“We’re getting somewhere?”

Decker smiled. “Only if I think I might be able to help you, Detective Novack.”

“Ah, much better.” Novack smiled. “All right. Since you’re under a time crunch, I’ll see if we can meet with him tomorrow morning.”

“That would be great. Because otherwise…” Decker threw up his hands. “It could be she left the city… that she’s in Quinton. Cops over there said they’d look again, but the chief of the Quinton Police didn’t sound too hopeful. Actually, he wasn’t at all helpful.”

“Who’d you talk to?”

“Virgil Merrin.”

Novack shrugged. “Don’t know him. We’re our own country out here.”

“I’m beginning to realize that. Do you think we can meet with your guy early tomorrow morning?”

“Early? Like how early?”

“Eight, nine.”

“Now, that I don’t know. He’s Irish. Saturday night is pub night.”

“Tell him if he meets me at eight, I’ll buy him a case of his favorite beer.”

Novack nodded. “Lieutenant Decker, that just may be the right incentive.”

10

Ephraim Lieber had met his end just blocks away from the 28th hub precinct, in a blighted tenement to the west of Harlem. It was a neighborhood of elevated train tracks and chain-link fences that surrounded weed-choked lots, a vicinity with enough space to hold auto-repair shops, car washes, and a slew of one-story fast-food joints that could have easily been transplanted into Decker’s native L.A. turf. Exterior fire escapes hugged grime-coated brick buildings like scaffolding. Still, as Decker drove through the streets, he saw the possibilities. Old, wonderful—albeit graffitied—brownstones with great bone structure. And there was Riverside Park, a stretch of trees, foliage, and gardens that snuggled against the Hudson, an oasis replete with benches and jogging pathways. It began around 72nd and continued uptown until about 120th, ending several blocks away from the two-eight. The park, developed in the 1940s and 1950s atop railroad tracks, served as a botanical reminder of what had probably flourished before Manhattan became the isle of asphalt and skyscrapers.

The precinct was two stories of raw concrete that must have been raked with combs while the cement was drying. Entrance inside was through steel double doors that looked not only solid but also bullet-proof. Decker took three steps down, and stood in front of a bright blue horseshoe-shaped desk manned by a black woman in uniform. To Decker’s right was a glass case filled with the precinct’s sports trophies; to his left were a couple of offices and a row of bolted lime green plastic chairs, the sole occupant being a sleeping homeless person of indeterminate gender curled up as tightly as a potato bug.

As Decker approached the desk, Novack was bounding down a set of steps.

“Hey. Right on time. Up here.”

Decker followed Novack upstairs.

“How you doin’?” Micky asked.

“Fine.”

“Good. I got him to come, but it wasn’t easy.”

“I owe you.”

“Yeah. Right.” Novack led him past a cubby used as the squad-room secretary’s office. “Welcome to the two-eight. It ain’t an architectural showpiece, but we do have a nice view of the gas station.”