by Hank Janson
Sharp grinned evilly. ‘Maybe she is, fella,’ he said. ‘But the folks at Burden’s party weren’t choosey kinda people.’
Fuller gritted his teeth. He said, ‘That’s an outrageous accusation. Miss Gibbons isn’t the sort of girl to do that kind of thing. Why, yesterday was her first time in Chicago, and as for sleeping with Dane, she met him for the first time last night.’
Sharp looked at Dane steadily. ‘Did you sleep with Miss Gibbons last night?’ he asked. ‘Can you alibi her? From after she left the party until early this morning?’
‘No,’ said Dane bluntly. ‘I wasn’t with Miss Gibbons.’
She gave a kinda sigh. He looked at her quickly. She said: ‘I think you ought to tell them, Dane. It’s better this way. We couldn’t go on the way it was.’
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Leslie.
Dane looked at her steadily, and suddenly I saw something in their eyes, something that made me realise a whole lot of things.
Sharp said, ‘I think you’ve cleared things up for us, Dane. A dame who can stab a knife into a guy while there’s a party going on can easily slip back later and make a job of it. Miss Gibbons stated you were with her last night. You say you weren’t. That kinda ties the thing up.’ He looked at Pearl. ‘I’ll have to hold you, Miss Gibbons,’ he said. ‘We’ll be charging you.’
‘Just a minute,’ said Fuller. ‘You can’t …’
Pearl said: ‘Please, Dane, it doesn’t matter now. Everything’s different. It’s better to be honest.’
Dane looked at her steadily for a long while. Then he licked his lips. ‘All right, Sharp,’ he said. ‘I was with her. We spent the night together.’
Fuller said: ‘What the hell are you talking about? It isn’t possible. You couldn’t have done that!’
Dane rounded on him. ‘You want to see her kept in jail?’ he rasped. ‘I’m giving her an alibi, aren’t I? You want she should be charged with murder?’
Fuller looked like he didn’t know what to think. ‘Well – I – I guess I don’t know.’
Sharp said gently and evilly: ‘That was a kinda slick confession, Dane. Just a bit too slick. First you deny it, and then you admit it.’
‘Of course I denied it!’ said Dane. ‘Pearl’s engaged. She’s going to marry Fuller. It was just something that happened. Do you think I want to spoil her life? I was gonna forget all about it, let her go ahead and marry Fuller.’
‘Of all the confounded cheek!’ said Fuller hotly. He was up on his feet again. It needed Pearl’s gentle touch on his arm to get him sitting once more.
Sharp said: ‘No dice, Morris. I’m keeping the dame. And I’m considering holding you for perjury. You can’t cook up an alibi that easy.’
‘Wait a minute!’ said Pearl, Her cheeks were flushed and her face was set, but she was quite cool. ‘I’ve never been to Chicago before,’ she said. ‘Lived in Florida all my life. I met Leslie in Florida six months ago. I came to Chicago yesterday with him and we’re to be married in a month’s time. That’s right, Leslie?’
He nodded. There was a perplexed look in his eyes. ‘Absolutely right,’ he confirmed.
‘And I met Mr Dane for the first time last night,’ she said. ‘I’d never seen him before. Is that right, Leslie?’
‘It must be, I suppose,’ he said.
She looked at Dane steadily. ‘It doesn’t matter now, Dane,’ she said. ‘Leslie will have to know. It’s better this way. I couldn’t have married him the way things were, anyway.’
Sharp said: ‘What are you getting at? I’m slapping a charge on you. Is there anything you want to add before I do it?’
‘That’s just what I’m doing,’ she said. ‘I’m going to prove to you that Dane and I were together last night.’
‘Sure,’ grinned Sharp. ‘You took Janson along with you to be a witness. He’ll give you another alibi.’
She said quietly: ‘Dane’s never had any opportunity to see me other than last night.’ She looked at Dane. ‘Do you remember what particularly intrigued you last night?’ There was a soft meaning in her eyes.
Dane stared back at her. He nodded slowly.
‘Write it down on a piece of paper,’ she said. ‘Fold it up. Give it to the Inspector. Let him hold it.’
‘You mean …?’ said Dane.
