The Snake

Her giggle broke into a soft cackle only the old can make. 'Sim Torrence? I'm afraid not. Sue was born before they were married.'

'He could still be the father.'

'You don't understand, Mr...'

'Hammer.'

'Mr. Hammer. You see, I was with Sally always before. I knew the many faces she was with. I know who she slept with and none of them were Sim Torrence. It wasn't until after the baby was born that they were married when he took her in and provided for them.' The flat laugh came out again. 'Those two could never have a baby of their own though.'

'Why not?'

'Because she and Sim never slept together. After the baby was born Sally never let a man near her. She underwent a change. All she thought of was the baby, making plans for her, hoping for her to grow up and be somebody. You know, I hate to give away women-secrets, but Sally deliberately cultivated Sim Torrence. They knew each other for some time earlier. Some court case. She managed to meet him somehow and I remember them going out for a couple of weeks before she brought him to our apartment and told me they were going to get married.'

'Did Torrence take it well?'

'How does any man take it who is going to lose his bachelorhood?' She smiled knowingly. 'He was rather shaken. Almost embarrassed. But he did provide well for Sally and Sue. They had a simple ceremony and moved into his town house.'

'Were you with them?'

'Oh yes. Sally wouldn't leave me. Why, I was the only one who could take care of her and the baby. She wasn't very domestic, you know. She wasn't supposed to be. Yes, those were different women then. Showgirls. They had to be pampered.'

'Why wouldn't she let Torrence near her in bed?'

'Does it sound strange that a woman who was a... a whore would be afraid of sex?'

I shook my head. 'Most of them are frigid anyway,' I said bluntly.

'So true, so true. Well, that was Sally. Frigid. Having the baby scared her. Even having a man scared her.'

'Was she scared of Torrence?'

'Of every man, Mr... ,' and this time she remembered my name and smiled, '... Hammer. Yes, Sim Torrence scared her but I think he understood. He let her stay at that place in the country. He came up on occasions and it was very strained but he was very understanding about it too. Of course, like all men, he could bury himself in his work. That was his real wife, his work.'

'Miss Lee... the last time I was here we talked about Blackie Conley, remember?'

'I remember.'

'You said you knew about the plans he made for that robbery he and Sonny Motley were involved in. What were they?'

She stopped rocking, her face curious again. 'Are you looking for the money?'

'I'm a cop, Miss Lee. I'm looking for a killer, for the money... for anything that will help keep trouble from Sue.'

'Sue? But that was before she was born.'

'It can come back to hurt her. Now what did you hear?'

She nodded, pressing her lips together, her hands grasping the arms of the rockers. 'Do you really think... ?'

'It might help.'

'I see.' She paused, thought a moment, then said, 'You know that Sonny really didn't plan the robbery. It was his gang, but he didn't plan it. They were... acting for someone.'

'I know about that.'

'Blackie had instructions to find a place where they were going to hide out. He was told where to go and how to do it. I remember because I listened to the call.' She chuckled at the thought. 'I never did like Blackie. He was at Sally's place when he took the call. In fact, that was where they did all their planning, at Sally's apartment. Sonny was going with her then when she wasn't sneaking off with Blackie. '

'I see.'

'Really,' she told me, 'I wasn't supposed to know about these things. I was always in the other room out of sight, but I was worried about Sally and tried to find out what was going on. I listened in and they didn't know it.'

'None of this came out at the trial,' I reminded her.

'Nor was it about to, young man. I didn't want to involve Sally any more than she was. She did appear in court, you know.'

'Briefly. She wasn't implicated. She was treated as an innocent victim.'

Those watery old eyes found mine and laughed in their depths. 'No, Sally wasn't so innocent. She knew everything that went on. Sally's pose was very deliberate. Very deliberate. She was a better actress than anyone imagined.'

Annette Lee leaned forward like some old conspirator. 'Now that it can't hurt her, let me tell you something. It was through dear Sally that this robbery came about. All arrangements, all contacts were made through her. Sonny was quite a man in those days and ran a sizable operation. But it was through Sally Devon that another party interested Sonny in that robbery. No, Sally was hardly the innocent victim.'

I didn't let her see me take it in. I passed it off quickly to get her back on the track again, but now the angles were starting to show. I said, 'When Blackie Conley got this call... what happened?'

Jerked suddenly from one train of thought, she sat back frowning. 'Oh... Blackie... well, I heard this voice...'

'A man?'

'Yes. He told Blackie to see a man in a certain real estate agency, one that could be trusted. He gave him the phone number.'

I added, 'And Blackie arranged to rent a house in the Catskills?'

'That's right. He made the call right then and said he'd be in the next day.' She, opened her eyes again, now her fingers tapping a silent tune on the chair. 'But then he made another call to Howie Green.'

'Who?'

'Howie Green. He was a bootlegger, dearie, but he owned properties here in the city. He invested his money wisely, Howie did, and always had something to show for it. Howie was as crooked as they come, but smarter than most of them. One of Howie's enterprises was a real estate agency that used to be someplace on Broadway. Oh yes, Howie was a big man, but he owed Blackie Conley a favor. Blackie killed a man for Howie and held it over his head. He told Howie he wanted a place to hole up in somewhere away from the city and to pick it out.'

'Where was it, Annette?'

'I don't know, young man. Howie merely said he'd do it for him. That was all. I suppose Blackie took care of it later. However, it's all over now. Howie Green's dead too. He died in an accident not long afterward.'

'Before the robbery?'

'I really don't remember that.'

I reached for my hat and stood up. 'You've been a great help, Annette.'

'Have I really?'

I nodded.

'Will Sue be... all right?'

'I'm sure she will.'

'Someday,' she asked me, 'will you bring her to me? I would like to see her again.'

'We'll make a point of it.'

'Good-by then. It was nice of you to come over.'

'My pleasure, Miss Lee.'