“And you decided to go to New York,” Fellows said with a trace of sarcasm.
“I had to get away where I could think. I didn’t want to go home because then I’d have to explain why I’d come back. Besides, my wife would know something was wrong. I had to get away—far away. So that’s what I did. I banked the furnace and locked the room and the house and drove to the station for the first train to New York.”
“And made a date with Miss Sherman.”
Watly rubbed his face. “I know that sounds terrible, but you don’t understand. I knew I was going to have to do something about Joan’s body, but I couldn’t face up to it. I wanted companionship.”
“Not your wife’s, of course.”
“You don’t understand. I wanted an uncomplicated relationship. I just wanted to be with a woman. It’s always been that way with me. When I’m in trouble, I turn to a woman. That’s why I went to New York and that’s why I started that thing with Jean. She would have been nice for the weekend, but she was busy and I brought her back with me because, somehow, it wouldn’t seem quite so terrible going back into that house if she were with me.
“We just spent that one night and I put her on the nine o’clock train the next morning and went to work. Mr. Restlin wasn’t there because he usually takes Mondays off. He keeps the office open seven days a week because weekends and holidays and times like that are good. That’s when people go out house-hunting. I don’t work weekends, so he does and he takes Mondays off. That meant I didn’t have to face him with all that terrible thing on my mind. I’d decided the best thing to do was try to dispose of her body if I possibly could and the thing I decided to do was burn it in the furnace.
“I went out there that night. That was Monday night. It was a terrible night for me. It was the worst thing I ever had to do in my life. I cut her up in the bathtub, her arms and legs, and I took them down in a bushel basket I lined with newspapers and burned them in the furnace and then I just couldn’t go on. I left her in the bathtub and locked up the house and went home. The nightmares I had!”
He rubbed his agonized face briefly. The men around him stared stonily. “Then I went out again Tuesday night and the house was cold. I was so upset the night before I forgot to bank the furnace and the fire was out. I didn’t want to waste time trying to start it again. I’m not good at coal furnaces. It took me all afternoon to get it going the day before Joan moved in and I didn’t want to try it again. So I built a big fire in the fireplace and that’s where I burned her head and that’s all I did that night because it smelled so terribly. I came home again and I decided the next night I’d start the furnace again only that was the day that man Bunnell wanted to look at the house.
“I’d left it locked and we couldn’t get in, but I was desperately afraid Mr. Restlin would take him back there with a key. Fortunately we talked about it on the way back to the office and I influenced him and he decided he’d wait till the next day and bring his wife.
“I couldn’t wait any longer and I knew I wouldn’t have time to get rid of the whole body in one night, having to build a fire in the furnace and all. It’d take so long my wife would want to know what was the matter. I was supposed to be out selling and I couldn’t come home late without her asking questions. So I put the body in the trunk in the cellar and packed all her things, only I didn’t know what to do with her suitcases. I didn’t want to take them with me, so I left them. I thought maybe I’d be able to come back after Bunnell saw the house, but when I got there, the smell was still around and I was sure the whole thing would be found out and the first thing the police would do would be to check the lease and it was signed in my handwriting. So I went down to the office without turning on the lights and took all the leases and then punched a hole in the glass in the door and left.” He looked up. “I wasn't trying to be a burglar. I guess I did the wrong things all around, but you’ve got to understand how frightened I was. I wasn’t able to think straight. All I wanted to do was get rid of the body and pretend I didn’t know anything about it. And when I did all that and burned the leases in the fireplace when I got home, I was sure I’d get caught. You kept coming around to see me and get me in on things and I was afraid I was going to give myself away every time I opened my mouth.” Watly paused, staring fearfully at the chief. Fellows shook his head. “You didn’t have to worry about that, Mr. Watly. You were very convincing.”
“I was desperate, Mr. Fellows. I knew it’d be all up with me if you caught me. I knew it would look bad. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to
