“It sounds like an FBI trick. The guys who built your frame have had months to I.D. your girlfriend. We’ll see. You were right not to telephone me before you came here. If Torres hasn’t tapped my line already, he will soon. I want you to stay in touch. The longer you’re free, the better chance we have of breaking this thing. That’s what I believe. I’d love to shove this up Hamilton’s ass along with everything else that’s been up there. They might find Judge Crater, for God’s sake. Can we be truthful with each other? Can you agree to that?”

“I have to protect myself. Do you want to take me into Manhattan? I’ll tell you about my last day with the Brennans.”

“All right, that’s good enough.” Levine got up. “I have to tell my wife that I’m going out. Finish your coffee.”

Devlin did, and not because Harry Levine thought it was good for him. Devlin was not in the mood to wander around the living room, thinking about the happiness in this household. He and Eileen had harmony, too. If this had been a normal night for them, they would be asleep already.

Levine returned wearing a light windbreaker. “Naomi’s up there laughing because she remembered you were the one with the crack about my breath.”

“The cardinal has a spy in your office.”

“I know about him. The cardinal I can handle. Come on, I don’t want to be out all night.”

“I remembered something else,” Devlin said. “Just before Antonucci shot Lopez, I heard a horn blow. Twice.”

“Good remembering. We have it all on tape. As a matter of fact, we think that the tape tells us something. The horn blows when the picture shows Lopez beginning to emerge from the van. The picture was on a half a dozen screens inside the Tombs. Two were allegedly unmonitored at the time. Both of those sets are within reach of telephones. If—if—somebody on the inside wanted to tell Antonucci that Lopez was ready for killing, a word to a guy in a car with a cellular telephone would start the process. A guy at one of those screens had the best view of all of Lopez. The horn set Antonucci in motion. We think.” He led Devlin into the garage. “We have the number of guys who could have done it down to forty-three.”

“The car used in Major’s killing today had a cellular telephone.”

Levine eyed him. “Yeah, you have to stay free.”