The Jugger (8 page)

Younger said, 'You don't figure to skip, do you?'

'And leave it all for you?'

It was the right thing to say. Younger nodded and said, 'All right, then. We'll go back together. I'll tell you one thing, I don't think it's in the house. I been through that house, and I don't think it's there. I didn't dig in the cellar, but I looked around there and I didn't see any sign
he'd
been digging, and I would have. He hid it good, the old bastard.' Younger shook his head, and then smiled. 'But we'll find it, won't we?'

'Sure.'

It made Younger happy to think so. 'Come on,' he said. 'Let's go talk to Regan.'

SITTING in front of the desk, Parker smoked a cigarette and waited for Regan to come back. Behind him, Younger paced back and forth, back and forth, puffing on a cigar and muttering to himself. They were in the hotel manager's office; Regan had commandeered it for his interviews. He had phoned the manager from Parker's room and then had escorted Parker and Younger down in the elevator. It was clear he didn't have any use for Younger; he treated Younger with the curt, polite contempt of a professional forced to deal with an incompetent in the same profession. It was also clear he didn't yet know what to make of Parker, and was waiting to learn more.

Once in the manager's office, Regan remembered something else he had to do, excused himself, and left Younger and Parker alone. Parker said to Younger, 'Could this place be bugged?'

'What? Of course not.'

Parker shook his head. He couldn't figure out what Regan was up to. He had to know Parker and Younger had already talked together in the hall, and he had to know they'd arrived at the room together in the first place. So what was Regan up to?

Given his choice, Parker would have sided with Regan against Younger rather than the other way around. Given his choice, Parker would have picked almost anyone for a partner instead of Younger; even Tiftus. But he didn't have a choice, so he had to do the best he could with what he had.

He said, 'Don't talk too much when he's asking me questions. Let me answer myself.'

'You don't have to worry about me,' Younger said. He was offended.

'Yes I do. You don't talk unless Regan asks you a direct question, and then all you do is answer it.'

'I'll take care of myself, Willis. You just take care of you.' Younger was really hot under the collar. He stalked back and forth and blew cigar smoke everywhere.

Parker stopped. He didn't want Younger lousing things up for spite, and he was just dumb enough to do it if he was pushed hard enough.

Regan came back in, finally, and said, 'Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Willis. Willis, isn't it?'

'Yes, Willis. Charles Willis.'

'Of course. Abner, sit down, why don't you?' Regan went around behind the manager's desk and sat down there like a man about to get caught up on his work. 'Could I see some identification, Mr. Willis? Just for the record.'

Parker got out his wallet and put it, open, on the desk. 'Everything in there,' he said. 'Go on through it.'

'Ah, thank you, that won't be necessary.' Regan smiled briefly and politely at the wallet, and said to Younger, 'I'm having one of my stenographers in, so you won't have to call yours. I'll send you a copy, of course.'

Parker looked at Younger, and saw that Younger hadn't thought about a stenographer at all, that Regan had just gone out of his way to insult Younger, and that Younger had caught the insult in the mid-section. But Younger didn't say anything, not a word.

Regan turned to Parker and said, 'As I understand it, you and Mr. Tiftus were in business together.'

Parker shook his head. 'Not me. You've got that wrong.'

'I do?' Regan reached out and patted Parker's wallet, offhandedly, the way another man might doodle. 'That was my understanding,' he said. 'You knew Mr. Tiftus in some other way, then?'

'I'd met him before.'

'Yes, of course.'

'In Miami, at the dog track. He owned a few dogs.'

'Ah, he was in racing. And are you in racing, Mr. Willis?'

'No, I'm in business.'

'Business? May I ask what business?'

'Various businesses. Real estate, parking lots, laundromats, here and there across the country.' Parker pointed at the wallet. 'There's papers on some of it in there.'

But Regan wouldn't give any attention to the wallet. He said, 'Then you and Mr Tiftus didn't come here together.'

'No.'

'It was just coincidence you happened to meet here again.'

Parker shook his head. 'No, it wasn't.'

Regan seemed surprised. 'It wasn't coincidence? You mean you'd planned to meet here?'

'No. I didn't know I'd see him here at all. But I came here for Joe Shardin's funeral, and I guess Tiftus did, too. You meet somebody at the funeral of a guy you both knew, that isn't coincidence.'

Regan turned his head and looked at Younger. 'Shardin?'

'Retired man,' Younger told him. 'Just died a few days ago, buried this morning.'

'Native?'

'Lived here about five years.'

Regan gave his attention back to Parker. 'So you both came here for this man Shardin's funeral.'

'I couldn't say. I know I did, and I figure he did, but I don't know about him for sure.'

'And about his slaying? Do you have any ideas about that?'

Parker shook his head.

Regan nodded, smiled, and said, 'Well, we won't take much longer. I appreciate your co-operation, Mr. Willis.' He nodded some more, and said, 'I'm puzzled. He was killed in your room. Did you give him permission to be in your room?'

'No.'

'Well, do you have any idea what he might have been doing there?'

'He might have been looking for something to steal.'

This time Regan was surprised; he wasn't faking the look he gave Parker. He said, 'Steal? You mean Mr. Tiftus was a thief?'

'I wouldn't say that for sure. I heard rumours, around Miami.'

'I see. Then would you say…'

The door opened, and two cops came in, and between them Tiftus' woman, Rhonda. Regan looked up, irritated, and one of the cops started to say something, and Rhonda took one look at Parker and screamed, 'That's him! That's the bastard killed my husband! That's the one right there!'

