A boy wearing a stiped shirt delivers a note to Kling.
Kling, who is distracted by a woman filing a complaint, doesn't read the note until after the boy leaves. The note,
which was made out of letters and words cut out of a newspaper, says, "I will kill the Lady tonight at 8.
What can you do about it?" Havilland thinks it's a crank, but Kling is not so sure. They glance at the clock --
it's a few minutes before 9:00. That means they have less than twelve hours to figure out who the Lady is.
Meyer puts out an APB on the boy who delivered the note, hoping he can be found
and give them some information about who wrote the note. Carella and Kling go down town to do some investigating.
Carella goes to talk to Dr. Ben Daniels, the department psychiatrist, who tells him that, based on the lab reports, the materials
used to make the note are over a month old. He thinks that indicates that the person who sent it is serious because
a crank wouldn't hold the note for that length of time. Daniels also tells Carella that the person wants to get caught
before he kills or he wouldn't have sent the note in the first place.
Kling goes to talk to the lab tech, who tell him that the Times newspaper
was used to make the note, with the exception of the number 8. He also tells Kling what kind of paper the letters were
pasted on, along with the name and address of the business who distributes that kind of paper locally.
Kling and Carella return to the squad room around noon. While they
are eating lunch with Meyer and Havilland and discussing the case, Steve realizes that someone is watching them through binoculars
from the rooftop across the street. Kling slips out the back to see if he can catch whoever it is. Once Kling gets on the rooftop, he is beaned over the head by the man with the binoculars and he gets
away. In his haste to escape, he leaves the binoculars behind.
Meanwhile, the detectives are running into a lot of dead ends. A round
up of boys wearing striped shirts turns out to be unproductive, and they find out the paper that was used was so
common that it can not be traced. And even though the man who clubbed Kling left two fingerprints on the binoculars,
it will take too long to check random fingerprints for it to do them any good.
Kling goes to talk to Fats Donner, one of his informants, to find out if he knows anyone
called "The Lady". Donner tells him where to find Marcia Polenski, an exotic dancer, who goes by that name.
Kling tracks her down and she tells him that a sailor named Mickey Carmichael threatened to kill her a few weeks ago because
he thought she stole $200 from him.
Meyer finds out that the binoculars were sold to a man named Richard Samalson.
In the meantime, Havilland goes to see a performer known as "Lady Belle" and asks her if she's received any threatening letters.
She tells him she gets them all the time, but throws them in the garbage. She mentions that she has a show later that
night. Havilland tells her they'll give her police protection until 8:00.
Not long after Kling and Carella find out that Mickey Carmichael, the
sailor who threatened Marcia Polenski, is 1,500 miles out to sea, a patrolman brings in another bunch of boys wearing striped
shirts. The kid who delivered the note is in the group. While he is talking to a sketch artist, Meyer brings in
Samalson, the man who bought the binoculars. Kling didn't get a good look at the man who belted him, but Frankie, the
boy who delivered the note, doesn't recognize Samalson, who maintains that he lost the binoculars.
All of the detectives take the police artist's sketch and work the streets,
asking people if they recognize him. Meyer finally hits pay dirt when he questions a landlady who recognizes
the man in the drawing as one of her tenants. The man, who is the same guy who clubbed Kling on the roof, saw Meyer
come in the building and gets a shot off at him as he is coming up the stairs. He escapes down the back stairway. A cut-up
newspaper is found in his room, and the fingerprints on it match those found on the binoculars. Several business cards
for the Jo-George Diner are also found there.
Kling and Meyer go to the diner and question the man who is running the
cash register. It turns out that the man's name is George Laddona and he and his partner, Jo Cort, own the diner.
They ask to speak Jo, but George tells them he took a couple of days off to go fishing. George says he doesn't
recognize the man in the sketch. He tells them Jo's address, which is a hotel, and the name of Jo's ex-girlfriend
which is Felicia Pannet. They go to see Ms. Pannet, who tells them that she and Jo are just friends, and that she's
more interested in a man like George. While she is talking to Meyer and Kling, George calls her and tells her the cops
are on their way over and instructs her not to tell them anything about Jo.
It is late when Kling and Meyer return to the precinct, and they are frustrated
over yet another dead end. They are running out of time to solve the case and are afraid they won't be able to find
The Lady before she is killed. They are discussing theories with Havilland and mention their conversation with George
Laddona. Carella walks in at that time and hears them say George's name. He tells them that Laddona is Italian
for "the lady", and they all realize that Jo is going to kill George because he stole his girl Felicia. They rush out
of the squad room and the clock shows that it's ten minutes 'til 8:00.
George, who had mentioned to Meyer that he would be at the 708 Club later, arrives
there with Felicia just before 8:00. Jo goes around to the back of the club and opens a window, which gives him a perfect
view of George and Felicia. He watches them as he counts down the minutes until he shoots George. The detectives
arrive at the club; Havilland and Kling go around back while Carella and Meyer go inside. Jo is getting ready to shoot
just as they come in. Havilland sees Jo standing at the window and yells for him to put the gun down. Jo gets
off a shot at George before Havilland can fire, but it is off the mark and barely brushes George's cheek. Kling tackles
Jo and punches him out before he can get away.
