CHAPTER TWO
1
Easton, Sheriff Thomson and Travers sat in the sheriff’s office. The time was twenty minutes past eight p.m. Easton was sipping a glass of milk. The sheriff and Travers were drinking beer. They had listened to the eight o’clock broadcast, giving a description of Johnny and of the Lincoln car.
The sudden sound of the telephone bell brought the three men alert.
‘Here we go,’ the sheriff said and reached for the telephone. He listened to a man’s voice that came over the line.
‘Okay, Mr. Oakes,’ he said. ‘Sure, I’ve got it. We’ll be right over if you’ll wait for us. Yeah… say in thirty minutes.’ He hung up and looked at Easton, ‘Oakes of Triumph Car Mart at Downside. He’s pretty sure he sold the Lincoln to our friend.’
Easton finished his milk and stood up.
‘You stick here, sheriff, in case any more leads come in. Ken and me will go see this guy.’
Thirty minutes later, Easton and Travers walked into the brightly lit car mart.
Seeing them come, Fred Oakes, a fat, elderly man, hurried towards them.
After introductions, he said, ‘This fella matched the description I heard on the radio. He was tall, heavily built and he had black sideboards and a moustache. He wore a belted, fawn-coloured coat.’
‘Just when did you see him, Mr. Oakes?’ Easton asked.
‘I’ve got the exact date and the time,’ Oakes said. ‘I have it all right here for you, together with the fella’s address.’ He gave Easton a copy of the sale receipt of the Lincoln, bearing an address.
Easton scratched the side of his neck as he stared at the address.
‘Johnny Acres, 12477, California Drive, Los Angeles,’ he intoned. ‘Probably phoney. Anyway, I’ll check.’ He looked at Oakes, ‘Could you identify this man again?’
Fred Oakes nodded. Although his feet ached and he was tired, he was enjoying being questioned. He knew for sure he would see his name in the papers the following day: maybe, even a photograph.
‘I’d know him anywhere.’
‘Was he alone?’
‘Yes.’
‘How did he pay?’
‘In cash. He gave me sixty ten-dollar bills.’
‘Any chance of examining the bills?’
Oakes shook his head.
‘We do most of our business in cash. The money’s been banked days ago.’
Travers asked, ‘Mr. Oakes, how did you react to this man – as a man? Did you like him?’
Oakes was quick to understand what Travers meant.
‘I couldn’t say I took to him. I didn’t pay much attention to him, but I got the impression he wasn’t the sort of guy you’d pick for a friend. I can’t say why. There was something about him… then he had this habit of humming under his breath. It irritated me.’
Travers became alert.
‘Humming under his breath?’
‘That’s right. Whenever I was talking to him, he started this low humming sound… sort of an unconscious habit I guess.’
Easton said impatiently, ‘Never mind that stuff, let’s have the details of the car. I want the licence number, the engine number and the make of tyres.’
Oakes supplied the information and Easton jotted it down. Then shaking Oakes’s hand, Easton got back into his car.
‘Well, here’s something for the S.A. to work on,’ he said as Travers joined him. ‘We should be able to pick up
