Three Fates

should go get some sleep. All of you. I’ll man the recorder. She’s going to be calling me in an hour or so anyway.”
    “I could make you some coffee and sandwiches,” Tia offered.
    “You’re a jewel, you are.”
     
     
    AND SO, TWO hours later almost to the minute, while he polished off a ham and cheese on rye, Jack’s home line rang. He smiled, let it ring three times. He’d already heard Anita curse him from her office.
    Just as he’d heard her open her office safe, breathe a long sigh of relief.
    “Burdett.”
    “Jack. Goddamn it, Jack. I’m at Morningside. There’s been a break-in.”
    “Anita? When?”
    “Tonight. The police are here now. I want you in here, Jack, and I want you in here now.”
    “Give me twenty minutes,” he said. He hung up, and finished his coffee.
     
     
    BY THE TIME he arrived, the Crime Scene Unit was busily at work. He figured he’d left them enough to keep them that way. He got a minor hassle from one of the uniforms blocking the entrance of the building, and had to flag down a familiar face, then wait to be cleared.
    Normally the delay would have been mildly irritating, but in this case he figured it only gave Anita more time to stew. He found her in her office, verbally skinning one of the investigators who’d been unlucky enough to catch the case.
    “I want to know what you’re doing to find the people who violated my property.”
    “Ma’am, we’re doing everything possible to—”
    “If you were doing everything possible, someone couldn’t have broken a window and climbed into this building. I’d like to know where the police were when thieves damaged my property and waltzed into this building. That’s what I’d like to know.”
    “Ms. Gaye, the first unit responded within two minutes after the alarm—”
    “Two minutes is too late.” She bared her teeth, and it occurred to Jack that if she worked herself up much higher, she’d use them to bite someone’s throat out. “I expect the police to protect my property. Do you have any conception of the taxes I pay in this area? I’m not funneling thousands of dollars into this city so the police force can sit on their asses eating doughnuts while thieves walk off with priceless antiques.”
    “Ms. Gaye, at this time, we can’t be sure if any of your inventory was stolen. If you’d—”
    “Through no help of the New York Police Department. Now you and your clumsy, fat-fingered colleagues are stomping around my building, making a mess of things, and you refuse to tell me the status of the investigation. Would you prefer I called the mayor—a personal acquaintance of mine—and ask him to speak to your superior?”
    “Ma’am, you can call God almighty and I’m still not going to be able to tell you any more than I have. This investigation is just over two hours old. I’d be moving that investigation along a lot faster if you’d give me information instead of slinging abuse and threats.”
    Jack figured she hadn’t painted and polished herself as carefully as usual, and with the furious color staining her cheeks, it was hardly surprising Anita wasn’t looking her best.
    “I want your name and your badge number, and I want you off my property.”
    “Detective Lewis Gilbert.”
    Lew was already taking one of his cards out of his wallet. Jack decided to give him a break and distract Anita. He put what he hoped was concern on his face and stepped into the room.
    “Lew.”
    “Jack.” Lew laid the card on Anita’s desk. “Got the word the security was Burdett.”
    “Yeah.” Jack’s mouth went grim. “Where did they breech?”
    “Fourth-floor window, rear, far east corner.”
    “Did they get inside?”
    “Yep. Tripped up somewhere, though, sprang the alarm. Left some toys behind.”
    “They get anything?”
    Lew slid a baleful glance in Anita’s direction. “Undetermined.”
    “I’d like to speak with Mr. Burdett. Privately,” Anita said coldly.
    Knowing it was likely to make her choke on her own bile, Jack held up a finger and continued talking to Lew. “If I could take a look at the breech, I might be able to give you something on it.”
    “Appreciate that.”
    “I will not be ignored while you—”
    “Just hold on.” Jack interrupted Anita’s newest tirade and walked out with Lew, leaving her vibrating with fury.
    “Piece of work, that one,” Lew began.
    “Tell me about it. The shit she was dumping on you won’t come close to what she’ll dump on me.”
    They