He asked me to cut a check for him, I cut a check for him.”

“You delivered the check personally to Polinski?” Webster asked.

“Yes, either Polinski or Sanchez.” Waterson’s face had turned red. “Azor gave me a percentage for…cutting the checks and personal delivery.” The old lawyer bit his lip. “Pocket money. Like I was some errand boy.”

“It must have been more than pocket money,” Webster said. “For you to agree to do it.”

“It was…generous, I suppose.”

Webster stared at Waterson, his expression neutral. So much resentment that this man had built up in his mind and Azor never knew. No doubt he thought he was doing Waterson big favors.

He said, “Did you ever talk to Emmanuel Sanchez about taking care of Azor?”

Waterson shook his head. “No, I never spoke to him about the job. But I did deliver money to him afterward on Polinski’s orders.”

Sweat broke from his brow.

“I didn’t want Azor killed. Just scared. Scared enough to abandon his evil plans and heinous ways. Scared enough to keep his mouth shut. Scared enough to go back to God and ask His forgiveness for his wicked thoughts. They went crazy. Not me. That was not part of the deal!”

“But you still paid them off,” Martinez said.

“Of course, I paid them off! At that point, seeing what they were capable of doing, I was too damn scared not to!”

“Polinski do it for the money?” Martinez asked.

“What do you think.”

“I thought he was a friend of Azor’s.”

Waterson laughed bitterly. “You’re talking about monsters who cut their own mother’s throat for money. Of course, with Azor being of that kind, they didn’t need much convincing. They don’t tolerate faggots in their ranks.”

Webster said, “So you called Sparks up, told him to meet you at Tracadero’s?”

Waterson nodded.

“On what pretext did you get him over there?” Martinez asked. “Redoing his papers?”

“Yes.”