A Handy Death

Chapter 12

For the last time,” Ross said into the telephone, his voice tight, “where were you last night?”

Through the glass of the telephone booth he could see Mike Gunnerson pointing significantly toward his watch and then out toward the runway where the Mohawk plane, all lights lit, stood ready to take off. Beyond, the lights bordering the runway tapered to infinity in the darkness. Ross nodded his understanding and went back to his call.

“Look,” Billy Dupaul said, “I’m sleepy. I’ll talk to you later.”

“You’ll talk to me now!” Ross said. “Where were you last night?”

“Well, if you want to know, I was walking.”

“Walking? All night?”

“Sure, all night; what’s wrong with it? You ever spend all your nights locked up, Mr. Ross? Year after year after year? And then suddenly find yourself free when you didn’t think there was a chance in hell of being free? Well, you walk, Mr. Ross. You walk.”

“Did you stop any place? Any bar? Any restaurant?”

“No, I just walked.”

“Can you prove it?”

“Why should I have to prove it?”

“Never mind that. Can you prove it?”

“Can you prove I didn’t?”

Ross sighed hopelessly. “Where did you walk?”

“How should I know where I walked? All around.”

“You walked all night in this weather?”

“What’s wrong with the weather?”

“It rained last night after midnight,” Ross said.

“It did? Look, Mr. Ross, I appreciate everything you did for me yesterday, but if you want to cross-examine me, wait until I’ve had a little sleep, will you? I’m going to hang up.”

The telephone clicked in Ross’s ear. He slammed the receiver down with irritation and pulled the door of the booth open. Mike grabbed his arm.

“Come on! It’s bad enough getting up at this ungodly hour, without missing the plane you got up for. Let’s go!”

The two men hurried out to the runway and climbed the aluminum steps. The first faint strands of dawn were tinting the sky to the east as the stewardess closed the door behind them and latched it. The thunk of the lock going into place seemed to reprimand them for their lateness. They sat down and fastened their seat belts. Mike pulled his tight and looked over at Ross.

“Okay. Now, what did he say?”

“He said he was walking all night.”

“Walking all night?”

“That was my line,” Ross said. “Anyway, that’s what he said. He also said he was sleepy.”

“I can imagine. He didn’t happen to be walking in Glens Falls, was he?”

“If he was, he didn’t mention it. Let’s hope not. One murder and one riot are enough at the moment. As you once said,” Ross went on, “Billy Dupaul is either the most unlucky man in the world, or the most stupid. I’m still not sure which.”

“Did you tell him about Marshall?”

“No,” Ross said shortly. “If he did it, he alreadys knows. If he didn’t do it, there’s no rush to bother him. He’ll read about it in the papers.” He yawned and leaned his head back against the headrest, closing his eyes. “Wake me when we get there. I haven’t been walking all night, but I’m sleepy just the same.”

Lieutenant Ernest (Ernie to his friends) Lamport was a tall, well-built, pleasant-faced man in his late forties, with a deep voice and a ready smile when he wanted to use it. At the moment he was using it very little. His hands were surprisingly small for a man his size and he used them frequently to gesture. At the moment he stood beside Gunnerson and Ross, pointing, while Don Evans stood in the background. The lieutenant’s breath steamed in the chill Adirondack air.

“We figure the killer stood over there on the edge of the woods and waited for Marshall to come home. There’s a yard light that can be switched on from either the garage or the house. Marshall apparently drove into the garage, got out of the car, switched on the yard light from inside the garage, and then went outside to close the garage door. In the glare of that yard light, and at that distance, he would have been a perfect target. And he was.”

Gunnerson looked at the scarred door where the fatal bullet had been removed.

“Where was he hit?”

“The bullet got him in the back, left of the spine, went through his lung and nicked one of the main heart arteries, came out and hit the door. He was dead when we got here.”

“Who gave the alarm?”

“A neighbor said he heard a shot and looked out, saw this shadow on the ground, went out and it was Marshall.”

“Did he see anyone leaving?”

Lieutenant Lamport shook his head. “We figure the killer stood back in the trees in that wood, bushwhacked Marshall, and then beat it back through the woods. They aren’t too deep, and on the far side there’s a little creek — small enough to be jumped — and then a wide field, and then the main highway. Anyone could have parked a car off the road there, crossed the field, shot Marshall and returned.”

Ross said, “That sounds like someone from around here?”

“Or who once was from around here,” Lieutenant Lamport said. His eyes were expressionless.

