The 1st Deadly Sin

by Lawrence Sanders

  “I try not to.”

  “I hope to Christ if I ever commit a crime you don’t come after me, Iron Balls.”

  He sounded bitter.

  After Handry left, Delaney sat at his study desk, staring again at the photo of Daniel Blank. The man was handsome, no doubt about it: dark and lean. His face seemed honed; beneath the thin flesh cover the bones of brow, cheeks and jaw were undeniably there. But the Captain could read nothing from that face: neither greed, passion, evil nor weakness. It was a closed-off mask, hiding its secrets.

  On impulse, not bothering to analyze his own motive, he took out the Daniel G. Blank file, flipped through it until he found Blank’s phone number and dialed it. It rang four times, then:

  “Hello?”

  “Lou?” Delaney asked. “Lou Jackson?”

  “No, I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong number,” the voice said pleasantly.

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  Delaney hung up. It was an agreeable voice, somewhat musical, words clearly enunciated, tone deep, a good resonance. He stared at the photo again, matching what his eyes saw to what his ears had heard. He was beginning, just beginning, to penetrate Daniel Blank.

  He worked on his records and files till almost 11:00 p.m., then judged the time was right to call Charles Lipsky. He looked up the apartment house number and called from his study phone.

  “Lobby,” a whiny voice answered.

  “Charles Lipsky, please.”

  “Yeah. Talking. Who’s this?” Delaney caught the caution, the suspicion in that thin, nasal voice. He wondered what doom the doorman expected from a phone call at this hour.

  “Mr. Lipsky, my name is Miller, Ward M. Miller. Did your brother-in-law speak to you about me?”

  “Oh. Yeah. He called.” Now Delaney caught a note of relief, of catastrophe averted or at least postponed.

  “I was hoping we might get together, Mr. Lipsky. Just for a short talk.”

  “Yeah. Well, listen…” Now the voice became low, conspiratorial. “You know I ain’t supposed to talk to anyone about the tenants. We got a very strict rule against that.”

  Delaney recognized this virtuous reminder for what it was: a ploy to drive the price up.

  “I realize that, Mr. Lipsky, and believe me, you don’t have to tell me a thing you feel you shouldn’t. But a short talk would be to our mutual advantage. You understand?”

  “Well…yeah.”

  “I have an expense account.”

  “Oh, well, okay then.”

  “And your name will be kept out of it.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely. When and where?”

  “Well, how soon do you want to make it?”

  “As soon as possible. Wherever you say.”

  “Well, I get off tomorrow morning at four. I usually stop by this luncheonette on Second and Eighty-fifth for coffee before I go home. It’s open twenty-four hours a day, but it’s usually empty at that hour except for some hackies and hookers.”

  Delaney knew the place Lipsky referred to, but didn’t mention he knew it.

  “Second Avenue and Eighty-fifth,” he repeated. “About four-fifteen, four-thirty tomorrow morning?”

  “Yeah. Around there.”

  “Fine. I’ll be wearing a black Homburg and a double-breasted black overcoat.”

  “Yeah. All right.”

  “See you then.”

  Delaney hung up, satisfied. Lipsky sounded like a grifter, and penny ante at that. He jotted a note to have Thorsen check Department records to see if there was a sheet on Charles Lipsky. Delaney would almost bet there was.

  He went immediately to bed, setting his alarm for 3:30 a.m. Thankfully, he fell asleep within half an hour, even as he was rehearsing in his mind how to handle Lipsky and what questions to ask.

  The luncheonette had all the charm and ambience of a subway station. The walls and counter were white linoleum tiles, dulled with grease. Counter and table tops were plastic, scarred with cigarette burns. Chairs and counter stools were molded plastic, unpadded to reduce the possibility of vandalism. Rancid grease hung in the air like a wet sheet, and signs taped to the walls would have delighted a linguist: “Turky and all the tremens: $2.25.”

  “Fryed Shrims—$1.85 with French pots and cold slaw.”

  “Our eggs are strickly fresh.”

