Эд Макбейн - Let’s Hear It For The Deaf Man

Her name was Florence Barrows.

Florence had once told the Deaf Man that she’d never met a man she could trust and didn’t expect anyone to trust her, either.

She told the detectives everything she knew.

“His name is Taubman,” she said, “and we had our meetings in a room at the Hotel Remington. Room 604. I’d never met him before he contacted me for the caper, and I don’t know anything else about him.”

This time, they had him.

They didn’t expect to find anybody at the Hotel Remington, and they didn’t. But now, at least, they had a name for him. They began going through all the city directories, encouraged by the scarcity of Taubmans, determined to track down each and every one of them until they got their man — even if it took forever.

It did not take nearly that long.

Detective Schmitt of the 86th Squad called while they were still going through the directories and compiling a list of Taubmans.

“Hey, how about that?” he said to Carella. “Son of a bitch really did try to bring it off at eleven, huh?”

“He sure did,” Carella said.

“I understand he got away, though,” Schmitt said.

“Yeah, but we’ve got a lead.”

“Oh? What’ve you got?”

“His name.”

“Great. Has he got a record?”

“We’re checking that with the I.S. right this minute.”

“Good, good. Is it a common name?”

“Only eleven of them in the Isola directory. Five in Calm’s Point. We’re checking the others now.”

“What’s the name?” Schmitt asked.

“Taubman.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Carella said. There had been a curious lilt to Schmitt’s voice just then, a mixture of incredulity and mirth. “Why?” Carella asked at once.

“Didn’t you say the guy was deaf?”

“Yes, I did. What...?”

“Because, you know... I guess you know... or maybe you don’t.”

“What?”

“It’s German. Taubman.”

“So?”

“It means the deaf man. ‘ Der taube mann .’ That means ‘the deaf man’ in German.”

“I see,” Carella said.

“Yeah,” Schmitt said.

“Thank you,” Carella said.

“Don’t mention it,” Schmitt said, and hung up.

Carella put the phone back onto its cradle and decided to become a fireman.