Эд Макбейн: Bread

“Did you spend it all?”

“No, not all of it.”

“Then you’ve still got traveler’s checks you didn’t cash, is that right?”

“Well... yes, I suppose so. Maybe I did spend all of it.”

“Did you or didn’t you?”

“Yes, I spent all of it.”

“A minute ago you said you didn’t spend all of it.”

“I was mistaken.”

“Then you don’t have any uncashed traveler’s checks.”

“That’s right, I don’t.”

“Where’d you buy the traveler’s checks?”

“At a bank.”

“Which bank?”

“I forget. One of the banks downtown.”

“When did you buy them?”

“A few days before I left.”

“That would be...” Carella picked up the desk calendar and studied it. “You left on July twenty-fifth, which was a Thursday, so you bought the checks sometime before then, right?”

“Yes.”

“Sometime that week?”

“Yes.”

“That would have been either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, right? July twenty-second, — third, or — fourth. Is that when you bought them, Miss Waggener?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of traveler’s checks?”

“American Express.”

“You won’t mind if we call American Express, will you?”

“Why do you want to call them?”

“To find out about the checks.”

“It was only a thousand dollars or so, what’s so important about that? Everybody uses traveler’s checks. I don’t see what’s so...”

“Some people use cash,” Hawes said.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Rosalie said.

“Did you take any cash with you?” Carella asked. “In addition to the traveler’s checks?”

“A little, I guess. I really don’t remember.”

“How much?” Ollie asked.

“Just a little. A hundred dollars or so.”

“And that’s all you took to Germany, right? A thousand dollars in traveler’s checks...”

“Well, a thousand more or less. I don’t remember the exact amount.”

“Well, let’s say a thousand, okay? A thousand in traveler’s checks and about a hundred in cash.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Okay, let’s call American Express,” Ollie said.

“They probably won’t have a record,” Rosalie said quickly.

“Why not?”

“Because... I don’t remember whether they were American Express checks or some other kind.”

“What other kind do you think they might have been?”

“I don’t remember. I just asked for traveler’s checks. I can’t really remember which kind they gave me.”

“There aren’t too many companies issuing traveler’s checks in this city,” Carella said. “If you don’t mind, we’ll call them all.”

“I...”

“Yes?” Carella said.

“Actually, I took cash,” she said.

“Then why’d you lie about it?”

“Because I wasn’t sure how much cash you’re allowed to take out of the country. I thought it might be illegal or something. I’m not familiar with the law.”

“How much money did you take out?”

“I told you. A little more than a thousand.”

“In cash.”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure it was in cash. A minute ago you said it was in traveler’s checks, but now you’re saying it was cash. Are you sure about that?”

“Oh yes, I’m sure.”

“And you’re also sure about the amount.”

“The amount?”

“Yes. A thousand dollars, is that right?”

“More or less.”

“Which?”

“What?”

“Which was it? Was it more than a thousand, or less than a thousand?”

“More.”

“How much more?”

“Oh, twelve hundred, thirteen hundred, something like that.”

“Where’d you get the money?”

“I had it. I saved it.”

“Where’d you save it?”

“I kept it in the apartment.”

“You didn’t keep it in a bank?”

“No.”

“You figured it was safe to leave thirteen hundred dollars in an apartment in Diamondback?” Ollie asked incredulously.

“Yes. I’ve never been robbed. I’ve been living there for almost three months, and I’ve never been robbed. I figured it was safe.”

“Where’d you live before then?”

“Downtown. In the Quarter.”

“Where’d you meet Oscar Hemmings?”

“At a party, I think.”

“When?”

“Oh, six, seven months ago.”

“How long have you been engaged?”

“Oh, four or five months.”

“You got engaged before you moved into the apartment on Saint Sebastian?”

“Yes.”

“Who paid to have the apartment redone?”

“Oscar.”

“Oscar personally? Or Diamondback Development?”

“Diamondback Development, I think. That’s their business, you know. Buying these old buildings and fixing them up.”

“Oh, have all the apartments in that building been fixed up?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“But not the outside of the building.”

“No, not the outside.”

“Why’s that?”

“Gee, I don’t know,” Rosalie said. “Maybe they didn’t want to spend the extra money. To fix up the outside, I mean.”

“Who else lives in that building?” Hawes asked.

“Lots of people.”

“Know any of them?”

“I don’t have much to do with my neighbors,” Rosalie said.

“You say you met Oscar six or seven months ago. Where was that? In Diamondback, or down in the Quarter?”

“Well, actually, I met him in Vegas.”

“Vegas? What were you doing there?”

“I used to go there weekends. When I was living on the Coast.”

“Oh, did you live in California?” Hawes asked.

“Yes. I was born in California. I only came here recently. After I met Oscar.”

“What kind of work did you do on the Coast?” Ollie asked.

“Secretarial.”

“Full or part time?”

“Well, part time mostly.”

“Who’d you work for?”

“Lots of different companies.”

“And you used to go to Las Vegas every weekend, is that right?”

“Well, not every weekend.”

“Just some weekends.”

“Yes, just some.”

“And that’s where you met Oscar Hemmings.”

“Yes.”

“At a party there, right?”

“Yes, at a party.”

“And then you came East and started working for Diamondback Development.”

“Yes.”

“And living with Oscar.”

“Yes. After we got engaged.”

“In a building renovated by Diamondback Development.”

“Yes.”

“Are you a hooker, Miss Waggener?” Hawes asked.

“No. Oh, no.”

“Ever been arrested, Miss Waggener?”

“No.”

“Sure about that?”

“Well, minor things.”

“Like what?”

“Traffic violations.”

“Here or in California?”

“California.”

“Where’d you live out there?”

“In LA.”

“Would you mind if we called the Los Angeles Police Department to find out whether or not you were ever arrested for anything more serious than a traffic violation?”

“I don’t see any reason for you to do that.”

“Why not?”

“I may decide to go back to California one day. I don’t want the police there to have me listed as somebody questionable.”

“Questionable?”

“Well, somebody you were asking questions about.”

“You don’t want us to call the German police, you don’t want us to call the LA police, you don’t want us to call American Express, or any of the other traveler’s checks companies...”

“I took cash with me, I told you that.”

“That’s a lot of people you don’t want us to call, Miss Waggener.”

“You said I’m not being charged with anything. Okay, so why should I allow you to pry into my personal life?”