“He’d already given it to me at that point, right?”
“Sure, but we didn’t know that. He acted like he still had it handy. He acted like he might turn it over to Billy, but that was all crap. Of course, he was drunk all the time by then.”
“So he was conning you while you conned him.”
“He was just stringing us along!” she said indignantly. “Billy met him Tuesday night and Daggett was real cagey. Said he needed time to get his hands on it. He said he’d bring it in Thursday night, so Billy met him at the Hub again, only Daggett said he needed one more day. Billy really laid into him. He said these guys were getting very pissed and might kill Daggett anyway, whether he gave ‘em the money or not. Daggett got real nervous and swore he’d have it the next night, which was Friday.”
“The night he died.”
“Right. I was working that night, and I was sup posed to keep an eye on him, which I did. Billy decided to come late, just to make him sweat, and before I knew what was happening this woman showed up and started buying him drinks. You know the rest.”
“Billy told me you took some kind of cold cap and crashed in the back room. Was that true?”
“I was just laying low,” she said. “When I saw Daggett leave, I knew Billy’d have a fit. I already felt bad enough without putting up with his bullshit.”
“And Billy finally figured out who she was?”
“I don’t know. I guess. I wasn’t here this morning, so I don’t know what he was up to.”
“Look. I have to go down to the police station and tell Lieutenant Dolan what’s been going on. If Lovella comes back, please tell her it’s urgent that she get in touch. Will you do that?”
Coral wedged the last clean dish against the pile in the rack. She filled a glass with water and poured it over the lot of them, rinsing off the few remaining suds. She turned to look at me with a gaze that chilled. “Do you think she killed Billy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Will you tell me if you find out it’s her?”
“Coral, if she did it, she’s dangerous. I don’t want you in the middle of this.”
“But will you tell me?”
I hesitated. “Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Chapter 25
I had a brief chat with the manager of the trailer park. I gave him my card and asked him to call me if Lovella came back. I didn’t really trust Coral to do it. The last I saw of him, he was tapping at her door. I got in my car and headed over to the police station. I asked for Lieutenant Dolan at the desk, but he and Feldman were in a section meeting. The clerk buzzed Jonah for me and he came as far as the locked door, admitting me into the corridor beyond. Both of us were circumspect-pleasant, noncommittal. No one observing us could have guessed that mere hours ago, we’d been cavorting stark naked on my Wonder Woman sheets.
“What happened when you got home?” I asked.
“Nothing. Everybody was asleep,” he said. “We have something in the lab you might want to see.” He moved down the hall to the right and I followed. He looked back at me. “Feldman had the guys check the trash bins at your suggestion. We think we found the silencer.”
“You did?” I said, startled.
He opened the half-door into the crime lab, holding it for me as I passed in front of him. The lab tech was out, but I could see Billy’s bloody shirt, tagged, on the counter, along with an object I couldn’t at first identify.
“What’s that,” I said. “Is that it?” What I was looking at was a large plastic soft drink bottle, painted black, lying on its side with a hole visible in the bottom.
“A disposable silencer. Handmade. A sound suppressor, in effect. It’s been wiped clean of prints,” Jonah said.
“I don’t understand how it works.”
“I had to have Krueger explain it to me. The bottle’s filled with rags. Take a look. The barrel of the gun is usually wrapped with tape and the bottle affixed to it with a one-inch hose clamp. The soda bottle has a reinforced bottom, but it’s only effective for a few shots because the noise level increases each time as the exit hole gets larger. Obviously, the device works best at close range.”
“God, Jonah. How do people know about these things? I never heard of it.”
He picked up a paperbound booklet from the counter behind me, flipping through it carelessly so I could see. Every page was filled with diagrams and photographs, illustrating how disposable silencers could be made out of common household objects. “This is from a gun shop down in Los Angeles,” he said. “You ought to see what you can do with a length of window screen or a pile of old bottle caps.”
“Jesus.”
Lieutenant Becker stuck his head in the door. “Line one for you,” he said to Jonah and then disappeared. Jonah glanced at the lab phone, but the call hadn’t been transferred.
“Let me take this and I’ll be right back,” Jonah said. “Hang on.”
“Right,” I murmured. I leaned toward the silencer, trying to remember where I’d seen something similar. Through the hole in the bottom, I caught a glimpse of the blue terrycloth filling the interior. When I realized what it was, my mental process clicked in, and the interior machinery fired up. I knew.
I straightened up and crossed to the door, checking the corridor, which was empty. I headed for my car. I could still see Ramona Westfall coming up the basement stairs with an armload of ragged blue bath towels, which she’d dumped on the chair. The plastic bottle had been filled with a soft drink which she nearly dropped as she passed it to Tony to refrigerate.
I stopped by the office long enough to try the Westfall’s number. The phone rang four times and then the machine clicked in.
“Hello. This is Ramona Westfall. Neither Ferrin nor I can come to the phone right now, but if you’ll leave your name, telephone number, and a brief message, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.” I hung up at the sound of the tone.
I checked my watch. It was 4:45. I had no idea where Ramona was, but Tony had a 5:00 appointment just a few blocks away. If I could intercept him, I could lean on him some about her alibi since he represented the only confirmation she had. How had she pulled it off? He had to be on heavy medication for the migraine, so she might have slipped out while he was sleeping, adjusting the kitchen clock when she got back so she’d be covered for the time of Daggett’s death. Once she was home again, Tony had wakened-she’d probably made sure of that so she’d have someone to corroborate the time. She’d fixed the sandwiches, chatting pleasantly while he ate, and as soon as he went back to bed, she changed the clock again. Or maybe it wasn’t even as complicated as that. Maybe the watch Daggett wore had been set for 2:37 and then submerged. She could have killed him earlier and been home by 2:00. Tony may have realized what she’d done and tried to shield her when he understood how close my investigation was bringing me. It was also possible that he was in cahoots with her, but I hoped that wasn’t the case.
I locked my office and went down the front stairs, trotting up State Street on foot. The Granger Building was only three blocks up and it made more sense than hopping in my car and driving all the way around to the parking lot behind the building. Tony might still be hanging out at the arcade across the street. I had to get him before she had a chance to intercept. I didn’t want him going home. She had to realize things were getting hot, especially since I’d shown up at the house with the shoes and skirt. All I needed from him was an indication I was on the right track and then I’d call Feldman. I thought about the Close, which I knew would be gloomy with the gathering twilight. I didn’t want to go back there unless I had to.
I checked the arcade. Tony was at the rear, on the right-hand side, playing a video game. He was concentrating fully and I didn’t think he was aware of me. I waited, watching small creatures being blasted off the screen. His scores weren’t that good and I was tempted to have a try at it myself. The creatures suddenly froze into place, random weapons firing off here and there without regard to his manipulations. He looked up. “Oh hi.”