"You can this time," I said. "Police."
He looked at my credentials, and grunted. "Why didn't you say so?"
There was a narrow strip of lawn behind the building, with a couple of trees, and then a dimly-lit alley. The cabbie handed me a pair of binoculars, and I strained my eyes on the sprawling shadows. I couldn't see anything suspicious, but I decided it might be worth a trip on foot.
The third time around I glanced at Stella's lighted windows—the rear ones—and gasped. A dark shadow clung to the side of the building, edging slowly along the ledge towards her window. Gregory.
"See that?" I said to the cabbie.
As we watched, he got the window open, and disappeared into the apartment.
I tried to radio the men on the stakeout, and couldn't rouse them. I called headquarters. Both Walker and Captain Marks were out. They would be back in a few minutes. But I didn't have minutes left.
"Skip it," I said. I snapped out a description of the situation, and cut off.
"Can you get close enough to get me through that window?" I asked the cabbie.
"I can try," he said. "But watch your step, fellow. It's a long drop."