breasts rising beneath the robe. They were full and firm. It was probably a shoddy thing to consider at the moment, but I thought she very likely needed a man a lot more than she needed consolation. I squeezed her shoulders, waiting another minute, then I eased away.
“I better call them.”
“Will you … I won’t go to school today. I’ll see mother this morning, but I won’t tell her. Harry, will you stop back later?”
“Sure.”
I watched her shuffle into one of the bedrooms. She closed the door.
There was a phone on a stand and I dialed my number. Dan wouldn’t be answering. It rang once and then the voice was Nate Brannigan out of Central Homicide.
“Fannin, Nate.”
“Well,” he said. “Well, now. Fannin, huh? Isn’t that grand? Wait until I check my watch and see just how grand that is. Six forty-one. Putting the time of death at roughly three-thirty, that makes a lapse of three hours and eleven minutes. What the hell, let’s call it three hours even. Nice of you to ring, Mr. Fannin. Would you like a little more time, maybe? Would you like to make it four hours? Five? I’d hate to inconvenience you.”
I let him get all that out of his system.
“Well, Fannin?”
“I wasn’t sure you were finished.”
“I’m not. Not by a damned sight. But first I want to hear your end of it. Tell me a story, Fannin. Make it a good one. Where the damned hell you been? Where are you now?”
“I’m across on 72nd. You get that pick-up on Perry Street?”
“Yeah, yeah. Bogardus. I sent a car. They hauled him in twenty minutes ago, but I’m still waiting for a charge. You better have one, Fannin. You get me stuck with a false arrest to cover a fist fight you had with some wet-nosed kid and I’ll—”
“You read a bulletin on a payroll job in Troy yesterday? Some shirt factory? Roughly forty thousand?”
“Not my department. He in on that?”
“Him and another couple, cousins named Sabatini. I had a session with one of them also, but I lost. He’ll be poking around in some of the same places your boys will be working on the killing, looking for the girl. It slipped my mind to tell him she’s dead.”
“Dan gave me the background on you and the girl, Harry. Sorry about that.”
“Thanks.”
“She rigged in on the Troy thing?”
“That’s pretty much it. She was with Sabatini until roughly two o’clock, then she scrammed. That would have been fine, except she took the money with her. She went someplace before she came to me, more likely two places. One of the guys she went to see had a second thought and followed her. I’ve been using the MG she came in. She—”
“Damn it, Fannin.”
“I was in a hurry, Nate. But let me—”
“No, let me. Okay, so the guy stabs her out front and then grabs the money and guns off. And after that the girl gets back on her feet bleeding like a stuck pig and rings your bell and dances up the stairs, huh?”
“I know how it sounds. But either he thought she was dead or he lost his nerve. You can—”
“the girl didn’t say anything?”
“Not about who killed her, no.”
“But you talked?”
“A couple words, yeah.”
“Fannin, you amaze me. How long have I known you—five, six years?”
“Come off it, will you, Nate? What gripe have you got except that I should have called sooner? What the hell would you have done in my position, got up a bridge game maybe? Let’s play it without the weary cop sarcasm, huh? I’m not much in the mood.”
“Fannin, I’ll finish what I started to tell you. And like I say, if I didn’t know you and you hadn’t played it straight for five years I’d have had every badge in nine precincts out of bed and hunting for you two minutes after I got here—”
“Now listen—”
“You listen. All right, the girl comes up and dies on your doorstep. You used to be married to her, maybe that’s good enough reason why she’s there. But don’t tell me you had a cozy little chat before she died and she
“I better call them.”
“Will you … I won’t go to school today. I’ll see mother this morning, but I won’t tell her. Harry, will you stop back later?”
“Sure.”
I watched her shuffle into one of the bedrooms. She closed the door.
There was a phone on a stand and I dialed my number. Dan wouldn’t be answering. It rang once and then the voice was Nate Brannigan out of Central Homicide.
“Fannin, Nate.”
“Well,” he said. “Well, now. Fannin, huh? Isn’t that grand? Wait until I check my watch and see just how grand that is. Six forty-one. Putting the time of death at roughly three-thirty, that makes a lapse of three hours and eleven minutes. What the hell, let’s call it three hours even. Nice of you to ring, Mr. Fannin. Would you like a little more time, maybe? Would you like to make it four hours? Five? I’d hate to inconvenience you.”
I let him get all that out of his system.
“Well, Fannin?”
“I wasn’t sure you were finished.”
“I’m not. Not by a damned sight. But first I want to hear your end of it. Tell me a story, Fannin. Make it a good one. Where the damned hell you been? Where are you now?”
“I’m across on 72nd. You get that pick-up on Perry Street?”
“Yeah, yeah. Bogardus. I sent a car. They hauled him in twenty minutes ago, but I’m still waiting for a charge. You better have one, Fannin. You get me stuck with a false arrest to cover a fist fight you had with some wet-nosed kid and I’ll—”
“You read a bulletin on a payroll job in Troy yesterday? Some shirt factory? Roughly forty thousand?”
“Not my department. He in on that?”
“Him and another couple, cousins named Sabatini. I had a session with one of them also, but I lost. He’ll be poking around in some of the same places your boys will be working on the killing, looking for the girl. It slipped my mind to tell him she’s dead.”
“Dan gave me the background on you and the girl, Harry. Sorry about that.”
“Thanks.”
“She rigged in on the Troy thing?”
“That’s pretty much it. She was with Sabatini until roughly two o’clock, then she scrammed. That would have been fine, except she took the money with her. She went someplace before she came to me, more likely two places. One of the guys she went to see had a second thought and followed her. I’ve been using the MG she came in. She—”
“Damn it, Fannin.”
“I was in a hurry, Nate. But let me—”
“No, let me. Okay, so the guy stabs her out front and then grabs the money and guns off. And after that the girl gets back on her feet bleeding like a stuck pig and rings your bell and dances up the stairs, huh?”
“I know how it sounds. But either he thought she was dead or he lost his nerve. You can—”
“the girl didn’t say anything?”
“Not about who killed her, no.”
“But you talked?”
“A couple words, yeah.”
“Fannin, you amaze me. How long have I known you—five, six years?”
“Come off it, will you, Nate? What gripe have you got except that I should have called sooner? What the hell would you have done in my position, got up a bridge game maybe? Let’s play it without the weary cop sarcasm, huh? I’m not much in the mood.”
“Fannin, I’ll finish what I started to tell you. And like I say, if I didn’t know you and you hadn’t played it straight for five years I’d have had every badge in nine precincts out of bed and hunting for you two minutes after I got here—”
“Now listen—”
“You listen. All right, the girl comes up and dies on your doorstep. You used to be married to her, maybe that’s good enough reason why she’s there. But don’t tell me you had a cozy little chat before she died and she
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