"How nice of you to come back, young man," she said. She held out her hand without getting up and I took it. "Sit down, please."
I tossed my hat on a table and pulled up another straight-back chair and perched on the end of it.
"Your young lady was here yesterday. We had a lovely visit. It isn't often I get company, you know."
I said, "She mentioned you wanted to see me."
"Yes." Annette Lee nodded, then leaned her head back against the chair with her eyes half shut. "We were talking. I..." She waved her hand vaguely in front of her face. "Sometimes I forget things. I'm going on ninety now. I think I've lived too long already."
"You never live too long."
"Perhaps so. I can still enjoy things. I can dream. Do you dream, Mr... ?"
"Hammer."
"Mr. Hammer. Do you dream?"
"Sometimes."
"You're not old enough to dream back like I do. It's something like being reborn. I like to dream. They were good days then. I dream about them because they're all I have to dream about. Yes, they were fine days."
"What was it you wanted to tell me, Miss, Lee? I asked her gently.
"Oh?" She thought a moment, then: "There was something. Your young lady and I talked about Sally and Sue. Yes, that was it. Dear Sally, she was so lovely. It was a pity she died."
"Miss Lee..."
"Yes?"
"The night she died... do you remember it well?"
"Oh yes. Oh yes indeed." Her rocking slowed momentarily so she could shift positions, then started again.
"Was she drunk, really drunk?"
"Dear me, yes. Sally drank all the time. From very early in the morning. There was nothing I could do so I tried to keep her company and talk to her. She didn't want to talk too much, you know. When she did it was drunk talk I couldn't always understand. Do you know what I mean?"
"I've heard it."
"There was that thing with the snakes you mentioned. It was rather an obsession with her."
"She was frightened of the snake?"
Annette Lee lifted her head and peered at me. "No, that was the strange thing. She wasn't afraid. It was... well, she hated it."
"Was the snake a person?"
"Excuse me?"
"Could she have been referring to a person as The Snake? Not snakes or a snake. The Snake."
The rocking stopped completely. She looked at me curiously in the semi-darkened room, her fingertip touching her lips. "So that was what she meant."
"Go on."
"No wonder I didn't understand. My goodness, I never understood in all this time. Yes, she said the snake. It was always the snake. She hated the snake, that was why she wanted to live so far away from the city. She never wanted to go back."
"Annette... who was Sue's father?"
The old girl made a face at me and raised-the thin line of her eyebrows. "Does it matter?"
"It might."
"But I'm afraid I couldn't tell you."
"Why not?"
"Simply because I don't know. Sue has Sally's maiden name, you know. She never got her father's name because she doesn't know who he is. I'm afraid Sally was... a bit promiscuous. She had many men and among them would be Sue's father. I doubt if Sally ever really knew either. A pity. Sue was such a lovely baby."
"Could it have been Blackie Conley?"
For the first time Annette Lee giggled. "Dear no. Not him. Never Blackie."
"Why?"
"Simply because he wasn't capable. I think that was one of the reasons Blackie was so... so frustrated. He did like the ladies, you know. He slept with one after the other. He even married two of them but it never worked out. He always wanted an heir but he wasn't capable. Why... the boys used to kid him about it."
Her feet pushed harder until she had to edge the chair away from the wall so that she faced me more directly. "Do you ever remember Bud Packer?"
"Just the name."
"Bud was... joshing him one day about his... impotence and Blackie shot him. You know where. I think Blackie did time for that but I don't rightly remember. No, Blackie was not Sue's father by any means. Besides, you're forgetting one big thing.
I let her say it.
"Blackie's been gone... for years. Long before Sue was born. Blackie is dead somewhere."
She put her head back and closed her eyes. I said, "Tired?"
"No, just thinking. Daydreaming."
"How about this angle... could Sim Torrence have been the father?"
Her giggle broke into a soft cackle only the old can make. "Sim Torrence? I'm afraid not. Sue was born before they were married."
"He could still be the father."
"You don't understand, Mr..."
"Hammer."
"Mr. Hammer. You see, I was with Sally always before. I knew the many faces she was with. I know who she slept with and none of them were Sim Torrence. It wasn't until after the baby was born that they were married when he took her in and provided for them." The flat laugh came out again. "Those two could never have a baby of their own though."
"Why not?"
"Because she and Sim never slept together. After the baby was born Sally never let a man near her. She underwent a change. All she thought of was the baby, making plans for her, hoping for her to grow up and be somebody. You know, I hate to give away women-secrets, but Sally deliberately cultivated Sim Torrence. They knew each other for some time earlier. Some court case. She managed to meet him somehow and I remember them going out for a couple of weeks before she brought him to our apartment and told me they were going to get married."
"Did Torrence take it well?"
"How does any man take it who is going to lose his bachelorhood?" She smiled knowingly. "He was rather shaken. Almost embarrassed. But he did provide well for Sally and Sue. They had a simple ceremony and moved into his town house."
"Were you with them?"
"Oh yes. Sally wouldn't leave me. Why, I was the only one who could take care of her and the baby. She wasn't very domestic, you know. She wasn't supposed to be. Yes, those were different women then. Showgirls. They had to be pampered."
"Why wouldn't she let Torrence near her in bed?"
"Does it sound strange that a woman who was a... a whore would be afraid of sex?"
I shook my head. "Most of them are frigid anyway," I said bluntly.
"So true, so true. Well, that was Sally. Frigid. Having the baby scared her. Even having a man scared her."
"Was she scared of Torrence?"
"Of every man, Mr... ," and this time she remembered my name and smiled, "... Hammer. Yes, Sim Torrence scared her but I think he understood. He let her stay at that place in the country. He came up on occasions and it was very strained but he was very understanding about it too. Of course, like all men, he could bury himself in his work. That was his real wife, his work."
"Miss Lee... the last time I was here we talked about Blackie Conley, remember?"
"I remember."
"You said you knew about the plans he made for that robbery he and Sonny Motley were involved in. What were they?"
She stopped rocking, her face curious again. "Are you looking for the money?"
"I'm a cop, Miss Lee. I'm looking for a killer, for the money... for anything that will help keep trouble from Sue."
"Sue? But that was before she was born."
"It can come back to hurt her. Now what did you hear?"
She nodded, pressing her lips together, her hands grasping the arms of the rockers. "Do you really think... ?"
"It might help."
"I see." She paused, thought a moment, then said, "You know that Sonny really didn't plan the robbery. It was his gang, but he didn't plan it. They were... acting for someone."
"I know about that."
"Blackie had instructions to find a place where they were going to hide out. He was told where to go and how to do it. I remember because I listened to the call." She chuckled at the thought. "I never did like Blackie. He was at Sally's place when he took the call. In fact, that was where they did all their planning, at Sally's apartment. Sonny was going with her then when she wasn't sneaking off with Blackie. "