She nodded. ‘It’ll make everything clear,’ she said.
Dane took out his notebook, scribbled something on it, folded the sheet into quarters and handed it to Sharp.
Sharp looked puzzled, but interested. ‘What about it?’ he asked.
‘I can’t think of any other way to prove what we’ve been telling you,’ Pearl said. ‘You want the truth and proof and you’ll have to have it.’
‘What kinda …’? began Sharp. Then his eyes widened and his mouth opened slowly.
Pearl stood up, gathered up the hem of her skirt, pulled it high around her waist, held it there with one arm. Her long slim legs were milky white and soft.
‘You can’t do that here!’ yelled Sharp. ‘Stop that, d’ya hear?’
‘For heaven’s sake!’ she said quietly and wearily, and somehow her dry, unemotional attitude was that this was just a job that had to be done, got over. He sank back in his chair, eyes wide, mouth gaping.
She fumbled with her free hand at the buttons on her panties. There was the soft rustle of silk as they slipped through her fingers, revealing the taut, flat curve of her belly, and then whispered swiftly down around her ankles.
There was a kinda universal sigh of awe. Fuller was gaping like he couldn’t believe his eyes. Dane was watching her unemotionally, and Sharp looked like he was having apoplexy.
There was a deep flush on Pearl’s cheeks but a grim sparkle of determination in her eyes. She stepped out of the panties, angled around to face Sharp with her legs astride and then held herself in an unnatural position so he could see what she was indicating.
He stared, fascinated, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down like an imp in a bottle every time he swallowed. And he swallowed good and often. I thought he’d go on looking for the rest of his life.
‘Have you seen it yet?’ she asked with a light, controlled voice.
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen it.’ He tore his eyes away. ‘What about it?’
She released her dress. It slipped down over her haunches to her knees. She smoothed it with her hands. ‘Read the note Dane gave you,’ she said.
He opened it curiously, looked at her, looked back at the note, swallowed hard and read aloud: ‘There is a small, crescent-shaped scar high up in the hollow of the groin.’
‘I hope that satisfies you, Inspector,’ she said. ‘Even a striptease party wouldn’t show that much. Dane spent last night with me. That’s how he knew.’
He swallowed. ‘I guess that’s kinda conclusive,’ he said. He looked at Dane curiously. ‘You got around to knowing this dame pretty quickly.’
Fuller got up from his chair slowly. His face was white and his eyes were hard with an inner hurt. ‘I don’t think you’ll be needing me anymore,’ he said. He was having trouble in keeping control of his voice.
‘I guess not,’ said Sharp. He shot a quick look at Pearl. ‘I guess I’m sorry about this,’ he added.
‘Not at all, not at all,’ said Leslie. He looked at Dane. ‘You’ve given me quite an education,’ he said.
‘I feel bad about this,’ said Dane awkwardly. ‘I …’
Leslie ignored him. He turned to Pearl. ‘I wish you the best of luck,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry it had to be this way. I had hoped …’ There was a break in his voice. For a moment he tried to master it, and then he gave up. He turned around quickly and walked out of the office in a hurry. I guess no guy likes folk to see him when he starts to cry.
Pearl’s eyes were pained. ‘I’ve hurt him terribly,’ she said.
‘I was a swine,’ said Dane. ‘I shouldn’t have come to you. Not even …’
; ‘It was my fault, Dane,’ she said softly. ‘I wanted you to.’
‘Jeepers!’ mouthed Sharp. ‘Get out of here, will ya? I’ve got work to do. And stick around. Maybe I’ll want you again.’
Pearl and Dane were absorbed in each other. They were talking together, looking into each other’s eyes. They drifted over towards the door. They seemed to have forgotten about me and Sharp.
‘And don’t leave those lying around my office!’ roared Sharp.
I shook Pearl by the shoulder and pointed. She gave a little gasp, ran back to the front of Sharp’s desk and bent down. She slipped the panties over her ankles, worked them up her calves, over her knees and up under her skirt. She reached the point where she’d have to lift her skirt to hoist them into position. She hesitated, looked at Sharp.
‘Hurry up!’ he roared.
‘D’ya mind?’ she asked.
