Extra Kill

THIRTEEN

"Oh, dear," said Cara Kingman. "Well, I suppose you'd better come in. I was afraid they would find out, Martin, you know I said at the time, let it go and be thankful it was only the twenty-three hundred. You see what's come of it, not that I'd dream of reproaching you, dear, you only did what you thought best." She looked at Mendoza resignedly.

Kingman put an arm around her. "Now don't you be frightened, Cara, but it's a bit more than that, they think we did it, you see. I-"

"Murdered him? Oh, Martin! Well-well, we'd just better tell them the truth-”

"I'd advise it," said Mendoza, sitting down. "And not the kind of truth you've seen in a crystal ball, Mrs. Turner. Of course there's quite a lot you don't have to tell us. I know that Trask was blackmailing you, and what he had-that last business in Philadelphia. Your present little flock wouldn't like hearing about that, and how well you knew it. A spotless reputation is the chief thing in your business, and it annoyed you considerably when Trask showed up. You had to play ball with him, but that five hundred a month was quite a bite out of your take-"

Kingman said gloomily, "You couldn't speak a truer word."

"It was wicked," said his wife. "After all the bad luck we'd had, it's not a very steady living after all-those awful night clubs and so on-horrible places most of them, but I shouldn't be uncharitable, perhaps all this liquor does serve some purpose of destiny. But when everything was going so well, and we'd quite settled down- We're neither of us getting any younger, you know, Lieutenant, and we must try to save toward our old age, and besides it's been so nice here, so peaceful, we'd quite felt we were settled for good until that wicked young man came. He was, truly. Going to all the trouble of sending back East for that copy of the Telegraph-the one where the trial was reported, you know, and our pictures in it too, quite good ones, I'm sorry to say-and he had it, what do I mean, Martin, photo-?"

"Photostated," sighed Kingman. They sat side by side on the couch, holding hands, looking at the police solemnly; a little of Kingman's precise manner dropped away, but not much-he'd played his part for so many years, he'd grown into it. "Oh, it was awkward, I can't deny it. In a way, the most annoying thing about it was that, well, it wasn't as if we'd been convicted of any wrongdoing-”

"However, you had been before-in Chicago," said Mendoza, and mentioned the year.

"That terrible jail," said Madame Cara, and closed her eyes.

"Now wait just a minute here," said Kingman fussily, adjusting his glasses. "Wait a minute. (Don't fret, my dear.) I do not think of myself as a-a confidence man, Lieutenant, nor do I hold any sort of grudge against the police for doing their duty. That unfortunate affair in Chicago was due to a misunderstanding on my part regarding Illinois law. We have always made an earnest effort to see that we conform to the law-it's only common sense, after all. When you come down to it, Lieutenant, we are only selling a service the public wants and is eager to buy. And I confess I do not see the difference between presenting an-ah-act to amuse an audience, and doing essentially the same thing without the footlights."

"I always hated all the traveling about," said his wife. She looked about the room sadly. "This is such a nice place, and I did think we were settled down at last. But-but it doesn't really matter, Martin dear, we'll get along as well somewhere else, I daresay, the main thing is to explain to them that of course we didn't kill him. Why, I'm sure such an idea never entered our heads, even when he was being horridest. Really, Lieutenant Mendoza, we're not that kind of people."

"Boyce, close your mouth," said Mendoza sotto voce, "and try to look more dignified. Now to go on a step further-we'1l hear your side of it in a moment-the annoying Mr. Trask had recently increased his demands, hadn't he? He was asking too much, and it decided you not to be bullied any longer. You had had a few words with him that Friday afternoon, and far from not being sure what mood he was in, you knew he was feeling ugly. A little side racket he'd been planning had fallen through-" He paused, ostensibly to light a cigarette, watching Kingman: did he know what the side racket had been?-but the other man only nodded glumly. "You had a show to put on here at eight, you couldn't chase after him then, but as soon as you could get away, you drove out to his apartment. You got there about a quarter past ten-"

"I remember noticing," said the woman, "it was exactly a quarter past by my watch as we drove into that-that court. Oh, please don't hesitate to use that ashtray, Lieutenant, that's what it's for. Really, for the time of night and the traffic-so nerve-wracking-we made excellent time. You see, Martin, how very clever they are to find all this out."

"My dear, you needn't say I told you so.”

"But I never would. I do believe in destiny, so it's no use. Do you know, Lieutenant, we'll have been married thirty-one years on the twentieth of this month, and never any serious disagreement between us. I put it down chiefly to the fact that we do always remember to be polite to each other, although it is true that Martin is a very even-tempered man."

