“Hello, Dave,” he said, and leaned back in his chair. “What’s all this you broadcast about being pegged?”
Cates nodded.
“That’s right, captain,” he confirmed. “They almost got me, too. They would have if it hadn’t been for the cutest little jane I ever saw in my life. Honest, she was about so high, and she was all dolled up like a million with a fur around her neck and sort of a satin dress and little high-heel shoes. And say, captain, you’d ought to see her eyes. The way⸺”
“That’s enough,” interrupted Captain Henessey, recognizing the symptoms. “You’re giving no public address now, lad. Confine yourself to the facts.”
So, as briefly as he could, the radio cop told his superior of the incident.
Captain Henessey rubbed at his ear and pondered. “H’m,” he said. “I’d like to talk with that girl, Dave. Maybe she knows something about this gang situation.”
“How does it stand now?”
The captain’s mouth was grim. “Bad enough. Here we go and drag Margolo into court on a murder charge and a lily-livered jury throw the case out because they say the evidence isn’t conclusive enough.” His big fist banged down on the desk. “Evidence—hell! They would have had enough evidence if they hadn’t been scared of the gang’s power.
“Now Big Ed’ll be giving us the horse laugh, and he’ll pull more stuff than ever. The first thing he’ll probably do is to go after McGuirk, and we’ll have a gang war on our hands.
“But I don’t mind McGuirk so much. He could be worse. It’s Margolo I want to get, and I’d give a lot for a man who would see him in a shooting and then have the nerve to go into court and testify.”