Late the next afternoon, Lindbergh, Schwarzkopf and I met a black touring car that rolled to a stop near the garage command post. The car had Virginia license plates and a small American flag on its radio antenna. Three men stepped out.
The driver was a long, lean man in his late sixties wearing a well-tailored navy-blue suit under a tan camel-hair topcoat; his face was hawklike, with a trim gray mustache, his stone-gray hair parted neatly in the middle. In the backseat had been a stocky, balding fellow in black and his vague fifties, several chins rubbing his clerical collar, his eyes wide-set and buggy. Riding in front had been the most prepossessing of this singular trio, a big, tanned, muscular-looking man with a round, pleasant face under a jaunty bowler; he wore a gray topcoat over his dark suit, a red-white-and-blue tie peeking out from under.
Lindbergh greeted them, speaking to the thin, mustached hawk-faced man first. “Admiral Burrage,” he said. “Good of you to come.”
“Pleasure to see you again, Colonel,” he said, his smile somber. “Sorry the circumstances are such as they are. Is your mother well?”
“She is, thank you.”
“Good. Good.” Burrage introduced the clergyman as the Very Reverend Dobson-Peacock, and the tanned hail-fellow-well-met as Commodore John Hughes Curtis.
“This is Colonel Schwarzkopf of the New Jersey State Police,” Lindbergh said, gesturing to the impressively uniformed police official, and the men began shaking hands all round. “He’ll be sitting in with us. So will Detective Nathan Heller, of the Chicago Police Department.”
They looked at me curiously, as well they might, and Curtis said, with a pixie smile, “Have you wandered off your beat, son?”
“Not really,” I said, shaking the hand he offered. “From the first day of this affair there’ve been indications the Capone outfit may be involved. I’m here to check that angle out.”
Curtis nodded somberly. “That certainly doesn’t contradict what I’ve experienced, Detective Heller.”
“Just out of curiosity, Commodore,” I asked, “what are you commodore of?”
“The Norfolk Yacht Club.”
“Why don’t we all step inside,” Lindbergh said, gesturing toward the house. “We have much to discuss.”
In the study, Elsie Whately brought in a tray of tea and coffee, and we got settled around in chairs all cozy with our cups in hand, the fireplace going. Lindbergh, who was drinking milk, took his position behind the cluttered desk and said, “I’m sorry if there were problems getting in touch with me.”
Dobson-Peacock spoke up; his voice was as British-sounding as his name.
“Frankly, Colonel,” he said, not hiding his exasperation, “it’s been a frustrating experience, getting through. I left a message with a gentleman…” The word “gentleman” was invested with considerable sarcasm. “…who identified himself as your ‘secretary’-a Mr. Rosner. This was some days ago, Colonel.”
Lindbergh lifted one eyebrow, barely, and set it back down.
“I’m sorry, Reverend. But things have been harried here. It took me two days to return a call to the White House, last week.”
“Charles,” the admiral said gently, “I hope you know that I would go to the ends of the earth to help you get your boy back.”
“Thank you, Admiral.”
“Then forgive me for asking, but have we spoken recently?”
“Why, no. I received your letter, and had Colonel Breckinridge contact you…”
“Well, when I called here, I spoke with someone who identified himself as you but-clearly wasn’t.”
I’d played that game once myself, but wasn’t the guilty party this time.
Burrage was saying, with stiff formality, “At first I spoke with this fellow Rosner-who said, and I quote, ‘Oh, another admiral, huh?’ Soon I spoke to someone who identified himself as ‘Colonel Lindbergh,’ and met my information with utter indifference. I’m not convinced it wasn’t the same man.”
“Gentlemen,” Lindbergh said, his weariness apparent, his embarrassment, too, “I’m sorry you were inconvenienced, and treated disrespectfully…”
“Charles,” Burrage said, “no one is looking for an apology, good Lord, not at all. We merely want to make clear to you why it’s taken us so long to put this possibly vital information before you.”
“We would hate,” Dobson-Peacock said, teacup daintily in hand, “to be found negligent, when in fact we’ve made every reasonable effort to…”
Lindbergh raised a palm. “You’re here. The delay, whoever’s fault it may have been, is behind us. Commodore Curtis, I’d appreciate hearing your story.”
