“How could I? He gave me a car and a house and spending money. And he told me his headaches were something he’d always suffered from, even as a child.”
“Man kept his secrets, I suppose.”
Jackie looked at him with a sobering expression. “I guess we all do.”
“What were you expecting from Pittleman?”
She set her drink down, crossed her arms, and scowled at him. “What do you mean by that?” she said coldly.
“You couldn’t marry the man. He was already hitched to Marjorie. But was it just the use of the house and car and folding money?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“Because the man is dead, Jackie, and we’re trying to figure out why. And some folks think I killed him, that’s why!”
“You playing at being a shamus?” she said in a bemused fashion.
“It’s not playing when you might be looking at a noose around your neck.”
“They’re not going to hang you, Archer.”
“You think the law’s never convicted an innocent man before? Because I’m living proof that they have.”
She started to say something but then caught herself. “Hank was a hard man, Archer. There are plenty of people who might have wanted to kill him.”
“Shaw thinks it might be the Las Vegas crowd because he stiffed them.”
“I guess it could be,” she said doubtfully.
He looked at her closely. “But you don’t think so?”
“I don’t know what to think and that’s the honest-to-God truth.” She looked at him, really looked at him, maybe for the first time tonight. “Do you believe me?”
Archer thought of Shaw’s warning about trusting people, especially pretty women. “As much as you believe me,” he said evenly.
Her face fell. “Do you want to stay here tonight?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes, but... not like that.” She sat up. “I’m a little scared, Archer. I mean, I was with Hank a lot, and some people might think... I know things.”
His defenses crumbled in the face of this plea. “Sure, I’ll sleep here on the couch.”
After she went to her bedroom, Archer lay on her couch and stared up at the ceiling. He was now taking his slumber in two different women’s homes but not in their beds, and he wasn’t sure what to think about that. One thing he was fairly certain of: His life was going to get even more complicated before long.
Chapter 30
The next morning, Archer left a note for Jackie and returned to Ernestine’s before the woman got up, using his key to get in. He figured she’d be sleeping in, since she didn’t work on Saturdays, and he turned out to be right. He opened her bedroom door a crack and saw her still in bed, her novel lying open beside her.
He made his own breakfast, left Ernestine a note, and headed over to the Derby. Shaw had mentioned that he was staying there but hadn’t told Archer which room. He wanted to tell the detective what had happened at the slaughterhouse. Archer was afraid that Dill was going to do something at some point. But there was something else bothering Archer about the change in Dill. The little man had become more focused in his aggression, and Archer sensed some purpose behind the man’s normally mean-spirited disposition.
Archer walked over to the front desk where the same man who had evicted him was parked behind the counter reading a newspaper. When he saw Archer coming, he dropped the paper and backed away.
“What do you want with me?”
“Hold on, pal. Just want to know if Mr. Shaw’s in his room.”
“I don’t know. Haven’t seen him today.”
“It was 201?”
“No, 304.”
“Oh, that’s right. Thanks.”
The man picked up his newspaper but shot suspicious glances at Archer as he walked quickly away.
He ran the three flights up and approached Number 304. He knocked on the door and received no answer.
“Hey, Mr. Shaw,” he called out, his mouth close to the wood. “It’s me, Archer. We have to talk. Found some things out.”
No sound. No nothing.
He walked back down the stairs. Shaw had told him he was married and had kids. After this was over, he would presumably go back home to them.
Who do I have to go home to?
First, he didn’t have a home. And, second, even if he did, there would be no one in it other than him. He hadn’t accomplished much in his life so far. And maybe he was running out of opportunities to improve upon that dismal record.
He checked his watch and left. It was about time for the truck to pick them up. The slaughterhouse worked every day but the Sabbath, he’d been told. Surprisingly, Dill wasn’t there. Archer asked around, but no one knew where the little man had gotten to. They just seemed collectively relieved that he was not among them.
Archer worked all day and rode back on the truck with the other exhausted men. At least tomorrow there would be no work. When he got off and was heading down the street, Shaw’s big Buick pulled up alongside him.
“Hey, been looking for you,” said Archer.
“Been outta town. Get in.”
Archer climbed in.
“Why were you looking for me?” asked Shaw.
Archer told him about Dill and the threats and his wanting to know what Archer was doing with Shaw.
The detective took this all in with a few nods.
“Now, where have you been?” asked Archer.
“To see a doctor and an insurance man.”
“You sick?”
“Not for me. Hank Pittleman’s.”
“I’m not following.”
“Let’s go get some grub. And I could use some coffee.”
They again ate at the Checkered Past, this time opting for chicken over steak. And this time Archer paid for the meal with his slaughterhouse money.
When Shaw put down his second cup of coffee and wiped his mouth with his red and white checkered napkin, he eyed Archer closely.
“You been spending time with Miss Crabtree.” It wasn’t a question.
Archer’s face fell. “How do you know that?”
“My job is to know everything, Archer. Sometimes I get there, and sometimes I fall short. But I’m always trying.”
“She’s letting me stay at her place till I can afford something else. Look, you don’t have to tell anybody about this. She’s just helping me out. There’s no funny business going on.”
“I don’t doubt that. And from all accounts, Miss Crabtree can take care of herself.”
“Now, I went over to Jackie’s last night. And slept there.” Before Shaw could say anything, he added, “On the couch, by myself.”
“So why’d you go to Jackie’s?”
“I told her about Pittleman’s cancer.”
“And why did you do that?”
“You think I messed up again?”
“Not necessarily, I just want to hear your reasoning is all.”
“I guess I wanted to see if she already knew about all that. See her reaction.”
“And?”
“And either she’s as good an actress as Katharine Hepburn, or the woman didn’t know anything about it.”
Shaw took this in, rubbing at his jaw.
“And Miss Crabtree?” he said, his tufty eyebrows hiking suggestively. “Despite what you just said, you like her, don’t you?”
Archer nodded. “She’s a special gal.”
“Nothing wrong with liking special gals.”
“And the woman has had to deal with some bad stuff.”
“Like what?”
Archer was about to tell the lawman about what was in the scrapbook but decided not to. It had nothing to do with the case, and he didn’t feel he had the right to share such personal information that he had gained only by looking at something he had no business looking at.
“Just boys being idiots. Catcalls and crummy notes passed under her door. Even a deputy sheriff who’s got the hots for her.”