Black Dog

Fifty-Five

Joan came into Stone’s office with a sheet of paper in her hand.

“You found the apartment with the garage?” he asked.

“I found four in the East Sixties with garages.”

Stone read the list. “It looks like three of them could be with the same garage, and they’re all on Sixty-Sixth Street.”

“What about the one on Sixty-Seventh Street?”

“It just says ‘off-street parking available.’ The others just say ‘garage.’ Fax it to Dino. Let’s see what he thinks without hearing our opinion.”

“We have an opinion?” Joan asked. “Maybe you could try it on me before you speak to Dino.”

“It’s one of the three on Sixty-Sixth Street, with garage,” Stone said.

“Oh. I’ll fax it to him.” She left his office.

Ten minutes later she buzzed him. “Dino on one. Can I listen in?”

“Okay, but don’t get used to it.”

“I mean, this conversation is not going to be about sex, is it?”

“I don’t talk about sex on the phone.”

“You insinuate things.”

“How would you know that, unless you listen in?”

“I’m just saying.”

“That’s inconclusive.”

“Dino is waiting.”

Stone picked up. “Hi.”

“Which one?” Dino asked.

“We thought we might get your thoughts on that before we expressed a view.”

“You’re afraid I could be unduly influenced by your opinion?”

“Well, maybe.”

“I’m happy to give you my opinion of your opinion,” Dino said.

“Oh.”

“Well?”

“Our opinion is, it’s one of the three on Sixty-Sixth Street.”

“That’s not an opinion. It’s a wild guess.”

“Would it put too much strain on your resources to have your officers call at all three apartments?”

“What about the fourth, on East Sixty-Seventh Street?” Dino asked.

“Well, if they have an extra minute.”

“I’ll call you back.”

Another twenty minutes passed before Joan announced Dino was on the phone.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. Our opinion is that it’s the apartment on East Sixty-Seventh.”

Stone took a deep breath and let it out before responding. “What is your reasoning?”

“Our reasoning hardly matters, if East Sixty-Seventh is the one.”

“All right,” Stone said, trying not to grit his teeth. “Try East Sixty-Seventh.”

“How would you proceed?” Dino asked. “If you were in command.”

“I’d check the mailboxes.”

“Why? You want to read his mail?”

“You’re doing this just to annoy me, aren’t you?”

“I’m doing it out of logic. Annoying you is the cherry on top.”

“Logic dictates that if a mailbox has Eddie’s name on it, he lives in that building.”

“Oh, not just his car? Don’t you think that Eddie could live in one building and park his car in another building?”

“Maybe. I’d sure like to have a couple of NYPD detectives knock on all the doors, though.”

“I’ll call you back.”

Eddie Charles Jr. parked his new/old Mercedes E55 in the garage and walked across the street to his apartment. He checked his mailbox to see if the car’s registration certificate had arrived. They had claimed to be short-staffed and promised to mail it. The mailbox was empty. He went back across the street, got into his car, and started it.

Joan buzzed Stone. “Dino on one.”

Stone picked up. “Any luck?”

“Yeah, my guys figured out which garage Eddie parks in.”

“Is the car parked there now?”

“No, they saw it drive away when they were walking up the block to the garage.”

“A pity they weren’t a little earlier.”

“Well, you can’t have everything.”

“At least we know he lives on East Sixty-Sixth.”

“Yeah, but there’s no point in knocking on the door when we know he’s not there.”

“They could check the mailboxes.”

“I’ll see if they think that’s a good idea. Call you back.”

Joan walked in. “Any luck with Dino?”

“No. Dino has apparently devoted his career to getting me to put a bullet in my brain.”

“Don’t do it.”

“I have no intention of doing it.”

The phone rang, and Joan picked it up. “Dino?” She handed Stone the phone. “It’s Dino.”

“Hello there,” Stone said.

“Hello, yourself. My guys were checking the mailboxes on East Sixty-Sixth and found one that looked good, but they got a call. A shooting on East Seventy-Second Street. Shootings come first. I’ll call you after they’ve had a chance to open the mailbox.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll wait with bated breath.” He hung up. “Joan, can I borrow your .45 for a minute?”