chapter one

we want your voting stock doug

outside the window boats sailed up and

down the river harb

in the clear october air orange and gold

leaves screamed their color against the

cold blue sky

the room was full of cigarette smoke

it hung over the five men like the

breath of ghosts

the room was enormous but it was full

now

full of the dirty ashtrays used glasses

and empty bottles

left at the end of a long and difficult

discussion

the men themselves were as exhausted as

the smoky air

tired but determined the men sitting

opposite douglas king hammered out their

argument

king listened to them silently

we're asking you to think about prophet

doug that's all george benjamin said

is that a lot to ask

think of shoes yes rudy stone said don't

forget shoes but think of profit

grainger's shoe is a business dog a

business profit and loss the black and

the red

and our job benjamin said is to keep

granger in the black

now

take another look at these shoes

a thin man he moved fast and silently to

a glass table which was covered with

women's shoes

he picked one up from the pile and gave

it to king

what woman wants to buy a shoe like this

he asked

don't misunderstand us stone said

quickly he was a muscular blonde man who

looked much younger than his 45 years

it's a good shoe a fine shoe

but we're thinking of profit now

the red and the black benjamin repeated

he turned to an older man sitting beside

him am i right frank

100

frank blake said in a thick southern

accent

he blew cigarette smoke at the high

ceiling

the american housewife benjamin said

can't afford this shoe

but even if she could afford it she

wouldn't want it

mrs america our customer the stupidest

little woman in the world

we've got to excite her doug

you're a married man doug what excites

mrs king

pete cameron king's assistant was

standing at the bar at the back of the

room

he smiled at king

but king did not smile back

he stared at benjamin

clothes excite a woman stone said

dresses hats jackets bag shoes benjamin

said his voice rising

profit depends on excitement stone said

you can't excite a woman with these

shoes there's just no excitement at all

in these shoes

the room was silent for a moment

then douglas king said

what are we selling shoes are a good

time in bed

frank blake rose to his feet

doug is making a joke he said

but it's my money i'm interested in

not jokes

i hold a lot of stock in this company

and i can see now why granger is almost

in the red

frank is right doug benjamin said this

is nothing to make jokes about

we have to do something fast to save

granger shoe

what do you want from me king asked

softly

now you're asking the right questions

benjamin said

give us all another drink will you pete

cameron began mixing the drinks

a tall and handsome man of 35 he moved

quickly and watched the others as he

worked

all right doug benjamin said we're the

top men in granger's shoe

i'm sales chief your production and rudy

here is fashion and design we're all on

the board of directors and we all know

what's wrong with the company

what's that king asked

the old man

what does he know about women's tastes

what does he know about women stone said

but

he's president of granger

year after year he's president because

he has enough stock to keep it that way

and the company goes down and down

and my stock is worth less and less each

year frank blake said

king watched as benjamin went quickly to

the glass table and picked up a red shoe

look at this he said

this is what i mean by excitement

made up for my own design rudy stone

said proudly take a good look at it doug

women will love it benjamin said

what do women know about quality as long

as the shoe looks good

king turned the shoe over in his big

hands saying nothing

i know what he's thinking stone said

he's thinking the old man would never

let grainger make a shoe like that

but the old man won't have anything to

say about it that's why we're here today

oh

is that why we're here king said smiling

only cameron smiled back at him

the old man's got 25 percent of the

voting stock benjamin said

the old man's got 25 percent king said

quietly and you rudy and frank have 21

between you

not enough to fight the old man and win

what's on your mind

control stone said

control benjamin repeated

we want your voting stock doug

you've got 13 percent

come in with us

and we'll have 34

more than enough to get the old man out

how about it doug with a shoe like this

one we'll take control of the cheap end

of the market and kill the competition

george is right blake said i don't care

what kind of shoes we sell as long as we

make money

who will be the new president king asked

there was a short silence

we think george benjamin should be

president stone said

well now king said riley that's a

surprise

with you as vice president of course

stone said quickly

at a much larger salary than you get now

douglas king rose slowly to his feet

he was tall

with the hard muscle and wide shoulders

of a diver

at 42 years old his hair was turning

gray

but this only added to the strong

character which showed in his face and

his blue eyes

you'll sell a shoe like this george he

asked

you'll use the granger name on a cheap

shoe

yes that's right it's a good idea isn't

it

profits will be higher blake said

the old man may have faults king said

but he's always made an honest shoe

you want to make garbage

now wait just a second doug no you wait

a second

i like granger shoe

i've worked for this company since i was

16 i know shoes

good shoes

quality

i won't put the granger name on a piece

of garbage

with one quick movement of his strong

hands he tore the shoe to pieces

is this what you're going to sell to

women

blake said angrily if we can't make

profit with quality we've got to who

can't make profit with quality king

asked

maybe the old man can't and maybe you

can't but

doug this is business business

i know it's business

it's my business the business i love

shoes are part of my life and if i make

garbage

my life will smell

i can't continue to hold stock in a

company that's going downhill blake said

then sell out what the hell do you want

from me

careful doug benjamin said suddenly we

could vote you out of your job

go ahead vote me out king said

if you find yourself out in the street

don't worry i won't be out in any street

king threw the pieces of red shoe on the

table and started to walk towards the

door

if you helped me to become president

benjamin said you would get a much

bigger salary you could

he stopped where are you going i'm

talking to you

this is my house king said i've had

enough of this meeting and your plans

and i've had enough of you

so i'm leaving why don't you leave too

benjamin's narrow face was red with

anger

you don't want me to be president of

granger is that it he shouted

that's it exactly king said

who the hell do you think should be

president

you just think about it king said and

went out of the room

there was a long silence

then benjamin walked over to pete

cameron who was standing at the bar

what's he planning pete

i have no idea

don't play the innocent pete benjamin

said we offered him a plan and he

refused us

he must be feeling strong to do that

what's he feeling so strong about

why don't you ask him

don't get clever with me boy what's your

salary 20 25 000 you can do better than

that pete

can i

what is it a deal with the old man

i want it smashed and the man who helps

me smash it could find himself taking

king's job

do you know my home telephone number

pete

no

wesley hill's 4798 will you remember it

i've been doug's assistant for a long

time cameron said

then it's time for a change

give me a call

you're very persuasive pete said it's a

good thing i'm an honest man

yes it's a good thing benjamin said

riley

that's westley hills 47981

stone put on his hat and said

if that bastard king thinks he can

he stopped as diane king came into the

room

the men stared at her

then stone raised his hand and said

politely

mrs king

he went out of the door followed by

benjamin and blake

immediately diane said to cameron

what did they do to doug

[Music]

chapter 2

why would anyone want to steal radio

parts

douglas king's house lay just within the

87th precinct

it was on the edge of the precinct in

smoke rise the most expensive area of

the city

the river harb lay to the north of smoke

rise

to the south was silver mine road

the home of people who although they

were rich were not rich enough to live

in smoke rise

anyone walking south from silver mine

road came first of all to a noisy area

of brightly lit all-night restaurants

and stores

then to ainsley avenue where it was

still possible to imagine that it had

once been fashionable to live

then came culver avenue

and now it was clear that the walker was

arriving at the poorer parts of the city

after the short burst of color of the

puerto rican area around mason avenue

grover avenue looked gray

dirty

and very poor

the 87th precinct building was on grover

avenue

detective meyer meyer was at his desk on

the second floor

making notes as the man sitting opposite

him spoke

the man was called david peck

he owned a store on culver avenue which

sold radio parts he told meyer

i sell mainly the hams peck said

hams

yeah hams

not like hams you eat

by hams i mean people who build their

own radios as a hobby they use them to

talk to other hams you'd be surprised

how many hams we've got in this city

it's a good business to be in

i guess so mr peck meyer said

so what's your problem

well peck said

someone busted into my store

when was this

last week

why did you wait until now to report it

it didn't take much i thought i'd just

forget it

what makes you report it now

the crook came back

when

last night

and this time he stole a lot of

equipment is that right

no no this time he took even less than

last time

meyer meyer breathed out slowly

he was a very patient man

growing up with parents who had given

him that name he had had to learn to be

patient

being the only jewish boy in the area he

had had to learn to fight with his

intelligence not with his hands

patiently now he asked

tell me mr peck

what did the thief steal the first time

you broke into your store

an oscillator peck said

what does an oscillator cost

i sell them for 52.39

and that's all he took the first time

yes

and what did he steal last night

little things

more bits of equipment batteries the

whole lot isn't worth more than twenty

five dollars

so why are you reporting it this time

because i'm afraid he'll come back a

third time and clean out the store

it's possible you know i know it is mr

peck meyer said

thank you for reporting this to us we'll

keep a special watch on your store

a crime involving radio equipment worth

seventy five dollars does not appear to

be a very important crime

in the 87th precinct crimes like that

happen every day of the week why get

excited about this one

unless you are a very patient detective

called meyer meyer

who has a very good memory

meyer studied his notes and then walked

over to a desk on the other side of the

room

steve carella was sitting there typing

up a report

steve meyer said i just had a guy in

here who shh

corella said and continued typing until

he had finished the page

then he looked up okay meyer said

tell me

i had a guy in here who owns a radio

parts store on culver avenue it's been

broken into twice

the first time the thief stole an

oscillator whatever that is

the second time he stole a few other

small radio parts

now i seem to remember

yeah corella said searching through the

piles of paper which covered his desk

where the hell's that list

the list gave details of five break-ins

at radio parts stores

each time only a few pieces of equipment

had been stolen

think it's the same thief corella asked

sure as hell looks that way to me meyer

said

anyway it's not very serious

i suppose not

meyer paused and scratched his head

you don't think he's a russian spy

why would anyone want to steal radio

parts

never try to understand crooks corella

said you'll go crazy if you're trying to

do that

still meyer said all that equipment

seven break-ins

what does it mean steve

search me corella said and he began

typing again

[Music]

chapter three

jump down an attack take him by surprise

diane king was not what hollywood calls

a beautiful woman

she was however an attractive woman

in fact diane king was an extremely

attractive woman

she stood there in her luxurious house a

woman of 32

wearing narrow black trousers and a

white shirt

she had a towel around her shoulders and

a silver streak in her black hair

again she asked pete cameron

what did they do to doug

nothing cameron said

what did you do to your hair

oh it was liz's idea diane said

what was all the shouting

about is liz still here cameron asked

with interest in his voice

yes she's still here

i hate these meetings why did doug rush

upstairs past me he didn't even see me

he saw me

a voice said and liz baloo came into the

room

diane king was not beautiful

liz baloo was

she had blonde hair blue eyes and a full

mouth

even dressed simply in a skirt and

sweater

she looked like a million dollars

on her left hand she wore an enormous

diamond ring

no man runs past me without saying hello

she said

so hello liz cameron said what have you

done to diane

you mean her hair isn't it wonderful

i don't like it i think she's pretty

enough without it

i'll wait and see if doug likes it diane

said where is doug what's he doing up

there

he's only making a phone call liz said

is he in trouble pete that look on his

face don't you know that look liz said

my harold wears it all the time it means

he's about to murder someone

murder diane said

pete what happened

nothing they offered dug a deal and he

turned them down

my herald would have kicked them out of

the house liz said

that's just what doug did

then prepare yourself for a murder diane

liz said

i'm always prepared diane said with a

troubled look in her green eyes

but they seem to happen so often these

days

well diane cameron said that's business

dog eat dog

anyway liz said murder can be fun

lie back and enjoy it

she smiled at cameron and he smiled back

at her

the two had been secret lovers for years

surprisingly perhaps this had never

stopped liz from loving her highly

successful husband harold with all her

heart

or pete cameron from spending most of

his time thinking about work

diane poured herself a drink

is doug planning something she asked

cameron

yes i think so

i thought he might might what

doug king asked as he came into the room

did you make your phone call tycoon liz

asked

i couldn't get through

he kissed diane then looked at her and

said

honey you've got egg in your hair

sometimes i wonder why we bother liz

said annoyed

don't you like it doug diane asked king

spoke carefully

it's okay i guess

okay

liz said you'll have to do better than

okay doug

she looked at her watch

i must go i promised my tycoon i'd be

back at four

you're late already cameron said

have a drink before you go

one for the road

i really shouldn't liz said

you'll have to persuade me

i'll persuade you all right

i know what you like

their eyes met

fortunately at that moment the telephone

rang and diane picked up the receiver

hello she said

then she handed it to doug

it's your call from boston

looked up from the drinks he was mixing

boston he said

is that you hanley doug asked how's it

all going

yeah it's going fine doug we're getting

there said the voice in boston

listen we've got to act fast get the

deal all tied up today

today he wants to keep five percent of

the stock doug i'm doing my best but i

don't think

i need that five percent as much as i

need the rest hanley doug said

i don't care how you do it but get that

deal for me today

well i'll try doug but don't just try

hadley succeed

i'll be waiting for your call he put the

phone down and turned to cameron

pete you're going to boston

i am cameron said handing liz her drink

lucky boy she said i just love the shops

in boston

you're going to boston with a big fat

check king said

you're going to help make me the biggest

deal of my life

what's it all about doug

i'll tell you later king said not yet

telephone the airport and see when the

next flight leaves

use the phone upstairs i want to keep

this one free for hanley to phone back

cameron smiled at liz as he left the

room

king clapped his hands together sharply

oh boy he said are those guys going to

get a big surprise trying to involve me

in their rotten little plan

can you believe it diane

excuse me mr king a voice said

the man who had come into the room was

only 35

but he looked older

he was charles reynolds the king's

chauffeur

looking at him you felt that there was

something weak about the man

and also something terribly sad

it was not a surprise to learn that his

wife had died

leaving him to bring up his young son

alone

what is it reynolds king asked a little

impatiently

he was fond of reynolds but not of the

man's weakness

i only wanted to know sir

is my son

is jeff here sir

that's a question for mrs king king said

he's upstairs playing with bobby diane

said

oh fine i i hope i'm not bothering you

but it's getting a bit cold

if they go outside i think you'll need a

coat

don't worry reynolds diane said i've

already given jeff one of bobby's

sweaters

oh thank you ma'am i i never seem to be

able to decide

you'll probably be driving mr cameron to

the airport later king interrupted yes

sir when will we be leaving sir

with a loud scream bobby king wearing a

blue sweater rushed down the stairs and

burst into the room

closely followed by jeff reynolds who

was wearing a red sweater

both were eight years old both blonde

and at first sight they could have been

mistaken for brothers

taking no notice of the adults they ran

towards the door

hey

king shout out to his son stop there

what is it dad

where are you going

outside to play let us go we're in a

hurry

why what are you playing we're playing

cowboys and indians mr king jeff said we

take turns the indian has to hide in the

woods and then the cowboy has to find

him

don't go too far from the house bobby

diane said

i won't mom

who is the indian now king asked

i am shouted jeff

quiet son reynold said and take good

care of that nice sweater mrs king lent

you

oh sure jeff said he won't catch me dad

don't worry

oh whaty king interrupted you'd better

catch him bobby if you're a true son of

mine

what's your plan boy

a plan dad

just chase him and catch him that's all

never chase the other man son king said

i can see you need help

oh doug just let them go and play before

it gets dark diane said

i will king said smiling but first the

boy needs some professional advice

he whispered to bobby

climb a tree and watch him when you know

what he's going to do

jump down an attack taken by surprise

we're not allowed to climb trees in this

game bobby said

do anything you like son as long as you

play to win

doug what are you saying to the boy

diane said

only the facts of life liz answered

why don't i get any help dad jeff asked

his father

well reynolds said hesitantly you could

hide behind a rock and keep still

then he won't be able to find you

if you don't move there's no game king

said what's the point of playing

just go and play the way you want to

boys diane said coldly go on now have

fun

with a shout the two boys rushed out of

the house

a madhouse just like my own home liz

said

i'll have the car ready when mr cameron

needs it sir reynolds said

when are you gone diane said

you shouldn't have told bobby that doug

what do you want him to grow up to be a

wild animal

yes king said just like his mother with

sharp teeth and doug i'm serious

so is he said liz he's trying to make

love to you diane

i'm sorry you think this is a joke diane

said i don't think it's so funny all

this jumping on people and taking them

by surprise

it's just what you do in business

it's what you're doing with this boston

thing

you're getting so hard doug so merciless

to other people

king laughed me merciless am i hard and

merciless liz

of course not you're a darling

just because i get things done diane you

call me hard

honey there are people who sit and

people who do

and if i hadn't been a doer all these

years you wouldn't be in this house and

driving that car and wearing that he's

right diane liz said

waving the hand with the diamond on it

of course i am i just need to make my

wife understand

i'm sure you know just how to do that

liz said have fun

when she had left there was silence for

a moment then king said softly

diane

what

i'm sitting in a tree looking down at

you

and i'm warning you i'm getting ready to

jump down and attack you

he took her suddenly in his arms

let me go she said if you think you can

then he kissed her

you're beautiful diane did you know that

especially with that new silver streak

in your hair

you should be ashamed of yourself

i know

he kissed her again

after a while she pulled herself free

pete's still here doug she said shyly

i'll send him to the airport early give

me a minute

i just have to ring a hanley then i'll

get rid of pete

and we'll be alone

he went to the phone and picked up the

receiver

somebody else was on the line

and he recognized the voice as cameron's

yes george cameron was saying

that's what i'm trying to tell you well

i thought you'd like to know

king pushed a button on the phone

putting him through to another line

funny he said

what's the matter diane asked

pete's on the other line

i got the idea he was talking to

king stopped and then said into the

phone

get me oscar hanley at the hotel

stanhope in boston okay call me back how

about a drink diane before

the door burst open and bobby rushed in

i forgot my gun mom he shouted i've got

to get it

jeff's already hiding in the woods i've

got to find a tree to climb dad

still ready to jump down and attack doug

diane said

the man was hidden

waiting to attack

he was dying for a cigarette but he

could not have one

he watched the chauffeur cleaning the

cadillac

he looked at his watch

he looked at the sky

it would be dark soon

good

he wondered if eddie was still with the

car

he wondered if everything was okay at

the house

he wondered if their plan would work

then he began to worry

and he needed a cigarette more than ever

easy now

he told himself just take it easy

then he saw the boy coming towards him

through the woods

hello sonny

he said

it was getting dark in the city

that special october dock that smells of

wood smoke and autumn leaves

it starts to get cold in october

people hurry home wanting their dinner

wanting the companionship of their loved

ones

it will be dark soon

it will be good to get home before it

grows dark

[Music]

chapter 4

we've got your son

in the king's living room the telephone

rang

douglas king picked up the receiver and

said hanley

a voice on the other end said who

oh excuse me king said i was expecting

another call who is this please

all right mac the voice said i'm gonna

make this short and

there's nobody called mack here king

said you must have the wrong number

he put the receiver down

cameron was standing there watching him

not hanley cameron said

no a wrong number

talking about wrong numbers pete

yeah

were you talking to george benjamin a

little while ago

yes i was

why

to tell him i won't be at the sales

meeting tomorrow

you didn't tell him you were going to

boston did you

no should i have told him

hell no

the phone rang again

that will be hanley king said walking

over to the phone

i'd better call bobby and diane said

it's getting dark wait a minute honey

let me take this call first king said

hello hanley did you get what i wanted

i got it

hanley said in a tired voice exactly

what you wanted

including the five percent of the stock

he wanted to keep

how soon can you get a check to me

i'll send pete cameron with the check on

the nine o'clock plane can you meet him

at the airport

okay doug

oh and hatley

yes doug

good work boy

king put down the receiver

now we move he said excitedly pete phone

the airline and get a seat on the nine

o'clock plane he pushed a button on the

phone picked up the receiver again and

said reynolds come over here as fast as

you can

is everything fixed cameron said can you

tell me about it now

now it's all fixed i'd even tell bench

oh no no i guess i wouldn't tell him

he laughed and then walked quickly to

the bar and poured himself a drink

i'd better get bobby diane said look how

dark it's getting

wait a minute diane don't you want to

hear this bobby's safe enough he's just

outside his own house

well all right but i really

you heard benjamin say i had 13 of the

voting stock didn't you pete

right

wrong

he paused i've been buying stock for the

last six years i've got 28 percent of it

doug that's wonderful diane said

so why am i going to boston cameron

asked

there's a guy there who owns some voting

stock i want to buy

hanley's been working on it for the last

two weeks and now he's finally ready to

sell it to me

he sat down at a desk and began to write

a check

how much stock is it cameron asked

19 percent

what

add it up

19 and 28 makes 47

enough to make me president of granger

i'll run the company my way and i'll

make the shoes i want to make

he tore the check from the book and gave

it to cameron

take a look at this he said

cameron took it and gave a low whistle

750 thousand dollars he said

doug

where did you get diane started to ask

everything we own is tied up in this

deal diane this house everything

the house

doug

i can't lose diane nothing can stop me

now

who are you buying the stock from

cameron asked

a guy who bought it a few years ago he

who who is he

they stopped talking as reynolds came

into the room ready to drive cameron to

the airport

i must get bobby in diane said she went

to the door and started to call bobby

bobby

the telephone rang

king picked it up hello he said

listen to me king a voice said don't put

the phone down this time this is no joke

what king said what did you say

we've got your son

king my son

what are you talking about

bobby

diane called will you please come in now

your son the voice said we've kidnapped

your son

you've taken my son

if this is some kind of joke

diane turned from the door

doug

she screamed

what did you say

what's happened to bobby

king waved a hand at her wanting her to

be silent as the voice went on

now listen and listen hard i'll only say

this once the kid is safe

he'll stay safe if you do what i say

get five hundred thousand dollars get it

by tomorrow morning we'll call you then

and tell you what you have to do

don't go to the police king do you

understand

yes i understand

desperately he searched for an idea some

way of trapping the caller

okay then the voice said five hundred

thousand dollars in

king put the receiver down cutting off

the call

pete he shouted get on the kitchen phone

call the police

bobby's been kidnapped and we've had a

500 000 ransom demand

no

diane screamed no

then call the phone company tell them i

hung up on the bastard

why did you do that diane shouted she

ran to the door and screamed into the

darkness bobby

bobby

i hung up so that he'll call back king

said then the phone company may be able

to find out who made the call

he took diana in his arms

we'll get him back darling he said

please diane try not to worry i'll give

anything they want a million dollars if

they ask for it

cameron rushed in from the kitchen

the police are on their way he said

the phone companies say you must call

them on another line as soon as he rings

again

okay king said reynolds will you he

stopped suddenly as the front door burst

open

were you calling me mom

bobby king said as he came into the

house

diane ran to him fell to her knees and

threw her arms around him

hey mom he said surprise what's the

matter

king stared at his son

how on earth

i don't want to play with jeff anymore

bobby said i climbed a tree like daddy

told me but i couldn't find jeff

anywhere he won't play with me

i don't even know where he is

there was a moment of shock silence the

name was on everyone's lips

but it was the boy's father who spoke

jeff

reynolds whispered

jeff

[Music]

