Ed McBain_87th Precinct 47 by Romance Read Free Book Online Page B

Meanwhile, I would like you to get stabbed now,
by whoever
the hell stabs you, as called for in the script at this point in the play’s time. You have a costume fitting at six-thirty,
     Michelle, and I would like to break for dinner at that time, so if we’re all ready, let’s begin again. Please. From where
     Michelle pays her check, and comes out of the restaurant, and walks into the darkness … ”
    From where he stood in the shadowed side doorway of the delicatessen that shared the alleyway with the theater, he saw her
     coming out of the stage door at the far end, tight blue sweater and open peacoat, short navy-blue mini, gold-buckled belt,
     blue high-heeled shoes. He backed deeper into the doorway, almost banging into one of the garbage cans stacked alongside it.
     She checked her watch, and then stepped out briskly in that long-legged stride of hers, high heels clicking, red hair glowing
     under the hanging stage door light.
    He wanted to catch her while she was still in the alley, before she reached the lighted sidewalk. The delicatessen’s service
     doorway was just deep enough in from the street to prevent his being seen by any pedestrians, just far enough away from the
     stage door light, too. Clickety-click-click, long legs flashing, she came gliding closer to where he was standing. He stepped
     into her path.
    “Miss Cassidy?” he said.
    And plunged the knife into her.

3
    S TANDING AT THE SQUADROOM WATER COOLER, DETECTIVE /Second Grade Stephen Louis Carella could not help over-hearing Kling’s conversation at the desk not four feet away. He filled
     his paper cup and turned away, standing with his back to Kling, looking through the wire-grilled window at the street below—but
     he could still hear the conversation. Deliberately, he tossed the empty cup at the wastebasket, and headed back across the
     room toward his own desk.
    Carella was close to six feet tall, with the wide shoulders, narrow hips and gliding walk of a natural athlete—which he was
     not. Sitting behind his desk, he sighed and looked up at the wall clock, marveling at how the time did fly when you were having
     a good time. They were only three hours into the shift, but for some reason he was enormously weary tonight. Whenever he was
     this tired, his brown eyes took on a duller hue, seeming to slant more emphatically downward than they normally did, giving
     his face an exaggerated Oriental cast.
    Four detectives had relieved the day shift at a quarter to four that Monday afternoon. Mayer and Hawes caught a liquor store
     holdup even before they took off their topcoats, and were out of the squadroom almost before they’d officially arrived. At
     around four-fifteen, a redheaded woman came up and told Kling somebody was trying to kill her, and he took down all the information
     and then discussed the possibility of a trap-and-trace with Carella, who said they wouldn’t have a chance of getting one.
     Kling said he’d talk it over with the boss soon as he came in. Lieutenant Byrnes still wasn’t here and Kling was still on
     the phone with someone named Sharon, whom he kept asking to meet him for coffee when the shift was relieved at midnight. From
     the snatches of conversation Carella could still over-hear, Sharon wasn’t being too receptive. Kling kept trying. Told her
     he’d be happy to take a cab to Calm’s Point, just wanted to talk to her awhile. By the time he hung up, Carella
still
didn’t know if it had worked out. He only knew there were five long hard hours ahead before they’d be relieved.
    They caught the theater squeal at eight minutes past seven. The Susan Granger, a small theater on North Eleventh, near Mapes
     Avenue. Woman stabbed in the alley there. By the time Carella and Kling arrived, the woman had already been carted off to
     the hospital. One of the blues at the scene told them the victim’s name was Michelle Cassidy and that she’d been taken to
     Morehouse General. Kling recognized the name. He