Mendoza grasped grimly at the tail of his last remark. "There was a quarrel, and you hit Trask-with the butt of a pistol which-"

"Now wait just a minute, please, sir," said Kingman. He leaned forward with a kind of desperate earnestness. "I don't know exactly how we're going to prove it to you, because naturally there were no witnesses present. And I must say I do understand how you came to pick on us, though how you found out we were there that night I don't know. But I do assure you that you have-um-leaped to a wrong conclusion when you accuse me of killing that-that most unpleasant young man. I hope to God I can convince you, sir, that we hadn't any hand in the murder. Never had such a shock in my life as when you turned up and told us-" He whisked out a handkerchief and polished his bald head.

“Now suppose I just tell you the whole business straight, so to speak, and if I miss out anything you want to know, you ask, because I don't know all the ins and outs of the-um-circumstances of the murder. You've got it right up to that night, sir. Trask… Perhaps I had better explain that that time in Philadelphia he was being held for trial, on a very nasty low charge too, at the same time I was, and that's how he knew me, and knew to send back for that newspaper report. And it wasn't only the money that made the situation awkward and annoying-it was having him around. Any day we'd both have preferred to pay over the money as straight extortion, and never seen him between, but you see, he wanted an open job, as an excuse for not working. I didn't like it, I never liked it, but what could I do? And besides keeping an eye on him, you know, I had what you might call a handle, too. You'll never know how both of us hoped he would make the grade and get into the profession-though he'd nothing to offer but looks, as an old trouper myself I knew that, but still, Hollywood.. . If he only had, perhaps he'd have gone to looking on us as very small stuff, you see, and left us alone-"

"And also you could then turn the tables and threaten him with his past," said Mendoza. “If he acquired a public reputation to be put in danger."

"Good God, no," said Kingman, genuinely shocked. "God forbid that we should stoop so low as that. I tell you, we'd have gone on our knees to give thanks if he'd just left us alone! Well, you're not interested in all this background, I'd better-ah-cut the cackle as our English friends say, and come to that Friday. You said a minute ago that he'd had some plan go wrong, well, I couldn't tell you what that was, but I did deduce that for myself, from his manner. Now it's quite true, what I told you, that we exchanged only a few words as I met him leaving. But-um-what actually passed was not exactly casual. He-"

"Demanded that you raise the ante."

"Well, no," said Kingman. "Actually, no. He was simply in a vicious temper. He put on a good front, you know-that charming boyish manner-but only with people who mattered, people he thought could do him some good. He never troubled with us. But that day he-er-lashed out at me, at the Temple-sneeringly, you know-more viciously than he'd ever done before. However, it wasn't until just before the-the ceremony that night that I became seriously disturbed. I must explain that I-oh dear, and possibly I should have mentioned it to you when you searched this afternoon, I do apologize-I have a small wall safe built into the robing room downstairs, where the-um-receipts are kept. Now, Trask did not have the combination of this safe, and I can only assume that he must have visited the apartment when we were out, perhaps several times, and hunted until he found the notation in my address book. I should have carried it on me-I have such a bad memory for figures-it was careless-"

"Now you mustn't blame yourself, dear, it might have happened to anyone.”

"I do not very often have occasion to go to the safe, that is to take out cash, over a weekend. Naturally, after the service on Saturday night I put the collection into the safe, but I seldom look at what's there or count it. But as it happened, I did have occasion to do so on that Friday night-Cara was going shopping the next morning, and I went to get out some money for her, just before the service. There is no collection for that Friday night service, you see. And I knew there should have been twenty-three hundred dollars in one of the velvet collection bags. You know,"-he took off his glasses, began to polish them slowly with his handkerchief-"on thinking it over since, I can see that he took a gamble on that. In the ordinary way, on Saturday evening I should have simply dropped the collection into that bag and locked it away again-a bag isn't like an envelope, I wouldn't see that it was nearly empty beforehand. He had left some one-dollar bills and a lot of silver, enough to look to the casual glance as if the bag hadn't been touched. You see? If all had gone as he planned, the deficit wouldn't have been discovered, probably, until some time on Monday-when I'd be going to the bank to deposit the month's receipts. But I discovered it then, at seven-thirty that Friday night."

"Yes, I've grasped that," said Mendoza in a bored tone. "So you went out after the service to ask him how come."

