out in a magazine called True Emotion that’s one of my favorites.”
“The thing I remember about it, they wanted to give Ginny twenty-five bucks for a release thing, but I dickered ’em up to fifty bucks.”
“And you give her ten and me ten and you lost the whole thirty down to Bristol’s in the pitch game on Saturday night.”
“Shut up, Cora. This fellow here, he’s another one of those magazine fellows. How much you giving out for a release? Ginny, I bet you she could tell you some stuff she didn’t tell those others.”
I had gotten into a trap without meaning to, and it seemed easier to let it slide. “This is just speculation, Mr. Garson. I don’t work for a magazine. I’d do it and then try to sell it and give her part of the money if I do.”
“How much?”
“Maybe there isn’t any story left. I’d have to talk to her.”
“Where is she, Cora?”
“I don’t know how the hell you think I can keep track. I got five littler than her and this all the time washing and cleaning up and cooking and you never lift a hand to—”
“Knock it off before I come in there and kick your teeth in, woman.”
She turned away from the door abruptly, indignantly. One of the other men spoke for the first time. He had a low, slow voice with a Deep South tinge. “I see the Quarto kid pick her up about seven in that chopped Ford of his. They was a mess of them in the car. They hang around that Big Time Burger Drive-in about five mile east on this here road. It’s on the left. You can’t miss it. The Ford, it’s yellow and it’s chopped and it’s got a fish tail and chrome blower pipes. But just ask any of the kids out there. They all go out there. My boy, he’s out there I betcha, if he hasn’t got hisself killed off driving out there at a hundred and ten miles an hour. His driving like to drive the old lady nuts. You just ask out there. You can’t miss it.”
“And before you do any story,” Mr. Garson said blusteringly, “you’re going to put down in writing all notarized just what she gets paid if you sell it.”
I thanked them and turned to leave.
“Hey!” the third man said. “Hold it!” I turned back. “I was wondering why you sounded familiar and then you turned and the light hit your face. Your name ain’t Mac-Reedy is it? By God, I’m sure it is. You was an engineer on that road job three years ago. And I was working for the paymaster. I’d know you any place. And hey now! Jerry, this joker is MacReedy and I remember now he was running around with the Landy bitch.”
The atmosphere changed quickly. I was annoyed at myself for trying to take the easiest way out. The odds were good that at least one of the men on that porch had worked on the road job. Labor remembers the bosses.
“And now you write stories,” Garson said softly.
“Well, I just—”
He got up, tucked his thumbs in his belt and came rolling toward me with all the trite stylized belligerence of the barroom hero. His friend got up from the couch. The southerner pushed himself free of the railing and drifted along with them.
“What do you want to talk to my little girl about, MacReedy?”
“I told you I wanted her story on the Landy case. You brought up the magazine angle.”
“And you let me keep thinking I was right, wise guy. What are you after?”
“The truth, Mr. Garson. Your daughter may know something that will help.”
“Help your girl friend’s brother? Help that sex fiend killer? You ought to be run the hell out of town.”
He was moving closer, gaining courage from his friends. A bluff couldn’t hurt anything. “We’ve already got enough new information so that Tennant is reopening the case, Garson.”
“Nuts!”
“I’m telling you the tru—”
I barely saw the sucker punch coming. I ducked it in time. I backed down the steps and into the yard. They came down the steps and the two friends drifted out onto the flank. I turned and moved quickly, crossed the road and started to get
“The thing I remember about it, they wanted to give Ginny twenty-five bucks for a release thing, but I dickered ’em up to fifty bucks.”
“And you give her ten and me ten and you lost the whole thirty down to Bristol’s in the pitch game on Saturday night.”
“Shut up, Cora. This fellow here, he’s another one of those magazine fellows. How much you giving out for a release? Ginny, I bet you she could tell you some stuff she didn’t tell those others.”
I had gotten into a trap without meaning to, and it seemed easier to let it slide. “This is just speculation, Mr. Garson. I don’t work for a magazine. I’d do it and then try to sell it and give her part of the money if I do.”
“How much?”
“Maybe there isn’t any story left. I’d have to talk to her.”
“Where is she, Cora?”
“I don’t know how the hell you think I can keep track. I got five littler than her and this all the time washing and cleaning up and cooking and you never lift a hand to—”
“Knock it off before I come in there and kick your teeth in, woman.”
She turned away from the door abruptly, indignantly. One of the other men spoke for the first time. He had a low, slow voice with a Deep South tinge. “I see the Quarto kid pick her up about seven in that chopped Ford of his. They was a mess of them in the car. They hang around that Big Time Burger Drive-in about five mile east on this here road. It’s on the left. You can’t miss it. The Ford, it’s yellow and it’s chopped and it’s got a fish tail and chrome blower pipes. But just ask any of the kids out there. They all go out there. My boy, he’s out there I betcha, if he hasn’t got hisself killed off driving out there at a hundred and ten miles an hour. His driving like to drive the old lady nuts. You just ask out there. You can’t miss it.”
“And before you do any story,” Mr. Garson said blusteringly, “you’re going to put down in writing all notarized just what she gets paid if you sell it.”
I thanked them and turned to leave.
“Hey!” the third man said. “Hold it!” I turned back. “I was wondering why you sounded familiar and then you turned and the light hit your face. Your name ain’t Mac-Reedy is it? By God, I’m sure it is. You was an engineer on that road job three years ago. And I was working for the paymaster. I’d know you any place. And hey now! Jerry, this joker is MacReedy and I remember now he was running around with the Landy bitch.”
The atmosphere changed quickly. I was annoyed at myself for trying to take the easiest way out. The odds were good that at least one of the men on that porch had worked on the road job. Labor remembers the bosses.
“And now you write stories,” Garson said softly.
“Well, I just—”
He got up, tucked his thumbs in his belt and came rolling toward me with all the trite stylized belligerence of the barroom hero. His friend got up from the couch. The southerner pushed himself free of the railing and drifted along with them.
“What do you want to talk to my little girl about, MacReedy?”
“I told you I wanted her story on the Landy case. You brought up the magazine angle.”
“And you let me keep thinking I was right, wise guy. What are you after?”
“The truth, Mr. Garson. Your daughter may know something that will help.”
“Help your girl friend’s brother? Help that sex fiend killer? You ought to be run the hell out of town.”
He was moving closer, gaining courage from his friends. A bluff couldn’t hurt anything. “We’ve already got enough new information so that Tennant is reopening the case, Garson.”
“Nuts!”
“I’m telling you the tru—”
I barely saw the sucker punch coming. I ducked it in time. I backed down the steps and into the yard. They came down the steps and the two friends drifted out onto the flank. I turned and moved quickly, crossed the road and started to get
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