“Yes, sir.”
“Meet me at Liberties. Now. Do not go inside.”
“Yes, sir.”
Inspector Wohl, Lieutenant Washington, and Sergeant Payne arrived at Liberties within thirty seconds of one another.
Lieutenant Washington went inside Liberties.
Mr. Michael J. O’Hara was sitting alone at the bar.
“You better be about to tell me that Peter’s right on your heels,” O’Hara greeted him.
“Peter’s right on my heels.”
“You want to tell me what’s going on?”
“We’ve identified one of the miscreants in the Roy Rogers job, and have a good idea who the other one is.”
“I heard that much at Augie Wohl’s.”
“Mrs. Solomon is very concerned that, unless we exercise great care, the malefactors may slip through the cracks in the floor of the criminal justice system.”
“Which means what, exactly?”
“That an arrest will not be made until such time as Mrs. Solomon feels there is a stronger case than what we have now, which is identification of one of them by fingerprints. ”
Inspector Wohl went to Matt’s unmarked Crown Victoria and got in the backseat.
“Mr. Colt, I’m Inspector Wohl,” Wohl said.
Stan Colt reached over the back of the seat and enthusiastically shook Wohl’s hand.
“Hey! Great! How are you? Matt’s been telling me all about you!”
“You were seen outside the IAD warehouse, Sergeant Payne,” Wohl said. “You want to tell me what that was all about?”
“Mr. Colt wanted to see it, so I showed it to him.”
“Okay. Is there anything else Mr. Colt wants to see tonight? ”
“We’re going to D’Allesandro’s for a cheese steak,” Matt said.
“And we’d love to have you come along,” Stan Colt said.
“That’s very kind, but it’s been a long day, and what I’m going to do is have a nightcap with Lieutenant Washington and go home.”
“Tell you what, Inspector,” Colt said. “Why don’t we all go in there and have a nightcap, then Matt and I will go to D’Allesandro’s, and then we’ll all go home.”
Mr. Colt put action to his words by getting out of the car, walking quickly to the door of Liberties, motioning cheerfully for Matt and Wohl to follow him, and disappearing inside.
“Jesus Christ!” Wohl said. “Mickey’s in there, waiting for me to tell him what’s going on.”
“I saw the pressmobile,” Matt said.
“This isn’t funny, goddamn it!”
“What are you going to do?” Matt asked.