at night and they do burglaries all around Los Angeles. Two or three nights a week they go out and they do these little burglaries, what Dankworth called stings. They do three or four stings a night, every night they go out, up and down the California coast around Los Angeles, and they never take anything except cash. And they have a little studio apartment somewhere near the Sunset Strip, where they keep the money. And they send money to their families that way.'
Grofield smiled. 'That's a very nice story,' he said. 'I really hope it's true, because it's so nice. They're taking care of their families.'
'That's exactly right,' Myers said.
Dan said, 'The sweet thing is, you can't have a better alibi than them. They can't be pulling any of these jobs, they're in stir.'
'It's a nice story,' Grofield said. He was still smiling, the story had made him happy.
Myers said, 'There's more to it than that. It seems they've been saving money up, not turning it all over to their families, because they want to leave them something really good when they die. To have an estate, you see.'
'An estate,' Grofield repeated. He was grinning broadly. 'I like those three guys.'
'Well,' Myers said, 'Entrekin told Dankworth they had over a hundred thousand dollars stashed in their apartment, and this was last year. It has to be even more by now.'
'That troubles me,' Grofield said. 'Why would this smart old man tell Dankworth so much?'
'I guess he liked him,' Myers said. 'And of course, Dankworth was supposed to be there for a minimum of twelve more years, even if he got a parole at the earliest possible moment. He didn't want to tell Dankworth exactly where the tunnel was, and Dankworth had to force it out of him. So he could escape.'
'Misplaced confidence,' Grofield said. 'It runs the world. The old man trusted Dankworth. Dankworth trusted you. And now we're supposed to trust you.'
'No trust involved at all,' Dan said. 'Wait him out, and then I'll tell you my idea.'
'I'm still listening,' Grofield said.
Myers said, 'The old man wouldn't tell Dankworth where the apartment was, not exactly. He mentioned once that it was near the Sunset Strip, but that was all. But the thing is, there's over a hundred thousand dollars hidden there – in cash! And Dankworth told me exactly where the tunnel comes out on the outside of the prison.'
'That was a mistake, wasn't it?' Grofield said. 'If he'd held that back, he'd be alive now.'
Dan said, 'That's neither here nor there. The point is, a guy could keep an eye on that tunnel until the three of them come out, and then follow them. They might go do their stings first, but sooner or later they'd wind up at the apartment. Then you'd wait until they left to go back to the pen, and you'd break in, find the cash, and take off.'
Grofield made a face. 'I hate taking their money,' he said. 'I like them too much.'
'You don't have to take it,' Dan said. 'I'll take it. This is a one-man job.'
Frowning at him, Grofield said, 'Then what do you want me for?'
'My big question is,' said Dan, 'what do I do with this bastard? I can't carry him around with me until I do the job, he'd be in the way and screw things up. I've gotta stash him somewhere until the job's over, so just in case it's all bullshit I can come back and make him pay for it.'
Grofield shook his head. 'Not with me,' he said. 'If that's what you have in mind, I'm sorry.'
Dan said, 'How long could it be for? A week? And you've got plenty of room to stash him. In that theater of yours.'
'No,' Grofield said. 'I don't bring my work home.'
'I'll give ten percent of whatever I find,' Dan said. 'If he's telling the truth, it's better than ten grand for you.'
Grofield felt the temptation, but shook his head again and said, 'I'm sorry, Dan, but I just won't do it. I won't risk losing what I've got here. And besides that, I won't put my wife in a potentially dangerous situation, which is what this is.'
Dan said, irritably, 'What the hell am I gonna do with him?'
Grofield shrugged. 'You got your money's worth out of him. Let him go. He won't louse up your play in Los Angeles.'
'That's right,' Myers said eagerly.
'See that? He isn't that anxious to see you again. Let him run home to Texas.'
Dan grimaced, not liking it. 'But what if he's lying? Sends me out on some half-ass stunt, watching an alley where a tunnel's supposed to come out – what if there isn't any tunnel, and he's making a damn fool of me?'
'You found him before, you could find him again.'
'I don't wanna let him off that easy,' Dan said angrily, and he looked for a second as though he was going to start kicking Myers again.
Grofield said, 'Then kill him. Not around here, take him-'
'Hey!' Myers said, and stared at Grofield as though he'd been betrayed.
