so any of them could be reached at any hour, either directly or by leaving a message.
Boone selected Detectives Konigsbacher, Calazo, and Venable for his squad. Jason had Estrella, the pipe smoker; Keisman; and Timothy (Big Tim) Hogan, a short, blunt man as bald as a peeled egg.
Delaney impressed on all of them the need for daily reports, as complete as they could make them.
'Include everything,' he told them.
'Even if it seems silly or insignificant. If you think it's important, contact Boone or Jason immediately. If you can't get hold of them, call me any hour of the day or night. Now let's get moving. The trail is getting colder by the day, and the Department wants to close out this file as soon as possible. If you need cars, backup, special equipment, or the cooperation of technical squads, just yell.'
They all shook his hand and tramped out, along with Boone and Jason.
Delaney returned the extra chairs to their proper places and emptied the ashtrays. Then he called Suarez, but the Chief was in a meeting and not available.
Delaney left his name and asked that Suarez call him back.
He sat at his desk, put on his reading glasses, lighted a cigar. Working from the duty roster, from what Boone and Jason had told him, and from his own observations, he made a list of the newly assigned detectives on a pad of yellow legal paper. it went like this: Boone's squad1. Ross (Kraut) Konigsbacher. Heavy. Muscular. Blond mustache. Likes to use fists. Faint scar over left eyebrow.
2. Benjamin Calazo. Old flatfoot. White hair. Heavy hands, keratosis on backs. Picked Isaac Kane.
3. Helen K. Venable. Short. Chubby. Reddish brown hair.
Very intense. Deep voice.
Jason's squadi. Brian Estrella. Tall. Stringy. Smokes pipe.
Left-handed.
Prominent Adam's apple.
2. Robert (Spoiler) Keisman. Black. Slender. Elegant.
Packs shoulder holster. Picked Harold Gerber.
3. Timothy (Big Tim) Hogan. Stubby. Bald. Big ears.
Nicotine-stained fingers. Whiny voice.
Finished, Delaney read over the list and could visualize the new people, recognize them as individuals. He put his notes in the back of the top drawer of his desk. Comments on their performance would be added later.
Some of them might earn citations out of this.
Pushing aside the yellow pad, he searched through his file cabinet and dug out a wide worksheet pad designed for accountants. It had fourteen ruled columns and provided enough horizontal lines for what he proposed to devise: a time schedule for the night Dr. Simon Ellerbee was murdered.
He listed the names of individuals at the top of columns.
Down the left margin of the page he noted times from 4:00 P.m. on the fatal day to 1:54 A.M when the body was discovered.
This was donkeywork, he knew, but it had to be done. It would require constant reference to the reports, statements, and Dr. Ellerbee's records in his file cabinet. And all the times would be approximate.
Even the time of death, estimated at nine o'clock by the ME, could be off by an hour or more.
Still, you had to start somewhere.
He started with the first column: Dr. Simon Ellerbee: 4:00 P.m.-Appointment with Harold Gerber. 5:00- Appointment with Mrs. Lola Brizio. Who is she?
Check. 6:00-Tells wife he expects late patient, but doesn't tell her who or when. Appointment not listed in book. Receptionist doesn't know who or when. Tells wife he will leave T N. Y for Brewster at 9:00. That suggests late patient at 7:00 or 8:00. 9:00-Dead.
Dr. Diane Ellerbee: 6:00-Leaves office after speaking to husband. 6:30-Departs Manhattan, driving. 8:00- Arrives Brewster home. 11:30-Calls Manhattan office. No answer. Calls twice more, times not stated. 12:00-Calls Brewster police. No report of highway accident.
Calls Manhattan garage, time not stated, learns Simon's car is still in slot. 1: 15 -Calls Dr. Samuelson.
Dr. Julius K. Samuelson: 7:00 P.m.-?-Dinner with friends at Russian Tea Room. 8:30- 11:30 -Concert at Carnegie Hall. 11:30-12:30(?)-Nightcap at St. Moritz. 1: 15 A. m.-Receives Diane's call. 1:45-Arrives 84th Street townhouse. 1: 54 -Finds body, calls 911.
When the phone rang, Delaney was startled and jagged his pen across the page.
'Chief Suarez is calling,' a voice announced.
'How are you doing, Chief,' Delaney asked.
'Surviving,' Suarez said with a sigh.
'I hope you have some good news for me.'
'I'm afraid not, Chief, but I would like to get together with you-just to keep you informed of what we're doing.'
'Yes,' Suarez said, 'I would appreciate that.'
'Would you care to drop by here, Chief? I'll be in all day and it shouldn't take long.'
A hesitation.
'A bad day. So much to do. I do not expect to get uptown until this evening. Will eight or nine o'clock be too late for you?'
'Not at all. I'll be here.'
'Suppose I stop at your place on my way home. I will call you first to tell you when I am leaving. Will that be satisfactory?'
'That's fine,' Delaney said.
'See you tonight.'
He put down the receiver, and went back to the time schedule.
Henry Ellerbee: 9:00-Charity dinner at Plaza. Presence confirmed.
Receptionist: 5:00 or 6:00?-When did she leave. Check.
Isaac Kane: 9:00-Leaves Community Center when it closes. Goes home?
Sylvia Mae Otherton: 9:00-At home alone. No confirmation.
L. Vincent Symington: 9:00-Dinner-dance at Hilton. Could have left, gone back.
Ronald J. Bellsey: 9:00-Home all night. Wife confirms.
Harold Gerber: 9:00-Bar-hopping, no recollection of where. No confirmation.
Joan Yesell: 9:00-Home all night. Mother confirms.
Delaney had just started reading over what he had written when the phone rang again. It was Boone.
'I'm in Ronald Bellsey's garage with the Kraut,' he reported.
'Bellsey's Cadillac is here. I called his meat market, and he's at work all right. There's no one around. I can get into that Cadillac trunk.
I've got my picks.'
He paused. Delaney thought it over.
'Where are you calling from, Sergeant?'
'A public phone in the garage.'
'All right, go into the trunk. Just look it over, then call me back. If there's any trouble, I authorized you to make the break-in, and Chief Suarez and Deputy Thorsen authorized me. Don't put your ass on the line.'
'There won't be any trouble,' Boone assured him.
'Right now the place is deserted, and the Kraut will stand lookout.'
'Call me back,' Delaney repeated, and hung up.
He tried to concentrate on the time schedule, but couldn't.
When the phone rang again, he grabbed it.
'Boone again,' the Sergeant said in an excited voice.
'I got in! There's a ball peen hammer in there, an old one, all greasy.'
'Glom on to it,' Delaney said at once.
'Get it to the techs as soon as possible. Can you relock the trunk?'
'No strain.'
'Good. Bellsey will never miss his hammer for a day or two.' He hung up, smiling, and went back to the