chapter five

we've got the wrong kid

there were two kinds of cases that steve

carella did not like

he did not like cases which involved

very rich people or cases which involve

children

now sitting in douglas king's enormous

luxurious living room talking about a

kidnapped child

corella felt bad

he didn't want to be here

but he had no choice

he sat in king's room feeling troubled

and asking questions while meyer meyer

stood with his back to them looking out

at the river harb

uh let me get this clear mr king corella

said the boy who was kidnapped is not

your son is that right

that's right king said

but when the kidnapper asked you for the

ransom money he thought he had your son

yes

has he called you again

no

then he may still believe he has your

son corella said

i don't know what he believes king said

angrily why do i have to answer all

these questions

i am not the boy's father and i no but

you spoke to the kidnapper

that's true mr coretta

corella

i'm sorry

corella was it a man the person who

called

it was a man king said

did he say

i have your son

or we have your son

i don't remember

and i don't see why it's important

somebody has jeff reynolds and all these

stupid questions

exactly mr king carella said

somebody has the boy and we want to know

who that somebody is we want to know who

has the boy so that we can get him back

safely

that's important to us

i'm sure it's important to you too

of course it is king said sharply why

don't you call in your chief somebody

experienced in this kind of case

a boy's life is in danger local cops

can't handle this

lieutenant burns is on his way now mr

king gorilla said

he's boss of the whole 87th precinct

first

we need to know a little more about

excuse me steve meyer said i'd better go

and get a description of the boy i ought

to talk to his father

yeah gorilla said where is mr reynolds

mr king

in his apartment over the garage he's

taking this badly

do you want me to speak to him meyer

gorilla asked

no no i'll do it meyer said giving king

a quick look as he turned to leave the

room

i think you have your hands full here

now mr king corella started again

did you notice anything unusual about

the man's voice an accent or i'm sorry

mr coretta king said i refuse to play

this little game any longer

my name is corella and what game do you

mean

there's nonsense about how the man spoke

what difference could it possibly make

how will any of this get jeff back to

his father

carella did not look up from the book he

was writing in

he kept telling himself that it would

really not be a good idea for him to hit

mr douglas king in the mouth quietly

politely he asked

what do you do for a living mr king

i run a shoe factory

is this another of your important

questions

yes it is

i don't know anything about shoes mr

king

they're just things i put on my feet

i wouldn't dream of going into your

factory and telling your workers how to

make shoes

i understand what you're saying king

said dryly

you understand part of what i'm saying

mr king the part that is warning you

warning me warning you to let me get on

with my job

the other part of what i'm telling you

is this

in case you have any doubts about this

let me tell you that i am a good

detective a hell of a good detective

i know my job and if i'm asking you

questions it's because i have a good

reason to ask you those questions now

do we understand each other mr king

i think we understand each other mr

coretta

my name is carella carla said flatly

did the man have an accent

reynolds sat on his bed making no

attempt to hide the floods of tears that

were running down his face

meyer watched him

and wished he could put his arm around

the man's shoulders

tell him everything would be all right

he could not do that

he did not know whether the boy was

alive or dead

all he could do is ask his questions

how old is jeff mr reynolds

eight

how tall is he

i i don't know i i never

i i don't know maybe a little tall he's

he's a handsome boy tall for his age

how much does he weigh

i don't know

meyer breathed in deeply

is he

fat thin medium

not too fat and not too thin just

normal

is he dark or fair

he has blonde hair

very fair skin is that what you mean

yes thank you

what color are his eyes

will you get him back

reynolds asked suddenly

meyer stopped writing

we're going to try he said

we're going to try every way we know mr

reynolds

the description of jeff reynolds was

phoned to the 87th precinct building

and then sent out to the police forces

of 14 states

the message which followed it

immediately was about a gray ford car

it had been stolen

the gray ford bumped along the rough

road which led to the lonely farmhouse

sands spit was not the kind of place

where many visitors chose to spend their

summers

in winter it was freezing and completely

deserted

the ford stopped at the farmhouse and a

young man in his late 20s stepped out

and ran to the door

he knocked three times then waited

eddie a woman's voice asked

it's me kathy open the door

the door opened

where's psy the girl asked

in the car

he'll be here in a moment

ain't you got a kiss for me kathy

oh eddie eddie she said and threw

herself into his arms

a woman of 24 with the pretty but hard

face of one whose life has never been

easy

kathy folsom kissed her husband warmly

with a love which came straight from her

heart

are you all right she asked him

did everything go all right i've been

worrying so much about this job i just

kept thinking it's the last one please

don't let anything go wrong

everything went fine give me a cigarette

honey

she watched him as he lit the cigarette

a tall good-looking man in a white

open-necked shirt

i was listening to the radio she said i

thought they'd say something about the

job i mean a bank

she paused

it went all right didn't it

there was no trouble

no trouble only kathy you see we didn't

she kissed him again

you're back

she whispered that's all that matters

in here kid a voice said

and jeff reynolds half fell into the

room

the man who had pushed him through the

door sigh

laughed as he said

home sweet home kid it ain't much but

it's ours

where's my gun jeff said as cathy stared

at him not understanding what was

happening

the boy wants his guns i said smiling

kathy kept staring at jeff

who

who the hell she began

psy laughed already look at the surprise

on her face what a girl let me talk to

her psy eddie said

where's the gun jeff said come on i have

to get home soon

he turned to kathy have you got the gun

what gun who is this kid

where's your manners miss kathy so i

smiled this boy is our guest and

immediately she turned to her husband

eddie who i don't think you've even got

a gun jeff said

sigh opened the door to one of the

bedrooms

come on kid the gun room is this way he

said

kathy waited until the door closed

behind them

then she said

tell me about it eddie

it's what it looks like

he could not raise his eyes to look at

her

we've kidnapped the boy

have you gone completely crazy she asked

take it easy kathy try and take it easy

she lit a cigarette with fingers that

shook

all right i'm listening

tell me everything

we've kidnapped a boy we're asking for a

ransom of 500 grand

you said it was a bank job kathy said

i was lying we never went near a bank

don't you know how serious this is eddie

you're crazy you could go to the

electric chair for this calm down don't

get excited

who is the kid kathy asked

bobby king

and who's bobby king

his father is a big guy in granger's

shoe

you know the company kathy they make

those expensive shoes

yes i know it

she was silent for a moment before she

said softly

why didn't you tell me what you were

planning

i didn't think you'd agree to it

of course i won't agree to it she

shouted get that boy out of here

take him back where you got him his

parents must be going mad with worrying

about him how could you do a thing like

this

shut up and he shouted then he said more

gently cathy we'll get 500 grand from

this job

we'll go to mexico just like you said

you wanted to

i don't want the money

i won't touch it and i won't go to

mexico

you said this would be the last job a

bank you said just a bank not taking

somebody's child not a dirty rotten

kidnapping

we didn't hurt the kid and he said he's

fine

is he kathy said what's psy doing to him

he's all right so i promised to show him

a real gun that's how he got him to come

with us

try to understand honey

i don't want to understand this she said

what the hell gave you the idea

i just got it sy and me worked on the

plan together this is safer than a bank

job we just borrow a kid and get 500

grand when we give him back

borrow a kid eddie

who said that you or psy

i told you we both had this idea

you're lying eddie

it was psy's idea wasn't it

no

well

it was wasn't it

well it was but it's a good idea honey

we'll go to mexico i'll make something

good of my life there kathy you'll see

i'll really be something me eddie folsom

won't that be great honey

oh eddie eddie

she said looking at him sadly

don't you even realize what you've

done bang jeff shouted as he ran into

the room carrying a gun

sy was just behind him

the kid likes guns he laughed play with

the gun kid get to know it

psy is that gun loaded kathy asked

frightened

would i give a loaded gun to a little

child psy asked innocently what do you

think i am a bad guy

he turned to eddie and said

time to turn on the magic box professor

eddie looked at kathy but she would not

meet his eyes

sure sai he said and pulled a cloth off

a heap of radio equipment which stood on

a table in the corner of the room

watch the professor kid psy said as

eddie turned the huge radio on

pushing buttons and watching needles

move from side to side

you sure found yourself a smart guy

kathy

why don't you leave my husband alone

cathy said

why did you get him into this rotten

thing

he came willingly sigh said i ain't

forcing him

a high sound came from the radio

the magic box speaks kid

hey that's great jeff said where did you

get it

i built it eddie answered

that must be really hard to do

not so hard eddie said trying not to

sound too pleased clever husband you got

yourself kathy psy said

that's why the little woman loves you so

much eddie and you learnt it all in

reform school didn't you

stop it sai

kathy said

want to build radios like eddie here and

have all the girls running after you so

i asked jeff

i sure do

okay

this is what you have to do

when you're 15 years old rob a store

then they'll send you to reform school

that's where eddie got his education

me kid i had to get my education in the

rope factory he left is it coming

professor

suddenly voices came from the radio

accident at morrison and north 98. car

303

they were listening to the police

talking on their radios

are you going to take me home now jeff

asked

i'm busy kid so i said car 207 car 207

go to smoke rise

house of douglas king

hey

jeff said excited he said douglas king

do you really expect this plan to

succeed psy kathy said sure i do

and all because of the professor here in

his radio

i love eddie and his radios

i love this job it's going to do great

things for all of us

tell already tell her all about it

psy she's not interested eddie said

i'm interested in anything eddie does

kathy said softly

sure you are

the little womans i said

okay here's what we did

we called king and told him we wanted

500 grand

jeff said

did you say you called shut up kid

we told him to get the money ready by

tomorrow morning then in the morning we

call again

are you talking about jeff started i

said shut up kid before you get hurt

so i shouted angrily

jeff stared at him surprised

and then frowned

the radio broke the silence in the room

all cars all cars here's the story on

the smoke rise kidnapping the missing

boy is eight years old fair hair wearing

a red sweater the boy's name is jeffrey

reynolds

what eddie said

that man said my name

jeff said surprised

son of charles reynolds chauffeur to

douglas king

what's he talking about psy eddie said

his face was white with terror they're

lions i said it's some kind of trick

how can it be we've got the wrong kid

he ain't the wrong kid

if he is

kathy said calmly

you've done all this for nothing

we're all in trouble for nothing

this kid is bobby king psy said sure he

is

me

jeff said puzzled

i'm not bobby shut your mouth kid

let him talk cathy said

what's your name sonny

jeff

he's lying so i shouted i am not jeff

shouted back at him i don't like you

i'm going home

he started to walk to the door

psy caught him roughly by the arm and

pulled him back

he stood very close to the boy

and there was no laughter in his voice

as he said

what's your name your real name

[Music]

chapter six

this little boy is in big trouble

a cold wind blew off the river harb

along the road which led to douglas

king's house

it froze the fingers of parker hawes and

kronig the three detectives who were

working there

working in the cold in the dark

any detective

any man would rather be at home on a

night like this

at home with a good book

a good woman or a good bottle of whiskey

to be honest about it a bad book a bad

bottle of whiskey even a bad woman would

be better than this cold

but the job had to be done

the marks made by a car a match thrown

in the road a cigarette end

anything could be important in a case

like this

anything could lead to the missing boy

at last they found it

small marks in the frozen mud by the

side of the road

the marks made by the tires of a car

a car that has been turned around in a

hurry

reynolds was watching cassidy the man

from the telephone company as he worked

cassidy was putting an extra telephone

into douglas king's house for the police

to use

he was putting in a wiretap too

so that it would be possible for the

police to trace the kidnapper's call

if he called again

i thought we'd hear something by now

reynolds said

don't worry mister cassidy told him

when they find out they got your kid by

mistake they'll just leave him in the

street somewhere

the kid's all right believe me

if they leave him in the street he'll

get lost reynolds said

he won't know where to go he turned to

corella who had just been talking on the

phone

did they have any news detective corella

i was talking to auto squad corella said

i've asked them to check all stolen cars

in case the kidnappers had stolen the

car they used

he's worried about the kid cassidy said

i keep telling him it'll be all right

any minute now the kid could walk in the

door not a hair on his head harmed

do you think so

reynolds asked corella

well

corella started and then the doorbell

rang

it was parker

happy to be in at last from the freezing

cold

we found a tire mark he told corella

kronig's making a cast of it now

not that it will help anyone it's all a

waste of time if you ask me the kids

probably did already

carella quickly touched him on the arm

and looked across the room at reynolds

but it seemed that the chauffeur had not

heard parker's remark

they ought to take all kidnappers out

and shoot them cassidy said the electric

chair is too good for guys that can

steal a man's kid from him

well i guess i finished here i'll just

test my phones and go

have you heard anything yet detective

carella king said as he came into the

living room with a coffee cup in his

hand

diane and cameron were directly behind

him

not yet mr king corella said

well what's the problem are your men

really looking for the boy

do they have a description of him

yes sir they do

do they know he may be somewhere out on

the street

some member of the public may find him

is anybody taking phone calls from the

public

it's all taken care of sir

all this king said extra phones wiretaps

it all seems a waste of time to me

there's even a policeman outside my

son's bedroom door

that's right corella said

we're taking no risks we have no idea

what the kidnappers will do next you see

i don't think they have any choice king

said

they'll have to let the boy go free

he caught sight of reynolds still

standing miserably on the other side of

the room

go to the kitchen and get something to

eat reynolds

i'm not very hungry mr king

go on man you've got to eat

jeffrey will be back before you know it

when reynolds had gone diane said

mr corella

the

know by now that they've got the wrong

boy don't they

they should know mrs king it's been on

all the radio and tv stations and in all

the newspapers

you don't think they'll harm him do you

of course they won't king said sharply

as far as they're concerned it's just a

business deal that's gone wrong

they may harm him mrs king corella said

calmly

you know that sometimes a thief will

beat up a man for not having any money

to give him

that would be senseless king said i'm

sure they'll let him go as soon as they

know he's not my son

these people are not stupid

you don't have to be smart to be a

kidnapper corella said

you just have to be hard-hearted

we hadn't thought of that cameron said

they may hurt him before they let him go

it's a possibility

yes corolla said there's another

possibility too

my name is jeffrey reynolds the boy said

sorry took him roughly by the arm you're

lying

i'm not lying hey let go that sweater

will you it doesn't belong to me

you lying little bastard psy shouted and

pushed jeff hard throwing the boy across

the room

kathy screamed and took a step towards

the boy

what's your father's name so i shouted

charles

where do you live

at mr king's place

don't call him mr king sorry shout out

you know he's your father

no jeff said desperately he's bobby's

father

shut up psy shouted take off that

sweater

he pulled it over jeff's head roughly

a slow smile spread over his face

if you're called jeff

why is the name in your sweater robert

king

that's bobby's sweater jeff said mrs

king lent it to me

tell the truth i am telling the truth

psy stood there calmly a small neatly

dressed man who badly needed a shave

then suddenly violently he hit the boy

across the face

eddie stop him kathy shouted as jeff

rushed into her arms crying i am jeff

reynolds i am i am

stop it psy eddie said the kid's

frightened

let me see the sweater

he looked at the name in it it says

robert king kathy

he says he borrowed it is that so hard

to accept

yeah psy said with 500 grand to lose it

is hard to accept

let's take the boy home kathy said

softly sure psy said and go straight to

prison he knows us

he could lead the police to us

he turned to eddie

we want that money don't we

i don't want it kathy screamed i don't

need it

well i do

and he said softly i want that money

i wasn't born and smoke rise with a rich

father

when the hell did anyone ever give me

anything

this is my one chance to have something

i want a place of my own in mexico

a place for you and me kathy

there were tears in his eyes as he spoke

but he's the wrong boy kathy said

no eddie said no he ain't

eddie you know he is

when you think about it as i said softly

what difference does it make

maybe we got the wrong kid maybe this is

the chauffeur's boy

we can still ask king for the money

he won't pay psy

yet he said

he'll pay all right psy said because if

he won't

then this little boy is in big trouble

he paused and smiled at jeff

and i don't think mr king would want

blood on his hands

[Music]

chapter 7

i want to talk to you about the ransom

lieutenant peter burns was on his way to

smoke rise

a child had been kidnapped

burns had a son of his own and he knew

the pains and pleasures of fatherhood

to him kidnapping a child was the worst

crime in the world

death was the correct punishment for a

kidnapper

seeing a light on the dark road by

king's house

burns told his driver to stop

he got out of the car

cronig haws how are you boys he said

what have you got there

we've got a tire mark cronic said it's a

good one i'm making a cast of it

fine fine burns said looking around

can you bring that light here a minute

haus

what is it lieutenant

let's take a look at this rock here

in king's living room the telephone rang

wait corella shouted as king moved to

answer it

corella picked up the wiretap equipment

mr cameron he said get on the new phone

if this is the kidnapper tell the phone

company to start tracing the call

immediately

okay mr king you can answer it now

king picked up the phone

hello

king

this is mr king

cameron said it to his phone

we've got him on the phone now start

tracing the call

alright king the voice said listen

we don't care whose kid this is

we heard the radio message and we don't

care

he's still alive and well and we want

that money

get it tomorrow morning or the kid will

be dead by the end of the day

you want king started but the voice had

gone

hell i was afraid this would happen

corella said

he picked up his coat and hurried out of

the room

diane looked puzzled

is jeff all right she asked her husband

he's fine

are you sure

of course i'm sure diane

i'll go and tell reynolds she said

diane

yes

they want me to pay the ransom

they know they've got jeff

but they still want me to pay they want

me to

we'll do whatever they say

thank god jeff's all right diane said

as she left the room king stared after

her frowning

we're dealing with professionals cameron

said he knew we would try to trace the

call

that's why he made it so short

yes

king said

he seemed to be thinking hard

why are they still asking you to pay

hell if you pay them it's the end of

your boston deal

yes

yes it is

the doorbell rang

it was meyer

i just saw corella he said

he's gone outside to talk to lieutenant

burns

the kidnappers called again king said

they want me to pay the ransom

what do you mean

do they know they got the wrong kid

yes

and they still want you to pay

meyer shook his head

first time i ever heard this one he said

crazy but whoever said kidnappers have

to be normal human beings

what are our chances of getting the boy

back detective meyer king asked do you

think they are good

i don't know meyer said he could be dead

already

in your opinion

king said slowly

will paying the ransom help the boy at

all

if he's alive it will certainly help him

meyer said

if he's dead nothing can help him

but we could use the dollar bills to

catch the kidnappers

i see

doug the boy still alive cameron said

your money will keep him alive remember

that

diane came into the room from the

kitchen

i think reynolds is in shock she said

he's just sitting at the table staring

at nothing

she turned a king

doug have you called the bank yet

no not yet

isn't it time

mommy

they all turned and saw bobby king in

his night clothes standing on the stairs

what is it darling diane said

why is there a policeman outside my room

bobby asked

just to make sure everything is all

right diane said

because of what happened to jeff

yes bobby

daddy

bobby said

are you getting jeff back

what

king said

i'm sorry son i didn't hear

your daddy's taking care of everything

diane said

come on let's get you back into bed

i want daddy

bobby said

doug will you put bobby to bed

sure king said although he was clearly

thinking about something else

come on bobby

poor bobby diane said to cameron

he doesn't really understand what has

happened

he only knows that his friend is gone

and i think he feels guilty

i feel like that myself

you have no reason to feel guilty

cameron said doug will pay the ransom

and

yes but i do feel guilty diane said

i almost feel that my own son is missing

she paused

detective meyer she said could you come

and talk to reynolds

you could explain to him what the police

are doing to get jeff back

all this is such a terrible shock for

him

sure meyer said

when he was alone in the living room

cameron lit a cigarette

stood listening for a moment

and then quickly went to the telephone

and dialed a number

may i speak to mr benjamin please he

said this is peter cameron

yes i'll wait but please hurry

at last a voice said

this is george benjamin

pete cameron i have to make this fast do

i still get doug's job

i offered it to you didn't i do you want

it in writing

yes i do

the boston thing i told you about it's a

stock deal

doug's planning to buy 19 percent of the

voting stock he already owns 28

he's smarter than you thought he was

george

28.

