hopefully at his wife. ‘Wouldn’t you say that, my dear?’
‘How can anyone tell by a voice how old anyone is?’ his wife snapped. ‘My husband reads detective stories,’ she went on to Meadows, ‘read, read, read – always with his head in a book. People shouldn’t read detective stories – they are unhealthy.’
‘You couldn’t guess his age?’ Meadows asked.
‘Perhaps I could, but I’m not going to. I don’t believe in misleading the police,’ and she glared at her husband.
‘Did you get an idea what this man was wearing, Mr. Carey?’
The little man hesitated.
‘I wouldn’t like to say definitely, but I had the impression it was a sports suit. It could have been brown. As he got out of the car, I did think the jacket had pouch pockets.’
‘How can you stand there and tell this gentleman all this nonsense I don’t know,’ his wife said. ‘It was dark: you couldn’t have seen the colour of his suit; not with your eyesight anyway.’ She turned to Meadows. ‘Talk about a vain man. He should wear his spectacles all the time. I’m continually telling him. He shouldn’t drive without his spectacles.’
‘My eyesight isn’t all that bad, Harriet,’ Carey said, showing a little spirit. ‘I only need my glasses for close work.’
Meadows pointed to a newspaper lying on his desk about six feet away.
‘Can you read the headlines from where you are standing, Mr. Carey?’
Carey read the headlines without hesitation.
Meadows looked over at Renick and shrugged, then he asked, ‘Was this man wearing a hat?’
‘No, sir.’
Meadows glanced sarcastically at the woman.
‘Would you agree to that?’
‘He wasn’t wearing a hat, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have one,’ the woman said angrily.
‘Was he carrying one?’
She hesitated, then said crossly, ‘I didn’t notice.’
While this was going on, Carey was again looking at me, his expression bewildered.
‘Mr. Carey,’ Meadows said, ‘was this man dark or fair?’
‘I couldn’t say, sir. The light wasn’t good enough.’
‘He spoke to you?’
‘He yelled at us,’ the wife put in. ‘He knew he was in the wrong. He…’
‘Would you recognise his voice again?’ Meadows asked paying no attention to the interruption.
Carey shook his head.
‘I don’t think I would, sir. He said very little.’
‘What time did the accident happen?’
‘Ten minutes past ten. I particularly looked at my watch.’
‘Then this fellow ran off. Where did he go?’
‘I think he got into a car that was waiting outside the park. Anyway, after he had run off, I heard a car start up and drive off.’
‘You didn’t see the car?’
‘No, but I did see the glare of its headlights.’
‘In which direction was the car going ?’
‘Towards the airport.’
Meadows stopped prowling around the office and stared at Carey, then he looked over at Renick who was taking notes.
‘The airport?’
‘Well, the car could have been going to West Beach which is beyond the airport. I didn’t mean…’
‘The airport!’ Meadows exclaimed. ‘That’s an idea.’ He suddenly got excited. ‘Goddam it! That
Renick shook his head.
‘No. We reckoned they wouldn’t dare take the girl on a plane. We’ll check if you think…’
‘We’ll check everywhere,’ Meadows said. ‘I want a list of all passengers who travelled from the airport from half past ten to midnight. Fix that, John.’
I was now so tense I could scarcely sit still.
Turning to Carey, Meadows said, ‘I guess that’s all for now, Mr. Carey. Thanks for your help. If there’s anything further I want to know, I’ll get in touch with you.’
The wife started for the door.
