“I can truly say it came as a great shock to me, Mrs. Foley. I was with Johnny only a couple of times, but I can say that I came to like him. My problem, like he maybe told you, is developing a big-enough line of credit to finance the work I already got lined up. This area is opening up fast, and I had to go to the city for the kind of financing I need up here. I don’t believe in hiding business affairs from people with a right to know them, and I opened up all my files and records to John Foley. And as we went over everything, he made some mighty good suggestions about better ways of handling things, and I’m grateful to him for that. I mailed him a card to the hospital, and you tell him I hope he comes along good.”
“Mr. Arlington, Johnny can’t remember very much about that night. He can remember phoning me and going to dinner with you. If we could fill in the blanks, maybe we could understand what really happened.”
He gave her a quick, puzzled glance. “I guess it isn’t a mystery what happened, is it?”
“Johnny isn’t a drunk and he isn’t a chaser, Mr. Arlington.”
“Even the best man in the world can be a damn fool.”
“What did you and he do that evening?”
“Let me see, now. He left the office about six and drove up to the Village Motel and got himself a room, and I guess he bought some stuff like a toothbrush and comb, and so on. He was back in about twenty minutes and we worked until a little past eight thirty and then we walked catty-cornered across to the Log Cabin Restaurant and had us some dinner. Back to the office maybe about nine fifteen, and we finally finished up a little after ten. There was just one final thing he wanted to do, and that was to take a look at the tract I optioned over behind the lumber company; we were going to do that early the next morning. I felt like a drink after working all day, so I suggested we drive out to the Mountaineer, three miles south of town. On account of I live a couple miles beyond it and he would be coming back into town, we took both cars and he followed me out, and we parked around in back. We went in, and I guess I bought him one and then he bought me one, and we talked about the plans I’ve got for the future, and then I went on home.”
“Was Mrs. Mannix there then?”
“Yes.”
“Were there many people there?”
“Not many. It was a Tuesday night. Fifteen all told. I’d say. And Stan Stack behind the bar.”
“Did my husband talk to Mrs. Mannix while you were there?”
Arlington looked increasingly uncomfortable. “Look. Mrs. Foley, you’re a grown woman with three kids, so I guess the facts of life won’t surprise you too much. Shirley was floating around the place, laughing and talking to this one and that one, and drinking root beer and putting money in the jukebox, and sort of dancing all by herself. When she’d light at a table, she’d sit with the Marlow boys, Chick and Lew. They’re a no-good pair. They’re usually in trouble with the game warden. I hire one or the other of them sometimes, but only when I’m desperate for men. They give you a half-hour’s work for an hour’s pay. Well, it was obvious to me that Shirley had her eye on Johnny right from the moment we came in. She kept trying to make him notice her, laughing too loud and so forth. Then she’d sit with the Marlow boys and they’d talk low, and she’d stare over at Johnny and giggle. We were sitting at the bar. About fifteen minutes before I left, Johnny went to the men’s room. When he came back he had to walk past the jukebox. She was there, doing her little twist dance all by herself, and as he went by she whirled around and caught him by the wrist and pulled him close and said something to him. Then he said something to her and she smiled and said something else, and he came back to the bar and asked me about her.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him she was bad news. I guess every town has a young woman the church ladies like to talk about, and Shirley was the one for this town. Not an evil person, you understand. Just reckless and noisy and not giving a damn. He kept watching her, and she kept watching him while I told him about her.”
“Did you ask him what she said to him?”
“Not directly, but I gave him every chance to tell me, and he didn’t. She stomped around there to the music, her black hair flying, darting little grinning, sideways glances at Johnny. A very pretty young woman, and very happy. Pretty soon I said I had to be going on home. He said he thought he’d stay a little while. It looked to me like he was going to get mixed up with her in spite of what I’d said, and I wondered if I should say anything else, and then I decided it wasn’t any of my business.”
“Would you say he was drunk?”
“No, he wasn’t drunk. He was having Scotch and soda, tall, and Stan Stack has never given full measure in his life. I looked back through at the bar as I was going out the back way, and Stan was bringing him another drink and Shirley was just climbing onto the stool beside him.”
“What time did you leave, did you say?”
“Quarter after midnight. And they say he left with her about one o’clock — went roaring out of that parking lot in that car and turned south.”
“Do you think those Marlow brothers would know what she said to him?”
“If they did and they thought it would help anybody, they wouldn’t let on. Those two are just plain mean, Mrs. Foley. They stomped a boy bad last year, and should have been put away then, but there was nobody too anxious to testify against them.”
“Do you think Mr. Stack would talk to me?”
“Not if it was up to him. What you do, Mrs. Foley, you tell Stan that if he talks to you nice, I might get a crew over there to fix that roof by the end of the week. If not, there’s no telling when I can schedule it.”
She stared at him. “I couldn’t tell him something like that!”
“I guess you couldn’t. Tell you what. I’ll go up the road in a few minutes and give him a call. He’ll be nice by the time you get there.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Arlington.”
“Now, don’t you be too hard on Johnny, Mrs. Foley. I’d say he’s in enough trouble as it is. Ross Mannix has been telling folks that his lawyer says he’s going to get a big price for Shirley’s life. And the other fellow who came up here to ask the same questions Johnny asked told me that Johnny was no longer connected with the company.”
“Mr. Arlington, I have no intention of being hard on him, as you put it. Johnny isn’t a sneak and he isn’t a fool. I’ve always trusted him and I always will.”
Arlington looked startled. He smiled wryly and said. “I guess there isn’t a husband around who couldn’t do with a little of that kind of faith, Mrs. Foley.”
She had a sandwich at the Log Cabin and it was after three when she arrived at the Mountaineer. The cool, overcast day had filled the place with afternoon beer drinkers, most of them vacationers from the nearby public campground. The bartender directed her to where she could find Stan Stack. He was in a small office off the kitchen, operating an ancient adding machine. He cleared papers from a chair to give her a place to sit. He was a brown, beefy, powerful man, with drooping eyelids, a heavy, sensuous face and a black, hairline mustache.
He confirmed everything Arlington had told her. And he said, “I’ve got a license to protect. They ask me if he was drinking, I have to say yes. Three drinks. You understand that.”
“Of course.”
“But he was sober when he came in and sober when he left. I tell them that, and what does it mean to them? Nothing. A man had drinks and got into his car and killed somebody.”
“When did Shirley Mannix get here that night?”
He shrugged heavy shoulders. “I didn’t notice. Maybe nine. She came in alone, in the front door. One thing about her, she didn’t drink. She’s got a right to come in. Anybody has. Right? She was good for a laugh. She brightened the place up. Should I kick? Should I tell her she’s married, so stay home with the kid?”