hear the low murmur of voices in the darkness outside.
The front door slammed shut and Shayne settled back in his chair as the chief reentered the room. A faint odor of burned powder came from the silenced revolver which he carelessly laid on his desk.
There was nothing in his manner to indicate that he had just killed a man. He said, “Pour yourself another drink and we’ll finish up our little talk.”
13
Shayne poured himself another drink, squinted at the liquor and said, “Suppose you’re mistaken about it being Gantry who tipped Brand off?”
“He’s had that comin’ for a long time. You were tellin’ me about Mrs. Roche.” Elwood picked up his glass and sat down again.
“She admits having been out drinking with George Brand a couple of times, but swears it never went beyond that.”
“Didn’t expect her to admit the truth, did you?”
“What is the truth?”
“How do I know? Maybe she kept her drawers on… maybe she didn’t.” He chuckled obscenely, exercising his jowls, and added, “I’d guess she didn’t.”
“What,” asked Shayne, “has Gerald told you about last night?”
“Didn’t you read the Gazette?”
“Privately, I mean.”
“Just what’s in the paper.”
“What about Mrs. Cornell?”
The chief scowled. “Nobody gets much out of Ann.”
“Was she in love with Brand?”
“Ann ain’t in love with anybody or anything, ’cept maybe a dollar and a jug o’corn.”
“They lived right across from each other.”
“You mean was Ann sleepin’ with ’im? I wouldn’t doubt it. Not if he wanted to spend some money that way.”
“What about Angus?”
“I never could figure where Angus fits. I’ve told Ann time and again… you mean was he one of her men, too?” Chief Elwood looked incredulous. “That little dope? Not a chance. Ann likes her men big an’ tough an’ with money in their jeans.”
“She gave me that impression, too. That’s why I wondered about Angus living there with her.”
“I’ll tell you the way I figure. She kicks him around an’ gets a kick out of it. ’Cause he wears pants, maybe. I’ve seen her keep his dope away from ’im till he was jerkin’ and twitchin’ an’ frothin’ at the mouth. And her sittin’ there laughin’ and badgerin’ him. She don’t go much for any man, see? Figures she’s got a raw deal from ’em all along the line, so she takes it out on a little bastard that’s afraid to talk back.”
Shayne nodded thoughtfully. “A psychologist would probably call it a compensation complex. What I really meant about Angus was, did you get anything about the murder out of him?”
“Naw,” said the chief disgustedly. “Ann and him both claims he slept straight through everything.”
“I’m wondering if he did.”
“You got some reason for thinking different?”
“Somebody,” said Shayne, “telephoned Gerald last night to tell him Roche and Brand were meeting at Brand’s house.”
“Sure. Mrs. Roche phoned him. She got worried about Charles and couldn’t go to sleep…”
“She claims she wasn’t worried at all,” Shayne broke in, “because she knew they had already reached an agreement.”
“Then why’d she phone Seth at four o’clock?” he asked obtusely.
“She didn’t, according to her story. First thing she knew about anything was when Gerald came to the house and woke her up and asked her to say she’d phoned him if the question came up.”
“The hell you say. Why didn’t she tell me that?”
“I don’t say it,” Shayne reminded him patiently. “Mrs. Roche does. If you noticed that newspaper story about her this morning, she doesn’t say anything about it either way. She claims Gerald told her this afternoon it was some anonymous man who phoned him.”
“You think maybe Angus?”
Shayne shrugged and took a drink. “It must have been someone who saw Roche and Brand together. Or someone trying to stir up trouble.” He hesitated, frowning, then added, “Does Mrs. Cornell generally stay up all night playing her radio so loudly she can’t hear a shot in the same block?”
“Says she had a headache and couldn’t sleep.”
“Well, that’s Mrs. Roche’s story… just the way I got it tonight. I thought Gerald had probably told you all about it.”
“Seth wouldn’t tell me anything that might help clear Brand. Right now he’s ridin’ pretty. Keeps control of the mines and the strike is busted with Brand in jail.”
“I wondered about the Roche Mines. Who inherits Charles’ share?”
“Way it was set up by old John Roche,” said Elwood, “fifty-one per cent went to Charles and forty-nine to Jimmy… to be held in trust for both of ’em with Seth stayin’ on as manager until Charles was thirty years old. He was to get his share then, but Jimmy was to keep on gettin’ the income till he was thirty.
“But if Charles died before that, old John fixed it so that only forty-nine per cent was to go to Charles’ heirs, with the rest held in trust for Jimmy till he was thirty. Then Jimmy takes over.”
“And Gerald will continue in complete charge for several more years,” Shayne mused, “instead of losing his job immediately.”
“That’s right,” said Chief Elwood. “Look at it any way you want, Charles’ death was a mighty lucky thing for Seth.”
“And for AMOK,” Shayne reminded him. “Particularly if Mrs. Roche’s story about the strike settlement is true.”
“I reckon all the mine owners in Kentucky’ll feel easier with this strike over. Folks in this state don’t much take to the idea of miners tellin’ ’em how to run their business.”
“Do you think Roche would have compromised with Brand if he had lived?”
“Just between you and me,” said Elwood, “I reckon it’s most likely he would’ve. Charles was pretty close- mouthed, but he brought back some mighty fancy ideas from the war. Yes sir, way I look at it, Brand come mighty close to winnin’. Mighty damn close.”
“According to all this,” said Shayne angrily, “Brand looks like the one man in Centerville who had every reason not to murder Charles Roche.”
“Well sir,” said Elwood comfortably, “it might look that way if he could prove Charles had made a settlement with him. Lackin’ that, all the evidence is against him. It’ll go mighty bad for Brand when it comes out in court he bribed those men to make out an alibi for him beforehand. That’ll look mighty like premeditation to a jury. Then there was his gun, too. Lyin’ right by the body. Looks to me like your fee is already earned.”
“Aren’t you forgetting Mrs. Roche’s testimony?” asked Shayne sharply.
“Who’ll believe her?” Elwood waved a big hand negligently. “Prosecution’ll have a dozen witnesses to swear she was sweet on Brand.”
“Just between the two of us,” said Shayne, “if I’d been in Gerald’s shoes last night and discovered that Roche and Brand had reached an understanding, I’d have done exactly what he did.”
Elwood’s fat, lashless lids rolled up. He stared at Shayne for an instant, then said, “You reckon Seth gunned him to make it look like Brand did it?”
“Don’t you?”
“I’d keep it plumb to m’self if I did. Way things’ve been run here in Centerville for twenty years suits me right
