The Killer That Stalked New York

New York. The biggest town

in the whole wide world.

And because I love it. I think it's the best.

It's safe and secure,

like the granite it's built on.

How do I know? I live in it. I know it.

Better than that. I know the muscles of it.

I watched it fight for its life.

That's what this story is all about.

When we almost had a city

without any of those people.

When a killer stalked them in the street.

It began on a November day in 1947.

Death didn't sneak into town

riding the rods or huddled in a boxcar.

It came in on a streamliner,

first class, extra fare,

right into the Pennsylvania Station,

big as life.

And when it finally stepped out

of its drawing room and onto the platform,

it was something to whistle at.

It wore lipstick. nylons

and a beautifully tailored coat

that sported a silver dancing girl.

Souvenir of Cuba.

Its name was Sheila Bennet.

A pretty face with a frame to match,

worth following.

And followed she was by a big-faced man

from the U.S. Customs Service.

A T-man on the make.

Not for the girl. but for what she had done.

She knew he was there.

And it made her nervous.

Real nervous.

Odd part about the whole thing is

the customs cop thought he wasjust

trailing a candidate for a federal pen.

Never suspected

the blonde target was a killer.

Oh, no. She didn't deal death out of

the end of a gun or off the point of a knife.

She delivered it wholesale.

Just by walking through a crowd. climbing

some stairs, pushing through a turnstile.

Standing in the station.

Better than wholesale.

For free. No charge.

The tragedy was she didn't know

she was death either.

This is what made thejigsaw puzzle

so tough to put together.

If the T-man had known

and if Sheila had known,

my hometown wouldn't have been

punched to its knees a short time later.

All Sheila knew. she had a headache.

- Aspirin, please.

- Sorry, we haven't any.

A headache, butterflies about

the T-man who was following her,

and a terrible hunger to get to her husband.

I guess when a woman loves a man,

a headache is a simple thing.

Shaking a bloodhound off

a red-hot trail is worth the risk

if it means getting rid of that pain

that comes with empty arms.

So little a thing as

the sound of a lover's voice

can give a woman a lot ofstrength.

To get it. Sheila dropped a nickel in the slot.

Hello. Sheila, where are you?

Penn Station. I just got in.

I missed you, Matt, terribly.

No more than I've missed you.

Is everything all right?

I'm being followed. Positive.

Have you got them with you?

No, I mailed them along the way.

I wasn't taking any chances.

Smart girl. All right, then, listen carefully.

Check into the America Hotel and...

Don't ask me to do that, Matt.

I can't stay away any longer.

It's all I've been thinking about.

All the way from Cuba, just seeing you.

You want to queer everything?

All right then, do as I tell you

and stay away for a couple of days.

Maybe a federal cop was waiting for you

to lead him here.

That's a good girl.

I'll call Francie at her office

and tell her you're back. Bye, baby.

Francie, your sister's back.

I'm frightened, Matt.

There's nothing to worry about

as long as you do as I tell you.

Oh, Matt.

Just let me handle this.

- Porter, ma'am?

- Yes, please.

America Hotel, please.

Anything wrong, miss?

Is the hotel doctor around?

He's gone, past office hours.

Dr. Findley takes his calls.

I can get him over.

Please.

Ten dollars if he comes over here.

Five if you go there.

He's just up the street.

How would you like to make that extra five?

Brains, they call me. Brainy Danny.

There's somebody waiting downstairs.

- Somebody I don't want to see.

- Freight elevator, out the back way.

My friend might have thought of that, too.

Come on. I know a different way.

- Smart boy.

- Ask anybody. Brainy Danny.

There now.

You'd better come along with me.

- I'll be all right, Officer.

- Will you, now?

Maybe we can get the doctor in the

Health Office here to take a look at you.

I know. The clinic is only supposed to

handle babies and mothers and take x-rays,

but she's an emergency case.

Here.

- Feel better?

- Yes, thanks.

I think we'd better let the doctor see you.

Yeah, you'd better, miss.

Well, I'll be getting back to the beat.

- Thanks, Houlihan.

- Not at all. Don't mention it.

Your name?

Agnes. Dean.

- Address?

-621 East 10th.

I'll tell Dr. Wood.

But, Officer, that no parking sign

wasn't here when I drove up.

I'm going to the hospital.

- Is that good?

- In an ambulance.

Great. Gonna get a free ride

in an automobile.

Do you have a little girl?

No. But I wish I did.

Say, that's a mighty big handkerchief

for such a little girl.

Dr. Wood gave me it for when I cough.

It keeps my germs locked up.

- What's your name?

- Walda. That's a pretty pin.

Here, would you like it?

There we are.

But I can take care of her at home.

What about the other kids?

Alec, Timmy, the twins?

Walda's cough is contagious.

That's why the city has hospitals

like Willard Parker.

But she's so little.

She has never been away from home.

She cries so easy.

I'll tell you what. I'll look in on her

myself every night. How's that?

Now, you haven't got a thing to worry about.

Walda's going to be all right.

- Thank you.

- Good night.

- Houlihan brought you a patient.

- Another emergency?

- She fainted.

- All right, send her in.

- What do you do for a living?

- I'm a singer.

- Eat regularly?

- Mostly on the run.

- Try slowing down for a while.

- It's nothing serious, is it?

No, I don't think so, but see

your own doctor. He'll make some tests.

Meanwhile take this medicine as directed.

Thanks.

Tired?

Yeah. Tired of worrying about

where people live and how they live

and whether the water

they drink is polluted and...

- I'll buy you a sandwich?

- Can't.

- Have some lab work to finish.

- Even on your own time?

I get my bad habits from you.

You didn't have to promise

to look in on Walda every night either.

Matt!

- Matt!

- Who is it?

It's me Matt, Sheila.

Sheila.

Hey, hey, let a husband get to his wife.

- Hello, baby.

- Hello.

I hadn't figured on you for a couple of days.

I lost the cop, Matt.

Are you sure?

He may have followed you here.

- He's still waiting at the hotel.

- Matt called me right after he talked to you.

- It's good to be home again.

- Just like old times, the three of us.

Only I'm not sharing

my husband with anybody.

Well, it looks like I'm a crowd.

I'll talk to you tomorrow, Sheila.

Now we can go away.

Are you sure the cop didn't

see you mail those stones?

I was very careful, Matt.

With $50,000 in diamonds,

we can go anywhere we want to

and not worry about a thing.

And you never saw her again

after you brought her up, huh?

No, sir. But I thought she was

up to something, the way she was acting.

How was she acting?

Well, you know, shifty, kind of.

Any idea how she got out?

No, sir. I couldn't say.

All right, you can go.

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