partition. There I halted, and it wasn't long before I was joined by Cramer and Purley. Their faces were expressive. I didn't have to ask if they had got it all.
'If you shoot her,' I suggested, 'send her brain to Johns Hopkins, if you can find it.'
'Jesus,' Purley said. That was all he said.
Cramer grunted. 'Did she do it herself?'
'I doubt it. It was a pretty solid blow to raise that lump, and you didn't find her prints on the bottle. Bothering about prints is beneath her. I had to come up for air, but I left you an in. Better pick a strong character to play the role of reporter from the Gazette.'
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'Send for Biatti,' Cramer snapped at Purley.
'Yeah,' I agreed, 'he can take it. Now I go home?'
'No. She might insist on seeing her manager again.'
'I wouldn't pass that around,' I warned them. 'How would you like a broadcast of her line on Sergeant Stebbins? I'd like to be home for dinner. We're having fresh pork tenderloin.'
'We would all like to be home for dinner.' Cramer's look and tone were both sour. They didn't change when he shifted to Purley. 'What about it? Is the Vardas pair still all you want?'
'They're what I want most,' Purley said doggedly, 'in spite of her getting it when they weren't here, but I guess we've got to spread out more. You can finish with them here and go home to dinner, and I suppose we've got to take 'em all downtown. I'm not sold that the Stahl girl is unfurnished inside her head, and we know she's capable of using her hands, since only three months ago she pushed a full-grown man out of his own car into a ditch and drove off. No matter how hard he was playing her, that's quite a stunt. I still want to be shown she couldn't have used that bottle on herself and I don't have to be shown that she could have used the scissors on Wallen if she felt like it. Or if she performed with the bottle to have something to tell reporters about, the Vardases are still what I want most. But I admit the other if is the biggest one. If someone here conked her, finding out who and ? why comes first until we get the Vardases.'
Cramer stayed sour. 'You haven't even started.'
'Maybe that's a little too strong, Inspector.'
'I don't think so.'
'We were on the Vardases, but we didn't clear out of here, we kept close. Then when we found the Stahl girl and brought her to she shut the valve and had to see Goodwin. Even so, I wouldn't say we haven't made a start with the others. Ed Graboff plays the horses and owes a bookie nine hundred dollars, and he had to sell his car. Philip Toracco went off the rails in 1945 and spent a year in a booby hatch. 108
Joel Fielder has been seen in public places with Horny Gallagher, and while that don't prove--'
Cramer cut in to shoot at me, 'Is Fickler a racket boy?'
I shook my head. 'Sorry. Blank. I've never been anything but a customer.'
'If he is we'll get it.' Purley was riled and didn't care who knew it. 'Jimmie Kirk apparently only goes back three years, and he has expensive habits for a barber. Tom Yerkes did a turn in nineteen thirty-nine for assault, beat up a guy who took his young granddaughter for a fast weekend, and he is known for having a quick take-off. So I don't think you can say we haven't even started. We've got to take 'em all downtown and get thorough, especially about last night, sure we do. But I still want the Vardases.'
'Are all alibis for last night being checked?' Cramer demanded.
'They have been.'
'Do them over, and good. Get it going. Use as many men as you need. And not only alibis, records too. I want the Vardas pair as much as you do, but if the Stahl girl didn't use that bottle on herself, I also want someone else. Get Biatti here. Let him have a try at her before you take her down.'
'He's not on duty, Inspector.'
'Tell them to find him. Get him here.' Yes, sir.
Purley moved. He went to the phone at the cashier's counter. I went to the one in the booth at the end of the clothes rack and dialed the number I knew best. Fritz answered, and I asked him to buzz the extension in the plant rooms, since it was still a few minutes short of six o'clock.
'Where are you?' Wolfe demanded. He was always testy when interrupted up there.
'At the barber shop.' I was none too genial myself. 'Janet was sitting in her booth and got hit on the head with a bottle of oil. They have gone through the routine and are still at the starting line. Her condition is no more critical than it was before she got hit. She insisted on seeing me, and I have had a long intimate talk with her. I can't say I made no prog
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ress, because she asked me to be her manager, and I am now giving you notice, quitting at the end of this week. Aside from that I got nowhere. She's one in a million. I would love to see you take her on. I have been requested to stick around. I'm willing, but I advise you to tell Fritz to increase the grocery orders until further notice.'
Silence. Then, 'Who is there?'
'Everybody. Cramer, Purley, squad men, the staff. They quit letting customers in after Janet got rapped. The whole party will be moved downtown in an hour or so, including Janet. Everyone is glum, including me.'
'No progress whatever has been made?'
'Not as far as I know, except what I told you, I am now Janet's manag--'
