Summary

Ask Again, Yes begins with a prologue set in July of 1973 in New York City. Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope have recently graduated from the police academy and are spending some of their first days together out on the beat. Frances is 22 and has only recently come to the United States from Ireland. Brian is 21 and recently married to an Irish girl, who he’s gotten pregnant. They are assigned to a precinct in the Bronx called the Four-One, which is the worst in the city. The station house is crumbling and rookies like Stanhope and Gleeson are assigned to work with other rookies not seasoned veterans.

The partners work the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift. They walk because patrol cars have not been assigned to them and they hate riding the bus. One morning, they duck into a shop to...