His nostrils twitched due to some disturbance in the air. He took a long whiff and then gave a short cough. He rose and followed this scent down a dirt road that wended its way through the shallow-rooted Loblolly pine trees. The smell grew stronger the further in he went.
He finally arrived at a wide clearing, with dirt underfoot. And smack in the middle of this flat blackened ground was the source of the smell.
The vehicle had been set aflame. The chassis was still there, but the tires had burned away, as had the interior. What was left wasn’t much, to be sure.
Archer walked over to it and looked around. The original color of the vehicle couldn’t be determined, the paint also having burned away. The license and registration cards on the steering post had long since been consumed. He hustled around to the back and knelt down. He had to use his knife to scrape away burned fragments, which allowed him to read the plate number.
It was the 1947 Cadillac, all right.
He stood, an undeniable truth now vexing him: Pittleman’s collateral no longer existed.
His trip had been wasted.
Well, that was a kick in the gut, almost near to what the over-under shotgun could have provided. He walked back to the main road and looked around. He didn’t see a vehicle light in either direction. He took to his heels and returned to the Derby after midnight.
In his agitation, Archer took the stairs two at a time. He unlocked the door to his room, tossed his old hat down in the corner, opened the window, drew his chair up to it, lit a Lucky Strike, and sat there looking out while he smoked. If he couldn’t get the Cadillac, and Tuttle wouldn’t repay the loan without his daughter back, Archer was fresh out of ideas as to how to earn his commission. And he wasn’t certain that this latest calamity might not cost him his life, at either the muzzle of Pittleman’s snub-nosed gat or the twin barrels of Tuttle’s Remington.
He burned down two more Luckys and took more than a swallow of his Blue Bird gin, and ended up sleeping in his old clothes. He awoke the following morning with no plan going forward. With his money dwindling and his prospects bleak, he opted for coffee and a slice of toast and a fried egg in the little café attached to the hotel.
He strolled around town as Poca City woke up, thinking about the burned-out Caddy. He figured that Tuttle must have done the deed to spite Pittleman. It seemed to Archer that the sedan had been burned some time ago. It had been cold to the touch, only the burned smell had lingered. That odor could stay for a very long time, Archer knew from his combat days. Archer was certain it had been destroyed before he’d even gone out to meet with Tuttle. The man must have had a nice laugh at his expense, knowing that the loan collateral no longer existed.
Whether consciously or not, his strides took him to the blocky Poca City Courts and Municipality Building. He walked up to the correct floor and knocked on the door.
“Enter,” said the stern voice.
He swung the door open, and there sat Ernestine Crabtree clacking away on her Royal typewriter. She had a pencil stuck through her hair bun. She stopped typing when she saw him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “It’s not your time yet.”
She was attired in a similar fashion as before. Prim dress, same shell glasses, low chunky heels that he could once more see through the kneehole, thick stockings, but very nice ankles and calves.
He noted a cigarette smoldering in the ashtray.
He came in, pulled the chair in front of her, and sat down.
“I could use some advice, Miss Crabtree.”
“About what?”
He eyed the lit smoke.
She saw this and said, “No, I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“No problem, brought my own.”
He pulled out his pack of Luckys, tapped it against the desk, shook out a cigarette, and lit it. She took her smoke from the ashtray and had a puff, too.
“What advice?” she said curiously.
“You know my debt collection job?”
“Yes, you mentioned it.”
“Well, I’ve gone out there twice now.”
“Who owes the debt?”
“Lucas Tuttle.”
“Wait, the other night, weren’t you with—”
“That’s right. Jackie Tuttle. You know her?”
She shook her head. “Not really. Did you collect the money?”
“Well, no. Lucas Tuttle says he has the money to pay Hank Pittleman back.”
“Hank Pittleman?”
“You know him?”
She shook her head a second time. “But I know he is very wealthy and owns a lot of property around town.”
“Anyway, Tuttle won’t pay back the debt unless Jackie comes back home.”
“And she doesn’t want to do this?”
“No.”
“Then how will you collect the money?”
“Well, Mr. Tuttle signed over as collateral for the loan his 1947 Cadillac.” He added, “It’s all legal. Pittleman showed me the papers. And Mr. Tuttle confessed to owing the money.”
“So you could take the car in repayment of the loan?”
“I could, except I found out last night the man burned it up.”
She sat forward and put her cigarette down. “He burned up his own car?”
“Looks that way.”
“Where does that leave you?”
“In a pickle of sorts. You know Mr. Pittleman advanced me forty dollars. And if I can’t get the loan repaid or the car now, I’m sort of up the creek, so to speak.”
“You mean Pittleman will want his forty dollars back?”
“Right.”
“But surely you still have the money.”
“Well, I spent some of it.”
“How much?”
“Actually, most of it.”
She looked at him in disbelief. “You spent nearly forty dollars since we last met!”
“Well, I bought some new clothes to replace these. I wore these to prison some years ago. And I have to eat and all. Though I earned a dollar doing some lifting, I’m not eager to use my back for my daily bread.”
She shook her head and looked cross. “See, this is why I was prepared to have you go out on job interviews. If you had, you wouldn’t be in this kind of dilemma.”
“Yeah, I see that. But I can’t take it back now.”
“But it’s not too late, you know. You can earn money other ways. I can help you with that.”
“Yes, ma’am. And it may come to that. And for that I thank you.” He smoked down his Lucky and then ground it in the speckled glass ashtray. “What book were you reading at dinner?”
“It was by Virginia Woolf. Have you ever heard of her?”
Archer shook his head.
“She was from England. She died back in 1941. I admire her work greatly. And her, personally.”
“I might try something of hers then.”
“I could loan you a book here and there. If you’ll really read it.”
“I guarantee you I will. I like detective stuff the best. But I’ll read most anything. So you’re trying to write, too?”
“Again, I just... scribble.” She paused and considered him in an appraising light. “Dan Bullock? You were afraid he was going to try something with me, weren’t you?”
“Well, he was, wasn’t he?”
“It wasn’t the first time a parolee has... approached me.”
“I would expect not. But that doesn’t make it right. And, well, there’s something else.”
“What?”
In answer, he took out the paper he’d found on her office floor and explained that fact to her before handing it over. “I wouldn’t normally give such trash to a lady, but maybe it’s best you know about it.”