Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Backward Mule

“Then who the devil killed Gloster?” Malloy asked.

“Let’s reconstruct what must have happened,” Clane said. “Gloster got Taonon down here. Taonon told him to call Nevis. Then Taonon skipped out. That made Gloster mad. He called Nevis at the number Taonon had given him, and he called me later on.”

“I’m listening,” Malloy said. “So far this is your baby.”

Clane said, “Nevis came down here and...”

“No, he didn’t,” Malloy interrupted. “He didn’t come down here. Gloster went to see him.”

Clane shook his head. “Nevis came down here.”

“Clane, you’re crazy. There are half a dozen witnesses to...”

“To what?” Clane interrupted.

“The telephone conversation when Nevis and Gloster agreed to meet — to the meeting itself.”

“How many witnesses saw Nevis and Gloster engaged in conversation?” Clane asked.

“Well, of course, you can’t expect...”

“Nevis lied,” Clane said. “Gloster never went to see Nevis at all. Nevis came down to see him.”

“Any evidence to prove that?” Malloy asked.

“Gloster’s car.”

“What about the car?”

“Did you notice anything peculiar about the car when you saw it?” Clane asked.

“In what way?”

“The windscreen, for instance?”

“No.”

“Notice where particles of fog moisture had condensed on the windshield?”

“Yes. There was nothing unusual about that. It was foggy. Naturally the moisture would have condensed, on the windshield.”

“And some of the moisture had run in little rivulets down the hood.”

“Yes.”

“But did you notice any fan-shaped streaks on the windshield which would have been there if the windshield wipers had been at work, or any splash stains where drops of water running down from the windshield had been blown back by wind caused by the motion of the car? You did not. The reason you didn’t see those things is that they weren’t there. The reason they weren’t there is that the fog settled some time after ten and before eleven, and Gloster’s car wasn’t moved after the fog settled. The mute evidence of that car proves Nevis is a liar.”

Malloy scratched his head. “Well, now, Mr. Clane, you’ve contributed something there. Damned if you haven’t.”

“So,” Clane went on, “we are in a position to reconstruct what happened. As soon as Stacey Nevis arrived, Gloster must have realized his danger and started for the telephone. Perhaps to call the police. Nevis shot him.”

“They both were in on the murder?” Malloy asked.

“Nevis killed him,” Clane said. “If Taonon had known he was dead, he would never have gone into hiding. While Gloster was telephoning to Nevis, Taonon saw his opportunity to wash his hands of the whole mess and get out. He left it entirely up to Nevis.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because of the way Taonon skipped out, then phoned his wife to skip out.”

“Nevis is a man of action, not a man of words. Gloster told him enough over the telephone so that Nevis knew what had happened. He made up his mind right then to commit murder. He put his finger on the receiver hook to cut the connection, then raised his voice so everyone at the poker table could hear him, and said he couldn’t get away from the poker game, that if Gloster wanted to come up and honk the horn, he’d go down and talk with him briefly. He was gone approximately twenty minutes. He had ample time in the twenty minutes while he was out of the poker game to drive down to the warehouse, kill Gloster, turn around and come back. I have an idea that if you check back on that poker party, you’ll find that no one actually heard the honking of the horn except Nevis, that Nevis made it a point to tell everyone he had to be dealt out for a hand or two while he went down to talk with his partner on a business matter. He told them he would only be away five or ten minutes. Actually he was away for twenty minutes. But because he had been careful to implant the belief in their minds that he was sitting down in an automobile talking, everyone thought That’s where he was. When you stop to analyze it, Nevis has no alibi at all. And furthermore, the mute evidence of Gloster’s car shows that Nevis was lying. It has to be that way.”

“I began to think that it might be something like that,” Malloy admitted, “after I heard Harold’s story.”

“ You heard Harold’s story?”

Malloy grinned. “Sure. What the hell did you think we put you two in the same cell for? We wouldn’t have put you in with a convicted murderer unless we’d wanted to hear his story. We thought he might talk to you.”

“And you had the room wired?”

“Sure,” Malloy said. “Us professionals can’t do this brilliant deductive reasoning that you amateurs do, so we have to rely on a little practical stuff now and then. Well, that’s the way it goes. Anyhow, you certainly did a job on that automobile. Guess that’s something we overlooked... But you must learn not to go around breaking into buildings, Mr. Clane, and doing all those unconventional things. When you have any information in the future, you’d better go to the police and tell them frankly what you have.”

“And be laughed at for my pains,” Clane said.

Malloy grinned. “Well, now, Mr. Clane,” he said, “just between you and me, I don’t think the police are going to laugh at you any more. I really don’t for a fact. And now I have an idea perhaps you and this young lady would like to get the hell out of here, because we’re going to bring Mr. Nevis down here and ask him a few questions.”

“And how about Edward Harold?” Clane said.

“Well, now, if the conversation with Nevis turns out the way I think it’s going to, I’m going to get in touch with the district attorney and the governor, and there’s just a chance a pardon might come through for Mr. Harold.”

“In which event,” Clane said, “I think you will agree that it’s only fair Cynthia Renton should be the one who takes the news to him.”

“We’ll do it together,” Cynthia said.

Clane smiled. “I think you’ll find two would be company and three would be a crowd. But I think you’ll agree, Malloy, that Miss Renton is entitled to go to police headquarters and wait there until you have some definite information.”

“She is for a fact,” Malloy agreed.

“And you? ” Cynthia asked. “Where are you going?”

Clane said, “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve got to go hunt up Yat T’oy, and I think it’s only fair I should tell Chu Kee what has happened.”

“That’s the old Chinese party you were with?” Malloy asked.

Clane nodded.

“A pretty good friend, I’d say,” Malloy said. “Damn it, Clane, we sewed up Chinatown. I mean we really had men parked all around it, and damned if you didn’t slip through our fingers. And also what I want to know is how it happened you went in a door at the east end of Chinatown and made your next appearance in the hotel where Mrs. Taonon had hid herself — more than two blocks away, with every street corner guarded? Will you kindly tell me how the hell you did that?”

“That,” Clane said, “is a matter of concentration, my dear Inspector...”

“Yeah, I know,” Malloy said. “You go into the fourth dimension and wrap yourself in a robe of invisibility or something. All right, Clane, we’ll let it go this time, but you might tell this Chu Kee person that if things like that keep up, the police are apt to make a raid on Chinatown and look around a little. We may not be able to find the secret doorways, but a sledgehammer will accomplish a lot.”

“Thanks,” Clane said dryly, “I’ll tell him.”