The 1st Deadly Sin

by Lawrence Sanders

  “Yes,” Captain X. Delaney said promptly.

  “Yes? You said yes?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “He said yes!” Thorsen screamed. Again Delaney held the phone away, hearing the loud gabble of many voices. This was fraternity house stuff, and it displeased him.

  “My God, that’s great,” the Deputy Inspector said in what Delaney was sure Thorsen thought was a sober and solemn voice.

  “But I want complete control,” the Captain said stonily. “Over the whole operation. No written reports. Verbal reports to you only. And—”

  “Whatever you want, Edward.”

  “And no press conferences, no press releases, no publicity from anyone but me.”

  “Anything, Edward, anything. Just wrap it up fast. You understand? Show Broughton up for the stupid schmuck he is. He gets canned and three days later you’ve solved it. Right? Shows up the bastard.”

  “Canned?” the Captain asked. “Broughton?”

  “’mounts to the same thing,” Thorsen giggled. “Filed for retirement. Stupid sonofabitch. Says he’s going to run for mayor next year.”

  “Is he?” Delaney said, still speaking in a dull, toneless voice. “Ivar, are you certain you’ve got this straight? I’ll take it on, but only on the conditions that I have complete control, verbal reports only to you, pick my own men, handle all the publicity personally. Is that understood?”

  “Captain Delaney,” a quiet voice said, “this is Deputy Mayor Herman Alinski. I apologize, but I have been listening in on an extension. There is a certain celebration going on here.”

  “I can hear it.”

  “But I assure you, your conditions will be met. You will have complete control. Whatever you need. And nothing in the press or TV on Operation Lombard will come from anyone but you. Satisfactory?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great!” Deputy Inspector Thorsen burbled. “The Telex will go out immediately. We’ll get out a press release right away—just so we can make the late editions—that Broughton has put in for retirement and you’re taking over Operation Lombard. Is that all right, Edward? Just a short, one-paragraph release. Okay?”

  “Yes. All right.”

  “Your personal orders have already been cut. The Commissioner will sign them tonight.”

  “You must have been very sure of me,” Delaney said.

  “I wasn’t,” Thorsen laughed, “and Johnson wasn’t. But Alinski was.”

  “Oh?” Delaney said coldly. “Are you there, Alinski?”

  “I am here, Captain,” the soft voice came back.

  “You were sure of me? That I’d take this on?”

  “Yes,” Alinski said. “I was sure.”

  “Why?”

  “You don’t have any choice, do you, Captain?” the Deputy Mayor asked gently.

  Delaney hung up, just as gently.

  The first thing the Captain did was finish his beer. It helped. Not only the tang of it, the shock of coldness in his throat, but it stimulated the sudden realization of the magnitude of the job he had agreed to, the priorities, big responsibilities and small details, and the fact that “first things first” would be the only guide that might see him through. Right now, the first thing was finishing a cold beer.

  “You don’t have any choice, do you, Captain?” the Deputy Mayor had asked gently.

  What had he meant by that?

  He switched on the desk lamp, sat down, put on his glasses, pulled the yellow, legal-lined pad toward him, began to doodle—squares, circles, lines. Rough diagrams, very rough, and random ideas expressed in arrowheads, lightning bolts, spirals.

  First things first. First of the first was around-the-clock surveillance of Daniel G. Blank. Three plainclothesmen on foot and two unmarked cars of two men each should do it. Seven men. Working eight-hour shifts. That was 21 men. But a police commander with any experience at all didn’t multiply his personnel requirements by three: he multiplied by four, at least. Because men are entitled to days off, vacations, sick leave, family emergencies, etc. So the basic force watching Danny Boy was 28, and Delaney wondered if he had been too optimistic in thinking he could reduce the 500 detectives assigned to Operation Lombard by two-thirds.

  That was one division: the outside force shadowing Blank. A second division would be inside, keeping records, monitoring walkie-talkie reports from the Blank guards. That meant a communications set-up. Receivers and transmitters. Somewhere. Not in the 251st Precinct house. Delaney owed Lt. Dorfman that one. He’d get Operation Lombard out of there, establish his command post somewhere else, anywhere. Isolate his men. That would help cut down leaks to the press.

