Ed McBain - Doll

‘What do you mean?’

‘Don’t you have nothing to do but call up here?’

‘I haven’t called you before, Mr Farber.’

‘No, not you, never mind. This phone’s been going like sixty.’

‘Who called you?’

‘Detectives, never mind.’

‘Who? Which detectives?’

‘The other night.’

‘When?’

‘Monday. Monday night.’

‘A detective called you Monday night?’

‘Yeah, wanted to know where he could reach Cyclops. That’s one of our elevator operators.’

‘Did you tell him?’

‘Sure, I did.’

‘Who was he? Did he give you his name?’

‘Yeah, some Italian fellow.’

Kling was silent for a moment.

‘Would the name have been Carella?’ he asked.

‘That’s right.’

‘Carella?’

‘Yep, that’s the one.’

‘What time did he call?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. Sometime in the evening.’

‘And he said his name was Carella?’

‘That’s right, Detective Carella, that’s what he said. Why? You know him?’

‘Yes,’ Kling said, i know him.’

‘Well, you ask him. He’ll tell you.’

‘What time in the evening did he call? Was it early or late?’

‘What do you mean by early or late?’ Farber asked.

‘Was it before dinner?’

‘No. Oh no, it was after dinner. About ten o’clock, I suppose. Maybe a little later.’

‘And what did he say to you?’

‘He wanted Cyclops’ address, said he had some questions to ask him.’

‘About what?’

‘About the murder.’

‘He said that specifically? He said, “I have some questions to ask Cyclops about the murder”?’

‘About the Tinka Sachs murder, is what he actually said.’

‘He said, “This is Detective Carella, I want to know—” ’

‘That’s right, this is Detective Carella—’

‘ “—I want to know Cyclops Messner’s address because I have some questions to ask him about the Tinka Sachs murder.” ’

‘No, that’s not it exactly.’

‘What’s wrong with it?’ Kling asked.

‘He didn’t say the name.’

‘You just said he did say the name. The Tinka Sachs murder. You said—’

‘Yes, that’s right. That’s not what I mean.’

‘Look, what—?’

‘He didn’t say Cyclops’ name.’

‘I don’t understand you.’

‘All he said was he wanted the address of the one-eyed elevator operator because he had some questions to ask him about the Tinka Sachs murder. That’s what he said.’

‘He referred to him as the one-eyed elevator operator?’

‘That’s right.’

‘You mean he didn’t know the name?’

‘Well, I don’t know about that. He didn’t know how to spell it, though, that’s for sure.’

‘Excuse me,’ the telephone operator said. ‘Five cents for the next five minutes, please.’

‘Hold on,’ Kling said. He reached into his pocket, and found only two quarters. He put one into the coin slot.

‘Was that twenty-five cents you deposited, sir?’ the operator asked.

‘That’s right.’

‘If you’ll let me have your name and address, sir, we’ll—’

‘No, forget it.’

‘—send you a refund in stamps.’

‘No, that’s all right, operator, thank you. Just give me as much time as the quarter’ll buy, okay?’

‘Very well, sir.’

‘Hello?’ Kling said. ‘Mr Farber?’

‘I’m still here,’ Farber said.

‘What makes you think this detective couldn’t spell Cyclops’ name?’

‘Well, I gave him the address, you see, and I was about to hang up when he asked me about the spelling. He wanted to know the correct spelling of the name.’

‘And what did you say?’

‘I said it was Messner, M-E-S-S-N-E-R, Ernest Messner, and I repeated the address for him again, 1117 Gainesborough Avenue in Riverhead.’

‘And then what?’

‘He said thank you very much and hung up.’

‘Sir, was it your impression that he did not know Cyclops’ name until you gave it to him?’

‘Well, I couldn’t say that for sure. All he wanted was the correct spelling.’

‘Yes, but he asked for the address of the one-eyed elevator operator, isn’t that what you said?’

‘That’s right.’

‘If he knew the name, why didn’t he use it?’

‘You got me. What’s your name?’ the superintendent asked.

‘Kling. Detective Bert Kling.’

‘Mine’s Farber, Emmanuel Farber, Manny.’

‘Yes, I know. You told me.’

‘Oh. Okay.’

There was a long silence on the line.

‘Was that all, Detective Kling?’ Farber said at last. ‘I’ve got to get these lobby floors waxed and I’m—’

‘Just a few more questions,’ Kling said.

‘Well, okay, but could we—?’

‘Cyclops had his usual midnight-to-eight-a.m. shift Monday night, is that right?’

‘That’s right, but—’

‘When he came to work, did he mention anything about having seen a detective?’

‘He didn’t, ’ Farber said.

‘He didn’t mention a detective at all? He didn’t say—’

‘No, he didn’t come to work.’

‘What?’

‘He didn’t come to work Monday nor yesterday, either,’ Farber said. ‘I had to get another man to take his place.’

‘Did you try to reach him?’

‘I waited until twelve-thirty, with the man he was supposed to relieve taking a fit, and finally I called his apartment, three times in fact, and there was no answer. So I phoned one of the other men. Had to run the elevator myself until the man got here. That must’ve been about two in the morning.’

‘Did Cyclops contact you at all any time yesterday?’

‘Nope. You think he’d call, wouldn’t you?’

‘Did he contact you today?’

‘Nope.’

‘But you’re expecting him to report to work tonight, aren’t you?’

‘Well, he’s due at midnight, but I don’t know. I hope he shows up.’

‘Yes, I hope so, too,’ Kling said. ‘Thank you very much, Mr Farber. You’ve been very helpful.’

‘Sure thing,’ Farber said, and hung up.

Kling sat in the phone booth for several moments, trying to piece together what he had just learned. Someone had called Farber on Monday night at about ten, identifying himself as Detective Carella, and asking for the address of the one-eyed elevator operator. Carella knew the man was named Ernest Messner and nicknamed Cyclops. He would not have referred to him as the one-eyed elevator operator. But more important than that, he would never have called the superintendent at all. Knowing the man’s name, allegedly desiring his address, he would have done exactly what Kling had done this morning. He would have consulted the telephone directories and found a listing for Ernest Messner in the Riverhead book, as simple as that, as routine as that. No, the man who had called Farber was not Carella. But he had known Carella’s name, and had made good use of it.

At ten-thirty Monday night, Marjorie Gorman had met Cyclops in front of the building and he had told her he was expecting a visit from a detective. That could only mean that ‘Detective Carella’ had already called Cyclops and told him he would stop by. And now, Cyclops was missing, had indeed been missing since Monday night.

Kling came out of the phone booth, and began walking back toward the building on Gainesborough Avenue.

The landlady of the building did not have a key to Mr Messner’s apartment. Mr Messner has his own lock on the door, she said, the same as any of the other tenants in the building, and she certainly did not have a key to Mr Messner’s lock, nor to the locks of any of the other tenants. Moreover, she would not grant Kling permission to try his skeleton key on the door, and she warned him that if he forced entry into Mr Messner’s apartment, she would sue the city. Kling informed her that if she cooperated, she would save him the trouble of going all the way downtown for a search warrant, and she said she didn’t care about his going all the way downtown, suppose Mr Messner came back and learned she had let the police in there while he was away, who’d get the lawsuit then, would he mind telling her?