Mickey Spillane - The Big Kill

"Today?"

He looked up at me, his teeth tight together. "Yeah, I called 'em in about an hour before you come along. Couple cops in a patrol car. Me and the Father here went upstairs to look around and somebody'd already done a little looking on their own. The place's a wreck. Turned everything upside down."

The priest put his cup down and leaned back in his chair. "Perhaps you can make something of it, Mr. Hammer."

"Maybe I can. If the police have the right idea, whoever searched Decker's place was looking for a pile of dough that he was supposed to have clipped during a robbery last night. The reason he was bumped was because he never got that dough to start with and knew his pals wouldn't believe him. He tried to get out but they nailed him anyway. Apparently they thought that when he came back to get his kid he stashed the money figuring to pick it up later."

Vileck said, "The bastards!" then looked across the table. "Sorry, Father."

The priest smiled gently. "Mr. Hammer... do you know anything at all about William Decker?"

"I know he had a record. Did you?"

"Yes, he told me about that some time ago. You see, what puzzles me is the fact that William was such a straight-forward fellow. He was doing his best to live a perfect life. It wasn't easy for him, but he seemed to be making a good job of it."

Vileck nodded agreement. "That's right, too. Me and the Father here was the only ones around here that knew he had a record. When he first moved here he made no bones about it, then he started having trouble keeping a job because guys don't like for ex-cons to be working for them. Tell you somethin'... Decker was as honest as they come. None of this wrong stuff for him, see? Wouldn't even cheat at cards and right on time with his rent and his bills. Never no trouble at all. What do you make of it?"

"Don't you know?"

There was genuine bewilderment in his eyes. "For the love of me, I sure don't see nothing. He was okay all the way. Always doing things fer his kid since his wife died of cancer."

"Then he had it tough, eh?"'

"Yeah, real tough. Doctors come high and he couldn't afford much. She was supposed to have an operation and he finally got her lined up for it, but by that time it was too late and she died a few days after they cut her apart. Decker was in bad shape for a while."

"He drink much?" I asked.

"Nope. Never had a drop all that time. He didn't want to do nothin' that might hurt his kid. He sure was crazy about that boy. That's why he was strictly on the up and up."

The priest had been listening, nodding occasionally. When Vileck finished he said, "Mr. Hammer, a week ago William came to church to see me and asked me if I would keep his insurance policies. They are all made out to the child, of course, and he wanted to be sure that if ever anything happened to him the child would be well provided for."

That one stopped me for a second. I said, "Tell me, was he jumpy at the time? I mean, now that you look back, did he seem to have anything on his mind at all?"

"Yes, now that I look back I'd say that he was upset about something. At the time I believed it was due to his wife having died. However, his story was plausible enough. Being that he had to work, he wanted his important papers in safe hands. I never believed that he was intending to... to..."

Vileck balled his hands up and knocked his knuckles together. "Nuts. I don't believe he done it because he was going to rob a joint. The guy was straight as they come."

"Some things happen to make a guy go wrong," I said. "Did he need dough at all?

"Sure he needed dough. He'd get in maybe two, three days a week on the docks... pier 51 it was, but that was just enough to cover his eats. He lived pretty close, but he got by."

"Any friends?"

The super shrugged. "Sometimes a guy from the docks would come up awhile. He played chess with the blind newsie down the block every Monday night. Both of 'em picked it up in the big house. Nope, can't say that he had any other friends 'cept me. I liked the guy pretty much."

"No reason why he needed money... nothing like that?"

"Hell, not now. Before the wife died, sure. Not now though."

I nodded, finished my coffee and turned to the priest. "Father, did Decker make any tentative plans concerning the boy at all?"

"Yes, he did. It was his intention that the boy be brought up by one of our church organizations. We discussed it and he went so far as to make a will. The insurance money will take care of the lad until he finishes school, and what else Decker had was to be held in trust for his boy. This whole affair is very distressing. If only he had come to me with his problem! Always before he came to the church for advice, but this time when he needed to most he failed. Really, I..."

"Father, I have the boy. He's being well cared for at present and whenever you're ready I'll be glad to turn him over to you. That kid is the reason I'm in this and when I get the guy that made him an orphan they can get another grave ready in potter's field. This whole town needs its nose wiped bad. I'm sick of having to live with some of the scum that breeds here and in my own little way I'm going to do something about it."

"Please... my son! I..."

"Don't preach to me now, Father. Maybe when it's over, but not now."

"But surely you can't be serious."

Vileck studied my face a second, then said, "He is, Father. If I can help ya out, pal... lemme know, will ya?"

"I'll let you know," I said. "When you make arrangements for the boy, Father, look me up in the phone book. By the way, who was the friend of Decker's... the one on the docks?"

"Umm... think his name was Booker. No, Hooker, that's it. Hooker. Mel Hooker."

I pushed the cup back and shoved away from the table. "That's all then. Any chance of taking a look around the apartment?"

"Sure, go on up. Top floor, first door off the landing. And it won't do no good to ask them old biddies nothin'. They was all doing the weekly wash when whoever took the place apart was there. Once a week they get hot water and their noses were all in the sinks."

"Thanks," I said. "For the coffee too."

"Don't mention it."

"So long, Father. You'll buzz me later?"

He nodded unhappily. "Yes, I will. Please... no violence."

I grinned at him so he'd feel better and walked down the tunnel to the hall.

Vileck hadn't been wrong about somebody taking the place apart. They had started at one end of the three tiny rooms and wound up at the other leaving a trail of wreckage behind them that could have been sifted through a window screen. It was one hell of a mess. The bag of garbage beside the door that had been waiting to get thrown out had been scattered with a kick and when I saw it I felt like laughing because whatever they were looking for they didn't get. There was no stopping place in the search to indicate that the great It had been located.

For a while I prowled through the ruin of poverty, picking up a kid's toy here and there, a woman's bauble, a few work-worn things that had belonged to Decker. I even did a little probing in a few spots myself, but there wasn't a damn thing of any value around. I finished my butt and flipped it into the sink, then closed the door and got out of there.

I had a nasty taste in my mouth because so far it looked like Pat was right all along the line. Decker had gotten himself loused up with a couple of boys and pulled a job that didn't pay off. The chances were that they had cased the joint so well they wouldn't have believed him when he gave them the story of the nearly empty safe.

I sat there in the car and thought about it. In fact, I gave it a hell of a lot of thought. I thought so much about it I got playing all the angles against each other until all I could see was Decker's face with the tears rolling down his cheeks as he bent over to kiss the kid.