Purcell called again from Washington and Trinity. "We got him." A woman"s shrill voice came from the background before the car mike was closed. Crestone gave Purcell the registration information.
Crestone stared at the radio. Jimmy Britton would be drunk, affable, mildly surprised at being picked up. Among other things, when he fumbled out his driver"s license, he would show his honorary membership in the Midway Police Department. Old McGlone would say, "Ah now, Dewey, let"s take the lad home, shall we? No harm"s been done, has it?"
But Purcell was tough and he did not give a d.a.m.n for the social register and he hated drunken drivers. Crestone had been the same way too, and now he was working for a year as a dispatcher.
It was Old McGlone who spoke the next time. "We"ll be going up the hill now to 60 Parkway."
No lucky breaks tonight, Crestone thought. Tomorrow he would think of a dozen things he could have done, and every man out there in the cars would do the same. That was tomorrow. The gun was behind him now. She could reach him when he swung, and she could not miss if she shot.
There was a drawer in the desk full of stories of tough private-eyes who took bushels of guns away from dames clad in almost nothing, and then slapped them all over the joint or made love to them. Joe Crestone sighed. His head was aching brutally. He did not feel like taking any guns away from any dames.
Car 750 came back into service. Moore and Windoff had drunk their coffee. Then 752 went out of service temporarily at the Sunset Drive Inn. Crestone knew how Purcell was feeling now, the to-h.e.l.l-with-it att.i.tude. Old McGlone would be telling him, "There"s some things, Dewey boy, that you"ve got to learn about being a cop." Old McGlone knew them all.
Car 751 signalled arrival at River and Pitt. A few minutes later Kurowski said, "10-98." a.s.signment completed. a.s.signment completed. There was no use to elaborate on nothing. There was no use to elaborate on nothing.
Judith Barrows said, "Send 751 to the Silver Moon on Oldtown Pike to look for a "49 green Ford sedan with front-end damage."
Crestone obeyed. He studied the map. She wanted 751 north and east all the time. Then where in the southern or southeastern part of Midway was any heavy money? There was a brawl at the Riverview country club tonight, maybe a few thousand loose in pockets and a handful of jewelry, but- The phone at Crestone"s elbow and the extension on the desk near the big filing cabinet spilled sound all over the room.
"Don"t touch it until I say so!" the woman said.
She went around the counter and backed into the chair at the other desk. She crossed her legs and steadied the .38 on her knee. She raised the phone and nodded.
"Police station, radio dispatcher," Crestone said.
"Ten cents, please," the operator said.
Crestone heard the pay phone clear. A man asked, "You got a report on State 312?"
"Just a minute." Crestone had never heard of 312.
"Just tell him it"s all clear, Buster." Judith Barrows was holding the mouthpiece against her thigh.
"All clear." Crestone held on to hear a jukebox, the clatter of a cafe-anything to help position the call. The man hung up. A booth, Crestone thought. He put his phone down, staring at the woman"s legs. They were beautiful. He did not give a d.a.m.n. She got up carefully, standing for a moment in a hip-out-of-joint posture. A model, he thought. It was in her walk too when she went around the counter again.
So they knew this end of it was set now. Where was the other end? Somewhere in the southern part of the district covered in normal patrol by Car 751. Anybody could read the red outlines on the map. It struck him then: the Wampum Club. Big business, cold and sure, with a fine patina of politeness, free drinks, free buffet and other incidentals for the regular suckers. The green-and-crackly on the line at Sonny Belmont"s Wampum Club. Let the cops take Jimmy Britton home and tuck him in, but Belmont never took his check, drunk or otherwise.
The job would take at least four fast, tough men. Making Sonny"s boys hold still for a deal like that was not for amateurs. There was a lot of dough around the Wampum; the income tax lads had been wondering how much for a long time.
So I think I"ve got it doped, and what good does it do? Belmont could stand the jolt. Why should men like Corky Gunselman and Sam Kurowski risk catching lead to protect money in a joint like the Wampum? Belmont could stand the jolt. Why should men like Corky Gunselman and Sam Kurowski risk catching lead to protect money in a joint like the Wampum?
That was not the answer and Crestone knew it.
He looked at the last two stolen cars on the list. A "52 blue Mercury and a "53 green Hornet. That Hudson would go like h.e.l.l and the Mercury was not so slow either. Both cars stolen around midnight in Bristol. He wondered which one was outside right now. He could be way off, but he had to figure he was right.
Since the Hornet and the Merc were already aired as hot, they would probably be used only to make the run to another car stashed close. East was the natural route. Old State 7 was narrow and twisting, but the farmers who used it would all be sleeping now. Say a half hour to reach the web of highways around Steel City, and then road blocks would be no more than something to annoy whiz kids on their way home with the old man"s crate. She had asked about State 7.
