“That’s cute, Lester,” I said. “I’ll have to remember that one.”
By then it was daylight: it was seven-thirty and word of the tragedy had spread up and down the block. People were gathering on the walk and peering in the windows.
“What’s the name of the guy who was dating her?” Cameron said.
“You mean Jerry Harkness?”
“If that’s the guy who was dating her, that’s who I mean.”
“I wouldn’t say he was dating her. He took her to dinner a couple of nights ago.”
“We need to see him. And we need to go up in the hills and see this McKinley woman. See if she’s still got that tape, for one thing. Maybe the lab can separate those voices and we can hear what they were saying when they were talking over each other. That should be the first priority. How do I get there?”
“You don’t unless you call first. That’s the way the lady operates.”
“Well, here’s the way I operate. You give me her address and let me worry about getting in.”
“You could save yourself some grief if you call her. I don’t think she did this, do you?”
“I don’t know who the hell did it.”
“Lester, she was with me at the time.”
“Wrong, sport. She was with you when she played you a tape that she said had just been made. Besides, you don’t have to pull the trigger to be involved in something.”
I nodded slowly. “It’s a calculated risk. If she’s still got the tape, a phone call might make sure she keeps it.”
“Or burns it.”
“Or uses it over,” Hennessey said. “That’s the most likely thing. She’ll slip it back in the machine and just use it again. Shucks, even by calling her, we might be erasing it.”
“Oh, hell,” I said, remembering. “I think I may’ve already done that.”
“What’d you do?” Cameron said meanly.
“I got back here about midnight. She called me almost as soon as I came in the door. We talked for a few minutes, then I called her back. God damn it, she had the recording on. I talked on it for a long time.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
“What’d you talk about?”
“Just stupid bullshit. Dumb, stupid stuff.”
“Love talk?” Cameron asked.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t think that question requires a translation. Are you involved with this woman, Janeway?”
“Yeah,” I said after a moment. “I believe I am.”
“Shit,” Cameron said.
“Next time I decide to have an affair with a woman, Lester, I’ll be sure and come ask your permission first.”
“We’ve got to go get that tape now,” Hennessey said, “before she uses it anymore.”
“You can’t get in there without a warrant,” I said.
“You still can’t stop playing cop, can you, Janeway?” Cameron said. “I think maybe it’s time you remembered who the police are.”
“I’m trying to tell you something that might do you some good if you’ll just shut up and listen. You don’t just walk up to this lady’s house and knock on the door. She’s got a ten-foot fence and a gate that locks. If you go over that fence without a warrant, anything that comes from that tape is out the window, even if the killer confesses in verse and leaves you his telephone number.”
“That’s only true if she’s involved,” Hennessey. “We couldn’t make a case against her with the tape, but we sure as hell could if the killer’s somebody else.”
“Why not cover your ass?” I said.
“You’ve always been good at that, haven’t you, Janeway?” Cameron said. “Except once.”
31
They carried the bodies out in rubber bags strapped to stretchers. The crowd gave a soft collective sigh and moved back from the door. It all seemed to take forever, as if people were trapped in some slow-motion twilight zone. The lab men combed the place, and this is not a hurry-up process. I waited them out. I sat by the door and tried not to think, and when I could see that it was winding down I started working on a new sign for the window. I wrote it on chipboard with a heavy black marking pen. It said, closed until further notice.
I began to see familiar faces in the crowd. Clyde Fix. A couple of bookscouts I knew. I saw Ruby standing alone, and Neff a few feet away, also alone. I’d seen it before, how death both repels and attracts, leaving even best friends alone with their darkest fascinations, fears. Jerry Harkness peeked in and asked what had happened. When I told him, he looked sick. He drifted down the street without another word.
Any violent death is bad, but this one was worse than bad. I felt like I’d just been mauled by a tiger.
Then, suddenly, they were all gone. The lab boys rolled up their tents and packed away their gear and the crowd outside began to dissolve. Fifteen minutes later the place was empty. A wave of loneliness washed over me, deep and cutting, almost unbearable. How little we know about people, I thought. Can you ever really know anyone? Already I saw Pinky Pride as a one-dimensional figure. I liked her but I knew in years to come I’d have trouble remembering her face. How little time I had actually spent with her. Never mind, Pinky, I’ll spend the time now. I’ll spend it now.
I went from room to room turning off the lights. The bathroom was the worst. The blood was still there and the room was puffed with fingerprint dust and there was still the smell of death, but fading now. I’m not much of a crier: I hate to admit that these days, when macho is a dirty word and people use it to trap and unmask insensitive bastards like myself, but I did shed a few quiet, private tears for Pinky Pride. Then I dropped my new sign into the front window, locked the front door, and started on the trail of her killer.
32
“I can’t believe this,” Ruby said. “God damn, that poor kid. That poor sweet kid.”
Neff looked truly shaken. He sat in his usual spot behind the counter, but his usually busy hands were idle.
“What were you boys doing last night?” I asked.
“We were right here, Dr. J. You called me here, you know where we were.”
“Did you see anything, hear anything, or see anybody unusual?”
I was looking at Neff, who had gone pale. His hands had begun to tremble. “I…I think I…may’ve seen him,” he said.
“We been sittin‘ here waiting for the cops to come down, but they never did,” Ruby said. “We didn’t know what to do.”
“They had to chase down something urgent, but they’ll be back,” I said. “What did you see, Neff?”
But Neff couldn’t speak. He put his hand over his face and sat there shivering.
“Give ‘im a minute,” Ruby said. “This’s been one helluva shock.”
“For all of us, Ruby,” I said. “What were you doing between five and six?”
“Lookin‘ at books.”
“What books?”
“We’d just gotten in some wonderful stuff. I was humped over here at the door, lookin‘ at the books. I didn’t see a thing.”
“That’s what you were doing when I called?”
“Yeah. Em was here with me, sittin‘ right where he is now. He didn’t feel good…”
“I’ve had a touch of stomach flu,” Neff said. “Had the runs all day long. I thought maybe if I got out a while, if I went on a buy, I’d stop thinking about how lousy I felt. I shoulda gone home and went to bed. But I went out and bought these books instead. I’d just gotten back. I had to hit the can so bad I thought I’d bust. You know how we’re set up back there, real cramped, with the toilet right on the alley. I sat down and did my duty, then opened the back door to air the place out. There was a guy… coming up from your way… Christ, I looked right in his face.”
“What’d he look like?”