“I’ll be lucky if I can get them to hold it until eleven o’clock,” Andy said.

“Do the best you can. Come on, Stone.”

The building was a run-down pile of bricks with a fire escape hung on the front. There was no Hausman on any of the mailboxes, but one of the keys opened the front door. Dino banged on the super’s door. A small, Hispanic man emerged.

“Yes?” he asked.

Dino showed him a badge. “You have a tenant named Hausman,” he said. “What’s his apartment number?”

“I don’t know nothing,” the man said.

Dino showed him the rent receipt. “What’s his goddamned apartment number?”

“They are in 3D,” the man admitted.

“They? Who’s they?”

“Mr. Hausman and his friend.”

“Male or female friend?”

“Male.”

“What does he look like?”

The super shrugged. “Kind of like Mr. Hausman, but with real short hair.”

“Is the friend in the apartment now?”

“I don’t know. They come and go a lot.”

“Fine; you go back inside your apartment and stay there until I call you.”

The man went inside and closed the door.

Dino turned to Stone. “Are you armed?”

Stone produced his 7.65mm automatic.

Dino whipped out his cell phone and called for backup. “Let’s go,” he said.

They walked quietly up the stairs and found apartment 3D. Dino put his ear to the door. “TV is on,” he whispered.

They took up positions on either side of the door.

Dino knocked firmly. “Hello?” he said, imitating the super’s accent. “It’s the super here.”

Nothing.

Stone listened to the door but heard nothing but the TV.

Dino knocked again, this time louder. No reply. He inserted the key in the lock and turned it as quietly as he could. As the door opened, the TV got louder. “Hello?” he called. “It’s the super here; I’ve got the plumber with me to check the plumbing.”

No reply.

Dino nodded at Stone and, as they had done a hundred times before, they went in, guns out ahead of them. They went from room to room, which didn’t take long, since there were only three of them.

“We’ve got two different shoe sizes here,” Stone called from the bedroom, “and a lot of empty hangers in the closet.”

Dino came into the bedroom. “What else?”

“Top drawer of the dresser is empty and open.”

“You think the other guy ran?”

They walked back into the living room, just as the TV station cut to the news desk.

“We’ve got more on that arrest on Third Avenue this afternoon,” the newscaster said. “Let’s go back to the scene and Maria Jones.”