“I’d say, mid-thirties, about six feet, brown hair, medium build, dressed in a business suit and tie.”

“Any distinguishing marks?”

“None that I can recall.”

Kehoe called the cell number and found it not in use.

Grappa phoned the post office and learned that the box number did not exist. He went back to Kehoe. “We’ve got a dead end here,” he said. “Anything on the print yet?”

“Yep, we’ve got a match.” He handed his partner a rap sheet with a photograph. “Name of Marvin Beemer Jones. Looks like that guy in the Three Stooges. Currently in a cell upstate.”

“Mr. Jones has a pretty long reach, if he can leave a thumbprint on Park Avenue.”

“We better do some checking.” Half an hour later they had determined that Jones had been released, and they had the name of his parole officer.

“We cut him loose last week, on orders from above,” the PO said. “We’ve been overworked and understaffed since the big prisoner release that’s going on right now, statewide. We discharged the ones with nonviolent records from parole, and Jones was one of them. My record has him staying at the Y in Chelsea.” A call to the Y revealed that Jones had stayed one night, then checked out and left no forwarding address.

“Well,” Kehoe said, “we can list him as wanted, but unless he gets busted for something, we’re at a dead end.”

“You’d better call the commissioner,” Grappa said.

“Me?”

“You’re the one he called to give us this case.”

“Oh, all right.” Kehoe called the commissioner and told him the results of their investigation.

“Congratulations on identifying the suspect so quickly,” the commissioner said. “Now find him.”

“His name will be on the list of wanted felons tomorrow morning,” Kehoe said. “But unless he gets himself picked up, we’ve got nothing to go on.”

“Friends and relatives in the city?”

“None. Jones is from New Jersey and has no next of kin listed. He had no visitors in prison.”

“Keep me posted,” he said.

—

DINO CALLED LAURENCE. “My detectives have identified a suspect,” he said.

“That was fast.”

“He left a thumbprint at the scene. His name is Marvin Beemer Jones, an ex-convict, recently released from prison, where he was serving a sentence for possession of drugs with intent to sell. We’ve listed him as a wanted suspect in a felony, but since we have no other record of him or his whereabouts, we’ll have to wait until he’s arrested for something else before we can lay hands on him.”

“Any idea of how long that might be?”

“No idea at all. Since he appears to have plenty of money—yours—he may not feel moved to commit another crime anytime soon.”

“Thank you for trying, Dino,” Laurence said.

“You can probably get your household insurance company to reimburse you for some of the cash.”

“I’m self-insured.”