Curtis beamed. “I’m relieved to be here, at last, Colonel. So very relieved.” He swallowed, and began: “On the night of March ninth I was attending a meeting at the Norfolk Yacht Club. Every yachtsman in the club was there, it was urgent business-winter storms were raising hell with our piers and moorings. You know how it is.”
Lindbergh, hands folded before him prayerfully, nodded.
Curtis went on: “I was one of the last to leave the meeting. And I’d had a little to drink, frankly, but what happened in the parking lot sobered me up immediately.”
An old Hudson sedan had pulled alongside Curtis, actually blocking the path of his green Hudson, making him stop. At first he’d assumed it was one of his yachting friends, but then he recognized the driver as Sam, a rumrunner for whom Curtis had on several occasions arranged boat repairs.
“Sam jumped out of his car,” Curtis said, gesturing with both hands, his eyes intense, “and jumped onto my running board. He leaned in the window and said, ‘Don’t get sore, Mr. Curtis! I gotta talk to you.’”
Sam had slipped into the front seat and was “shaking like a leaf.” The normally “cool as a cucumber” rumrunner made Curtis promise he would not tell anyone what he was about to reveal. Curtis promised. Sam said he’d been sent to Curtis by the gang that stole the Lindbergh baby.
“He said they wanted him to contact me,” Curtis said, gesturing to himself, as if he couldn’t believe his own words, “to form a small, select committee of prominent Norfolk citizens who would act as intermediaries…to arrange the ransom payment and the return of the child.”
Curtis had asked, Why me? And why Norfolk, Virginia, of all places? Sam had answered the latter question by saying that the kidnappers feared a demand for a split, or a flat-out hijack, from Owney Madden’s New York mob; and as to the former, well, Curtis was known to be a “square John.” He’d repaired boats for rumrunners-like many a dockyard man along the coast-but was at the same time a pillar of society.
“I asked them why they didn’t deal with these appointed underworld go-betweens the papers were talking about,” Curtis said, “Spitale and Bitz. And Sam said the gang wrote them off as small-timers, a joke.”
I interrupted with a question. “How reliable is this guy, this ‘Sam’?”
Curtis shrugged. “I’ve never caught him in a lie or an attempted fraud. I’d say, for a man in a shady line of work, he’s a square-dealer. I’ve even put a good word in for him with the Coast Guard, occasionally.”
“What’s his last name?”
“I don’t know. He has a lot of aliases.”
Lindbergh said, “Can you get in touch with him?”
Curtis nodded. “Yes. But I feel I must protect Sam, at this juncture, to better protect your son. If anyone but me contacts him, it might be risky.”
“I agree,” Lindbergh said.
Here we go again: playing by the rules in a game set up by cheats.
“I told Sam, emphatically,” Curtis said, emphatically, “that under no circumstances would I ask you for any money, Colonel Lindbergh. Sam claimed that the gang understood this, and that they wanted the ransom deposited in a Norfolk bank and only paid after the child had been returned safe and sound.”
Lindbergh’s eyes narrowed.
“At any rate, that was what Sam said on the first meeting,” Curtis said. He almost whispered the next, milking the melodrama: “Sam called again, four days ago. He told me the kidnappers are getting ‘antsy’-though the baby is all right. They hired a special nurse and are following the diet Mrs. Lindbergh published in the papers. They also say they bought a new outfit for the little boy.”
All of the latter tallied with Condon’s cemetery contact: the nurse following the diet; buying a new outfit, after the sleeper had been sent along.
“Sam told me,” Curtis said, “that you’re negotiating with another member of the same gang up here. Sam says the man up here wants fifty thousand dollars, maybe as much as one hundred thousand dollars. But Sam says he can deliver your son for twenty-five thousand dollars.”
Lindbergh and I exchanged sharp glances. Not a word about Condon had leaked to the press-yet the Norfolk gang seemed to know about Jafsie’s negotiations, and the increased ransom demand.