"Now I'll tell you," said Kingman, "I may be a fool this way and that way, Lieutenant, but I was not fool enough to think that Trask would walk oif with a month's receipts like that if he intended to carry on in the current situation. The moment I made that discovery, I knew he was clearing out for some reason. And I was thankful-I tell you!-and if it had been merely the twenty-three hundred, I'd have said good riddance, cheap at the price."

"Which was what I said, dear, though I did follow the thought in your mind. He really had no scruples at all."

"But, well, just put yourself in my position, if you can, Lieutenant. Knowing Trask, I thought it very likely indeed that he would not be satisfied with that amount, but would attempt to withdraw more from the bank on Monday morning-before I had discovered what he'd already done, you see. I don't know why he should have stolen that cash on Friday when-if he did intend to withdraw more-he couldn't very well have planned his-his flight until Monday. When I came to reason it out, it occurred to me that possibly someone was in a position to blackmail him, and he had to have that cash on Friday. That he meant to abandon his-ah-racket here, in the face of that blackmail, and stole the cash to satisfy his enemy over the weekend, trusting to luck that I shouldn't discover it-and then on the Monday meant to take what he could from the bank, you see. However, there it was, and the reason I was anxious to contact him was to inform him in no uncertain terms that I knew of the theft, and would take steps immediately to warn the bank not to allow him to make any withdrawals. That I didn't want-well, naturally not-but it wasn't only the money-I couldn't very well prosecute him for it, could I? Everything coming out in the open then. I tried at once to telephone him, but got no answer-of course it was early. I tried again after the service, with the same result. “ So-"

"So you drove out. Very well. And when you got there, you found him packing-"

"It was quite mysterious," said the woman plaintively, "and I hated it-I felt there was something queer about it then. There was no one there at all, Lieutenant. I do hope," her voice quivered a little, "you will believe the truth, I do see as Martin says it's only our word. But it is the truth. The front door to his apartment was unlocked, after we'd knocked and knocked Martin tried it and the door opened. We knew he was there because there was a light-not in the living room, but the bedroom-you could see it from that silly little front porch. So we went in, and no one was there at all. Yes, you're quite right, he had been packing-there were two suitcases all packed and locked, and another on the bed half full of things-and things standing on the bureau, all i untidy, he'd never have left it like that; he was almost too finicky for a man, you know. And the light on. The kitchen light too. We couldn't see that until we'd gone in, of course. And no one there."

"That's gospel truth, gentlemen," said Kingman earnestly. "I can't lie to you that I'm a religious man, but I swear by-by everything that's dear to me, that's the gospel truth."

Mendoza had been leaning back in a bored way, smoking, impassive; Boyce sitting stolid and foursquare, just waiting; Hackett listening and looking intently. Their noncornmittal silence worried Kingman, who had grown progressively more ruddy and earnest. Now suddenly Mendoza sat up and fixed him with a frowning stare.

"The kitchen light was on?" he said. "Was that trap open?"

"God, no," said Kingman with a shudder. "And if I didn't have the cold grues about that, when I read in the paper how he'd been-disposed of! It occurred to me then that, my God, whoever it was might have-must have-been down there with him-when we walked in."

Now he lost all of his ruddiness, and mopped his bald head. "He-they-whoever it was, would have had warning-we knocked and waited, you know. If-if there was a way to close that trap from below… well, you take me. Must have been down there in the dark-with him-waiting for us to leave. God. No, of course we didn't dream, at the time… There were all his things, you could see he was getting ready to clear out, and-I don't know-it looked queer, but as if he might have just run out to get something, you know-some errand. I-"

"Did you go into the kitchen?… Where was the table?"

"I remember that, dear. It was an impossible kitchen-but of course a man wouldn't care-far too small, and there was only one little place for a table, at the very end-but it wasn't there. It was pushed right up against the stove, a very awkward position."

"Did you see a trowel?" asked Mendoza softly. Hackett turned and looked at him. Nothing about the trowel had been released to the press. They both stared at him. "A trowel?" said Kingman; and then he lost what remained of his color. "Oh, my God, is that what he was-what they used-? No-no, I don't remember anything like that. We-well, you know, we didn't know quite what to do. It looked as if he'd be back any minute, and we waited around a little." He mopped his brow. "You have so much imagination, Martin-not that I wasn't a little upset about it too, when we knew. But it's all over now, dear, we must simply try to tell them how it was-the facts."

"How long did you wait?"

