Part 32 (1/2)
”Won't leave? What you mean?”
”Well, this Erlone refused to go when they told him that Mr. Dalton had requested his release. It seems he had got wind of the kidnapping and said that he didn't want to go out.”
”That means he's guilty!” said Britten. ”He doesn't want to leave jail because he knows they'll shadow him and find out where the girl is, see? He's scared scared.”
”What else?”
”Well, this Erlone says he's got a dozen people to swear that he did not come here last night.”
Bigger's body stiffened and he leaned forward slightly.
”That's a lie!” Britten said. ”This boy here saw him.”
”Is that right, boy?”
Bigger hesitated. He suspected a trap. But if Jan really had an alibi, then he had to talk; he had to steer them away from himself.
”Yessuh.”
”Well, somebody's lying. That Erlone fellow says that he can prove it.”
”Prove h.e.l.l!” Britten said. ”He's just got some of his Red friends to lie for him; that's all.”
”But what in h.e.l.l's the good of his not wanting to leave jail?” asked one of the men.
”He says if he stays in they can't possibly say he's mixed up in this kidnapping business. He said this boy's lying. He claims they told him to say these things in order to blacken his name and reputation. He swears the family knows where the girl is and that this thing is a stunt to raise a cry against the Reds.”
The men gathered round Bigger.
”Say, boy, come on with the dope now. Was that guy really here last night?”
”Yessuh; he was here all right.”
”You saw saw 'im?” 'im?”
”Yessuh.”
”Where?”
”I drove him and Miss Dalton up here in the car. We went upstairs together to get the trunk.”
”And you left left him here?” him here?”
”Yessuh.”
Bigger's heart was pounding, but he tried to keep his face and voice under control. He did not want to seem unduly excited over these new developments. He was wondering if Jan could really prove that he had not been here last night; and he was thinking the question in his own mind when he heard someone ask, ”Who has this Erlone got to prove he was not here last night?”
”He says he met some friend of his when he got on the street car last night. And he says he went to a party after he left Miss Dalton at two-thirty.”
”Where was the party?”
”Somewhere on the North Side.”
”Say, if what he says is true, then there's something fishy here.”
”Naw,” said Britten. ”I'll bet he went to his pals, the ones he planned all of this with. Sure; why wouldn't they alibi for 'im?”
”So you you really think he did it?” really think he did it?”
”h.e.l.l, yes!” Britten said. ”These Reds'll do anything and they stick together. Sure; he's got an alibi. Why shouldn't he have one? He's got enough pals working for 'im. His wanting to stay in jail's nothing but a dodge, but he's not so smart. He thinks that his gag'll work and leave him free of suspicion, but it won't.”
The talk stopped abruptly as the door at the head of the stairs opened. Peggy's head came through.
”You gentlemen want some coffee?” she asked.
”Sure!”
”Atta gal!”
”I'll bring some down in just a minute,” she said, closing the door.
”Who is she?”
”Mrs. Dalton's cook and housekeeper,” Britten said.
”She know anything about all this?”
”Naw.”
Again the men turned to Bigger. He felt this time he had to say something more to them. Jan was saying that he was lying and he had to wipe out doubt in their minds. They would think that he knew more than he was telling if he did not talk. After all, their att.i.tude toward him so far made him feel that they did not consider him as being mixed up in the kidnapping. He was just another black ignorant Negro to them. The main thing was to keep their minds turned in another direction, Jan's direction, or that of Jan's friends.
”Say,” one of the men asked, coming close to him and placing, a foot upon the edge of the trunk. ”Did this Erlone fellow talk to you about Communism?”
”Yessuh.”
”Oh!” Britten exclaimed.
”What?”
”I forgot! Let me show you fellows the stuff he gave the boy to read.”
Britten stood up, his face flushed with eagerness. He ran his hand into his pocket and pulled forth the batch of pamphlets that Jan had given Bigger and held them up for all to see. The men again got their bulbs and flashed their lightning to take pictures of the pamphlets. Bigger could hear their hard breathing; he knew that they were excited. When they finished, they turned to him again.
”Say, boy, was this guy drunk?”
”Yessuh.”
”And the girl, too?”
”Yessuh.”