2:52, taxied to the apartment house on Sixty-ninth Street where Heath lived, and entered. At 5:35 the two men emerged and walked off. At 7:03 Heath came out and took a taxi to Chezars restaurant, where he met Delia Devlin and they dined. At 9:14 they left and taxied to the gray brick house on Fifty-first Street and went in. Heath was still in there at ten oclock, the hour for Orrie to be relieved by Saul Panzer,
and it was at the corner of Fifty-first and Lexington that Orrie and Saul connected.
By that time I would have been chewing on a railroad spike if I had had one, and Wolfe was working hard trying to be serene. Between nine-thirty and ten-thirty he made four trips to the bookshelves, trying different ones, setting a record.
I snarled at him, Whats the matter, restless'
Yes, he said placidly. Are you'
Yes.
It came a little before eleven. The phone rang, and I got it.
It was Bill Doyle.
He seemed to be panting. Im out of breath, he said, wasting some of it. When he left there he got smart and started tricks. We let him spot Al and ditch him,
you know how Saul works it, but even then we damn near lost him. He came to Eighty-sixth and Fifth and went in the park on foot. A woman was sitting on a bench with a collie on a leash, and he stopped and started talking to her. Saul thinks youd better come.
So do I. Describe the woman.
I cant. I was keeping back and didnt get close enough.
Where is Saul'
On the ground under a bush.
Where are you'
Drugstore. Eighty-sixth and Madison.
Be at the Eighty-sixth-Street park entrance. Im coming.
I whirled and told Wolfe, In Central Park. He met a woman with a dog. So long.
Are you armed'
Certainly. I was at the door.
They will be desperate.
I already am.
I let myself out, ran down the stoop and to the corner. Herb was in his hack,
listening to the radio. At sight of me on the lope he switched it off, and by the time I was in he had the engine started. I told him, Eighty-sixth and Fifth, and we rolled. We went up Eleventh Avenue instead of Tenth because with the staggered lights on Tenth you cant average better than twenty-five. On Eleventh you can make twelve or more blocks on a light if you sprint, and we sprinted. At Fifty-sixth we turned east, had fair luck crosstown, and turned left on Fifth Avenue. I told Herb to quit crawling, and he told me to get out and walk. When we reached Eighty-sixth Street I had the door open before the wheels stopped, hopped out, and crossed the avenue to the park side.
Bill Doyle was there. He was the pale gaunt type, from reading too much about horses and believing it. I asked him,
Anything new'
No. I been here waiting.
Can you show me Sauls bush without rousing the dog'
I can if hes still there. Its quite a ways.
Within a hundred yards of them take to the grass. They mustnt hear our footsteps stopping. Lets go.
He entered the park by the paved path, and I trailed. The first thirty paces it was upgrade, curving right. Under a park light two young couples had stopped to have an argument, and we detoured around them. The path leveled and straightened under overhanging branches of trees. We passed another light. A man swinging a cane came striding from the opposite direction and on by. The path turned left,
crossed an open space, and entered shrubbery. A little further on there was a fork, and Doyle stopped.
Theyre down there a couple of hundred feet, he whispered, pointing to the left branch of the fork. Or they were. Sauls over that way.
Okay, Ill lead. Steer me by touch.
I stepped onto the grass and started alongside the right branch of the fork. It was uphill a little, and I had to duck under branches. I hadnt gone far when Doyle tugged at my sleeve, and when I turned he pointed to the left. That bunch of bushes there, he whispered. The big one in the middle. Thats where he went, but I cant see him.
My sight is twenty-twenty, and my eyes had got adjusted to the night, but for a minute I couldnt pick him up. When I did the
and it was at the corner of Fifty-first and Lexington that Orrie and Saul connected.
By that time I would have been chewing on a railroad spike if I had had one, and Wolfe was working hard trying to be serene. Between nine-thirty and ten-thirty he made four trips to the bookshelves, trying different ones, setting a record.
I snarled at him, Whats the matter, restless'
Yes, he said placidly. Are you'
Yes.
It came a little before eleven. The phone rang, and I got it.
It was Bill Doyle.
He seemed to be panting. Im out of breath, he said, wasting some of it. When he left there he got smart and started tricks. We let him spot Al and ditch him,
you know how Saul works it, but even then we damn near lost him. He came to Eighty-sixth and Fifth and went in the park on foot. A woman was sitting on a bench with a collie on a leash, and he stopped and started talking to her. Saul thinks youd better come.
So do I. Describe the woman.
I cant. I was keeping back and didnt get close enough.
Where is Saul'
On the ground under a bush.
Where are you'
Drugstore. Eighty-sixth and Madison.
Be at the Eighty-sixth-Street park entrance. Im coming.
I whirled and told Wolfe, In Central Park. He met a woman with a dog. So long.
Are you armed'
Certainly. I was at the door.
They will be desperate.
I already am.
I let myself out, ran down the stoop and to the corner. Herb was in his hack,
listening to the radio. At sight of me on the lope he switched it off, and by the time I was in he had the engine started. I told him, Eighty-sixth and Fifth, and we rolled. We went up Eleventh Avenue instead of Tenth because with the staggered lights on Tenth you cant average better than twenty-five. On Eleventh you can make twelve or more blocks on a light if you sprint, and we sprinted. At Fifty-sixth we turned east, had fair luck crosstown, and turned left on Fifth Avenue. I told Herb to quit crawling, and he told me to get out and walk. When we reached Eighty-sixth Street I had the door open before the wheels stopped, hopped out, and crossed the avenue to the park side.
Bill Doyle was there. He was the pale gaunt type, from reading too much about horses and believing it. I asked him,
Anything new'
No. I been here waiting.
Can you show me Sauls bush without rousing the dog'
I can if hes still there. Its quite a ways.
Within a hundred yards of them take to the grass. They mustnt hear our footsteps stopping. Lets go.
He entered the park by the paved path, and I trailed. The first thirty paces it was upgrade, curving right. Under a park light two young couples had stopped to have an argument, and we detoured around them. The path leveled and straightened under overhanging branches of trees. We passed another light. A man swinging a cane came striding from the opposite direction and on by. The path turned left,
crossed an open space, and entered shrubbery. A little further on there was a fork, and Doyle stopped.
Theyre down there a couple of hundred feet, he whispered, pointing to the left branch of the fork. Or they were. Sauls over that way.
Okay, Ill lead. Steer me by touch.
I stepped onto the grass and started alongside the right branch of the fork. It was uphill a little, and I had to duck under branches. I hadnt gone far when Doyle tugged at my sleeve, and when I turned he pointed to the left. That bunch of bushes there, he whispered. The big one in the middle. Thats where he went, but I cant see him.
My sight is twenty-twenty, and my eyes had got adjusted to the night, but for a minute I couldnt pick him up. When I did the
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