He couldn’t leave. He couldn’t stay. He couldn’t bull his way in.
Which left only one thing to do. He put the car in gear and drove three curving blocks before he found a telephone booth on a corner. He stopped the car, stepped into the booth, and dialed Saugherty’s house.
Brock answered, and Parker said, “Hello, Brock, this is Parker. Put Rosenstein on.”
All he got was a gasp.
“Come on, Brock, we’re all in a hurry. Put your angel on, let’s go.”
Brock didn’t say anything, but Parker heard the receiver thud down on a piece of furniture. He thought he could vaguely hear conversation going on far from the phone. He waited, and the next voice he heard was the same one that had questioned him that time at Brock’s place:
“Parker?”
“Rosenstein?”
“Yeah. You the one called before?”
“Yes.”
“Had us a little confused here. What’s on your mind?”
“I’ve got Uhl,” Parker said.
“That’s good,” Rosenstein said. “Have fun with him.”
“I used that serum of yours on him.”
There was a little pause, and Rosenstein said, “You did?”
“So now I know the situation,” Parker said. “I know I need Saugherty.”
Rosenstein laughed. “Ain’t that the truth. Sorry, baby, he isn’t for sale.”
“But you need Uhl,” Parker told him.
Another little silence, and Rosenstein said, “How do you figure that?”
“You don’t have the money, and you won’t get it without Uhl. Just like I won’t get it without Saugherty. You’ve got Saugherty. I’ve got Uhl.”
“Are you talking deal?”
“Better we each get half than nobody gets anything.”
“Maybe. Maybe I don’t need Uhl at all.”
“If you didn’t,” Parker said, improvising, “You’d have the money by now and be gone from there.”
“If I had that damn serum— “
“You need Uhl.”
“Hold on a minute.”
Parker held on. He didn’t know what Saugherty had done with the money, or why it was taking Rosenstein and Brock so long to get it out of him, but unless Saugherty fell apart in the next thirty seconds this idea ought to work.
Rosenstein came back. “Just for the sake of argument, what’s on your mind?”
“Fifty-fifty split.”
“I know that. How do you want to work it?”
“We’ll meet and talk things over,” Parker said, and knowing Rosenstein would object, he said, “We’ll figure out some place we can meet, and— “
“You mean I leave here? That’s damn likely, isn’t it? Don’t be stupid, Parker.”
“All right then. You tell me.”
“Just tell me what Uhl told you. We’ll get the dough and leave you half. You’re in the neighborhood, right?”
“I’m a few blocks away.”
“In a phone booth on the corner? Yeah, I know that one. So just give me the story.”
“And you’ll leave me half,” Parker said.
There was a little silence, and then Rosenstein chuckled. “It was worth a try,” he said.
“We can’t stall around forever,” Parker said. “Neither of us is going to get more than half, so let’s face it.”
Rosenstein sighed. “All right. But I’m not leaving here.”
“Then I don’t know,” Parker said. He wanted the suggestion to come from Rosenstein so he wouldn’t be suspicious of it.
It finally did. “Why don’t you come here?” Rosenstein said. “We can work out a way you can come in without exposing yourself. I don’t suppose you’ll take my word for a safe conduct or anything.”
“I won’t.”
“All right. Set it up any way you want.”