Gunnerson said, “Have you determined what kind of a gun it was?”

“The bullet was sent to the lab, but I had a chance to see it first. It wasn’t fired from a hand gun. It was a thirty caliber, would be my guess; a rifle.”

“Did you find the empty cartridge shell?”

“No, but we really haven’t had a chance to look yet. Or the killer might have taken it with him, if he was lucky enough to find it in the dark. I took a quick look over there, but I didn’t see it.”

“See any footprints?”

Lieutenant Lamport shook his head. “It’s too matted with pine needles. Springy. Doesn’t show a thing.”

“Would you mind if my man, Evans, took a look?”

Lieutenant Lamport smiled at him enigmatically.

“I’m afraid I would, Mr. Gunnerson. I have men coming who will be more than capable of doing a search. Actually, what I suggest is that your man Evans get into your car and sit there, while you and Mr. Ross join me in my car. I’d like to ask you a few questions, too, and we might as well do it in relative comfort.”

The three men crossed the crushed rock driveway as Evans retreated to the rented car and climbed in. Ross opened the back door of the trooper’s car and climbed in; Gunnerson walked around and got in the front beside Lamport. There was a constant chatter from the radio; Lamport turned it down, but, keeping it slightly audible, started the motor and put on the heater, loosened his overcoat, and looked from Gunnerson to Ross in friendly fashion.

“All right, gentlemen,” he said pleasantly, “I’ve been more than cooperative because I know both you and Mr. Gunnerson by reputation. Now I’d like to ask a few questions. Mr. Ross, why your interest in an obscure shooting way up here out of your bailiwick?”

“Lieutenant,” Ross said, “James Marshall was scheduled to be a witness in a case I’m defending beginning in two short days. It was my hope that he would give testimony that would be useful to my client.” He shrugged. “Naturally his death came as a shock, and was of more than passing interest.”

“Exactly what useful testimony did you hope to get from him, Mr. Ross?”

There was an odd note in the lieutenant’s voice, but his face was still merely mildly curious. Ross plowed on.

“James Marshall was my client’s best friend. They were rooming together in New York City some time ago when a crime occurred for which my client is now being charged. I thought it was possible that Marshall might have some recollection of the period that might possibly help my client’s cause. When I heard of his death, therefore—”

Lieutenant Lamport held up one of his small hands, interrupting.

“Mr. Ross,” he said in a gentle voice, “please remember that you are speaking to the State Police. If I wished to be unfriendly, I could point out to you that I am engaged in a murder investigation, and every question I ask, whether to a suspect or not, is still official. And that untruthful answers are poor policy. But you know that as well as I do, and as I said before, I’ve heard of you, so I’ll start over. What was your interest in Marshall’s killing?”

“But, I told you—”

The lieutenant sighed, as if disappointed in the other man.

“Mr. Ross, we are all quite familiar with the Dupaul case up here. After all, Billy Dupaul came from Queensbury, just down the road, and we were all very proud of Billy when he was picked by the Mets. We don’t have many local heroes and we tend to overadulate the few we have, I suppose. And we were all shocked when Billy got into trouble; we also don’t have too many villains. So the spotlight was on Billy Dupaul, especially among the police. We also know, Mr. Ross, that Billy Dupaul and Jim Marshall had a big fight in New York eight years ago. Marshall never made any bones about it. If you wish, I can introduce you to at least ten people who will swear on a witness stand that Marshall told them Billy Dupaul threatened his life before he left New York eight years ago.”

Ross was listening, his face a mask. It was an odd feeling to be on the other side of an interrogation where he was at a disadvantage. Lieutenant Lamport smiled faintly, as if he could read the other man’s mind. Mike Gunnerson, his eyes twinkling, bit back a grin and listened.

“Now, Mr. Ross, let me suggest that you came to Glens Falls because you are not certain in your own mind if Billy Dupaul was involved in this killing or not. Billy was out of his hotel room — the Marlborough — last night. He left the hotel at three-thirty yesterday afternoon and returned at five-fifteen this morning, an absence of nearly thirteen hours—”

“Nearly fourteen hours,” Ross said woodenly.

“I’m sorry. I’m terrible in math. Where was I? Oh, yes. By plane it takes exactly forty-five minutes to get here from New York; by bus approximately four hours. You can also drive it easily in four hours, and if you wish to take a chance with our highway boys, it has been done in less than three. Considerably less.”

He smiled at Ross. Ross returned his smile. It was time to take the offensive.