there was a long silence

then we can't vote him out what the hell

can we do

the only way to do it is to get the old

man on your side cameron said tell the

old man that doug is trying to do a deal

behind his back

how will that help if he buys that stock

he'll have 47 percent of it

we can't get rid of him hell he can get

rid of us

if he buys the stock have you heard the

news on the radio

this kidnapping nonsense benjamin said

what difference can that make the kid

isn't king's son

no but they've asked him for the ransom

if he pays he can't afford to buy that

extra 19 of the stock

if he pays the boston deal's off

will he pay benjamin asked

sure he will

meanwhile i'm trying to find out who

he's dealing with in boston

good work pete benjamin said

thanks george

take my advice go talk to the old man

i'll do that and i won't forget this

i know you won't

i have to go now george

cameron smiled to himself as he put down

the receiver and lit another cigarette

he was still smiling when the doorbell

rang and he went to answer it

a small man dressed completely in black

was standing there

mr king

the small man said

no i'm mr king's assistant

i would like to see mr king please you

may tell him that adrian score is here

to see him

on personal business

cameron took score into the living room

and went upstairs to tell king about his

arrival

i don't know anyone called score king

said

he says it's personal business

i'll come down bobby's gone to sleep

king came into the room where score was

waiting

what do you want he asked

to do business mr king

isn't it a bit late in the evening for

that

it's never too late to do business

what kind of business are you talking

about mr score

kidnapping mr king

the room went silent

do you want your son back score asked

my son hasn't been kidnapped

score laughed

well we can tell the newspapers it's not

your son but we know the truth don't we

let me ask you again

do you want the boy back

of course i do

now i know where he is mr king and for a

small fee i can help you to get him back

who has the boy mr score

as one businessman to another mr king i

must ask for a cash payment before

before what score a voice said before

you disappear leaving another unhappy

family behind you

meyer meyer had come quietly into the

room and had heard everything score had

said

mr score and i have met before meyer

went on

now get out of here before i arrest you

for giving false information score

i must protest strongly score said i am

an honest businessman providing a

service out meyer shouted now

i can get your boy back score shouted

but he went all the same

who is he king astmeyer

a rotten crook meyer said and there are

plenty of other sick characters like him

mr king who will try to make money out

of this kidnapping

i don't know how he got past our manager

gate there's only one thing i do know mr

king

what's that

i'm glad i'm not back at the office

answering the telephones right now

lieutenant burns walked into king's

living room and said

hello steve how's it going

all right sir corella said mr king this

is lieutenant burns

how do you do sir burns said and he

shook hands with king

how does it look lieutenant king asked

not too bad not too good

i understand they're asking you to pay

the ransom mr king

that's bad

but we may have found something good

outside

what's that

we're getting a clear cast of a tire

mark and we've just found some paint

from the same car on a rock

this car was turned around in a hurry

outside your house

detective corella asked auto squad to

get me a list of stolen cars

i've just received the list

and now with a little luck we'll soon

know which car we're looking for

how will that help you find the boy king

asked

it would give us something to look for

i know it doesn't sound like much but we

haven't got much to help us and anything

is better than nothing

once the money has been delivered we can

note down some of the numbers on the

dollar bills that will help us to trace

them later

and when we get the boy back

perhaps he'll be able to describe the

kidnappers

unless he's dead

king said flatly

if he's dead there wouldn't be any sense

in continuing wood there mr king

not at all

king said

i want to talk to you about the ransom

mr king burns went on you haven't called

your bank yet have you

no i haven't

good i'd like to speak to them when you

do and

i'm afraid i won't be able to help you

lieutenant king said

burns stared at him puzzled

i don't understand he said

i won't be talking to my bank

i'm not going to pay the ransom

you're

the room went silent

of course it's your decision mr king

burns said nobody can force you to pay

it

what are you saying mr king corella said

frowning you have to pay the ransom

that boy hasn't got a chance unless

shut it steve burns said

i don't have to do anything king said

slowly

i'll tell you again

i'll tell the kidnappers and i'll tell

anyone else who wants to listen

i am not paying the ransom

do you understand

i am not

paying the ransom

[Music]

chapter eight

i'm taking you out of here

jeff reynolds turned over in his sleep

and the blanket which covered him fell

free of his shoulder

kathy folsom went to the bed and covered

him again

eddie folsom lit a cigarette

in the bathroom psy was singing at the

top of his voice

was listening to police calls on the

radio he had built

sigh he called side did you hear that

sy dressed only in his trousers came out

of the bathroom where he was shaving

what's the matter he asked

the police are blocking all the roads

they're stopping every car how can we

use the car tomorrow

what are you getting so excited for sigh

said i'll be driving right

in an ordinary old car right we've

changed the number plates nobody will

know it's a stolen car

if the cop stopped me i'll tell them i'm

on my way to work

what about after we get the money eddie

said how are we going to leave they'll

still be watching

we won't have the kid with us psy said

there's nothing to worry about

let me finish shaving will you

when he had closed the bathroom door

kathy said eddie

what will happen to the boy after psy

gets the money

we'll leave him here

we'll call king to tell him where the

boy is

that sounds so dangerous eddie oh eddie

let's get out of here now before it's

too late

stop worrying honey eddie said you've

got to believe what psy says kathy he's

been a good friend to me

a good friend kathy said

i think he wants to kill the boy eddie

oh come on kathy psy doesn't want to

kill anyone

all he wants is his share of the money

what about you

she asked

what do you want eddie

the same thing the money

and what are you willing to do to get

that money

what the hell are you talking about

eddie said angrily

he looked around for another cigarette

found an empty packet and called a sigh

got any cigarettes psy

in the car sorry shouted from the

bathroom let a guy shave in peace can't

you

eddie started to walk toward the door

tell me eddie

kathy asked again

what will you do to get that money

is kidnapping okay

then why not murder

will you stop at murder eddie

this is crazy kathy

psy is planning to kill that boy she

said

and i have to know what you think

can't you just leave me alone

no eddie

i have to know

all right all right eddie said look

cathy i want to have something

be something you know

i want to go to mexico i want to have

money a lot of money

i never had anything kathy i

i don't want to be poor to be dirt

anymore okay

okay but

honey don't ask me any more questions

don't ask me why i'm doing this it's the

only thing i can do

it isn't eddie she said

we could leave now we could leave the

boy somewhere and go to mexico just the

two of us

i i don't know he said

i need a cigarette kathy eddie tell me

leave me alone he shouted i'm getting

out of here

where are you going

to the car for those cigarettes and and

then i'm going for a walk

i'll go with you

i don't want you with me leave me alone

the door closed leaving her alone with

the sleeping child

in the bathroom psy began singing again

kathy looked at the bathroom door then

at the boy she had decided what she must

do

quickly she touched jeff on the shoulder

and whispered jeff

wake up jeff

he sat up immediately

what is it he said what what

quiet

she whispered listen to me and do what i

tell you to do

i'm taking you away from here

you're taking me home jeff said

excitedly keep your voice

down they could hear sighs singing and

the sound of running water i can't take

you home but i can take you out of here

i'll have to leave you somewhere someone

will find you you'll get home but you

have to help me

we have to move fast do you understand

yes jeff whispered are

are they going to kill me

i don't know we won't give them the

chance

is eddie your husband

yes

he's not so smart jeff said

but i don't think he would hurt me

kathy was silent

you're pretty jeff said

thank you now come on

put that sweater on it's very cold

outside

she pulled the sweater over his head

when we get to the road we start running

she said do you understand

yes i'm a good runner

she put on her coat and led him silently

towards the door

slowly she turned the handle

wait jeff said i want my gun

he broke away from her and rushed back

into the room

the gun was on a table

as he picked it up it sent a heavy

ashtray crashing to the ground

the two of them froze unable to move

the bathroom door opened

well well sighs said as he came out

where do you think you're going

where's eddie

he went to the car for cigarettes kathy

said

so you thought you'd run off with the

boy did you as i said

he went to the door and locked it

nice trick honey now take off your coat

kathy hesitated

get it off before i tear it off you

sai shouted

she threw the coat onto the bed

sigh walked up to her slowly

reaching into his pocket

suddenly she could see a knife in his

hand

listen to me little lady he said holding

the knife up to her face

try that again and you're gonna need a

good doctor to put your face together

again understand

and this little bastard will be dead

meat

i'm not afraid of you psy she said

no

you'd better start being nice to me

honey he said

maybe i'll forget what you tried to do

if you're real sweet to me

still holding the knife to her throat he

put his free hand on her shoulder

she tried to pull away from him

hey open the door eddie called from

outside

psy put the knife away and kathy

unlocked the door

eddie came into the room

oh it's a great night he said cold but

clear you can see the stars

that means the weather will be good

tomorrow psy said even the weather is on

our side

he looked at kathy nothing can stop us

now he said

we're all gonna be rich

he turned to eddie

your wife ain't too excited by this job

eddie he said

tell her about it

tell her what a beautiful plan we've got

do we have to talk about it and he said

let's just do it

i want her to know how great it is you

see kathy

we're gonna call king in the morning and

tell him what to do

and the cops won't be able to stop us or

find us

how does that sound kathy

very smart

she said in a flat voice

yeah

so i said

very smart

nobody will know where we are or what

we're gonna do

and all because of eddie and his magic

box

he pointed to the radio equipment

why do you think we took the trouble to

rob all those different radio stores to

give eddie something to play with

i thought that you needed it to listen

to police calls kathy said puzzled oh

nose i said there's more to it than that

this isn't just a radio receiver look at

those oscillators that transmitter

we've got a big surprise for king and

the cops too

once king starts to do what we want

nobody will know what's happening except

him

and us

once he leaves the house with the money

if he leaves the house

kathy said if he pays the ransom

i'll tell you a secret sweetheart so i

said he'd better leave the house and

he'd better pay the ransom

he looked at jeff as he put his hand

into his pocket and took out the knife

the boy's eyes were wide with terror

he'd better pay the ransom

so i said softly

[Music]

chapter 9

if you don't pay them they'll kill him

lieutenant sam grossman was the

scientist who ran the police laboratory

it was his job to take the cast of the

tire mark which cronic had made and the

tiny bit of gray paint

and to find out what kind of car they

came from

grossman's job was not always pleasant

pieces of bodies hair blood and bone

were things he saw every day

however he enjoyed his work

because he knew that he was helping to

send thieves and murderers to prison

sometimes his job was extremely

difficult but today it was easy

in a very short time

he was able to phone meyer meyer and

tell him that the car he was looking for

was a five-year-old gray ford

meyer took the call from grossman in

douglas king's living room

while the two policemen talked

king sat silently staring into the fire

he did not look up when meyer told him

that he was going to talk to burns

he still did not look up when diane came

into the room and stood between him and

the fire

all right

she said so quietly that he could only

just hear her

pete told me what you've decided

you can't be serious

i am serious diane

i don't believe you

i'm not paying

start believing it diane i'm not paying

you have to pay diane said

i don't have to do anything they're just

crooks why should i play their game

game

it isn't a game

there's a little boy involved if you

don't pay them they'll kill him

he may be dead already

they told you he was alive diane said

you know they did

they may kill him even if i do pay

and if you don't pay they will certainly

kill him

king got up from his chair

would you like a drink diane he asked

no i would not

she said

doug how can you play with a child's

life like this

why should i care about this kid at all

king said what is reynolds doing to help

his son nothing

why should i pay for his son

but he's just a child

i don't care he's nothing to me

do you know diane i don't even like the

kid why should i be responsible for him

they meant to take bobby diane said that

makes you responsible for him

not at all it just makes him unlucky

king said

in any case i haven't got the money

they're asking for

you have got it doug she said don't lie

to me

i need all the money i've got for this

deal i can't give that away don't you

understand

yes i understand completely she said

your business deal means more to you

than a child's life

the business is my life king said it's

everything i've worked for it's a part

of me diane don't you realize that

to hell with the business she shouted i

don't care about granger's shoe

i don't care whether you own it or not

listen to me king said angrily let me

tell you what will happen if i pay that

ransom

benjamin and his friends will get

together with the old man and throw me

into the street

i'll have no job diane i'll be finished

you could start again

where how could i

we'd lose everything this house the cars

the way we live it would all go why

should i do anything why can't someone

else pay

you were asked diane said

why me because i've got money

i didn't get it by sitting around

watching the world go by

i've worked hard for everything i've got

why can't reynolds pay the ransom for

his own son because he's never worked as

hard as i have that's why he sat around

doing nothing and now he wants me to

help him

well i don't want to help him i don't

want to help anybody except myself

you don't mean that diane said you can't

meme that

what's happened to you doug what's

happened to the man i love

i don't know what you mean

maybe it's my own fault diane said

all those years i just stood and watched

as you got harder and crueler and did

worse and worse things to people

how could i shut up and listen to me she

shouted you've destroyed so many men on

your way to the top doug and i just

watched you want to destroy benjamin too

and the old man and throw them into the

street you don't care about anyone

that isn't true diane and you know it

king said haven't i always given you

what you wanted haven't i been a good

husband to you and a good father to

bobby

the business has always meant more to

you than we have she said

you've given us money a home food

but you've never given us anything of

yourself

only the business matters to you

and now you're ready to murder a little

boy to get what you want

murder no diane it is murder she said

you can call it by other names but it is

murder

and this time i won't stand by and watch

you do it

what do you mean what are you talking

about

if you don't pay the ransom i'm leaving

you

leaving

i'm taking bobby and i'm getting out of

this house

come on diane you don't know what you're

saying you i know exactly what i'm

saying doug

pay the kidnappers

because i don't want to be anywhere near

you if you don't

i won't live with somebody who's rotten

and dirty who

honey honey he said reaching out his

hand to her can't you

get away from me

she screamed don't touch me doug

this time i've had enough

i can't pay he said you can't ask me to

i'm not asking she said i'm telling

have the money ready when the kidnappers

call tomorrow morning

i can't give it to them he said

diane i can't pay

you can't ask me to

but she had already walked out of the

room

[Music]

chapter 10

you're out and i'm

in after a long cold night the sun was

rising washing the house in golden light

in the bedroom diane silently packed

clothes into a bag

while liz baloo drank coffee and watched

her

why are you doing this diane liz asked

by asking doug to pay the ransom you're

asking him to destroy his life and yours

too it doesn't make sense

doesn't it

diane said

what would you do if one of your

children was kidnapped liz

i'd cut off my arm if it would save him

liz said

and what if my boy

bobby was taken and they asked you for

the money

liz drank some coffee

even at this time in the morning she

looked beautiful

darling she said i love you like a

sister but i'm not sure that i would pay

all that money to save somebody else's

son

i'm surprised diane said

why because i'm a mother

i'm only mother to three children not

the whole world liz said

they were silent for a while

and then diane said

it was good of you to offer me a place

to stay

of course you can stay at my house for

as long as you like diane liz said

but if doug asks me what i think about

all this i'll tell him that i think

you're mad

he already thinks i'm mad diane said

he knocked at my bedroom door three

times in the night

the last time i think he was crying

but i wouldn't let him come in

he has to understand that i'm serious

he has to understand that i'm leaving

him unless he pays the ransom

somebody knocked at the door

who is it

diane asked

me pete

could you go to the door liz

diane asked

good morning mr cameron liz said as she

opened the door did you sleep well

liz cameron said surprised to see her i

didn't know you got up so early in the

morning

i always wake up early and ready for

action liz said

what brings you to a lady's bedroom

a problem

i've got doug's check in my pocket diane

what should i do take it to boston or

tear it up

you'll have to ask doug diane said

i ought to tear it up cameron said he's

going to pay that ransom i'm sure of it

why are you sure diane said

i don't understand

look cameron said

let's say i go to boston and the deal

goes ahead

imagine the story in the newspapers

douglas king they'll say the man who now

controls granger's shoe the man who

refused to save a little boy's life

hell

they'll tear him to pieces

nobody will ever buy a pair of granger

shoes again

i hadn't thought of that diane said

but doug will think of it

that's why he'll pay

there was a cough

and they all turned towards the door

douglas king stood there

his eyes were red and tired but he had a

determined look on his face

good morning doug cameron said did you

sleep well

no i didn't sleep well

diane why is liz here

i called her last night doug

i'm taking bobby to liz's house

i see

he turned to cameron

when are you leaving pete

what well i i don't know

what do you mean which plane are you on

i didn't ring the airport i thought

it's not your job to think

i gave you a check to take to boston

didn't i

yes but i didn't know whether you still

wanted me to nothing's changed

go downstairs and call the airport get a

seat on the next flight to boston

as cameron left the room diane said

i guess i'd better finish packing liz

king stared at her for a moment and then

went downstairs

cameron was already talking on the

telephone

the 12 o'clock flight he said fine the

name is peter cameron all right thank

you

he put the receiver down

okay

he said to king we just put a bullet in

jeffrey reynolds head

stop it pete

it's true i think this is murder cameron

said

dog listen to me

please doug let the deal go and save the

kid he's an innocent child and

when did you start loving innocent

children so much

everyone loves kids doug cameron said

especially pete cameron huh

don't you know that the boston deal will

help you as well as me

is jeffrey reynolds really more

important to you than your own success i

find that very interesting pete

a child's life is important more

important than this deal right

no but

more important or less important which

well i

if i pay the ransom the deal is off

is that what you want pete

do you want this deal to fail

king looked at cameron coldly

i don't believe you care if jeff

reynolds lives or dies

what's really going on here

have you got plans of your own

doug don't be silly

why did you call benjamin yesterday

and don't tell me that lie about a sales

meeting what are you planning with him

nothing

cameron gave a week laugh i'm not

planning anything with anybody

did you tell him about this boston deal

boston no of course i didn't

king stared at him for a moment

then he picked up the telephone

what are you doing doug cameron asked

king did not answer

get me mr benjamin he said unto the

receiver then

hello george this is doug

how are you george

i'm fine isn't it a little early in the

morning for

george i've been thinking king went on

that deal you offered me yesterday i

turned it down

maybe that was a mistake

i think i'd like to accept your offer

george

you're too late doug benjamin said

you see i know all about your deal in

boston

and i know that your deal is off because

of this kidnapping

you've lost your deal mr king and now

you're going to lose your job

too see king said softly

well george i guess i know when i'm

beaten but i hope you won't punish pete

for my mistake he knew nothing about my

plans he's a good worker george and

benjamin gave a loud laugh don't worry

about pete we'll take care of him

pete will be okay with us doug

now i really must go i'm meeting someone

for a game of golf

king put the phone down slowly

you

bastard he said to cameron

you told him about boston you told him

everything

yes

everything

you bastard

yes cameron said i told him everything

and now you're out mr king out

you're out and i'm in

tomorrow you're out on the street

not if the boston deal goes through

you can't do it you haven't got the guts

to kill that kid

haven't i king said

but you have pete is that right

then we're both bastards aren't we both

the same

suddenly he put his hands on cameron's

shoulders and threw him across the room

get out of my house he shouted

with pleasure cameron said

he took the check out of his pocket and

tore it into pieces

get out king screamed get out get out

get out

even after cameron had left the house he

was still shouting get out get out

[Music]

