Son of John Devlin

1 "The dirty cop will inevitably reveal himself," Del Rio said. "He'll always give off a sign, an indication." Del Rio buffed a crisp, red apple on the chest of his jacket, regarded the apple, then bit into it. "Why do I say this?" Del Rio asked. He sat back in the passenger seat of a black Jeep Cherokee and stared at Detective Jack Devlin, positioned behind the wheel. "Why do I say that the dirty cop will inevitably reveal himself? With Moloney here," he went on, motioning vaguely toward the street as cars rode by, headlights shining, "with Moloney, there's just always been something about him. He's shrewd, it's true. Clever guy, by no means stupid. But he's a pig. He could have been a player within the department. But he's one of those who gave in to the anger and bitterness. It's a fucking way of life in Boston, isn't it, Jack?" Devlin nodded slowly as he stretched his head back, his arms to the sides. "It was ever thus," he said, preferring not to delve into a topic where the shoals and eddies held more danger than one might imagine. "Anyway, he's a fat asshole," Del Rio said, a look of disgust crossing his face. He waved dismissively, as though banishing thoughts of Moloney from his mind. Devlin looked at Del Rio with a half smile. "You hide it well," Devlin said. Del Rio appeared puzzled. "What?" "Your dislike for Moloney," Devlin said. "You camouflage it nicely." Del Rio laughed. "Fuck him," he said. "My point is simple: The dirty cop will always show himself. Eventually. There'll be a sign. Know why?" "Tell me," Devlin said. "Because the dirty cop is arrogant, by definition. Otherwise he is not capable of doing what he's doing. He's incapable. To go bad, a cop has to believe he's higher than the law, or not so much higher as exempt from it. He has to believe it doesn't so much apply to him." Del Rio, the deputy superintendent of the Boston Police Department, chief of all detectives, munched on the apple as he thought about this topic. He glanced out the window, then looked at Devlin. "You know what the character flaw is with these guys?" Del Rio asked. Devlin shook his head. "Hubris," Del Rio said. "They're all guilty of it. Hubris." He paused. "You familiar with this concept?" Del Rio asked. Devlin nodded. "Arrogant pride," he said. "It's" "Exactly," Del Rio interrupted. "Arrogant pride. Overreaching. Most of those who go bad have something in their record, some achievement, sometimes amazing things. They think, you know, they're above it all. Not accountable. Derived from the Greeks. Aristides the Just was the classic case. He ruled, what was it, Athens? A city-state. Ruled with such a level of purity, self-conscious purity always on display, that they drove him from office. But it wasn't long before corruption had taken root in the city and they were clamoring for his return." Suddenly, Del Rio caught himself. "You know this," he said. "You're familiar with this. Not new territory to you." He paused. "Somebody said you're the only Harvard man on the force. That true?" "Evans went to the Kennedy School," Devlin said. Del Rio squinted and shookKenney, Charles is the author of 'Son of John Devlin' with ISBN 9780449003206 and ISBN 0449003205.