‘My mother told me about him,’ she said quietly. ‘She told me how they tortured him. The only thing that kept him alive was the knowledge I’d be waiting for him when he came out.’
‘The only thing that kept him alive,’ Baird said, ‘was the thought of that stuff he had hidden away, and what he was going to do with it.’
‘No, that’s what everyone thought,’ she said, coming to the foot of the bed and looking down at him.
‘When he was arrested, my mother took the col ection. No one knew he was married. It was easy for her to get out of the country. The ship struck a reef. Only she and five others were rescued. The collection went down with the ship. For fifteen years my father suffered so my mother could go free. I never told him she found someone else. Then you had to come along and kill him when his suffering was nearly ended.’
‘I didn’t kill him,’ Baird said obstinately.
‘But you did. If you had left him alone, he would be alive now.’
‘You’re feeling pret y bad about it, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘I guess I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known. I want you to believe that. I stil owe you a lot. I could have squared our debt if I had known.’
‘I shouldn’t have helped you the first time,’ she said. ‘That’s where I went wrong. I only did it because I remembered what they did to him. If I had let them find you here, he would be alive now.’
‘I guess that’s right,’ he said, and lay back on the pillow. ‘There’s not much of me left. They can have what there is. Go ahead and call them.’
‘They’re waiting now,’ she said.
‘I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known,’ he muttered. ‘I don’t suppose you’l believe that.’
‘Does it mat er now? It’s a lit le late for regrets, isn’t it? You did it, and he’s dead. I blame myself, not you.’
His despair was bitter as she went out of the room without looking at him. For the first time in his life he felt afraid, for he realised he was going to die as he had lived: uncared for and in loneliness.
Olin and two patrolmen, guns in hand, came into the room. Dallas followed them.
Baird lay flat on his back, his eyes closed. He was breathing with difficulty, and sweat ran off his face, soaking the pillow.
Olin snapped, ‘Get that intern up here, and tel him to hurry.’
Dallas shook Baird’s shoulder.
‘Hey, you! Wake up!’
Baird opened his eyes.
‘Did Hater tell you where the stuff is?’ Dal as demanded. ‘Come on, spil it! It’s not going to be of any use to you now.’
Baird shook his head.
‘I forgot to ask him,’ he said, in a voice that was scarcely audible. ‘Too bad, isn’t it, copper?’ His eyes moved from Dallas to Olin. ‘I holed up in this room after I knocked off those two in the drug store,’
he said, speaking with difficulty. ‘I told her if she didn’t hide me Rico would get her. She didn’t want to do it. Do you understand? I made her. You’re not going to hold it against her, are you?’
‘Get ing soft?’ Olin said with a sneer. ‘You know as well as I do she covered you, and that makes her an accessory to murder!’
‘She thought Rico would rub her out if she didn’t cover me.’ Baird made an effort to sit up, but he couldn’t make it.
‘Quit lying!’ Olin said. ‘Why should you want to shield her? She took your gun. If it hadn’t been for her we wouldn’t have found you. Now, come on; she hid you wil ingly, didn’t she?’
Baird looked at Dallas.
‘You fix it,’ he gasped. ‘She’s a good kid. I made her do what she did. Put it in writing. I’l sign it.’
‘Listen,’ Dal as said to Olin, ‘if she hadn’t got his gun, you’d have had a bat le on your hands. What do you want to pick on her for?’
Olin made an impatient gesture.
‘Oh, the hel with it! I don’t want her. She can go for al I care. Where’s that damned intern?’
Baird relaxed limply back on the pillow. His eyes closed.
Dallas said, ‘Can I tel your man to let her go?’
‘Sure,’ Olin said impatiently. ‘Do what you damn well like.’
As Dallas went into the passage, the intern came up the stairs.
Olin called to him, ‘Give this guy a shot of something. I want him to make a statement.’
Dallas ran down the stairs.
Anita and a patrolman were waiting in the lobby. Dallas stepped past them and shut himself in the pay booth at the end of the passage. He put a call through to Purvis. Rapidly he brought Purvis up to date on the night’s happenings.
‘Looks like we’re sunk,’ he concluded. ‘With Hater dead, our last chance of finding the stuff goes with him.’
‘How about the girl?’ Purvis said. ‘Maybe she knows.’
‘Do you want me to ask her?’
