“You don’t get the point, George,” I told him. “Why were you shot at to begin with?”
Little beads of sweat were popping out on his forehead. He wiped his brow nervously. “How should I know? I’ve made enemies in my time.”
“This was a very particular enemy, George. This one killed Jack, too, and he’s coming back after you. He may not miss the next time. Why are you on his list?”
He was really jumpy now. “I—I don’t know. Honest I don’t.” He was almost apologetic the way he spoke now. “I tried to think it out but I don’t get anywhere. That’s why I moved to the city. Where I was, anyone could get to me. At least here there are other people around.”
I leaned forward. “You didn’t think enough. You and Jack had something in common. What was it? What did you know that Jack did? What did you have on somebody that Jack might have stumbled to? When you answer that question you’ll have your killer. Now do I bang your head on the floor to help you remember or do you do it yourself?”
He stood up straight and paced across the room. The thought of being on a kill list had him half bugs. He just wasn’t as young as he used to be. This sort of thing got Mm down.
“I can’t say. If there’s anything, it’s a mistake. I didn’t know Jack long. Hal knew him. He met him through Miss Manning. If you can figure out a tie-up in there I’ll be glad to tell you what I know. Do you think I want to get knocked off?”
That was an angle I had forgotten about. Hal Kines was still sitting in the armchair beside the mantlepiece dragging heavily on a cigarette. For an athlete he wasn’t holding to training rules at all. I still couldn’t get the picture of Hal out of my mind. The one taken eight years ago. He was only a young punk, but that shot made him look like an old man. I don’t know. Maybe it was an abandoned store that had the picture in it for years.
“Okay, Hal, let’s hear what you know.” The kid turned his head toward me, giving me an excellent view of his Greek-god profile.
“George mentioned everything.”
“How do you know Miss Manning?” I asked him. “When did you meet her? After all, a babe like that plays ball in a bigger league than you can pay admission to see.”
“Oh, she came to school last year and gave a lecture on practical psychology. That’s what I’m majoring in. She had several students visit her clinic in New York to see her methods. I was one of them. She became interested in me and assisted me no end. That’s all.”
It wasn’t hard to see why she’d become interested in him. It made me mad to think of it, but he could have been right. Maybe it was purely professional interest. After all, a woman like that could have just about any male she wanted, including me.
I went on. “And what about Jack? When did you meet him?”
“Shortly afterwards. Miss Manning took me to Ms apartment for supper with him and Myrna. I got involved in a drunken brawl right after a football game. It was the last one of the season and all training rules were off. I guess we all went a bit too far, but we wrecked a joint. Jack knew the proprietor and instead of turning us in, made us pay for the place. The following week I was studying the case history of a homicidal maniac in the city wards when I met him again. He was glad to see me and we had dinner together. We became rather good friends in a short time. I was glad to know him, because he helped me immensely. The type of work I was doing involved visits to places where I ordinarily would not have access to, but with his help I managed to get to them all.”
For the life of me I couldn’t make anything out of it. Jack never spoke too much about anyone. Our association had started by having an interest in police work and our friendship had developed over firing ranges, ballistics tables and fingerprint indexes. Even in the army we had thought about it. Life on the side was only incidental. He had mentioned his friends. That’s about all. Myrna I knew very well. Kalecki from his underworld contacts. The Bellemy twins from the newspapers mostly, and the short time I had seen them before.
There was nothing more to be gained by hanging around here. I slapped my hat back on and walked toward the door. Neither of them thought to say so long, so I stepped out and slammed the door as hard as I could. Outside I wondered when George had gotten hold of the .45. Pat had said none of those at the party had ever owned a gun. Yet George had one and a permit to carry it. Or at least he said so. Well, if anything cropped up where a .45 was involved, I’d know where to look first.
The Bellemy twins lived on the fifth floor. Their apartment was in the same position as Kalecki’s. The only difference was that they answered the bell. The door had a chain lock on the inside and a plain, but vaguely pretty face was meeting mine through the six-inch opening.
“Yes?”
I couldn’t tell which of the twins I was speaking to, so I said, “Miss Bellemy?” She nodded. “I’m Mr. Hammer, private investigator. I’m working on the Williams case. Could you . . .”
“Why, of course.” The door closed and the chain removed from the lock. When the door opened again, I was facing a woman that had athlete written all over her. Her skin was brown from the sun except for the wrinkle spots beside her eyes, and her arms and shoulders were as smooth-muscled as a statue’s. This one certainly didn’t have justice done her by her photos. For a moment it struck me why they were having any trouble finding husbands.
“Won’t you come in?”
“Thank you.” I stepped inside and surveyed the place. Not much different from Kalecki’s, but it had a light perfume smell instead of a cigar odor. She led me to a pair of divans separated by a coffee table and waved toward one. I sat down and she took the other.
“Now what is it you wish to see me about?”
“Perhaps you’d better tell me which Miss Bellemy I’m speaking to so I won’t get my twins crossed.”
“Oh, I’m Mary,” she laughed. “Esther has gone shopping, which means she’s gone for the day.”
“Well, I guess you can tell me all I need to know. Has Mr. Chambers been to see you yet?”
“Yes. And he told me to expect you, too.”
“I won’t have much to ask. You knew Jack before the war, didn’t you?” She acknowledged with a nod. “Did you notice anything particular the night of the party?” I continued.
“No, nothing. Light drinking and a little dancing. I saw Jack talking rather earnestly to Myrna a few times, and once he and Mr. Kines went out in the kitchen for about fifteen minutes, but they came back laughing as though they had been telling jokes.”
“Did any of the others team up at all?”
“Umm, no, not to speak of. Myrna and Charlotte had a conference for a while, but the boys broke it up when the dancing started. I think they were talking about Myrna’s wedding plans.”
“What about afterwards?”
“We had a bite to eat, then came home. Both of us had forgotten our keys as usual and had to wake the super up to let us in. Both of us went right to bed. I knew nothing about the murder until a reporter awakened us with a phone call to get a statement. We expected a visit from the police at once and stayed at home to receive them, but no one came until today.”
She stopped short and cocked her head a little. “Oh,” she said, “you must excuse me. I left the water running in the tub.” She ran to the narrow hallway and disappeared into the bathroom. Maybe I was getting old. I didn’t hear any water running.
A couple of magazines were lying in a rack beside the divan. I picked one up and thumbed through it, but it was one of those pattern and fashion jobs without any pictures and I dropped it. Two new copies of
I had just gotten to where he was leading her to the justice of the peace when Mary Bellemy came back. Only this time she made my head swim. Instead of the grey suit she had on before, she wore a sheer pink negligee that was designed with simplicity as the motif. Her hair was down out of the roll and her face looked clean and strong.
Whether or not she planned it I don’t know, but she passed momentarily in front of the light streaming in from the window and I could see through everything she had on. And it wasn’t much. Just the negligee. She smiled
