them and they stopped, stunned, then withdrew out of sight.
The gray and noiseless compound dissolved into sound and yellow light. I was rocked gently from side to side and a voice said, 'Mike... please wake up.'
I opened my one eye and the other came open with it a little bit. 'Marsha?'
'You were talking in your sleep. Are you awake, Mike?'
She looked tired. The nurse behind her looked tired too. The boy in her arms was smiling at me. 'I'm awake, honey.' I made a motion for her to pull down the shade. 'Same day?'
'No, you slept all through yesterday, all night and most of today.'
I rubbed my face. Some of the puffiness had gone down. 'Lord. What time is it?'
'Almost four-thirty. Mike... that Captain Chambers is on the phone. Can you answer him?'
'Yeah, I'll get it. Let me get something on.'
I struggled into my pants, swearing when I hit a raw spot. I was covered with adhesive tape and iodine, but the agony of moving was only a soreness now. I padded outside and picked up the phone. 'Hello...'
'Where've you been, Mike? I told you to call me.'
'Oh, shut up. I've been asleep.'
'I hope you're awake now. The D.A. found Grindle.'
'Good.'
'Now he wants you.'
'What's it this time, a homicide charge?'
'There's no charge. I explained that away. He wants Teen and he thinks you're pulling a fast one again.'
'What's the matter with the guy?'
'Put yourself in his shoes and you'll see. The guy is fighting to hang onto his job.'
'Christ, I gave him enough. What does he want... blood? Did he expect me to get Teen the hard way for him?'
'Don't be a jerk, Mike. He doesn't want Teen dead. He doesn't want a simple obit in the papers. He wants Teen in court so he can blow the whole thing wide open before the public. That's the only thing that will keep him in office.'
'What happened to tin ear?'
'All the guy had was the telephone number of a booth in Grand Central Station. If he didn't call in every hour it meant there was trouble. We traced the number and there was nobody around. The guy worked through an intermediary who passed the information on to the right people. Both of them got paid off the same way... a bundle of cash by mail on the first of every month.'
'I suppose Ed Teen's laughing his head off.'
'Not exactly, but he's grinning broadly. We checked his alibi for the night before last and it's perfect. You know and I know that it's phoney as hell, but nobody is breaking it down in court. According to Teen the entire thing is preposterous. He was playing cards with a group of friends right through the night.'
'Nuts. His story is as old as his racket. One good session under the lights and he'll talk.'
'You don't put him under lights.'
'There're other things you can do,' I suggested.
'You don't do that either, Mike. Teen's going around under the watchful eye of a battery of lawyers well protected by a gang of licensed strong-arm boys. You try anything smart and it'll be your neck.'
'Great. Now what's with the D.A.?'
It was a moment before he said anything. 'Mike... are you on the level with me?'
'You know everything I know, Pat. Why?'
'You're going to be tied up with our boy for a long time if you don't get a move on,' he said. 'And by the way, call Ellen when you have time. She wants to talk to you.'
'She there now?'
'No, she left a little while ago. I got something else for you.
The playboy is back.'
'Marvin Holmes?'
'Yeah. Customs passed the word on to us but it was too late to stop him. We traced him as far as New York and lost him here. The last lead we had said he was with a foreign-looking blonde and was doing his damnedest to stay under cover.'
I let it run through my mind a minute. 'He's still scared of something.'
'It looks that way. I'm hoping to pick him up some time today. He's too well known to stay hidden long. Look, you give me a call when you have time. I have to get going now. This place is a madhouse. I wish the D.A. would operate out of his own office for a change.'
I heard the click of his receiver cutting off the connection. Good old Pat. We still played on the same ball team. He was still worrying about me enough to want me to pick my own time and place when I had a long talk with the District Attorney.
