Angels in Heaven

depths of raw, naked
emotion but is also a sensitive and moving tale of a tender young bud’s first
flowering under the gentle twin caresses of sun and spring rains—”
    Just as I was getting into my stride,
the phone rang. All of us jumped out of our skins. Doris ran to her desk; she
and Benny picked up their phones at the same time.
    “U.S.C.A.,” she trilled. “Buenas
tardes.” Then she said, “Momento, por favor,” pressed the talk
switch on her intercom, and said loudly into it, without covering the telephone
receiver with one hand so the lieutenant could hear, “Mr. Keith, Lt. Esparza on
line one.”
    Line one, I thought. What next.
That’s the trouble with working with amateurs, they always want to ad lib.
    “Thank you, Miss Day,” Benny said. Doris hung up, then propped her skinny frame in the open doorway to listen.
    “Lieutenant, thank you for calling
back so promptly,” he said. “You may recall meeting myself and Mr. Blackman
yesterday.”
    The lieutenant said something I
couldn’t hear, but he was obviously admitting that he did indeed recall.
    “I am telephoning for Mr. Blackman,
of course, on a matter of some considerable gravity,” Benny went on pompously,
“to the United States of America. There may also be a not inconsiderable sum of
money involved.” Here Benny dropped me a quick wink; there was a brief pause
while the subcommandant said something else.
    “Well, sir, therein lies the
problem,” Benny said. “As it is a matter of some confidentiality as well as
some importance, I am reluctant to go into details on an open phone line. I’m
sure you can appreciate that.”
    Another brief pause.
    “We could indeed,” said Benny. “But I
am not sure it would be wise for Mr. Blackman particularly or for myself to be
seen on your premises too often—we do make a rather noticeable couple, I’m
afraid.” Here Benny gave a mild chuckle. There was another brief pause.
    Then he said, “Exactly. What I,
therefore, propose is this, if it meets with your approval, naturally. Perhaps
you could drop by here at our offices on Calle sixty-three—at your convenience,
of course, but we would prefer the meet to take place tomorrow if at all
possible. Naturally we would cover any expenses that might be incurred by you
and your driver”—another little wink—“or if you prefer, we would he delighted
to send a car for you.”
    There followed another pause, not so
brief this time. Benny told me later, when he was translating the conversation
for me and Doris, that under all the politeness what the lieutenant said was to
the effect that World War III couldn’t prevent him from paying us a visit and
that tomorrow would be fine by him but it would have to be either before or
after the commandant's siesta, since as second in command, he was forbidden to
leave the jail for any reason but a dire emergency while the Big Boppa was off
duty, so how did noon mañana grab us?
    “Excellently,” Benny said. “Tomorrow
at twelve would be ideal for us. In your own vehicle, as you wish. By the way,
we’re at Four-nine-nine Calle Sixty-three, between Fifty-eighth and
Fifty-sixth. Hasta mañana, then, and many thanks from Mr. Blackman,
myself, and the government of the United States.”
    He hung up and turned to me with a
self-satisfied expression, and quite rightly.
    “How was that, amigo?”
    “Sensational,” I said, patting him on
the dome. “As usual. And I loved your ad libs about ‘a not inconsiderable sum
of money’ and ‘any expenses that might be incurred.’ Then I added
magnanimously, “Doris, ‘line one,’ good thinking, my pet.”
    “So now you got your lieutenant comin’
tomorrow,” said Doris from the doorway. “Then what?”
    “Then what?” I exclaimed. “Wait till
you cast your orbs on him, then what. Your false eyelashes will be fluttering
like a hummingbird’s wings, only faster. You’ll have to insert a few asbestos
pages in that diary of yours is then what.”
    “Ethel,” said Doris. “She’s got to be
in it somehow. You got to Ethel, but I don’t see how. Or when.”
    “Simple, child,” I said smugly. “You
must try and keep up more with the latest technology, as I strive to do. Why, I
daily pore over communications manuals and electronic textbooks.”
    “Sometimes twice daily,” agreed Benny
solemnly.
    “There exists,” I said, “a device. A
gizmo. A hookup. Call it a connector, which is a simple tool that might best be
described as a cradle for