“So you hit him.”
“I persuaded him to give me the tip.”
“On which horse?” Bozzaris asked, and Mullaney looked toward the desk, where he saw Bozzaris picking up a pencil and moving a small pad into place.
“Well, I don’t know if I should reveal such a confidence,” Randy said, “especially since it is claimed I hit a man with a stickball bat.”
“Perhaps the charge will be dropped, who knows?” Bozzaris said.
“Who knows indeed?” Randy said. “But in the meantime, why should I give away a perfectly good tip on a horse which was supposed to run yesterday and got scratched, but which is running today instead. At twenty-to-one on the morning line.”
“Twenty-to-one?” Bozzaris asked.
“Twenty-to-one,” Randy said.
There was a new flurry of activity in the room. Mullaney noticed that all the gathered detectives were opening their black books in which they took notes on criminals and criminal activities, and reaching for pens and pencils.
“Where is this horse running?” Bozzaris asked.
“Aqueduct.”
“Which race?”
“The second race.”
“And the horse’s name?”
“It is too bad about this charge against me,” Randy said.
“It certainly is,” Bozzaris agreed, “but people are talking to the D.A. all the time, and who knows what will fall upon his ear? I personally, in fact, do not see how anyone could get hurt with a broom handle. It had been my impression that this person was assaulted with a stickball bat, which is a horse of another color.”
“A stickball bat can be a very dangerous weapon,” Randy agreed.
“Certainly. But I don’t see how a broom handle, especially with the broom attached, could be at all dangerous.”
“Neither do I.”
“Ask him the horse’s name,” one of the detectives said.
“By the way, what is the horse’s name?” Bozzaris said.
“I will tell you in confidence if you promise to respect the confidence,” Randy said.
“I will certainly respect the confidence,” Bozzaris promised.
Randy walked to the desk, bent over it, and whispered something into the lieutenant’s ear. Bozzaris nodded and scribbled a word onto the pad in front of him. Mullaney tried to see what was written on the pad, but the room was too dark and the desk too distant.
“Thank you,” Bozzaris said, “I certainly appreciate this confidence.”
“Please say hello to the district attorney for me,” Randy said.
“Next ease,” Bozzaris said. “Hawley, Michael, age fifty-seven, and Ryan, Diana, age fifty-five, broke into a jewelry store on West Forty-seventh Street, no statement. How about it, folks?”
There seemed to be a new excitement in the air, and Mullaney realized it had nothing to do with the tip Randy had just given the lieutenant, which tip was still secretly nestled under Bozzaris’ large protecting hand. The detectives were leaning forward avidly, their eyes fixed on the man and woman who now stood against the illuminated white screen. Mullaney found himself leaning forward as well, intently studying the pair and trying to determine what accounted for their undeniable star quality. There was no question that they were the leading performers thus far, though not next-to-closing, and Mullaney could not imagine why. They seemed to be the most ordinary sort of aging couple, the man a lanky fellow in a dark-green raincoat, his hands in his pockets, his hair long and unruly, a dazed look on his face; the woman a frizzled redhead wearing too much makeup, a wrinkled blue dress, and the same dazed expression. Yet every detective in the office was giving them his undivided attention, and even Bozzaris’ voice dropped a decibel or two, so that it now seemed he was talking to a pair of honored guests in his own living room, the governor and his wife perhaps, his voice friendly and warm, the port sparkling in the light of a cozy fire, intimate and relaxed; Mullaney heard himself sighing.
“What were you doing in that jewelry store, Mike?” Bozzaris asked.
“Looking,” Mike said.
“For what?”
“A ring.” Mike smiled in embarrassment. “For Diana,” he said.
“For who?”
“Diana.”
“Me,” the woman said. “He was looking for a ring for me.”
“At three o’clock in the morning?” Bozzaris said.
“Yes,” Diana said, and blushed.
“Why?”
“Because we just got engaged,” Diana said, and smiled.
“What?”
“Last night. And we needed an engagement ring.”
“At three o’clock in the morning?”
“Yes. Well no. We got engaged at two-thirty. So Mike said we needed a ring.”
“So we went out shopping for one,” Mike said.
“But all the stores were closed,” Diana said.
“So you decided to open one,” Bozzaris said.
“That’s right,” Mike said. “But we didn’t mean any harm.”
“It’s just we’re in love,” Diana said, and squeezed her fiance’s hand.
“Let me get this straight,” Bozzaris said. “You got engaged...”
“I love you, darling,” Diana said.
“I love you, too, sweetheart,” Mike said.
“... last night at two-thirty and decided you needed a ring...”
“Yes, to seal the engagement. I love you, honey.”
“Oh darling, yes, I love you, too.”
“Now cut it out!” Bozzaris said. “There happens to be a law against breaking into jewelry stores.”
“What do jewelers know about love?” Mike asked.
“Or policemen, for that matter,” Diana said.
“Be that as it may, you’d better listen to me, you two, because this is something pretty serious here, and I want some honest answers.”
“All our answers so far have been honest, Lieutenant,” Mike said sincerely, and blew a kiss at Diana.
“Good, and I hope they’ll continue to be that way because we appreciate honesty here, don’t we, fellows?”
The detectives grunted.
“I love you,” Mike said.
“I adore you,” Diana replied.
“This is what I want to ask you,” Bozzaris said, “and I’d appreciate an honest answer: Did you know that a large jewelry concern on Forty-seventh Street was broken into on Thursday night?”
“What’s that got to do with last night?” Mike asked.
“I love you,” Diana said.
“Last night was Friday night,” Mike said.
“That’s true, and I’m glad you’re still being honest with us,” Bozzaris said. “But I’m asking you about Thursday night, and I want to know whether or not you were aware of the information I just gave you.”
“What information?”
“That a large jewelry store on Forty-seventh Street was broken into on Thursday night.”
“No, I was not aware of that information,” Mike said.
“Now that you’re aware of it, what do you think?”
“I don’t know anything about it,” Mike said.
“Neither do I,” Diana said. “All I know is I love him, oooh, I love him, love him, love him.”
“Would it surprise you to learn,” Bozzaris asked, “that several very expensive gems were stolen from that concern on Thursday night?”
“It would surprise me,” Mike said, “because I have no knowledge whatever of the heist.”
“I adore you,” Diana said.
“The stolen gems were diamonds, Mike.”
“That’s very interesting.”
“There were three very large diamonds stolen, Mike, each about ten carats, and there were also eight smaller diamonds stolen, about five or six carats each.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mike said, “but what’s it got to do with love?”