by Keene, Day
“What happened then?”
“Joe and Norm searched the room for the diamonds.”
“Did they find them?”
“No.”
“But you did?”
“Yes, after they’d gone. Mr. Stein had taken off the belt the diamonds were in when he’d undressed and thrown it under the bed. It was away back against the wall.”
“Why didn’t you phone the police immediately and tell them what had happened?”
“I was afraid to. It was my word against Joe’s. I didn’t have any political drag. He did. Besides, being what I was, I knew no one would believe my story.”
“So what did you do?”
“I phoned my sister Clara. She’d just gotten into town a few months before all this happened, just in time to meet my husband, Johnny.”
“She approved of the way you were living?”
“No. Clara raised hell about it every time we got together.”
“But she did come when you phoned her?”
“She was at the hotel within twenty minutes.”
A moment of silence followed. Corson broke it by patting Corson on the back, “I knew right from the start there was something wrong. The kid in the room gave her name as Mona Ambler. She admitted she’d stayed with Stein. But it didn’t stack up somehow. That’s why I’ve been working on the case ever since.”
The attorney general reproved him. “If you please, Captain Corson. You have performed an excellent piece of police work. The state appreciates it very much. But for the moment, allow Sergeant Duval to continue.”
I looked at the girl who’d sweated out six months in the death house. “What happened when you got to the room?”
She said, “Naturally, Mary and I were frantic. We were afraid, that under the circumstances, the police would laugh at Mary if she told the truth. Then there was the baby to consider.”
“What about him?”
“We both wanted to get him in some safe place before we phoned the police. So Mary called a nursing home she’d heard of and they agreed to take him in.”
“But why did Mary take him to the home instead of you? Why did you stay in the room and take the rap?”
A wisp of hair fell into her eyes. She brushed at it with the back of one hand. “It all seemed so simple and logical at the time. Mary, or Mona, as she was known in Chicago, knew the ropes. She had the diamonds to trade for the truth. We figured that if I took her place for a few hours she could put the baby in the home and then make a deal with LaFanti.”
“You knew if she didn’t return you’d be in a bad spot?”
“I suppose I did.”
“Still you stuck your neck out for your sister.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She was my sister.”
It was as good an answer as any. I’d have done the same for Johnny.
Mona sobbed, “I meant to come back in an hour. I promised Clara I would. But both of us were hysterical with fear and what we forgot at the time was that murder was one rap that not even LaFanti’s political connection could quash. It was either his neck or mine.”
“You took Johnny to the home, posing as a friend of yourself?”
“I did.”
“Why? I mean why did you take the baby to a home in the first place?”
She told us. “Because my baby was one of the levers LaFanti used to force me back into the rackets. He said if I refused to go back to work at The Furnace that some night my baby would disappear.”
Corson looked at LaFanti. “I don’t think I hit you hard enough. You’re going to be surprised how many times you’re going to fall up and down the jail stairs before you come to trial.”
The attorney general didn’t reprove him. No one said anything about unnecessary police brutality.
Mona’s mouth worked. “Like I said, I meant to be back in the hotel room in an hour. But Joe was waiting for me when I came down the stairs of the nursing home and he’s kept me a prisoner in his apartment ever since.”
“Leaving Clara holding the bag?”
“Leaving Clara holding the bag.”
One of the big-shot officials asked Clara, “Why didn’t you admit your right identity when your sister didn’t return?”
She said, “Because I didn’t know what had happened to her. I waited and I waited. And she didn’t come back.” She wiped tears off her cheeks. “Then after I did phone the police, everything was confused. Everyone was asking me questions at the same time and taking pictures of me and I didn’t know what to do.”
The attorney general asked, “But why in the name of God did you sign a confession, my dear?”
She met his eyes. “Because a certain man told me that if I didn’t, both my sister and her baby would be killed.”
“Is that man in this room?”
“He is.”
LaFanti got to his feet. “This is all a lot of crap,” he shouted. “The girl is lying. Both of them are lying. I never killed anyone. And no one warned her to keep her mouth shut.”
The detective to whom he was handcuffed jerked him back onto his chair.
I looked at First Assistant State’s Attorney Olson. He didn’t look well.
“A nice try, Joe,” Corson said. “But I’m afraid your political drag isn’t going to be able to get you out of this one. In fact, he has more trouble of his own than he can handle.” Captain Corson transferred his attention. “All right, Olson,” he said, quietly. “Why don’t you let your hair down and admit you’re not only LaFanti’s political drag but also his silent partner?’
It grew so still in the big room that I could hear the pound of my heart.
Olson tried to wet his dry lips. It was difficult for him to breathe. “You must be another mental case, Captain.”