“The token of good faith the kidnappers are demanding,” Curtis said, “is that sum-twenty-five thousand dollars-deposited in a Norfolk bank in the name of the three of us…Reverend Dobson-Peacock, Admiral Burrage and myself. We have been accepted as the committee of intermediaries.”
Curtis sat back, finished with his tale, and Lindbergh sat and stared at his folded hands. The fire crackled and snapped. The three gents from Virginia exchanged uneasy glances. Silence hung in the room like steam.
Awkwardly, Curtis broke the silence. “Colonel-how much ransom are you willing to pay? Is that figure too high…?”
Without looking up, Lindbergh said, “I can’t agree on any sum, until I have positive proof that I’m dealing with the right people.”
Of course, he couldn’t tell these three that he was already deep in negotiations with Condon’s Cemetery John. Even if their contact, Sam, already seemed to know as much, it was clear that Curtis, Dobson-Peacock and Burrage didn’t.
“If they really have my child,” Lindbergh said, “they can prove it by describing certain physical characteristics the boy has, which haven’t been shared with the press.”
Curtis, obviously disturbed by the tentativeness of this, said, “Colonel, I’ve told Sam repeatedly that under no circumstances will any money be handed over until you hold your boy in your arms…”
Lindbergh rose. “I have no doubt, gentlemen, of your good intentions.” He looked at Burrage and said, “Admiral, I know you want only the best for Anne and Charlie and me.”
The three men, sensing their imminent dismissal, stood. They looked crestfallen to a man.
Lindbergh came around and placed a hand on Burrage’s shoulder. “But, gentlemen, I’m in no position right now to deposit that twenty-five thousand dollars.”
Curtis said, “If that’s the case, Colonel, I’m sure I could raise the money myself, among my friends at the club…”
Lindbergh raised a hand, gently. He said, “I’m not closing any doors, Commodore. Tell your friend Sam that if he can give you-or the Admiral or the Reverend-a photo of Charlie taken since the night he disappeared, I’ll be convinced.”
Curtis nodded, apparently pacified.
“Or,” Lindbergh said, “get a few words in writing from them, and tell them to sign the note with a certain symbol.”
“Certain symbol?” Curtis asked.
“They’ll know,” Lindbergh said. “At least they will, if they’re for real. I want to thank you for your trouble, for your concern, for your long trip north…could I invite you to stay for dinner?”
“We’d be honored,” Curtis said, quickly.
Reverend Dobson-Peacock, who clearly loved to eat, was nodding his second. Burrage seemed vaguely embarrassed, but he thanked Lindbergh and also accepted.
Lindbergh showed them into the living room, gesturing to Schwarzkopf and myself to stay in the study. We could hear the dog’s bark echoing out there.
Lindy returned without them, shortly, and said, “Well?”
“I can’t read it,” I said.
Schwarzkopf laughed shortly. “That’s not like you, Heller. You always have an opinion. Particularly, a negative one.”
“Not this time. The Admiral and the Reverend are legit-Curtis is maybe a wild card. He seems a little full of himself.”
“He’s a successful shipbuilder,” Lindbergh said.
“These are hard times,” I said. “A check on his financial status wouldn’t hurt.”
“I agree with Heller,” Schwarzkopf said, a little surprised that he did.
Lindbergh nodded his assent. “But some of what Curtis said does jibe with information from Professor Condon’s contact.”
“Except his ‘Sam’ is willing to settle for twenty-five thousand,” Schwarzkopf pointed out. “‘John’ wants seventy.”
Lindbergh sighed. Shook his head. “I don’t know what to think. Hell. Maybe we should be encouraged that a gang member is offering my son’s return at a bargain rate.”
“This half-price sale,” I said, “may not be a good sign.”
They both looked at me.
“It may mean there’s dissension in the ranks. If this is the same group, and different members are approaching different parties to sell the kid to, well…” I shrugged.
Lindbergh went over and poked at the fire. It was dying. His mouth was drawn tight.
“By the way, Colonel,” Schwarzkopf said, “I want to make it clear that I was not the one who gave Admiral Burrage the run-around on the phone.”
“Mickey did that,” I said, “dollars to doughnuts.”
“Certainly at the very least,” Schwarzkopf said, “that little hoodlum was goddamned rude to the Admiral.”
