“Would you like to enclose a card, sir?”
“I would.”
He wrote out the small white card: “Dear Dan, here’s a fresh rose for the one you destroyed.” He signed the card “Albert Feinberg,” then slid the card in the little envelope, sealed the flap, addressed the envelope to Daniel G. Blank, including his street address and apartment number.
“You’re certain it will get there by nine tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, sir. We’ll take care of it. That’s a lot of money to spend on one flower, sir. A sentimental occasion?”
“Yes,” Captain Edward X. Delaney smiled. “Something like that.”
5
The next morning Delaney awoke, lay staring somberly at the ceiling. Then, for the first time in a long time, he got out of bed, kneeled, and thought a prayer for Barbara, for his own dead parents, for all the dead, the weak, the afflicted. He did not ask that he be allowed to kill Daniel Blank. It was not the sort of thing you asked of God.
Then he showered, shaved, donned an old uniform, so aged it was shiny enough to reflect light. He also loaded his.38 revolver, strapped on his gunbelt and holster. It was not with the certainty that this would be the day he’d need it, but it was another of his odd superstitions: if you prepared carefully for an event, it helped hasten it.
Then he went downstairs for coffee. The men on duty noted his uniform, the bulge of his gun. Of course, no one commented on it, but a few men did check their own weapons, and one pulled on an elaborate shoulder holster that buckled across his chest.
Fernandez was in the kitchen, having a coffee and Danish. Delaney drew him aside.
“Lieutenant, when you’re finished here, I want you to go to Bulldog One and stay there until relieved. Got that?”
“Sure, Captain.”
“Tell your lookout to watch for a delivery by a florist Let me know the minute he arrives.”
“Okay,” Fernandez nodded cheerfully. “You’ll know as soon as we spot him. Something cooking, Captain?”
Delaney didn’t answer, but carried his coffee back into the radio room. He set it down on the long table, then went back into his study and wheeled in his swivel chair. He positioned it to the right of the radio table, facing the operators.
He sat there all morning, sipping three black coffees, munching on the dry, stale heel of a loaf of Italian bread. Calls came in at fifteen-minute intervals from Bulldog One and Ten-0. No sign of Danny Boy. At 9:20, Stryker called from the Factory to report that Blank hadn’t shown up for work. A few minutes later, Bulldog One was back on the radio.
Fernandez: “Tell Captain Delaney a boy carrying a long, white florist’s box just went into the White House lobby.” Delaney heard it. Leaving as little as possible to chance, he went into his study, looked up the florist’s number called, and asked if his single red rose had been delivered. He was assured the messenger had been sent and was probably there right now. Satisfied, the Captain went back to his chair at the radio table. The waiting men had heard Fernandez’ report but what it meant, they did not know.
Sergeant MacDonald leaned over Delaney’s chair.
“He’s freaking, Captain?” he whispered.
“We’ll see. We’ll see. Pull up a chair, sergeant. Stay close to me for a few hours.”
“Sure, Captain.”
The black sergeant pulled over a wooden, straight-backed chair, sat at Delaney’s right, slightly behind him. He sat as solidly as the Captain, wearing steel-rimmed spectacles, carved face immobile.
So they sat and waited. So everyone sat and waited. Quiet enough to hear a Sanitation truck grinding by, an airliner overhead, a far-off siren, hoot of tugboat, the bored fifteen-minute calls from Ten-0 and Bulldog One. Still no sign of Danny Boy. Delaney wondered if he could risk a quick trip to the hospital.
Then, shortly before noon, a click loud enough to galvanize them, and Bulldog One was on:
“He’s coming out! He’s carrying stuff. A doorman behind him carrying stuff. What? A jacket, knapsack. What? What else? A coil of rope. Boots. What?”
Delaney: “Jesus Christ. Get Fernandez on.”
Fernandez: “Fernandez here. Wearing black topcoat, no hat, left hand in coat pocket, right hand free. No glove. Knapsack, coil of rope, some steel things with spikes, jacket, heavy boots, knitted cap.”
Delaney: “Ice ax?”
Barbara: “Bulldog One, ice ax?”
Fernandez: “No sign. Car coming up from garage. Black Chevy Corvette. His car.”
Captain Delaney turned slightly to look at Sergeant MacDonald. “Got him,” he said.
“Yes,” MacDonald nodded. “He’s running.”
Fernandez: “They’re pushing his stuff into the car. Left hand still in coat pocket, right hand free.”
Delaney (to MacDonald): “Two unmarked cars, three men each. Start the engines and wait. You come back in here.” Fernandez: “He’s loaded. Getting into the driver’s seat. Orders?”
Delaney: “Fernandez to trail in Bulldog Two. Keep in touch.”
Fernandez: “Got it. Out.”
Captain Delaney looked around. Sergeant MacDonald was just coming back into the room.
MacDonald: “Cars are ready, Captain.”
Delaney: “Designated Searcher One and Searcher Two. If we both go, I’ll take One, you take Two. If I stay, you take both.”
MacDonald nodded. He had taken off his glasses. Fernandez: “Barbara from Bulldog Two. He’s circling the block. I think he’s heading for the Castle. Out.”
Delaney: “Alert Tiger One. Send Bulldog Three to Castle.” Fernandez: “Bulldog Two. It’s the Castle all right. He’s pulling up in front. We’re back at the corner, the south corner. Danny Boy’s parked in front of the Castle. He’s getting out. Left hand in pocket, right hand free. Luggage still in car.” Bulldog Three: “Barbara from Bulldog Three.”
Barbara: “Got you.”
Bulldog Three: “We’re in position. He’s walking up to the Castle door. He’s knocking at the door.”
Delaney: “Where’s Tiger One?”
Fernandez: “He’s here in Bulldog Two with me. Danny Boy is parked on the wrong side of the street. We can plaster him.” Delaney: “Negative.”
Barbara: “Negative, Bulldog Two.”
Fernandez (laughing): “Thought it would be. Shit. Look at that…Barbara from Bulldog Two.”
Barbara: “You’re still on, Bulldog Two.”
Fernandez: “Something don’ smell right. Danny Boy knocked at the door of the Castle. It was opened. He went inside. But the door is still open. We can see it from here. Maybe I should take a walk up there and look.”
Delaney: “Tell him to hold it.”
Barbara: “Hold it, Bulldog Two.”
Delaney: “Ask Bulldog Three if they’re receiving our transcriptions to Bulldog Two.”
Barbara: “Bulldog Three from Barbara. Are you monitoring our conversation with Bulldog Two?”
Bulldog Three: “Affirmative.”
Delaney: “To Bulldog Two. Affirmative for a walk past Castle but put Tiger One with walkie-talkie on the other side of the street. Radio can be showing.”
Fernandez: “Bulldog Two here. Got it. We’re starting.”
Bulldog Three: “Bulldog Three here. Got it. Fernandez is getting out of Bulldog Two. Tiger One is getting out, crossing to the other side of the street.”
