“Where is she?”
“Don’t be an ass.”
Pendleton stiffened. “This proves nothing. The photos could have been taken months ago.”
“Look, Wrinkles, I’m better than that. Take a look at the newspaper she’s holding and then try arguing with me.” He gave Pendleton a magnifying glass. “Look at it, Pendleton.” The date on the paper was one day ago. “Pendleton, you’re hooked.”
In the silence that followed, neither of them moved. “What do you want, Alverato?”
“Now you’re talking.” Alverato jumped up from the desk and came around to Pendleton’s side. “Seeing how you love your daughter, I want the works. I want the contact in Italy, the delivery route, the works.”
“I refuse.” Pendleton said it blindly.
“You know, Pendy, that kid of yours has a lot of life left in her.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Just try me. Just try me, Wrinkles, and tonight I’ll send her back to you in a sack.”
Pendleton bared his long teeth for a moment and sucked the air into his lungs. When he exhaled he looked shrunken. “Very well. When do I get my daughter?”
“How do you want her?”
“For heaven’s sake, Alverato-”
“You want her alive, she’ll be delivered after we get confirmation of the order we’re going to place.”
Pendleton stared at the wall, his face a mask. “Very well. We can hear from the contact tonight.”
“That’s not all I want, Pendleton. I want the works, how it’s done-”
“One moment.” Pendleton turned his head slowly. “You don’t understand. You cannot do it alone. The contact is in Italy, but the method of entry is arranged here. Even if I told you all the details of the operation, it would do you no good. It is my presence that counts at this end.”
“Why?”
“That’s the way it’s organized. Personal arrangements are delicate things, Alverato, especially when the risk is large. The arrangements-”
“So we rearrange. I’ll put a man on it and you show him the ropes. You show him every step of the way. That’s part of the deal.”
“I agreed to give you the name of the Italian contact, Alverato. There was no mention of anything else.”
“There is now, Pendleton. That understood?”
Pendleton shrugged. His hand was tracing back and forth over the top of the desk, but he didn’t say anything.
“All right, now let’s get the details. How do I order the heroin?”
“May I have a chair?”
Alverato went to the other end of the room, brought back a chair, and they sat down at the desk. Pendleton wrote it down as he talked. “The contact’s name is Lippi. Signor Alfredo Lippi, Box Ninety-four, Positano, Italy. You write to him over the signature of Alfred B. Kent, President, Imports, Inc., New York. Write anything at all, but dealing with your recent visit to Rome and when might he return it. Now, the important thing is to mention a number. For instance, the fifth of June would be fine for a visit, or your daughter has two new teeth, or you realize four thousand miles is a long trip, etc. The first digit of any such number is the amount in kilos of heroin you’re ordering. Make it innocuous.”
“What?”
“Innocuous. By return mail-or cable, if you have cabled-you will receive a message containing the clue to the time and place of the pickup. If the cable is sent on an odd day, the pickup will be ready two weeks from the day. If it is even, there is a delay until further notice.
“The time of cabling is important. Here is a list of Italian cities, all numbered from one to ten. If the cable is sent at two, either A.M. or P.M., the pickup city is number two-Genoa, as it happens. One more thing. Your cable must always be sent on an even hour in the afternoon. That is the entire procedure.”
At four o’clock that afternoon they sent a cable to Positano, mentioning among other things that the 824 pairs of sandals had arrived intact and that Mr. Alfred B. Kent hoped to be able to place an additional order in the near future.
Then they waited. Pendleton’s face remained blank and he stared out of the window most of the time. Alverato smoked a few cigars, ate a meal, and once he placed a call to an apartment in Queens. The man that answered said the girl was all right now. She had been rough for a while, but then they had called Dr. Welch, who had given her a green capsule. She was asleep.
At eleven that night, Imports, Inc. received a cablegram dated the ninth and stating that Signor Lippi confirmed receipt of cablegram and would be happy to handle any additional orders. Time of message was nine.
Eight kilos of heroin would be ready for pickup in Naples two weeks from the date.
When they got to the apartment in Queens, Pat watched them come in without enthusiasm. She gave her father a dull greeting. Nor was Pendleton demonstrative. He took her home, saw her fall asleep, and locked himself in his study.
He made two phone calls. He called the Medaglia d’Oro and reached Signor Lippi in his room. They arranged that the present order should be honored, but that further orders were to be ignored unless signed by “Alfred” instead of “Alfred B. Kent.” And they changed the numbers of the Italian cities to run from three to twelve in scrambled order. Pendleton wrote out the new list of cities and put the slip of paper in his vest pocket while he said good-by to Signor Lippi.
Chapter Twenty-Two
He had bought a new hat. It lay there on the chair, in the shadow, while he stared at the floor between his feet The rumpled bed made a noise when he moved, but he didn’t move much. He sat quite still and every minute was a long wait.
Sometimes he felt as if none of this were real, as if he were no longer himself, standing still and waiting for the next move to come. It had been different with Pat He had waited, but there was always the effort to make time pass, to make it pay in the end. And then there had been Pendleton back in his mind, but the hate had paid off and was gone. And Pat was gone.
How was Alverato managing? She was sick and nobody knew how to help her.
He didn’t like to think about it. He started to pace. With a sudden gesture he picked up his hat. He put it on his head the way he always did and left the room.
But the walk didn’t help. It came to him that he didn’t like to be alone any more, and he didn’t like loose ends. That Alverato deal was a loose end. Pat was a loose end. Given half a chance with that syndicate business, he could really show Alverato that he was worth his salt Given half a chance with Pat, even less than that…
He walked back to his room, listening to the hard click of his shoes on the dark street Once he took his hat off and creased the crown. He didn’t have it on yet the way he wanted when a voice said:
“You. Benny Tapkow. Hey!” The car had rolled up silently, lights dim. “It’s about the Pendleton dame,” said the voice when Benny made a quick move away from the car.
He came closer, cautiously, and saw that it was Birdie, hunched over the side window, beckoning him to come nearer.
“Tapkow. Alverato wants to see you. All hell’s busted wide. We got a call from Pendleton. Laughing his sides out because now that he’s got his kid back, he’s pulling a double-cross. He’s changed the contact or the code or somethin’ and Big Al is out in the cold again. Alverato like to split a gut!
“Then we get a call from the Rosemanor, the hotel downtown? The manager’s a friend of Big Al and he says there’s a Miss Pendleton checked in tonight and she’s raising the roof. She’s out of her head and yelling at the operator that she wants to call a Mr. Alverato, or else a Mr. Benny Tapkow, and she won’t quiet down. Seems like she ran out on her ever loving daddy.”
Benny felt it coming. It was there again, the big chance. It was there again and it was Pat again. “Where is