Lindbergh said nothing. Just poked the fire.
“You know that splash in the papers the other day,” I said, “where Rosner and Spitale and Bitz spouted off to the press? Well, it wasn’t quite how it played in the papers.”
“What do you mean?” Lindbergh asked.
The papers had indicated each man had been tracked down at his home or business, for interview; I explained that in fact the three had held a press conference in their speakeasy, which catered to the yellow press.
“Colonel,” Lindbergh said to Schwarzkopf, rather distantly, “I notice you’ve sent some of your men home.” He stirred the glowing ashes. “How should I interpret that?”
Schwarzkopf stood as if at attention. “Strictly a budgetary measure. I’m afraid we’ve exhausted the five thousand dollars in the State Police Emergency Fund.”
“I see.”
“We’ve cut off the catering from New York, and are now having meals prepared at Lambertville Barracks, and shipped here by car every day.”
Lindbergh nodded. He looked at Schwarzkopf; the fire glowed orangely on the young Lindbergh’s rather bland face. He said, “I wish I could afford to feed your men myself, Colonel. God knows I appreciate what they, and you, have done.”
“And will continue to do. I’m simply curtailing all unnecessary expenses. I’ll be appearing before the State Finance Committee next week, looking for more funds.”
“I’m sorry you’ve run through your emergency kitty.”
“Colonel, we’ve already spent far more than that.”
“How much has this effort cost, thus far?”
Schwarzkopf swallowed. “Fifty thousand dollars, Colonel.”
Lindbergh looked blankly into the fire. “Fifty thousand dollars. The initial ransom figure. There’s an irony in that, somewhere.”
“If there is,” Schwarzkopf said, “I’m sure your friend Mr. Heller will find it.”
Schwarzkopf nodded curtly to Lindbergh and went out, revealing Mickey Rosner leaning against the wall, reading the Daily News.
“Step in here, Mr. Rosner,” Lindbergh said.
“Sure, Colonel.”
Mickey, wearing a cocky little smile, stood and rocked on his heels.
“I want you to do something for me.”
“Just name it, Colonel.”
“Take Spitale and Bitz off the case.”
“Well…sure. But, why?”
“They aren’t acceptable intermediaries.”
“Well…you’re the boss. Anything else?”
“Yes. Clear out.”
“Clear out? You mean…clear out?”
“Clear out. You’re off the case, too.”
Rosner looked at me and sneered. “Thanks for nothing, Heller.”
“Any time, Mickey,” I said.
Rosner breathed through his nose, nodded to Lindbergh and shut the door behind him.
“No answer to our ad,” Lindbergh said, turning to me, what just happened with Rosner already forgotten, or anyway, filed away.
“Give it time,” I said. “These boys have moved slowly all the way. No need to read anything into it.”
“I suppose. Anyway, this time the money is ready. Fifty thousand of it, at least. This afternoon armed guards from J. P. Morgan brought the cash to the Fordham Branch of the Corn Exchange Bank, where I’ve arranged for Professor Condon to have twenty-four-hour access to it.”
“You’ve made a list of the serial numbers, surely?”
“No.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
“You think I’m botching this, don’t you, Nate?”
“What I think isn’t important.”
“It is to me.”
“Then let Frank Wilson and Elmer Irey and the rest of the T-men take the gloves off.”
He said nothing.
Then he put a hand on my shoulder and said, “I just want Charlie back. I want this to be over, and Charlie to be back with his mother. Understand?”
I understood. You didn’t have to be a father to understand that.
He removed his hand; smiled awkwardly. “Join us for dinner?”
“Thanks. I’d like the chance to study those three Virginians a little more.”
“I may have you look into Curtis-discreetly.”
“That would be my pleasure.”
“But I have something else I’d like you to do, first.”
“Oh?”
“Would you take a trip to Washington, D.C., for me? I want you to meet this Mrs. McLean.”
“The society dame who’s hired Gaston Means to play private eye?”
“That’s right. Apparently Mrs. McLean has put together one hundred thousand dollars in fives, tens and twenties to give Means to give the kidnappers. I’d like you to find out if she’s spending her money wisely.”