“I’m not in any mood to be playing games,” Mosconi said irritably. “Just tell me what you have to tell me and be done with it.”
“Come on, lighten up. Good news or bad?” Devlin enjoyed teasing Mosconi because Mosconi was such an easy target.
“I’ll take the good news,” Mosconi fumed, swearing under his breath. “And it better be good.”
“Depends on your point of view,” Devlin said cheerfully. -The good news is that you owe me a few bucks. Minutes ago I stopped the good doctor from boarding a plane for Rio de Janeiro.”
“No shit?” Mosconi said.
“No shit-and I have the ticket to prove it!”
“That’s great, Dev!” Mosconi said excitedly. “My God, the man’s bail is five hundred thousand dollars! That would have ruined me. How the hell did you do it? I mean, how did you know he was going to try to jump? I got to hand it to you. You’re amazing, Dev!”
“It’s so nice to be loved,” Devlin said. “But you’re forgetting the bad news.” Devlin smiled into the receiver mischievously, knowing what
Mosconi’s reaction was soon to be.
There was a brief pause before Mosconi said with a groan, “All right, give me the bad news!”
“At the moment, I don’t know where the good doc is. He’s on the loose in
Boston someplace. I got ahold of him, but the skinny bastard hit me with his briefcase before I could ‘cuff him. I never expected it, him being a doctor and all that.”
“You got to find him!” Mosconi shouted. “Why the hell did I trust him? I should have my head examined.”
“I’ve explained the situation to the airport police,” Devlin said. “So they’ll be on the lookout for him. My hunch is, he won’t try to fly away again. At least not from Logan. Oh, and I had his car impounded.”
“I want that guy found!” Mosconi said menacingly. “I want him delivered to the jail. Pronto. You hear me, Devlin?”
“I hear you, man, but I don’t hear any numbers. What are you offering me to bring in this dangerous criminal?”
“Quit joking around, Dev!”
“Hey, I’m not joking. The doctor might not be all that dangerous, but I want to know how serious you are about this guy. The best way you can tell me is what kind of reward I’ll be getting.”
“Get him, then we’ll talk numbers.”
“Michael, what do you take me for, a fool?”
There was a strained silence. Devlin broke it. “Well, maybe I’ll go have some dinner, then take in a show. See you around, sport.,,
“Wait!” Michael said. “All right-I’ll split the fee. Twentyfive thousand.”
“Split the fee?” Devlin said. “That’s not the usual rate, my friend.”
“Yeah, but this guy is hardly the cold-blooded, armed killer that you usually have to deal with.”
“I don’t see where that makes any difference,” Devlin said. “If you call in anybody else, they’ll demand the whole ten percent. That’s fifty grand. But
I tell you what. Since we go back a long way, I’ll do it for forty grand and you can keep ten for filling out those papers.”
Mosconi hated to give in, but he was in no position to bargain. “All right, you bastard,” he said. “But I want the doctor in the slammer ASAP, before they forfeit the bond. Understand?”
“I’ll give the matter my undivided attention,” Devlin said. “Especially now that you have insisted on being so generous. In the meantime, we got to block the usual exits from the city.
The airport is already covered, but that leaves the bus station, the railroads, and the car rental agencies.”
“I’ll call the duty police sergeant,” Mosconi said. “Tonight it should be
Albert Norstadt, so there won’t be any problem there. What are you going to do?”
“I’ll stake out the doc’s house,” Devlin said. “My guess is that he will either show up there or call his wife. If he calls his wife, then she’ll probably go to wherever he is.”
“When you get to him, treat him like he’s murdered twelve people,” Mosconi said. “Don’t go soft on him. And Dev, I mean business on this. At this point I really don’t much care whether you bring him in alive or dead.”