Car 751 came in. Kurowski said, "Nothing at the Silver Moon with front-end damage. What"s the dope on it?"
"Code 4," Judith Barrows said. "The Ford was last seen going north on Pennsylvania at Third Avenue."
Code 4, hit and run. hit and run. Crestone obeyed the .38. Crestone obeyed the .38.
Kurowski said, "10-4. We"ll swing up that way."
She was keeping 751 north, sure enough. The phone exploded. Judith Barrows went around the counter again to the extension. She nodded.
From the background of a noisy party a man said, "Somebody swiped my car." A woman shouted. "Tell "em it"s even paid for!"
Crestone wrote down the information. A "52 cream Cadillac sedan, R607, taken sometime between 12:30 A.M. and 1:30 A.M. "It was right in the d.a.m.ned driveway," the owner complained. "We"re having a little party here and-"
"Keys in it?" Crestone asked.
"Sure! It was in my own driveway."
"We"ll get on it right away." Crestone hung up.
The woman said, "You won"t put that that one out, Buster." one out, Buster."
So he was guessing right. They had a cream Cad waiting. If they planned to use State 7, the quick run for the crew at the Wampum was up the county road past the country club and then on out Ca.n.a.l to where it intersected across the river with State 7 near the old brick plant. Barrows could shoot straight north on Meredith to Glencoe, turn east- Why h.e.l.l, she would strike State 7 just a hundred yards from the old brick works. The Cad was waiting out there now!
She was behind him once more. As if she had read his thoughts she asked, "What"s in your little round head now, Buster?"
"I"m wishing you"d beat it."
She laughed but there were little knots of tension in the sound. The deal must be on at the Wampum now. Before she left she would have to level him. She would swing lower and harder then. The thought made Crestone"s headache worse. He hoped she knew the bones on the side of a man"s skull couldn"t take it like the thick sloping top. She might stretch him so he never got up. He could smell his own sweat.
Before the clincher came he would have to run a test on her. The next time she was in the chair.
One of the side doors made a whushing sound and then a voice boomed across the lobby. "Hey there, Bill, how"s the peace and dignity of the community?" It was old Fritz Hood on his way home from the power company"s sub station. He always stopped to bellow at Bill Walters.
"h.e.l.lo, Fritz!"
"You, Joey! Where"s Bill tonight?"
"Sick."
"The old b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I"ll go see him before he dies." The door rocked back to center. Hood was gone.
Judith Barrows was in the chair, with her jacket across her lap and the code sheets on the desk. Crestone rose slowly. The fur jacket slid away and showed the .38. Something dropped out of one of the jacket sleeves. He made another step. She tilted the muzzle, resting the edge of her hand on her knee. She c.o.c.ked the gun then. Her face was white.
Crestone tried to talk himself into it; but he knew she was too scared. An excited or scared dame with a gun. Murder. He backed up and sat down. His head was pounding. On the floor at her feet lay a piece of doubled wire, the raw ends covered with white tape.
The phone sang like a rattlesnake. The woman made a nervous stab at it before she gained control and nodded at Crestone. Mrs. John Slenko, 3648 Locust, had just seen a man in her back yard. She wanted the police.
Judith Barrows" vigilance wavered while she was fumbling her phone back into the cradle. Crestone used his phone to push the Gain Gain dial of the radio down to dial of the radio down to One One while he was putting the instrument away. He dispatched 750 to Mrs. Slenko"s home. while he was putting the instrument away. He dispatched 750 to Mrs. Slenko"s home.
The big dame was in a knot now and Crestone was coming out of it. She had grabbed at the phone because she was expecting a call to tell her that the job at the Wampum was done. She was staying in the chair to be near the phone.
When York and Shannon began to talk about a revoked driver"s license, the sounds came faintly.
"What did you do to the radio!"
"Nothing."
The .38 was on his stomach. "What did you do?"
"Nothing, d.a.m.n it! We get a split-phase power lag on the standby tower every night." He hoped she knew as little of radio as he did. "The reception fades, that"s all."
"You"re lying! You did something, didn"t you?"
"No! You"ve been watching me every second."
"You"re going to get it, Crestone, if anything goes wrong." She was wound-up but the gun was easy.
Car 752 came in, so faint that only "seven-fift" " was audible, but Crestone knew Purcell"s voice and he could guess the message. Purcell had sulked in the Sunset Drive Inn, dwelling on the inequalities of traffic code enforcement, but now he and Old McGlone were on their way again.
The woman"s voice was a whip crack. "What was it?"
"I"ll have to get it on the other mike."
"What other mike?"
Crestone kept his finger close to his chest when he pointed. "On a hook around at the side of the radio."
The faint call came again.
