A Deadly Shade of Gold by John D. MacDonald Page B
Authors: John D. MacDonald
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Private Investigators, Detective and Mystery Stories, Political, Hard-Boiled, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.), Detective and Mystery Stories; American, McGee; Travis (Fictitious character), Private investigators - Florida - Fort Lauderdale
Ads: Link
you want to ask me?"
"Who could take that much of a dislike to him?"
"He's been gone three years. He never wrote."
Branks scowled at his coffee. "You saw him that afternoon. You'd take an extra large size.
Maybe he came back to find out if you were still sore at him. Maybe you got back to your boat minutes before Nora Gardino arrived there."
"If you could sell yourself that idea, you wouldn't be trying it on me."
His smile was wry. "You're so right. We're understaffed, McGee. We haven't got time to futz around with something that gets too cute."
"A man would get an extra large size to cover more of himself."
"Sure. I don't want pressure. I don't want newspapers howling about a mystery slaying. So I'm trying to keep it on the basis of a brawl, a vagrant, a dirty little unimportant killing. No release on the blood-proof clothing. I've asked California if they've got anything at all... I've checked him out three years ago here, and I don't find anything special. He had a job. He worked at it.
He took off. What did the two ofyou talk about that day?"
"People we'd both known, where are they, how are they. Do you remember this and that. He said he was back for good, and he borrowed forty dollars."
"He was right about that. He's back for good. A man doesn't get burned that black in any kind of job except on boats."
"I got the idea that's what he'd been doing."
"Out of California?"
Page 56
"Or Mexico. I told you before he said he'd spent some time in Mexico."
"You take a man on boats, and an international border, and you can come up with reasons for somebody getting killed. Smuggling. Maybe he was a courier, and he kept the merchandise and ran with it."
"He had to borrow forty dollars."
"Maybe he had something he could change into money. And somebody came after him and took it back. Maybe he tried to make a deal."
"Aren't you reaching pretty far?"
"Sure. Maybe there were two of them, and he didn't say anything to you about the other party."
"Maybe they couldn't agree on how to split it up. Maybe it was woman trouble, and the husband followed him. I can reach in a lot of directions, McGee. It doesn't cost anything: It's just that something like that, a man carefully dressing up to do bloody work, it bothers me. If he took that much care, he took a lot of other kinds of care too. I don't think my chances of unraveling it from here are very good. I can't believe anybody was waiting here three years to do that to him.
They came with him or followed him, or agreed to meet him here. That's what my instinct says."
"I'd have to agree."
All the questions were about as welcome as a diagnosis of Hansen's Disease. He was noodling.
Good cops have that trait and talent. The mediocre ones pick a theory that pleases them and try to make the facts fit it, one way or another. The good ones keep dropping a little bit at a time, so that you have no way of knowing how much or how little they know, and then they watch how much effort you make to cover yourself regarding information you think they might know.
The best solution is to give them a little bit, particularly when you suspect they might already have it.
"I may have misled you about one thing, but I don't think it's too pertinent," I said.
"Did you now?"
"Maybe I understated the relationship between Nora Gardino and Taggart. I told you she was fond of him. I guess it was a little more than that. And I guess Sam had some business he wanted to take care of before he saw her again, because he told me to tell her he wasn't going to be in town until the next day, Saturday. I guess you could say they were in love with each other."
"And he went away for three years? Were they in touch?"
"No. It was a misunderstanding."
"So if this was a lover's reunion, what the hell were you doing there, McGee?"
"She didn't know where he was staying."
"So what made her think you'd know?"
Page 57
"Well... I'd told her he was due back in town."
"Now how would you have known that?"
"He
"Who could take that much of a dislike to him?"
"He's been gone three years. He never wrote."
Branks scowled at his coffee. "You saw him that afternoon. You'd take an extra large size.
Maybe he came back to find out if you were still sore at him. Maybe you got back to your boat minutes before Nora Gardino arrived there."
"If you could sell yourself that idea, you wouldn't be trying it on me."
His smile was wry. "You're so right. We're understaffed, McGee. We haven't got time to futz around with something that gets too cute."
"A man would get an extra large size to cover more of himself."
"Sure. I don't want pressure. I don't want newspapers howling about a mystery slaying. So I'm trying to keep it on the basis of a brawl, a vagrant, a dirty little unimportant killing. No release on the blood-proof clothing. I've asked California if they've got anything at all... I've checked him out three years ago here, and I don't find anything special. He had a job. He worked at it.
He took off. What did the two ofyou talk about that day?"
"People we'd both known, where are they, how are they. Do you remember this and that. He said he was back for good, and he borrowed forty dollars."
"He was right about that. He's back for good. A man doesn't get burned that black in any kind of job except on boats."
"I got the idea that's what he'd been doing."
"Out of California?"
Page 56
"Or Mexico. I told you before he said he'd spent some time in Mexico."
"You take a man on boats, and an international border, and you can come up with reasons for somebody getting killed. Smuggling. Maybe he was a courier, and he kept the merchandise and ran with it."
"He had to borrow forty dollars."
"Maybe he had something he could change into money. And somebody came after him and took it back. Maybe he tried to make a deal."
"Aren't you reaching pretty far?"
"Sure. Maybe there were two of them, and he didn't say anything to you about the other party."
"Maybe they couldn't agree on how to split it up. Maybe it was woman trouble, and the husband followed him. I can reach in a lot of directions, McGee. It doesn't cost anything: It's just that something like that, a man carefully dressing up to do bloody work, it bothers me. If he took that much care, he took a lot of other kinds of care too. I don't think my chances of unraveling it from here are very good. I can't believe anybody was waiting here three years to do that to him.
They came with him or followed him, or agreed to meet him here. That's what my instinct says."
"I'd have to agree."
All the questions were about as welcome as a diagnosis of Hansen's Disease. He was noodling.
Good cops have that trait and talent. The mediocre ones pick a theory that pleases them and try to make the facts fit it, one way or another. The good ones keep dropping a little bit at a time, so that you have no way of knowing how much or how little they know, and then they watch how much effort you make to cover yourself regarding information you think they might know.
The best solution is to give them a little bit, particularly when you suspect they might already have it.
"I may have misled you about one thing, but I don't think it's too pertinent," I said.
"Did you now?"
"Maybe I understated the relationship between Nora Gardino and Taggart. I told you she was fond of him. I guess it was a little more than that. And I guess Sam had some business he wanted to take care of before he saw her again, because he told me to tell her he wasn't going to be in town until the next day, Saturday. I guess you could say they were in love with each other."
"And he went away for three years? Were they in touch?"
"No. It was a misunderstanding."
"So if this was a lover's reunion, what the hell were you doing there, McGee?"
"She didn't know where he was staying."
"So what made her think you'd know?"
Page 57
"Well... I'd told her he was due back in town."
"Now how would you have known that?"
"He
Similar Books
