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?“With DeStadler’s big voice?” Sheryl replied. “I think the whole neighborhood heard.”
?She stepped out of the room and I quickly put on fresh clothes, though I put on the same sports coat I had last night, as the pockets already contained my phone, wallet, and that silly pipe Stewart had given me.
?I went into the bathroom and patted down my wild hair with water. One of the uniformed officers came over to me.
?“Put your hands behind your back, please,” the officer said, and I immediately complied.
?He tightened cuffs around my wrists and led me to the door.
?DeStadler looked over at Sheryl. “Have your phone nearby if I need to talk to you.”
?“Or arrest me?” Sheryl mocked with a snide tone.
?“Maybe.”
?“Before you go—” Sheryl handed DeStadler a plastic bag.
?“What’s this?” DeStadler wondered.
?“The pipe Jon Kane had in his pocket last night.”
?He held up the plastic bag, gazed at the pipe, and turned it over in his hand. “How many of these are there?”
?“That is an excellent question, detective,” Sheryl considered as a thoughtful look passed over her face.
?DeStadler nodded, handed the bag to the officer who didn’t really escort me but stood by if I made a run for it. As if I would run with my hands bound. We went to the hall and got in the elevator.
?“I ask you to do one thing—” DeStadler shook his head. “Just keep Jon Kane with you—”
?“I don’t understand why he ran,” I wondered. “It makes no sense. He said he was concerned that the murderer was after him.”
?“Makes sense in one case,” DeStadler said.
?“And that is?”
?“If he thinks you’re the murderer.”
?I thought about it on the ride down to the lobby.
?Yes, that did make sense. As much as any of this did.
* * *
?I arrived at the police station, yet again, and wondered if I would stay in the nice filthy holding cell or be sent to Rikers.
?For someone who led a pretty stable life free of criminal activity, even jaywalking—which is difficult to avoid when you’re a New Yorker—I had barely ventured out in the last two years and now I was spending a lot of that time in jail.
?If Susie could see this, what would she think?
?It was about 9:00 A.M. when I was brought to the precinct with the odd feeling that I could call everyone by name at this point. I was quickly taken to a holding cell by the unsmiling officer.
?Remnants of Saturday night’s arrests were still in the cell I was given. Several gentlemen were still asleep, one guy mumbled about his mother, and the smell of vomit wafted through the air.
?I made myself as comfortable as one can and sat on a hard bench, leaned my head back against the bars, and closed my eyes. I hoped that I could get back into the lovely dream with Sheryl. When I saw her in that sheer nightgown, it had reminded me of the topless tunic she wore as Athena, though not as revealing.
?I must have dozed for a few minutes when I felt myself shaken.
?“Wha—” I opened my eyes to see a police officer there.
