Part 19 (1/2)
”Go ho with you”
”Come on, Spookie,” Alamena said
Johnny picked up Dulcy in his arms and carried her into the bedrooer and Coffin Ed joined chink at the elevator doors
”you're tre, too,” Coffin Ed added
”I just got a chill is all,” chink said
”daet chilled per around with another man's wife, and in his own house, too”
”I just been tending to umentatively ”Why don't you cops try that so you a break,” Grave Digger said ”We held hiet away”
”Don't talk to that son of a bitch,” Coffin Ed said harshly ”If he says another word I'll knock out his teeth”
”Not before he talks,” Grave Digger warned ”He's going to need his teeth to make himself understood”
The autoot in it
”What is this, a pinch?” chink asked
Coffin Ed hit hier had to restrain him chink walked out of the house between the two detectives, holding his sto out
17
chink sat on the stool within the glaring circle of light in the Pigeon Nest, where Detective Sergeant Brody fro
But noas being questioned by the Harleer Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, and it wasn't the sa down his waxen face, and his beige suain and he was scared He looked at the wet h sick, vein-laced eyes
”I've got a right to have e of the desk in front of him, and Coffin Ed stood in the shadows behind hier looked at his watch and said, ”It's five ot to have soht to have eant Brody said this ht to have my lahen I was questioned”
”Listen, boy,” Coffin Ed said ”Brody is a hooes at it in a routine way like the law prescribes, and if so about it, that's just too bad for the victier are two country Harlee and don't like to see anybody get killed Itto head off another killing”
”And there ain't er added
chink mopped his face with a wet handkerchief ”If you think anybody's going to kill an, but Coffin Ed cut hiive a Goddaer said, and then to chink, ”We want to ask you one question And ant a true answer Did you give Dulcy the knife that killed Val as Reverend Short said you did?”
chink squeezed out a laugh ”I've already told you, I don't know anything about that knife”
”Because if you did give the knife to her,” Grave Digger went on talking softly, ”and Johnny got hold of it and killed Val with it, he's going to kill her, too, if we don't stop hih he's going to kill you, too”
”You cops act as if Johnny was a black Dillinger or Al Capone--” chink was saying, but his teeth were chattering so loudly he sounded as though he were speaking pig latin
Grave Digger cut hi in a soft, persuasive voice ”And we know that you've got so on Dulcy or else she wouldn't have let youto you for thirty-threeGoddaiven you seven hundred and thirty bucks tO keep quiet” He banged the e of his fist on the stack of squashy money, jerked it back and wiped his hand with his handkerchief ”Dirty money Which one of you puked on it?”
chink tried to aze kept dropping until it rested on Grave Digger's big flat feet
”So there are only two possibilities,” Grave Digger went on ”You either gave her the knife or else you found out what Val knew about her that he was going to use to ure you found that out since we talked to you because we've been shadowing you, and we know you went straight from your room to Johnny's club and from there to see Dulcy So youand they waited for chink to answer
chink didn't speak
Suddenly, without warning, Coffin Ed stepped forward from the shadows and chopped chink across the back of his neck with the edge of his hand It knocked chink forward, stunning hirabbed hi on his face
Grave Digger slid quickly fro the bracelets tight just above the ankle bones Then Coffin Ed handcuffed chink's hands behind his back
Without saying another word, they opened the door, lifted chink fro him upside down from the top of the door by his handcuffed ankles, so that the top part of the door split his legs down to his crotch His back lay flat against the botto into hier inserted his heel into chink's left arht, and they pushed down gradually
chink thought about the ten thousand dollars that Dulcy was going to get for him that day and tried to stand it He tried to screaue and he couldn't get it back He began choking, and his eyes began to bulge
”Let's take hier said
They lifted him down and stood him on his feet, but he couldn't stand He pitched forward Grave Digger caught him before he hit the floor and lifted hiht, spill it,” Coffin Ed said ”And it'd better be straight”
chink sed ”Okay,” he said in a gasping voice ”I gave her the knife”
Coffin Ed's burnt face contorted with rage chink ducked automatically, but Coffin Ed ive it to her?” Grave Digger asked
”It was just like the preacher said,” chink confessed ”One of the club ave it to ave it to her”
”What for?” Coffin Ed asked
”Just for a gag,” chink said ”She's so scared of Johnny I thought it'd be a good joke”