Hail to the Chief

'I wish I could help you,' Nesbitt said, 'but I don't know her.' They watched his face. Not a flicker of emotion flashed on it. If he already knew the girl was dead, if he'd received a call from Big Anthony in Turman, nothing in his dark brooding eyes revealed it.

'We don't think Big Anthony's involved,' Kling said, embroidering the lie. 'But somebody told us Midge was his girl. I guess our information was wrong there, Steve,' he said, turning to Carella.

'I guess so. Randy says Big Anthony already has a girl. Isn't that right, Randy?'

'That's right.'

'What's her name?'

'Ellie Nelson.'

'Know where she lives?'

'Sure. On Dooley, two blocks from the clubhouse.'

'What's the address?'

'1894 Dooley.'

'And the apartment number?'

'5A. She won't know where Big Anthony is, either.'

'How can you be sure?'

Nesbitt smiled his late-night, television-personality smile again, 'I can be sure,' he said.

On the way up to the fifth floor of 1894 Dooley, Kling suddenly said, 'I think I figured it out.'

'What'd you figure out this time?'

'What he meant.'

'Who? Nesbitt?*

'No, Sack. The old man in Turman.'

'Sack?' Carella said. 'That was yesterday, for God's sake.'

'That's right, it's been bothering me. You remember when we were saying goodbye to him?'

'Yes?'

'And you thanked him and then apologized for having interrupted his breakfast?'

'Uh-huh.'

'And I said "We're grateful." Do you remember that? And he answered "Don't care for it. Too bitter." I finally figured out what he meant.'

'What did he mean?'

'Well, what was he doing when we went in there, Steve?'

'He was eating his breakfast.'

'Right. And what do people have for breakfast?'

'All kinds of things, Bert.'

'Yes, but what do they start with? What do you start with?'

'Juice.'

'Yes, but not everybody starts with juice. Some people start with grapefruit.'

'So?'

'So Sack thought I was talking about grapefruit. He misheard me. He thought "grateful" was "grapefruit." That's why he answered "Don't care for it. Too bitter."' Kling smiled. 'You get it, Steve?'

'That's ridiculous,' Carella said.

'I'll bet it's what he meant.'

'Okay, fine.'

'Anyway, it was bothering me, and it's not any more.'

'Good, here we are,' Carella said, and stopped before the door to 5A, and knocked on it.

Ellie Nelson was wearing a navy-blue T-shirt and dungaree pants when she opened the door. She was perhaps seventeen years old, quite pretty, with a pert nose and vibrant blue eyes. Her figure was good, and she knew it. She smiled up at the policemen as though she'd been expecting them. Carella and Kling assumed Nesbitt had telephoned her from the phone booth in the ice cream parlor.

'Hi,' she said.

'Police officers,' Carella said, and showed his shield. The girl barely glanced at it. 'All right if we come in?'

'Sure, why not?' she said, and stepped away from the door, allowing them to enter the apartment. A gray-haired woman with a lace shawl over her shoulders was sitting by the kitchen window, rocking in a green rocking chair and knitting in a shaft of sunlight. Ellie caught the brief shifting of Kling's eyes, and said, 'My grandmother. She won't bother us. Come in, come in.'

'Anybody else live here in this apartment?' Kling asked.

'My mother, my grandmother, and me,' Ellie said, and closed the door behind them. 'Come on in the parlor. What'd you want?'

The living room was furnished in a three-piece suite done in red velveteen. A television set rested on a wheeled cart. There were no pictures or photographs on the walls. There was a curtain only on the window facing the street. The airshaft window had been left uncovered, and faced a grimy brick wall. Ellie sat in one of the easy chairs and gestured to the sofa. The detectives sat opposite her. 'So, what'd you want?' she asked again.

'We understand you're Big Anthony's girl friend,' Carella said.

'That's right,' Ellie said, and smiled.

'That would be Anthony Sutherland, is that right?'

'That's right, Big Anthony. We call him that 'cause he's six feet four inches tall, and he's got shoulders this wide,' Ellie said.

'And he's a member of the Yankee Rebels, is that also right?'

'That's right. Me, too. The women's auxiliary. It's a great clique. I only joined it 'cause I was going with Big Anthony, you know, and he's the treasurer. But, man, am I glad I did! It was really boring before I got involved with the Rebs. Life, I mean. You could go out of your mind with school around here, and nothing to do nights but sit and watch television. The Rebs changed all that. Well, Big Anthony, of course. But the Rebs, too. They're a real decent bunch of guys and girls, I mean it. They're the closest friends I've got in the world.'

'Midge, too?' Carella asked abruptly.

Ellie's face went blank. 'Midge?' she said.

'Midge. Red-headed girl, about five feet two inches tall, weight about ninety-seven, freckles across the bridge of her nose, wears a little gold locket on her wrist, heart-shaped, with the name Midge on it.'

'Don't know her,' Ellie said, and shrugged.

'We thought she was a member of the Yankee Rebels,' Carella said.

'Never heard of her,' Ellie said.

'Okay, when's the last time you saw your boy friend?'

'Wednesday afternoon,' Ellie said.

'Where?'

'He came up here.'

'And you haven't seen him since?'

'No.'

'Do you know where he is?'

'No.'

'When he was up here, did he mention that he might be leaving the city?'

'No.'

'How long have you been going with him?'

'Close to a year.'

'Has he called you since Wednesday?'

'No.'

'Been going with him for a year, and he didn't mention he was leaving the city, and he hasn't called you since he left? Is that what you're asking us to believe, Ellie?'

'It's the truth,' Ellie said, and shrugged again. 'Why do you want him?'

'We think he's with this girl Midge,' Kling said, and watched her carefully.

'Big?' she said. 'Is with… this girl, whoever she is?'

'That's what we think.'

'No,' Ellie said, and shook her head. 'You're mistaken. Big and I are going together, you see. We're almost like engaged. I mean, we plan to get married, you see. What would he be doing with… her?'

'With Midge.'

'Yeah. Whatever her name is.'

'Midge. That's her name. Very pretty little girl, from what we understand.'

'Well, Big Anthony wouldn't… I mean, he just wouldn't go off with another girl. I mean, where would he go? And anyway, he wouldn't.'

'To Turman, that's where he'd go.'

'Turman?'

'Yes. Across the river.'

'Well… what makes you think he went to Turman?'

'His mother said so. He left Wednesday night.'

'Mrs Sutherland said that?'

'That's what she said.'

'That Big Anthony went to Turman?'

'Yes.'

The girl fell silent. It was apparent (assuming Randy had indeed phoned to alert her) that he had not mentioned the possibility of the detectives' lying to her as they had lied to him. Ellie was biting her lower lip now, and thinking very hard about what they had just suggested - the possibility that her boy friend had left on Wednesday night for someplace across the river, taking with him a girl she knew to be another member of the auxiliary. They had their theme now, and they were prepared to play it again and again, until they got what they were looking for. There was no question that Big Anthony had gone to Turman on Wednesday night, driving the gang's truck, and most likely in the company of Midge and another of the gang members. All they were trying to find out was where he had gone in Turman.