The table was silent a moment.
Carlucci then said, “But I have no choice but to denounce him, or at least what he’s accomplishing with his reward.”
Denny Coughlin cleared his throat.
“You have something, Denny?” Carlucci said. “Say it.”
“Just a point, Jerry. Giving credit where it’s due, Matt did bring up that for us to condemn the reward system would be somewhat hypocritical.”
Carlucci made an unpleasant face.
“You can’t be a little pregnant,” Payne said.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Carlucci asked, looking at Payne.
“We can’t say that Five-Eff’s paying out ten-grand rewards—”
“ ‘Five-Eff ’?” Carlucci interrupted.
Payne nodded. “Francis Franklin Fuller the Fifth long ago had his name boiled down to simply Four-Eff.”
“You said ‘Five,’” Carlucci challenged.
Payne looked around the table, and all eyes were watching him with more than a little curiosity. He thought there may have been a trace of wariness in Coughlin’s.
Payne raised an eyebrow, then said, “Francis can be pompous, as you well know, and when he annoys me, I call him Five-Eff, short for Fucking Francis Franklin Fuller the Fifth.”
Carlucci guffawed again. A couple others followed his lead by chuck-ling. Coughlin shook his head.
“All right,” Carlucci said, “as he’s come to annoy the hell out of me, I’ll now say: How does my denouncing Five-Eff make me pregnant?”
Payne grinned. He knew Carlucci understood what he’d meant by the analogy.
“My point is, sir, that our department has partnerships with other agencies that offer rewards. The FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, for example.”
He gestured with his thumb in a southerly direction. The FBI’s office, at 600 Arch Street, across from the Federal Reserve Bank, was damn near outside the back door of the Roundhouse.
“And I’m sure you’ll recall that we have our own tips hotline,” Payne went on, “that, through the Citizens Crime Commission, pays out rewards that go from five hundred bucks or so on up to thousands. And when a cop gets murdered, the FOP administers rewards for info that leads to catching the doers. So we already do what Five-Eff does. We just don’t, as was pointed out to me”—he exchanged glances with Coughlin—“encourage the killing of the critters.”
Carlucci started nodding. “All right. I take your point. We can massage that in the message, so to speak. Now, let’s boil all this down to what I’m going to say.”
“Thirty seconds, Mr. Mayor,” Corporal Kerry Rapier said from behind the control panel.
Jerry Carlucci scrunched up his face and assumed a serious expression.
Corporal Rapier said, “In five, four, three, two . . . ,” then pointed to Mayor Carlucci. On the monitor, Mayor Carlucci was perfectly framed in a tight shot of his face, with Mariana and Coughlin looking over his shoulders.
Carlucci said: “Good afternoon, citizens of the great city of Philadelphia. Thank you for letting me into your homes today. I respect your time, and will be brief.
“While it saddens me to have to appear here today to address a rash of murders, I must tell you that I am very proud to be speaking to you from the Roundhouse in the company of some of the finest law-enforcement officials anywhere.
“As you may be aware, in the last month, five known criminals—all fugitives guilty of sexual offenses—have been killed and brought to the door of the Philadelphia Police Department. And last night, three more murdered men were left at the door of an organization that offers rewards for the capture of criminals.
The City of Philadelphia and our police department are grateful for any help in keeping our communities safe. We encourage citizens—who can remain anonymous—to provide tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of criminals. Simply call 911, or 215-686-TIPS. Depending on the case, there are cash rewards for information that leads to a criminal’s conviction.
“While we do applaud the removal of any criminal at large in our free society, we cannot condone any such act that results in death. That is murder, and those responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest.”
He paused to let that point sit with the various audiences.