Parker looked at her, and now he knew what Regan had gone away for: to set this up. He looked at Regan to see how it was supposed to play from here.

Regan was playing it to the hilt. He got to his feet and gave the cops stern looks and said, 'Don't you know better than to barge in like that? I told you men to wait outside.'

The woman kept hollering: 'That's him! That's him!'

Regan said, 'Get her out of here. What's the matter with you two?'

The cops didn't play their parts as well. They should have acted sheepish, or tried to apologize. Instead, they just turned the woman around and marched her back out again. She kept hollering till the door was shut.

Regan said, 'I'm sorry about that.'

Parker could play it open-face too, when he had to. He said, 'Am I a suspect? I didn't realize that.'

'No, I wouldn't exactly say you were a suspect, Mr. Willis. We are checking everything, of course, that's our job. By the way, do you mind? I don't mean to pry, but your face…'

Parker touched the side of his face where the shovel had hit him. It was still sensitive to the touch. 'I fell down some stairs,' he said. 'Cellar stairs.'

'I'm sorry to hear that. Recently?'

'This afternoon.'

'Is that so? Did you have a doctor for it?'

'Yes. Dr. Rayborn, he's a local man.'

Regan turned again to look at Younger, and said, 'You know this Dr. Rayborn?'

'I'm the one sent for him.'

Regan was surprised again, but he covered it better this time. He said, 'You were there?'

'Willis and I were in Joe Shardin's house when it happened.'

'I see. Was this man Tiftus with you?'

'Tiftus?' Younger packed incredulity into the name. 'What would he be doing with us?'

'I thought you all knew Shardin.'

Parker broke in, saying, 'I don't know about the captain, but I wasn't with Tiftus at all. He came to my room this morning, But I wouldn't waste any time on him and he went away.'

'That was the last time you saw him?'

'I saw him on the street a little while later. We just said hello to each other.'

'I see. That young lady seems to think you might have had a reason to kill Mr. Tiftus. Why would she think that, do you know?'

'No.'

Regan waited, but Parker had nothing else to say. Off to the side, Younger fidgeted like he wanted to start talking, but he had sense enough to keep his mouth shut. Finally, Regan said, 'Well, I suppose I'll find out when I hear her story.' He looked at Younger again and said, 'Have you known Mr. Willis long?'

'A couple of years,' Younger said. 'Joe Shardin introduced us, one time when Willis was up for a visit.'

'I see.' Regan tap-tap-tapped his fingers on Parker's wallet, still sitting on the desk. 'Well,' he said, 'I guess that's about it for now, Mr. Willis. If I want to talk to you again later, you will be around, won't you? You weren't planning on leaving for Miami again right away, were you?'

'No. I'll be around a day or two anyway.'

'That's fine. Thank you again for your co-operation.'

Parker got to his feet, and took the wallet from the desk. 'I won't be staying here at the hotel any more,' he said. 'If you want me, you can get in touch with me at Joe Shardin's house. The captain has the address.'

'Fine. Nice to have met you, Mr. Willis.' He smiled as he said it, polite and friendly, but his eyes were watching Parker with flat professional curiosity, and he didn't get to his feet, and he didn't offer to shake hands. Just as Parker could smell law on Regan, Regan obviously could smell outlaw on Parker. He hadn't yet figured the connection between Parker and Younger, or whether or not either of them had had anything to do with killing Tiftus, but he did know something was out of kilter, and he looked the kind of cop who'd hang on until he found out what he wanted to know.

Younger stood up, too, but Regan said to him, 'Why not stay for the rest of the interrogations, Abner? You can help me check the local details and whatnot, see I don't waste a lot of time on false trails.'

Younger didn't like it, but he didn't have any choice. Sullen, he sat down again, and watched mistrustfully as Parker walked out of the office.

The next room was a smaller office, usually occupied by the manager's secretary. Tiftus' woman was in it now, with the two cops. Parker went over to her and said, 'I didn't kill your man. I was with the fat cop when it happened. I'm clear.'

The cops watched, blank-faced. The woman studied Parker's face and said, 'I don't believe it. Who else around here would ease him the bump?'

Parker touched his face. 'Same one who did this. Same tool.'

One of the cops said, 'I don't think you two ought to be talking.'

'I'll be at Joe Shardin's place,' Parker said, ignoring the cop. 'When they're done with you, come over.'

'What about what you did before?'

Parker knew what she meant; how much had he told the law himself? He said, 'All I did before was tell your man to get lost when he came around to my room. I saw you with him in the lobby when he checked in, that's how come I knew who you were.'

She shook her head doubtfully. 'I'm not sure about you,' she said. 'I haven't made up my mind about you.'

The cop said, 'I think you two better quit now.'

Parker looked at him. 'You work for Regan or Younger?'

'Younger. It's Regan we're holding this lady for, but we're city officers.'

'You better check with Younger before you tell Regan I stopped here to talk with the lady.'

The cop frowned. 'How come?'

'You know what Younger thinks of Regan,' Parker said, because it couldn't be a secret. 'Younger wants to keep what he knows to himself this time.'

The cop shrugged. 'I'll check with him,' he said.

'That's good.' Parker nodded at the woman. 'See you later, Rhonda,' he said.

She seemed surprised he'd remembered her name.

PARKER opened the door and said, 'Come on in, Rhonda.'

She came in with the belligerent air of a dumb woman afraid something's being put over on her. She said, 'What's with you and that Captain Younger? He's a cop, ain't he?'