I was immediately alert and worried. I looked towards the door as a man of about my build came in.
He paused to look from Renick to me. I watched his reaction as he and I exchanged glances, but there was no sign of recognition. I had never seen him before, and I relaxed.
‘Mr. Keller?’ Renick said, getting to his feet. He held out his hand.
‘That’s right.’ Keller shook hands. ‘Lieutenant, I saw this picture in the paper.’ He held up the newspaper containing the picture of myself with the blocked out face. ‘I think I’ve seen this guy.’
‘Sit down. Let’s have your address, Mr. Keller.’
Keller sat down. He took out his handkerchief and wiped his sun-tanned, pleasantly ugly face. He said he lived on Western Avenue and gave the number of his apartment.
‘Where do you think you saw this man?’
‘At the airport.’
My heart started to thump. I picked up a pencil and began to doodle on the blotter lying on the desk at which I was sitting.
‘When was this?’
‘Saturday night.’
I saw Renick begin to show interest.
‘What time?’
‘Around eleven o’clock.’
‘What makes you so sure he is the man we’re looking for, Mr. Keller?’
Keller moved uneasily.
‘I’m not sure he is the man, Lieutenant. It was the suit that caught my attention. You see I planned to buy a suit like that myself. I was in the airport lobby waiting for a friend of mine off the L.A. plane and I saw this guy come in. The suit attracted my attention. I thought how well it looked, then seeing this photograph in the paper today, I thought maybe I should come in and tell you.’
‘You did right. Would you recognise this guy again?’
Keller shook his head.
‘To tell the honest truth, Lieutenant, I didn’t look at his face. I was looking at the suit.’
Renick drew in a long, slow breath of exasperation. Then he asked the question I had been silently willing him not to ask.
‘Was he alone?’
‘He had a girl with him.’
Renick got slowly to his feet. He could scarcely control his excitement.
‘Did you happen to notice the girl, Mr. Keller?’
Keller grinned widely.
‘Oh, sure. There aren’t many pretty girls that I don’t notice.’
‘How was she dressed?’
‘She had on a blue and white cotton dress. She wore big sun goggles and she had red hair – my favourite colouring for a girl.’
‘Red hair?’ Renick paused in his pacing to stare at Keller. ‘You are sure about that?’
‘I’m sure.’
I took out my handkerchief and surreptitiously wiped my face.
Renick snatched up the telephone.
‘Taylor, get that dress the girl was wearing up here right away.’
As he replaced the receiver, Keller said in a puzzled voice, ‘I thought you were interested in the guy, Lieutenant, not the girl.’
‘What did these two do?’ Renick asked, ignoring Keller’s remark.
Seeing the hard, seriousness in his eyes, Keller stiffened to attention.
‘They came into the lobby. The man was carrying a suitcase. The girl got her ticket checked and the man handed over the suitcase. Then he went away and the girl went through the barrier.’
‘Did they speak at all to each other?’
Keller shook his head.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t think they did. The guy just handed over the suitcase and left.’
A police officer came in carrying a blue and white dress. Renick took it from him and held it up so Keller could see it.
‘That’s the one,’ Keller said confidently. ‘She looked real cute in it.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘That’s the one, Lieutenant.’