‘Hmph,’ he snorted in consent. He held his head to one side and watched her keenly from the corner of his eyes. She hoisted quickly, there was a gleam of silken thighs and then she was buttoning.
‘Kinda cute rig-out you young ladies wear these days,’ said Sharp.
‘You shouldn’t be looking,’ she said reprovingly.
‘Well, of all the …!’ he began.
She smoothed her skirt with her hands. It followed faithfully the curves of her body. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve shocked you, Inspector,’ she said.
‘Well, of all the …!’ he said again.
But she was back with Dane, taking his arm, following him out through the door.
I said awkwardly: ‘Got any leads on this yet, Sharp?’
He eyed me suspiciously. ‘What are you getting at, Janson?’
I shrugged. ‘Seems like you’ve been checking everyone – Skinner, Mrs Burden, Pearl Gibbons. I thought maybe you might even suspect me, or – or – Dane Morris or even Leslie Fuller.’
His eyes probed into me. ‘You ain’t trying to wheedle information outta me, are you, Janson?’
‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘You’ve seen the Chronicle. We know who the murderer is.’
‘Yeah,’ he said. A dark flush spread over his face. ‘Yeah, you’re gonna show the cops, aren’t you? Well, get out of here before I pinch you! I’m fed up with seeing you around. Clear off!’
I grinned, walked out slowly. I closed the door behind me, waited a few seconds, opened it quickly. Sharp was yelling into the telephone. He was saying: ‘Check on that guy Fuller! Find out everything you can about him!’
I closed the door quietly. It seemed like I still had a good chance of beating Sharp to it.
I found Dane and Pearl arm in arm at the entrance to the station. They were waiting for a taxi. I came up behind them, said quietly in Dane’s ear:
‘Why did you do it, Dane?’
He turned in surprise. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘She’ll have to know sometime,’ I said. ‘Might as well come clean. You killed him, didn’t you? Why not admit it? It’ll save a lotta trouble.’
He stared at me with wide eyes. ‘Hank,’ he said, ‘you’re crazy! You’re stark, raving mad!’
11
We went into a nearby café, ordered coffee. I looked across the table at Pearl and shook my head wonderingly. ‘Don’t know how you two did it,’ I said.
‘Did what?’
‘Just about 12 hours,’ I said. ‘The next thing, you’re closer than man and wife!’
Her eyes were shining. ‘It was just something that happened,’ she said. ‘It happened’ – she snapped her fingers – ‘just like that.’
‘I can imagine,’ I said drily. I snapped my fingers. ‘Just like that!’
Dane was stirring his coffee thoughtfully. ‘These things do happen,’ he said quietly.
‘You’re a fast worker, lady,’ I complimented her. ‘I figure it pays off dividends, though.’
Dane gave me a hard look. ‘You’re not very bright,’ he said. ‘When Leslie Fuller walked out on Pearl back there just now, it was a million-buck husband walking out of the door.’
‘Money ain’t everything,’ I said meaningfully.
Pearl looked at me with curious eyes. ‘You think I’ve an ulterior motive?’ she accused.
‘Haven’t you?’ I leered.
She looked angry. ‘I liked Dane the minute I saw him,’ she said hotly. ‘Just meeting somebody like that can change your feelings almost immediately.’
‘I can think of other reasons,’ I said.
‘Such as?’ Dane’s voice was ugly. He wasn’t liking me very much.
‘The question is,’ I said slowly, ‘which of you two killed Burden?’
Dane said thoughtfully: ‘I think I ought to sock you now.’
‘Wait a minute,’ said Pearl quickly. She looked at me earnestly. ‘You must have a reason for saying that.’
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Wanna hear?’
‘Yeah,’ said Dane. ‘Let’s hear. If it’s not good, I can take up the matter of that poke on the nose.’
‘Dane’s got plenty of motive for killing Burden,’ I said. I looked meaningfully at Pearl.
She flushed. ‘Dane’s told me all about it,’ she said. ‘I can understand how he must have felt about Stella.’
‘Yeah,’ I said bitterly. ‘He musta felt just the same way that guy Leslie Fuller must have felt.’
She had the grace to flush. ‘It was better to break it to him quickly. It was honest.’
‘Honest, maybe,’ I said. ‘But it didn’t make it any more pleasant.’