chapter 11

the boy needs a hot drink

the boy was cold

kathy had given him her coat but he

still felt cold

he wanted a hot drink hot chocolate he

said but there was no milk in the

farmhouse and no chocolate

kathy sat with her arms around the

trembling child wondering how eddie

folsom the man she loved could possibly

be a part of a crime like this

she knew that he was a thief

to kathy robbing a bank was not really a

crime at all

but kidnapping a child

how could eddie a man who had so much

good in him do a terrible thing like

that

and what exactly were they planning to

do eddie and psy

kathy had seen maps and knew that they

were going to use the radio equipment

they were going to telephone king and

give him some instructions

she could not understand what all this

meant

eddie she said

the boy needs a hot drink

he's cold

would you go out and get him something

eddie

never try to understand women sigh said

the roads are full of cops and you want

to send eddie out for a hot drink that

really takes the prize kathy

one of you has to go out to make the

phone call kathy said

you'll have to make the call from a

store won't it look more normal if you

buy some things too

she's right psy said

good idea kathy

he said to eddie

when you make the call get the kid what

he needs

am i going to make the call eddie said

why not

no reason okay i'll go

do you know what to do

so i asked

make sure he's got the money first

tell him to leave the house at 10

o'clock sharp

tell him to go straight to his car it

must be the cadillac

be certain to tell him that eddie we

don't want him to use the wrong car

tell him it has to be the caddy

all right eddie said

tell him to start driving away from

smoke rise

say you'll be met by someone with

further instructions

make sure you say he'll be met

who's going to meet him kathy asked

you

nobody psy said and he laughed

tell him he'll be watched all the time

and if the police are following him

we'll kill the boy

okay eddie said

what do you want me to buy kathy

a packet of hot chocolate and some milk

get some cookies too

he kissed her and said

i'll be back soon

be careful eddie

good luck kid so i said

here's the phone number

he gave eddie a piece of paper

eddie went out and got into the car

psy listened as he drove off down the

road

then he locked the door

alone at last he said to kathy

and he laughed

every policeman sees some horrible

sights

and steve carella too had some bad

memories

as soon as he saw charles reynolds come

into the room

he knew that he would never be able to

forget what was about to happen

he wanted to close his eyes

but he could not

reynolds looked lifeless a defeated man

he stood there patiently and waited for

douglas king his employer to notice him

at last king looked up

what is it what do you want reynolds

he said

reynolds took a step towards king

i want to ask you to pay the ransom for

my son mr king

he said don't ask me

king said and he turned away

i have to ask you mr king

reynolds said don't you see that

i've never begged in my life but i'm

begging you now

please mr king

i'm talking to you as one father to

another please save my son

i can't help you

i can't help jeff

i don't believe that mr king you can

save him who else can i ask

you're asking me to destroy my own life

king said do you understand that i can't

do it

what do you want me to do reynolds said

i'll do anything i'll work for the rest

of my life for nothing

don't talk nonsense how can

do you want me to get down on my knees

mr king

shall i get down on my knees and beg you

to save jeff

he fell to his knees

corella had to look away

king was trembling

get up man he said

i'm on my hands and knees reynolds said

begging you mr king begging you please

please save my son

corella saw king's eyes close for a

moment

then he said

please get up reynolds could you please

leave me alone could you do that please

reynolds got quietly to his feet he

turned and walked slowly out of the room

douglas king stared after him

do you feel rotten mr king corella asked

because that's what you are a rotten

bastard

look here corella i don't want to listen

to that oh go to hell mr king corella

said angrily what's the matter with you

steve burns said coming into the room

stop that now

yes sir

i've just been on the telephone burns

said checking our list of stolen cars

and sure enough there it was

a five-year-old gray ford

they'll have changed the number plates

though

he stopped as liz baloo came down the

stairs she was carrying a bag and

holding bobby king by the hand

good morning she said any news yet

i'm afraid not man burns said

daddy bobby said is jeff back yet

no sonny isn't

i thought you were getting him back

bobby said

there was a long uncomfortable silence

corella hoped that he would never see

the look that was on bobby king's face

on the face of his own son

come on bobby liz said

she said to king

he's coming over to my house doug

where's diane did you talk to her

yes but it's no good

give her time doug just be patient

why aren't you getting jeff back dad

bobby asked

but liz pulled him towards the door and

then they were gone

i think i should explain king said i

know that my refusal looks

the telephone rang

king stopped speaking and corella rushed

to the wiretap equipment

answer it mr king he said keep him

talking for as long as you can

burns picked up the other phone

what what shall i tell him king said

tell him you've got the money burns said

it's our only chance

answer it answer it corella shouted

hello

king said

the voice that replied was not the same

one he had heard before

have you got the money mr king

keep him talking burns whispered

well yes i i mean i have most of it what

do you mean most of it we told you

the rest of it will be here soon

five hundred thousand dollars is a lot

of money you know and i didn't have much

time to get it

they're bringing the rest from the bank

it should arrive in half an hour

all right fine now listen

i'm only going to say this once

you will leave the house at 10 o'clock

sharp

carry the money in a plain box

go to the garage and get into the black

cadillac it must be the black cadillac

do you understand

yes i understand king said

hurry hurry

burns whispered into the other phone

you will drive away from the house and

away from smoke rise

you will be watched don't take anyone in

the car with you and don't allow the

police to follow you if you are followed

we will kill the boy do you understand

that

yes

you will continue driving until someone

meets you with instructions

that is all you have to know goodbye

mister wait

keep him talking burns said they've

traced the call to sans spit

what do you want mr king

when do we get the boy back

how do we know he's still alive he's

still alive

can i talk to him

no

goodbye mr king

wait you

he's gone corella said

his voice sounded different this time

i don't think it was the same guy that

called before

good work mr king

thank you

king said dully

eddie folsom had finished his telephone

call

now he had some shopping to do

give me a packet of hot chocolate and a

bottle of milk he said

and a box of those cookies there

[Music]

chapter 12

that 500 grand has got to be ours

kathy was worried

she walked up and down the room looking

out of the window and lighting one

cigarette after another

where is eddie she said

shouldn't he be back by now

he'll be back psy said

remember you told him to get chocolate

for the kid as well as make the call

when he gets back kathy said

what are you going to do

nothing not until just before 10 o'clock

and what will you do then

don't worry about it

everything will be fine and we'll all be

rich as hell you know why because psy

bernard is planning this

not some small time punk like you're

eddie

he's not a small time punk

no psy said

so

he's a real big shot how did you meet

such a big shot

we just met

kathy said that's all

but you knew he was a crook

yes she said but it didn't matter to me

he's a good man

he only does this because it's the only

thing he knows

i know he's a good man really

why did you marry him

i love him kathy said

when are you going to let me go jeff

asked

he was lying on the bed with kathy's

coat over him

shut up kid psy said

he turned to kathy

why worry about eddie this other fish in

the sea

bigger smarter fish than eddie

he's my husband i love him

love

that's just for teenagers there's no

such thing

you're mistaken you just don't know

kathy said

one thing i do know you're ready is just

a cheap crook and he'll never change

it's too late now for that

it's not too late once this is over once

this is over there'll be another job and

another

he paused and looked at her listen let's

have a drink

no thanks

what's the matter don't you drink

i don't want any

where's eddie

so i picked up a bottle and drank from

it

you know what your trouble is he asked

her

you worry too much

you don't know how to live

come on have a drink

oh leave me alone she said i don't want

a drink

okay so i said stand here and worry if

that's what you want to do

i can think of better ways to kill in

time

he walked closer to her

his eyes on her sweater

and he ought to buy you some new clothes

a girl like you needs nice things not

this old sweater

thanks kathy said riley

know what i think so i went on you're

wasting your time with a punk like eddie

a pretty little thing like you need

someone who knows a bit about the world

someone who shut up psy she said

aren't you hoping the cops will catch

eddie

you never wanted to do this job did you

all you do is worry about whether the

kid's okay

whether we're gonna hurt him shut up

shut up

sorry look to jeff

you're the lucky one kid he said

the lady really cares about you

and she cares about eddie

but not old side that's for sure

he raised the bottle

i'm drinking to you kid he said

how about that you little bastard

jeff said nothing he was trembling from

cold and fear

answer me psy said

ain't you got no manners boy come on

talk

the cops are out there looking for me

all over the roads because of you

i want to know what you think about that

i

i don't know

jeff said

you don't know a smart little bastard

like you must have some ideas

do you want me to go to the electric

chair is that what you want

stop it psy kathy said leave the boy

alone

come on kid yes or no

do you want me to get the electric chair

yes

i mean

what you little bastard

sigh you're frightening the boy to death

suddenly jeff rushed to kathy and threw

his arms around her

he buried his head in her sweater

get your hands off her side shouted

kathy pulled the boy closer

that's enough sy

what the hell are you saying

no woman tells me what i can do

he pulled jeff roughly from her throwing

the boy across the room

there he said how about that

kathy hit him as hard as she could

across the face

slowly psy took out his knife

okay baby he said you're finally ready

to play sight don't don't what baby

don't worry i won't cut you

carefully he ran the knife up her body

tearing the sweater to pieces

kathy moved her hands to try to cover

herself

sai laughed get your hands out of the

way

i'd ain't like elder hurt you

now

let's see

the boy seemed to come from nowhere he

landed on psy's back like a wild cat

hitting kicking pulling sighs hair

surprised sy turned

tore the boy off him and threw him to

the floor

kathy was at the door trying to unlock

it

so i caught her by the arm and pulled

her to him

maybe you'd better take it easy baby he

said

maybe you'll like it better that

there was a knock at the door

eddie

kathy whispered

si let go of her immediately

put your coat on he said hurry

quickly she obeyed him

one word of this to eddie sai said

and the kid is dead

psy sat down next to the boy

open the door he said to kathy

welcome home sigh said as eddie came

into the house

did you get the milk

yeah

seeing the look on kathy's face eddie

asked

what's the matter here

nothing cathy said

kathy and i just had a little difference

of opinions i said

i got a bit excited i guess

i'm sorry eddie

what was it about

why are you wearing your coat eddie

asked his wife

it got a bit cold in here

are you okay were there any police about

i didn't see a single cop eddie said

listen this is no time for fighting

among ourselves

i said i was sorry psy said get the

magic box working eddie i want to know

what the cops are doing i'll make you

some hot chocolate kathy said to jeff

the radio suddenly came to life

carr used in the jeff reynolds

kidnapping gray ford five years old

number possibly rn 6210

they know the car eddie shouted we

changed the number plate but they still

know it how can we use it now

waits i said calm down eddie i'll be

driving the car not you listen you said

you didn't see any cops when you went to

the store okay

we're going to use this radio to find

out exactly where they are

he looked at his watch

we've got half an hour

let's hope that the cops send a lot of

messages in that time

we can't lose that money now

that 500 grand has got to be ours

[Music]

chapter 13

lock him up

at 10 o'clock in the morning the front

door of douglas king's house opened and

king came out

he was carrying a plane box filled with

old newspapers

he went to his garage got into the black

cadillac and drove out onto the road

he seemed to be alone

no police car was behind him

he seemed to be following the

kidnapper's instructions exactly

nobody who was watching him could know

that detective steve carella was hidden

in the back of the car

lying on the floor

do you see anything

carella asked king

is anyone waving to you from another car

is there a helicopter overhead

no

nothing how the hell are they going to

contact you corella said

at 10 o'clock in the morning

eddie folsom turned on his radio

equipment

psy had left earlier after he had heard

enough to know where the police were

blocking the roads

eddie looked at his radio equipment and

his maps

then he looked at his watch

it was 10-3

he would give king another seven minutes

at 10 10

it would start

can you see anything yet corella asked

no

what time is it

10-5

why did you come mr king corella asked a

detective could have taken your place

i know

king paused for a moment and then asked

are you married mr corella

yes

do you love your wife

yes

i love mine she left me this morning

after all these years

she left me

do you know why

i think so

because i won't pay the ransom for jeff

reynolds

you think i'm rotten i know

but i can't do it i can't lose granger's

shoe now

it's all i want

if it's all you want you shouldn't care

that your wife has left you

i guess not i shouldn't care about diane

or bobby or anybody should i

no

then why am i here

what am i doing

i don't understand it myself mr corella

i only know i can't pay the ransom for

that boy

it would destroy my life

i'd be poor again

diane was always rich mr corella she

doesn't know what it means to be poor

i know

i was a poor kid and i worked hard i

fought to get what i wanted

now i'll fight these kidnappers by being

here by doing something

but i'll never pay their ransom

if that means i'm rotten then i'm rotten

but i won't be poor again

i want my house and my servants and my

big car with a telephone

at that moment the telephone in the car

began to ring

what's that corella said from the back

seat the telephone said king the

telephone's ringing

my god that's how corella said go on

answer it

king lifted the receiver

hello

he

said listen mr king

yeti's voice said listen carefully i'm

going to give you your instructions

don't put the phone down

nobody can trace this call

i'm using radio not a telephone don't

try to contact anyone just do what i

tell you to

no tricks please do you understand

i understand

corella climbed over into the front seat

and took the phone from king

he knew the voice the kidnapper could

hear over the car phone would not be

clear

he hoped that his voice would not sound

different from kings

it was a risk worth taking

where are you eddie asked coming up to

north 39th where it crosses culver

corella said

it seemed that eddie had not noticed the

different voice

calmly he said

turn left on north 40th

go south until you reach grover avenue

then turn left again

when you reach hall avenue let me know

have you got that

yes

gorilla put his hand over the mouthpiece

and said to king

he's telling us where to go little by

little so that we can't let the cops

know what we're doing

these people are smart mr king i wish i

knew how to stop them i just wish i knew

sai bernard sat in his car and waited he

was smoking his tenth cigarette in half

an hour

anxiously he looked at his watch

then at the road again

he felt strangely worried that the plan

would go wrong

but how could it

his car was parked in the woods

completely hidden from the road by trees

the place was just past a bend in the

road

eddie would tell king to throw the box

of money out of the car window

and then to drive quickly on

still following eddie's instructions

if the police were following they would

have to stay a safe distance behind king

so they would not see when the drop was

made

by the time they drove around the bend

king would already have driven away

they would continue to follow

not even knowing that the drop had

happened

because king had no way of telling them

eddie would continue talking to king

leading him and the police further and

further away

until psy had picked up the money and

driven back to the farmhouse

when psy stepped through the door eddie

would stop transmitting

the plan was beautiful

why did he feel so worried

you're going to cross a bridge eddie

said his eyes on the map

you have to pay

get the money ready don't say anything

and don't try any tricks

if you do

we'll kill the boy

kathy listened as her husband said it

we'll kill the boy

kill the boy

my husband said those words she thought

how could he say that

you're coming off the bridge right yeah

he said

now turn left onto the highway and keep

driving

let me know when you pass

exit 16.

kathy looked closely at the map

the farmhouse was clearly marked on it

and king's house

the red line must be the route eddie was

leading king along

what was the meaning of that blue star

then

of course the place where psy was hiding

waiting for king to drop his money

then eddie would keep king driving

to get him away from the place and to

confuse any followers

so that was where psy was

tantamount rode just around the bend in

route 127.

eddie

she said

not now

he shouted his hand over the microphone

eddie let's stop this now please please

no he said

psy looked at his watch

come on eddie he thought hurry let king

get here with the money

let me get back to the farmhouse safely

please

please eddie kathy said if you love me

i'm asking you to i have to do this

kathy i have to eddie said angrily

all right we just passed exit 16.

corella said

fine turn off at exit 17 and start to

drive north eddie said

let me know when you get to

the boy is in a farmhouse on fair lane

road half a mile from stanbury kathy

suddenly shouted into the open

microphone

what the hell and he turned to stop her

but he was too late the words were

pouring out of her mouth

sai bernard is waiting in a car kathy

stop it are you crazy on tatam out road

just around the bend in route 127.

did you hear that corella shouted i

heard it king said

get there as fast as you can

corella had cut the connection and was

already making another call

this is a police officer get me

headquarters immediately

sai bernard was smoking his 15th

cigarette as the black cadillac came

round the bend in the road

this is it he thought this is it

the car slowed down

he expected to see a box full of money

drop out of the window to the ground

instead of that the door opened and a

man with a gun in his hand jumped out

psy started the engine and drove the car

at him but the man fired

hitting one of the tires and breaking

two windows

side drove passed him onto the road then

left the car and began running into the

woods

the man was reloading his gun

another man a big man

jumped out of the cadillac and began

running after psy

psy fired at him twice missing him both

times

stop the man shouted we know where your

friends are

go to hell psy shouted

he fired several more times and then the

gun was empty and he threw it away and

took out his knife

as the big man came through the trees

psy held out the knife and said softly

stop there

like hell

douglas king said and he threw himself

on sigh with all the force in his body

the knife tore upwards through king's

coat

running a thin line of blood across his

skin

but his hands

strong hands which had once cut leather

were around size throat

and he held him more and more tightly

he did not let go until the knife fell

from psy's hand to the ground

and corella came to help him

and then

it was all over

the two policemen found the boy sitting

on a bed in the farmhouse with a blanket

around his shoulders

jeff

one of the man said

yes

are you okay

yes

where did they go the other man asked

who

the people who were keeping you here

jeff hesitated for a long time

then he said

there wasn't anybody

only psy

i've been all alone here since i left

he must be in shock one policeman said

to the other

jeff refused to change his story

more surprisingly

sy bernard's story was exactly the same

as jeff's he had worked alone he said

he knew nobody called kathy he did not

know what the police were talking about

we know you're lying bernard carella

told him and i don't understand why

why are you trying to save kathy

she's the one who told us where to find

you

you're not helping yourself

and you're not helping your friends

either

we'll get them

all you're giving them is a little more

time

maybe time is all they need

psy said

suddenly there was a sadness in his

voice

maybe a little time is all anybody ever

needs

lock him up burns said

[Music]

chapter 14

the case is closed now but

back at the 87th precinct building one

cold day at the end of november

steve carello was typing up his final

report on the jeffrey reynolds

kidnapping

he pulled the paper out of the

typewriter turned to meyer meyer and

said happily

finished

is it though

meyer said

cyber nard is in prison

but what about the mysterious kathy and

the man who shouted her name

where are they now

out of the country i guess corella said

i wish them luck

what the hell for they're kidnappers

jeff reynolds refused to talk about them

corella said

i guess that means they were kind to him

bernard won't talk either

he paused

kathy

it's a nice name

she's a sweet girl meyer said she only

kidnaps children

who should we say some nice things about

next douglas king

he had some bad moments corella said

he asked for them

you know what he was most pleased about

when it was all over

the fact that his deal in boston went

through and he's going to be president

of granger's shoe

why do the bastards of this world always

come out on top

he didn't have to run after bernard the

way he did

just because a man is brave enough to

face a knife it doesn't mean he can face

himself meyer said

give him time

he says he can't change

i think he has to change

his wife went back to him remember

she must think change is possible for

him

she isn't the kind of woman to pick a

loser

one day

he'll have to pay it you know

he'll have to pay what

his own ransom corella said the case is

closed now but somehow i feel that it's

still open

for a lot of people meyer

this case is still open

outside in the cold the city waited

[Music]

