‘Did he know her?’
Kifka shook his head. ‘Different circles, man. Morey I knew from work, Ellie I knew from play.’ He grinned and winked at Janey, who said, ‘Big man.’
Parker told him, ‘If Negli or Feccio or any of the others had done it, he would of handled the whole thing different. He wouldn’t of killed Ellie unless he absolutely had to, and then he wouldn’t of used that stupid sword. He might of tried to tie me up with the law, but just to give himself extra time to clear out. He wouldn’t of hung around to take potshots. If one of the boys had the cash now, he’d either be playing it cool and quiet right where he’s supposed to be hiding out anyway, ready to get all surprised when he hears how the dough’s gone, or he’d be in Arizona or someplace by now.’
Kifka nodded. ‘I know. It rings like an amateur.’
‘There’s two possibilities,’ Parker told him. ‘First, one of us in the job talked too much, and somebody he talked to decided to go after the dough. Second, it was somebody who went there to kill Ellie for the main bit and he just stumbled across the money and figured why not.’
Kifka said, ‘I think it’s got to be number two. We’ve all been around long enough to keep our mouths shut.’
‘Maybe.’
‘Like Janey,’ Kifka said. ‘You don’t have to wonder about her. She didn’t know your girl, and she didn’t know where the dough was stashed. All she knew about was my part, and you probably told Ellie just as much.’
Parker hadn’t, but he let it ride. He shrugged.
Kifka put his teacup flown and said, ‘What we want to do now, we want to get everybody together, we want to get some manpower’ on this thing. We got to get our dough back.’
‘Can we use this place?’
Janey said, ‘Dan, you’re sick.’
Parker told her, ‘Here’s his chance to get healthy,’ and she looked insulted.
Kifka said, ‘Sure we use this place. What other place do we have?’
‘All right.’ Parker got to his feet. I’ll go get Negli and Feccio. They’ll know where some of the others are. You got a car I can use?’
‘The Buick’s still clean. The keys ought to be over on the dresser there.’
Parker went over and found the keys. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ he said. ‘You want to get the hardware out of sight, in case the cops show.’
Kifka nodded. He said, ‘All I can see is those two suitcases in the trunk of some car on its way to the Panama Canal.’
‘The guy’s hanging around,’ Parker said. ‘He’s an amateur, he lives in this town, he’s hanging around.’
Kifka said, ‘Let’s hope he doesn’t smarten up.’
Two
The Vimorama was about as pretty as a wax orange and about as lively. Parker let the Buick roll on by and then pulled to the shoulder of the road a hundred feet farther on and switched off the engine. Then he sat there a minute.
Behind him, Vimorama hulked beside the road like a pastel flying saucer. It seemed to be made mostly of orange I-beams and shiny chrome and gleaming glass, with VIMORAMA in huge varicolored letters on the roof .md equally huge letters on the sign out by the road. There was no sign of activity either from the main building itself or from the little cabins scattered around behind it like a bunch of colored top hats dropped out of a box.
He was sure he hadn’t been followed, but he wailed a couple of minutes in the car anyway. When he was positive no one was taking any interest in him he climbed out on the passenger side and walked back down the road to the gravel Vimorama parking lot. He skirted it on the quieter grass and moved swiftly in among the tiny cabins.
Number four was way in back, at the rear of the Vimorama property. Parker rapped on the door and then stood back to give those on the inside a good look at him.
This was a bad moment. It didn’t figure the cash had been stolen by an insider, but there was always the chance. If it had been stolen by Negli or Feccio or both, it didn’t figure they’d be inside that cabin at all, but there was always the chance. If they’d stolen the money and they were in there anyway, it figured they planned on bluffing it out, but there was always the chance. Parker had been shot at last night and he didn’t like setting himself up this way no matter how slim the odds were. He stood tensed, ready to jump.
But all that happened was the door opened and Feccio was standing there in his undershirt and red suspenders. He looked confused. He said, ‘Parker? What the hell are you doing here?’
‘Waiting to come in.’
‘Come, come. Let’s not advertise.’
Parker went in, and Feccio shut the door behind him.
Unmade twin beds, a metal-cased television set, two metal bureaus, a ceiling light fixture like a serving tray, and linoleum on the floor; the whole thing looked like any cheap motel room or fourth-rate tourist cabin. A little alcove on the right, between the built-in bathroom and the built-in closet, contained shelving holding a twin-burner hot plate and kitchen utensils and cans and boxes of food. A miniature refrigerator nestled under the shelves.
The place was mostly windows, but all of them were thickly covered with dark cloth, like a wartime blackout, so it was night inside the cabin and the ceiling light was on. This place was supposed to be closed for the season; lights from one of the units at night, or any sign of activity through an unshielded window in the daytime, might attract the attention of a passing state trooper.
Negli was sitting in the room’s one chair, a foam-rubber and wrought-iron affair. He was as dapper as ever,