  Down at the end of the counter, two hookers, one white, one black, both in orange wigs, were working on plates of steak and eggs, conversing in low voices as fast as they were eating. Closer to the door, three cabbies were drinking coffee, trading wisecracks with the counterman and the black short order cook who was scraping thick rolls of grease off the wide griddle.

  Delaney was early, a few minutes after four. When he entered, talk ceased, heads swivelled to inspect him. Apparently he didn’t look like a holdup man; when he ordered black coffee and two sugared doughnuts, the other customers went back to their food and talk.

  The Captain carried his coffee and doughnuts to a rear table for two. He sat where he could watch the door and the plate glass window. He didn’t remove his hat but he unbuttoned his overcoat. He sat patiently, sipping the bitter coffee that had a film of oil glinting on the surface. He ate half a doughnut, then gave up.

  His man came in about ten minutes later. Short, almost stunted, but heavy through the waist and hips, like an old jockey gone to seed. His eyes drifted, seemed to float around the room. The other customers glanced at him, but didn’t stop eating or talking. The newcorner ordered a cup of light coffee, a piece of apple pie, and brought them over to Delaney’s table.

  “Miller?”

  Delaney nodded. “Mr. Lipsky?”

  “Yeah.”

  The doorman sat down opposite the Captain. He was still wearing his doorman’s overcoat and uniform but, incongruously, he was wearing a beaked cap, a horseman’s cap, in an horrendous plaid. He looked at Delaney briefly, but then his yellowish eyes floated off, to his food, the floor, the walls, the ceiling.

  A grifter. Delaney was sure of it now. And seedy. Always with the shorts. On the take. A sheet that might include gambling arrests, maybe some boosting, receiving stolen property, bad debts, perhaps even an attempted shakedown. Cheap, dirty stuff.

  “I ain’t got much time,” Lipsky said in his low, whiny voice. “I start on days again at noon.” He shoveled pie into his surprisingly prim little mouth. “So I got to get home and catch a few hours of shuteye. Then back on the door again at twelve.”

  “Rough,” Delaney said sympathetically. “Did your brother-in-law tell you what this is all about?”

  “Yeah,” Lipsky nodded, gulping his hot coffee. “This Blank is after some young cunt and her father wants to break it up. Right?”

  “That’s about it. What can you tell me about Blank?”

  Lipsky scraped pie crust crumbs together on his plate with his fingers, picked them up, tossed them down his throat like a man downing a shot of liquor neat.

  “Thought you was on an expense account.”

  Delaney glanced at the other customers. No one was observing them. He took his wallet from his hip pocket, held it on the far side of the table where only Lipsky could see it. He opened it wide,/ watched Lipsky’s hungry eyes slide over and estimate the total. The Captain took out a ten, proferred it under the table edge. It was gone.

  “Can’t you do better than that?” Lipsky whined. “I’m taking an awful chance.”

  “Depends,” Delaney said. “How long has Blank been living there?”

  “I don’t know exactly. I been working there four years, and he was living there when I started.”

  “He was married then?”

  “Yeah. A big zoftig blonde. A real piece of push. Then he got divorced.”

  “Know where his ex-wife is living?”

  “No.”

  “Does he have any woman now? Anyone regular who visits him?”

  “Yeah. What does this young cunt look like? The one her father doesn’t want her to see Blank?” />
  “About eighteen,” Delaney said smoothly. “Long blonde hair. About five-four or five. Maybe one-twenty. Blue eyes. Peaches-and-cream complexion. Big jugs.”

  “Yum-yum,” the doorman said, licking his lips. “I ain’t seen anyone like that around.”

  “Anyone else? Any woman?”

  “Yeah. A rich bitch. Mink coat down to her feet. About thirty, thirty-five. No tits. Black hair. White face. No makeup. A weirdo.”

  “Know her name?”

  “No. She comes and she goes by cab.”

  “Sleep over?”

  “Sure. Sometimes. What do you think?”

  “That’s interesting.”

  “Yeah? How interesting?”

  “You’re getting there,” Delaney said coldly. “Don’t get greedy. Anyone else?”

  “No women. A boy.”

  “A boy?”

  “Yeah. About eleven, twelve. Around there. Pretty enough to be a girl. I heard Blank call him Tony.”

  “What’s going on there?”

