Part 16 (1/2)
Coffin Ed dropped chink's gun back into the drawer ”Listen, punk--” he began, but Grave Digger cut him off
”After all, Ed, be easy on the boy You can see these two yellow people are not Negroes like you and o for the joke He kept on talking to chink ”You're out on bail as a material witness We can pull you in any tiet from you is a lot of cute crap If you don't want to talk to us here we can take you down and talk to you in the Pigeon Nest”
”Youme around in my own house you can take me down to the precinct station and push ot to look like Frankenstein'speople around”
Coffin Ed's acid-burned face went hideous with rage Before chink had finished speaking he had taken two steps and knocked hi barreled pistol in his hand and was rabbed hier said in a quick pacifying voice ”This is Digger, Ed Don't hurt the boy Listen to Digger, Ed”
Slowly Coffin Ed's taut e drained out of hier went on ”But he's not worth killing”
Coffin Ed stuck his pistol back into the holster, turned and left the roo a word, stood for a moment in the corridor and cried
When he returned chink was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking sullen and s, ”If you're lying about the knife, son, we're going to crucify you”
chink didn't reply
Coffin Ed said thickly, ”Answer”
chink replied sullenly, ”I don't know nothing about the knife”
Grave Digger didn't look at his partner, Coffin Ed Doll Baby had backed over to the far corner of the bed and was sitting on its edge as though expecting it to explode underneath her any moment
Coffin Ed asked her suddenly, ”What racket were you and Vat sche?”
She jumped as if the bed had blown up as expected
”Racket?” she repeated stupidly
”You knohat a racket is,” Coffin Ed hammered ”As many rackets as you've been up with in your lifetime”
”Oh, you mean did he have a hype?” She sed ”Val didn't do nothing like that He was a square--well, what I ht”
”How did you two lovebirds expect to live? On your salary as a chorus girl or were you intending to do a little hustling on the side?”
She was too scared to act indignant, but she protestedto stake hirand to open a liquor store”
chink turned his head about and gave her a look of pure venom But the two detectives just stared at her, and suddenly beca?” she asked with a frightened look
”No, you didn't,” Grave Digger lied ”You told us that before” He flicked a glance at Coffin Ed
chink said quickly, ”That's so she dreamed up”
Coffin Ed said flatly, ”Shut up”
Grave Digger said casually, ”What we're trying to find out is why Johnny's too tight a gambler for a deal that tricky”
”After all, Vat was Dulcy's brother,” Doll Baby argued stupidly ”And what's tricky about opening a liquor store?”
”Well, first of all, Val couldn't get a license,” Grave Digger explained ”He did a year in the Illinois state reforrant liquor store licenses to ax-cons Johnny's an ex-con hiet the license in his own na a third party as a front to get the license and operate the business in his name The profits would be split too thin, and neither Johnny nor Val would have any legal way of collecting”
Doll Baby's eyes had stretched as big as saucers during this explanation ”Well, he swore to h for hi,” she said defensively ”I had him hooked”
For the next fifteen minutes the detectives questioned chink and her about Val's and Dulcy's past life, but caer said, ”Well, baby, we don't knohat ga, but if what you say is true, you've just about cleared Johnny of suspicion Johnny's hot-headed enough to kill anybody in a rage, but Val was killed with coldblooded pre to shake Johnny down for ten grand, that would be the same as if Johnny left his name on the murder And Johnny ain't the boy for that”
”Well how about that!” Doll Baby protested ”I give you a reason for Johnny to have done it and you turn around and say that proves he didn't do it”
Grave Digger chuckled ”Just goes to sho stupid cops are”
They went out into the hall and closed the door behind the briefly with the landlady, they went down the hail, left by the front door and closed that door behind them
Neither chink nor Doll Baby spoke until they heard the landlady locking and bolting the front door But the detectives had merely stepped outside, then had turned quickly and reentered the flat By the ti the front door they had stationed themselves in front of chink's bedrooh the thin wooden panel
The first thing chink said, ju on Doll Baby furiously, was, ”Why in the Goddarand, you God-damned idiot?”
”Well for Christ's sake,” Doll Baby protested loudly ”Do you think I wanted thear?”
chink grabbed her by the throat and yanked her frolanced at each other when they heard her body thud against the carpeted floor Coffin Ed raised his eyebrows interrogatingly but Grave Digger shook his head After ain a choked voice, ”What the hell you trying to kill me for, you one to the refrigerator for a bottle of beer
”You've let the mother-raper out the trap,” he accused
”Well, if he didn't kill hiht the expression on his face and said, ”Oh”
”Whoever killed him it don't make no diflerence now,” he said ”What I want to knohat he had on Johnny?”
”Well, I've done told you all I know,” she said
”Listen, bitch, if you're holding out onout onout nothing”
”If you think I', you had better just think it and not say it,” he threatened
”I ain't going to say nothing about you,” she promised, and then coue? We ain't trying to find out who killed Val, is we? All we're trying to do is shake Johnny down for a stake” Her voice began getting confidential and loving ”I' hi hiht,” chink said ”I' nerve”
”Don't test it too hard,” she warned ”Cause he's got it”
”That ugly mother-raper don't scare me,” chink said