But when the pathology report shows that Keating's father was drugged before the hanging, the police know they have a murder to solve. Carella turns to a local police informer, Danny Gimp, for information. A week goes by, and then Gimp asks for an early morning meeting at a neighborhood pizzeria. The sketchy details Gimp provides to interest the cops turn out to be crucial, for as Gimp stands up to leave the restaurant, a pair of gunmen open fire, killing him. McBain's story puts down deep roots in these first two chapters leading up to Gimp's death.
Weeks play supporting roles.
McBain offers fleeting but vivid glimpses of the cops' private lives. Carella, obsessed by the unsolved murders, feels estranged from his wife and children at Christmas. Kling escapes from the pressure of police work by immersing himself in his current romance, a highly charged relationship with black police surgeon Sharyn Cooke. As the book's main plot unfolds, the cops use the shreds of information Gimp left behind as a basis for questioning Hale's neighbors. They are able to confirm that a man had visited Hale on the night of his death.