apable of doing what we knew he _had_
done.

This time, though, we had him dead to rights. He had never made his play
in a bar before, and we had three witnesses, plus an assault and battery
charge. As Inspector Kleek had said, we get 'em eventually....

... _But at what cost? How many teenage boys had been frightened or
whipped into doing as he told them and then been too ashamed and sick
with themselves to say anything? How many young lives had been
befouled by Smith's abnormal lust?_

And if Smith spent a year or two in Sing Sing, how many more would
there be between the time he was released and the time he was caught
again? And how long would it be before he obligingly hammered the life
out of his young victim so that we could put him away permanently?

That was the "system" that Kleek--and a lot of other men on the Force
swore by. That was the "system" that the boys in Homicide and in the
Vice Squad thought I was trying to foul up by "babying" the zanies.

It's a hell of a great system, isn't it?

* * * * *

I called the hospital and talked to the doctor who had taken care of
Smith's victim. Then I called Kleek to see if there had been any break
in the Donahue case. There hadn't.

Finally, I called my son, Steve, at the apartment we shared, told him
I wouldn't be home that night, and sacked out in the ready room.

By nine o'clock, I was ready to go back to work.

At nine thirty, Kleek called. His saggy face looked sleepier and more
bored than ever. "No rest for the weary, Roy. I got a call on a
killing on the Upper East Side. Some rich gal with too much time on
her hands was having an all-night party, and she got herself shot to
death. It looks like her husband did it, but there's plenty of money
involved, and the Deputy Commissioner wants me to handle it
personally, all the way through. I'm putting Lieutenant Shultz in
charge of the Homicide end of the Donahue case, but I told him you
were the man to listen to. He'll report directly to you if there's any
new leads. O.K.?"

"O.K. with me, Sam." As I said, Kleek is a good cop in spite of his
"system."

"The boys are out making the rounds," he went on, "bringing in all the
men with conviction records and questioning the others. And we're
combing the neighborhood for the kid's clothes. They might still be
around somewhere. Shultz'll keep you posted."

"Fine, Sam. Happy hunting in High Society."

"Thanks, Roy. Take it ea