They found Gina, now dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed, a glass half full of whisky in her hand.
‘The Parnell woman was blackmailing Hardy.’ Terrell said. ‘We have proof here.’ He waved the diary and the letter. ‘Now come on: you lied when you said he was here on the night she died, didn’t you?’
Gina frowned at the whisky in the glass, then suddenly, she shrugged.?‘So what does it matter? So I lied,’ she said, ‘but he didn’t kill her. You’re not pinning murder on him even if he is dead.’
Terrell sat down. His slight signal alerted Beigler who moved over to the window, sat down and took out his notebook.
‘If you’re so sure about that, who did kill her?’ Terrell asked.
‘Oh, a guy,’ Gina said. ‘He was a nut. I didn’t know he had screws loose at first, but it has gradually dawned on me.’
‘Just what are you talking about?’ Terrell asked, leaning forward. ‘Who is this man? What do you know about him?’
‘A guy I ran into,’ Gina said. She blew out her cheeks and moved a strand of hair off her face.
Terrell could see she was very drunk now.?‘Suppose we begin at the beginning? Where do you come in on this?’?‘I found the letter and the diary the way you found it,’ Gina said, staring glassily at her drink. ‘I guessed Lee was having trouble with that bitch, but it wasn’t until I found the letter and the diary that I realised she was set to squeeze him dry. I wanted to marry him. I loved him, so I decided to fix her. If he was to spend his money on anyone it was to be me… certainly not her. One evening when he thought I was out, he called her. I listened in on the extension. They made a date at the Park Motel. He was paying her another five thousand. So I decided to go out there and persuade her to part with the records she had stolen from him.’
She got unsteadily to her feet, weaved across the room, opened a drawer in a closet and took from it a broad bladed hunting knife. She came back and offered it, hilt first, to Terrell.
‘I took this along with me. My idea was to knock her out, tie her up and threaten to carve her face to bits. I would have done it too, but I guessed she would part with what she had stolen before I had to start on her.’
Terrell examined the knife. There were dark stains near the hilt. He put it carefully on the bedside table before saying, ‘Then what happened?’
‘After Lee left the motel, I picked up a U-Drive car. I didn’t intend to kill her, but if she wouldn’t play, I was ready to go the whole way and I wanted to be sure no one could trace me so I didn’t use my own car.’
She paused, wiped her flushed face with the back of her hand and looked over at Beigler. ‘Am I going too fast for you?’?‘You’re doing great,’ Beigler said sarcastically.?‘Why take a U-Drive car? You’d have to show your licence,’ Terrell said.
Gina sneered at him.?‘You think I’m that dopey? I stole a handbag off some girl and used her licence. I even bought a blonde wig.’ She paused to sip the whisky, then went on, ‘I gave Lee half-an- hour’s start, then I drove after him. I was within ten miles of the Park Motel, driving slow because I
didn’t want to run into Lee and besides, I was tight, when a man walked right in front of the car. I stopped fast, but he was close enough for the fender to be touching him, when I did stop.’
She peered at Terrell.?‘You don’t have to believe any of this. I can’t prove it.’?‘Keep going,’ Terrell said.?‘Well, this guy asked for a lift. I said I was going to Ojus and he said that would be fine with him. So he got in. I had had a good look at him in the headlights and he wasn’t the kind who would worry me. Anyway, few men worry me. I know how to handle men. But this guy was something special. He was a looker: a real doll.’ She paused to sip her whisky, then went on, ‘There was something about him that made me want to confide in him. I was drunker than a skunk and weepy. I had to be drunk if I was going to do what I planned to do. Okay. I guessed I talked too much. I told him about Lee. I told him about the Parnell bitch. I told him I had to get these papers from her or kill her. By the time I started shooting my mouth off, we had arrived at the Park Motel. Then he started talking as we sat in the car in the motel’s parking lot. He said he would take care of everything. He said he liked me: he was sorry for me: he knew what it was to be in love. He had lots of authority, looks and confidence. I was so goddamn drunk I was glad to listen to him. He said women like Sue Parnell weren’t fit to live. He said he would take care of her. On the back seat of the car I had left the knife and a tyre lever. He took them. As he got out of the car, I suddenly got scared. I said I didn’t want him to do anything. I could handle it. He smiled at me. “You couldn’t fly a kite,” he said. By this time the drink was really hitting me. I knew if I got out of the car, I couldn’t even stand. I let him go and sat in the car, waiting. After a while he came back and got in the car. He said,
“I’ve fixed it.” By this time, I was ready to pass out. I had a pint in the car and I kept hitting it. I felt him push me into the passenger seat, and then I felt the car move. I guess I passed out. The next thing I remember was waking up on the grass verge of the highway. He and the car had disappeared.’ She again blew out her cheeks and passed her hand across her face. ‘Gee I’m tight. That’s all. Lee never killed her. It was this guy.’
