“Yes, sir. I’m doing what I can here. He’s a lawbreaker and we’ll exert the full power of the police in tracking him down.”

“Good. Now one small insect is left in your garden. We would be happy if it could be taken care of as quickly as possible.”

Sweat beaded on Davis’s forehead. He wiped it with his hand. The phone showed wet spots.

“Yes, sir. That matter will be taken care of... today.”

“Good. I knew we could count on you.”

“Thank you for returning my call, sir.”

“Yes. And remember, be sure it’s done today.”

The wire went dead and Captain Davis hung up slowly. Damn! He had to do it today. He shook his head, breathed deeply, then dialed one of his plain-clothes men. The cop came in at once.

The two men in business suits huddled; two hundred dollars changed hands well below the glass line in the wall, and the cop left at once.

Captain Davis finished his coffee and made another call. “Need to see you for a minute, Paulson,” he said.

It was arranged.

Ten minutes later the captain’s assistant drove him down Johnson Street. They had set up an undercover burglary sting operation involving cops acting as fences to buy stolen goods; the transactions were videotaped. They were approaching the operation when the police radio in their unmarked unit came on.

“This is seventy-three Baker. I have a suspected robbery in progress in the 3400 block of Market Street. The big warehouse. Request a backup.”

Captain Davis grabbed the mike. “This is X-twenty-seven. I’ll take that backup by seventy-three Baker. We’re within two blocks of the location.”

Lieutenant Paulson hit the siren and swung into the next lane.

“No siren! We don’t want them to know we’re coming!”

Lieutenant Paulson shut it off, leaving the red light blinking. Paulson had spent five of his twenty-six years on the force. He was a go-getter and an absolutely honest cop. He wasn’t the captain’s choice as his second in command on burglary and gambling for nothing. Paulson was Mr. America, easygoing, fearless, bright and ambitious. He had earned his B.A. degree in three years, studying nights and weekends.