  “What the hell do you think?”

  “This Tony ever sleep over?”

  “I never seen it. One of the other doors tells me yes. Once or twice.”

  “This Blank got any close friends? In the building, I mean?”

  “The Mortons.”

  “A family?”

  “Married couple. No children. You want a lot for your sawbuck, don’t you?”

  Sighing, Delaney reached for his wallet again. But he looked up, saw a squad car roll to a stop just outside the luncheonette, and he paused. A uniformed cop got out of the car and came inside. The cabbies had gone, but the two hookers were picking their teeth, finishing their coffee. The cop glanced at them, then his eyes slid over Delaney’s table.

  He recognized the Captain, and Delaney recognized him. Handrette. A good man. Maybe a little too fast with his stick, but a good, brave cop. And smart enough not to greet a plain-clothesman or superior officer out of uniform in public unless spoken to first. His eyes moved away from Delaney. He ordered two hamburgers with everything, two coffees, and two Danish to go. Delaney gave Charles Lipsky another ten. “Who are the Mortons?” he asked. “Blank’s friends.”

  “Loaded. Top floor penthouse. They own a store on Madison Avenue that sells sex stuff.”

  “Sex stuff?”

  “Yeah,” Lipsky said with his wet leer. “You know, candles shaped like pricks. Stuff like that.”

  Delaney nodded. Probably the Erotica. When he had commanded the 251st, he had made inquiries about the possibility of closing the place down and making it stick. The legal department told him to forget it; it would never hold up in court.

  “Blank got any hobbies?” he asked Lipsky casually. “Is he a baseball or football nut? Anything like that?”

  “Mountain climbing,” Lipsky said. “He likes to climb mountains.”

  “Climb mountains?” Delaney said, with no change of expression. “He must be crazy.”

  “Yeah. He’s always going away on weekends in the Spring and Fall. He takes all this crap with him in his car.”

  “Crap? What kind of crap?”

  “You know—a knapsack, a sleeping bag, a rope, things you tie on your shoes so you don’t slip.”

  “Oh yes,” Delaney said. “Now I know what you mean. And an ax for chipping away ice and rocks. Does he take an ax with him on these trips?”

  “Never seen it. What’s this got to do with cutting him loose from the young cunt?”

  “Nothing,” Delaney shrugged. “Just trying to get a line on him. Listen, to get back to this woman of his. The skinny one with black hair. You know her name?”

  “No.”

  “She come around very often?”

  “She’ll be there like three nights in a row. Then I won’t see her for a week or so. No regular schedule, if that’s what you’re hoping.” He grinned shrewdly at Delaney. Two of his front teeth were missing, two were chipped; the Captain wondered what kind of bet he had welshed on.

  “Comes and goes by cab?”

  “That’s right. Or they walk out together.”

  “The next time you’re on duty, if she comes or goes by cab, get the license number of the hack, the date, and the time. That’s all I need—the date, the time, the license number of the cab. There’s another tenner in it for you.”

  “And then all you got to do is check the trip sheets. Right?”

  “Right,” Delaney said, smiling bleakly. “You’re way ahead of me.”

  “I could have been a private eye,” Lipsky bragged. “I’d make a hell of a dick. Listen, I got to go now.”

  “Wait. Wait just a minute,” Delaney said, making up his mind that moment. He watched the cop pay for the hamburgers, coffee, Danish and carry the bag out to his partner in the parked squad. He wondered idly if the cop insisted on paying because he, the Captain, was there.

  “In your apartment house,” Delaney said slowly, “you keep master keys? Or dupes to all the door locks on tenants’ doors, locks they put on themselves?”

  “Sure we got dupes,” Lipsky frowned. “What do you think? I mean, in case of fire or an emergency, we got to get in—right?”

  “And where are all these keys kept?”

  “Right outside the assistant manager’s office we got—” Lipsky stopped suddenly. His lips drew back from his chipped teeth. “If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking,” he said, “forget it. Not a chance. No way.”

  “Look, Mr. Lipsky,” Delaney said earnestly, sincerely, hunching forward on the table. “It’s not like I want to loot the place. I wouldn’t take a cigarette butt out of there. All I want to do is look around.”

