Augusta said nothing. He thought he noticed her chopsticks hesitating on the way to her mouth. Her eyes were lowered, she kept looking at her plate.
“A dozen guys from squads all over town,” Kling said. “You know how it works.”
“So where will you be?” she asked.
“At Headquarters. The office they let us use there, up on the third floor, in case you need to reach me,” he said, and was immediately sorry. He did not want her calling Headquarters to check on him. “But we’ll be out on the street most of the time,” he added.
“I thought we were going to a movie tonight,” Augusta said.
“Yeah, well. What can you do?”
“Actually, we could still go, couldn’t we? If you don’t have to be downtown till one?”
“I’ll be in the squadroom till then, hon,” he said. “Paperwork on this suicide we’re working.”
“The Seconal case,” she said, and nodded.
“That’s the one. Only nice thing about pulling Parker’s duty is it’s air-conditioned downtown.”
“Well, that’s a plus, I suppose,” Augusta said, and hesitated. “Maybe I’ll go to the movies alone, would you mind that?”
“Why would I?” he said.
“Well, after what that twerp Monica told you...”
“I’ve forgotten all about that,” Kling said.
“She’ll be wearing a wig next time we meet,” Augusta said. “Pull out all her hair, that bitch.”
“Don’t do anything I’d have to arrest you for,” Kling said, and forced a smile.
“I still can’t get over her, I mean it.”
“She was drunk,” Kling said.
“Even so...”
“Why don’t you put it out of your mind?” he said, and covered her hand with his own. “I have.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Well, good,” she said, and smiled.
“What time do you have to be back up there?” he asked.
Augusta looked at her watch. “I still have a few minutes,” she said. “So will we be going out to dinner tonight, or what?”
“I planned on catching a sandwich in the squadroom.”
Augusta pulled a face. “Great,” she said. “That means I won’t be seeing you till nine tomorrow morning.”
“Nine-thirty, by the time I get uptown.”
“Terrific. My first sitting’s at nine-thirty.”
“Honey, I didn’t ask Parker to get sick. If he really is sick.”
“It’s because you’re the youngest guy on the squad...”
“No, Tack Fujiwara is.”
“...that you get all the shit jobs.”
“Honey, that’s not the way it works.”
She looked at her watch again. “I’ve got to run,” she said. “Before they start screaming up there.” She pushed back her chair, came around to where he was sitting, kissed him on the cheek, and said, “Be careful tonight, okay?”
“You, too,” he said.
“I’ll be home with the door locked,” she said “you won’t have to worry.”
“I mean, on the way home from the movies.”
“I might not even go. I’ll see what’s on television. Call me when you get home tomorrow morning, okay?” she said. “I’ll be at Tru-Vue again, the number’s in our book.”
“I will.”
“I’ll be there at nine-thirty sharp.”
“Okay.”
“’Bye, darling,” she said, and kissed him again on the cheek, and then walked swiftly to the front door, her shoulder bag swinging, and turned at the door to throw a kiss to him before she went out. He sat at the table for several moments longer, and then paid the check and went to the telephone booth near the doors to the kitchen. He dialed the squadroom number directly, bypassing the muster desk. Carella picked up on the third ring.
“I was just going down to lunch,” he said. “Where are you?”
“Downtown here,” Kling said. “I just got out of court. Did I get a call from Dorfsman at Ballistics?”
“Yeah, he said it was a Remington .44 Magnum. Which case...?”
“Did he say what kind of gun?”
“A Ruger Blackhawk.”
“Okay, thanks,” Kling said, “I’ll see you later,” and hung up before Carella could ask him anything more.
For the first time in his capacity as a police officer sworn to uphold the laws of the city, state, and nation, Kling lied on an official application. Moreover, he lied both in writing and later orally to a supreme court magistrate. Kling’s affidavit read:
1. I am a detective of the Police Department assigned to the 87th Detective Squad.
2. I have information based upon my personal knowledge and belief and facts supplied to me at the scene by the victim that an attempted murder occurred outside 641 Hopper Street at 11:10 p.m. this Wednesday past, August 13.
3. I have further information based upon my personal knowledge and belief and facts disclosed to me by the victim of the attempted murder that several shots were discharged during the attempt.
4. I have further information based upon my personal knowledge and belief that the firearm used in the murder attempt was a .44-caliber Ruger Blackhawk firing Remington .44-caliber Magnum cartridges, as confirmed by Michael O. Dorfsman of the Ballistics Unit this day, August 14, working from a bullet I personally recovered from the sidewalk outside 641 Hopper Street.
5. I have further information based upon my personal knowledge and belief, and on information supplied to me, that a tenant named Bradford Douglas is in possession of a pistol of the same caliber and answering the description of the pistol used in the attempted murder.
6. Based upon the foregoing reliable information and upon my personal knowledge, there is probable cause to believe that the pistol in possession of Bradford Douglas would constitute evidence in the crime of attempted murder.
Wherefore, I respectfully request that the court issue a warrant in the form annexed hereto, authorizing a search of the person of Bradford Douglas and the premises at 641 Hopper Street, Apartment 51. No previous application in this matter has been made in this or any other court or to any other judge, justice, or magistrate.
The judge to whom Kling presented his signed affidavit read it over carefully, and then looked up over the rims of his eyeglasses.
“What were you doing all the way down there, son?” he asked.
“Your Honor?”
“Long way from the 87th, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yes, Your Honor. I was off-duty. Just coming from a restaurant when I heard the shooting.”
“Did you see the perpetrator?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Then you only have the victim’s word that a murder attempt was made.”
“I heard the shots, Your Honor, and I recovered a spent bullet from the pavement, which would seem conclusive evidence that a pistol had been fired.”
“But not necessarily in a murder attempt.”
“No, Your Honor, not necessarily. The victim, however, has described it as such.”
“As a murder attempt?”
“Yes, Your Honor. The gun was fired at him point-blank.”
“And you believe the gun used in that attempted murder might be in this apartment you want to search?”
“Yes, Your Honor, that’s my firm belief.”
“Where’d you get this information?”
“From the super of the building, a man named Henry Watkins. He’s seen the pistol, Your Honor.”
“When did you plan to conduct this search?”
“Tonight, Your Honor, as soon as I can ascertain that Mr. Douglas is at home.”
“Mm,” the judge said.
“Your Honor, I would also like a No-Knock provision.”
“On what basis?”
“Information and belief that there is a lethal weapon in that apartment, Your Honor. A .44-caliber Magnum is a high-powered—”