It must have dropped to the floor. I only know it didn't go around her neck.
"I never let fly. I couldn't. I'm not that way. She even tried to get me to. I don't know why. Or maybe because she knew she was safe, I was incapable of doing it. She'd seen me in the glass, of course, she didn't have to turn her head. She jeered, 'Go ahead, hit me. Casey at the bat. That won't get it for you either. Nothing will get it for you; whether you're sweet or whether you're sour, whether you're gentle or whether you're rough.'
"Then we both said things we shouldn't have, like people
do. But it was just mouth fireworks, that was all. I never laid a hand on her. I said, 'You don't want me; then what the hell are you hanging on to me for?'
"She said, 'You might come in handy, in case of burglars.' "I said, 'You bet that's all there'll be to it from now on!' "She said, 'I wonder if I'll be able to tell the difference?' "I said, 'That reminds me. You've got something coming to you,' I took two dollars out of my wallet and I threw them on the floor behind her. I said, 'That's for being married to you! And I'll pay the piano player on my way downstairs.'
"Sure, it was low, it was rotten. I grabbed mv hat and coat and I got out of there fast. She was still laughing there at the glass when I left. She was laughing. Jack. She wasn't dead. I didn't touch her. Her laughter followed me through the door, even after I'd closed it. It drove me down the stairs on foot, without waiting for the car to come up. It drove me nuts, I couldn't get away from it fast enough. It even followed me all the way down to the next landing, and then finally it faded away."
He stopped for a long time, while the scene he had rekindled slowly cooled and died again, before he could go ahead. There were traces of sweat in the creases running across his contracted forehead.
"Then when I came back," he said quietly, "she was dead and they said I did it. They said it happened at eight minutes and fifteen seconds after six. Her watch told them. It must have happened within ten minutes after I'd slammed the door behind me. That part of it still gives me the creeps, even now, when I think of it. He must have been lurking right there inside the building already, whoever he was—" "But you say you went down the stairs yourself?" "He might have been hidden up on the last stretch, between our floor and the roof. I don't know. Maybe he heard the whole thing. Mavbe he even watched me go. Mavbe I slammed the door so hard it rebounded instead of catching, and he got in that way. He must have been in on her before
she knew it. Maybe the very sound of her own laughter helped to cover him up, kept her from hearing anything until it was late."
"That makes it sound like some sort of a prowler, doesn't it?"
"Yes, but what for? The cops were never able to figure out what for, that's why they wouldn't give it any serious consideration. It wasn't robbery; nothing was taken. There was sixty dollars in cash right in the drawer in front of her, not even covered over. It wasn't attack, either. She was killed right where she'd been sitting, and left right where she'd been killed."
Lombard said, "One or the other could have been intended, and he got frightened off before he carried out the object of the intrusion. Either by some outside sound or by the very act he had just committed itself. That's happened a thousand and one times."
"Even that won't do," Henderson said dully. "Her diamond solitaire was lying there loose on the dressing table the whole time. It wasn't even on her finger. All he had to do was scoop it up as he ran out. Frightened or not, how long would that take? It stayed behind." He shook his head. "The necktie damned me. It came out from underneath all the others on the rack. And the rack was fairly deep within the closet. And that particular tie went with every stitch I had on. Sure, because I took it out myself. But I didn't twist it around her. I lost track of it in the
"I never let fly. I couldn't. I'm not that way. She even tried to get me to. I don't know why. Or maybe because she knew she was safe, I was incapable of doing it. She'd seen me in the glass, of course, she didn't have to turn her head. She jeered, 'Go ahead, hit me. Casey at the bat. That won't get it for you either. Nothing will get it for you; whether you're sweet or whether you're sour, whether you're gentle or whether you're rough.'
"Then we both said things we shouldn't have, like people
do. But it was just mouth fireworks, that was all. I never laid a hand on her. I said, 'You don't want me; then what the hell are you hanging on to me for?'
"She said, 'You might come in handy, in case of burglars.' "I said, 'You bet that's all there'll be to it from now on!' "She said, 'I wonder if I'll be able to tell the difference?' "I said, 'That reminds me. You've got something coming to you,' I took two dollars out of my wallet and I threw them on the floor behind her. I said, 'That's for being married to you! And I'll pay the piano player on my way downstairs.'
"Sure, it was low, it was rotten. I grabbed mv hat and coat and I got out of there fast. She was still laughing there at the glass when I left. She was laughing. Jack. She wasn't dead. I didn't touch her. Her laughter followed me through the door, even after I'd closed it. It drove me down the stairs on foot, without waiting for the car to come up. It drove me nuts, I couldn't get away from it fast enough. It even followed me all the way down to the next landing, and then finally it faded away."
He stopped for a long time, while the scene he had rekindled slowly cooled and died again, before he could go ahead. There were traces of sweat in the creases running across his contracted forehead.
"Then when I came back," he said quietly, "she was dead and they said I did it. They said it happened at eight minutes and fifteen seconds after six. Her watch told them. It must have happened within ten minutes after I'd slammed the door behind me. That part of it still gives me the creeps, even now, when I think of it. He must have been lurking right there inside the building already, whoever he was—" "But you say you went down the stairs yourself?" "He might have been hidden up on the last stretch, between our floor and the roof. I don't know. Maybe he heard the whole thing. Mavbe he even watched me go. Mavbe I slammed the door so hard it rebounded instead of catching, and he got in that way. He must have been in on her before
she knew it. Maybe the very sound of her own laughter helped to cover him up, kept her from hearing anything until it was late."
"That makes it sound like some sort of a prowler, doesn't it?"
"Yes, but what for? The cops were never able to figure out what for, that's why they wouldn't give it any serious consideration. It wasn't robbery; nothing was taken. There was sixty dollars in cash right in the drawer in front of her, not even covered over. It wasn't attack, either. She was killed right where she'd been sitting, and left right where she'd been killed."
Lombard said, "One or the other could have been intended, and he got frightened off before he carried out the object of the intrusion. Either by some outside sound or by the very act he had just committed itself. That's happened a thousand and one times."
"Even that won't do," Henderson said dully. "Her diamond solitaire was lying there loose on the dressing table the whole time. It wasn't even on her finger. All he had to do was scoop it up as he ran out. Frightened or not, how long would that take? It stayed behind." He shook his head. "The necktie damned me. It came out from underneath all the others on the rack. And the rack was fairly deep within the closet. And that particular tie went with every stitch I had on. Sure, because I took it out myself. But I didn't twist it around her. I lost track of it in the
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