Dougherty said, ‘My wife tells me you have information for me. On the Canaday case.’
‘Something like that.’
‘You wouldn’t be here to give yourself up, would you?’
‘Not me.’
‘I didn’t think so. But you are the man found at the scene of the crime.’
‘Probably.’
‘And you’re here to tell me you didn’t kill Miss Canaday, I should concentrate on others of her friends.’
Parker shrugged. ‘I don’t care what you do,’ he said. ‘I want a list from you, that’s all.’
‘You want from me?’
‘Boyfriends, all kinds. Anybody still living around town. Did she have an address book?’
Dougherty took his elbows off the table. ‘Let me get this straight,’ he said. ‘You want to ask me questions?’
‘That’s right.’
Dougherty shook his head. ‘You don’t look the type,’ he said. ‘You look too smart for that sort of thing.’
‘What sort of thing?’
‘You’re going to go do it yourself, am I right? You’re going to find your girlfriend’s murderer and bring him to justice all by yourself.’
‘Not me.’
‘No? What, then? I already know you didn’t kill her, if that’s what’s worrying you. You’d been living with her a couple of weeks, neighbors identified you. You didn’t make the phone call, the timing is wrong. You wouldn’t have had to kick the door in if Miss Canaday was still alive. I imagine you’d be interesting to me in a number of other ways, because otherwise you wouldn’t have run off like that, and I’d like to know what all those guns were doing in that closet, but I’m not sold on you for murder. You wouldn’t be connected with the robbery out at the stadium, would you?’
‘I’m not connected with anything. If you already count me out, who do you count in?’
Dougherty smiled and said, ‘I don’t see a reason in the world to tell you anything. What’s your name, by the way?’
‘Joe,’ Parker lied.
‘All right, Joe. I’m engaged in a murder investigation. In order to keep my pigeon from flying away, I’ve let the newspapers concentrate on the search for you. But I’m not searching for you, the robbery detail is. They figure you were probably in on the robbery at the stadium, or at least you know the people who were. The guns in the closet connect you definitely.’
Parker said, monotoned, not trying to convince Dougherty but just getting it said so it could be done with ‘I had nothing to do with the robbery. I went in and saw her there killed, and when the cop opened the closet door I saw all the guns in there, and I figured I’d be the fall guy so I ran.’
Dougherty nodded. ‘That’s bound to be your story, sure. But I’m not the one to tell it to. You want someone from robbery detail.’
‘I want Ellie’s boyfriends.’
Dougherty shook his head. ‘You’ve got to be kidding. You’ve got to have some other reason to come in here.’
Parker said, ‘You’re at a dead end on the killing. Robbery detail is at a dead end on the heist. Give me a couple answers, toss me in the middle of it, maybe I stir things up.’
‘You muddy the waters, you mean.’
Parker cocked his head. ‘You want to go up and tell your wife anything?’
‘Like what?’
‘Like don’t leave the house. Don’t take the kids anywhere. You weren’t dumb enough to have her phone the precinct, were you?’
‘No, I wasn’t. You haven’t killed anybody yet, and you’ve got no reason to kill me. I’m in no hurry to arrest you for anything, because I’m working on a murder case and you connect somewhere else entirely. My wife and kids are going next door for a visit.’
‘Bad.’
Dougherty said, ‘Don’t pressure me. I won’t pressure you and you don’t pressure me. Why are you still in town?’
‘I want names,’ Parker said.
‘You won’t get them from me. Could it be the actual killer knows something? Something about the robbery, maybe. You can’t afford to have him talk to the police; he might try to trade information for a lesser charge.’
‘I’ll give him to you,’ Parker said. ‘Alive and talking.’
‘You don’t make any sense at all,’ Dougherty told him. ‘Why do you want him, if not to kill him? What makes you think I’ll give you any information?’
‘You’re too exposed, Dougherty. You know my arguments.’