"All right," Judith Barrows said.
There was dust on the curled lead of the hand mike. Crestone said, "Car 750, I read you 10-1. The standby trouble again, as usual." 10-1 meant: receiving poorly. receiving poorly. From the corner of his eye he saw the woman grab the code sheet to check on him. From the corner of his eye he saw the woman grab the code sheet to check on him.
Car 750, which had not called, now tried to answer at the same time 752 came in. Crestone said, "Standby, 751. 10-6." Busy. Busy. Now he had them all confused. He called for a repeat from Car 750 to make it more confused. During the instant Judith Barrows was checking the code number he had used, he turned transmitting power to almost nothing. Now he had them all confused. He called for a repeat from Car 750 to make it more confused. During the instant Judith Barrows was checking the code number he had used, he turned transmitting power to almost nothing.
Faint murmurs came from the radio as the three local cars asked questions Crestone could not hear. The woman did not like her loss of contact. She got out of her chair. "Where"s 751?" she demanded.
Into a dead mike Crestone asked the location of the car. He pretended to hear the answer from the receiver against his ear. "He"s trailing a green Ford toward the Wampum Club."
"Get him away from there!" She was panicked for a moment and then she got hold of herself. She grabbed the local code sheet. "Code 9 him to the Silver Moon."
Code 9 was a disturbance. Crestone went through the pretense of calling 751. There was still enough flow of power to light the purple eye.
"Tell him to disregard the Ford," she ordered.
"10-22 previous a.s.signment, 751. Code 9 at the Silver Moon."
When the next small scratch of sound came from the speaker, he said, "Midway, Car 55. Go ahead." He began to write as if he were taking a message: "52 cream Cadillac sedan, R607, State 7 near old brick plant. Driver resisted arrest. "52 cream Cadillac sedan, R607, State 7 near old brick plant. Driver resisted arrest.
She came out of her chair. "What"s that message?"
"Car 55 just picked up a guy in a stolen car near the brick works."
It struck her like death. "Give me that paper!"
He tossed it toward her. She raked it in with her heel, and picked it up without taking her eyes off him. She read it at a glance and cursed.
The phone rang. She had it with out making her signal to Crestone. He lifted his receiver. A tense voice said, "All set here."
"No!" she cried. "The state patrol just got Brownie and the car!"
"You sure?"
"It just came in on the radio."
"The other way then. You"re on your own, kid, till you know where." The man hung up.
Crestone said into the hand mike, "10-4, Car 750." He swung to face the woman when she went around the counter. "Car 750 is four blocks away, coming in."
She raised the gun. "They"re coming in," he said. A man might have done it. She broke. It was her own safety now. Her heels made quick taps on the steel steps, a hard scurrying on the lobby tiles.
Crestone loaded the shotgun as he ran. The blue Mercury was at the first meter south of the police parking zone. She spun her wheels on the gutter ice and then the sedan lurched into the street. He put the muzzle on the right front window. Her face was a white blur turned toward him. He could not do it. He shot, instead, at the right rear tire and heard the shot rattle on the b.u.mper.
He raced back to the radio and put the dials where they belonged. He poured it out then in crisp code. All cars, all stations. First, a "53 green Hudson sedan, K2066, possibly four men in car. Left Wampum Club, Midway, two minutes ago. Armed robbery. Dangerous. Second, a "52 blue Mercury sedan, K3109, last seen going north on Meredith one minute ago, possibly shotgun marks on right rear fender.
The phone blasted. "This is Sonny Belmont, Bill. We"ve had some trouble down here. Four men in a late Hudson tudor, a light color. They cut toward town on Market. The license was a K2-something."
"K2066, a green "53 Hornet, Belmont."
"Who is this?"
"Crestone. What"d they look like?"
Belmont"s descriptions were sharp. "I slipped, Joey. They nailed me opening the safe."
"How much?"
"About eighty grand." Belmont said the amount reluctantly. It would be in the papers and he knew it. "How"d you boys get hot so quick, Joey?"
"Luck." Crestone hung up. Car 750 reported that a speeding Hornet sedan had outrun the cruiser and was headed north on 315. Crestone sent that information to all cars north of Midway.
Car 752 came in. "We"re on the blue Mercury with the woman," Purcell said. "She"s got a flat rear tire."
"She"s got a .38 too," Crestone said.
Three minutes later Purcell called from Glencoe and Pitt. "We got her. Car 751 is here with us."
Crestone dispatched Car 751 to the old brick works with the dope on a cream Cadillac sedan. Car 55 came in from Highway 315. "The green Hudson got past me, Midway. I"m turning now to go north. Tell Shannon."
The Shannon dispatcher said, "10-4 on that message, Midway." A moment later he was talking to a sheriff, and then state patrol 54 came in.