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Mute Witness
 About the Book
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Preview
CHAPTER ONE
Friday - 9:10 A.M.
Lieutenant Clancy of the 52nd Precinct dropped from his taxi in Foley Square and started slowly up the broad marble steps of the Criminal Courts Building. He was a slender man in his late forties, a bit above medium height, dressed in a drab blue suit, a cheap white shirt with blue striped tie inexpertly tied, and a dark blue hat that failed to conceal the streaks of gray that were beginning to mark his temples. The thin face beneath the shadow of the worn brim was drawn, lined with weariness; his dark eyes were expressionless.
He paused at the top of the steps, half-tempted to disregard the summons - the office he was about to visit held some rather unpleasant memories for him. And he was tired and he knew it. Six hours´ sleep in the past forty-eight, cleaning up a complicated case that would appear in the afternoon papers as "routine" - and a desk piled high with work awaiting him back at the precinct, plus the fact that his superior was sick and all work fell on him, plus assignment lists to be approved or changed, plus all the constant bickering and fighting and bloodshed that washed across his desk daily in search of possible resolution ... He stared about the green square a moment, watching the pigeons scatter to wheel in the summer morning breeze and the warm sunlight, and then return to peck disinterestedly at the offerings of the children to whom the square was all they knew of the great-outdoors. He was suddenly aware of the pleasantness of the sunlight on his shoulders. This is no day to be here, he suddenly thought. This is no day to listen to Chalmers, no matter what he has to say. This is a day to get your fishing tackle together and go out into the country. Or a day to sleep. Ah, well, he thought; nobody forced you to become a policeman ... He sighed, shrugged his shoulders philosophically, and pushed his way through the heavy doors.
The elevator deposited him easily on the fourth floor of the quiet building and he walked slowly and wearily down the wide, empty corridors, past the alcoved drinking fountains and the pictures of former State Justices hung dustily and unevenly along the high, drab walls, toward the familiar office. He paused briefly outside the frosted glass door, listening to the ragged sound of typing filtering unevenly through. With a shrug he twisted the knob and entered the office.
The secretary seated at the typewriter just inside the door was a heavy-set, no-longer-young woman with dyed hair fluffed in an extreme hair-do and short painted fingernails. She stopped her work at his entrance, her duck fingers poised like fat worms over the typewriter keys as she surveyed the Lieutenant. Her small eyes were cold, but a smile spread slowly across her puffy face, bright and false.
"Hello, Lieutenant." The tiny eyes took in the worn hat, the shiny suit; thsy dropped to the badly-knotted necktie and remained there as she continued. "It´s been a long time since you visited us. How have you been?"
"Fine," Clancy said woodenly.
"I understand you´re at the 52nd Precinct now," the woman said. She put one pudgy hand to her dyed hair and pulled her eyes from the necktie to glance behind her, as if to pretend concealment of some inner smile of triumph. "I hope you like it there, Lieutenant."
"I like it fine," Clancy said evenly, and stared over her head to the massive inner door that led to the Assistant District Attorney´s sanctum. His eyes came back to the faintly gloating secretary. "Is Mr. Chalmers apt to be busy very long?"
"I´ll tell him you´re here."
She swung her heavy body about almost coyly, squeezing her large bust past the typewriter; her finger found and pressed a button. There was a harsh rasping answer from the intercom, and then the tone clarified.
"Yes?"
"Lieutenant Clancy is here, Mr. Chalmers."
"Clancy? Oh." There was a moment´s pause. "Well, tell him to wait."
The words were clearly audible to the tired man in the faded blue suit. He twisted his hat in his hands, his thin face unrevealing, and turned towards the leather-upholstered sofa that served as a waiting bench against one wall. There was another squawk and the intercom suddenly spoke again.
"Mrs. Green." There was a moment´s hesitation, as if the author of the unseen voice wasn´t quite sure. "On second thought we might as well get it over with. Send the Lieutenant in."
Clancy moved from the upholstered sofa with its promise of restful comfort, going to the inner door, conscious of the slightly sardonic smile on the fat face of the secretary. He pushed his way through and closed the door behind him, resisting with effort a desire to slam it. He took a deep breath and faced the man sitting relaxed behind the wide desk. Hold your temper, he advised himself coldly. You´re tired and in no condition to get angry. Don´t let the bastard get under your skin; don´t let him take advantage of your weariness. But don´t let him ride you, either.
"You wanted to see me?"
The Assistant District Attorney nodded shortly. "Yes. Sit down."
"I´ll stand if you don´t mind," Clancy said. "What did you want to see me about?"
The gray eyebrows across from him quirked. "As you wish. I asked you to stop in because there´s a job to be done in your precinct and I wanted to brief you on it ..."
"I take my instructions from Captain Wise," Clancy said quietly.
