Ed McBain - Downtown Read Free Page B

here?"
    "_I'll pay for the drinks," Crandall said, somewhat testily. "Is that all you can think of is who's going to pay for the drinks? This man has just had his money and his credit cards stolen and all you can think of ..."
    "All right, all right," the bartender
    25 said. "Is it any wonder that this city has a reputation for insensitivity? Here's a man visiting from Florida, on Christmas _Eve, no less ..." "All right, all right ..."
    "He has his credit cards and his money and his driver's license stolen, and all _you can think of ..." "I said all _right already!"
    "We've got to report this to the police," Crandall said, taking out his own wallet, looking at the check, and then putting a twenty-dollar bill on the bar. "What precinct are we in?" "The First," the bartender said. "Where is that?" "On Ericsson Place." "_Where?"
    "Ericsson Place. You gotta go all the way over the West Side from here. It's just off Varick and Canal."
    "Do you know how to get there?" Crandall asked Michael.
    "No," Michael said. "This is the first time I've been down in this part of the city."
    "Last time, too, I'll bet," the bartender said. "I'll show you the way," Crandall said. "Well, look, I have to catch an eleven-oh-five plane to Boston. What I thought ..."
    "That gives you over three hours," Crandall said.
    "Well, I thought I'd leave the city by ..." "Even so. You don't want these people ..." "I thought I'd call from Boston, report it ..."
    "No, no, you can't do that," Crandall said. "You have to go to the police in person. That's the way it works. Otherwise nothing'll get done. Don't worry, I'll go with you. I have a photographic memory, I can give them a good description of that fake cop." "Well, thanks but ..." "Where'd you park your car?"
    "But you see, I thought it might be simpler ..." "Come on, this won't take a minute,"
    Crandall said. "It's your duty as a
    27 citizen." "He's right," the bartender said. Michael looked at him. "Really," the bartender said.
    "Well, okay," Michael said, and nodded. "So where's the car?" Crandall asked. "Right around the corner."
    "Probably be a parking ticket on it," the bartender said. Crandall gave him a look. "Sorry," he said, and went to the cash register. "Do you remember what name he gave you?" Crandall asked.
    "Yes. Detective Daniel Cahill." "Good. Although the name was probably as phony as he was." "Here's your change," the bartender said.
    "Thank you," Crandall said. He looked at the check again, left a tip on the bar, and then said, "Let's go."
    They walked out of the bar into a raging snowstorm.
    What had earlier been a Charles Dickens sort of _Christmas _Carol-ish snowfall-- with fat, gentle flakes swirling and dipping on the air, and little puffy white hats on the street lamps, and people hurrying by with long mufflers trailing, their footsteps hushed on sidewalks and streets covered with a thin dusting of white--had now turned into a blustery blizzard blowing wind and tiny sharp snowflakes into every crack and crevice, covering the entire city with a fine, glistening, slippery coat of white already an inch thick.
    "This we definitely do not need," Crandall said. "Where'd you say the car was?" "Around the corner," Michael said. They walked together to the corner, their heads ducked against the needle-sharp flakes driven by the wind, turned right, and then walked to the middle of the street where the rented car was parked under a street lamp. Michael unlocked the car on the driver's side, got in, and started it. "If you'll flick open the trunk," Crandall said, "I'll see if we've got a scraper."
    Michael reached for the trunk-release lever, close to the floor, and pulled on it. "That's got it," Crandall said. "Anything in there?" Michael called.
    "Just a valise."
    29 "Yes, that's mine." "Nothing we can use," Crandall said, and slammed the trunk shut and came around the car to where Michael was sitting behind the wheel, the door open. "One of those nights, huh?" he said.
    "At least the