Джеймс Кейн - Rainbow’s End

“What is this, Mr. Mantle?”

“Just matters that have come up.”

“Can you give me some idea what?”

“We can and will — all in due time.”

He looked at his watch, made more notes in his book, then repeated: “Eleven o’clock — I just talked to the sergeant, and he should be through by then, with some calls he’ll have to put in.”

“About this case?”

“Yes, of course.”

“What calls?”

“All in due time. You’ll know.”

With kind of a wave, he went out, got in his car, and drove off. I called her at the Occidental, and we tried to figure it out, what had caused the change, from a friendly enough officer the night before to a gimlet-eyed sleuth the next day. All of a sudden she asked: “The tree — what did he say about it?”

“He didn’t mention it.”

“Not at all?”

“No.”

“What did you say?”

“I was too worried about what had changed him to think about the tree. One thing at a time. When they get through with their questions, we can start up with ours.”

“It’s my money, though.”

“It’ll still be there.”

“I’ll feel better when I have it.”

Bledsoe wasn’t home. It turned out that he’d had to make a speech and had spent the night in Parkersburg. When I reached him at his office after he came in late, he didn’t at all want to come out.

“I’m busy as hell and just can’t spare the time.” But when I told him how Mantle was acting, he decided he could after all. So around 10:00 Jill came, bringing York with her, their quarrel apparently patched up. Then Bledsoe came and we all checked it over, the little I knew to tell them, trying to figure what it was all about. York went to Mom’s room and rummaged around looking for what might be there, and Jill went in and looked, but what they came up with was nothing, and what we all four figured out was the same. Then Edgren and Mantle came out in separate cars, and after them Mr. Knight in still another car. They all spoke kind of grim without really looking at us, except that Knight was grim to the officers as well as to us, as though he didn’t really have faith in whatever was coming off. It wasn’t much, but Bledsoe looked at me, then at Jill, and she looked at me like she wanted to throw me a wink.

But Edgren got at it at once, telling everyone to please sit down, which we did, Jill and I on the sofa, the others in chairs. He started in on me, referring to a paper he had, which I assumed was the night clerk’s report, and taking me over it again, what I had said on the phone and later in person to Mantle. Something kept whispering to me: “Don’t play it too smart; don’t know too much.” So when he asked about the boat we said we had seen, how many persons were in it, I said, “It was dark; I couldn’t see.” And when he asked: “How big a boat, Mr. Howell?” — I told him: “It was a rowboat, that’s all I know.”

“A johnboat, would you say?”

“I wouldn’t say, I couldn’t see.”

“What did they want with the tree?”

“I don’t know, you’d better ask them.”

“What would you think they wanted?”

“I’ve told you, I don’t know, but I’d give a lot to find out.”

“And I’d give a lot more.”

That was Jill, and Edgren snapped at her: “I wasn’t asking you.”

“No, but I’m telling you! Could be, it has something to do with my money, my money, Sergeant Edgren, not Mr. Howell’s money or your money or Mr. Knight’s money, but my money, and if you’d do what you’re supposed to, get off your backside and start in looking, ʼstead of sitting around here talking, we all might be better off, and specially I might be.”

“I’m running this, Miss Kreeger.”

“But not very well, Sergeant Edgren.”

It threw him off, but not much. He sat there, measuring her up, as though trying to think what she knew. I tried to think what he knew and had the uneasy feeling he knew more than we knew he knew, probably connected with whatever it was that Mantle had turned up during the night. Then he turned to me once more and started in about Mom. He really worked me over, especially in regard to the day before — where I had been and why. I said: “I was looking for my stepmother over in Flint, where she used to live.”

“Why? What did you want with her?”

“Remind her she was supposed to be here to answer questions.”

“And what did she say to that?”

“Nothing.”

“Just nothing at all?”

“That’s right.”

“Don’t that hit you funny that you’d tell her something like that and she just told you nothing?”

“No, not at all.”

“Does me.”

“I don’t have your sense of humor.”

“Did she say whether she meant to come back?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“What do you mean, she didn’t?”

“I mean she wasn’t there.”

Everyone laughed and his face got red. Bledsoe cut in then: “Sergeant, I confess myself quite surprised. This boy has gone over this again and again and again — except in regard to his stepmother. But I remind you that he’s not her keeper and also that if he tried to bring her back, he was helping you, not blocking you off, and—”

“He’s holding stuff back, Mr. Bledsoe.”

“You think he’s holding stuff back?”

“I know he’s holding stuff back.”

He mentioned to Mantle who tapped a leather case and told me: “In here is a paper tape that I found in that room this morning. When I lay down I took off my necktie, shoes, and jacket. The tie I put on the chest of drawers, but this morning when I got up, it had falled into that wastebasket in there. When I reached for it I also picked up the tape. It’s a kind used in packaging money, and printed on it is ‘Drover and Dealers Bank of Chicago.’ And handwritten, with ballpoint, it says ‘Two thousand dollars, 100 twenties, Xerox sheets Seven 00 sixty-one — seven 00 eighty-six.’ When we called Drover and Dealers, they said those were the Xerox numbers of bills packaged up for Trans-U.S.&C, that they put in a red zipper bag and sent out for the hijacker, Shaw. They Xeroxed those bills in batches of four.”

He stopped and Edgren hammered at me: “That money has been in this house. How did it get here, Howell?”

“Of that I have no idea either.”

“Howell, this thing has looked queer from the start, but I’m warning you now, that further failure on your part to cooperate—”

“Hey, hey, hey,” snapped Bledsoe. “Ask what you want to find out, sergeant. Stop making speeches at him.”

I knew Bledsoe had to be sweating blood, as I certainly was, but at least he was acting tough. However, before any more could be said, Jill got into the act. “Mr. Howell,” she told Edgren, “can’t cooperate, on account he’s mountain and has to stand by his kin — like this Mom character you met one day, this stepmother he’s got, who stole that money, my money in case you forgot, who could have brought it here and dropped that tape in the basket without his knowing about it or me knowing about it or anyone knowing but her. So how’s about knocking this off, and doing what you ought to be doing, rowing up to that tree and seeing what’s inside it?”

“ inside it!”

“Some trees are hollow, you know.”

“And some people know all about it without even having to look.”

“A guy in a boat was looking.”

“ If he was.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If there was any boat. Maybe the time has now come for me to find you that money, so you can pretend you knew nothing about it, that it was put there by somebody else, so—”

He may have said more, and I could feel my mouth getting dry. But before he could finish, from down the river there came the sound of a horn. Mantle held up his hand, and Edgren told him: “You better see what that is. Sounds like DiVola.”