‘Stick to the point,’ said Dane. ‘I had plenty of motive for killing Burden. What’s more, I asked for a gun last night. What’s more, I had in mind killing him right then. Where does that get you?’
‘Where it got you,’ I said. ‘Outside Burden’s house a few minutes before he was killed.’
‘I was there, too,’ she said. ‘I was waiting around the corner for Dane in the car.’
I stared at her. ‘You went there with him?’
Dane said quietly: ‘Wanna know what happened?’
I leaned back in my chair, lit a cigarette. I could anticipate the ground being knocked out from underneath my feet again.
‘I went out again almost as soon as you dropped me last night,’ said Dane. ‘I was feeling sick about Stella. I was feeling so sick I wanted somebody to confide in. Pearl had given me her address. Late though it was, I went to see her. I just had to have somebody to confide in and company of some kind. Well, like Pearl’s told you, there was just something between us. And something happened. We couldn’t help it, neither of us.’
‘It was my fault as much as his,’ Pearl put in.
Dane went on: ‘I don’t quite know why it was. I guess I thought I was still in love with Stella. But I began wondering about her again. I was fretting, feeling sick inside. And Pearl could see it. And when finally I said I couldn’t stand it any longer and was going to find out what had happened to her, Pearl said she’d drive me there. She’s just that kinda girl. Understanding!’
Pearl wasn’t looking at us, she had her head bowed and was tracing patterns on the table with her fingernail.
‘I don’t know quite what I intended to do,’ said Dane. ‘I was all steamed up. I guess I really wanted to find out what had happened to Stella, wanted to make sure that it was really that way. I guess maybe I wanted to see Burden, too. Have it out with him once and for all.
‘But when I got there, I was all mixed up inside. Just seeing the place again made me feel even more sick. I wandered around the back of the house abstractedly, hardly knowing what I was doing. Then I called up to Stella’s window, shouting her name and wondering whether Burden’s head would poke out. But I only called a coupla times, and not very loudly at that. I didn’t seem to have the heart to do it.
‘Then I went around the front of the house and rang the bell. I rang only once. A short, sharp ring. I didn’t get any reply. And then, quite sudde
nly, everything seemed different. I wondered what I was doing there. I wondered why I was bothering about Stella. Somehow, Stella didn’t seem to matter anymore to me. I was remembering Pearl, the way she had been kind and understanding. And then I suddenly understood it was Pearl I really wanted deep down inside me. So I just left it at that. Left the house and went back to Pearl. She drove me back to her flat. I had breakfast with her and then went on to the Chronicle office. That’s all that happened.’
‘Is that on the level, Dane?’ I asked.
‘On the level,’ he said. His eyes were staring straight into mine.
‘Burden must have been murdered while you were outside the house, or almost immediately afterwards,’ I mused.
‘Why couldn’t he have been murdered before I got there?’ said Dane. ‘I didn’t get any reply to the front door. If he’d been downstairs in the lounge he’d have opened up, wouldn’t he?’
It was on the tip of my tongue to say that the little man Carter had left Burden alive just a few moments earlier, and then I bit back. I wasn’t giving away all my aces.
‘You still could have done it, Dane,’ I said.
‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘I could have done it. If it hadn’t been for Pearl, maybe I would have done it. But I didn’t.’
‘You were pretty jumpy this morning,’ I said. ‘Miserable, nervous, upset.’
He looked at me levelly. ‘I wonder how you’d feel if you’d just lost your girl to Burden, then found the sweetest girl in the world, only to know she was about to marry a millionaire’s son? Would you look happy?’
‘No, I guess not,’ I said abstractedly. Something he’d said was milling around in my mind. I got a vague hunch. I said suddenly: ‘Excuse me a minute, will you?’
I went across to the telephone kiosk, fingered nickels into the slot. If you know how, it’s possible to get a line through to any exchange switchboard as though you’re a subscriber. I knew how to do it.
The dame said, ‘Switchboard.’
‘I wanna make some enquiries,’ I said. I gave her a telephone number. ‘I wanna check any calls that have gone out from here today.’
She was a smart operator. She said promptly: ‘You made the calls. You should know.’
