fallen to the floor splintered into pieces.
'So how come, if they were so terrified, they broke the window downstairs but didn't go in?' Mike asked. 'Doesn't make sense if all they were worried about was saving their asses.'
'The story they're giving us is that when the dog started barking, they backed out.'
Jesse wasn't buying it. 'They were more frightened of a weeny terrier than of being blown off the side of the building? That one's hard to swallow. I think they saw me returning and just panicked. Why'd they go
Powell answered again. 'Their boss says that when it's windy, it's actually more dangerous to be lowered than to go up higher. If they drop, it means they have to let out more rope, and that causes them to swing more, and that makes it riskier for them.'
He put his arm around my shoulders and guided me off into the den. 'I don't want to make a scene in front of your neighbor, but you gotta know that since the scaffolding went up, there have been three burglaries in the building.'
I turned to look at Powell, surprised by the news. 'Nobody's mentioned it to me.'
'Needless to say, management would rather not have it known. There's no forced entry, so we've been looking at them as inside jobs. We actually started with the house staff as suspects-'
'Hey, I'd start with these guys on the outside. I'd go to the mat for the men who work in the building. Every single one of them.' 'Well, today seems to prove the point. You want to look around for me and tell us if anything's missing? I patted them down, and they've got nothing on them. Of course, since your neighbor was so quick to act, these guys never got out of your apartment. So if they didn't drop stuff out the window, they probably didn't have a chance to take anything.
'And you might want to know, just for your comfort level, that these mopes who've been staring in everyone's window the past few weeks? They've both got sheets a mile long. The short one standing near the kitchen door, he's on parole in the Bronx for armed robbery. The taller one, who pretends he don't understand English? He's had four collars for larceny.
'One of your neighbors in the C line moved in on a Monday night, and woke up the next morning to see him standing in her bedroom doorway. She screamed her guts out.'
'And he's still working here?'
'The guy backed right out. Said he thought the apartment was still empty, didn't know she'd moved in. He'd been using the bathroom as his Porta Potti all month. Apologized and left. Hard to know what to do about him.'
'Would you mind getting these guys out of here while I check around for you?'
'We're taking 'em over to the precinct. Gonna print both of them, to compare against the other cases. I won't charge 'em with anything here unless you tell me something's gone, okay?'
The two detectives walked the men out of the apartment while Mike, the super, and I surveyed the damage. Broken glass was everywhere, mixed in with the shattered china.
'Is Powell locking them up?'
'I can't see it, for this. What if their lives really were at risk and they had to come inside? I'm not going to second-guess anybody on that. They don't seem to have gotten out of here with anything. All they did was make a mess.' We were standing by the window, and even though there didn't seem to be much wind today, the frigid air streamed into the room.
'Yeah, well, I think it's bullshit and they're lucky they landed where they did. Nice to know you're so forgiving about guys who crash into your pad. I may bank on that. What are you gonna do about this mess?' In one corner of the room stood my cheerful little Christmas tree, while here at my feet was a pile of debris.
The super spoke. 'We'll take care of it for you, Ms. Cooper. We'll clean all this up by the end of the day. Just make a list for us of the things that were broken and we'll submit it to the insurance company.'
He looked at the giant hole in the glass. 'I doubt I can get the window replaced before tonight. Were you planning on being here for Christmas?'
I shook my head.
'Then you'll have a new one by Thursday, I promise.'
When everyone left, Mike and I knelt on the floor to pick up some of the porcelain pieces. 'Now I've got something new to worry about. I can't think of many places I've felt safer than behind the doors of this apartment, once I get inside at night and turn the locks. No fire escape, no back entrance, no way in unless I open the dead bolt.' I tried to laugh. 'Now I've got to worry about men climbing in off scaffolding twenty stories above the street?'
'These guys were trying to give you the same message I was the other night. Time to settle down and develop a more stable lifesty-'
'Don't go there, Mr. Chapman. Get up off your knees. There's nothing to salvage in this pile. I'm just going to check with the office and then I'll take a cab out to the airport.'
'But they wrecked the joint.'
'Puts things in perspective, though, doesn't it? Lola Dakota is dead, and all I've got to complain about is some broken china. Want to open your Christmas present?'
'Nope. Let's celebrate when you come back. Maybe we can get Mercer in for dinner one night and have our own little holiday, okay?'
'Pick the date. That's fine with me.'
I dialed my office number and checked with Laura to see if there were any messages that had come in since we last spoke. She told me no and patched my call through to Catherine Dashfer, who was supervising the unit while I was uptown. 'Thanks for covering for me. Anything going on today?'
'A new case just came into the complaint room. Looks like we're going to have to do a hospital hearing at the end of the week, to hold the perp in. Do you think you can get Leemie or Maxine to cover it on Friday? Paul and I are still planning to be at my sister's house through the weekend.'
'Sure. Let me make some calls. Why a hospital hearing, though?' There could be several reasons the proceeding would be held in an institution and not at the courtroom. It was frequently done when the defendant was confined with an injury or an illness, or if he had a mental condition that required detention at a long-term- care facility. In that case, the judge, lawyers for both sides, court officers, and an official stenographer trouped to the site to conduct the arraignment or probable-cause hearing. 'What hospital?'
'Bird S. Coler. The one on Roosevelt Island.'
'Even better. I'll do this one myself. Tell Laura to have the file messengered to Jake's doorman.' That way it would be waiting for me when we came home from the Vineyard on Thursday evening. 'What's the case?'
Catherine repeated the facts that the officer had told her. 'Perp's name is Chester Rubiera. He's a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of substance abuse. Assaulted one of the other patients. I'll get a facilitator for her, too. The victim has a severe mental disability. You may need someone to help the court understand her testimony. Friday at ten, okay?'
I turned to Chapman and explained the situation. 'How about if I ask Nan to show us around Roosevelt Island on Friday afternoon? I've never been there. The new case happened at Coler.' A chronic-care facility located on the north end of the island, the hospital was home to many patients with physical ailments, and had a large psychiatric unit as well. 'I can do the hearing in the morning, and you can meet me over there at lunchtime. Maybe we can get a sense of the place.'
'You're living in the past, blondie. Your fascination is with Blackwells Island. There's no such thing anymore, and there's no evidence, at the moment, to think that Lola's death is connected to what's going on over there today.'
'You're right. But I'm just interested in what had Lola so engaged in that project. If there's something more important to be done on Friday, I'll skip it. If not, I'll exorcise my curiosity.' 'You know what curiosity did to the cat, Coop.' 'It's a perfect place to be, under those circumstances,' I said, smiling. 'At the deadhouse.'
16