you

{{}}

第一章

我们要你的投票权 道格

在窗外 船

在十月的晴朗空气中在河港上下航行

鬼魂

的气息 房间很大，但现在

满是脏烟灰缸 用过的玻璃杯

和空瓶子

在漫长而艰难的讨论结束后

男人们自己

就像烟雾弥漫的空气一样筋疲力尽

疲惫但坚定 坐在对面的男人们

道格拉斯国王敲定了他们的

论点

国王静静地听着他们

我们要求你想想道格预言

家乔治·本杰明说

的就是很多要问

想想鞋子是的鲁迪斯通说不要

忘记鞋子但想想利润

谷物的鞋子 是一只商业犬 一只

商业 盈亏 黑色和

红色 我们的工作本杰明说是让

格兰杰保持黑色

现在

再看看这

双鞋 男人他快速而无声地走到

一张放满女鞋的玻璃桌子前，他从一堆

女人的鞋子

里捡起一只给

了国王

什么女人想买这样的鞋子

他问

不要误会我们石头

很快说他是一个 肌肉发达的金发男人，

看起来比他 45 岁年轻得多

这是一双好鞋 好鞋，

但我们现在正在考虑利润

红色和黑色的本杰明重复

他转向坐在他旁边的一个年长的男人，

我说得对，弗兰克

100

弗兰克布莱克说 他带着浓重的南方

口音，

对着高高的天花板吹着烟，

美国家庭主妇本杰明说

买不起这双鞋，

但即使她买得起，她

也不会想要它，

美国夫人，我们的顾客

，世界上最愚蠢的小女人，

我们” 一定要让她兴奋 道格

你是一个已婚男人 道格 什么让金

夫人 皮特卡梅伦 国王的助手

站在房间后面的酒吧

他对国王微笑

但国王没有回

以微笑 他盯着本杰明的

衣服 e xcite 一个女人 斯通说

连衣裙 帽子 夹克 包 鞋 本杰明

说他的声音上升

利润取决于兴奋 斯通说

你不能用这双鞋激发一个女人 这些

鞋子根本没有兴奋

房间里沉默了一会儿

然后道格拉斯·金 说

我们卖什么鞋是床上的好

时光

弗兰克布莱克站起来

道格在开玩笑他说

但我感兴趣的是我的钱

不是笑话

我在这家公司持有很多股票

我现在可以看到 为什么格兰杰

几乎红了

弗兰克是对的 道格·本杰明说

这没什么好开玩笑的

我们必须尽快做些事情来拯救

格兰杰鞋

你想从我这里得到什么 国王轻声问

你现在问的问题是正确的

本杰明说

给 我们大家再喝一杯好吗 皮特·

卡梅伦开始调酒

一个高大英俊的 35 岁男人 他动作

迅速，看着其他人他

工作

得很好 道格·本杰明说

我们是格兰杰鞋中的佼佼者

我是销售主管 你的生产和

这里的 rudy 是时尚和设计 我们

都是董事会成员，我们都知道

公司出了

什么问题 国王

问老人

他对女性的品味了解多少 他对女性的品味

了解多少 斯通说

但是

他是格兰杰的总裁，

年复一年他是总裁，因为

他有足够的股票来保持这种状态

，公司不断下跌

，我的股票每年都在贬值，

弗兰克布莱克说，

金看着本杰明迅速

走到玻璃桌旁， 拿起一只红鞋

看看这个 他说

这就是我

为自己设计的兴奋 鲁迪斯通

自豪地说 好好看看它 道格

女人会喜欢它 本杰明

说女人对质量了解多少

只要 鞋子看起来不错

国王用他的大手把鞋子翻过来

什么也

没说 我知道他在想什么

g

说一下这就是我们今天在这里的原因

哦这就是我们在这里的原因国王说

只有微笑卡梅伦对他笑

了老头有 25% 的

投票本杰明

说老头有 25% 国王

平静地说 而你鲁迪和弗兰克之间有 21 人

不足以与老人战斗并赢得

你的思想

控制石头说

控制本杰明重复

我们想要你的投票权道格

你有 13

% 加入我们

，我们将有 34

足以让老人出去

了 道格 用这样的鞋怎么

样 我们将控制

廉价市场并扼杀竞争

乔治是对的 布莱克说我不在乎

我们什么样的鞋 只要我们

赚钱

就卖 谁将成为新总统 King 问

有短暂的沉默

我们认为乔治·本杰明应该成为

总统

更大的薪水 现在你知道了，

道格拉斯·金慢慢站了起来，

他身材高大

，肌肉结实，肩膀宽阔

，42 岁时他的头发变成了

灰色，

但这只会增加

他脸上和蓝眼睛中表现出的坚强性格

你会卖像这样的鞋 乔治 他

问

你会在便宜的鞋上使用格兰杰的名字

做一只诚实的鞋

你想制造垃圾

现在等一下道格不你等一下

我喜欢格兰杰鞋

我从 16 岁开始就在这家公司工作

我知道

鞋子质量好

我不会把格兰杰的名字放在上面

一块垃圾

用他有力的双手快速移动

他把鞋子撕成

碎片 这就是你要卖给

女人的东西

布莱克愤怒地说如果我们不能

用质量赚钱，我们有谁

不能 以质取利 王

问

老爷子不能和妈 你

不能不道

格这是生意

我知道这是生意

这是我的生意我爱的

生意是我生活的一部分如果我制造

垃圾

我的生活会闻到

我不能继续持有

一家正在发展的公司的股票 下坡布莱克说

然后卖掉你到底想要

我做什么 在任何街头

国王把红鞋的碎片扔在桌子上，

然后开始走向

门口，

如果你帮助我成为总统，

本杰明说你会得到更高的

薪水，你

可以停下来，你要去哪里，我在

说 对你来说，

这是我家的国王说我受

够了这次会议和你的计划

，我受够了你

所以我要离开你为什么不离开太

本杰明的窄脸因愤怒而通红

你不要 想让我成为

格兰杰的总裁是他大喊

那是我 不正是国王说

你到底认为谁应该是

总统

你想一想国王说着

走出房间

，沉默了很长时间，

然后本杰明走到

站在酒吧的皮特·卡梅伦面前

他打算做什么皮特

我有 不知道

不要扮演无辜的皮特·本杰明

说我们给了他一个计划但他

拒绝了我们

他一定很坚强去做那

件事他为什么感觉如此坚强

你为什么不问他

不要对我聪明男孩什么是 你的

薪水 20 25 000 你可以比

那个皮特做得更好

我能

和那个老头子有什么交易吗

我想把它砸碎 而帮

我砸碎它的那个人可能会发现自己正在接受

国王的工作

你知道我家的电话号码吗

皮特

不

韦斯利希尔的 4798 你还记得吗

我一直是道格的助手

卡梅伦说

是时候改变了

给我打电话

你很有说服力 皮特说这是

件好事 我是一个诚实的人

是的 这是一件好事 本杰明说莱利

那是韦斯特 y hills 47981

斯通戴上帽子说，

如果那个混蛋国王认为他可以

，当黛安·金走进

房间时

，他停下来，男人们盯着她看，

然后斯通举起手，礼貌地说，金

夫人，

他走出门，跟着

本杰明 布莱克

立即对卡梅伦说，

他们对道格做了什么

[音乐]

第 2 章

为什么有人要偷无线电

零件

道格拉斯·金的房子就在第

87 选区内，

它在选区的边缘，

烟雾缭绕 最昂贵的地区 城市

的河港位于烟起的北面，

南面是银矿路

，虽然

他们有钱但不够富裕到生活

在烟起的

人的家，任何从银矿

路向南走的人首先来到 一片

灯火通明的通宵餐厅和商店的嘈杂区域，

然后到安斯利大道，在那里

仍然可以想象它

曾经很时尚，

然后是卡尔弗大道

，现在很明显 步行者

抵达城市较贫困的地区

后，梅森大道周围的波多黎各地区出现了短暂的色彩变化，

看起来灰暗

肮脏

，非常贫穷。

第 87 分局大楼位于格罗弗

大道

上

坐在他对面的

人说话时

在二楼做笔记 这个人叫大卫·派克

他在卡尔弗大街有一家商店，

出售无线电零件 他告诉迈耶

我主要卖火腿派克说

火腿

是火腿

不像火腿你

吃火腿我的意思是 那些把

自己的收音机作为一种爱好的人，他们用它们

来与其他火腿交谈，你会惊讶

于我们在这个城市有多少火腿

，我想这是一个很好的生意，

所以佩克迈耶先生说

，你有什么问题

好吧，派克

说上周什么时候有人闯入我的商店

你为什么要等到现在才报告

它并不需要太多我以为我会

忘记它

是什么让你

现在报告它昨晚骗子回来了

而这一次他偷了很多

设备 是的

不不 这一次他拿的比上次还少

耐心点，

作为该地区唯一的犹太男孩，他

必须学会用他的

智慧而不是用手

耐心地战斗现在他

问佩克先生

，当你第一次闯入你的商店时，小偷偷了

什么 振荡器成本吗？

我以 52.39 的价格卖掉它们

，这就是他第一次拿的所有

东西 这次是

因为我担心他会

第三次回来打扫商店

，你可能知道我知道是

peck meyer 先生说

谢谢你向我们报告这件事我们

会特别注意你的

商店 犯罪在 价值

75 美元的旋转无线电设备在第 87 分局中似乎

不是一件非常重要的

犯罪，这样的犯罪

一周中的每一天都在发生，为什么要

对这个感到兴奋，

除非你是一个非常有耐心的侦探，

名叫迈耶迈耶

，他有一个很好的 记忆

迈耶研究了他的笔记，然后走到

房间另一边的一张桌子旁，

史蒂夫·卡雷拉正坐在那里

打字，

史蒂夫·迈耶说我这里有一个

人，嘘

科雷拉说并继续打字，直到

他完成 页面

然后他抬起头来，好吧，迈耶说，

告诉我，

我在这里有一个人，他

在卡尔弗大道拥有一家无线电零件店

收音机零件

现在我似乎记得

是的，科雷拉说，在

他桌子上的成堆的纸中搜索

，该死的

清单列出了收音机零件的五次闯入事件的详细信息

每次都撕毁只有几件

设备被盗

认为是同一个小偷 corella 问

肯定 地狱在我看来是这样 meyer

说

反正不是很严重

俄罗斯间谍

为什么会有人想偷无线电

零件

从不试图理解骗子 corella

说如果你试图这样做你会发疯的

仍然 meyer 说所有设备

七次闯入

是什么意思 steve

search me corella 说和 他又开始

打字了

[音乐]

第三章

跳下攻击 让他大吃一惊

黛安·金并不是好莱坞所谓

的美丽女人

她是一个有魅力的

女人 事实上黛安·金是一个非常

有魅力的女人

她站在她的豪华房子里

32 岁的女人

穿着黑色窄裤和

白色衬衫

她肩上围着一条毛巾

，黑色头发上

又出现一道银色条纹 她问皮特·

卡梅伦 他们做了什么没有做任何事

g cameron 说

你对你的头发做了什么

哦，这是 liz 的主意 diane

说所有的喊叫都是为了

liz 还在这里 cameron

用他的声音感兴趣地问道

甚至没有看到我

他看到我

一个声音说 liz baloo 走进

房间

diane king 并不漂亮

liz baloo

她有一头金发蓝眼睛和一张丰满的

嘴

即使只是穿着裙子和

毛衣

她看起来像一百万

左手戴美元 她戴着一个巨大的

钻戒

没有人不打招呼就从我身边跑过

她

说你好 丽兹卡梅伦说你

对黛安做了什么

你是说她的头发不是很好

我不喜欢 我想她

没有它就够漂亮了，

我会等着看道格是否喜欢

它黛安说道格在哪里他在上面做什么

他只是在打个电话

莉兹说他有麻烦皮特他

脸上的表情你不知道那个表情莉兹 说

我的哈罗德一直戴着它 时间这意味着

他要谋杀某人

谋杀黛安说

皮特什么

都没发生他们提供的交易达成了协议他

拒绝了

我的先驱将他们

踢出房子莉兹说

这正是道格所做的

然后准备谋杀

黛安莉兹 说

我一直都准备好了 黛安说，

她的绿色眼睛里带着困扰的神情，

但这些日子似乎经常发生

黛安卡梅伦说那是生意上的

狗吃狗

莉兹说谋杀很有趣

躺着享受它

她对卡梅伦微笑 他对她回以微笑

，两人多年来一直是秘密恋人，

令人惊讶的是，这可能从未

阻止莉兹全心全意地爱她非常

成功的丈夫哈罗德，

或者皮特卡梅伦

大部分时间都在思考工作，

黛安给自己倒了

一杯 道格在计划她问

卡梅伦的事情

是的，我想所以

我想他可能会

像道格·金走进房间时问的

那样，你给大亨莉兹打过电话了吗

问

我受不了

他吻了黛安然后看着她

说

亲爱的你的头发里有鸡蛋

有时我想知道我们为什么要打扰莉兹

说很生气

你不喜欢道格黛安问国王

小心说话

没关系我猜

好吧，

莉兹说你必须做得比

好吧道格

她看了看她的表

我必须走

了

真的不应该丽兹说

你必须说服我

我会说服你好吧

我知道你喜欢什么

他们的眼睛

幸运地相遇在那一刻电话

响了黛安拿起听筒

你好她说

然后她把它交给了道格

是你从波士顿打来的电话

从他正在调的饮料中抬起头

波士顿 他说

是你 hanley doug 问一切进展如何 是的 一切

都很好 道格 我们到

了 说波士顿的声音

听着 我们必须迅速行动 得到

今天的交易全部完成了

，他想留住f 5%

的股票 doug 我正在尽我最大的努力，但

我认为

我需要的那 5% 并不像我

需要的

那样多 我会试试道格，但不要只是尝试

哈德利成功

我会等你的电话他

放下电话转向

卡梅伦皮特你要去波士顿

我是卡梅伦说递给莉兹她喝

幸运男孩她说我 只是喜欢波士顿的商店

你会带着一张大支票去波士顿

国王说

你会帮助我成为我生命中最重要的

交易 道格是

怎么回事

我稍后会告诉你 国王说还没有

打电话给 机场，看看

下一班飞机什么时候离开

用楼上的电话 我想让

这个免费，让 hanley 给他回电话

卡梅伦离开房间时对 liz 笑了笑

国王猛地拍了拍手

哦，男孩，他说那些家伙会

得到一个 大惊喜试图让我

参与他们糟糕的小计划

你能相信吗黛安

借口 我，国王先生，一个声音说

进来的那个人

只有 35 岁，

但他看起来更老了，

他是查尔斯·雷诺兹国王的

司机

看着他，你觉得

这个人有些软弱

，而且非常可悲，

这不是一个 惊讶地得知他的

妻子去世了，

留下他一个人抚养他的小儿子

雷诺兹国王有点

不耐烦地问

他喜欢雷诺兹但不喜欢这个

男人的弱点

我只想知道先生

是我的儿子

是杰夫先生

这是金王夫人的问题，

他说他在楼上和鲍比黛安玩，

说

哦，很好，我希望我没有打扰你，

但是

如果他们出去的话会有点冷，我想你需要一件

外套，别担心雷诺兹黛安说 我

已经给了杰夫一件鲍比的

毛衣

哦谢谢你女士我似乎永远

无法决定

你可能会开车送卡梅伦先生

到机场稍后国王打断了是的

先生我们什么时候离开

先生大声尖叫 鲍比 k 身穿

蓝色毛衣的英格冲下楼梯

冲进房间，

身后紧随其后的是身穿红色毛衣的杰夫·雷诺兹

两人都八岁，金发碧眼

，乍一看他们可能被

误认为是兄弟，

他们没有注意到他们的成年人

向门口跑去

嘿

国王对他的儿子大喊停

在那里 爸爸你要去哪里

玩 让我们走 我们很

着急

为什么你在玩什么 我们在玩

牛仔和印第安人 国王杰夫先生说我们

轮流印第安人必须躲在

树林里然后牛仔必须找到

他

不要离房子太远

鲍比黛安说

我不会妈妈

谁是现在的印度国王问

我被喊了杰夫

安静的儿子雷诺说 好好

照顾金夫人借给你的那件漂亮的毛衣

哦，当然，杰夫说他不会

抓到我的 男孩

一个计划爸爸

只是追他并抓住他 我

永远不会追逐另一个人儿子国王说

我知道你需要帮助

哦道格让他们

在天黑之前去玩黛安说

我会国王笑着说但首先

男孩需要一些专业建议

他低声对鲍比

攀登 树，当你

知道他要做什么的时候看着他

跳下一个突然袭击

我们不允许在这个

游戏中爬树鲍比说

做任何你喜欢的事情儿子只要你

玩赢道

格你在说什么 男孩

黛安说

只有生活中的事实 莉兹回答了

为什么我得不到任何帮助 爸爸杰夫问

他父亲

好 雷诺兹犹豫地说你可以

躲在一块石头后面保持

不动，如果你不这样做，他将找不到你

'不动，没有游戏王

说玩有什么意义

就去玩你想玩的方式

男孩黛安冷冷地说，现在

玩得开心

，大喊大叫两个男孩冲出

了房子

一个疯人院就像我自己的家一样

说

我会在 ca 先生的时候把车准备好 梅龙

需要它 雷诺兹先生说

你什么时候走了 黛安说

你不应该告诉鲍比那个道格

你想让他长大成为什么

野生动物

他是这样说的吗，莉兹他想和

你做爱，黛安，

对不起，你认为这是一个笑话，黛安

说，我不认为这很有趣，所有

这些跳到人们身上，让

他们大吃一惊，

这正是你在生意上所做的

这就是你对波士顿的事情所做的事情

你变得如此努力道格对其他人如此无情

国王笑我无情我是不是又

冷酷无情

丽兹当然不是你是个宝贝

只是因为我把事情完成了黛安你

叫我

亲爱的，有些人坐着，有些

人在做

，如果这些年来我不是一个实干家，

你就不会在这所房子里

开着那辆车，穿着他是

对的黛安·莉兹

挥舞着戴着钻石的手说

我当然是我只需要让我的

妻子明白

我相信你知道该怎么做，

丽兹说

她离开时玩得开心，沉默

了片刻，然后国王轻声说

黛安

我坐在树上俯视

你

，我警告你我' 我准备

跳下来攻击你

他突然把她抱在怀里

让我走她说如果你认为你可以

然后他吻她

你很漂亮黛安你知道吗

尤其是你的头发上有新的银色条纹

你应该 为自己感到羞耻

我知道

过了一会儿他又吻了她 她挣脱

了自己 皮特还在这里 道格 她害羞地说我会早点送他去机场 给我一分钟我只需要按一个 hanley 然后我会

摆脱 皮特

和我们会单独

他去电话拿起

听筒

有人在电话

里他认出了卡梅伦的声音

是的乔治卡梅伦在说

这就是我想告诉你的好

我以为你 我想知道

国王按了电话上的一个按钮

让他接通 另一条线

有趣的是，他说

怎么了，

黛安在另一条线上问

皮特，我知道他在和金说话时停了下来，然后对着电话说，在波士顿的斯坦霍普酒店给我奥斯卡·汉

利，好的，给我回电话，

喝一杯怎么样 黛安

在门突然打开鲍比冲进来之前

我忘记了我的枪妈妈他大喊我

必须得到它

杰夫已经躲在树林里

我必须找到一棵树来爬爸爸

仍然准备跳下来攻击道

格黛安 他说

那个人躲起来

等着攻击

他很想抽根烟但他

不能抽

他看着司机清洗

凯迪拉克

他看着他的手表

他看着

天空很快就黑了

他想知道埃迪是否还在 车

他想知道

房子里是否一切都好

他想知道他们的计划是否可行

然后他开始

担心 他比以往任何时候都更需要

一支烟 现在

他告诉自己放轻松

然后他看到男孩朝他

走来 粗糙的树林

你好，儿子，

他说

这个城市天黑了

那个特殊的十月码头散发着

木烟和秋叶的味道

十月开始变冷

人们赶紧回家想要他们的晚餐

想要他们所爱

的人的陪伴 天黑了 很快

就可以在天黑之前回家了

[音乐]

第 4 章

我们把你的

儿子接到国王的客厅里 电话

响了

道格拉斯·金拿起听筒

说 hanley 电话

那头有个声音说谁啊

对不起 me king 说我在等

谁来电

好吧 mac 那个声音说我会说的很

短而且

这里没有人打电话给 mack king

说你一定是打错了

他把听筒放下了

cameron 站在那里看着他

不是 hanley cameron

说不 一个错误的数字

谈论错误的数字 皮特

是

的 你刚才和乔治·本杰明谈过吗

是的 我是

为什么告诉他我明天不会参加销售

会议 w

你没告诉他你要去

波士顿吗 你

不应该告诉他

地狱

不 电话又响了

那将是 hanley King 走到电话旁

我最好打电话给 bobby 和 diane

说天快黑了 等等 等一下，亲爱的，

让我接这个电话，第一个国王说

你好，汉利，你得到我想要的东西了吗？我

明白了。 给我，

我会把九点钟飞机上的支票寄给皮特·卡梅伦，

你能

在机场接他

吗，好吗，道格，

哦，哈特利，

是的，道格，干得

好，

国王放下听筒，

现在我们搬家了，他兴奋地说，皮特

给航空公司打电话 在

九点的飞机上找个座位 他按了电话上的一个按钮

又拿起听筒

说雷诺兹尽快

过来 我什至会告诉板凳

哦不不我猜 ss 我不会告诉他

他笑了，然后快步

走到吧台给自己倒了杯酒，

我最好去找鲍比，黛安说，看看天有多

黑，

等等，黛安，你不想

听到这个鲍比足够安全吗？ 就

在他自己的房子外面

好吧，但我真的

你听到本杰明说我有 13

股有投票权的股票，你皮特对

不对，

他停

了下来，我在过去六年里一直在买股票，我有 28%

道格太好了，黛安说那

我为什么要去波士顿卡梅伦

问

那里有一个人拥有一些

我想购买的投票权

汉利过去两周一直在努力

，现在他终于准备好

把它卖给我

了 在办公桌前开始写

支票卡梅伦问

19%

加起来

19 和 28 使 47

足以让我成为格兰杰总裁

我会按照我的方式经营公司，我会

做鞋子 想让

他从书上撕下支票

给卡梅伦

看看这个 他说

卡梅伦拿走了它然后低声吹了

75 万美元 他说道

格

你从哪里得到的 黛安开始问

我们拥有的一切都被捆绑在这笔

交易中 黛安这所房子 房子的一切

道

格

我不能失去 黛安现在没有什么可以阻止我你

是

谁从卡梅伦那里买股票

问

一个几年前买的

人他是谁

当雷诺兹

走进房间准备开车送卡梅伦

去机场时他们停止说话

我必须让鲍比进来 黛安说她

走到门口开始打电话给

鲍比鲍比电话响了

国王接了你好他说

听我国王一个声音说

这次不要放下电话这不是开玩笑

国王说什么你说什么

我们有你的儿子

国王我的儿子

你在说什么

鲍比黛安叫你现在请进来

你的儿子声音说我们绑架了

你的儿子

你带走了我的儿子

如果这是某种笑话

黛安从

门道格

她尖叫

什么 你说

发生了什么事吗？鲍比·

金朝她挥手，希望她

保持沉默，因为声音在继续

得到 50 万美元

在明天早上之前得到它 我们会打电话给

你 告诉你你必须做

什么 不要去找警察王 你明白吗

是的 我明白

拼命地寻找一个

方法来诱捕来电者

好吧 然后声音说 50

万美元

国王 放下听筒

切断通话

皮特他大喊 去厨房

打电话 警察

鲍比被绑架了 我们已经

要求 50 万赎金

没有

黛安尖叫 没有

然后打电话给 电话公司告诉他们我

挂了这个混蛋

你为什么这样做黛安大喊她

跑到门口并在

黑暗中尖叫

鲍比鲍比

我挂断了这样他会回电话国王

说然后电话公司可能

会找到 谁做了c

他把戴安娜抱在怀里

我们会把他找回来的

电话公司说

他一再响起你就必须用另一条线打电话

好吧 King说雷诺兹你会吗 他

突然停住了 前门突然

打开

了 你在叫我妈妈

bobby king 他

进屋时说

黛安跑到 他跪在她的膝盖上，

用双臂搂着他

嘿妈妈 他说很惊讶怎么了

国王盯着他的儿子

我到底不想再和杰夫一起玩

鲍比说我像爸爸告诉我的那样爬了一棵树

但我不能

在任何地方都找不到杰夫，他不会和我一起玩

我什至不知道他在哪里

有片刻的震惊沉默

每个人都

在谈论这个名字但说话的是男孩的父亲

杰夫雷诺兹低声说

杰夫

[音乐]