  A third division would be research: the suspect’s history, background, credit rating, bank accounts, tax returns, military record—anything and everything that had ever been recorded about the man. Plus interviews with friends, relatives, acquaintances, business associates. Cover stories could be concocted so Blank wasn’t alerted.

  (But what if he was? That blurry idea in the back of Delaney’s mind began to take on a definite outline.)

  A possible fourth division might investigate the dark, skinny girl friend, the boy Tony, the friends—what was their name? Morton. That was it. They owned the Erotica. All that might take another squad.

  It was all very crude, very tentative. Just a sketching-in. But it was a beginning. He doodled on for almost an hour, starting to firm it up, thinking of what men he wanted where, who he owed favors to. Favors. “I owe you one.”

  “That’s one you owe me.” The lifeblood of the Department. Of politics. Of business. Of the thrusting, scheming, rude world. Wasn’t that the rough cement that kept the whole rickety machine from falling apart? You be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you. Charles Lipsky: “One hand washes the other—right?”

  It was an hour—more than that—since his conversation with Thorsen. The Telex would now be clicked out in every precinct house, detective division, and special unit in the city. Captain Delaney went up to his bedroom, stripped down to his underwear and took a “whore’s bath,” soaping hands, face and armpits with a washcloth, then drying, powdering, combing his hair carefully.

  He put on his Number Ones, his newest uniform, used, so far, only for ceremonies and funerals. He squared his shoulders, pulled the blouse down tautly, made certain his decorations were aligned. He took a new cap from a plastic bag on the closet shelf, wiped the shield bright on his sleeve, set the cap squarely atop his head, the short beak pulled down almost over his eyes. The uniform was a brutal one: choker collar, shielded eyes, wide shoulders, tapered waist. Menace there.

  He inspected himself in the downstairs mirror. It was not egotism. If you had never belonged to church, synagogue or mosque, you might think so. But the costume was continuing tradition, symbol, myth—whatever you like. The clothing, decorations, insignia went beyond clothing, decorations, insignia. They were, to those of the faith, belief.

  He decided against an overcoat; he wouldn’t be going far. He went into the study just long enough to take the photo of Daniel G. Blank from the file and scrawl the man’s address, but not his name, on the back. He slipped the photo into his hip pocket. He left his glasses on the desk. If possible, you did not wear eyeglasses when you exercised command, or exhibit any other signs of physical infirmity. It was ridiculous, but it was so.

  He locked up, marched next door to the 251st Precinct house. The Telex had obviously come through; Dorfman was standing near the sergeant’s desk, his arms folded, waiting. When he saw Delaney, he came forward at once, his long, ugly face relaxing into a grin. He held out a hand eagerly.

  “Congratulations, Captain.”

  “Thank you,” Delaney said, shaking his hand. “Lieutenant, I’ll have this gang out of your hair as soon as possible. A day or two at the most. Then you’ll have your house back.”

  “Thank you, Captain,” Dorfman said gratefully.

  “Where are they?” Delaney asked.

  “Detectives’ squad room
.”

  “How many?”

  “Thirty, forty—around there. They got the word, but they don’t know what to do.”

  Delaney nodded. He walked up the old creaking stairway, past the commander’s office. The frosted glass door of the detectives’ squad room was closed. There was noise from inside, a lot of men talking at once, a buzz of confused sound, angry turbulence. The Captain opened the door, and stood there.

  The majority were in plainclothes, a few in uniform. Heads turned to look at him, then more. All. The talk died down. He just stood there, looking coldly out from under the beak of his cap. They all stared at him. A few men rose grudgingly to their feet. Then a few more. Then more. He waited unmoving, watching them. He recognized a few, but his aloof expression didn’t change. He waited until they were all standing, and silent.

  “I am Captain Edward X. Delaney,” he said crisply. “I am now in command. Are there any lieutenants here?”

  Some of the men looked around uneasily. Finally, from the back, a voice called, “No, Captain, no lieutenants.”

  “Any detective sergeants?”

