Cop Out by Ellery Queen Page B

giving up?”
    â€œYou are!”
    â€œWhat do you want me to do, Loney? I can’t fight them with my bare hands.” That was it. That was it. “All I know is, I’ve got my child’s life to protect—”
    â€œ We’ve got!”
    â€œDo you want them to hear us fighting?”
    Malone cracked his knuckles and began padding again.
    Ellen’s eyelids came down.
    â€œI’m not sleeping,” she said. “The light hurts my eyes.”
    He flipped the switch savagely. But then he collapsed against the wall. This is no good. We’re at each other’s throats. What did I expect from her? Up against the first real spot in my life and I try to lean on her like I never leaned on even my own mother. She wants to lean on me . She’s got a right, I’m her husband. It’s one man one vote time. You go into the booth and you’re all by yourself. The American way.
    He buckled down to it like Robinson Crusoe.
    â€œEllen.” Malone shook her gently.
    It was much later.
    â€œLoney?” She had fallen asleep. She sat up and groped for his hand. “Is something—did they—?”
    â€œNo, they’re quiet, they’ve given up for the night.” Malone squatted beside her in the dark. “I’ve got to talk to you.”
    â€œOh.”
    â€œNo, this is different. I’ve been going over the whole thing in my head. I think I’m onto something.”
    â€œOh?”
    â€œEllen, wake up, this could be important. Then you can climb into bed with Bibby. Are you awake?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œSomething struck me funny. How come these creeps picked our house Wednesday night?”
    She moved and the floor creaked. “They were running away. Maybe they saw our light on. I don’t think anybody else on the block had their lights on when I got back from the movies.”
    â€œBut why pick Old Bradford Road in the first place? There’s a Dead End sign at the entrance off Lovers Hill. A blind man can see it. Robbers running away aren’t going to box themselves in on a dead-end street. And another thing. Before I got home from the station Wednesday night, did you tell them I was a cop?”
    â€œOf course not. I was afraid if they knew they might shoot you down as you came in the door.”
    â€œRight. But just the same they knew, didn’t they? Furia called me a cop straight out. How did he know? I wasn’t in uniform. How did he know, Ellen?”
    â€œThat is funny.”
    â€œI’ll tell you how. They had advance information!”
    â€œYou mean they saw you on duty in town during the day?”
    â€œThen why did Furia say, ‘Freeze, cop,’ as soon as I stepped into the house? He couldn’t even see my face, they had all the lights out except on the porch, and my back was to that. No, Ellen, they knew without ever having seen me before.”
    â€œBut how could they?”
    â€œNanette.”
    Ellen said, “My God. The girl I’ve trusted Bibby to all these years! Nanette’s in on this, Loney?”
    â€œI don’t know. It wouldn’t have to be. Remember how many times Nanette’s mentioned her older sister, how their parents practically disowned her because she went bad? Ellen, this Goldie is Nanette’s sister.”
    â€œThat’s just a guess.”
    â€œIt’s a fact. I knew right away I’d seen her before, years ago, I was sure she came from New Bradford, but I didn’t place her till I started asking myself all these questions and then it came to me just like that. Nanette said herself they’ve kept up a correspondence on the sly since Goldie left home. My guess is Nanette mentioned her regular baby-sitting job for us, and Goldie remembered it when they were in a jam Wednesday night and talked Furia into coming here and taking Bibby as security for the money. So I’ve got to get to Nanette first thing in the