Part 16 (1/2)
”Well, f.o.o.k doesn't care too much for Mrs. Dougherty, you know. He was glad somebody stole her old refrigerator.” Roger laughed again. ”So he wanted to have a few drinks to celebrate.”
”You don't think he stole it, do you?” Willis said.
”Who? f.o.o.k? No.” Roger shook his head. ”Oh, no, he wouldn't do anything like that. He was just glad it happened, that's all. No. Listen, I don't mean to get f.o.o.k in trouble by what I said. He's a very nice person. He's not a thief, I can tell you that.”
”Mm-huh,” Willis said. ”What time did you leave the bar, Mr. Broome?”
”Midnight? I don't know. About then.”
”Do you have a watch?”
”No.”
”Then you're not sure it was midnight.”
”It must've been around then. I was pretty sleepy. I usually get pretty sleepy around that time.”
”Were you alone?” Hawes asked.
”Yes,” Roger said, and looked at the detectives squarely and wondered if they could tell he had just lied to them for the first time.
”What'd you do when you left the bar?”
”Came back here,” Roger said. That was true, anyway. He had come back to the room.
”And then what?”
”I went to bed.” That was true, too.
”Did you go right to sleep?”
”Well, not right off.” He was still telling the truth. More or less.
”When did you fall asleep?” Hawes asked.
”Oh, I don't really remember. A half hour, an hour. It's hard to tell just when you drop off, you know.”
”Mmm,” Willis said, ”it is. Did you hear anything strange while you were in bed trying to fall asleep?”
”What do you mean, strange?”
”Any strange noises.”
”Well, what kind of noises?”
”Anything out of the ordinary,” Hawes said.
”No, I didn't hear anything.”
”Anything wake you during the night?”
”No.”
”You didn't hear any noises in the street outside, you know, maybe men's voices, or the sound of someone struggling with a heavy load, anything like that?”
”No, I didn't.”
”Or something being dragged or pulled?”
”No. This is the third floor,” Roger said. ”Be pretty hard to hear anything like that, even if I wasn't asleep.” He paused. ”I'm a pretty sound sleeper.” He paused again. ”Excuse me, but would you know what time it is?”
Willis looked at his watch. ”Three-ten,” he said.
”Thank you.”
”Do you have an appointment, Mr. Broome?”
”Yeah, I'm supposed to meet somebody.”
”What do you suppose that refrigerator was worth?” Hawes asked suddenly.
”I don't know,” Roger said. ”I never saw it.”
”Have you ever been down in the bas.e.m.e.nt of this building?”
”No,” Roger said.
”Mrs. Dougherty says it was worth about fifty dollars,” Willis said. ”Do you agree with her?”
”I never saw it,” Roger said, ”so I couldn't say. f.o.o.k says it wasn't worth more than a few dollars.”
”The only reason we bring up the value,” Willis said, ”is that it would make a difference in the charge.”
”The charge?”
”Yes, the criminal charge. If the value was under twenty-five dollars, it would be pet.i.t larceny. That's only a misdemeanor.”
”I see,” Roger said.
”If the crime's committed at night, and the property is taken from the person of another,” Willis went on, ”that's automatically grand larceny. But if it was taken from a dwelling place . . .” Willis paused. ”Somebody's house, you know?”
”Yes?”
”Yes, and at night also, then the value has to be more than twenty-five dollars for it to be grand larceny.”
”Oh,” Roger said.