'He was squinting.'
Most likely Dell is Clury, but her description doesn't nail it.
'I think I got his prints,' Sue said casually.
Janek smiled. Good girl! 'How'd you manage that?'
'I spotted a pack of Marlboros beside the register. I asked the nice lady, who turned out to be the new Mrs. Dell-small, blond, a younger version of Janet-if it would be all right if I helped myself. ',' she says, real nice, ''re Dan's. Might as well take the pack.
They'll just dry up.' So I took it, dropped it dainty-like into my purse. Now I got it properly bagged and IDed. Want me to bring it home, Frank?'
'No, I want you to throw it in the sewer. Take it to the nearest locals, have them lift the prints, fax them to me, then stand by.'
'Yes, sir, Lieutenant Janek, sir!'
The prints on the cigarette pack matched Clury's perfectly. After that it was classic follow-up. He made all the textbook moves:
He kept Sue in Florida to check on Dell. When the local DEA agent told her that, although there was no hard evidence, Dell was suspected of using his charter boat to pick up drugs dropped by runners into the Gulf, Janek suggested that the DEA begin proceedings to seize his property.
He sent Aaron back to work with Sue and the Crystal River cops. They set up a twenty-four-hour watch on Clury's boat, house and bait shop, got a court order to tap his phone and followed young Mrs. Clury whenever she went out.
He sent Ray over to the NYPD pension department to explain that Clury wasn't dead. The department immediately cut off Janet's checks, put liens on her accounts and property and filed charges against her for criminal fraud.
Janek personally went over to the bomb squad butter vault to inform Stoney that Clury was still alive..He made sure Stoney understood that it was his excellent work tracking the bomb signature that had made Janek think to call up Clury's file.
Stoney appreciated the compliment, but worried about the outcome. 'Put a bomber in a corner,' he said, 'he's likely to throw a bomb.'
'Killing isn't going to help him,' Janek said. 'He's got two choices: deal or run.'
Stoney didn't agree. 'Bombers are psychos. Once a bomber, always a bomber. And when one comes after you, he's not going to come with a gun.'
It was Sunday afternoon when Clury called. Janek was at home, watching a Yankees game on TV. The caller didn't identify himself, but Janek knew who it was. Clury's voice was deep and harsh:
'There's a phone booth on your corner, Amsterdam and Eighty-seventh.
I'll be calling there in four minutes. Don't miss me.' Click.
Janek pulled on a sweatshirt, slapped a cassette into his micro tape recorder, rang impatiently for his elevator, then took the stairs. Out on the street, he jogged to the corner. A teenager, possibly a drug messenger, was snarling into the phone.
Janek tapped him on the shoulder. 'Pardon me, I'm expecting a call.'
The boy turned, mouth curled with contempt. 'Yeah? Hot shit! '
Janek flashed his shield. 'Get lost, kid.'
The boy dropped the receiver, took off down the avenue. Just as Janek replaced it, the phone rang.
'It's me,' Clury said. 'Put that tape recorder away. Otherwise I don't talk.'
He's near. He can see me.
Janek obeyed.
'You're a clever cop, Janek. Gotta admire the way you put the scare into Janet. Your guy was behind her, right?'
'Something like that,' Janek agreed.
'Well, it ain't worth shit, Detective, because you got nothing but a middle-aged cop who decided to drop out of the game. A cop who got worn down doing undercover work. So instead of quitting officially the way you're supposed to, he walked away.'
'Some people might call that desertion.'
'Would they? Big deal!'
'Anyway, I got a little more than that,' Janek said.
'Pension fraud? I never took a cent. That's between Janet and the Department. Nothing to do with me.'
'There's homicide.'
'Whose are we talking about?'
'I count four: Edith Mendoza, the guy in your car, Gus Metaxas and Phyllis Komfeld.'
Clury laughed. 'Edith? No one's ever going to figure that one out.
Guy in my car? Who's he? Way I heard it, they found some body parts which got cremated nine years ago. Metaxas? He killed himself. No one can prove otherwise. Komfeld? You gotta be kidding. She was killed by a robber. You'll never tie her to me.'
You don't know I've got Dakin in my pocket. 'You blew up my car,' Janek said.
'I didn't. I was. fishing off the Keys that night. I can prove it, too.'
Yeah, you probably can.
'So, you got it all figured, don't you, Clury? Why'd you bother to call?'
'I want to work things out. Sure, I can disappear. But I don't want to see Janet hurt. My new wife either.'
What a nice man!
'We'll have to meet and discuss it.'
'No problem. Just you and me. No one else. I'll pick the time and place.'
Go for it!
'Sorry, can't do that. You'll have to surrender at my office. Think it over. If you're interested, call me back. I'll be at home. No more phone booths. Think about this, too. The Department wants Mendoza closed. if you help me close it, maybe something can be worked out. But you'll have to surrender first.' He waited a beat, then hung up.
He's watching, he reminded himself as he walked back to his building.
Move with confidence so he sees you know you've got him by the balls.
After two days of silence he wondered if he'd made a mistake. He thought: Maybe I went too far. Surrender is more than he can tolerate.
But he still didn't see how Clury could disappear again, since, this time, he'd be a wanted man. Also, he was nine years older. He had a nice life as Dan Dell in Crystal River. Could he walk away so easily from everything-wife, business, bank accounts? What were his choices?
At first Janek thought he had him boxed. Now, after two days, he wasn't sure.
Maybe, he thought, Stoney's right. Maybe Clury will throw a bomb. But Janek didn't see the point of that. He viewed Clury as an ice-cold killer, not a nut case. Everything he'd done, the way he'd set up Metaxas and murdered Komfeld, was amoral, logical and totally self-serving. Sol why now try to kill the COPS who were after him? He had to know that if he did that he'd only provoke the formation of a posse.
On the other hand, Janek reasoned, how could Clury walk away from his sweet life in Florida and his new, Young, pretty wife? His only reasonable choice was to surrender, with the hope that he could make some kind of deal.
Clearly he wouldn't plead to a homicide count or anything that would earn him heavy time, but he might be willing to go in for a couple of years just to clean the slate. Yes, Clury's best bet was to help close the Mendoza case, which he might believe he could do without implicating himself. His biggest problem would be to explain who was in his Cadillac when it blew. If he was smart, and Janek believed he was, he would come up with a plausible explanation and some proof to back it up.
What he would not know, of course, was that Phyllis Komfeld had identified him years before to Dakin. Nor would he know that under the Dead Man Statutes, such @'hearsay' could be presented in court, and that Dakin, desperate to save his ass, would eagerly testify.
