Lawrence Block - After the First Death

I said, “I think he killed her.”

But she shook her head again. “No, he didn’t.”

“I could beat it out of him.”

“I don’t think so. Let me try.” And to Phillie, “You don’t want cops on this. And you don’t want Alex angry.”

“I never killed anybody-”

“I know. But you got to tell this right, Phillie. The door was open and you went inside and took the watch and the wallet and Robin’s purse. Right?” He nodded. “And then what?”

“I split.”

“How?”

“I just walked out.”

“No. When Alex woke up the door was bolted. You better tell this straight, Phillie, and then you’ll get out of it clean, no police, nothing. But don’t buy yourself more trouble.”

He thought about this and evidently decided it was reasonable enough. “I went down the fire escape.”

“Why?”

“I had to lug the purse, didn’t I? Can you see me walking through the lobby with the purse?”

“You’re lying, Phillie.”

“Look, I swear to God-”

She spoke slowly, patiently, logically. “You would of emptied the purse. You could walk right out, no problem. Instead you locked the door and took the fire escape, and that’s always dangerous, going down a fire escape in the middle of the night. You took the purse instead of taking the time to rifle it, which means you were in a hurry, Phillie. Now you better tell it the way it is.”

“I heard somebody in the hallway.”

“So?”

“So there was a dead girl in the room and I panicked! Who wouldn’t? I wasn’t going to get tied into it. You know how they lay it on a junkie. You know the chance you get from them.”

“You heard somebody in the hallway, why didn’t you wait until they went away?”

“I was nervous. Who had time to think?”

She took a cigarette. I lit it for her. She said, “Phillie, it would all go smoother if you didn’t try and hold out. You saw the killer leave that room. You saw him go, and you thought maybe the room was empty and you took a peek inside. You locked the door because you were afraid he was coming back, and when you heard noises in the hallway you went down the fire escape. You were scared bad because you knew what would happen if he found you there. You knew all along Alex didn’t kill Robin because you saw the man who did, and that’s the only way it makes any sense, Phillie, that’s the only way it reads, and now all you have to do is tell me who the man was. You tell us that, Phillie, and you can take your face to a hospital.”

“I didn’t recognize him.”

“Otherwise there’s going to be cops. I mean it now. He never has to know who fingered him.”

“He’ll find out.”

“There’s trouble if you don’t talk, Phillie.”

“Every way there’s trouble.” He worried his broken nose. “Everywhere I look there’s always trouble.”

“Cop trouble’s worse.”

“Yeah?” He sighed. “That fucking watch. I shouldn’t of taken it, and then I knew better than to sell it. I was gonna throw it away. But then I had to get hungry, a lousy ten bucks, two nickel bags, and look what I bought for it.”

“I want a name, Phillie.”

“What makes you sure I know him?”

“The way you said you didn’t recognize him. Otherwise you would of said you didn’t see him. Don’t play games with me, Phillie.”

“I’m dead. If I tell you, I’m fucking dead.”

“You’re dead if you don’t.”

“Beautiful.”

“I’m waiting, Phillie.”

He looked at her. He said, “Fuck it, I’m dead either way. It was Turk Williams.”

Their voices continued. They came at me through air that had gone suddenly thick and heavy.

“That better be the right name, Phillie.”

“You know who I mean? The Turkey?”

“I’ve heard of him.”

“The big dealer?”

“Yes.”

“Would I cop out on him if he wasn’t the one? Be serious, would I pick him? I saw him. I was down the hallway, he never got a look at me, but I saw him. With blood on his hands.”

“Then you knew what you’d find in the room.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“But you went in anyway.”

“I was up tight. You been there, you know what it is.”

“I know.”

“You tell the Turkey where you got it, you know I’m dead.”

“We won’t tell him.”

“I’m dead anyway. You’ll put cops on me. The hell, I’m the only witness there is. I’m sitting here and I’m talking to you and my face is a mess and I’m dead.”

“Oh, you’ll live, Phillie.”

“Yeah. Live. Live, yeah.”

I SAID, “I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT. HE WAS MY FRIEND. I KNEW him in prison, I helped him get free. I just talked to him a couple of days ago. He wanted to help me get to Mexico. He thought he owed me a favor.”

We were at Jackie’s apartment She had cleaned my cuts with iodine, and now I looked at my battle scars and marveled at myself. I had never fought like that before. How wild I had been, how utterly I had devastated that poor little junkie.

“Jackie, was he telling the truth?”

“He must of been. He would lie, but not give us somebody like Turk Williams. He might make up a name or give us somebody small. But to pin it on Turk, it would have to be the truth.”

“You know Turk?”

“I know who he is.”

“Didn’t I tell you about him?”

“Not his name. Alex, I-”

I stood up, paced the floor. “He had no reason to frame me,” I said. “It doesn’t make any sense. Unless… well, maybe it was something like this. Suppose somebody had something on him, something that would put a lot of pressure on him. So that he had no particular choice. You see what I mean? I don’t think anyone could have hired him to frame me, but someone might have blackmailed him into it.”

“Maybe.”

“What else could it be? Unless Phillie lied-” I thought back to my conversation with Turk, ran it through my mind again. “No,” I said, positive. “Phillie wasn’t lying. I didn’t pay any attention at the time, but Turk was very interested in finding out if I had recognized the killer. He wanted to know what the arm looked like. I remember he asked if it was white or colored, and when I said I didn’t know he said something to the effect that I couldn’t even say for sure if it was a man or a woman. And he suggested that it might come to me later. He didn’t let up until I told him I was sure I would never dig up any more of it.” I took a breath. “And then he started telling me how I ought to get out of the country, at least until the air cleared. Phillie wasn’t lying. It was Turk. I’m damned if I know why, but it was him.”

“Alex-”

“But who put him up to it? That’s the question.”

She got to her feet. “Alex, I don’t see how we can go up against him. I scored off him once but I don’t even think he would remember. And he’s supposed to carry a gun all the time, you know. Somebody like Phillie is one thing, but to go up against Turk in Harlem-”

“Forget it.”

“I suppose I could pretend to make a buy from him. That’s what I thought before, but if he knows you-”

I waved the thought aside. “You’re missing the point We don’t have to get to him. The buck stops with him, he’s the one. He killed Robin, true?”

“Yes, but-”

“And we have evidence. We have a witness, although the doctors will have to put his mouth back together before he can testify. An eyewitness who saw Turk come out of that room with Robin’s blood on him. We’ve got another witness who can establish that Phillie Schapiro had my watch, which marks him on the scene at the time. The police can shake out the rest. We have all we need.”