章节 五

我们找错人了

史蒂夫·

卡雷拉（steve carella）不喜欢两种

案件，他不喜欢涉及

非常富有的人的案件或涉及

现在坐在道格拉斯·金（Douglas King）

宽敞豪华客厅里的

孩子的案件，谈论被绑架的孩子

科雷拉（corella）感觉很糟糕，

他不想 在这里，

但他别无选择，

他坐在国王的房间里，感到困扰

并提出问题，而迈耶迈耶

背对着他们站着，

看着河港，

嗯，让我说清楚，科雷拉国王先生

说被绑架的男孩不是

你的 儿子是对的

，国王说的对，

但是当绑匪向你

索要赎金时，他认为他有你的儿子，

是

的，他又给你打电话了

没有，

那么他可能仍然相信他有你的

儿子，科雷拉说

我不知道他相信什么 国王

生气地说，为什么我要回答所有

这些问题，

我不是男孩的父亲，我不是，但

你对绑匪

说的是真的，科雷塔·科雷拉先生，

对不起，

科雷拉是那个人吗？

叫它是一个男人国王说

他是说

我有你的儿子

还是我们有你的儿子

我不

记得我不明白为什么

有人有杰夫雷诺兹和所有这些

愚蠢的问题

正是卡雷拉国王说

有人有 男孩，我们想知道

那个人是谁我们想知道谁

拥有男孩，这样我们就可以安全地把他带回来

这对我们

很重要我相信这对你也很重要

当然它是国王尖锐地说为什么

不 你打电话给你的首长 有人

在这种情况下

有经验 一个男孩的生命处于危险之中 当地警察

无法处理这个

中尉 烧伤正在

赶来 更多关于

对不起 史蒂夫迈耶说我最好

去描述一下那个男孩 我

应该和他父亲谈谈

是的 大猩猩说 雷诺兹先生 金先生

在他的公寓里 在车库里

他把这件事弄得很糟

你想让我去吗 和他说话迈耶

大猩猩问

不 哦，我会的，迈耶说在国王

转身离开房间时快速看了他一眼，

我想你

现在已经忙得不可开交了，科雷拉国王先生又开始了

，你有没有注意到

这个男人的声音有什么不寻常的地方，是口音还是对不起

科雷塔·金先生说我拒绝再玩

这个小游戏

我的名字是科雷拉你是什么游戏你是什么

意思关于这个人说话的方式胡说八道

这可能会产生什么不同这将

如何让杰夫回到

他的父亲那

里卡雷拉没有 从他

正在写的书

上抬起头来 他不停地告诉自己，对他来说，悄悄礼貌地打道格拉斯金先生的嘴对他来说真的不是一个好主意

他问

金先生，你以什么为生

我经营一家鞋厂

这是你的另一个重要

问题

是的，

我对鞋子一无所知，金先生，

它们只是我穿在脚上的东西

你在说什么 国王

干巴巴地说，

你明白我在说什么，

国王先生，那部分是警告你

警告我，警告你让我

继续我的工作

，我要告诉你的另一部分

是这样

，以防你有任何疑问 关于这件事，

让我告诉你，我是一个好

侦探，真是一个好侦探

我想我们彼此了解，科雷塔先生，

我叫卡瑞拉·卡拉，直截了当地

说这个人有口音吗？雷诺兹

坐在床上，毫不

掩饰

泪水从他脸上流下，

迈耶看着他

，希望他能把自己的

搂着男人的肩膀

告诉他一切都会好起来的，

他不能这样做，

他不知道这个男孩是

死是活，

他所能做的就是问他的问题，

杰夫雷诺兹先生几岁，

他有多高，我

不知道。 不知道，我从不，

我不知道 现在可能有点高

他是个英俊的男孩 他的年龄

高 他有多重

我不知道

迈耶深吸了

一口气 他

胖 瘦 中等

不太胖也不太瘦

很正常 他是黑还是

白 他有金发 头发

非常白皮肤就是你的意思

是的谢谢你

他的眼睛是什么颜色

你能让他回来吗

雷诺兹突然问

迈耶停止写作

我们要试试他说

我们要尝试所有我们知道的方法

雷诺先生描述 杰夫雷诺兹的

电话被打电话到第 87 区大楼

，然后被发送给

14 个州的警察部队

，紧随其后的消息

是关于一辆灰色福特

汽车被盗

农家

沙嘴并不是

许多游客选择在冬天度过夏天的地方，

那里很冷，完全

无人

问津，福特在农家停了下来，一个

二十多岁的年轻人走出去

，跑到 门

他敲了三下然后等着

eddie 一个女人的声音

问是我 凯西打开

门 门打开

了那个女孩

在车里问

他一会儿就到

你有没有给我一个吻凯西

哦 eddie eddie 她说着，

扑进他的怀里，

一个 24 岁的女人，一张漂亮却硬朗的

脸，就像生活从来都不

容易

去吧，我一直

很担心这份工作，我

一直在想这是最后一份工作，请

不要让任何事情出错，

一切都很好，给我一支烟，

亲爱的，

她看着他点燃香烟，

一个高大的帅哥 穿着白色

开领衬衫的男人

我正在听收音机 她说我

想他们会谈论这份

工作 我的意思是一家银行

她停顿了一下

一切顺利 不是

没有 没有麻烦

没有麻烦 只有凯西 你看 我们不是

她亲了他一下吗 在

你回来了，

她低声说，这就是这里的一切，

孩子一个声音说

，杰夫雷诺兹半摔进

房间那个把他推门的男人

叹了口气

笑着说

回家，亲爱的孩子，这并不重要，但

它是

我们的枪 杰夫说我的枪在哪里 凯西

盯着他不明白

发生

了什么 男孩想要他的枪 我说

凯西一直盯着杰夫

她到底是谁 她开始

psy 笑了 已经看到

她脸上的惊喜 一个女孩让我 和

她谈谈 埃迪说

枪在哪里 杰夫说快点 我

得回家

他转向凯西 你有枪

什么枪 这孩子

是谁 你的礼貌 凯西小姐 所以我

笑了 这个男孩是我们的客人 然后

她立刻 转向她的丈夫

埃迪，我认为你连枪都没有，

杰夫说，

叹了口气，打开一间卧室的门

来吧，孩子，枪房是这样的，他

说

凯西等到门

在他们身后关上，

然后她 说

告诉我 埃迪

看起来就是这样

他无法抬眼看

她

我们绑架了那个男孩

你完全疯了吗 她

问 放轻松 凯西 放轻松

她用手指点着香烟

颤抖

没事 我 我听着

告诉我

我们绑架了一个男孩的一切我们要

500美元的赎金

你说这是银行工作凯西说

我在撒谎我们从来没有靠近过银行

你不知道这有多严重吗埃迪

你疯了 你可以去坐

电椅 冷静下来

不要激动

凯西问

鲍比·金是

谁

鞋子

是的 我知道

她沉默了片刻 然后

轻声

说 你为什么不告诉我你的

计划

我不认为你会同意

我当然不会同意 她

大喊 明白 男孩离开这里

把他带回你把他弄回来的地方他的

父母一定要疯了 我

担心他，你怎么能做这样的事情

闭嘴，然后他大喊大叫，然后他更

温和地说，凯茜，我们会从这份工作中得到 500 美元，

我们会像你说的那样去墨西哥，

你想要

我不想要 钱

我不会碰它也不会去

墨西哥

你说这将是最后一份工作

你说的银行 只是银行不带走

别人的孩子 不是肮脏的

绑架

我们没有伤害孩子 他说 他

很好，他很好，凯西说他对他做了什么，

他很好，所以我答应给他看

一把真正的枪，这就是他让他

和我们一起来的方式

尝试理解亲爱的

我不想理解这个她

说到底给了什么 你的想法

我刚刚得到它我和我

一起制定计划这比银行工作更安全

我们只是借一个孩子然后

在我们还给他时得到500

英镑借一个孩子

埃迪他说你或

我告诉过你我们 两人都有这样的想法，

你在撒谎，埃迪，

这是psy的想法，不是

很好

，不是

很好，不是很好 t 这是个好主意，亲爱的，

我们要去墨西哥，我会在

那儿好好过我的生活，凯西，你会看到

我真的会成为我的东西，埃迪·

福尔瑟姆，那不会很棒，

哦，埃迪·埃迪，

她说看着 他可悲的

是，你甚至不知道你做了什么吗？

杰夫

拿着枪跑进房间时大喊大叫，

他就在他

身后 孩子喜欢枪 他笑了

玩枪 孩子知道了

psy是那把枪上膛 凯西

害怕

地问我会不会给一个小孩子一把上膛的枪

psy 天真地问你

认为我是一个坏人

他转向埃迪并说是

时候打开魔法盒了

埃迪教授看着凯西，但她不

看他的眼睛

当然，他说着从房间角落的桌子

上的一堆无线电设备上扯下一块布，

看着教授小子 psy 说，

埃迪打开巨大的收音机按

按钮，看着针

从一边移动到另一边，

你确定 发现自己是个聪明人，

凯西，

你为什么不离开 我丈夫一个人，

凯茜说

你为什么让他进入这个烂

东西

他心甘情愿地叹了口气说我不是

强迫他

收音机里传来一个高音

魔法盒会说话孩子

嘿，那太好了杰夫说你

从哪里弄来的

艾迪回答

说一定很难做到

不那么难

你

别说了 sai

kathy 说

想在这里制造像 eddie 这样的收音机

让所有女孩都追着你 所以

我问 jeff

我当然

可以

这就是你 15 岁时必须做的事情

抢劫商店

然后他们会 送你去改革学校

，那里是埃迪接受教育的地方，

我的孩子，我必须在他离开的绳索厂接受教育，

是不是要来了，

教授

突然声音从

莫里森和北 98 的无线电事故中传来。303 号车

他们在听警察的话

谈话 ng在他们的收音机

上你现在要带我回家吗杰夫

问

我很忙的孩子所以我说207号车207号

去

道格拉斯国王的房子

嘿

杰夫说很兴奋他说道格拉斯国王

你真的希望这个计划

成功吗 psy kathy 说我当然愿意

，因为这里的教授在

他的收音机里，

我爱 eddie 和他的收音机，

我喜欢这份工作，它会为我们所有人做伟大的

事情

告诉她已经告诉她所有这一切

psy 她不感兴趣 eddie 说

我 对埃迪所做的一切感兴趣

明天早上准备好然后早上我们

再次打电话

你在谈论杰夫开始我

说在你受伤之前闭嘴孩子

所以我生气地大喊

杰夫惊讶地盯着他

然后

皱起眉头收音机打破了房间里的沉默

所有汽车所有汽车 这里

烟雾缭绕的故事 绑架失踪的

男孩是八岁

的金发 穿着红色毛衣 男孩的名字是杰弗里

雷诺兹 埃迪说

那个人说我的名字

杰夫说惊讶

查尔斯雷诺兹的儿子 司机到

道格拉斯

金 他在说什么 关于 Psy eddie 说

他吓得脸都白了 他们是

狮子 我说这是某种诡计

怎么可能我们找错了孩子 如果他是错的孩子

他就不是错的孩子

kathy 冷静地说

你已经做了所有 这无缘无故

我们都陷入了麻烦

这孩子是鲍比国王psy说确定他

是

我

杰夫说不解

我不是鲍比闭上你的嘴孩子

让他说话凯茜说

你叫什么名字桑尼杰夫

他在撒谎所以我喊我 杰夫不是

对他大喊大叫 我不喜欢你

我要回家

他开始走向门口

心理医生粗暴地抓住他的胳膊

把他拉回来

他站得离男孩很近，他的嘴里

没有笑声 声音

，他说

你叫什么名字你的真名

[Mus ic]

第 6 章

这个小男孩有大麻烦

了 一股冷风

从通往道格拉斯金家的路上的河港吹来

，冻住了帕克霍伊斯和

克罗尼希的手指，他们

在那里

工作的三个侦探在寒冷中工作 黑暗

任何侦探

任何男人都宁愿在这样的

夜晚

在家 家里有一本好书

一个好女人或一瓶好

威士忌 老实说 一本坏书 一个坏

瓶威士忌 即使是坏女人

也会更好 比这么冷，

但工作必须

完成 汽车留下的痕迹 扔

在路上的火柴 香烟头

在这种情况下任何事情都可能很重要

任何事情都可能导致失踪的

男孩 最后他们

在 路边结冰的泥土

汽车轮胎留下的痕迹

一辆急转直下的汽车

雷诺兹正在注视着卡西迪

电话公司的人在工作时

卡西迪正在给

道格拉斯加装一部电话 ing 的房子供

警察使用

他也安装了窃听器

，这样如果

绑匪再次打电话，警察就有可能追踪到绑匪的电话

当他们发现他们错误地抓住了你的孩子时，

他们会把他留在

街上的某个地方

，孩子没事相信我，

如果他们把他留在街上，他会

迷路的雷诺兹说

他不知道该去哪里他 转向

刚刚通电话的科雷拉，

他们有什么消息吗？科雷拉警探，

我正在和汽车小组交谈 科雷拉说，

我已经让他们检查所有被盗的汽车

，以防绑匪偷走

他们使用的汽车，

他担心 孩子卡西迪说

我一直告诉他这会没事

的 在 上次在寒冷的

天气里，

我们发现了一个轮胎痕迹，他告诉 corella

kronig 正在制作它现在

不是说它会帮助任何人

如果你问我这一切都是浪费时间孩子们

可能已经做过

carella 迅速抚摸他的手臂

并看着 在雷诺兹的房间对面，

但司机似乎没有

听到帕克的话，

他们应该把所有的绑匪都带出去，

然后开枪打死他们。卡西迪说

电椅对那些可以

从他那里偷走一个男人的孩子的人来说

太好了，我想我在这里完成了 我只是

测试一下我的手机然后去

你有没有听到什么呢 侦探

carella king

他手里拿着一个咖啡杯走进客厅时说

diane 和 cameron 就在

他身后

还没

你的人

真的在找那个男孩

他们有他的描述

吗 是的 先生 他们

知道吗 他们知道他可能在街上的某个地方

一些公众可能会发现他

是否有人接听电话 公众

一切都得到了照顾

先生 这位国王说 额外的电话 窃听

对我来说这一切似乎都是浪费时间

甚至在我儿子的卧室门外还有一个警察

没错 科雷拉说

我们不冒险 我们不

知道绑匪是什么 接下来会做 你

看 我认为他们别无选择 国王

说

他们将不得不让男孩自由

他看到雷诺兹仍然

痛苦地站在房间的另一边

去厨房拿点东西

吃 雷诺兹，

我不是很饿，金先生，

继续，伙计，你得吃饭，

杰弗里会在你知道

雷诺离开时回来，黛安说，科雷拉

先生现在知道他们找错了

男孩，不是吗？

他们应该知道金夫人，

所有的广播电台和电视台以及所有

的报纸上都有报道，

你认为他们不会伤害他吗

？当然，他们不会对金夫人严厉地说

，就他们而言，这只是一个

出了差错的商业交易

他们可能会伤害他 King Corel 夫人 拉平静地说，

你知道，有时小偷会

因为没有钱给他而殴打一个人，

那将是愚蠢的国王说我

相信他们一旦

知道他不是我的儿子就会让他走

这些人是 不傻

你不必很聪明才能成为

绑匪 corella 说

你只需要心狠手辣

我们没想到 Cameron 说

他们可能会在放他走之前伤害他

这是一种可能性

是的 corolla 说还有另一个

也可能

我的名字是杰弗里雷诺兹男孩说

对不起粗暴地抓住他的手臂你在

撒谎

我没有在撒谎嘿放开那件毛衣

你会不会它不属于我

你撒谎的小混蛋心理大喊大叫并用

力推杰夫

凯西尖叫着把男孩扔过房间，凯西尖叫着

向男孩走去，

你父亲叫什么名字，所以我大喊

查尔斯

，你住

在金先生的地方

，别叫他金先生，对不起，大声喊叫，

你知道他是你的父亲，

杰夫绝望地说 他是鲍比的

父亲

起来 psy 大喊 脱掉那

件毛衣

他把它拉到杰夫的

头上 如果你叫杰夫，他的脸上慢慢地露出微笑

为什么你的毛衣上的名字是罗伯特·金

那是鲍比的毛衣 杰夫说金夫人

借给我

说实话 我说的是实话

psy 平静地站在那里 一个穿着整齐的

小个子急需刮胡子

然后突然猛烈地打了男孩

的脸

它 psy eddie 说这孩子很

害怕

让我看看这件毛衣

他看着上面的名字 上面写着

robert king kathy

他说他借来的 太难

接受了

是的 psy 说输了 500

很难接受

让我们拿走吧 回家的男孩 kathy

轻声说 psy 说直接

进监狱 他知道我们

他可以带警察来找我们

他转向 eddie

我们想要那笔钱 不是

吗 我不要它 kathy 尖叫 我

不需要它

我做得很好

，他说很软 我想要那笔钱，

我不是出生的，和一个有钱的父亲一起抽烟，

当地狱没有人给我

任何东西时，

这是我拥有东西的唯一机会

我想要在墨西哥

有一个自己的地方一个你和我的地方凯西

他说话的时候眼里噙着泪水，

但他是错的男孩，凯西

说不，埃迪说不，他不是

埃迪，你知道他是，

当你想到这件事时，我轻声说

这有什么区别，

也许我们找错了孩子 这

是司机的男孩，

我们仍然可以向国王要钱，

他不会付钱，

但他

说他会付钱的，因为如果他不付钱，

那么这个小男孩就有大麻烦了，

他停下来对杰夫微笑

我不认为金先生会想要

他手上的血

[音乐]

