"You mean I gave up an incredible piece of ass for this?" he asked, spreading his arms out helplessly.
"Sorry."
"No big deal," the pusher said. "She's gone, but she'll be back. She needs her candy, and I's de candy man, bro." He showed two rows of gleaming white teeth.
"Maybe she's lost her sweet tooth," Remo said.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Remo left Danny the Man's building. There was no sign of the girl. She had probably gone off somewhere to enjoy her new high.
Anxious to find out if Smith had come up with anything, Remo found a pay phone. It was an old-fashioned booth, with a door and a light that didn't work when he closed it behind him. To his surprise, the phone did work.
He dialed the necessary digits and got Smith on the line.
He didn't notice the group of black youths that was following him.
At the same time a similar group of youths— these white— were moving down the hall toward Remo and Chiun's hotel room. White youths were as unnoticeable in the hotel as blacks were in the ghetto.
There were six of them. Many more, their leader thought, than would be needed to take care of one old chink.
They clustered around the door and, using the mass of their weight, broke it open and burst into the room.
They were not quite prepared for what met them.
"I've got a common denominator, but I'm not sure I understand it yet," Smith told Remo.
"Tell me about it," Remo said. "We'll figure it out together."
"Well, the figures on drug arrests are down in all three cities," Smith said. "For that to be the case in three major cities in the United States— especially those the size of New York and Los Angeles— is quite improbable. But nevertheless true, according to my computations."
"It's true."
"What do you know?" Smith asked. "Specifically."
"Kids, specifically. This whole thing seems to be about kids."
"Well? Who killed Billy Martin?"
"I still don't know that, but I think I know why he was killed."
"All right, that's a start. Tell me why."
"According to the detective who made the arrest, the Martin kid was promising to spill some pretty big beans in exchange for a deal, but he got killed before he could tell them what it was."
"And you know what it was?"
"I think so. I think what he was going to tell them about was a whole new way of dealing drugs."
"Explain."
"They're using kids— minors— and when these kids get arrested, they go up on juvenile charges, which wouldn't show up in the drug statistics."
"And that's why the figures seem to have gone down."
"Right."
"Then the figures really haven't gone down at all. They just seem to have."
"Right again."
"Well, what good does that do?" Smith asked, puzzled.
"Smitty," Remo said, as if he were talking to a child, "it makes it look like the police are doing a fabulous job. The figures look like they've gone down, and you know police work is all stats. If the stats look good, so do the cops."
"Wait, let me confirm this with the computers while I have you on the line."
"Hey, it's your money," Remo said.
While Smitty played with his machines, Remo became aware of movement outside the phone booth. He was annoyed with himself that he hadn't noticed it earlier. On the sly he checked out the situation; anyone looking into the booth would think he was totally involved with his telephone call.
"This confirms it," Smith said, coming back on the line.
"What does?"
"The computer shows that all of the other juveniles who were killed in those three cities had come into a lot of money recently, and they all had police records."
"Involving drugs?"
"As you said, it wouldn't show up, but the mere presence of the record and the money is enough to indicate that your supposition is correct."
"Pretty smart for an assassin, huh?"
"I beg your pardon?" Smith asked.
Remo sighed. Smitty had the sense of humor of a bowling ball. "Forget it. I'm going to break this thing, if only to get Chiun off his somebody-is-killing-the-children-of-the-world kick."
"He takes that very seriously."
"Chiun takes everything very seriously. Have you got anything yet on that guy I asked you to check out?"
"Not yet."
"Well, I've got something else you can put your machines to work on."
"What?"