“To rent a private car, Lieutenant, one needs a current driver’s license. They don’t issue them at Attica.”

“In New York City,” the lieutenant replied, “there are between two hundred and two hundred and fifty automobiles stolen each day. One thing I’m sure they issue at Attica State Prison is instructions on how to jump an ignition.”

Ross sighed. This was a hard man! Unfortunately, he was also right.

“Are you saying, Lieutenant, that anyone in New York City who was out of his or her lodgings for fourteen hours last night is a suspect in the murder of Jim Marshall?”

Lieutenant Lamport’s smile this time was genuine. He seemed to enjoy the verbal contest, as one would a game of chess.

“Mr. Ross, your very presence here leads me to suspect Billy might have been involved. Otherwise, why are you here?”

“I happen to have other reasons for being here,” Ross said. “Also in connection with the case.”

“Such as?”

“I’m afraid those are confidential.”

“Ah!”

“It happens to be the truth.” Ross studied the lieutenant’s benign face. “It bothers me a bit, Lieutenant, to see the police build a case against a person on such flimsy evidence. The fact that Billy could have gotten here; the fact that between two hundred and two hundred and fifty cars are stolen each day in the city and Billy could have stolen one; the fact that the two men had an argument eight years ago, as if Marshall couldn’t have made other enemies in the intervening years!”

“We don’t railroad people, if that’s what you’re talking about,” Lamport said quietly. “We do look at possibilities.” His voice became gently sardonic. “Tell me, Mr. Ross, how much do you believe in coincidence? Marshall lives quietly and unobtrusively in a small town like Lake George Village, without any trouble that has come to our attention, for many years — and then the day a man is released from prison, a man who has threatened his life, he is shot. Don’t you believe we should consider the possibility of Dupaul being involved?”

Ross sighed.

“Yes,” he said honestly. “Of course you should.”

“Thank you.” It was a sincere statement. “We haven’t any intention of hounding Billy Dupaul. We know he’s in trouble and we don’t believe in adding to the clamor. On the other hand, we intend to continue our investigation, naturally, and it would be foolish not to realize that Dupaul is a suspect.”

“But, I hope, not the only suspect.”

“Nobody is ever the only suspect until someone is arrested, charged, tried, and found guilty.” Lieutenant Lamport looked at his watch. “I’ve got things to do, as I imagine you do.”

The two men got down from the car, their breaths steaming in the cold air. They closed the doors behind them. Lieutenant Lamport rolled his window down and put his hand out. Ross took it and shook it.

“I knew Billy Dupaul as a kid,” Lamport said. “I coached him in Little League. I liked him. Still—” the steady eyes came up “—if, by any chance, you get him off that murder charge, Counselor, I wouldn’t want him leaving the state without notice.”

He rolled the window back up, gave a small wave from behind it, and drove off in a spurt of dust. Gunnerson and Ross walked back to their car and climbed in. Don Evans, Gunner-son’s operative on the spot, had the engine running and the heater on. Ross sighed.

“Quite a guy, that Lieutenant.”

“Too true,” Gunnerson said a bit glumly. “Now, add that to the murder charge in New York, plus the riot, and what do you have?”

“A lot of work to do,” Ross said. He straightened up in his seat. “I think you should keep Evans up here, checking out Marshall. Maybe he told somebody what the fight with Billy was all about; a relative, or a friend.”

“Good enough,” Gunnerson said. “Don, if you need more people, bring in some of the Quigley Agency men from Albany. I know the cops are going to check the airport and the bus depot to see if maybe Dupaul came in here last night, but it wouldn’t hurt to double check. Keep next to Lamport, if he doesn’t throw you out of his office, you know what we need.”

“Sure,” Evans said. He was young, blond, and brash. He was also good. “A miracle.”

“Right!” Gunnerson said. “Well, you might as well take us to the bus station. We might as well take a run down to Albany and check out this Anne Melisi while we’re up in this neck of the woods.”

“You check her out alone,” Ross said. “And I hope to God you come up with something. We’re running out of places to look, not to mention time.” He looked at his watch and made a rough calculation. “Let Don drive you down there to save you time. There’s a plane from here to the city at three forty-five; it stops in Albany. That should give you enough time there to get the Quigley Agency on Melisi’s trail. Try to catch the plane. Okay?”

“Sure,” Gunnerson said, mystified. “But what are you going to be doing between now and plane time?”

“You forgot my infernal curiosity,” Ross said. “I’m going to the Queensbury Central Bank. I still want to discuss old John Emerich’s finances—”