Jack Wendkos. But they stopped short to give the man in the green coat some space. We saw no one else in front of that tall barrier.
The giraffes were elegant and awkward, all at once. They stared very interestedly at Jack and at the rest of us who stood twenty and thirty yards behind Wendkos. The other plainclothesmen started to move about, to appear as though we were not congregating behind the man in green. Doc and I sat down on a bench, with Jack thirty yards off to our right. The other police were walking past Wendkos and the giraffes and were about to make a cordon around the area so that a crowd didn’t form around the homicide detective.
There was still no one else in front of the long-necked creatures we had come to observe. Until a woman with a baby carriage approached from the west. We couldn’t see what was in the stroller. There were blankets piled on top of whatever it held.
Doc nudged me and I nodded.
‘It is two minutes after two,’ he whispered.
Doc talked quietly into the tiny microphone on his jacket collar. It was about the size of a pimple, and it was the same color as his windbreaker. We all had the small audio phones, flesh-colored, inserted in our outer ears. He was telling all of us to watch the woman.
‘She might be carrying, under those blankets. Nod if you hear me, Jack.’
Wendkos’s head bobbed very subtly, but he kept staring straight ahead at the giraffes.
The woman with the stroller came up behind our man. She tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Would you happen to have a light?’ she asked him.
We could hear her clearly. Jack’s microphone was hidden beneath the flap of a collar on his kelly green jacket.
‘No. No, I’m afraid I don’t smoke. Don’t you think it is kind of dangerous to smoke around a little guy?’ he asked the woman.
She was wearing a scarf and big black sunglasses. Her knee-length black leather coat had its collar pulled up at the back to block the breeze.
‘I don’t believe in everything the government says. Do you? My aunt lived to be ninety-six, and she smoked a pack a day. I thought it was all just the paranoia of our age.’
It appeared that her lips curled upward into something like a smile, but then she abruptly pulled away from Wendkos. And just as abruptly she halted once more and turned back to the detective.
‘You know, you look a lot like …’
The microphone didn’t pick up the end of her sentence. Then she did retreat for real. She pushed the stroller ten yards, stopped again, and this time she leaned into the carriage and removed a squalling child, dressed in pink, and embraced the kid until it ceased squealing.
‘You look a lot like who?’ Doc said.
‘Liberace, sweetheart,’ Jack piped back at him. ‘Fucking woman wants to gas her own kid with her stink. We ought to arrest the bitch. Attempted murder.’
‘Hey. Cool down, big man. It’s early yet,’ Gibron said.
The other detectives continued to make a casual circuit around the giraffe enclave, so Doc and I got up and moved too. We walked back toward the concession stand because I was hungry and thirsty, having missed lunch in the rush to get everybody and everything here on time. And I was too wired to eat back then anyway. But now the boredom of the stakeout settled in, and the pangs had hit me in the middle.
I ordered a hot dog, fries, and a large diet pop. It came to six bucks. I winced at the young girl behind the cash register, but she couldn’t understand my consternation at their high prices. Doc got a drink too, and we sat at a table with a rainbow-colored umbrella.
‘Maybe McGinn didn’t give them the right high sign or whatever, Jimmy. Maybe they smelled us coming. Maybe he sniffed us out. I don’t think this on e want s to get caught.’
‘I want all you guys to pull back on Jack. Give him some room. Stay out of the immediate area until he thinks we’ve got an authentic shake,’ I ordered into my microphone. They all replied that they copied, and
The giraffes were elegant and awkward, all at once. They stared very interestedly at Jack and at the rest of us who stood twenty and thirty yards behind Wendkos. The other plainclothesmen started to move about, to appear as though we were not congregating behind the man in green. Doc and I sat down on a bench, with Jack thirty yards off to our right. The other police were walking past Wendkos and the giraffes and were about to make a cordon around the area so that a crowd didn’t form around the homicide detective.
There was still no one else in front of the long-necked creatures we had come to observe. Until a woman with a baby carriage approached from the west. We couldn’t see what was in the stroller. There were blankets piled on top of whatever it held.
Doc nudged me and I nodded.
‘It is two minutes after two,’ he whispered.
Doc talked quietly into the tiny microphone on his jacket collar. It was about the size of a pimple, and it was the same color as his windbreaker. We all had the small audio phones, flesh-colored, inserted in our outer ears. He was telling all of us to watch the woman.
‘She might be carrying, under those blankets. Nod if you hear me, Jack.’
Wendkos’s head bobbed very subtly, but he kept staring straight ahead at the giraffes.
The woman with the stroller came up behind our man. She tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Would you happen to have a light?’ she asked him.
We could hear her clearly. Jack’s microphone was hidden beneath the flap of a collar on his kelly green jacket.
‘No. No, I’m afraid I don’t smoke. Don’t you think it is kind of dangerous to smoke around a little guy?’ he asked the woman.
She was wearing a scarf and big black sunglasses. Her knee-length black leather coat had its collar pulled up at the back to block the breeze.
‘I don’t believe in everything the government says. Do you? My aunt lived to be ninety-six, and she smoked a pack a day. I thought it was all just the paranoia of our age.’
It appeared that her lips curled upward into something like a smile, but then she abruptly pulled away from Wendkos. And just as abruptly she halted once more and turned back to the detective.
‘You know, you look a lot like …’
The microphone didn’t pick up the end of her sentence. Then she did retreat for real. She pushed the stroller ten yards, stopped again, and this time she leaned into the carriage and removed a squalling child, dressed in pink, and embraced the kid until it ceased squealing.
‘You look a lot like who?’ Doc said.
‘Liberace, sweetheart,’ Jack piped back at him. ‘Fucking woman wants to gas her own kid with her stink. We ought to arrest the bitch. Attempted murder.’
‘Hey. Cool down, big man. It’s early yet,’ Gibron said.
The other detectives continued to make a casual circuit around the giraffe enclave, so Doc and I got up and moved too. We walked back toward the concession stand because I was hungry and thirsty, having missed lunch in the rush to get everybody and everything here on time. And I was too wired to eat back then anyway. But now the boredom of the stakeout settled in, and the pangs had hit me in the middle.
I ordered a hot dog, fries, and a large diet pop. It came to six bucks. I winced at the young girl behind the cash register, but she couldn’t understand my consternation at their high prices. Doc got a drink too, and we sat at a table with a rainbow-colored umbrella.
‘Maybe McGinn didn’t give them the right high sign or whatever, Jimmy. Maybe they smelled us coming. Maybe he sniffed us out. I don’t think this on e want s to get caught.’
‘I want all you guys to pull back on Jack. Give him some room. Stay out of the immediate area until he thinks we’ve got an authentic shake,’ I ordered into my microphone. They all replied that they copied, and
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