Time to Murder and Create

Page 8

 

  "Well, we can find a use for it," she said. "Thanks. Do you want to talk to the boys?"

  I did and I didnt. Theyre getting to an age where its a little easier for me to talk to them, but its still awkward over the phone. We talked about basketball.

  Right after I hung up, I had an odd thought. It occurred to me that I might not be talking to them again. Spinner had been a careful man by nature, a man who had made himself inconspicuous reflexively, a man who had felt most comfortable in deep shadows, and he still had not been careful enough. I was accustomed to open spaces, and in fact had to stay enough in the open to invite a murder attempt. If Spinners killer decided to take a shot at me, he just might make it work.

  I wanted to call back and talk to them again. It seemed that there ought to be something important for me to say, just on the off chance that Id taken on more than I could carry. But I couldnt manage to think what it might be, and a few minutes later the impulse went away.

  I had a lot to drink that night. It was just as well no one took a crack at me then. Id have been easy.

  MONDAY morning I called Prager. Id left him on a very loose leash, and I had to give it a yank. His secretary told me he was busy on another line and asked if I would hold. I held for a minute or two. Then she came back to establish that I was still hanging in there, and then she put me through to him.

  I said, "Ive decided how well work this so that youre covered. Theres something the police tried to hang on me that they could never make stick. " He didnt know Id been a cop myself. "I can write out a confession, include enough evidence to make it airtight. Ill give that to you as part of our deal. "

  It was basically the arrangement Id tried out on Beverly Ethridge, and it made the same kind of sense to him that it had to her. Neither of them had managed to spot the joker in it, either: All I had to do was confess at great length to a crime that had never happened, and while my confession might make interesting reading, it would hardly enable anyone to hold a gun to my head. But Prager didnt figure out that part of it, so he liked the idea.

  What he didnt like was the price I set.

  "Thats impossible," he said.

  "Its easier than paying it in bits and pieces. You were paying Jablon two thousand a month. Youll pay me sixty in one chunk, thats less than three years worth, and itll all be over once and for all. "

  "I cant raise that kind of money. "

  "Youll find a way, Prager. "

  "I cant manage it. "

  "Dont be silly," I said. "Youre an important man in your field, a success. If you dont have it in cash, you certainly have assets you can borrow against. "

  "I cant do it. " His voice almost broke. "Ive had… financial difficulties. Some investments havent turned out to be what they should have been. The economy, theres less building, the interest rates are going crazy, just last week somebody raised the prime rate to ten percent-"

  "I dont want an economics lesson, Mr. Prager. I want sixty thousand dollars. "

  "Ive borrowed every cent I could. " He paused for a moment. "I cant, I have no source-"

  "Ill need the money fairly soon," I cut in. "I dont want to stay in New York any longer than I have to. "

  "I dont-"

  "You do some creative thinking," I said. "Ill be in touch with you. "

  I hung up and sat in the phone booth for a minute or two, until someone waiting to use it gave an impatient knock on the door. I opened the door and stood up. The man who wanted to use the phone looked as though he was going to say something, but he looked at me and changed his mind.

  I wasnt enjoying myself. I was putting Prager through a wringer. If hed killed Spinner, then maybe he had it coming. But if he hadnt, I was torturing him to no purpose, and the thought did not set well with me.

  But one thing had come out of the conversation: He was hurting for money. And if Spinner, too, had been pushing for the fast final settlement, the big bite so that he could get out of town before someone killed him, that might have been enough to put the last bit of pressure on Henry Prager.

  Id been on the verge of ruling him out when I saw him in his office. I just didnt see that he had enough of a motive, but now he seemed to have a pretty good one after all.

  And Id just given him another.

  I called Huysendahl a little later. He was out, so I left my number, and he called around two.

  "I know I wasnt supposed to call you," I said, "but I have some good news for you. "

  "Oh?"

  "Im in a position to claim my reward. "

  "You managed to turn up that material?"

  "Thats right. "

  "Very quick work," he said.

  "Oh, just sound detective procedure and a little bit of luck. "

  "I see. It may take some time to, uh, assemble the reward. "

  "I dont have very much time, Mr. Huysendahl. "

  "You have to be reasonable about this, you know. The sum we discussed is substantial. "

  "I understand you have substantial assets. "

  "Yes, but hardly in cash. Not every politician has a friend in Florida with that kind of money in a wall safe. " He chuckled over the line, and seemed disappointed when I didnt join in. "Ill need some time. "

  "How much time?"

  "A month at the outside. Perhaps less than that. "

  The role was easy enough, since I kept getting to rehearse it. I said, "Thats not soon enough. "

  "Really? Just how much of a hurry are you in?"

  "A big one. I want to get out of town. The climate doesnt agree with me. "

  "Actually, its been rather mild the past few days. "

  "Thats just the trouble. Its too hot. "

  "Oh?"

