He and the mayor glared at each other for a full fifteen seconds.

"Is that his name? Stevens? The dead one?" the mayor finally asked, almost conversationally.

"Charles David Stevens," Lowenstein furnished. The mayor turned his attention to Staff Inspector Wohl again: "Presumably you were aware of this 'arsenal of weapons'? That being the case, how come you didn't use Highway?"

"I didn't want theLedger complaining about excessive force by ' Carlucci's Jackbooted Gestapo,'" Wohl replied evenly. "Highway was alerted, in case they would be needed, and there were also stakeout units available. Neither was needed, which was fine with me; I didn't want an early morning gun battle."

Carlucci thought that over for a long moment before replying: "I'm not sure I would have taken that kind of a chance, Peter."

"We also have to submit quarterly reports to the Justice Department on how we're spending the ACT Grant funds. I thought that reporting that ACT-funded cops had assisted Homicide in the arrest of eight individuals charged with murder and armed robbery would look good."

"I still think I would have used Highway," the mayor said. "Youdid have a gun battle."

"I haven't had a chance to figure that out yet," Wohl said. "I don't think Stevens spotted the Homicide detective. Possibilities are that he got up to take a leak, and looked out his window, just as the units were moving into place."

"You said possibilities."

"Or somebody saw all the activity at the school playground, or as they were moving from the playground, and called Stevens."

"Somebody who?"

"Maybe the same somebody who issued the second press release."

"So you don't have all of them?"

"No. What Jason Washington is doing, right now, is trying to find out how many there are. He hopes Arthur X will tell him."

"What does Intelligence have to say about these people? Or Organized Crime?" Carlucci asked.

"Intelligence has nothing on the Islamic Liberation Army, period," Lowenstein answered. "And until they pulled this job, none of these people did anything that would make them of interest to Organized Crime. They had their names, or some of them, but with no ties to anyone serious. They're-or they were-small-time thieves."

"Czernick," the mayor said, "maybe you'd better have a talk with Intelligence. I find it hard to believe that one day last week, out of the clear blue sky, these bastards said, 'Okay, we're now the Islamic Liberation Army.' Intelligence should have something on them."

"Yes, sir," Commissioner Czernick said.

"But you are," the mayor said, looking at Lowenstein, "taking this second so-called press release seriously?"

"I don't think we should ignore it," Lowenstein replied.

"The newspapers aren't going to ignore it, you can bet your ass on that," Carlucci said.

"There's almost certainly at least one more of them," Wohl said. " Somebody was driving the van. Washington maybe can get a lead on him after he runs the seven of them through lineups."

"He hasn't done that yet?" Carlucci asked incredulously.

"He wanted them to have all day to consider their predicament. He'll start the lineups at half past six."

"There was an implied threat against Matt Payne in that second press release," Chief Inspector Dennis V. Coughlin said. It was the first time he had spoken. "How are you going to handle that?"

"Not specifically," the mayor said. "What it said was-" he went into his briefcase again for another photocopy and then read, "'Death to the murderers of our Brother.' Murderers, plural, not Payne by name."

"Maybe that was before he knew Matt shot him," Coughlin said.

"Denny, I know how you feel about that boy-" Carlucci said gently.

"Chief, he's a cop," Wohl interrupted, "and I don't want to give these people the satisfaction of thinking that they have scared us to the point where we are protecting a cop-"

"He's in a goddamn hospital bed!" Coughlin flared. "I don't give a good goddamn what these scumbags think."

"We had a talk with hospital security," Lowenstein said. "We changed his room. They're screening his phone calls. And Peter loaned him a gun."

"-And, "Wohl went on,"and, purely as a routine administrative matter, while he is recovering, I'm going to ask Captain Pekach of Highway to rearrange the duty schedules of Officers McFadden and Martinez so that they can spend some time, off duty, in civilian clothes, with Matt."

Coughlin looked at him, with gratitude in his eyes.

"And I wouldn't be surprised if other friends of his looked in on him from time to time," Wohl said.

"You, for example?" Carlucci asked, chuckling, "and maybe Denny?"

"Yes, sir. And maybe Sergeant Washington."

"Satisfied, Denny?" the mayor asked.

"I never thought I'd see the day in Philadelphia, Jerry," Coughlin said, "when scumbags would not only threaten a cop's life, but send out a press release announcing it."

"I think the press release is bullshit," Lowenstein said. "I think it's intended to scare Monahan."

"He the witness? Will it?" Carlucci asked.

"He's the only one with any balls," Lowenstein said. "And no. I don't think he'll scare."

"But we can forget the others, right? So we'd better hope this one doesn't scare. Or get himself killed."

"I haven't given up on the other witnesses," Lowenstein said. " Washington hasn't talked to them yet. I meanreally talked to them."

"Don't hold your breath," Carlucci said.

"It seems to me," Commissioner Czernick said, "that our first priority is the protection of Mr. Monahan."

The mayor looked at him and shook his head.

"You figured that out all by yourself, did you?" he asked.

Then he closed his briefcase and stood up.

There is a price, Wohl thought, for being appointed police commissioner.

Commissioner Czernick waited until the mayor had left the conference room. Then, his face still showing signs of the flush that had come to it when Carlucci had humiliated him, he pointed at Lowenstein and Wohl.

"That's the last time either one of you will pull something like that harebrained scheme you pulled this morning without coming to me and getting my permission. The last time. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Wohl said.

"Whatever you say, Commissioner," Lowenstein said.

"And I want Highway in on the protection of Mr. Monahan, Wohl. We can't take any chances with him."

"Yes, sir."

Commissioner Czernick looked sternly at each man, and then marched out of his conference room.

"Remember that, Peter," Coughlin said. "No more harebrained schemes are to be pulled without the commissioner's permission."

"Jesus," Wohl said, and then laughed, "I thought that's what he said."

"Well, it made him happy," Lowenstein said. "It gave him a chance to give an order all by himself."

"Twoorders," Coughlin replied. "You heard what he told Peter. He wants Highway in on protecting Monahan."

"That's the exception proving the rule. That makes sense."

"I'm not so sure," Wohl said.

"Now you're not making sense," Lowenstein said.

"The first priority, agreeing with the commissioner, is to protect the Monahans. The second priority is to make the Monahans feel protected. I decided the best way I could do that, during the day, when Mr. Monahan's at work, is with two plainclothes officers in an unmarked car. A blue-and-white sitting in front of Goldblatt's all day would give people the impression we're afraid of the ILA-" He interrupted himself. "That's dangerous. Did you hear what I said?"

"I heard," Lowenstein said.

"I called these scumbags the ILA. I don't want to get in the habit of doing that."

"No, we don't," Coughlin agreed.

"There is another car, a blue-and-white, with uniformed officers, at his house," Wohl went on. "There will be one there, twenty-four hours a day, from now on. That will reassure Mrs. Monahan, and if an associate ofthese felons should happen to ride by the Monahan house, they will see the blue-and-white."