Don Free stood near her desk, frowning. After a few seconds he went along the narrow corridor, knocked on the door of Hammond’s office and opened it. Hammond was seated back of his desk and Kronnen stood near a window. Hammond said:
“Hello, Free.”
Free nodded. “Hello, Tim,” he replied. Kronnen smiled just a little. It made him looked very good-natured. Hammond said:
“You tailed Mr. Kronnen back here, eh?”
Free nodded. “Yes.”
Kronnen rubbed a lower lip with knuckles of his right hand.
“One of your boys?” he said a little throatily. “Damned efficient.”
Free said: “Thanks, Mr. Kronnen.”
Kronnen chuckled. “Not at all,” he replied, and made a gesture with his right hand. Through the black of the sling cloth Free could see the white of the plaster cast.
Hammond said: “Is Miss Carle still outside, Free?”
Free shook his head. “She just left,” he replied. “Said she’d had a rotten day.”
Hammond raised his eyebrows slightly. Kronnen was looking at Free with a slightly puzzled expression.
“I’ve seen you somewhere, recently,” he said. “But I have a bad memory. Can’t remember faces.”
Free nodded. “I’m the same way.”
Kronnen looked more puzzled. “But in your line of business — that’s bad, isn’t it?” he asked.
Free smiled. “It’s not good in yours, either, is it?” he asked pleasantly.
Kronnen narrowed his eyes. “In other words — we were both lying,” he suggested. “You were at Mac’s place, down in the Village.”
Free nodded. Hammond said: “Mr. Kronnen came in about a serious matter. Someone murdered Tony Bandor a few hours ago, in a house he sometimes used, down in the Village.”
Free said without any expression in his voice or eyes:
“That’s too bad, I suppose.”
Hammond tilted his chair back slightly. “Mr. Kronnen knows who murdered Tony.”
Free smiled at Kronnen. “That so?” he said almost pleasantly.
Kronnen smiled back at him. “It’s so as hell,” he said throatily.
Free coughed. “I’ll bet the police will be interested,” he announced.
Hammond looked at Kronnen, who was watching Free with half-closed eyes. The bookie took his eyes away from Free and spoke to the agency head.
“Does he know why you had him tailing me?” he asked.
Hammond shook his head. “No, but he can know now. He’s all right, Mr. Kronnen.”
Free said nothing and Hammond spoke slowly. “I wanted you to pick up Mr. Kronnen, Free — because a client of ours believes he owes her a large sum of money.”
Free said: “Sure.”
Hammond said: “This client is wealthy and she nicked Mr. Kronnen for forty thousand at a nearby race track. On the level, of course. Things have been bad for Mr. Kronnen for some time, but he’s always kept his books on the square. He couldn’t pay the forty thousand, but he was acquainted with Tony Bandor. In fact Tony had promised to fix this matter up. I didn’t know all this, of course. I simply knew that our client was anxious to have me talk with Mr. Kronnen. Well, everything looked all right — and then Tony Bandor was murdered. That would have made it bad for Mr. Kronnen.”
Free said: “Would have made it bad?”
Hammond nodded. “Would have,” he repeated. “Except for the fact that Mr. Kronnen knows who murdered Bandor.”
There was a little silence, and Free said finally:
“Well, let’s see — it would have been bad for Mr. Kronnen’s money man to be dead in about every case but one. The client who wanted you to find Mr. Kronnen must have murdered Tony Bandor, Tim.”
Kronnen said very grimly: “That’s the way it went.”
Hammond looked at Free, and neither of them spoke. Hammond shifted a little in his chair. Traffic sound came up from the street. Hammond said finally:
“May I ask why you have come to the agency, Mr. Kronnen?”
Kronnen smiled a little. “I knew Tony pretty well, and I know some of his boys. One of them was around when Tony and Mary Reynolds went into his place. When she came out alone it seemed a bit funny to him, strange. He chased along. She went to a well-known lawyer’s office, then came here. She was pretty nervous. When the body was found I put two and two together — and figured she’d gone to Burkley for advice — and he’d sent her here.”
Hammond nodded. “Uh huh... and what did you think she’d said here?” he asked quietly.
Kronnen shrugged. “I had a hunch she’d told the truth, said that Tony had got rough and that she’d shot him in self defense. I had an idea she might have thought you could fix up an alibi for her, or Burkley might have thought of that. Or maybe she just came to tell you she was worried.”
Free said with a faint smile. “With her looks and a straight story — I don’t think she’ll need an alibi.”
Hammond said: “Or maybe she just came to tell me she was worried about what?”
Kronnen said: “She isn’t a fool. She was lucky at the track, but she used her head, too. I think maybe she knew more about Tony Bandor than he thought. And after she’d finished him she kept her head and got scared. Scared of his mob.”
Hammond nodded slowly. “It’s a thought,” he agreed.
There was another silence, then Kronnen smiled a little and spoke softly.
“It should be worth a lot of money to her — to have the boys calmed down, or tossed a fall guy. In a way, I don’t blame her. Tony was tough on women. But I’m a business man, and if she comes at me for that forty thousand—”
He shrugged, and the smile went from his lips. Hammond said:
“Getting at it more directly — you think that she murdered Bandor. You know the mob pretty well, and you’re willing to toss them someone to take the slam — and let her out — for that forty grand?”
Kronnen lowered his voice and the smile came back again. It was in his eyes, and hard.
“For that forty grand — and about sixty more,” he said. “I told you I was a business man.”
Hammond rapped on the desk with his knuckles and Free looked at the ceiling. Kronnen said:
“She inherited over half a million from some relative she hadn’t seen for years. It was easy to take — it shouldn’t be hard to hand over a small chunk. A stretch in a female big house — she wouldn’t like that.”
Free smiled. “And then — there are Tony’s boys,” he said. “They might rather strangle her.”
Kronnen looked serious. “They might,” he agreed, and half closed his eyes.
Hammond stood up. “You’re sure you can make the fix, Mr. Kronnen?” he said. “And having made it — that’ll be the end? No blackmail — just a business deal.”
Kronnen nodded. “I’m sure I can fix things,” he said. “And if it wasn’t just a business deal — I wouldn’t come to you. You don’t blackmail through a detective agency. I just thought your advice to her might count more than any suggestion I could make.”
Hammond walked back and forth, nodding thoughtfully. Free said:
“There’s just one thing. She was seen going into Bandor’s house with him — and later she came out alone. She was followed to a lawyer’s office, and then here. Bandor’s body was discovered. That doesn’t exactly make her a murderer, Mr. Kronnen.”
Kronnen coughed and shrugged. “Still,” he said very slowly, “I think she might be willing to forget about forty and to pass over sixty — to have the boys convinced someone else murdered Tony.”
Hammond frowned. “I think maybe you’re right, Mr. Kronnen,” he said. “Where can I reach you — after I get in touch with her?”
Kronnen coughed again. “I’ll ring you in an hour,” he suggested. “I move around a lot, and it’s difficult to say just where I might be at a certain time.”