"He´s home sick in bed, as you well know. But you´ll get confirmation on this from the proper source. And actually, they aren´t really instructions." The pale blue eyes studied the desk and then selected an ornate letter opener. The neatly groomed hands picked it up, playing with it idly. "This is a bit different. We have an important witness staying in your area that we want guarded day and night." The pale eyes rose; the letter opener was discarded as having served its purpose. "This witness has offered to testify before the State Crime Commission next Tuesday morning." There was a slight cough. "His testimony could be extremely important. We want him alive when the Commission meets."
Clancy knew what was coming. Despite his resolution the anger began to gather in his dark eyes. "Go on."
"That´s all. Just that. We don´t want him killed." The neatly-manicured hands waved negligently. The quiet voice remained bland; almost indifferent. "We don´t want him killed by anyone. And that includes trigger-happy policemen ..."
Clancy leaned over the wide desk; the knuckles gripping his worn hat whitened. Despite his resolution his temper began to slip beyond his control. "Look, Chalmers - are you calling me trigger-happy?"
"I? Calling you ... ?" The white hands spread apart in amazement at the charge. "You misunderstand me, Lieutenant. Completely. All I was doing ..."
"I know what you were doing." The dark eyes stared into the pale blue ones intently. "You were giving me the needle. The business." He took a deep breath and straightened up, "Sure, I killed one of your witnesses, once. He was insane; he came at me with a loaded gun and I shot him. And you saw to it that I lost a promotion and got a transfer to the 52nd out of it." The thin fingers relaxed on the crumpled hat; he forced his anger behind him, dropping his voice.
"Look, Chalmers. If you want a witness guarded and don´t like the way we do it, move him to some other jurisdiction. But don´t -" He stopped, aware of the uselessness of discussion.
"Please, Lieutenant. Don´t get excited." The pale eyes facing Clancy held the slightest touch of satisfaction at the other´s reaction. "As I was saying, I was merely explaining the importance of this man´s safety. As a matter of fact we offered him protective custody in a downtown hotel - one of the better hotels - but our witness refused. He wants to stay in a small hotel uptown; he feels there is less movement in a place like that and therefore less chance that he might be spotted. Of course we can´t force the man to do something he doesn´t want to do. However, he did agree to have plain-clothes protection where he is staying - he asked for it, as a matter of fact."
Clancy opened his mouth to retort and then clamped it shut. He laid his hat on the corner of the desk, reached into his pocket and brought out his notebook, took a pen from another and clicked it open.
"All right," he said evenly, wearily. "What´s his name and where is he hiding out?"
The well-dressed figure across from him continued to lean back comfortably. There was a faint smile of combined anticipation and triumph on the thin lips.
"His name is Rossi," Chalmers said softly. "Johnny Rossi."
Clancy´s head came up with a jerk. "Johnny Rossi? From the west coast? He´s here in New York?"
"That´s right. Lieutenant."
"And he´s going to spill to the New York Crime Commission?"
"That´s right. Next Tuesday."
Clancy frowned. His fingers unconsciously twiddled the pen. "Why?"
The pale eyes came up. "Why what?"
"Why would he talk? And even if he did, why to the New York Crime Commission? Why not to the police out on the west coast? Or to the proper Federal authorities?"
For the first time a faint shadow crossed the urbane face. "To tell you the truth, I don´t know." The doubt was forced from the quiet voice; it hardened. "In any event, we´ll get those answers when we have him up before the Commission. As to why he chose New York, it really doesn´t make any difference. His testimony will stand just as well no matter where it is given." He shrugged, calm once again. "Maybe he feels safer in New York. Or possibly he knows that I´ll see to it that he gets a fair hearing ..."
Clancy snorted. The pale eyes across from him hardened once again.
"Do you have any comments?"
"Yeah," Clancy said evenly. "It stinks."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said it stinks."
The dapper figure behind the large desk pushed himself erect in his chair. "Now see here, Lieutenant. You weren´t called here for your opinions. You were called here -"
"You just asked me if I had any comments," Clancy said. "Well, here´s some more. This Johnny Rossi is a guy who´s guilty of every crime in the book; together with his brother Pete he runs the west coast. Every racket out there reports to him - protection, gambling, prostitution; everything. But nobody can touch him. Then, when something slips in his little world, we´re supposed to protect him. That´s a joke."
"It may be a joke, Lieutenant, but that´s the story. Your job isn´t to pass moral judgment on this man; your job at the moment is simply to protect him. Whether you like him or not."
"And here´s one last comment," Clancy said. "So far nobody has been able to put him behind bars, or in the gas chamber out there, where he belongs; but if he talks I don´t see how he can keep from incriminating himself. Unless when he talks he doesn´t say anything. Or unless there´s been a pretty smelly deal made ..."
There was a sharp gasp from the man across the desk. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. There was a moment´s silence while the two men stared into each other´s eyes. When Chalmers finally spoke his voice was low and hard.
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