“What was that all about?” Goldie said.
“Nothing!” Furia said.
“Thursday afternoon,” Hinch said slowly. “Small skinny guy. That fuzz and his old lady were telling the truth. I’ll be goddam.”
“Don’t look at me!” Furia yelled. “It wasn’t me! I was in the shack, damn it. I didn’t even have the car, so how would I get into town?”
“Neither did the skinny guy,” Hinch said. “He walked, this Willie said.”
“So it was some local,” Goldie said, “the way Malone said. There are lots of small skinny guys in this world. Looks to me, Fure, like this really ties it. Why don’t we give it up as a bad job?”
“No,” Furia said. ‘Wo.”
“How do you expect Malone to get the money back when he doesn’t even know who took it?”
“That’s his problem!”
“You could ‘a’ walked,” Hinch said, “it ain’t that far. I hoofed it easy the night we pulled the heist.”
“Maybe it was you!”
“Small, skinny,” Hinch said. “Do I look small and skinny? Anyways, Fure, I wouldn’t do that.”
“And I would?”
Hinch did not reply. He was looking into his empty glass and frowning.
“Well, at least Malone and his wife didn’t blow the whistle, you scared ‘em good,” Goldie said brightly. She was scratching one hand with the other. After a while she said, “The roast won’t be long now. No potatoes or I’d make you some French fries, Fure. What vedge do you want?”
Furia told her what she could do with her vedge.
“I still think it’s taking useless chances to hang around here,” Goldie said. “Specially now that we know somebody did hijack the payroll. What do you say we write it off, Fure? We could be somewhere opening a bank and like grabbing us a real pile, not some snotty twenty-four grand.”
“What do you think, Hinch?” Furia asked suddenly.
Hinch looked up.
“You think we ought to cut out, like Goldie says?”
Hinch got to his feet. He seemed to go up and up indefinitely. Goldie took one look at the expression on his face and stepped back into the kitchen.
“I think,” Hinch said deliberately, “I’m going to make myself another drinkee.”
Fure was uptight all Saturday evening, brooding over at Hinch getting smashed in his corner.
Furia had his right hand stuck under his coat like Napoleon. But he wasn’t dreaming of new worlds to conquer, he wanted the Colt in his shoulder holster handy just in case, at least that was Goldie’s analysis. This whole thing is a bust why did I ever tie in with these cockamamies? Better watch your step, girl, this could wind up with fireworks.
There was almost a fight over the TV. Furia wanted the TV on, Hinch wanted the radio on. The nine o’clock movie was a remake of
In the end Hinch took the radio into the den and Furia watched his movie. He kept complaining all through that it stank I liked the fat guy and Bogey better.
But Goldie noticed that he turned his chair so he could keep one eye on the den.
Come eleven o’clock there was Furia standing in the doorway of the den.
“What you listening to?” he asked Hinch.
“What do you think?” Hinch said. There were about three fingers left in the bottle of Smirnoff’s.
“At the signal it will be exactly eleven o’clock,” the announcer said. “This is Station WRUD, the Voice of Taugus Valley. Now for the news.”
“What do you got to listen to the news for?” Furia said. “We heard it on the six o’clock.”
“You don’t want to hear it don’t,” Hinch said. “Me, I want to hear it.”
“They didn’t find us, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Furia said. Hinch said nothing. “That’s a joke, son.”
Hinch said nothing.
Furia stayed where he was, looking at Hinch. He kept his hand under his coat.
Goldie turned the TV off in the living room so she could listen, too. From the living room.
National news. Statewide news. Then the saxophone voice said, “One of the three teenagers injured in today’s two-car accident at Tonekeneke Falls which took the life of nineteen-year-old Alison Springer of Southville died this evening at the New Bradford Hospital. He was Kelly Wilson, Junior, eighteen, of Haddison. The two surviving teenagers are still listed in critical condition.
“Review of the additional salary upgradings proposed for New Bradford town employees last week has been completed, First Selectman Russ Fairhouse announced today, and the revised salary schedule will be brought before a town meeting next Friday night at eight p.m. in the New Bradford High School cafeteria.
“A combined meeting of the Women’s Auxiliaries of the fire departments of Taugus Valley will be held Monday evening at eight o’clock at the home of Mrs. Jeanine Lukenberry of Stonytown to complete plans for the joint pre-Christmas rummage sale for the benefit of Better Fire Prevention.”
“Aaaa, turn it off,” Furia said. “Who’s interested in that crap?”
“I am,” Hinch said, not moving.
“-a footnote to the Lighter-Side-of-the-News item we broadcast on our six o’clock news,” the baritone sax was playing.
“See what I mean?” Hinch said. “You got to wait for the good stuff. What’s the matter, Fure, you nervous?”
“Listen here, you-”
“Shut up,” Hinch said quietly, “I want to hear this.”
Furia’s ear-points began to turn red. But he shut up.
“-seems that Willie is a persistent little cuss,” the voice chuckled. “When Chief John Secco sent him home this afternoon, Willie didn’t go home. He went back to Old Bradford Road and, as he told WRUD’s Lighter-Side-of-the-News reporter this evening, ‘I scouted around, they don’t believe me about the man with the stocking over his face I’ll prove it to ‘em, I seen him throw that stocking away.’ To everyone’s surprise but Willie’s he did just that. He went back to New Bradford police headquarters with a woman’s nylon stocking which he claimed he found under the privet hedge in front of Officer Wesley Malone’s house, where the alleged housebreaking took place. Chief Secco sent an officer over to the Malone place with the stocking, and Mrs. Malone identified it as one of hers which she had had drying on her clothesline and which had disappeared days ago. ‘It must have been Rags that did it, she’s the Cunninghams’ dog next door, she’s always stealing things off my line,” Mrs. Malone told the officer. Willie was sent home with a personal escort, Officer Mert Peck. Officer Peck advised Willie’s father to take Willie on a tour of the woodshed, which Willie’s father said he sure as heck was going to do. Please don’t report any howling you may hear from that section of New Bradford. It’s just Willie learning that free enterprise doesn’t always pay.
“In one minute the music of the Taugus Rock Quarriers. But first, a message from-”
