APPROXIMATELY THREE WEEKS AFTER the parole of John Anderson from Sing Sing Penitentiary, intermittent electronic surveillance was established on his newly rented furnished rooms at 314 Harrar Street, Brooklyn, New York. The device used has not been verified. The following tape is coded NYPD-JDA-146-09. It is not dated. Speakers have been identified by voice prints and internal evidence.
ANDERSON: Ed Brodsky?
BILLY: He ain’t here.
ANDERSON: Is that you, Billy?
BILLY: Who’s this?
ANDERSON: I’m the guy you went to the Peters-McCoy fight with, at the old Garden.
BILLY: Gee, this is great! Duke, how.…
ANDERSON: Shut up and listen to me. Got a pencil?
BILLY: Wait a sec … yeah … okay, Duke, I got a pencil.
ANDERSON: How long will it take you to get to a pay phone?
BILLY: Five minutes maybe.
ANDERSON: Call me at this number, Billy. Now write it down.
BILLY: Okay, go ahead. I’m ready.
ANDERSON: Five-five-five-six-six-seven-one. Got that?
BILLY: Yeah. Sure.
ANDERSON: Read it back.
BILLY: Five-five-five-six-six-one-seven.
ANDERSON: Seven-one. The last two numbers are seven-one.
BILLY: Seven-one. Yeah, I got it now. Five-five-five, six-six-seven-one. How you been, Duke? I sure been.…
ANDERSON: Just hang up and go call, Billy. I’ll be here.
BILLY: Oh … yeah. Okay, Duke, I’ll hang up now.
[Lapse of three minutes forty-two seconds.]
BILLY: Duke?
ANDERSON: How are you, Billy?
BILLY: Gee, it’s good to hear from you, Duke. We heard you was out. Ed was saying just the other. …
ANDERSON: Where is Ed?
BILLY: He took a fall, Duke.
ANDERSON: A fall? What the hell for?
BILLY: He was a … he was a … Duke, what’s that word—you know—you got a lot of traffic tickets and you throw them away?
ANDERSON: A scofflaw?
BILLY: Yeah! That’s it! Ed was a scofflaw. The judge said Ed was the biggest scofflaw in Brooklyn. How about that! So he got thirty days.
ANDERSON: Beautiful. When’s he springing?
BILLY: What’s today?
ANDERSON: It’s Friday, Billy. The seventeenth of May.
BILLY: Yeah. Let’s see … eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one. Yeah. The twenty-oneth. That’s Tuesday … right?
ANDERSON: That’s right, Billy.
BILLY: Ed will be out on Tuesday.
ANDERSON: I’ll call late Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Tell him, will you, kid?
BILLY: I sure will. Duke, you got a job for us?
ANDERSON: Something like that.
BILLY: We sure could use a job, Duke. Things ain’t been so great for me since Ed’s been in the can. Listen, Duke, is it something maybe I could handle? I mean, if it’s something right away, I could handle it. No use waiting for Ed to spring.
ANDERSON: Well, it’s really a two-man job, Billy. If it was a one-man job, I’d tell you right away because I know you could handle anything I’d give you.
BILLY: I sure could, Duke. You know me.
ANDERSON: But this is really a two-man job so I think maybe we should wait for Ed. Okay?
BILLY: Oh, yeah, sure, Duke … if you say so.
ANDERSON: Listen, kid, is it really bad? I mean, if you need a couple of plasters until Ed gets out, tell me right now.
BILLY: Oh, no, Duke, thanks. Gee, no. It’s not that bad. I mean I can get by till Ed gets sprung. Gee, thanks, Duke, I really do appreciate it. Hey, when you mentioned about that night at the Garden it really took me back. Hey, what a night that was … hey? Remember that guy I decked in the restaurant? Gee, what a night that was … hey, Duke?
ANDERSON: A great night, Billy. I remember it. Well, listen, keep out of trouble, will you, kid?
BILLY: Oh sure, Duke. I’ll be careful.
ANDERSON: And tell Ed I’ll call on Tuesday night or early Wednesday.
BILLY: I won’t forget, Duke. Honest I won’t. Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Duke will call. When I get back to the room I’ll write it down.
ANDERSON: That’s a good boy, Billy. Keep your nose clean. I’ll be seeing you soon.
BILLY: Sure, Duke, sure. It was real good talking to you. Thank you very much.