‘How do you know he killed her?’ Terrell asked. ‘Hardy could have killed her and this guy you talk about could have walked in and found her.’
‘Think so? I say different. When he went into the cabin he was wearing a sports jacket. When he came out, he was carrying the jacket, inside out… why? He gave me the knife. It was wrapped up in her pants. He said, “You’re lucky. I’ve fixed it. You have no more worries the way I have.” I found the knife and her pants in my handbag the following morning when I got, sober. There was blood in my bag, on the knife and the pants. I put the bag and pants into the basement furnace… he killed her all right.’
‘Let’s look at it another way,’ Terrell said. ‘Suppose this, convenient nut never existed? Suppose you went into the cabin and failing to make Sue Parnell part, you killed her. That would be a lot more simple, wouldn’t it?’
Gina finished her drink. She sneered at Terrell as she put down her glass.?‘That’s a cop all over. You hear so many lies, you don’t believe the truth when you hear it.’ ‘I like it better this way. I think you’re trying to talk yourself out of a murder rap.’?‘That’s right. Take it the easy way,’ Gina said. ‘It would suit you to pin this on me, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t have to look further. You wouldn’t have to hunt for this boy friend, would you?’
‘For the record,’ Terrell said, ‘let’s have something more about this boy friend. If you saw him again, would you recognise him?’
‘I’d know him anywhere. He was the kind you couldn’t help but know again … a real doll!’ ‘Let’s have something to work on: what was he like: give me a description of him.’?‘He was tall, handsome and dark. He had everything. He was sympathetic. He was the kind of man you would tell your frankest secrets to.’
‘You said he was a nut. Why do you say that?’?‘Of course he was a nut. He wouldn’t have gone in there and ripped her unless he was a nut. I provided him with an excuse to kill a woman. I guess I was lucky he didn’t kill me.’
Terrell looked at Beigler who lifted his shoulders. Gina’s story sounded as corny to him as it did to Terrell.
‘I still think Hardy could have done it and you’re drunk enough to dream up this story.’ Terrdll said. ‘But you’ll come to headquarters and we’ll work all this over. Come on… let’s go.’
Gina grimaced.?‘My road stopped when Lee died,’ she said. ‘I’ve had all I want from life and it hasn’t been all that hot. Lee didn’t kill her. Can’t you get that fact into your thick skull? It was this nut who did it.’
‘We’ll go over it again at headquarters. Let’s go,’ Terrell said, getting to his feet.
Gina shrugged and stood up.?‘Excuse me while I spend a dime,’ she said. ‘My back teeth are floating.’ She walked unsteadily across the bedroom and into the bathroom. As she shut the door, Terrell said, ‘What do you make of this story, Joe?’
‘She’s lying,’ Beigler said. ‘It’s my bet…’
The violent bang of a gun, coming from the bathroom made both men start to their feet. As one, they rushed to the bathroom door. Beigler drove his massive shoulder against the panel and burst in.
Gina lay face down on the floor, a smoking gun in her hand. Her brains made a white and red stain on the bathroom tiles.
As Terrell came in from a quick lunch, he met Beigler looking hot and irritable, getting out of his car. The two men walked fast up the steps into police headquarters.
‘How’s it coming?’ Terrell asked as he led the way to his office.?‘Got something,’ Beigler said. He entered the office and lowered his heavy frame on to one of the upright chairs. Terrell went behind his desk and sat down. He poured coffee from the flask.
‘Go ahead.’?‘The day before the murder, a woman, Ann Lucas, reported her handbag stolen. That afternoon, a woman calling herself Ann Lucas hired a car from the U-Drive Depot for five days. The guy who handled the deal