"Oh, it was quite some time before we decided that he wasn't-and of course then we did think it even odder, that he should just walk out like that-and then we thought of looking to see whether his car was there. And it was. In the carport. And there was another one too, that is I don't know if it had anything to do with all this, but you see, I opened the back door and looked out-I don't know why, it was the silly sort of thing you do when you're looking for someone. And there was a car there. There's quite a wide alley behind that building, you know, and an empty lot behind that-and this car was just standing in the alley. There wasn't anyone in it, its lights weren't on or anything. I thought at the time it might be someone visiting the next apartment, maybe there hadn't been parking space in front when- Well, and then Martin said-"

"Now I'll tell you," said Kingman, "I didn't especially want to see him. I was thankful he was clearing out, I simply wanted to make it clear to him that it was-um-quits between us. And I'll be honest and say too that it seemed a good opportunity to have a look around for that photostat-not that that would exactly take away his hold, because I daresay he could have replaced it, and of course the mere information-that is, anyone could have checked up, once they knew where to check, so to speak. Nevertheless, we should feel much safer-you get me… I hadn't tried to do anything in that line, no sir, not up to then. I won't say I hadn't thought about it, but it didn't seem that it'd be much use-for all I knew he had a safety deposit box or something-"

"So he did," said Mendoza. "In a manner of speaking. I know where it was-"

"So do I, now," said Kingman unexpectedly. "I make no apology for saying that we had a look round. And we didn't have to look far. It was right there on the bed. I expect you found it with his things, later on. One of those quilted plastic laundry bags-green-and he'd just emptied it out on the bed, it looked like, to get at what was in the bottom. I don't want to-ah-sound as if I'm trying to do your job for you, Lieutenant, but it occurs to me that perhaps when you first saw the place, things weren't just the way they were then, and it may be you'll be interested. First of all, there was a big brown manila envelope lying there with that photostat in it-the newspaper report about us, you know-and of course I took that. But I think there'd been something else in that bag-I took it that's where the envelope had been, you see, there it was among all his dirty clothes, as if he'd just dumped out everything-because there was another manila envelope, empty, and he-or someone-had burned something in a big glass ashtray on the bureau. Something fairly bulky, like-well, maybe another photostat. There was quite a little pile of ashes."

"What was on the bureau besides?”

"Oh, dear," said Kingman, and thought. "I'll try to recall-you understand, I wasn't noticing things to be noticing, as it were-I'll do my best. Let's see, there was a bottle of Scotch, I think it was-I don't know if it was empty or full-and his wrist watch, and a folded necktie-and, oh, yes, his hat, a gray felt hat-and a clean handkerchief-and a couple of little medicine bottles, I think. Well, to go on, as I say I took that photostat, and we had a look for the money but it wasn't there, not unless it was in one of the locked suitcases. He must have had it on him, though you haven't said-" He looked at them doubtfully.

Mendoza shook his head. "You find crooks everywhere, true, but we do pride ourselves on higher standards these days."

"Oh, I never meant to imply-! But, odd as it seemed, you know-the place standing empty that way, as if he'd just dropped everything and walked out-we weren't much interested in what was behind it. Not then. There wasn't any reason to wait about. I wrote a note to him, on a page torn out of my address book-I don't know what happened to that, perhaps that's how you know about us being there-telling him, you know, not to try any tricks, and so on-and we came away." He got out his handkerchief again. "I hope to God you believe all this, all I can do is tell you everything. I don't know if it means anything, if it'll be a help in clearing us, but we got a traffic ticket on the way home-maybe that would confirm the time, but I don't suppose-"

"Where and what for?" asked Mendoza.

"The officer was perfectly right," said Madame Cara. "I do find it one of the most awkward things in traffic, changing lanes. But it's like everything else in life-one must seize the opportunity. And while the road was quite clear (I never take chances, for one must think of other people, you know, if not oneself) it seems it wasn't allowed right there. The officer was really very nice about it, and it was a small fine. I went right down to the traffic court next morning. It was six dollars, Five for the ticket and one for education-this new system you know and a splendid idea, we can't grudge anything for the children."

"My dear, the place-I don't recall-"

"Oh, of course, it was on Avalon Boulevard, Lieutenant, not very long after we'd left the apartment, I don't know exactly where."

"We'll find it," said Mendoza. He looked at them in exasperation, in doubt. "I've got a warrant in my pocket for your arrest on a charge of murder-"

"Oh, dear God," said Kingman, "I swear to you-"

"But I'm not going to use it, until we've checked that ticket anyway. I'll be frank to say that it looks to me as if you had the best motive to do away with him, and I thought I had it worked out how you'd done it. But there are just a couple of little things… I'll go along with this awhile, and take you at your word. But I'd like to know why you didn't leave matters there. What took you to the bank on Monday morning?"

