The Fourth Deadly Sin Read Online Free PDF Page B

knob of the ballpeen used on the eyes?”
    t t was. When Dr. Samuelson found the corpse, it was on its back, the eyes a mess.”
    “All right,” Delaney said. “Anything else you didn’t give the press?”
    “Yes. When Samuelson discovered the body, he called nine-eleven, then went back downstairs to wait for the cops. A car with two uniforms responded. Here is where we got a little lucky-I think. Because those two blues, first on the scene, did everything by the book. One of them hung on to Samuelson and his cabdriver, making sure they would not take off.
    Meanwhile, he called in for backup, saying they had a reported homicide. The second blue went upstairs to confirm the kill. You remember how hard it was raining Friday night?
    Well, the uniform who went upstairs saw soaked tracks on the carpet of the hall and the staircase leading to the third floor.
    So he was careful to step as close to the wall as he could to preserve the prints.”
    “That was smart,” Delaney said. “Who was he?”
    “A big, big black,” Suarez said. “I talked with him, and he made me feel like a midget.”
    “My God!” Delaney said, astonished. “Don’t tell me his name is Jason T. Jason?”
    It was Suarez’s turn to be astonished. “That is who it was.
    You know him?”
    “Oh, hell yes. We worked together. They call him Jason Two. A brainy lad. There’s detective material if ever I saw it.
    He’d never go trampling over everything.”
    “Well, he did not. So when the Crime Scene Unit arrived, they were able to eliminate his wet prints on the carpet of the staircase and in the receptionist’s office where the body was found. A day later, they had also eliminated Dr. Samuelson’s footprints. He was wearing street shoes and has very small feet. The kicker is this: That left two sets of unidentified wet prints on the carpet.”
    “Two sets?”
    “Absolutely. The photos prove it. Ellerbee had two visitors that night. Both were wearing rubbers or galoshes. Indistinct blots, but there is no doubt they were made by two different people.”
    “Son of a bitch,” Delaney said. “Male or female?”
    Suarez shrugged. “With rubbers or boots, who knows? But there were two sets of prints left after Samuelson’s and Jason’s were eliminated.”
    “Two sets of prints,” Delaney repeated thoughtfully. “How do you figure that?”
    “I do not. Do you?”
    “No. “Well,” Suarez said, “that’s all the information that has not yet been released. Now let us discuss how we are going to manage your assistance in this investigation. You tell me what you would like and I will make every effort to provide what I can.
    They talked for another half-hour. They agreed it would be counterproductive to run two separate investigations of the same crime.
    “We’d be walking up each other’s heels,” Delaney said.
    So they would try to coordinate their efforts, with Suarez in command and Delaney offering suggestions and consulting with Suarez as frequently as developments warranted.
    “Here’s what I’ll need,” Delaney said. “First of all, a Department car, unmarked. Then I want Sergeant Abner Boone as an assistant to serve as liaison officer with you and your crew. Right now he’s heading a Major Crime Unit in Manhattan North. I want him.”
    “No problem,” Suarez said. “I know Boone. Good man.
    But he …”
    His voice trailed away. Delaney looked at him steadily.
    “Yes,” he said, “Boone was on the sauce. But he straightened himself out. Getting married helped. He hasn’t had a drink in more than two years. My wife and I see him and his wife two or three times a month, and believe me, I know: the man is clean.”
    “If you say so,” Suarez said apologetically. “Then by all means let us have Sergeant Boone.”
    “And Jason Two,” Delaney said. “I want to give that guy a chance; he deserves it.”
    “In uniform?”
    Delaney thought a moment. “No. Plainclothes. I need Boone and Jason because they’ve got