Lester snorted again. It sounded less like a snore. More like a strangled laugh. Ted found none of this funny.

The older cop thumbed the bills in the envelope. He looked up. The squint had nothing to do with the bright sunlight. It was a sign to the world that after twenty-some years of seeing it all, hearing it all, and maybe even smelling it all, he had lost his sense of wonder. He wasn’t buying any of it.

“You see, Mr. Molloy, while it is quite unusual for us to find a perfectly innocent man, well-dressed and carrying a large amount of cash in large denominations, sitting on a bench in this neighborhood, we do occasionally come across not-so-innocent men of a similar description who are here for the purpose of purchasing illegal drugs,” the older cop said. “Would you be one of those people, Mr. Molloy?”

Ted heard Lester give a hacking cough.

Ted knew enough to say nothing. They could roust him, maybe even take him to the precinct. But there were no grounds for an arrest. Why would they want to spend their afternoon doing the necessary paperwork only to have to release him the moment his lawyer arrived? And the bigger question was why they were giving him trouble at all. He could easily have a legitimate reason to be there.

“I haven’t done anything. I’d like to go. May I have my possessions?” Out of the corner of his eye, Ted saw Lester pull himself erect and stagger away.

The squint narrowed slightly. “Why don’t we do this at the precinct? Is that all right with you, Mr. Molloy?”

“Am I under arrest?” Ted asked.

“Not at this time.”

“Then I’d rather not,” he said with a smile.

“I’m going to insist, Mr. Molloy.” The smile hadn’t worked on the first cop either.

“I have an appointment,” Ted said, though he was no longer sure that this was true.

“I think it was canceled. Meanwhile, I don’t believe that you are safe in this neighborhood, especially carrying this much cash. Pick up your things, and we’ll give you a ride to the station.”

And the realization struck. Lester must have figured it out long before, but he’d had the advantage of being an observer, not the mark. Ted had been played.

“He sent you, didn’t he?” Ted said.

The older cop slowly shook his head. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

They weren’t leaving without him.

“Can you at least play the siren?” Ted asked. “I’ve always wanted to ride in a cop car with the siren wailing.”

Ted let the young cop guide him into the back seat.

-41-

-41-

They left Ted on a metal folding chair inside the entrance. A policeman seated behind a thick Plexiglas window buzzed the two patrolmen through a door, and they disappeared into the inner sanctum of the precinct.