Corson shook his head. “No.” The back of his neck got red. “Just what the hell made you think you could pull the wool over a cop’s eyes who was investigating homicides when you were learning how much are two and two? Like that business in LaFanti’s apartment. You had to have a warrant for this. You had to have a warrant for that. Everything had to be legal. And meanwhile, you knew that LaFanti and his boys were cleaning up the apartment like mad.”
Corson fished in his vest pocket and came up with the small white object I’d seen him pick off the floor in LaFanti’s rooms. He laid it on the attorney general’s desk. “But they overlooked this tooth Duval said he blew out of Tommy’s mouth. And it wasn’t smart to give a punk elevator boy five grand, although it turned out pretty good for our side. Manny has been singing so loud we’ve had to keep cotton in our ears. And so has Hymie, for that matter. He admits you and he killed Emerson, Joe. You did it to keep his mouth shut after Emerson went down to Joliet at Sergeant Duval’s suggestion and verified the sergeant’s suspicion that the client Emerson had known as Mona Ambler wasn’t Mona.” Corson continued to pour it on. “We’ve also found Tommy’s body. Then there is the cab driver who brought Gloria to the apartment. And Gloria’s statement that she lied on both occasions, both about being in the apartment and about being raped by Duval.” The tail of the canary showed again. “Do you want to hear any more or will that hold you for a while?”
LaFanti stared at the floor.
Captain Corson nodded to the detective who was handcuffed to LaFanti. “Put that thing on Mr. Olson’s wrist, Bill,” he said. “Then take them both downstairs. I’ll be along in a few minutes to sign the sheet.”
The detective handcuffed Olson to LaFanti. “All right. You heard the captain. Let’s go, boys.”
Neither of them spoke as they shuffled out of the office.
The attorney general got up from behind his desk and crossed the office to sit down beside the real “Mona.” “I’m sorry, my dear,” he said. “Your sister’s release papers have already been signed but we’re going to have to hold you for a little while as a material witness.”
Mona’s lips quivered. “Yes, sir.”
He continued, “But it won’
t be very long. Meanwhile you’ll know that your baby is in good hands and safe. And when we are able to release you, perhaps you can start life all over again.”
Her mouth was still working but her small chin jutted. “I’m going to try,” she told him. She looked at me. “Thanks. You know how much, Mike. And I — I’m sorry I let Johnny down.”
I squeezed her shoulder. “Forget it. I’m speaking for Johnny now. He’d want you to forget. Johnny lived in a few glass houses himself. Besides, he wasn’t much of a hand at throwing stones.”
“Yes,” she said, “I know.”
She and Clara kissed again. Then Mona left the office with a matron.
“And that,” Captain Corson said, “would seem to be that.” He looked at me. “Except for one thing. Now tell me this, Duval. How did you know there were two girls?”
I said, “It was something Johnny told me in the rest camp at Taegu, A one-time wealthy south Korean refugee wanted to sell Johnny some beautiful antique pearl earrings at a bargain. And Johnny wanted to buy them but he said his wife couldn’t wear them because her ears weren’t pierced.” I touched Clara’s old-fashioned gold loop earrings. “And Clara’s ears are pierced. After I’d seen her in the death house, something kept bothering me until I realized what it was.”
I stopped touching her earring and fondled the lobe of Clara’s ear. She put her fingers on mine.
“The little things,” the attorney general said.
Then he and Captain Corson and Warden Kane and the other big shots in the office began to talk about the best way to handle Olson’t part in the affair without destroying the public’s confidence in the state’s attorney’s office. Clara and I were alone for the first time.
I continued to fondle her ear.
Her big eyes searched my face. “I said it the first time we met. I’d forgotten guys like you still existed. So where do we go from here?”
For some reason it was difficult for me to breathe. I said, “That’s up to you.”
Her eyes continued to search my face. “I want to go where you go.”
We hadn’t even kissed, but I knew. She felt the same way about me as I felt about her. There was that certain something between us. I stopped fondling the lobe of her ear and put my arm around her. “Be sure.”
Her eyes were bright as she said, “I’m sure.”
“It will always be Army.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. Her body felt small and soft and warm in my arms. She talked against my lips. “As long as I’m with you.”
It was okay. It was fine. It didn’t matter that we didn’t know each other. It didn’t matter that it was only the second time we’d met. I was for her. She was for me. We could get acquainted after we were married.
We kissed for a long time. Then I tucked her hand under my arm and we crossed the office to the door.
Corson looked up from the conference of officials. “Where are you two going?” he grinned.
I grinned back at him. “You might be surprised.”
THE END
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Text Copyright © 1953 by Ace Books, Inc.
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Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 10: 1-4405-5966-X
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-5966-2
eISBN 10: 1-4405-5965-1
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-5965-5
