Five Points by J. R. Roberts

Author:J. R. Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

TWENTY-TWO

Captain Thomas Byrnes came into his office that morning, refreshed from a good night’s sleep. He called O’Halloran into his office immediately.

“What have you got for me?” he asked.

“Sir?”

“On those fences.”

“Sir . . . I’ve only just come in.”

“You didn’t work on it last night?”

“Uh, no, sir.”

“Did you give it any thought at all?”

“Uh, yes, sir.”

“And what conclusions have you come up with?”

“Sir?”

“Sergeant,” Byrnes said patiently, “give me the names of three fences you think could handle as much merchandise as we are talking about.”

“Uh, yes, sir,” O’Halloran said, thinking fast. “Buzzy Rothstein, Declan Murphy, and . . . Ma Mandelbaum.

“Good,” Byrnes said. He wrote down the three names. “Keep your ear to the ground, Sergeant.”

“Yes, sir.”

As O’Halloran left and closed his boss’s door behind him, Byrnes sat back. He’d thought of Fredericka Mandelbaum himself. This was the kind of thing she’d do to make a point that she was as good or better than the men in the business.

Yes, he should probably have a talk with the Queen of Fences, but first a check to see how Clint Adams was doing.

Bethany was still sitting on the front steps, worrying about Ben when Red came along and plopped himself right next to her.

“Hi, Bethany.”

“Hello, Red.”

“You look sad.”

“I’ve got things on my mind, Red.”

“What things?”

“Grown-up things,” she said. “You wouldn’t understand. ”

“Well, I got somethin’ I think might cheer ya up.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Clint Adams.”

“What about him?”

“That was him I saw in the train station.”

“How do you know?”

He told her about having breakfast with the Gunsmith that morning.

“You better not be lying to me, Red.”

“I ain’t lyin’, I swear, Bethany,” Red said. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“You’d lie to your mother, if she was alive,” Bethany pointed out.

“I know,” he said, “but not to you.”

She studied him for a few moments, then asked, “Now, why would that be good news to me? If he’s in New York, it means he’s lookin’ for whoever killed that woman in Denver.”

“And that wasn’t you, right?”

“Right.”

“So then he ain’t lookin’ for you,” Red said. “Ain’t that good news?”

“That’s right,” she said. “He’s lookin’ for Willie O’Donnell.”

“Right.”

“But . . .”

“But what?”

She turned and patted Red on the head.

“Never mind, Red,” she said. “Thanks a lot.”

“You want me to leave, don’t ya?”

She smiled at him. “I have some thinking to do.”

“Grown-up thinkin’, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay,” he said, standing up. He took his cloth hat from his pocket and jammed it on his head. “Ya don’t gotta tell me twice.”

As Red walked away, Bethany started to worry about Ben again. It wasn’t Willie who people might have seen with Libby Wellington in Denver—it was Ben. People were bound to remember the handsome young man who was hanging around the older woman in the last days before she was killed.

What if Clint Adams was in New York looking for Ben?

She sprang off the steps and ran down the block after Red.

“Hey, Red,” she said, grabbing his shoulder.

“Don’t do that!” Red said, turning around. “You scared the crap outta me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said.

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