The Corpse Had a Familiar Face
Covering Miami, America's Hottest Beat
Introduction
It was my day off, but it was murder. Again.
The phone caught me on the way out. A body in a car in a parking lot. Sure, I said. It was on my way. I'd check it out. It was high noon, during the Christmas rush, in a city parking lot outside a Miami Beach department store near bustling Lincoln Road Mall.
A shiny, lime-green Coupe de Ville sat at a meter, its wheels turned sharply. The red flag signaled violation.
The driver's time had run out.
The meter maid had written a parking ticket. She leaned over to place it on the windshield and saw the man inside. A parking ticket would not irritate this driver. Nothing would. She called the police.
A knot of patrolmen and detectives ringed the car. I still hoped it was something simple. Maybe a heart attack, or a suicide. A bald, cigar-smoking detective named Emery Zerick stepped away from the car and called my name. I saw the look in his eyes and I knew: My day off was down the toilet.
This cop was no rookie. He had seen it all -- and more. It was clear that something w ... read full excerpt from The Corpse Had a Familiar Face: Covering Miami, America's Hottest Beat ebook