  A hand went up, a black hand. Delaney walked toward the raised hand, men stepping aside to let him through. He walked to the back of the room until he was facing the black sergeant, a short, heavy set man with sculpted features and what appeared to be a closely-fitted knitted cap of white wool. He was, Delaney knew, called “Pops,” and he looked like a professor of Middle English literature. Strangely enough, he had professorial talents.

  “Detective sergeant Thomas MacDonald,” Captain Delaney said loudly, so everyone could hear him.

  “That’s right, Captain.”

  “I remember. We worked together. A warehouse job over on the west side. About ten years ago.”

  “More like fifteen. Captain.”

  “Was it? You took one in the hip.”

  “In the ass, Captain.”

  There were a few snickers. Delaney knew what MacDonald was trying to do, and fed him his lines.

  “In the ass?” he said. “I trust it healed, sergeant?”

  The black professor shrugged. “Just one more crease, Captain,” he said. The listening men broke up, laughing and relaxing.

  Delaney motioned to MacDonald. “Come with me.” The sergeant followed him out into the hallway. The Captain closed the door, shutting off most of the laughter and noise. He looked at MacDonald. MacDonald looked at him.

  “It really was the hip,” Delaney said softly.

  “Sure, Captain,” the sergeant agreed. “But I figured—”

  “I know what you figured,” the Captain said, “and you figured right. Can you work till eight tomorrow morning?”

  “If I have to.”

  “You have to,” Delaney said. He drew Blank’s photo from his pocket, handed it to MacDonald. “This is the man,” he said tonelessly. “His address is on the back. You don’t have to know his name—now. It’s a block-size apartment building. Entrance and exit through a lobby on east Eighty-third. One doorman this time of night. I want three men, plain, covering the lobby. If this man comes out, I want them close to him.”

  “How close?”

  “Close enough.”

  “So if he farts, they can smell it?”

  “Not that close. But don’t let this guy out of their sight. Not for a second. If he spots them, all right. But I wouldn’t like it.”

  “I understand, Captain. A crazy?”

  “Something like that. Just don’t play him for laughs. He’s not a nice boy.”

  The sergeant nodded.

  “And two cars. Two men each, in plain. At both ends of the block. In case he takes off. He’s got a black Chevy Stingray in the underground garage, or he might take a cab. Got all that?”

  “Sure, Captain.”

  “You know Shakespeare and Lauder?”

  “The ‘Gold Dust Twins?’ I know Lauder.”

  “I’d like them in one of the cars. If they’re not on duty, any good men will do. That makes seven men. You pick six more, three in plain and three in uniform, and have them stand by here until eight tomorrow morning. Everyone else can go home. But everyone back by eight tomorrow, and anyone else you can reach by phone or who calls in. Got it?”

  “Where do you want me, Captain?”

  “Right here. I’ve got to go out for an hour or so, but I’ll be back. We’ll have some coffee together and talk about that extra crease in your ass.”

  “Sounds like a jolly night.”

  Delaney looked at him a long time. They had started in the Department the same year, had been in the same Academy class. Now Delaney was a captain, and MacDonald was a sergeant. It wasn’t a question of ability. Delaney wouldn’t mention what it was, and MacDonald never would either.

  “What’s Broughton had you on?” he asked the sergeant finally.

  “Rousting street freaks,” MacDonald said.

  “Shit,” Delaney said disgustedly.

  “My sentiments exactly, Captain,” the sergeant said.

  “Well, lay it all on,” the Captain said. “I’ll be back in an hour or so. Your men should be in position by then. The sooner, the better. Show them that photo, but you hang onto it. It’s the only one I’ve got. I’ll have copies run off tomorrow.”

  “Is he it, Captain?” Detective sergeant MacDonald asked.

  Delaney shrugged. “Who knows?” he said.

  He turned, walked away. He was at the staircase when the sergeant called softly: “Captain.” He turned around.

  “Good to be working with you again, sir,” MacDonald said.

