Jensen said, “We might never hear.”
Burrows opened the door of the car and stepped out. “See you later.” He slammed the door and stepped back as it pulled away. Lighting a cigarette, he entered the building. The desk sergeant looked up and greeted him as he came in. “Heard you got a good one,” he said to Burrows. Burrows said yes, he had a good one, and climbed the flight of stairs to the second floor where the detectives’ room was located.
Seating himself at a desk, he began to fill out the homicide report, marking in the upper right-hand corner “Preliminary and Tentative.”
Name: Unknown
Sex: Male
Age: 35 to 45 years
Color: White
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Blue
Weight: 185 pounds
Height: Six feet +
Identifying marks: Scar on back
Address: Unknown
Next of family: Unknown
Address where body was discovered: 36 Newton Mews
Method of death: Knife Time of death: 11 p.m.-2 A.M.
Witnesses: None
Reported by: Bianca Hill Address: 36 Newton Mews, New York City, N.Y.
Burrows looked at the heavy clock on the wall. It was a little after four a.m. He went off duty at eight in the morning. There was still four hours to go, and he had accomplished very little. He wasn’t worried; he was a patient man, and he had learned one important fact: time was always on the side of the cops.
11
FROM Bianca I learned the names of the families living on Newton Mews. She had lived her entire life there and knew them all, having inherited the house from her mother. The neighboring families on each side were the Fairbanks and Bains. Then there were the Cosgroves, Morisses, Janviers, Bryants, MacMurrays, and some half dozen others. They all had lived on Newton Mews for years and were quiet, respectable, and fairly well to do.
“I’m the financial black sheep of the street,” Bianca told me. “After my mother died, I had practically no money. Just this house. One year, when my family was still alive, we lived in Mexico and I learned a little about silver-working ... just for fun. So I decided I’d try to see what I could do with it, as I’ve always loved to design things and make my own jewelry. It’s been difficult to get established, and I’ve barely been able to make ends meet. My business though is getting better all the time, and I’m still optimistic.”
From her description of the families on Newton Mews, I doubted that I had any contact with them before the night she found me. And yet I was convinced that my attack had been intended as a warning to someone living on the street.
Santini came over another day. He stayed only a very short time. “You think you remember the name of a Colonel Horstman?” he asked me.
I nodded.
“Miss Hill asked me to check for you. Washington said there was never a Colonel Horstman in the Six hundred and fourth with which you served.”
I wrote asking him if he’d checked the records of any Colonel Horstman connected with the Army at all.
There was irritation in his eyes. “Of course I checked it,” he told me. “No Colonel Horstman since the turn of the century. Then it was some old guy who was a major in the state militia during the Civil War.”
Although this seemed to conclude Santini’s interest in Colonel Horstman, it did not finish it for me. I knew that at some time I had known a Colonel Horstman.
Santini asked me, “When’re you going to start trying to learn to talk?” I shrugged, as I didn’t know. After he had gone, however, I thought it over. Doctor Minor had told me that there was a free speech clinic for laryngectomy patients —patients who had their vocal cords removed by operation because of cancer and other causes. The clinic was maintained by a number of hospitals; if I preferred I could work with a private teacher, but would have to pay for the lessons. As I didn’t have the money, I decided to attend the free clinic. Bianca made the arrangements for me, and I began to attend twice each week.
The instructor at the clinic told me that a
Burrows opened the door of the car and stepped out. “See you later.” He slammed the door and stepped back as it pulled away. Lighting a cigarette, he entered the building. The desk sergeant looked up and greeted him as he came in. “Heard you got a good one,” he said to Burrows. Burrows said yes, he had a good one, and climbed the flight of stairs to the second floor where the detectives’ room was located.
Seating himself at a desk, he began to fill out the homicide report, marking in the upper right-hand corner “Preliminary and Tentative.”
Name: Unknown
Sex: Male
Age: 35 to 45 years
Color: White
Hair: Light Brown
Eyes: Blue
Weight: 185 pounds
Height: Six feet +
Identifying marks: Scar on back
Address: Unknown
Next of family: Unknown
Address where body was discovered: 36 Newton Mews
Method of death: Knife Time of death: 11 p.m.-2 A.M.
Witnesses: None
Reported by: Bianca Hill Address: 36 Newton Mews, New York City, N.Y.
Burrows looked at the heavy clock on the wall. It was a little after four a.m. He went off duty at eight in the morning. There was still four hours to go, and he had accomplished very little. He wasn’t worried; he was a patient man, and he had learned one important fact: time was always on the side of the cops.
11
FROM Bianca I learned the names of the families living on Newton Mews. She had lived her entire life there and knew them all, having inherited the house from her mother. The neighboring families on each side were the Fairbanks and Bains. Then there were the Cosgroves, Morisses, Janviers, Bryants, MacMurrays, and some half dozen others. They all had lived on Newton Mews for years and were quiet, respectable, and fairly well to do.
“I’m the financial black sheep of the street,” Bianca told me. “After my mother died, I had practically no money. Just this house. One year, when my family was still alive, we lived in Mexico and I learned a little about silver-working ... just for fun. So I decided I’d try to see what I could do with it, as I’ve always loved to design things and make my own jewelry. It’s been difficult to get established, and I’ve barely been able to make ends meet. My business though is getting better all the time, and I’m still optimistic.”
From her description of the families on Newton Mews, I doubted that I had any contact with them before the night she found me. And yet I was convinced that my attack had been intended as a warning to someone living on the street.
Santini came over another day. He stayed only a very short time. “You think you remember the name of a Colonel Horstman?” he asked me.
I nodded.
“Miss Hill asked me to check for you. Washington said there was never a Colonel Horstman in the Six hundred and fourth with which you served.”
I wrote asking him if he’d checked the records of any Colonel Horstman connected with the Army at all.
There was irritation in his eyes. “Of course I checked it,” he told me. “No Colonel Horstman since the turn of the century. Then it was some old guy who was a major in the state militia during the Civil War.”
Although this seemed to conclude Santini’s interest in Colonel Horstman, it did not finish it for me. I knew that at some time I had known a Colonel Horstman.
Santini asked me, “When’re you going to start trying to learn to talk?” I shrugged, as I didn’t know. After he had gone, however, I thought it over. Doctor Minor had told me that there was a free speech clinic for laryngectomy patients —patients who had their vocal cords removed by operation because of cancer and other causes. The clinic was maintained by a number of hospitals; if I preferred I could work with a private teacher, but would have to pay for the lessons. As I didn’t have the money, I decided to attend the free clinic. Bianca made the arrangements for me, and I began to attend twice each week.
The instructor at the clinic told me that a
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