Part 16 (2/2)

”Under control?”

”I went and talked to Bill Greaves. He's the chief of police here, met him the other night at the lecture. Nice guy, kinda guy you can do business with. Anyway, I asked him about this hooker thing, and Grigsby and all. And you know what I found out?”

”I will in a moment, presumably.”

Vail chuckled, shook his head. ”That wit you got. Okay, what I found out is, Greaves didn't know nothing at all about the other hookers. The ones in the other cities. It was a big surprise to him. And he told me that this Grigsby, he's a federal marshal, sure, but he don't have any kinda jurisdiction here in Denver. Not over this case here, the hooker who got killed down by the river, and not over the others neither. Grigsby's just an old rummy, Greaves says, who likes to stick his nose into other people's business.” Vail grinned. ”Greaves is really burned up at the guy.”

Oscar frowned. ”I'm not sure I understand. You mean that no other prost.i.tutes were killed?”

”Who knows? Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. What's it got to do with us? You didn't kill 'em. I know I didn't.”

”And the others on the tour?”

”Come on, Oscar boy. Von Hesse? O'Conner? Can you picture either one of 'em as a guy kills hookers? And besides, I got the whole thing figured out.”

Oscar was frowning still. ”Figured out,” he repeated.

”Right. We drop 'em. O'Conner, von Hesse, all of 'em. We tell 'em to hit the road. That way, later, if it comes out about the hookers, we put out a statement, see? We say, yeah, sure, there were some folks traveling with us, maybe it was one of them who did this horrible thing, but we don't know anything about any of it, and anyway they're all gone now.” Vail interrupted his explanation to frown thoughtfully. ”Too bad about the Countess. She's got a lot of cla.s.s.” He shrugged. ”But sometimes in life you got to make sacrifices.”

Oscar nodded. ”Tell me something,” he said. He was finding it extremely difficult to keep his voice even. ”Why did you go to this Greaves in the first place?”

”I got to protect the tour, Oscar boy. With this guy Grigsby running around asking questions, it would of gotten out about the hookers. And that's the kind of publicity we don't need. I stalled him for a while, told him I'd cooperate, right? And then I got to thinking. How come Bill Greaves never came and talked to me about all this? Me and Bill got along real well. And who's this Grigsby guy anyway? So I went and had a little talk with old Bill.”

”I see,” Oscar said. He cleared his throat. ”And what about the prost.i.tutes?”

Vail looked puzzled. ”What about 'em?”

”What are old Bill's feelings regarding the prost.i.tutes?”

”Jeez, Oscar. What kinda feelings is he gonna have about a bunch of hookers got killed in some other city?”

”And the one who was killed here?”

”Okay, it's a tragedy and all, and, sure, naturally, he's gonna try to find out who did it. That's his job, right? But the thing is, Oscar boy, he knows it wasn't us. He knows we got no reason to go around killing hookers. He knows we don't need no bad publicity on the tour. And like I said, he's a guy you can do business with.” Grinning, Vail winked broadly. ”Him and me, see, we came to an understanding.”

”An understanding?”

”Sure. He keeps quiet about the other hookers, keeps all that outta the newspapers, and he gets Grigsby off our backs.”

”And in return?”

Grigsby shrugged lightly. ”We slip him a percentage of the receipts. Not much, don't worry. And even at twice the price, I'm telling you, it'd be worth it. And it's only until we're out of Colorado.”

Oscar nodded. ”Mr. Vail,” he said, ”are you familiar with the word abominable?”

Vail frowned again. ”Sure, yeah. I know plenty of big words. And what's with this Mr. Vail?”

”I think that what you suggest is abominable. I think it is loathsome. I think it is despicable. I think that you, personally, are contemptible. No. I think, actually, that you are beneath contempt. So far beneath it as to make contempt seem like veneration. I should call you a swine, but compared to you a swine seems the pinnacle of grace and chivalry.”

Vail glanced uneasily toward Henry. ”Hey, Oscar boy, not in front of the troops. I mean, we got a disagreement, we can-”

”Has it occurred to you, has it even once penetrated that quagmire you call a mind, that whoever is killing these women will continue to do so, indefinitely, until someone stops him? Has it occurred to you that if the killer is one of the people traveling with us, then we, you and I, are in some measure responsible for these deaths?”

”Responsible? Jeez, you got to be kidding!”

”On an even simpler level, much more your style, has it occurred to you during your shabby attempts to keep this from the newspapers, that O'Conner is a reporter? If we drop him from the tour, what's to prevent him from writing about all this?”

”Hey, O'Conner's a lush. I can handle him. Or Greaves can-”

”Can what? Chop off his head? What portion of the receipts will that cost us? And has it occurred to you, furthermore, that if one of these people is guilty, then the rest are innocent? And that you, in your glib indifference, will be casting them to the wolves?”

”Oscar boy, we got the tour to think about.”

”We are not going to drop anyone. Not O'Conner. Not von Hesse. Not anyone. No one is going to hit the road.”

”Now Oscar-”

”Except perhaps yourself. I mean that literally. If you open your mouth once more before I've finished speaking, I will pick you up, walk you over to the window, and push you through it. I a.s.sure you that I'm capable of doing this with great dispatch, and with even greater pleasure.”

Oscar paused. Vail, unfortunately, merely stood there blinking.

”Now,” said Oscar. ”I want you to listen to me very carefully. This is what you're going to do. First, you will talk to the others and make sure that they've all spoken to Marshal Grigsby and given an account of their activities last night. To any who haven't, you will suggest that they do so. Grigsby may be a buffoon, but he's a determined buffoon, and he won't be satisfied until he's talked to all of us.”

Vail took a deep breath. Oscar glared at him. Vail said nothing and blinked a few times more.

”Second, you will go down to the desk clerk and arrange for Henry's things to be moved from this dreadful little crypt into an actual room. If the expense money is dwindling, then I recommend that you make up the difference by altering your own accommodations.”

Vail opened his mouth, Oscar glared, Vail shut his mouth and returned to blinking.

”Now. You mentioned that the prost.i.tute had been killed near the river. Where, exactly?”

”How come you want-”

”Where?”

”Shantytown,” said Vail quickly. ”That's all I know. That's what Greaves said. Come on now, Oscar boy, this ain't right. You threatening me like that. We been through a lot together.”

”And perhaps we shall continue to do so. We'll discuss it later.”

”Yeah, but Oscar ...”

Oscar looked at him. ”Yes?”

”About Grigsby. I told you, we don't have to worry about him no more.”

”I suspect it will take more than a chief of police to stop Marshal Grigsby. For the time being, we cooperate with him. Is that understood?”

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