12

The warehouse was locked up tight, all right, Malone thought. In the
dim light that surrounded the neighborhood, it stood like a single
stone block, alone near the waterfront. There were other buildings
nearby, but they seemed smaller; the warehouse loomed over Malone and
Boyd threateningly. They stood in a shadow-blacked alley just across
the street, watching the big building nervously, studying it for weak
points and escape areas.

Boyd whispered softly, "Do you think they have a look-out?"

Malone's voice was equally low. "We'll have to assume they've got at
least one kid posted," he said. "But they can't be watching all the
time. Remember, they can't do everything."

"They don't have to," Boyd said. "They do quite enough for me. Do you
realize that, right now, I could be--"

"Break it up," Malone said. He took a small handset from his pocket
and pressed the stud. "Lynch?" he whispered.

A tinny voice came from the earpiece. "Here, Malone."

"Have you got them located yet?" Malone said.

"Not yet," Lynch's voice replied. "We're working on a triangulation
now. Just hold on for a minute or so. I'll let you know as soon as
we've got results."

The police squads--Lynch and his men, the warehouse precinct men, and
the Safe and Loft Squad--had set up a careful cordon around the area,
and were now hard at work trying to determine two things.

First, they had to know whether there was anybody in the building at
all.

Second, they had to be able to locate anyone in the building with
precision.

The silence of the downtown warehouse district helped. They had
several specially designed, highly sensitive directional microphones
aimed at the building from carefully selected spots around the area,
trying to pick up the muffled sounds of speech or motion within the
warehouse. The watchmen in buildings nearby had been warned off for
the time being so that their footsteps wouldn't occlude any results.

Malone waited, feeling nervous and cold. Finally Lynch's voice came
through again. "We're getting something, all right," he said. "There
are obviously several people in there. You were right, Malone."

"Thanks," Malone said. "How about that fix?"

"Hold it a second," Lynch said. Wind swept off the river at Malone and
Boyd. Malone closed his eyes and shivered. He could smell fish and
iodine and waste, the odor of the Hudson as it passes the city. Across
the river lights sparkled warmly. Here