Stealing Time

CHAPTER 26

A

fter their gourmet lunch at the Franks', April and Woody checked in at the precinct to brief Iriarte. He was alone in his office, talking on the phone, when they got there. He put his hand over the mouthpiece. "Yeah?"

"We lucked out with Heather Rose, sir," April told him.

He hung up without saying good-bye. "She give it up?"

"Some, not everything. She didn't nail her husband as a beater, but she did tell Jason the baby is with its mother."

Iriarte heaved a great sigh. "Sometimes I think there is a God. Who is it?"

"She didn't say."

"What do you mean she didn't say?" Iriarte erupted again.

Hagedorn appeared at the door, rapped on the window, then plunged in without waiting for an invitation. "Ten," he announced.

"Ten what?" Iriarte looked at him expectantly.

Hagedorn held up a file. "Ten mixed babies." He stood there, grinning, one hand raised and his pudgy body frozen in the pose of triumph as he offered, like a precious trophy, the regurgitations of his computer.

Iriarte blinked. The blink meant he didn't really care ten what, and furthermore he didn't want to know. But for Hagedorn, his favorite, the lieutenant had the tolerance of a saint. "Go ahead, Charlie."

Hagedorn gave his boss another shit-eating grin. "I checked them all out. Guess what?" Excitedly, Hagedorn pushed his lank hair back from his pale forehead.

"What?" Iriarte asked nicely.

"One hundred forty-two babies born in downtown hospitals during your time frame, Sergeant." He nodded at April.

"Uh-huh."

"Eighty are black or Hispanic or mixed. Fifty-two are pure Asian." He looked up. Here was the triumph. "Only ten others are mixed Asian and other."

"Good work, Charlie." Iriarte looked impressed.

"Do you have home addresses for them?" April asked. Only ten was too good to hope for.

"Yes."

"Let's go, Baum." April reached for the file.

In four minutes, she and Baum had once again evaded the specialists and were on their way down to Chinatown to start checking them out. April was too preoccupied thinking about Emma and Jason having a baby, and of the 142 other couples engaged in productive monkey business nine months earlier, to worry about Woody's driving.

She wondered how many of those fornicating couples wanted the babies they got. Were all the parents still together and able to keep their offspring? Had one or more of the infants been sold or given away? These were not terms in which April thought very often. Usually, she tried to avoid thinking about normal people getting married, having babies. She was still reeling from the sight of Emma's protruding belly with a human being inside of it. It was disturbing.

She braced a hand against the dashboard as Woody braked suddenly for a pedestrian. But she was excited about the case now, keyed up for the hunt and undaunted by the fact that searching for an infant born almost four weeks ago might turn out to be like looking for a lost item in a landfill. Chinatown was a maze, but people were connected there; they knew things about each other, even if they didn't tell. Somehow she didn't think this was going to be a hard one.

Upbeat and optimistic though she was, April was surprised when she stopped in Bernardino's office in the detective squad room and he punched the air at her accusingly.

"I've been trying to get hold of you," he said.

"No one told me. What's up?"

"We found your stroller," he announced.

"No kidding? What was in it?" Now April was really excited.

"Groceries. Sit down, make yourself comfortable."

April took a chair and nodded at Baum to do the same. He sat. "Groceries?"

"Madison spoke with her. Ah, thanks, Madison." The Chinese detective April had noticed yesterday, with the serious narrow face and the receding hairline, came in and handed Lieutenant Bernardino a cup of coffee.

Bernardino made the introductions: "Sergeant Woo, Detective Madison Young, Detective Baum."

Young nodded at Baum, then at April. "Good to meet you both," he said.

"Same here," April said.

"Ask the sergeant if she'd like some coffee," the lieutenant prompted.

"Would you like some coffee, ma'am?" he asked politely.

"No, thanks," April told him, noting again how the situation had changed for her. Now guys were getting her coffee.

"Madison, you found the stroller. What was the woman's story?"

"I caught up with her this morning at quarter to noon on Pike Street. She was pushing the stroller in question. Light blue Perego, brand-new, right?"

"Right."

"Turns out she's an older woman, a grandma. She had the thing filled with groceries and was carrying a child."

"Ah, how old a child?" April asked excitedly.

"More than a year old. She put the child down while we were talking. A little girl. She toddled around."

"You have an address on them?"

Madison nodded. "They live in the projects. The kid's her daughter's. She takes care of it during the day while her daughter works in the Hong Kong Supermarket."

"Is there a younger baby in the family?"

"No, a son in kindergarten. The way Grandma tells it, a well-dressed woman with a long ponytail got out of a cab on Tuesday morning."

"What street?" Baum asked.

"Allen Street."

"Allen?" April said. This was sounding good. The description fit Heather Rose.

"The Hong Kong Supermarket is on Allen," Madison explained.

"Go on. What about the woman with the ponytail?"

"She had two shopping bags and was holding a baby. The grandma says she looked around for someone. The stroller was in the trunk of the car. The taxi driver didn't want to help her get the stroller out of the trunk. She was upset with the driver because he just stood there, wouldn't help. While they were arguing, another woman came up to her, and they talked for a moment. The second woman took the baby and the shopping bags, but she didn't want to take the stroller, said she didn't need it. She took the baby and the shopping bags and walked away, leaving the woman with the ponytail crying." Madison shrugged. "That's it."

"How did Grandma get the stroller?"

"Oh. She figured the crying woman didn't need the stroller anymore, and she didn't want the man with the turban to have it, so she walked over and asked if

she

could have it."

"The driver was a Sikh?" Baum remarked.

Madison nodded.

"We're looking for him," Alfie told them. Hundreds of New York cabbies were Sikhs.

"How reliable is this grandma of yours?"

"She was pretty slick, told me right off the bat she didn't steal the stroller. The woman with the ponytail gave it to her. She got kind of defensive about it, knew how much it was worth."

April was excited. "Okay. Now we know Jason had it half right. The other half is that Heather herself gave the baby back to its mother. It wasn't kidnapped by anybody. Good work, Madison."

"Who's Jason?"

"Oh, he's a shrink I know. He talks to head cases for me." April grinned at Baum. They had the pieces now. They could crack the case.

"So, sweetheart. You wanted to come home. Here you are." Alfie smiled. "We don't do shabby work here."

"No, sir. You did good. But what did she mean, she didn't need it?"

"Who?"

"The baby's mother. Why wouldn't she need the stroller?"

"That's the next question. By the way, what do you have for me?" "We ran a birth certificate check. I have some addresses of possible mothers. You mind if Madison takes a few?"

Bernardino shook his head. "Not at all. What about the Popescus?"

"What do you say we bug them later?"

"Later's fine." Alfie grinned at her. "Welcome back."