Part 15 (2/2)
”I don't know, Lieutenant. She didn't introduce him to me, and I think she would have if he was a friend. I just don't know.”
”Did he look like a guy who'd stab a girl with an icepick?”
Darcy shook his head.
”He certainly didn't. I liked the look of him.”
”Maybe,” Adams said, grimacing, ”but it points to him. He was seen leaving her apartment about the time she died. But why should he kill her? What was she like, Sam? Would she try to blackmail a guy?”
”No.” Darcy was emphatic. ”She wasn't that kind of a girl at all, Lieutenant. Maybe she did go off the rails, but not to that extent. Blackmail is out.”
Adams lifted his shoulders.
”Then why did he kill her? Think he was a nut?”
”He didn't look one. You can usually tell them. I was surprised to see him with Fay. He didn't look the type to be with her.”
Adams brooded for a long moment.
”You've known Fay for some time, haven't you?”
”I've known her for about four years.”
”Got any ideas who killed her if this guy didn't?”
Darcy s.h.i.+fted in his chair. He reached for his whisky, drank a little of it and sat back, nursing the gla.s.s in his enormous black hand.
”I wouldn't say this to anyone, Lieutenant, but since you've asked me, I have an idea,” he said slowly. ”It could be a wrong one.”
”Never mind how wrong it is,” Adams said. ”What is it?”
”About a year ago, Fay and Johnny Dorman were always around together. He found out she was on the racket, and he beat her up. I caught him at it and stopped him. He might have killed her if I hadn't come along. He was in a pretty bad state. I had all I could do to handle him. I got his sister to come over. Fay was badly damaged. He had beaten her with a poker.
Johnny's sister got him into a home. He was there for about a year. He came out yesterday, cured. A guy I know saw him at the Paradise Club last night. He overheard Johnny asking Louie where he could find Fay. I thought maybe he was going to start trouble. I called her apartment, but couldn't get an answer.” He looked hard at Adams. ”It's my bet Johnny found her.”
Adams sat motionless, staring down at his hands.
Johnny Dorman! He remembered him well: a fair, slim, good-looking boy who used to haunt the pool rooms on 66th Street.
”Did you tell Donovan this?”
Darcy shook his head.
”He didn't ask me for ideas.”
Adams rubbed his jaw.
”Dorman: why, yes, that makes sense. Okay, I'll have him picked up. No harm in finding out where he was at the time of her death.”
”You may not know it, Lieutenant,” Darcy said quietly, ”but Dorman's sister is going to marry Sean O'Brien.”
Adams stubbed out his cigarette. His face remained expressionless.
”I didn't know.” He stood up. ”That could make the set-up tricky. Thanks for the information. Keep this close to your chest. I don't want anyone to know.”
”No one will,” Darcy said. ”The guy who told me and Louie are the only two who know besides you and me, and I can take care of them.”
Adams began to move slowly about the room.
”This is going to be d.a.m.ned tricky,” he said. ”If O'Brien finds out I want to talk to Johnny I could get blocked off. You don't know where Johnny is, do you?”
Darcy shook his head.
”Any ideas?”
”He might be holed up with his sister. She thought a lot of him in the old days.”
Adams grimaced.
”That makes it worse. Yeah, he could be with her. Can you check for me, Sam? I'll have to keep out of sight on this. Will you see if you can find him for me?”
Darcy hesitated.
”It'll pay dividends,” Adams went on, watching him. ”I'm in with Burt. I'll see you don't do it for nothing.”
”Okay,” Darcy said. ”I'll pa.s.s the word around. I can't promise anything. But don't get the wrong idea, Lieutenant. He probably never went near Fay last night.”
”Oh, sure. All I want is ten minutes with him. Find him fast, Sam. This is urgent.”
Once more out in the drenching rain, Adams walked down the alley to his car. He got in and lit a cigarette. He sat staring emptily at the lighted dashboard, his brain busy.
So Dorman's sister was going to marry O'Brien. If Dorman had killed Fay, O'Brien could be in a h.e.l.l of a spot.
Adams inhaled smoke deeply, and let it drift down his thin nostrils.
There were two ways of playing this hand, he thought. There was the long-term or the short-term policy. He could get in with O'Brien if he went to him, but it would be better to be patient and go to Burt. Before he could do either of them he had to prove Johnny Dorman did it.
He trod on the starter and the engine woke into life.
This could be big enough not only to unseat Motley, it's big enough to unseat O'Brien, he thought. This is the chance I've been waiting for, and brother! I've got to handle it right!
He engaged gear and drove fast to headquarters.
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