Time to Murder and Create

Page 22

 

  He sighed heavily. "It would seem that someone decided to take matters into his own hands. I… confided in several people that I was being blackmailed. It appeared that it might be possible to recover the evidence without acceding to Jablons demands. More important, it was necessary to devise some way in which Jablons silence could be purchased on a permanent basis. The trouble with blackmail is that one never ceases to pay it. The cycle can go on forever, theres no control. "

  "So somebody tried to scare Spinner once with a car. "

  "So it would seem. "

  "And when that didnt work, somebody hired somebody to hire somebody to kill him. "

  "I suppose so. You cant prove it. Whats perhaps more to the point, I cant prove it. "

  "But you believed it all along, didnt you? Because you warned me that one payment was all I was going to get. And if I tried to tap you again, youd have me killed. "

  "Did I really say that?"

  "I think you remember saying it, Mr. Huysendahl. I should have seen the significance in that at the time. You were thinking of murder as a weapon in your arsenal. Because youd already used it once. "

  "I never intended for a moment that Jablon should die. "

  I stood up. I said, "I was reading something the other day about Thomas Becket. He was very close to one of the kings of England. One of the Henrys, I think Henry the Second. "

  "I believe I see the parallel. "

  "Do you know the story? When he became Archbishop of Canterbury he stopped being Henrys buddy and played the game according to his conscience. It rattled Henry, and he let some of his underlings know it. Oh, that someone might rid me of that rebellious priest! "

  "But he never intended that Thomas be murdered. "

  "That was his story," I agreed. "His subordinates decided Henry had issued Thomass death warrant. Henry didnt see it that way at all, hed just been thinking out loud, and he was very upset to learn that Thomas was dead. Or at least he pretended to be very upset. Hes not around, so we cant ask him. "

  "And youre taking the position that Henry was responsible. "

  "Im saying I wouldnt vote for him for governor of New York. "

  He finished his drink. He put the glass on the bar and sat down in his chair again, crossing one leg over the other.

  He said, "If I run for governor-"

  "Then every major newspaper in the state gets a full set of those photographs. Until you announce for governor, they stay where they are. "

  "Where is that?"

  "A very safe place. "

  "And I have no option. "

  "No. "

  "No other choice. "

  "None. "

  "I might be able to determine the man responsible for Jablons death. "

  "Perhaps you could. Its also possible you couldnt. But what good would that do? Hes sure to be a professional, and there would be no evidence to link him to either you or Jablon, let alone enough to bring him to trial. And you couldnt do anything with him without exposing yourself. "

  "Youre making this terribly difficult, Scudder. "

  "Im making it very easy. All you have to do is forget about being governor. "

  "I would be an excellent governor. If youre so fond of historical parallels, you might consider Henry the Second a bit further. Hes regarded as one of Englands better monarchs. "

  "I wouldnt know. "

  "I would. " He told me some things about Henry. I gather he knew quite a bit about the subject. It might have been interesting. I didnt pay much attention to it. Then he went on to tell me some more about what a good governor he would make, what he would accomplish for the people of the state.

  I cut him short. I said, "You have a lot of plans, but that doesnt mean anything. You wouldnt be a good governor. You wont be any kind of governor, because Im not going to let you, but you wouldnt be a good one because youre capable of picking people to work for you who are capable of murder. Thats enough to disqualify you. "

  "I could discharge those people. "

  "I couldnt know if you did or not. And the individuals arent even that important. "

  "I see. " He sighed again. "He wasnt much of a man, you know. Im not justifying murder when I say that. He was a petty crook and a shoddy blackmailer. He began by entrapping me, preying on a personal weakness, and then he tried to bleed me. "

  "He wasnt much of a man at all," I agreed.

  "Yet his murder is that significant to you. "

  "I dont like murder. "

  "You believe that human life is sacred, then. "

  "I dont know if I believe that anything is sacred. Its a very complicated question. Ive taken human life. A few days ago I killed a man. Not long before that, I contributed to a mans death. My contribution was unintentional. That hasnt made me feel all that much better about it. I dont know if human life is sacred. I just dont like murder. And youre in the process of getting away with murder, and that bothers me, and theres just one thing Im going to do about it. I dont want to kill you, I dont want to expose you, I dont want to do any of those things. Im sick of playing an incompetent version of God. All Im going to do is keep you out of Albany. "

  "Doesnt that constitute playing God?"

  "I dont think so. "

  "You say human life is sacred. Not in so many words, but that seems to be your position. What about my life, Mr. Scudder? For years now only one thing has been important to me, and youre presuming to tell me I cant have it. "

  I looked around the den. The portraits, the furnishings, the service bar. "It looks to me as though youre doing pretty well," I said.

