He kept checking his image in windows, which, as he headed toward the river, got smaller and dirtier. He knelt beside an empty barrel standing in a puddle outside a saloon, pretended to tie his shoe, and continued on, his trousers smelling of stale beer. The deeper into the slum he wandered, the more slowly he walked, the lower he stooped-a weary, aimless man lost in the crowds.
A young tough wearing a tight suit and red derby blocked his path. What do you got for me, Gramps? Come on! Hand it over.
Isaac Bell resisted the impulse to floor him, dug deep in his coat, and surrendered a nickel.
The tough shoved past.
Wait! Bell called.
What? The tough spun around. What? What do want?
Do you know a fellow named Billy Collins?
The tough hung a blank expression on his face. Who? He was a kid, Bell realized, barely into his teens. An infant when Tommy Thompson and Billy Collins were running with Eyes O'Shay.
Billy Collins. Tall, skinny fellow. Ginger hair. Maybe turning gray.
Never heard of him.
Skin and bones, Bell said, repeating what Harry Warren and his boys had speculated the opium and morphine addict would look like after all these years. They knew he was still alive, or had been within the week. Probably missing teeth.
Where you from, Gramps?
Chicago.
Yeah, well there's a lot of guys around here got no teeth. You're next. He raised a bony fist. Get out of here! Run, old man. Run.
Bell said, Billy Collins used to run with Tommy Thompson and Eyes O'Shay when they were kids.
The thug backed up a step. You with the Gophers?
I'm just looking for Billy Collins.
Yeah, well, you're not the only one. He hurried away, calling over his shoulder, Everybody's asking about him.
They should be, Bell thought. Considering what it was costing the agency. In addition to Harry Warren's boys and Harry's informants, he had two hundred railroad cops asking the same question every time they slugged it out with Gophers attempting to rob freight cars. Bell kept asking himself, Where does a hop fiend hide? Where does he sleep? Where does he eat? Where does he get his dope? How come no one saw him in a district where everyone knew everyone?
There had been sightings near Collins's known dens, several by a coal pocket that replenished locomotive tenders in the 38th Street yards, twice around an abandoned caboose at 60th Street. Picked men were watching both. And Bell had a feeling he himself had actually glimpsed Collins through a wind-spun swirl of locomotive smoke-a rail-thin figure had flitted between freight cars, and Bell had run full tilt after him only to find smoke.
Since then, the one man who might know where O'Shay disappeared to fifteen years ago hadn't shown up at either den. On the plus side, they'd had enough reports to know he was alive, and he was unlikely to leave Hell's Kitchen.
Eyes O'Shay's location was another story. Everyone over the age of thirty had heard the name. No one had seen him in fifteen years. Some people had heard he was back. No one admitted to laying eyes on him. But Bell knew a man described by Tommy Thompson as duded up like a Fifth Avenue swell could sleep and eat anywhere he chose.
Chapter 45
TAXICAB, SIR? THE WALDORF-ASTORIA'S DOORMAN ASKED of a hotel guest stepping out in a top hat and loden green frock coat.
I will promenade, said Eyes O'Shay.
Wielding a jewel-headed walking stick, he strolled up Fifth Avenue, pausing like a tourist to admire mansions and peering into shopwindows. When he was reasonably sure that he wasn't being followed, he entered St. Patrick's Cathedral through the great Gothic arch in front. In the nave, he genuflected with the ease of a daily habit, dropped coins in the poor box, and lighted candles. Then he threw back his head and reflected upon the stained glass in the rose window, imitating the proud gaze of a parishioner who had contributed handsomely to the installation fund.
Since Isaac Bell nailed Tommy Thompson, he had to assume that every Van Dorn in New York, plus two hundred railway police, and the Devil himself knew how many paid informants, were hunting him, or soon would be. He exited the cathedral out the back, through the boardwalks and scaffolding where brick and stone masons were building the Lady Chapel, and strode onto Madison Avenue.
He headed up Madison, still watching his back, turned onto 55th, and stopped in the St. Regis Hotel. He had a drink in the bar and chatted with the bartender, whom he always tipped lavishly, while he watched the lobby. Then he tipped a bellboy to let him out the service entrance.
Moments later, he walked into the Plaza Hotel. He stopped at the Palm Court in the middle of the ground floor. The people seated around small tables for the elaborate afternoon tea were mothers with children, aunts and nieces, and here and there an older gentleman enthralled by a daughter. The maA(r)tre d' bowed low.
Your usual table, Herr Riker?
Thank you.
Herr Riker's usual table let him watch the lobby in two directions while screening himself with a jungle of potted palms that would have given Dr. Livingstone and Henry Stanley pause.
Will your ward be joining you, sir?
It is my fond hope, he replied with a courtly smile. Tell your waiter that we will have only sweets at our table. None of those little sandwiches. Only cakes and cream.
Of course, Herr Riker. As always, Herr Riker.
Katherine was late, as usual, and he used the time to rehearse for what he knew would be a difficult discussion. He felt as ready as he could be when she stepped off the elevator. Her tea gown was a cloud of blue silk that matched her eyes and complemented her hair.
O'Shay rose as she approached his table, taking her gloved hands in his and saying, You are the prettiest girl, Miss Dee.
Thank you, Herr Riker.
Katherine Dee