"Don't think we're not grateful," said Kingman almost tearfully. "Thanks very much, sir, for listening with an open mind… It's a sobering thought that if I hadn't-I should have left the whole thing go, I know that now. But the more I thought about it, the odder it seemed-his being gone, like that-and I thought quite possibly he might not have found my note. Even if he came back. Well, of course I expected he had come back, for all his things. But in the event that he didn't see the note-I felt I'd been a coward in a way, I should have seen him and made sure. I tried to locate him that Saturday morning, but nobody had seen him, and there was no answer at his apartment. In one way that relieved my mind, I thought he'd come back, finished packing and left-but we didn't know, you see. I was still worrying that he might try to get something out of the bank-"

"He had absolutely no scruples,” said the woman. Her large plaintive eyes swerved unblinking to Mendoza. "We are grateful, Lieutenant, for your kindness… After so much trouble and upset and worry, it didn't seem fair. Such an unpleasant young man. But, you know, it really is very strange, they say there is some good in everyone, and there was, I daresay, a very little, in him… I was so surprised-do you know, he liked flowers. He liked to grow things. Perhaps he came of a long line of farmers, or something. He was quite enthusiastic over the landscaping around the Temple, just that little bit of fern or whatever it is, in built-up boxes, I expect you noticed it-he even brought a little garden fork one day and poked around at them because the earth was too dry, he said. Really very odd. But then people are."

"-And," said Kingman, "more especially I worried about it, because he'd have discovered by then that I had been at his place and taken the photostat-he might try to clear out the bank account in revenge, you see. Well, we worried around it all that weekend, and on Monday morning when I knew there'd be someone at the bank-before opening time, that is-I called. All I meant to do was to ask them not to let him make any withdrawals, because he had-um-severed connections with us. I was very stupid about the whole thing, Heaven knows I should have known better, but what with worrying and not being able to sleep-you see, I got hold of the assistant manager, and I had to give some reason for calling to warn them-after all, just because a man resigns or is fired from his job, it isn't any reason to suspect him of larceny-and before I knew it, he'd got out of me that Trask had gone off with that cash. And as soon as he heard that-Mr. Rowell, I mean-he got excited and said of course I'd be seeing the police to lay an official charge, and perhaps he'd better go with me because it would save time if he could give the police the man's official signature and the recent records and so on-"

"I see," Mendoza said amusedly. "You couldn't get out of it?"

"It was like a nightmare from start to finish. I never intended to do such a thing, but of course it would have looked queer after that if I hadn't. What I was afraid of, you know, was that Trask would be lp caught up with-or even if he'd seen it in the papers, that I'd accused him-why, he might have told all he knew about us just to get even. It was a terrible position. I had to seem as if I was giving the police all the help I could, and at the same time I held back what I felt was possible to, because, my God, I wasn't anxious for them to find him, wherever he'd gone and why. I said I wasn't sure where he lived because, you know, he might have mentioned to someone there where he was going-and no one could prove we did know, I tore that page out of my address-book-and I was sure no one had seen us there on Friday night. And then, as soon as we'd-er-got that on record, so to speak, I wondered if the police would somehow find out anyway, and look for fingerprints there-and whether we'd left any-"

“I was wearing gloves. I always do when I drive and it was cold that night, I didn't take them off at all. And as I told you at the time, Martin, I don't believe you would have left any either, because we just looked mostly, didn't we?-not touching anything. You see, there wasn't any need to open drawers and so on, Lieutenant, there was this photo-thing right on the bed-we burned that as soon as we got home-and when it came to looking for the money, well, all the drawers were wide open and empty, because he'd been taking things out to pack, you know. We just felt all through the things in the open suitcase, and they were clothes, they wouldn't take prints, would they? Martin did try the other cases to see if they were locked, and they were. So-"

"And then," said Kingman with a strong shudder, "when you came and told us he'd been murdered-! And in such a way… I did some more worrying about it then, I can tell you-"

Mendoza got up, looking at them thoughtfully. "Yes, well, we'll leave it this way for the time being. I needn't caution you not to leave town and so on-you'll be familiar with the-mmh-ritual, shall I say?"

"Believe me, Lieutenant, we're grateful-that you believe, I mean-·"

"Oh, I never said I believed you," said Mendoza gently, smiling at them. "Just that I'm not quite ready to use that warrant-yet. We'll see. We like to be sure about these things-I'll do a little more thinking on it."