rush: 'Because I love you so much, and I want to marry you, Zoe. Darling… Please?'
She looked into his eyes and blinked to keep from weeping.
'Oh, Ernie-' she started.
'Listen a minute,' he said hoarsely. He released her hands, swung back to face the river, hunched over on the bench. 'I know I'm not so much. I mean, I have a good job and all, and I'm not afraid of hard work, and I think I'll do better. But I'm not much to look at, I know-not exactly every woman's dream. But I do love you, Zoe. More than I've ever loved anyone or anything, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I've thought this over very carefully, and I'm sure this is what I want to do. You're in my mind all the time, and I love you so much that sometimes it almost hurts, and I feel like crying. I know that's silly, but that's the way I feel.'
'Oh, Ernie,' she said again. She took him by the shoulders, turned him to her. She hugged him close, his face pressed into her neck. She held him tightly, stroking his fine, flaxen hair. She moved him away, saw tears in his eyes.
She kissed his soft lips tenderly and put her palm to his cheek.
'Thank you, darling,' she said. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don't know how much that means to me, knowing how much you care. It's the nicest, sweetest thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm so proud.'
'We could make a go of it, Zoe,' he pleaded. 'Really we could. We'd have to work at it, of course, but I know we could do it. When I finish my computer course, I'll get a better job. And I have some money in the bank. Not a lot, but some. So we wouldn't starve or anything like that. And you could move into my place. For the time being, I mean, until we can find a bigger place. And I have-'
'Shh, shh,' she whispered, putting a finger on his lips. 'Let me catch my breath for a minute. It isn't every day a girl…'
They sat immobile. She held his face between her palms and stared into his brimming eyes.
'You love me that much, darling?' she said in a low voice.
'I do, I do!' he declared. 'I'd do anything for you, Zoe, I swear it. Except leave you. Don't ask me to do that.'
'No,' she said, smiling sadly. 'I won't ask you to do that.'
'There's no one else, is there?' he asked anxiously.
'Oh no. There's no one else.'
'Zoe, I can understand that you might feel… Well, you know, having been married once and it didn't work out, you might feel, uh, very careful before you marry again. But I'd try very hard, darling, really I would. As hard as I can to be a good husband and make you happy.'
'I know you would, Ernie. You're a dear, sweet man, and I love you.'
'Then…?'
'Oh, darling, I can't answer right now, this minute. I'm in a whirl. You'll have to give me time to think about-'
'Of course,' he said hastily, 'I understand. I didn't expect to sweep you off your feet or anything like that. But you will think about it, won't you?'
'Oh sweetheart, of course I will.'
'Well…' he said, giggling nervously, 'just to keep reminding you, I bought you this…'
He fumbled in the side pocket of his jacket, brought out a little velvet-covered ring box. He opened it.
'World's smallest diamond,' he said, laughing. 'But it's pretty, isn't it, Zoe? Isn't it pretty?'
'It's beautiful,' she said, looking down at the twinkling stone set in a silver band. 'Just beautiful.'
'Try it on,' he urged. 'I didn't know your size, so it may be too tight or too large. But the man said it can be adjusted or even exchanged for a different size.'
She slipped the ring onto her bony finger. It hung loosely.
'Too large,' she said regretfully. She took off the ring and placed it carefully back into the box.
'It can be fixed,' he assured her. 'Zoe, your fingers are so thin. And what's this brown stain here?'
'I burned myself,' she said swiftly. 'On a hot pan. It'll clear up.'
'Better see about it. Does it hurt?'
'Oh no. It's nothing. It'll go away.'
She tried to return the ring box to him, but he wouldn't take it.
'You keep it, dear,' he said. 'Put it someplace where you'll see it every day and think about what I asked you. Will you do that, Zoe?'
'I don't need the ring to remind me,' she said, smiling. 'Oh, Ernie, it was so kind of you. And the ring is lovely. It truly is.'
'You like it? Really?'
'It's the most beautiful ring in the world, and you're the most beautiful man.'
'Say Yes, darling. Think it over, remember how much I love you, and say Yes.'
That night, alone in her apartment, Zoe Kohler put the ring on her finger again, making a fist so it wouldn't slip off. Staring down at that shining circlet, she became aware of happiness as a conscious choice, hers for the taking.
She would call Dr. Stark and agree to enter a hospital. She would do whatever was necessary, endure any mortification to regain her health. She would throw out all her unnecessary pills and capsules. She would stop drinking, eat only good, nutritious food.
She would fill out, and her skin would become smooth and pure. She would make her body beautiful, slender and willowy.
Her breath would be sweet and her monthly cramps would vanish as she grew content.
She would end her adventures because there would no longer be a need for them. The police would grow tired of the search, and the Hotel Ripper would fade from the headlines. In a few weeks or months the whole thing would be forgotten.
She would marry Ernest Mittle. Yes, and send an announcement to her ex-husband! Ernie would move in with her because her apartment was larger. She would keep her job at the Hotel Granger until Ernie was launched on a successful career in computers.
They would take turns cooking, and hurry home each night just to be together and talk to each other. They would go on wonderful vacations together, walk deserted beaches and swim in an endless sea.
They would make love gently, tenderly, and find bliss. Then they would sleep in each other's arms and wake to make love again, with smiles. They would find joy in each other's body, in their shared passion. They would not do anything ugly.
Their closeness would keep the brutal city at bay, would defend against the world's cruelty. They would be the world, a world of two, and nothing would daunt or defeat them.
Then they would have a child. Perhaps two. They would create a family of their own. With their clean, bright children, they would defy the darkness.
She replaced the ring in its box and hid it far back in the bureau drawer, next to the why not? bracelet. She went to sleep smiling, still living her dream.
It all seemed possible.
July 15-18; Tuesday to Friday…
Detective Daniel ('Dapper Dan') Bentley was given responsibility for the physical surveillance of Zoe Kohler. He used three crews, each on duty for eight hours. Each team consisted of two male and one female police officers.
Most of their time was spent in an unmarked police vehicle parked outside the subject's apartment house on East 39th Street or the Hotel Granger on Madison Avenue. The car was changed every day in an effort to prevent easy recognition by the suspect.
When Zoe Kohler walked to work, went to lunch, or just went shopping or on an innocent errand, one of the surveillance team tailed her on foot, keeping in touch with the stakeout car by walkie-talkie.
In addition to this close physical watch, a court order for a wiretap was obtained. With the cooperation of the owner of Zoe's apartment house, a tap and tape recorder were installed in the basement, hooked up to her telephone terminal. Two-man crews were on duty around the clock.
Gradually, a description of the subject and a time-habit pattern were assembled in the command post at Midtown Precinct North. The existence of Ernest Mittle and Madeline Kurnitz was established by phone call traces,
