“When?” she asked.
“Right away,” I said.
“I’ll put some things in a bag, and—”
“No, you won’t either,” I said. “I’ll come back and get the things. This case is breaking fast. There isn’t a minute to lose.”
“But Donald, surely nothing could happen while you’re here, and—”
“Don’t ever kid yourself it couldn’t,” I said. “Every minute you stay here you’re in danger. I broke a dozen speed laws getting here. Come on. We can pick up stuff later on.” I took her elbow and eased her gently towards the door.
“But, Donald, I don’t see why I can’t get some things together.”
I said, “Please, Marian, have confidence in me. Don’t ask questions and don’t argue. This means a lot to me.”
She said, “All right. Let’s go.”
We went down the stairs, out the back way through the alley, and around to where I had the agency heap parked. It took me a little while to get it started. I drove directly around to my rooming-house.
“You sit here,” I said. “Don’t get out of the car. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I ran in and found Mrs. Eldridge.
“We’re going to need that room again, Mrs. Eldridge,” I said. “My cousin’s boy friend didn’t show up. His boat has been delayed. It won’t be in for two or three days yet.”
“How about the young man’s mother?”
“She’s been staying there for the last day or two, but some relatives came in, and the beds are all taken.”
She said, “All right. She can move back in the same room. How long will you want it?”
“Four or five days.”
“Give me three dollars now,” she said.
I gave it to her and took a receipt. Then I went out and got Marian. I said, “You’re going to stay here again for a while, Marian. I want to be where I can watch you.”
“I feel safe here, Donald. It gets pretty lonely being around a big city where you don’t know anyone.”
“I know,” I said.
She said, “I was hoping that when you got back, I’d see more of you. I was lonely — I missed you lots.”
I said, “I have a little work to do, then we’ll go out and take in a movie, and get some dinner. Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Swell,” I said. “Give me about an hour, and I’ll be back. We’ll go out and get something to eat and see a show.”
“How about my things?” she asked.
I said, “I’ll go up and put your things in a suitcase.”
She said, “No, no. Don’t do that, Donald. I’ll do that later on, but there’s some silk pyjamas, and a dressing-gown, and a toothbrush, and a little overnight case with some creams and lotions in it — don’t try to bring anything else, just that. Please, Donald.”
I said, “That’s swell. Give me your key.”
“I want to go with you. I want to pack my things myself.”
“It isn’t safe, Marian. Can’t you understand? I promised Mr. Ellis. He’s holding me responsible. If anything happens, it would get me in Dutch with him.”
“Well, all right,” she said reluctantly.
She gave me the key to her apartment. I said, “In about an hour. So long.”
“So long,” she said.
I said, “Better check up on the towels, and make sure everything is all right.”
She said, “Oh, but it is. I know. I enjoyed being here before. I didn’t want to move out, but Mrs. Cool insisted—”
I said, “Okay. Check up on the towels just the same.”
She went over to the bureau drawer to look for towels, and I slipped her purse under my coat.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you,” I said.
I went back to the agency car, climbed in it, and drove to Marian’s apartment. I let myself in, switched on the lights, and went through her purse. There was a compact, lipstick, thirty-seven dollars in currency, some cards printed in the rough-and-ready style of the country newspaper with pale greyish ink in an old English type: Miss Marian Jean Dunton. There was a lead pencil, a notebook, a handkerchief, and a key ring with some keys on it that I figured opened doors in Oakview.
I opened the purse and dropped it on the floor. I upset one of the chairs, twisted a rug into a ball, and threw it into a corner. Over near the door, I tapped myself on my sore nose with the side of my hand.
The damn thing wouldn’t bleed. It had been bleeding at intervals all afternoon. Now that I wanted it to, I couldn’t get it started. Tears smarted my eyes, but my sore nose was as dry as a wildcat oil well.
I screwed up my nerve and tried it again. This time I got results, Blood spilled out, and I walked around the apartment, making certain that a few drops would be where they’d do the most good. Then I had a job stopping it. After a while I got it stopped and started for the door.
The telephone bell shattered the silence.
I walked out and pulled the door shut behind me, leaving the telephone ringing mechanically at regular intervals.
I drove to a drugstore that I knew had a telephone booth. I bought a dozen fresh handkerchiefs, went into the telephone booth, and placed a station-to-station call for the Santa Carlotta police station. When I had them on the line, I said, “Let me talk to Sergeant Harbet, please.”
“Who is this talking?”
“Detective Smith, Homicide, Los Angeles,” I said.
“Just a minute.”
I waited about a minute, and then the operator said, “Sergeant Harbet should be in your office now, Smith. He got a call from the district attorney late this afternoon, and left at once for Los Angeles.”
I said, “Thanks. Guess he stopped to get a bite to eat. I want to see him,” and hung up.
Things were breaking swell for me.
I called Bertha Cool and said, “Everything’s under control. Sit tight. Don’t get stampeded, and don’t know anything about me.”
“Donald, what the hell are you doing now?” she asked.
“Scrambling eggs,” I said.
“Well, keep your nose clean. You’re clever, but you sure as hell do take chances.”
“I’m on my own now,” I said. “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.”
She said, “I know so much now I hurt all over.”
I hung up, went back to my rooming-house, and knocked on Marian’s door. She opened it, and I said, “Hi, beautiful. I’ve just had a break. Bertha’s given me a night off. I won’t even have to worry about reporting. We can go out and do things.
“I’ll have to wait to get your things. I drove to your apartment house, but a couple of men were out front watching the place. I’ll have to wait until the coast is clear and try again.”
She said, “Donald, I’ve lost my purse.”
I walked in and propped the door open with a chair. “How come?” I asked.
She said, very determinedly, “Someone took it out of this room.”
“Nonsense.”
“But someone did!”
“This is a respectable rooming-house. Mrs. Eldridge wouldn’t have anyone in here who—”
“I can’t help that. I had it when I left the apartment. I’m quite certain that I brought it up here with me.”
I pursed my lips into a whistle and said, “That’s bad. I bet you left it in the agency car, and I’ve had the car parked around in a dozen different places on the street. What was in it?”
“Every cent I had in the world.”
“How much?”
“All that I had.”
I said, “Well, the D.A.’s office told me to take care of your expenses, and I can let you have an advance.”
She walked very determinedly over to the chair, jerked it out from under the knob of the door, and slammed the door shut.