The nurse slammed the telephone back into its cradle. “We’ll get her. I’ve warned Marcia, up on the second floor.”
Davidson said, “Good. Now I’d like to ask about Sergeant Charles Proudy. The way I heard it, you picked him up at the Consort this morning.”
“You wish to visit him?”
“No, I’m here to talk to his doctor. Who is it?”
The nurse swiveled to a terminal, pushing buttons as if to blow up a continent. “Here he is. Delusions of grandeur and persecution. Violent. Dr. Roberts.”
“Is Roberts here now?”
She nodded. “I’ll find out if he’ll see you.”
“I’m going up to see him. And don’t tell me you’ll sic your goons on me—that will be interference with an officer in the performance of his duty, and they’ll be in the slammer before you can say white coat. Also I’ll knock their God-damned teeth out.”
“I’m sure Dr. Roberts will see you, officer. Just let me phone—”
Stubb took Sandy’s elbow. “Come on!”
“What is it? Why are we whispering?”
In an alcove behind them, an elevator waited with open doors. Stubb pushed Sandy into it as the glass paperweight struck the wall. “Wonder how many chips she’s got in that thing.” The doors jolted shut.
“Where are we
“I told you—to talk to Proudy. What do you think the chances were of us getting in to see him with that cop around?”
“You don’t even know where he is!”
“Sure I do—seven seventeen. It ought to make him feel right at home, because he was in seven seventy-one at the Consort. When that crazy broad at the desk got his record, I read the number. It’s no trick to read a three-digit number upside down. Speaking of tricks, though, did you see where Madame S. went when she left?”
As the elevator bumped to a stop, Sandy shook her head.
“Me neither. And she didn’t take this elevator, because it was there after she was gone, and nobody brought it back down. Hell, we’ll probably never know. Come on.”
They stepped into a wide hallway, sunny at the far end where a window faced the west, with a plaster ceiling and plaster wall painted yellow from four feet above the floor; in spots the dark linoleum had worn through to the boards. There were benches along the walls, and on them sat men in unstarched gray-white cotton pajamas and slippers. A few looked up, but it was without interest or intelligence.
“You think this Sergeant Proudy will be here?”
“Not out in the hall,” Stubb said. “From what I heard downstairs, he’s been cutting up too rough.” One of the silent men stood, pulled down the trousers of his pajamas, and began to masturbate.
“Jim, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. It’s been a hell of a time since that poor guy’s seen a woman who didn’t look like the boss. Now he wants one last little hunk of fun out of life, and he’s so doped he won’t remember you five minutes after you’re gone.”
“Suppose they gang up on us?”
“Suppose they don’t?”
The door to one of the rooms along the hall opened, and a husky young man in starched white stepped out. “I’m sorry, folks,” he said. “But this floor’s off limits to visitors.”
Stubb flashed his badge. “I’m here to see Sergeant Proudy—Thirteenth Precinct.”
The young man hesitated. “He really is a policeman, then?”
“Sure, he’s a cop. Before he got sick like this, a pretty good cop. Where is he?”
The young man looked at Sandy. “Are you from the police too?”
Stubb said, “No, she’s his sister-in-law. The girl down at the desk said since I was going to see him, she could come up with me.”
“We’ve had a lot of trouble here today … . You are a policeman?”
“The hell with this,” Stubb said. “Get out of my way.”
From behind him, Davidson called, “Don’t do it, son. Make him show you the buzzer.”
Sandy whirled, and Stubb turned wearily to look at him.
“Hello, Stubb. Hello, Miss Duck. Can I ask just what you’re doing here?”
The attendant said, “They came up to see the policeman in seven one seven.”
“Do tell. So did I. Actually,” Davidson smiled at them, only a trifle grimly, “I wanted to see his doctor first. But when they phoned his office, he wasn’t there, so I figured I’d come up and see Chick. Did you say this guy told you he was a police officer, son?”
“I didn’t,” Stubb declared. “I just showed him a badge. This girl’s my witness.”
The attendant said, “He said he was from the Thirteenth Precinct. Are you a real cop?”