  "I have material possessions. I can afford them. "

  "Enjoy them. "

  "Is there no way I can buy you? Are you that devoutly incorruptible?"

  "Im probably corrupt, by most definitions. But you cant buy me, Mr. Huysendahl. "

  I waited for him to say something. A few minutes went by, and he just remained where he was, silent, his eyes looking off into the middle distance. I found my own way out.

  Chapter 20

  This time I got to St. Pauls before it closed. I stuffed a tenth of what Id taken from Lundgren into the poor box. I lit a few candles for various dead people who came to mind. I sat for a while and watched people take their turns in the confessional. I decided that I envied them, but not enough to do anything about it.

  I went across the street to Armstrongs and had a plate of beans and sausage, then a drink and a cup of coffee. It was over now, it was all over, and I could drink normally again, never getting drunk, never staying entirely sober. I nodded at people now and then, and some of them nodded back to me. It was Saturday, so Trina was off, but Larry did just as good a job of bringing more coffee and bourbon when my cup was empty.

  Most of the time I just let my mind wander, but from time to time I would find myself going over the events since Spinner had walked in and given me his envelope. There were probably ways I could have handled things better. If Id pushed it a little and taken an interest at the beginning, I might even have been able to keep Spinner alive. But it was over and I was done with it, and I even had some of his money left after what Id paid to Anita and the churches and various bartenders, and I could relax now.

  "This seat taken?"

  I hadnt even noticed when she came in. I looked up and there she was. She sat down across from me and took a pack of cigarettes from her bag. She shook a cigarette loose and lit it.

  I said, "Youre wearing the white pants suit. "

  "Thats so youll be able to recognize me. You sure managed to turn my life inside out, Matt. "

  "I guess I did. Theyre not going to press anything, are they?"

  "They couldnt press a pants suit, let alone a charge. Johnny never knew Spinner existed. That should be my biggest headache. "

  "Youve got other headaches?"

  "In a manner of speaking, I just got rid of a headache. It cost me a lot to get rid of him, though. "

  "Your husband?"

>   She nodded. "He decided without too much trouble that I was a luxury he intended to deny himself. Hes getting a divorce. And I am not getting any alimony, because if I give him any trouble hes going to give me ten times as much trouble, and I think hed probably do it. Not that there wasnt enough shit in the papers already, as far as that goes. "

  "I havent been keeping up with the papers. "

  "Youve missed some nice stuff. " She drew on her cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke. "You really do your drinking in all the class joints, dont you? I tried your hotel but you werent in, so then I tried Pollys Cage, and they said you came here a lot of the time. I cant imagine why. "

  "It suits me. "

  She cocked her head, studying me. "You know something? It does. But me a drink?"

  "Sure. "

  I got Larrys attention, and she ordered a glass of wine. "It probably wont be terrific," she said, "but at least its hard for the bartender to fuck it up. " When he brought it she raised her glass to me, and I returned the gesture with my cup. "Happy days," she said.

  "Happy days. "

  "I didnt want him to kill you, Matt. "

  "Neither did I. "

  "Im serious. All I wanted was time. I would have handled everything on my own, one way or another. I never called Johnny, you know. How would I have known how to reach him? He called me after he got out of jail. He wanted me to send him some money. He would do that now and then, when he was up against it. I felt guilty about turning states evidence that time, even though it had been his idea. But when I had him on the phone I couldnt keep myself from telling him I was in trouble, and that was a mistake. He was more trouble than I was ever in. "

  "What was the hold he had on you?"

  "I dont know. But he always had it. "

  "You fingered me for him. That night at Pollys. "

  "He wanted to get a look at you. "

  "He got it. Then I set up a meeting with you Wednesday. The cute thing about that was I wanted to tell you you were clear. I thought I already had the killer, and I wanted to let you know the blackmail routine was over and done with. Instead, you put off the meeting for a day and sent him after me. "

  "He was going to talk to you. Scare you off, stall for time, something like that. "

  "Thats not the way he saw it. You must have figured hed try what he tried. "

  She hesitated for a moment, then let her shoulders drop. "I knew it was possible. He was… he had a wildness in him. " Her face brightened suddenly, and something danced in her eyes. "Maybe you did me a favor," she said. "Maybe Im a lot better off with him out of my life. "

  "Better off than you know. "

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean there was a very good reason why he wanted me dead. Im just guessing, but I like my guesses. You would have been happy to stall me until you came into some money, which would happen once Kermit came into the principal of his inheritance. But Lundgren couldnt afford to have me around, now or later. Because he had big plans for you. "