  Delaney smiled faintly but didn’t answer. He walked down the stairway thinking of Broughton’s stupidity in using MacDonald to pull in street freaks. MacDonald! One of the best professors in the Department. No wonder those forty men had been sour and grumbling. It wasn’t that Broughton hadn’t kept them busy, but he had misused their individual abilities and talents. No one could take that for long without losing drive, ambition, even interest in what he was doing. And what was he, Delaney? What were his abilities and talents? He waved a hand in answer to the desk sergeant’s salute as he walked out. He’knew what he was. He was a cop.

  He would have commandeered a squad car, but there was none around. So he walked over to Second Avenue, got a cab heading downtown. He walked into the hospital and, for once, the white tiled walls and the smell couldn’t depress him. Wait until Barbara heard!

  Then he pushed open the door of her room. There was a nurses’ aide sitting alongside the bed. Barbara appeared to be sleeping. The aide motioned to him, beckoning him outside into the corridor.

  “She’s had a bad evening,” she whispered. “Earlier it took two of us to hold her down, and we had to give her something. Doctor said it would be all right.”

  “Why?” the Captain demanded. “What is it? Is it the new drug?”

  “You’ll have to ask doctor,” the aide said primly. Delaney wondered again, in despair, why they always just said “doctor.” Never “the doctor.”

  “You have to consult engineer.”

  “You’ll have to talk to architect.”

  “You’ll have to discuss that with lawyer.” It made the same sense, and it all made no sense whatever.

  “I’ll sit with her awhile,” Delaney told the aide. She was so young; he couldn’t blame her. Who could he blame?

  She nodded brightly. “Tell me when you leave. Unless she’s asleep by then.”

  “She’s not asleep now?”

  “No. Her eyes are closed, but she’s awake. If you need any help, ring the bell or call.”

  She walked away quickly, leaving him wondering what help he might need. He went softly back into the hospital room, still wearing his uniform cap. He pulled a chair over to Barbara’s bedside, sat looking at her. She did seem to be sleeping; her eyes were shut tight, she was breathing deeply and regularly. But, while he watched, her eyelids flicked open, she stared at the ceiling.

  “Barbara?” he called gently. “Darli
ng?”

  Her eyes moved, but her head didn’t turn. Her eyes moved to look at him, into him, through him, not seeing him.

  “Barbara, it’s Edward. I’m here. I have so much to tell you, dear. So much has happened.”

  “Honey Bunch?” she said.

  “It’s Edward, dear. I have a lot to tell you. A lot has happened.”

  “Honey Bunch?” she said.

  He found the books in the metal taboret alongside her bed. He took the top one, not even glancing at the title, and opened it at random. Not having his glasses, he had to hold the book almost at arm’s length. But the type was large, there was good white space between the lines.

  Sitting upright in his Number One uniform, gleaming cap squarely atop his head, the commander of Operation Lombard began reading:

  “Honey Bunch picked her nasturtiums that morning and she gave away her first bouquet. That is always a lovely garden experience—to give away your first bouquet. Of course Honey Bunch gave hers to Mrs. Lancaster and the little old lady said that she would take the flowers home and put them in water and make them last as long as possible.

  “ ‘Haven’t you any garden at all?’ asked Honey Bunch. ‘Just a little one?’

  “ ‘No garden at all,’ replied the old lady sadly. ‘This is the first year I can remember that I haven’t had a piece of ground to do with as…’ ”

  5

  HE SLEPT WHEN he could, but it wasn’t much: perhaps four or five hours a night. But, to his surprise and pleasure, it didn’t slow him down. Within three days he had it all organized. It was functioning.

  He took Lt. Jeri Fernandez out of the Garment Center division he hated, put him in command of the squad shadowing Daniel Blank. Delaney let him select his own spooks; the “Invisible Man” almost wept with gratitude. It was exactly the kind of job he loved, that he did best. It was his idea to borrow a Consolidated Edison van and tear up a section of East 83rd Street near the driveway leading to Blank’s apartment house. Fernandez’ men wore Con Ed uniforms and hard hats, and worked slowly on the hole they dug in the pavement. It played hell with traffic, but the van was filled with communication gear and weapons, and served as Fernandez’ command post. Delaney was delighted. Fuck the traffic jams.