‘And Barter?’
‘You’ve met him, haven’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘He’s not what I’d call a... watch it, there’s something in the road.’
I swerved the car around a branch that had been knocked loose by the storm. The rain had almost ended. The windshield wipers snicked at scattered drops.
‘He’s not what I’d call a Hollywood-type he-man.’ Handy said. ‘In fact, he’s pretty ugly. Do you agree?’
‘I suppose.’
‘You’d think a man like Barter... with a woman like Stephanie, well, you’d think he’d be pretty happy, wouldn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Last night... something happened.’
‘What?’
‘The girl Lois was in cabin eleven. That’s not too far from the office. Barter went out for a walk. Stephanie was alone up at the office. She was probably playing her records. She’s got a lot of records, likes to play them. I mean, really a lot. I guess she never had a record player when she was a kid, never could afford one. She was probably playing her records when she heard a scream. She called for Barter first, then realized he wasn’t in the office.’
‘What time was this?’
‘About eight or so, I guess. It was just getting dark, from the way I got it. I wasn’t there, you understand. Stephanie told me all this later. On the phone.’
‘Go on.’
‘She keeps a gun, Stephanie. A beautiful woman like her... out at the Point there... she keeps a gun. She’s a beautiful woman, you know.’
‘I know,’ I said. There was something odd in Handy’s voice whenever he spoke of Stephanie.
‘And noble,’ he said, ‘and — despite what you may think — pure. You can’t use a dirty word in her presence. You just can’t. She’s that way.’
‘Go on, Handy.’
‘She took the gun... a .32, I think it is, I’m not sure, and she went outside. There was screaming from cabin eleven. She knew the girl was in there alone. She thought maybe an animal or something had wandered in there, frightening her. She went to the cabin.’ Handy paused, and then he sighed.
‘Yes?’
‘An animal had wandered into the cabin. The animal was Mike Barter.’
‘Oh.’
‘Stephanie threw open the door and found him struggling with the girl. It’s funny with prostitutes, Colby. This wasn’t business with Barter. This was something else, and Lois didn’t want it, and she fought him like a tigress. And Stephanie stood in the doorway with the gun in her hand and then — the way it can happen — without will, without reason, without logic, she was firing. She fired four times.’ Handy sucked in his breath. ‘She killed the girl.’
‘Why?’
Handy nodded. ‘You’d think she’d have killed Barter. He was the one who’d cheated her. But maybe a woman turns instinctively against the other woman, maybe it’s bred into her. And maybe in the heat of emotion you seek the natural enemy, and the natural enemy here was the other woman. And then she saw the girl fall, and all at once everything was drained out of her. She’d killed someone. She dropped the gun, and she would have bolted from the cabin, but Barter stopped her. He picked up the gun and stuck it in his pocket. Then he dragged the girl into the cabin closet. She was bleeding pretty badly, and he had to get her out of the way while he thought of something.’
‘What did he think of?’
‘He got Hezekiah, and together they moved the body into the truck. They covered the girl with a burlap sack, and they drove the truck into the woods. They would have buried her right then and there, I guess, but they didn’t want to bury her anywhere on the property, and they had to figure out just where they could. They went back to the office. They were probably talking it over when you pulled up with your girl.’
‘I see.’
‘Barter never would’ve rented you a cabin, if you hadn’t had the girl with you. He’s a quick thinker. He probably went to look at your girl only because he’s got an eye for the women. But when he saw her, he knew just what he’d do. Lois was a tall brunette. Your girl was about the same height, same general build, pretty. Lois wasn’t too well known in town, just been here a few days, and in the cabin with customers most of the time. He knew sooner or later somebody’d come looking for Lois. Girl can’t just disappear without somebody coming to find out why. He didn’t want snoopers. Snoopers might call in state law. State law would mean the end of the setup.’
‘I can take it from there,’ I said.
‘Can you?’
‘While I was in the shower, he explained the plan to Stephanie and Hez. They grabbed Ann out of the cabin, took the truck out of the woods, and then drove her some place for the night.’
‘Hez’s place,’ Handy said.
‘In the morning, Stephanie put on something that would attract attention. Blanche always attracts attention. The three of them went to town together. Blanche is a known prostitute, Stephanie a known madam. People would automatically assume the brunette was one of the girls. People would assume the brunette was Lois So if anyone asked questions later on, the answer would be that Lois had left town. Hell, everyone saw her go.’
‘Yes. But they planned on turning Ann free, I’m sure they did.’
‘Maybe that was part of the plan originally, but once they’d found out I was a cop, once they’d thought it over, how could they turn her free? Damnit, Handy, she may be dead already!’
‘I... I don’t think so.’ He peered through the windshield. ‘We’re entering Davistown now. It’s just a little way further.’
The rain had stopped. I turned off the windshield wipers. The roads were still slickly wet, and they told their secrets to the tires of the car.
‘How long have you loved her, Handy?’ I asked.
‘What?’
‘Stephanie.’
Without hesitation, Handy said, ‘From the first day Mike Barter brought her to Sullivan’s Point.’
‘Why are you leading me to her?’
This time, Handy hesitated. I thought he wasn’t going to answer at all. Then he said, ‘I used to be a good lawyer. I used to be a good justice of the peace, too. I used to believe in the law.’ He paused. ‘Stephanie killed someone.’ He paused again. ‘I imagine that person was loved, too.’
Davistown was an ugly city, ugly with smokestacks and gaudy neon and pool parlors and second-rate bars. We drove into it, and Handy directed me to a three-story apartment building on the fringe of the downtown area.
A light was burning in a third-floor apartment. The rest of the building was in bed.
‘What’s the apartment number?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. His name is Joe Carlisle.’
‘You wait here, Handy.’
‘Be careful,’ he said, and he sounded as if he meant it.
I got out of the convertible. The street was very quiet. In the lobby of the building, I checked the mailboxes. There was a Joseph Carlisle in apartment 33. I brought my foot up and kicked the snap lock on the inner door. The door sprang open, and I found the stairs and took them up to the third floor. Apartment 33 was at the end of the hall. I pulled out the .38, and knocked.