couldn't miss it. You see lots of knife scars up here, but this one was a beaut. What you don't see much of up here is Jamaicans, though. You get all colors of the rainbow up here, but this ain't what you'd call a Jamaican neighborhood. That's further uptown, near the ballpark, you know? Minute he asked for a cup of coffee, I caught the Jamaican speech. You know how they sound. Cop of coffee ond a scrombled egg son'wich,' she said, trying to sound Jamaican but failing miserably; Ollie knew because he had such a finely tuned ear. 'Anyway, Althea didn't come in till sometime later.'
'You knew her by name?'
'Oh sure. She was a regular.'
'How about the Jamaican? Did he give you a name?'
'Nope.'
'Who made the first move?'
'You mean him or Althea? Actually, it was him. She took a seat in one of the booths, ordered whatever it was, I forget. He wandered over, introduced himself, sat down.'
'You didn't hear a name when he introduced himself, did you?'
'Nope.'
'John Bridges?'
'Nope. Took off his hat, though.'
'Polite.'
'Oh yes.'
'Curly black hair, right?'
'Well, I didn't notice if it was curly, but it was black, all right.'
'He seem gay to you?'
'Gay? Hell, no.'
'So what happened with the two of them?'
'Was she a hooker?' Hildy asked.
'Not officially. She worked in a topless joint downtown.'
'Cause she got real friendly with him, is what I mean.'
'Did they leave here together?'
'Yeah.'
'What time?'
'Around three-thirty.'
'Arm in arm, or what?'
'Well. . . friendly. Like I said.'
'Think she was heading home with him?'
'Saw them turning the corner together. Through the window there,' Hildy said, and nodded toward it.
'Then it was a possibility.'
'A likelihood. So when do you start?'
'Start what?'
'Piano lessons.'
'Oh. Soon.'
'You'll have to play for me sometime,' she said.
'What's your favorite song? I'll learn it.'
'Gee, that's hard to say. Without dating myself.'
'That's not always true. You got songs they call standards, you didn't have to be a teenager at the time to know them.'
'Like what?'
'Like 'Stardust,' for example. Everybody knows 'Star-dust.''
'I don't.'
'You don't?'
'Nope.'
'How about 'Night and Day'?'
'Is that a song?'
'You never heard of 'Night and Day'?'
'Never.'
'Sinatra? You heard of Frank Sinatra?'
'Of course I heard of Frank Sinatra.'
'That was one of his big songs, 'Night and Day.''
'I don't know it.'
'What Sinatra songs do you know?'
''Mackthe Knife.''
'That was Bobby Darin 's big hit.'
'It was not.'
'Of course it was. You know any other Sinatra songs?'
'Sure.'
'Which ones?'
' 'Strangers When We Meet' ?'
'That was a book.'
'No, it was a song.'
' 'Strangers in the Night' was the song.'
'Oh yeah, right.'
'Do you know any Beatles' songs?'
'Sure, I do.'
'Which ones?'
'The one about diamonds?'
' 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'?'
'Right, that'sit.'
'Any others?'
'Sure, but I can't remember their names offhand.'
'What songs do you remember?'
'Well, there's 'Back Good' by Matchbox ?'
'Uh-huh.'
'And 'Bad.' By U. You know that one?'
'Uh-huh. What else?'
'How about 'Uninvited'?'
'Uh-huh.'
'Alanis Morissette? You ever hear of her?'
'Uh-huh.'
' 'Criminal'? You oughta know that one, a cop. Fiona Apple?'
'Uh-huh,' Ollie said. 'Well, I guess I could learn some of those songs for you.' He'd already forgotten the titles. 'How about 'Satisfaction'?' he asked. 'You know 'Satisfaction'?'
'Sure,' Hildy said. 'The Rolling Stones.'
Bingo, Ollie thought.
The special line was officially called the Police Information Network, or PIN for short. The team of twelve police officers manning the line called themselves 'The Rat Fink Squad.' The female officer who answered one of the phones that Tuesday afternoon said, 'Police Information Network, good morning.'
A woman's voice said, 'I saw the Guide's Pizzeria commercial.'
'Yes, ma'am?' the officer said.
'Is this call being recorded?' the woman asked.
'Yes, ma'am, it is,' the officer said.