  "I keep thinking about what happened to our mutual friend, and I wouldnt want it to happen to me. "

  "He must have made someone unhappy. "

  "Yeah, well, Ive made a few people unhappy myself, Mr. Huysendahl, and what I want to do is get the hell out of here within the week. "

  "I dont see how that would be possible. " He paused for a moment. "You could always go and come back for the reward when things have had a chance to cool down somewhat. "

  "I dont think Id like to do it that way. "

  "Thats rather an alarming statement, dont you think? The sort of venture weve discussed requires a certain amount of give-and-take. It has to be a cooperative venture. "

  "A month is just too long. "

  "I might be able to manage it in two weeks. "

  "You might have to," I said.

  "That sounds disturbingly like a threat,"

  "The thing is, youre not the only person furnishing a reward. "

  "Im not surprised. "

  "Right. And if I have to leave town before I can collect the reward from you, well, you never know what might happen. "

  "Dont be foolish, Scudder. "

  "I dont want to be. I dont think either of us should be foolish. " I took a breath. "Look, Mr. Huysendahl, Im sure its nothing we cant work out. "

  "I certainly hope youre right. "

  "How does two weeks sound to you?"

  "Difficult. "

  "Can you manage it?"

  "I can try. I hope I can manage it. "

  "So do I. You know how to reach me. "

  "Yes," he said. "I know how to reach you. "

  I hung the phone up and poured a drink. Just a small one. I drank half of it and nursed the rest of it. The phone rang. I tossed down the last of the bourbon and picked it up. I thought it would be Prager. It was Beverly Ethridge.

  She said, "Matt, its Bev. I hope I didnt wake you?"

  "You didnt. "

  "Are you alone?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "Im lonesome. "

  I didnt say anything. I remembered sitting across the table from her, making it obvious that she wasnt getting to me. The performance had evidently convinced her. But I knew better. The woman was good at getting to people.

  "I hoped w
e could get together, Matt. There are things we ought to talk about. "

  "All right. "

  "Would you be free around seven this evening? Ive appointments until then. "

  "Sevens fine. "

  "The same place?"

  I remembered how I had felt in the Pierre. This time we would meet on my turf. But not Armstrongs; I didnt want to take her there.

  "Theres a place called Pollys Cage," I said. "Fifty-seventh between Eighth and Ninth, middle of the block, the downtown side. "

  "Pollys Cage? It sounds charming. "

  "Its better than it sounds. "

  "Then Ill see you there at seven. Fifty-seventh between Eighth and Ninth-thats very near your hotel, isnt it?"

  "Its across the street. "

  "Thats very convenient," she said.

  "Its handy for me. "

  "It might be handy for both of us, Matt. "

  I went out and had a couple of drinks and something to eat. Around six I got back to my hotel. I checked with the desk, and Benny told me Id had three calls and there had been no messages.

  I wasnt in my room ten minutes before the phone rang. I picked it up, and a voice I didnt recognize said, "Scudder?"

  "Whos this?"

  "You ought to be very careful. You go off halfcocked and upset people. "

  "I dont think I know you. "

  "You dont want to know me. All you gotta know is its a big river, plenty of room in it, you dont want to try and fill it up all by yourself. "

  "Who wrote that line for you, anyway?"

  The phone clicked.

  Chapter 9

  I got to Pollys a few minutes early. There were four men and two women drinking at the bar. Behind it, Chuck was laughing politely at something one of the women had said. On the jukebox Sinatra was asking them to send in the clowns.

  The room is a small one, with the bar on the right side as you enter. A railing runs the length of the room, and on the left of it there is an area a few steps up that contains about a dozen tables. They were all unoccupied now. I walked to the break in the railing, climbed the steps, and took the table that was farthest from the door.

  Pollys gets most of its play around five, when thirsty people leave their offices. The really thirsty ones stick around longer than the rest, but the place doesnt pick up much passer-by trade, and almost always closes fairly early. Chuck pours generous drinks, and the five oclock drinkers usually tap out early on. On Fridays the TGIF crowd shows a certain amount of perseverance, but other times they generally lock up by midnight, and they dont even bother opening up on Saturdays or Sundays. Its a bar in the neighborhood without being a neighborhood bar.

  I ordered a double bourbon, and had put half of it away by the time she walked in. She hesitated in the doorway, not seeing me at first, and some conversations died as heads turned her way. She seemed unaware of the attention she was drawing, or too accustomed to it to take notice of it. She spotted me, came over, and sat opposite me. The bar conversations resumed once it was established that she wasnt up for grabs.

  She slid her coat off her shoulders and onto the back of her chair. She was wearing a hot-pink sweater. It was a good color for her, and an excellent fit. She took a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her handbag. This time she didnt wait for me to light her cigarette. She drew in a lot of smoke, blew it out in a thin column, and watched with evident interest as it ascended toward the ceiling.