RANSVESTIA

Ms Appleton if she gets in their way.

"Do you feel threatened in any way, Candy?" asked Phelan. "No," said Candy, her pink lips splitting apart in an attrac- tive pout. "I saw nothing. I'm in no danger at all.”

"Well, Sergeant," Phelan turned back to Hamilton and gave him a big toothy smile. "Either you must charge my client, or release her immediately."

Hamilton's face contorted in rage. "Get out of here!” he stormed. "Get out of here the pair of you! When she wakes up one night, counsellor, to find a large man with a large gun stand- ing over her to wish her good luck in the next world, she'll damn and curse you to every living hell that exists on this earth!"

Seivers mouth dropped open even as the lawyer blanched. Only Candy, an enigmatic smile on her bright lips, seemed still in control of herself as Phelan tucked his arm through hers and led her out of the ravaged apartments.

Pezanski had also rarely heard Bud Hamilton raise his voice. He edged to the door and would have left, but Bud's calm voice interrupted him. "Where are you going?" Bud asked.

Pezanski looked to Seivers, who was also stunned by Bud's sudden change of tone. "To follow them," said Pezanski. "You'll want a tail on them, won't you?"

Hamilton shook his head. "Let them go," he said, giving them both a wry smile. "We don't want to crowd them too much." But he walked to the door nevertheless, supervised the re-imposition of the police lock on the door and then led the others downstairs to where the radio truck had pulled up to await them. "Bring the car after us, Al," he ordered the older detective while motioning Ray Pezanski to follow him into the

van.

The technician on duty nodded to Bud as he eased himself into one of the chairs beside the large tape recorders in the back of the vehicle.

"She's very good," said the technician admiringly. "She hasn't tipped it to the guy, but we've got the route mapped out. They're on Bleeker right now, turning east at the lights on Sixty-Fifth,"

Hamilton smiled. "Stay with her," he said, donning a pair of earphones to listen to 'her' conversation with Phelan. "This is one decoy we absolutely do not want to lose."

Later)

Of all the places Gussie Phelan might have taken her, Candy had not expected to be taken to a nightclub. She had to admire

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