Росс Макдональд - The Way Some People Die

“No.”

“Yes, he’s dead. Several persons saw him jump.”

It hit me hard, though Speed meant nothing to me. Now there were four men violently dead, five if I counted Mosquito. Galley and I between us had swept the board clean.

“You didn’t find him, did you?” she was saying. “You didn’t reach him?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I mean, you had nothing to do with his suicide? If I thought he did it because I hunted him down – it would be dreadful, wouldn’t it? I couldn’t face it.” She shut her eyes and looked like a well-fed baby blown up huge.

There was only one possible answer: “I didn’t find him.”

She breathed out. “I’m so relieved, so glad. I don’t give a hang for the money, now that I’ve got George back. I suppose it was swept out to sea with his body. George says we can probably deduct it from our income tax anyway.”

George stepped off the porch with a deck-chair. “Is somebody using my name in vain?” he called out cheerfully.

She smiled in response: “I was just telling Mr. Archer how wonderful it is to have you back, darling. It’s like waking up from a nightmare. Did you order the food?”

“Coming right up.”

“I’m afraid I can’t stay,” I said.

They were nice people, hospitable and rich. I couldn’t stand their company for some reason, or eat their food. My mind was still fixed on death, caught deep in its shadow. If I stayed I’d have to tell them things that they wouldn’t like. Things that would spoil their fun, if anything could spoil their fun.

“Must you go? I’m sorry.” She was already reaching for her bag. “Anyway, you must let me pay you for your time and trouble.”

“Fine. A hundred dollars will do it.”

“I’m sorry it turned out the way it did. It’s hardly fair to you.” She rose and pressed the money into my hand.

“Marjorie’s taken quite a shine to you, Archer. She’s actually a very remarkable women. I never realised before what a very remarkable woman Marjorie is.”

“Go on with you.” She pushed George playfully.

“You are. You know you are.” He pushed her back.

“I’m the silliest fat old woman in the world.” She tried to push him again but he clung to her hand.

“Good-bye. Good luck. Give my regards to Toledo.”

I left them playing and laughing like happy children. Above the date-palms, half-hidden in space, the unknown bird described its dark circles.

The case ended where it began, among the furniture in Mrs. Lawrence’s sitting room. It was noon by then. The dim little room was pleasant after the heat of the desert. Mrs. Lawrence herself was pleasant enough, though she looked haggard. The police had come and gone.

We sat together like strangers mourning at the funeral of a common friend. She was wearing a rusty black dress. Even her stockings were black. Her drawn and sallow cheeks were spottily coated with white powder. She offered me tea which I refused because I had just eaten. Her speech and movements were slower but she hadn’t changed. Nothing would change her. She sat like a monument with her fists clenched on her knees: “My daughter is perfectly innocent, of course. As I told Lieutenant Gary this morning, she wouldn’t hurt a hair of anyone’s head. When she was a child, I couldn’t even force her to swat a fly, not if her life depended on it.” Her eyes were sunk deep in her head, under brows like stony caverns. “You believe her innocent.” It was a statement.

“I hope she is.”

“Of course. She’s never been well-liked. Girls who are pretty and clever are never well-liked. After her father died and our money went, she withdrew more and more into herself. She lived a dream-life all through high school and that didn’t help to make her popular. It earned her enemies, in fact. More than once they tried to get her into trouble. Even in the hospital it happened. There were unfounded accusations from various people who resented Galley’s having had a distinguished father–”

“What sort of accusations?”

“I wouldn’t taint my tongue with them, or offend your ears, Mr. Archer. I know that Galley is inherently good, and that’s enough. She always has been good, and she is now. I learned many years ago to close my ears to the base lying chatter of the world.” Her mouth was like iron.

“I’m afraid your conviction isn’t enough. Your daughter is in a cell with a great deal of firm evidence against her.”

“Evidence! A wild fabrication the police made up to conceal their own incompetence. They shan’t use my daughter for a scapegoat.”

“Your daughter murdered her husband,” I said. It was the hardest speech I ever uttered. “The only question is, what are you going to do about it? Do you have any money?”

“A little. About two hundred dollars. You are quite mistaken about Galley’s guilt, however. I realize that things look black for my girl. But as her mother I know that she is absolutely incapable of murder.”

“We won’t argue. Two hundred dollars isn’t enough. Even with twenty thousand, and the best defenders in southern California, she wouldn’t get off with less than second-degree murder. She’s going to spend years in prison anyway. Whether she spends the rest of her life there depends on just one thing: her defense in Superior Court.”

“I can raise some money on this house, I believe.”

“It’s mortgaged, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I do have an equity–”

“I have some money here.” I took Dowser’s folded bill from my watch pocket and scaled it into her lap. “It’s money I have no use for.”

Her mouth opened and shut. “Why?”

“She needs a break. I’m going to have to testify against her.”

“You are kind. You can’t afford this.” Tears came into her eyes like water wrung from stone. “You must believe that Galatea is innocent, to do this.”

“No. I was police-trained and the harness left its marks on me. I know she’s guilty, and I can’t pretend I don’t. But I feel responsible in a way. For you, if not for her.”

She understood me. The tears made tracks on her cheeks. “If only you’d believe she’s innocent. If only someone would believe me.”

“She’ll need twelve and she won’t get them. Did you see the papers this morning?”

“Yes, I saw them.” She leaned forward, crumpling the bill in her lap. “Mr. Archer.”

“Is there something I can do?”

“No, nothing more. You are being so good, I really feel I can trust you. I must tell you–” She rose abruptly and went to the sewing machine beside the window. Raising the lid, she reached far inside and brought out an oblong packet wrapped in brown paper. “Galley gave me this to keep for her Tuesday morning. She made me promise not to tell anyone, but things are different now, aren’t they? It may be evidence in her favor. I haven’t opened it.”

I broke the tape that sealed one end, and saw the hundred-dollar bills. It was Galley’s thirty thousand. Speed’s thirty thousand. Marjorie’s thirty thousand. Thirty thousand dollars than had lain hidden in an old lady’s sewing machine while men were dying for it.

I handed it back to her. “It’s evidence, all right: the money she killed her husband for.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Impossible things are happening all the time.”

She looked down at the money in her hand. “Galley really killed him?” she whispered. “What shall I do with this?”

“Burn it.”

“When we need the money so badly?”

“Either burn it, or take it to a lawyer and let him contact the police. You may be able to make a deal of some kind. It’s worth trying.”

“No,” she said. “I will not. My girl is innocent, and Providence is watching over her. I know that now. God has provided for her in her hour of greatest need.”