  “Yeah? For what?”

  “This woman he’s been sleeping with. Maybe a photo of them together. Maybe a letter from her to him. Maybe she’s keeping some clothes up there in his closet. Anything that’ll help my client convince his daughter that Blank has been cheating on her all along.”

  “But if you don’t take anything, how…”

  “You tell me,” Delaney said. “You claim you could have been a private eye. How would you handle it?”

  Lipsky stared at him, puzzled. Then his eyes widened. “Camera!” he gasped. “A miniature camera. You take pictures!”

  Delaney slapped the table top with his palm. “Mr. Lipsky, you’re all right,” he chuckled. “You’d make a hell of a detective. I take a miniature camera. I shoot letters, photos, clothes, any evidence at all that Blank has been shacking up with this black-haired twist or even this kid Tony. I put everything back exactly where it was. Believe me, I know how to do it. He’ll never know anyone’s been in there. He leaves for work around nine and comes back around six. Something like that—correct?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So the apartment’s empty all day?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Cleaning woman?”

  “Two days a week. But she comes early and she’s out by noon.”

  “So…what’s the problem? It’ll take me an hour. No more, I swear. Would anyone miss the keys?”

  “Nah. That board’s got a zillion keys.”

  “So there you are. I come into the lobby. You’ve already got the keys off the board. You slip them to me. I’m up and down in an hour. Probably less. I pass the keys back to you. You replace them. You’re going on duty days starting today-right? So we make it about two or three in the afternoon. Right?”

  “How much?” Lipsky said hoarsely.

  Got him, Delaney thought.

  “Twenty bucks,” the Captain said.

  “Twenty?” Lipsky cried, horrified. “I wouldn’t do it for less than a C. If I’m caught, it’s my ass.”

  Five minutes later they had agreed on fifty dollars, twenty immediately, thirty when Delaney returned the keys, and an extra twenty if Lipsky could get the license number of the cab used by Blank’s skinny girl friend.

  “If I get it,” Lipsky said, “should I call your office?”

  “I’m not in very much
,” Delaney said casually. “In this business you’ve got to keep moving around. I’ll call you every day on the lobby phone. If you go back on nights, leave a message with your brother-in-law. I’ll find out from him when to call. Okay?”

  “I guess,” Lipsky said doubtfully. “Jesus, if I didn’t need the dough so bad, I’d tell you to go suck.”

  “Sharks?” the Captain asked.

  “Yeah,” Lipsky said wonderingly. “How did you know?”

  “A guess,” Delaney shrugged. He passed twenty under the table to the doorman. “I’ll see you at two-thirty this afternoon. What’s the apartment number?”

  “Twenty-one H. It’s on a tag attached to the keys.”

  “Good. Don’t worry. It’ll go like silk.”

  “Jesus, I hope so.”

  The Captain looked at him narrowly. “You don’t like this guy much, do you?”

  Lipsky began to curse, ripe obscenities spluttering from his lips. Delaney listened awhile, serious and unsmiling, then held up a hand to cut off the flow of invective.

  “One more thing,” he said to Lipsky. “In a few days, or a week from now, you might mention casually to Blank that I was around asking questions about him. You can describe me, but don’t tell him my name. You forgot it. Just say I was asking personal questions, but you wouldn’t tell me a goddamned thing. Got that?”

  “Well…sure,” Lipsky said, puzzled. “But what for?”

  “I don’t know,” Captain Delaney said. “I’m not sure. Just to give him something to think about, I guess. Will you do it?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Why not?”

  They left the luncheonette together. There were early workers on the streets now. The air was cold, sharp. The sky was lightening in the east; it promised to be a clear day. Captain Delaney walked home slowly, leaning against the December wind. By the time he unlocked his door he could hardly smell the rancid grease.

  The projected break-in had been a spur-of-the-moment thing. He hadn’t planned that, hadn’t even considered it. But Lipsky had tied Daniel Blank to mountain climbing: the first time that was definitely established. And that led to the ice ax. That damned ax! Nothing so far had tied Blank to the purchase or possession of an ice ax. Delaney wanted things tidy. Possession would be tidy enough; purchase could be traced later.