第 7 章

我想和你谈谈赎金

中尉彼得伯恩斯正在去冒烟的路上

一个孩子被绑架了

伯恩斯有一个自己的儿子 并且他知道

绑架孩子对他来说是父亲的痛苦和快乐是最糟糕的

c 世界上的霜

死亡是对绑架者的正确惩罚

在国王府邸的黑暗道路上看到灯

烧伤 告诉他的司机停车

他下了车

cronig haws 你们好吗 孩子们 他说

你有什么

我们已经 有一个轮胎标记

cronic 说它很好 我正在做一个模型

电话响了，

等一下，当国王准备接电话时，科雷拉大声喊道。

拿起电话

你好

国王这是

卡梅伦先生对他的电话说

我们已经接到他的电话现在开始

追踪电话

好吧国王声音说听

我们不在乎这是谁的孩子

我们听到了无线电信息并且 我们 不在乎

他还活着，而且我们希望

明天早上能拿到钱，否则孩子

会在一天结束

时死 戴上他的外套，匆匆

走出房间，

黛安一脸

不解，杰夫好吗？她问她丈夫

他

很好，你确定吗

，当然，我确定黛安

我会去告诉雷诺兹，她说

黛安

是的，

他们要我支付赎金

他们知道他们已经得到了杰夫，

但他们仍然要我付钱 他们要

我付钱

我们会照他们说的做

感谢上帝 杰夫没事 黛安

离开房间时说 国王皱着眉头盯着看

我们正在与专业人士打交道 卡梅伦

说 他知道我们会试图追踪

电话

这就是为什么他说得这么短

是的

国王说

他似乎在努力思考

为什么如果你付钱他们仍然要求你付出

地狱这是

你波士顿交易的结束

是的是

的 门铃响

了，是迈耶，

我刚看到公司 雷拉 他说他出去和伯恩斯

中尉

谈话 绑匪又打电话给国王 说

他们要我支付赎金

你是什么意思

他们知道他们找错了孩子

是

的 他们仍然要你付钱

迈耶

第一次摇了摇头 我曾经听过这个他说

疯了但谁说绑匪

必须是普通人

我们有什么机会让男孩

回来

你的意见

国王说慢慢地

支付赎金会帮助这个男孩

如果他还活着那肯定会帮助他

迈耶说

如果他死了没有什么可以帮助他

但我们可以用美元钞票

抓住绑匪

我看到道

格这个男孩还活着卡梅伦 说

你的钱会让他活下去记得

黛安从厨房走进房间

我想雷诺兹很震惊她说

他只是坐在桌子旁

什么都看

她变成了国王道

格你有吗 打电话给银行但

还没到

现在不是时候

妈妈

他们都转身看到鲍比国王

穿着睡衣站在

楼梯上亲爱的黛安说

为什么我房间外面有一个警察

鲍比问

只是为了确保一切正常

好吧，黛安说

因为杰夫发生了什么事，

是的，鲍比

爸爸

鲍比

说你让杰夫回来了

吗

国王

说对不起儿子我没听到

你爸爸在照顾黛安说的一切

来吧让我们让你回到床上

我 想要

鲍比爸爸说道

格你能把鲍比放到床上吗

国王说虽然他显然在

想别的事情

来吧鲍比

可怜的鲍比黛安对卡梅伦说

他不太明白发生了什么

他只知道他的朋友走了

而且我 认为他感到内疚

我觉得我

自己没有理由感到内疚

卡梅伦说道格会支付赎金

，

是的，但我确实感到内疚 黛安说

我几乎觉得我自己的儿子不见了

她暂停了

侦探 ve meyer 她说你能过来

和 reynolds 谈谈

吗 你可以向他解释一下警察

正在做什么来让 jeff

回来 这对他来说真是一个可怕的震惊

当他独自一人在客厅时

meyer 说过 Cameron 点燃了一根香烟

听了一会儿

，然后迅速走到电话前

拨了一个号码，

我可以和本杰明先生通话吗？他

说这是彼得卡梅伦

是的，我会等，但请快点

，最后一个声音说

这是乔治本杰明彼得

卡梅伦，我必须 这么快，

我还能得到道格的工作

吗？我把它提供给你了，你不想要它吗？

是的，我做

了波士顿的事情，我告诉过你这是

股票交易

道格计划购买

他已经有投票权的 19% 的股票 拥有 28

他比你想象的更聪明

乔治

28。

有很长一段时间的沉默

然后我们不能投票给他我们到底

能做些什么唯一的办法就是让

老人站在你身边卡梅伦说告诉

老头，道格正试图做一笔交易

在他背后

，如果他买了那只股票，那将有什么帮助？

他将拥有 47%

我们无法摆脱他，他可以

摆脱我们，

如果他购买股票，您是否

在广播中听到

了绑架的消息？ 胡说八道，本杰明

说这孩子

不是国王的儿子

有什么不同，但他们已经向他索要赎金，

如果他支付，他买不起

额外的 19 股股票，

如果他支付波士顿交易的费用，他

会吗？ 付本杰明问

他确定他会

同时我正在试图找出

他在波士顿

的工作做得好皮特本杰明说谢谢乔治

接受我的建议去和老人谈谈

我会这样做我不会忘记这个

我知道 乔治

卡梅隆

放下听筒，点燃另一支烟，对

自己笑了笑，门

铃响了，他走过去接电话，

一个全身黑衣的小个子

站在那里，

金先生

小个子

说不，我是金先生的助手，

我想见 Mr king，你

可以告诉他，adrian score

是来看他

的私人事务

cameron 拿着 score 走进客厅

，上楼告诉 king 他的

到来

我不认识任何叫 score king 的人

说

他说这是私人事务

我 “LL下来鲍比已经睡到了睡眠之

王进入房间里得分

等待

你想要做什么，他要求

王先生

在晚上这不是一点，

因为

它永远不会太晚做生意

是什么样的 正事 你在

谈论 Mr score

绑架 Mr

King 房间里一片寂静

你想让你儿子回来 得分问

我儿子没有被绑架

得分笑得

很好 我们可以告诉报纸这不是

你的儿子，但我们知道真相不是我们

让我再问你一次

，你想要那个男孩回来

吗，当然我

现在知道他在哪里，我知道他是国王先生，

我可以帮助你把他找回来。

必须先要求现金付款

在你消失之前，一个声音说了什么，

留下另一个不幸的

家庭在你身后，

迈耶迈耶悄悄地走进

房间，听到了分数所说的一切，

分数先生，我在迈耶继续之前遇到

了

现在，在我逮捕你之前离开这里

给出虚假信息分数

我必须强烈抗议分数说我是

一个诚实的商人提供

服务迈耶喊现在

我可以让你的男孩回来分数喊

但他还是一样

他是谁阿斯特迈尔国王

一个烂骗子迈耶说而且有

很多 其他像他这样的病态人物，

国王先生，他会试图

从这次绑架中赚钱

我不知道他是如何通过我们的经理

门的 我只知道一件事金先生

我很高兴我没有回来 现在在办公室

接电话，

伯恩斯中尉走进国王的客厅，打招呼史蒂夫，一切都好，科雷拉爵士说，金先生，这

是伯恩斯中尉

，你好吗伯恩斯爵士说 他

和国王握手

看起来怎么样 国王中尉问

还不错 不太好

我知道他们要你

支付赎金 国王先生

这很糟糕，

但我们可能在外面找到了一些好的

东西

我们正在弄清楚什么 铸造了一个轮胎

痕迹，我们刚刚

在一块岩石上发现了同一辆车的一些油漆

这辆车

在你家

外面匆匆转过身来

清单

，现在运气好的话，我们很快就会

知道我们正在寻找哪辆车，

这将如何帮助你找到男孩国王

问

它会给我们一些东西

我知道这听起来并不多，但我们

没有 没有什么可以帮助我们，

有总比没有好

一旦钱已经交付，我们可以

记下美元钞票上的一些数字，

这将有助于我们以后追踪

它们

，当我们把男孩找回来时，

也许他会 能够描述

绑架者，

除非他是死去的

国王

如果他死了就直接援助 金先生根本没有任何意义

金先生说

我想和你谈谈赎金

金先生继续说 你还没有打电话给

你的银行 你还

没有 我没有 “

不好，我想和他们谈谈，当你

这样做的时候，

我恐怕无法帮助你，

King 中尉说

Burns 困惑地盯着他，

我不明白他说

我不会和他们说话 我的银行

我不会支付赎金

你

是房间里安静

了 当然这是你的决定

金伯恩斯先生说没有人可以强迫你付钱

你在说什么 你说科雷拉国王先生

皱着眉头说 你必须支付

赎金 男孩没有机会，除非

把它关上

支付赎金

你明白

我不

支付赎金

[音乐]

第八章

我带你离开这

里杰夫雷诺兹 睡梦中翻了个身

，盖住他的毯子从

肩膀上

掉下来 凯西·福尔森走到床边，又盖住了

他

他建造的收音机

叹了口气 他打电话给旁边 你有没有听到那个

只穿着裤子的 sy 从

他正在刮胡子的浴室里出来

他

问警察是

怎么回事 他们正在阻止每辆车 我们如何

使用 明天的车

你为什么这么兴奋 叹息

说我会

开着一辆普通的旧车 对 我们已经

改变了车牌 如果警察拦住我 没人会

知道这是一辆偷来的车

我会告诉他们我是

在我上班的路上，

我们拿到钱后怎么办 eddie

说我们要怎么走 他们

仍然会看着

我们不会有孩子和我们一起 psy

说没什么好担心的

让我

刮完胡子 等他 已经关闭了浴室 门

kathy 说

eddie psy 拿到钱后男孩会怎么样

别担心 亲爱的 eddie 说你

必须相信 psy 所说的 kathy 他

一直是我

的好朋友 kathy 说

我想他想杀了那个男孩 eddie

哦拜托 kathy psy 不想

杀

任何人 想要的是他的那份钱

你呢

她

问你要

什么 一个空包，叫一声叹

了口气，车里有烟

绑架好吗

那为什么不谋杀

你会停止谋杀埃迪

这太疯狂了凯西·

普西正计划杀死她

说

的那个男孩我必须知道你的想法

你不能让我一个人呆着

不埃迪

我必须知道

好吧好吧埃迪 说看，

凯西，我想要

一些你知道的东西

我想去墨西哥我想要

有很多钱

我从来没有任何东

西凯西我不想再贫穷成为肮脏的东西

好吧

好吧但是

亲爱的不要 不要再问我问题

不要问我为什么要这样做这是

我唯一能做

的不是埃迪她说

我们可以离开现在我们可以把男孩留在

某个地方去墨西哥只有

我们两个

我不知道他说

我需要一支烟凯西·埃迪告诉我别管

我他大喊我要离开

这里你

要去哪里买那些香烟

然后我要去散步

我会 和你一起走，

我不要你和我在一起，让我一个人

呆着，门关着，让她和

睡着的孩子一个

人呆在房间里 浴室里的精神病患者又开始唱歌了

凯西看着浴室门 然后

看着那个男孩 她已经决定了她必须尽快做什么

她抚摸杰夫的肩膀

并低声说 杰夫

醒来 杰夫

他立刻坐了起来

怎么回事 他说 多么

安静

她低声说 听我说，按我

说的做

我带你离开这里

你带我回家 杰夫

兴奋地说 压低你的声音

他们能听到叹息的歌声和

流水的声音 我不能带

你回家 但我可以带你离开这里

我必须把你留在一个有人

会找到你的地方你会回家但你

必须帮助我

我们必须快速行动你明白吗

是的杰夫低声说

他们会杀了

我吗 不知道我们不会给他们

机会 eddie 你的丈夫

是的，

他不那么聪明 杰夫说，

但我不认为他会伤害我

凯西保持沉默，

你很漂亮 杰夫说

谢谢你现在来

穿上那件毛衣 外面很冷，

她把毛衣拉到他的身上

当我们到达马路时，我们开始奔跑

她说你明白吗，

是的，我是一个很好的跑步

者 她穿上外套，默默地把他领

向

门口 她转动把手

等待 杰夫说我想要我的枪，

他挣脱了 她冲回

房间 拿起枪时枪在桌子

上 沉重的

烟灰缸砸在

地上 两人僵住 无法

移动 浴室的门开

得很好 叹息 出来时

说 你在哪里 想你要去

哪里 eddie

他去车上抽烟 凯西

说

所以你以为你会和那个

男孩私奔 是不是我说的

他走到门口锁上了

不错的把戏 亲爱的 现在脱掉你的外套

凯西犹豫了

在我把它撕下来之前把它拿下来你

说

她把外套扔到床上

叹了口气走到她身边慢慢地把手

伸进他的口袋里

突然她看到他

手里

拿着一把刀听我说小女士他

把刀举到她面前 面对

再试一次，你会 需要一个

好医生把你的脸重新组合起来

，这个小混蛋会死的，

我不怕你，她

说不，

你最好开始对我好，

亲爱的他说

也许我会忘记你的尝试

如果你对我真的很甜蜜，我

仍然把刀放在她的喉咙上，

他把空闲的手放在她的肩膀上，

她试图从他身边拉开，

嘿，打开门，埃迪从外面喊道，

psy把刀收起来，凯西

打开了门

eddie 走进房间

哦，这是一个美好的夜晚，他说很冷，但

很清楚你可以看到星星

，这意味着明天天气会好

psy 说即使天气在

我们这边

他看着凯西，没有什么可以阻止我们

现在他说

我们 所有人都会变得富有

他转向埃迪

你的妻子对这份工作不太兴奋

埃迪 他说

告诉她这件事

告诉她我们有多么美好的计划

我们必须谈论它，他说

让我们去做吧

我想让她知道你

看到凯西有多棒，

我们要去 早上所有国王

告诉他该做什么

，警察将无法阻止我们或

找到我们

，这听起来如何凯西

非常聪明，

她用平淡的声音说

是的，

所以我说

非常聪明，

没有人会知道我们在哪里 或者

我们要做

什么 都是因为 eddie 和他的魔法

盒

他指着无线电设备

你为什么认为我们不厌其烦地

抢劫所有不同的无线电商店

给 eddie 玩的东西

我认为你需要它

听警察电话凯西说很困惑哦

鼻子我说

这不仅仅是一个无线电接收器看看

那些发射器的振荡器

一旦国王开始做我们就会给国王和警察一个很大的惊喜 我们想要的

没有人会知道发生了什么 除了

他

和我们

一旦他带着钱

离开房子 如果他离开房子

凯西说如果他支付赎金

我会告诉你一个秘密的甜心 所以我

说他最好离开房子

他最好付清

赎金 看着杰夫，他把手

伸进口袋

拿出刀 男孩惊恐地睁大了眼睛

他最好付赎金

所以我轻声说

[音乐]

第 9 章

如果你不付钱他们会杀了他们 他

中尉山姆·格罗斯曼是

负责管理警察实验室的科学家，

他的工作是给

克罗尼克制造的轮胎印模和

一点点灰色油漆，

并找出它们

来自

格罗斯曼的工作不是什么类型的汽车 总是令人愉快

的身体碎片头发血和骨头

是他每天看到的东西

但是他喜欢他的工作

因为他知道他正在帮助

将小偷和杀人犯送进监狱

有时他的工作非常

困难但今天

在很短的时间内很容易

他打电话给迈耶迈耶，

告诉他他要找的车

是一辆五岁的灰色

福特迈耶在道格拉斯金的客厅里接了格罗斯曼的电话，

而两个警察说话时，

金静静地坐着盯着火

当迈耶告诉

他他要和烧伤说话时

他没有抬起头 当黛安

走进房间并站在他和火之间

时他仍然没有

抬头 告诉我你已经决定

你不能认真

我是认真的黛安

我不相信你

我不付钱

开始相信它黛安我不付钱

你必须付钱黛安说

我不必做 什么他们只是

骗子我为什么要玩他们的游戏

这不是游戏

如果你

不付钱他们会杀了他

他可能已经死了

他们告诉你他还活着黛安说

你 知道他们做了

他们可能会杀了他即使我

付钱如果你不付钱他们肯定会

杀了

他国王从椅子上站起来

你想喝点黛安他问

不我不会

她说道

格你怎么玩 像这样的孩子的

生活

我为什么要关心这个孩子

国王说雷诺兹在做什么来帮助

他的儿子不 事情

我为什么要为他儿子付钱，

但他只是个孩子

我不在乎他对我来说

什么都不是你知道黛安我什至不喜欢这个

孩子我为什么要对他负责

他们打算带走鲍比黛安说这

让 你对他一点责任

都没有这只是让他不走运

国王

说无论如何我没有得到

他们要的钱

你得到了道格她说不要骗

我我需要我所有的钱 得到这笔

交易我不能放弃它你不

明白

是的我完全理解她说

你的生意对你来说

比孩子的

生活更重要生意是我的生命国王说这是

我为之努力的一切它是一部分

对我来说，黛安，你难道不知道

她对生意大喊大叫我

不在乎格兰杰的鞋子

我不在乎你是否拥有它

听我说国王愤怒地说让我

告诉你如果我会发生什么 支付

赎金

本杰明和他的朋友会

和老人聚在一起把我

扔到街上

我将没有工作 黛安 我会完成

你可以重新开始

我怎么会失去一切 这房子 车

我们的生活方式 一切都会过去 为什么

我应该做任何事情 为什么别人不能

付钱给

你 被问到黛安说

为什么是我，因为我有钱，

我坐在那里

看着世界流逝而没有得到它

我为我所拥有的一切努力工作

为什么雷诺不能为

自己的儿子支付赎金 他从来没有

像我一样努力工作，这就是为什么他

无所事事，现在他希望我能

很好地帮助他我不想帮助他我

不想帮助任何人，除了我自己

你不是说黛安说 你无法

记住

你发生了什么

事道格我爱的人发生了什么事

我不知道你的意思

也许是我自己的错黛安说

这些年来我只是站着

看着你变得更硬更残忍而且做得

更糟 对人们来说更糟糕的事情

我怎么能闭嘴听我说她

大喊你已经摧毁了你身上的这么多

男人 到了顶峰道格我刚刚

看到你也想摧毁本杰明

和那个老人然后把他们扔到

街上你不关心

任何不是真正黛安的人你知道

国王说过我不是一直 给了

你你想要的我难道不是你的好

丈夫和鲍比的好父亲吗？

生意对

你来说总是比我们更重要她说

你给了我们钱买了家常菜，

但你从来没有给过我们

你自己的

事情只有生意对你

很重要，现在你准备谋杀一个小

男孩以获得你想要的东西

谋杀不是黛安这是谋杀她说

你可以用其他名字称呼它但这是

谋杀这次我赢了 不要袖手旁观，看着

你

做你是什么意思

如果你不支付赎金，你在说什么我要离开

你

离开

我要带鲍比我要离开

这所房子

来吧，黛安你不要 不知道你在

说什么我知道我在说什么道

格

付钱给绑架者

因为我不想成为

如果你不靠近你，

我不会和一个

肮脏肮脏的人

住在一起，他说

向她伸出手你不能

离开我

吗她尖叫着不要碰我道格

这次我 受够了

我付不起他说你不能问

我我不是问她说我告诉

你准备好钱当绑匪

明天早上打电话

我不能给他们他说

黛安我 can't pay

you can't ask me to

但她已经走出了

房间

[音乐]

第 10 章

你出去了，我

进来了 经过漫长的寒冷夜晚 太阳

升起，金色的光芒洗刷着房子

卧室里的黛安默默地把

衣服装进了一个袋子

里，莉兹巴鲁喝咖啡看着

她

你为什么要这样做

黛安莉兹要求道格支付赎金你

要求他摧毁他和你的生命

这没有意义

黛安不是说

如果你的一个孩子被绑架了你会怎么做，

我会砍掉我的胳膊，如果这样可以救他，

莉兹赛

d 如果我的男孩

bobby 被带走，他们向

你要钱怎么办，

即使在早上的这个时候，lz 也喝了一些咖啡，她

看起来很漂亮，

亲爱的，她说我像姐姐一样爱你，

但我不确定我会

付清 救别人儿子的钱

我很惊讶黛安说

为什么因为我是

母亲我只是三个孩子的母亲而

不是整个世界莉兹说

他们沉默了一会儿

然后黛安说

你很好 给我一个

住

的地方当然你可以在我家

呆多久只要你喜欢黛安丽兹说的

但是如果道格问我

对这一切的看法我会告诉他我认为

你疯了

他已经认为我 我疯了，黛安说

他最后一次在晚上敲了三下我卧室的门

，

我认为他在哭，

但我不让他进来

他必须明白我是认真的

他必须明白我是 离开

他，除非他支付赎金

有人敲门

，黛安问我是谁，

皮特

可以 你走到门口

丽兹黛安问

早安卡梅伦先生说她

打开门时说你睡得好吗

丽兹卡梅伦说看到她很惊讶我

不知道你早上起得这么早

我总是起得很早准备好

行动 莉兹说

是什么把你带到了女士的卧室

一个问题

我口袋里有道格的支票 黛安

我该怎么办 把它带到波士顿或

撕掉它

你得问道格黛安说

我应该把它撕掉 卡梅伦说他

会支付赎金 我很确定

为什么你确定 黛安说

我不明白

说现在

控制着格兰杰鞋的那个人

拒绝拯救一个小男孩生命的人

他们会把他撕成碎片

没有人会再买一双格兰杰

鞋

我没想到黛安说过

但道格会想到 这

就是为什么他会付钱的原因

有一次咳嗽

，他们都转身了 d走向门口

道格拉斯国王站在那里，

他的眼睛又红又累，但

他脸上的表情

很坚定早安道格卡梅伦说你

睡得好吗

不我没睡好

黛安为什么莉兹在这里

我昨晚打电话给她道格

我要带鲍比去丽兹家

我给了你一张去波士顿的支票，

不是吗，但我不知道你是否还

想要我什么都没有

改变 下楼打电话给机场

坐下一班飞往波士顿的航班，

卡梅伦离开房间 黛安说

我想我最好收拾

一下 liz king 盯着她看了一会儿然后

下楼

cameron 已经在

打电话

了 12 点的航班 他说很好

名字是peter cameron 好的 谢谢

他放下听筒

好吧，

他对国王说我们只是放了一颗子弹 在

杰弗里雷诺兹的头上

停止它皮特

这是真的我认为这是谋杀卡梅伦

说

狗听我

请道格让交易去拯救

孩子他是一个无辜的孩子

你什么时候开始如此爱无辜的

孩子

每个人都爱孩子道格卡梅伦说

尤其是皮特·卡梅伦，嗯，

你不知道波士顿的交易会

像我一样帮助你吗？

杰弗里·雷诺兹

对你来说真的比你自己的成功更重要我

发现非常有趣的

皮特，孩子的生活

比这笔交易更重要，对

吗？ 但

更重要或更不重要的是，

如果我支付赎金，交易就结束

了，你想要皮特

，你想要这笔交易失败吗

国王冷冷地看着卡梅伦，

我不相信你在乎杰夫雷诺兹的

生死

是什么 真的发生在这里

你有你自己的计划

吗道格

别傻了你昨天为什么给本杰明打电话

别告诉我关于销售

会议的谎言你和他有什么计划什么都

没有

n 笑了一周 我不

打算和任何人发生任何

事情 你有没有告诉他波士顿的这笔交易

boston 不 我当然没有

king 盯着他看了一会儿

然后他拿起电话

你在做什么 doug cameron 问

king 没有

接听本杰明先生 他对接听人说

你好乔治 这是道格

你好吗 昨天我

拒绝了，

也许那是个错误

我想我愿意接受你的提议，

乔治，

你来晚了，道格·本杰明说，

你明白了，我知道你在波士顿的交易

，我知道你的交易被取消是

因为 这次绑架

你已经失去了交易，金先生，现在

你也将失去工作，

看到国王轻声说，

乔治，我想我知道我什么时候被

打败了，但我希望你不会

因为我的错误而惩罚皮特，他知道 对我的

计划一无所知 他是个好工人 乔治和

本杰明大声笑了 不用

担心皮特，我们会照顾他的，

皮特会和我们在一起的，道格，

我现在真的必须走了，我要见人

打一场高尔夫之

王，慢慢放下电话，

你这个

混蛋，他对卡梅伦说，

你说过 他关于波士顿的事你告诉他

一切

是的

你这个混蛋

是的卡梅伦说我告诉他

一切现在你出去了，金先生出去

你出去了，我

明天就在，

如果波士顿交易成功，你就在街上 因为

你做不到，你

没有勇气杀死那个孩子，

我国王不是说过，

但你有皮特是的，

那我们都是混蛋，我们不是

一样的，

突然他把手放在 卡梅伦的

肩膀把他扔到房间的

另一边 滚出我的房子 他高兴地喊道 卡梅伦说

他从口袋里掏出支票

撕成碎片

出去 国王尖叫 滚出去

滚出去

即使在卡梅伦离开房子之后他

还在喊滚出去

[音乐]

第11章

男孩需要一杯热饮

男孩很冷

凯西把外套给了他，但他

还是觉得冷

他想要一杯热饮 热巧克力 他

说，但农舍里没有牛奶，

也没有巧克力

凯西抱着颤抖的孩子坐着，想知道埃迪·福尔森怎么样 她所爱的人可能

是这种罪行的一部分

她知道他是

小偷 凯西抢劫银行根本不是

犯罪，

而是绑架一个孩子，

一个对他有这么多好处的人怎么可能

做出可怕的事情 诸如此类的事情

以及他们到底打算

做什么 eddie 和 psy

kathy 看过地图，知道

他们会使用无线电设备

他们会打电话给国王并

给他一些指示

她无法理解这一切意味着什么

eddie 她

说男孩需要一杯热饮

他

很冷 你能出去给他拿点东西吗

艾迪

从不试图理解 女人叹息

说路上到处都是警察 你

想派艾迪出去喝杯热饮

奖品 凯西

你们中的一个人必须出去

打电话 给埃迪，

当你打电话给孩子

他需要什么

我要打电话给埃迪说

为什么不

没有理由好吧我会去

你知道该怎么做

所以我问

确保他有钱先

告诉他 十点整离开家

告诉他直接去他的车

一定是凯迪拉克

一定要告诉他 eddie 我们

不想让他用错车

告诉他一定是球童

好吧 埃迪说

告诉他开始开车远离

烟雾上升

说你会遇到有

进一步指示的人

确保你说他会遇到

谁会见他凯西问

你

没有人说他笑了

告诉他他会 一直被监视

，如果警察跟踪他，

我们会杀了那个男孩，

好吧，埃迪说

什么 你要我给凯西买

一包热巧克力和一些牛奶，

还有一些饼干吗？

他吻了她，说

我很快就会回来，

小心艾迪，

祝你好运，孩子，所以我说

这是

他给艾迪的电话号码 纸

埃迪出去上了车

，他开车沿着

马路走，

然后他独自锁上了门

，最后他对凯西说

，他笑了，

每个警察都看到了一些可怕的

景象

，史蒂夫·卡瑞拉也有一些不好的

回忆

他看到查尔斯·雷诺兹

走进房间

他知道他永远无法

忘记即将发生的事情

他想闭上眼睛

但他不能

终于注意到

他了国王抬头

看你到底想要什么雷诺兹

他说

雷诺兹朝国王迈了一步

我想请你为

我的儿子支付赎金国王先生

他说不要问我

国王说然后他转身 离开

我哈 我问你国王

雷诺兹先生说你没看到

我这辈子从来没有乞求过，但我

现在求你了，

国王先生，

我和你说话就像一个父亲对

另一个父亲请救救我的儿子，

我可以” 帮

不了你我帮不了杰夫

我不相信金先生你能

救他我还能问谁

你要我毁了我自己的生活

国王说你明白我做不到

怎么做 你想让我做雷诺兹说

我会做任何事我会

为我的余生白白工作

不要胡说八道你怎么

能让我跪下

国王先生

我应该跪下吗 求

你救杰夫

，他跪倒在地，

科雷拉不得不把目光移开，

国王颤抖着

站起来，他说

我在我的手和膝盖上雷诺兹说，

求求你，国王先生，求

你救救我的儿子，

科雷拉看到国王闭上了眼睛

过了一会儿，

他说

请起床雷诺兹，请

你不要打扰我，请你这样做，请

雷诺兹安静地站起来，他

转身 然后慢慢走出房间

道格拉斯国王盯着他

看你觉得烂吗？科雷拉国王先生问，

因为那是你是个烂

混蛋

看这里科雷拉我不

想听那个哦，去死吧，科雷拉国王先生

生气地说什么 你的事

steve Burns 说进房间

停下来 现在

是的 先生

我刚刚在打电话

换了车牌，

虽然

他停下来，因为 liz baloo

下楼她提着一个包，

手牵着 bobby king

早上好，她说有任何消息，

但恐怕不是男人烧伤说，

鲍比爸爸说杰夫回来了，但

没有儿子

我不是以为你要让他回来吗？

鲍比说，

有很长一段时间不舒服的沉默，

科雷拉希望他永远不会在他自己

儿子的脸上看到鲍比·金脸上

的表情，

来吧，鲍比，丽兹

说她对国王说

他是 即将来临 呃，到我家道格

，黛安你在哪里和她谈过

是的，但是给她时间没有好处道

格只是耐心

点你为什么不让杰夫回来，爸爸

鲍比问

但丽兹把他拉到门口

然后他们走了

我想我 应该解释 King 说我

知道我的拒绝

看起来电话响了

King 停止说话，corella

冲到窃听设备

接听 King 先生 他说让他

说话，只要你能

烧伤 拿起另一个电话

我该告诉他什么 国王

说告诉他

你拿到钱了

嗯，是的，我的意思是我有大部分

你是什么意思大部分我们告诉

你剩下的很快就会到这里

五十万美元

你知道的很多钱，我没有太多

时间得到它

他们 正在带来 从银行休息

，半小时后到，

好吧，听

我说，等

你10点整离开家，

把钱放在一个普通的盒子里，

去车库拿 进入黑色

凯迪拉克 一定是黑色凯迪拉克

你明白吗

是的 我明白 国王说

快点 和你

在一起，如果你被跟踪，不要让警察跟踪你，

我们会杀了那个男孩你明白吗

，

是的，

你会继续开车，直到有人

遇到你并给出指示

，这就是你必须知道的一切再见，

先生，等等，

让他继续说话烧伤 说他们已经

追踪到sans spit的电话，

国王先生，你想要

什么我们什么时候让男孩回来

我们怎么知道他还活着他

还活着

我可以和他说话

不

再见，国王先生

等你

他走了科雷拉说

他的声音 听起来不一样 这次租

我不认为是同一个人

在干得

好之前打电话给国王先生

谢谢

国王

闷闷不乐地说埃迪福尔森已经打完电话

现在他有一些购物要做

给我一包热巧克力和一瓶热巧克力

他说牛奶

和那里的一盒饼干

[音乐]

第 12 章

500 盛大必须是我们的

凯西担心

她在房间里来回走动 看着

窗外，一根接

一根地点燃一支烟

她说埃迪在哪里

“他现在不会回来了，

他会回来的，我说

记得你告诉他给孩子买巧克力

，并

在他回来时打电话给凯西说

你要到

10 点之前什么都不做” 时钟

，你会怎么做，然后

别担心，

一切都会好起来的，我们都会变得非常

富有，你知道为什么，因为 Psy

Bernard 正在计划这个

不小的时间朋克，就像你是

eddie，

他不小的时间 punk

no psy 说，

所以

他是个真正的大人物 你遇到了

这么大的人物吗

我们刚刚遇到了

凯西说仅此

而已但你知道他是个骗子

是的她说但对我来说没关系

他是一个好人

他只这样做是因为这是

他唯一知道

我知道他是 一个好男人，

你为什么要嫁给他

我爱他凯西说

你什么时候让我走杰夫

问

他躺在床上，凯西的

外套盖在他身上

闭嘴孩子psy说

他转向凯西

为什么担心埃迪这个人

海里的

鱼 比埃迪更聪明的鱼

他是我的丈夫 我爱他

爱

这只是为了青少年 没有

这样的事情

你弄错了 你只是不知道

凯西说过

一件事 我知道你已经准备好了 只是

一个便宜的骗子 他永远不会改变

现在为时已晚 因为这

一切都不会太晚 一旦

这一切结束了 就会有另一份工作 另一份工作

他停下来看着她 听我们

喝一杯

不谢谢 有

什么事不要' 你不喝

我不想要

埃迪在哪里

所以我拿起一瓶 e然后喝了

你知道你的问题是什么他问

她

你太担心

你不知道如何

生活来喝一杯

哦别管我她说我

不想喝

好吧所以我说站在这里 如果

那是你想做的事，

我会想更好的办法及时消磨

时间

他走近她

他的眼睛盯着她的

毛衣 他应该给你买些新衣服

像你这样的女孩需要好东西 而不是

这件旧毛衣

谢谢 凯西说莱利

知道我的想法所以我继续说你是

在和埃迪这样的朋克浪费你的时间

你需要

一个对世界有一点了解的

人她说

你不希望 警察会抓到

埃迪，

你从没想过做这份工作，

你所做的只是担心

孩子是否还好

我们会不会伤害他闭嘴闭嘴

对不起，杰夫看

你是个幸运的孩子，他说

这位女士真的 关心你

，她关心埃迪，

但肯定不是老的一面

他举起

我正在给你喝的瓶子 孩子 他

说你这个小混蛋

杰夫什么也没说 他因为

寒冷和恐惧而颤抖

回答我 psy

说你没有礼貌吗 男孩快点

说话 警察在外面找

因为你我走遍了马路

我想知道你怎么想

我不知道

杰夫说

你不认识像你这样聪明的小混蛋

一定有一些想法

你想让我去电椅吗

是你想要

阻止它吗 凯西说别管那个男孩

来吧 孩子 是或不是

你要我拿电椅

是的

我的意思

是 你这个小混蛋

叹息 你把男孩吓死了

突然杰夫冲向凯西

他用双臂搂住她

他把头埋在她的毛衣里

把手从她身边拿开

凯西把男孩拉近

一点就够

了 你到底在说

什么 没有女人告诉我我能做什么

他粗暴地把杰夫从她身边拉开

扔掉 房间对面的男孩

他 说

凯西尽可能用力打他怎么样

慢慢地 psy 拿出他的刀

好吧 宝贝 他说你终于

准备好玩视觉了 不要不要什么 宝贝

不要担心 我不会割伤 你

小心翼翼地把刀从她身上

划开，把毛衣撕成碎片

凯西移动她的手试图遮住

自己

赛笑了 把你的手拿开

我不会像长辈那样伤害你

现在

让我们

看看男孩似乎来了 不知从哪里，他

像一只野猫一样落在了psy的背上

踢腿 拉扯头发

sy转身

把男孩从他身上扯下来，把他

扔到地板上

凯西在门口试图解锁

，

所以我抓住她的胳膊把

她拉到 他

也许你最好放松点宝贝他

说

也许你会更喜欢

有人敲门

埃迪凯西小声说我

放开她立即

穿上你的外套他说

快点她听他

的话 这对 eddie sai 说

，孩子死了

psy 坐下 t o 男孩

打开门，他对凯西说

欢迎回家 叹了口气说，当埃迪进屋

时，你拿到牛奶了

吗 是

的 意见 我说

我有点兴奋 我想

我很抱歉 eddie

你

为什么穿着你的外套 eddie

问他的妻子

这里有点冷

你还好吗 有警察说

我没看到 单身警察 eddie 说，

听着，现在没有时间互相打架

我说我很抱歉 psy 说让

魔法盒工作 eddie 我想

知道警察在做什么，我会给你做

一些热巧克力 kathy

突然对收音机里的 jeff 说

杰夫·雷诺兹 (Jeff Reynolds) 使用的生命 carr

绑架了灰色福特 5 岁的

号码可能是 rn 6210

他们知道这辆车 eddie 大喊我们

改变了车牌但他们仍然

知道我们现在如何使用它

等等我说冷静 eddie 我会的 正在

开车 不是你听你说

你去商店的时候没有看到任何警察

好吧

我们要用这个收音机

找出他们的确切位置

他看了看他的手表

我们有半个小时

让我们希望 警察

在那段时间里发了很多信息，

我们不能失去那笔钱

，因为我们必须有 500 个盛大

[音乐]

第 13 章

早上 10 点把他关起来

道格拉斯·金家的前门打开了

国王出来了

他提着一个装满旧报纸的飞机箱

他去了他的车库 坐上黑色

凯迪拉克 开到路上

他似乎是一个人

在他身后没有警车

他似乎在

听绑匪的指示 完全

没有人 看着他的人会

知道 史蒂夫·卡瑞拉警探藏

在车尾

躺在地板

上 你看到什么了吗

卡瑞拉问

国王 有人从另一辆车上向你招手

头顶上是否有直升机

没有

没有 他们到底要怎么走

联系 ct you corella

早上 10 点说

eddie folsom 打开了他的无线电

设备

psy 在听到

足够多的声音知道警察在哪里

封锁道路后离开了

eddie 看了看他的无线电设备和

他的地图

然后他看了看 他的

手表是 10-3

他会

在 10 点再给国王 7 分钟 10

它将开始

你能看到任何东西 但是 corella

不

知道现在几点了

10-5

你为什么来 King corella 先生问一个

侦探可以代替你

我知道

国王停了片刻，然后

问你结婚了吗，科雷拉先生

是的

，你爱你的妻子

吗是的，

我爱我的，

这么多年后，

她今天早上离开了我

，你知道我

为什么这么想，

因为我不会付钱 杰夫雷诺兹的赎金

你认为我很烂

不是我不应该关心黛安

或鲍比或任何人 我

不知道

那我为什么会在这里

我在做

什么我自己也不明白科雷拉先生

我只知道我不能为那个男孩支付赎金

这会毁了我的生活

我又会变穷

黛安总是很富有先生 corella 她

不知道贫穷意味着什么

赎金

如果这意味着我很烂 那么我很烂

但我不会再贫穷

我想要我的房子、我的仆人和我的

带电话的大车

那一刻车里的电话

开始响起

科雷拉说什么

后座上电话说国王

电话响了

我的上帝这就是科雷拉说的继续

接听

国王举起听筒

你好

他

说听着雪人国王

的声音说仔细听我

会给你你的指示

不要放 挂断电话

没人能追踪到这个电话

我用的是收音机 不是电话 不要

尝试联系任何人就按照我

告诉你的去做，

不要耍花招，你明白吗，

我明白

科雷拉爬到前排座位

上，从国王那里接过电话

他知道绑匪

通过车载电话听到的声音不清楚

他希望 他的声音听起来

与国王的声音没有什么不同

值得冒险

你在哪里 eddie 被问到到

北 39 号穿过

culver corella 说

似乎 eddie 没有注意到

不同的声音

他平静地说

在北 40 号左转

向南直到你到达格罗弗大道

然后

当你到达大厅大道时再次左转让我知道

你明白了吗？

警察

知道我们在做什么

这些人很聪明，金先生，我希望我

知道如何阻止他们，我只希望我知道

赛伯纳德坐在他的车里，等着他

在半小时内抽完他的第十支烟

他焦急地看了看手表，

又看了看马路，

他奇怪地担心计划

会出错，

但

他的车怎么可能停在树林里，

完全被树木遮住了，

这个地方就在马路的一个弯道上

eddie 会告诉国王把那

盒钱扔出车窗

，然后

按照埃迪的指示快速

行驶

他们开车绕过弯道的时候

king 已经开走了，

他们

甚至不知道下降已经发生了，他们会继续跟随，

因为 king 无法告诉他们

eddie 会继续和 king 说话，

带领他和警察

越来越远，

直到 psy 捡到钱

开车回农舍

时， psy 进门时， eddie

会停止

传输计划是美丽的，

为什么他会这么担心

你？ 要过桥 埃迪

说他的眼睛在地图上

你必须付钱

准备好钱 不要说什么

也不要尝试任何把戏

如果你这样做

我们会杀了男孩

凯西听她丈夫说的

我们 “请杀死男孩

杀死男孩

我的丈夫说那些她认为

你觉得你怎么能说你怎样才能走出桥梁，是的，

他

现在说左转到高速公路上，继续

驾驶

让我知道你什么时候通过

16.

凯西 仔细看地图 上面

清楚地标明了农舍

和国王的

房子 红线一定是埃迪

带领国王

沿着那颗蓝星的意思

然后当然是psy躲藏的地方

等待国王放下他的 钱，

然后埃迪会让国王

开车让他离开那个地方并

迷惑任何追随者，

所以那是

psy在127号公路的弯道附近骑马的地方。

埃迪

她说

不是现在

他对着麦克风大喊他的手

埃迪让我们停下来 现在这个请求 请

不要，他说，

psy看了看他的手表，

快点，埃迪，他想快点让

国王带着钱来，

让我安全回到农舍，

拜托，

埃迪凯西说，如果你爱我，

我要求你这样做，我必须做 这个

凯西，我必须要说 eddie 生气地说，

好吧，我们刚通过 16

号出口。corella 说

很好，在 17 号出口下车，开始向北

行驶 离斯坦伯里一英里 凯西

突然对着打开的麦克风大喊

到底怎么回事，他转身阻止她，

但他来不及了，这些话

从她嘴里倾泻而出

在 127 号公路的拐弯处。

你听到科雷拉喊叫了吗？我

听到国王说

尽快到达那里

科雷拉切断了连接，

已经在打另一个电话

这是一名警官，立即给我

总部

塞伯纳德正在抽他的烟 第 15

支黑色凯迪拉克在弯道拐弯时抽了根烟，

这就是它，他认为这就是

它，汽车减速了，

他希望看到一个装满钱的盒子

从窗外掉到地上，

而不是门打开，然后

手里拿着枪的男子跳了出来，

psy启动了引擎，把车开向

他，但是那个人开枪

击中了一个轮胎并打破了

两个车窗，从

侧面开车经过他到马路上，然后

离开汽车，开始跑进

树林

里。 一个男人正在给他的枪重新装弹

另一个男人 一个大个子

从凯迪拉克车上跳下来并

在 psy

向他开枪后开始奔跑 psy 两次都错过了他

然后

枪是空的，他把枪扔掉了，

当大个子

穿过树林时，他

拿出了刀 刀在他的身体里

向上撕开国王的

外衣

，在他的皮肤上划出一道细细的血线，

但他的

双手曾经割破过皮革的强壮的手已经

到了喉咙那么大

，他把他握得越来越紧，

直到刀被他放开

从 psy 的手上掉到地上

，corella 过来帮助他

，然后到处

都是 两个警察发现男孩

坐在农舍的床上，肩膀上裹着毯子

jeff

其中一个人说

是

的，你还好吗

是的

在哪里 他们去了吗 另一个人问

把你留在这里的人是谁

杰夫犹豫了很长时间

然后他说

没有人

只有心理

我离开后我一直一个人在这里

他一定很震惊 一位警察

说 另一个

杰夫拒绝改变他的故事

更令人惊讶

的是，西伯纳德的故事与杰夫的故事完全

一样他独自工作他说

他不知道没有人叫凯西他不

知道警察在说什么

我们知道你在撒谎b ernard carella

告诉他，我不明白

你为什么要救 kathy

给他们一点

时间也许他们需要的只是时间

psy

突然说他的声音里有一种悲伤

也许一点时间就是任何人都

需要的

把他锁起来烧伤说

[音乐]

第 14 章

案件现在已经结案但是

回到第 87 分局大楼

11 月底的一个寒冷天，

史蒂夫·卡雷洛正在打字他关于杰弗里·雷诺兹绑架案的最终

报告，

他从打字机里拿出纸，

转向迈耶·迈耶，

说很高兴

完成了，尽管

迈耶说

网络纳德 在监狱里，

但是神秘的凯西和

那个喊她名字的男人呢？

他们现在

在国外哪里？我猜科雷拉说

我祝他们好运

，因为他们是绑匪

杰夫雷诺兹拒绝谈论t

赫姆科雷拉说

我猜这意味着他们对他很好 伯纳德

也不会说话

他停顿了一下

凯西

这是个好名字

她是个可爱的女孩 迈耶说她只

绑架

孩子 我们应该说一些关于

下一任道格拉斯国王的好话

他有一些坏事 当科雷拉说

他要他们的时候，

你知道他最高兴的是

什么，他在波士顿的交易已经

完成，他将

成为格兰杰鞋业的总裁，

为什么这个世界上的混蛋

总是名列前茅

他不必像伯纳德那样追赶伯纳德，

因为一个人有足够的勇气

面对一把刀，但这并不意味着他可以面对

自己迈耶说

给他时间

他说他不能改变

我认为他必须 改变

他的妻子回到他身边记得

她一定认为改变对他来说是可能的

说这个案子现在已经

结案了，但不知何故我觉得 它

仍然

对很多人

开放 meyer 这个案子还在

外面在寒冷的城市等待

[音乐]

你