“How do you plan to explain killing him?”
“Easy. While Milo was asleep in the tent, I got my hands loose and found his gun.”
I switched the knife to my other hand, then reached into my pocket and pulled out the pistol. I raised it in front of her. “This one, right?”
“Right.”
“It’s Tony’s gun,” I explained. “How do you get hold of it?”
“Easy.” A smile twitched at the unhurt corner of Judy’s mouth. “Tony took it with him when we were making out on the picnic table. He would’ve done that, too. We came here sometimes, did I tell you that? We hardly ever stepped a foot out of the car, but Tony knew this was sort of a dangerous area, so he always brought his .22 along, just in case.”
“Why didn’t he use it when Milo attacked?”
“It was in the pocket of his jeans, and his jeans were down around his ankles. He couldn’t reach it in time. Then, after he was dead, Milo took the pistol. And kept it.”
“Where?”
“In a pocket.”
“A pocket of what?” I asked.
“He was wearing overalls most of the time. You know, bib overalls?”
“Cute. The pig dressed up like a farmer.”
“Yeah. And he kept the gun in his pocket. So when I finally got my hands free, I snuck into his tent and found it. But he woke up and came after me. That’s when I start shooting him. Just like you did. From there on, my whole story can be almost exactly the same as how it really happened, but it’ll be me instead of you.”
“I could leave you the loafers to wear,” I suggested. “That way, you’d match the footprints.”
“Good idea.”
I nodded, frowning, wondering. “It’s not a bad plan,” I admitted. “Almost sounds like something I might’ve come up with.”
“It’ll work.”
“That’s what you think.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Lots of stuff.”
24
FRIENDLY PERSUASION
“Like what?” Judy asked. “What’s wrong with my plan? Tell me. Maybe we can work it out.”
“I’m running out of time, here.”
“Alice, look. I’m giving you a chance to walk away from everything. If we can work this out, the cops will think nobody was involved but me, Tony and Milo.”
“Here’s one little problem,” I told her. “Tony’s body is in the trunk of his car. Which is parked in the garage of your apartment building.”
She gaped at me. For a few seconds, she looked stunned and lost. But she recovered fast. “Easy,” she said. “Take my car. Drive to my place, put my car back where we got it, and come back here in Tony’s car. Park it where mine is, now. Then just leave his body in the trunk and be on your way. I’ll say Milo put him in the trunk. Hey, that’ll be perfect! He knocked me out and left me on the picnic table. That way, I’m out cold while he hauls Tony’s body over to the car. But before he can make it back, I come to and run into the woods. Then he hunts me down and, you know…the rest.”
“That sounds okay. But where are you while I’m driving the cars back and forth?”
“I’ll stay right here in camp.”
“Like a good little girl,” I muttered.
“Okay. Well, leave me tied up. But if you do, you’ll have to come back and cut me loose after you’ve dropped off Tony’s car. I mean, I can’t exactly be found like this or it’ll blow the whole story.”
“It’ll blow the story if I help you. They’ll wanta know who cut the rope.”
“Then just untie the knot.”
I shook my head.
She stared into my eyes and said nothing for a few moments. Then, in a softer voice, she said, “You don’t have to do it now. It can wait till you come back.”
“When I come back?”
“From switching the cars.”
“Oh. Right.” I pulled one of the bandanas out of my pocket, wiped the knife clean, and tossed the knife to the ground. Then I stepped behind Judy.
“What’re you doing?” she asked.
“I don’t want you yelling for help.”
“I won’t. I promise. Don’t put that on me. Please.”
“There are other ways to shut you up,” I said.
She didn’t argue after that, but just stood motionless while I put the gag into her mouth and tied it behind her neck.
Then I stepped around to the front.
She stared into my eyes. She was breathing hard again, air hissing through her nostrils.
“I’m not switching the cars,” I explained. “It’s a stupid idea. Somebody’d probably see me. Anyway, I’m too tired to play any more games. What I’m going to do, Judy, is leave you here just as you are.”
She nodded slightly.
“I’m not going to kill you. Okay?”
Her nod grew a little more enthusiastic.
“I mean, you helped me out with Fatso. If you hadn’t kicked him in the head…I don’t know, maybe he would’ve gotten me. So I owe you for that. Besides, none of this is your fault. I just bumped into you by mistake. Wrong address. I was afraid Tony might have a redial button…Whoa!”
Judy’s eyebrows lifted.
We needed to talk.
Instead of bothering to untie the gag, I hooked a forefinger underneath it at each corner of her mouth, pulled roughly, and dragged it down over her chin. The bandana hung around her neck like a dog scarf.
And like a dog, she panted for air.
“What about redial?” I asked. “Did Tony have it?”
“Just…wait.”
“Come on. Did he? I know he moved to a new apartment and you’ve never been there, but what sort of phone did he have at his old place? He might’ve taken it with him. Did it have redial?”
“If I tell…”
“You’d better tell, unless you wanta die right now!”
“No gag, okay? Please?”
I punched her in the belly. A good hard one. Her breath gushed against my face. She couldn’t fold over because of the way she was hanging; instead, the blow made her knees jump up and sent her swinging backward.
When she swung forward, I caught her by the sides. I stopped her, held her steady for a moment, then took a couple of steps backward so I could see her better.
Mouth agape, she wheezed for breath. Her eyes were shut tightly. She kept her knees high, so all that held her up was the rope around her wrists.
She really looked as if she were being stretched. Her arms and torso actually seemed longer and skinnier than before. Her belly was sunken in. Her ribcage was high and bulging. Her breasts were pulled almost flat against her chest.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Put your feet down.”
She just kept hanging there, gasping.
“Put them down and stand up.”
She didn’t.
Instead, she blurted, “I just…I just…You didn’t have to…”
“Shut up and tell me about his redial!”
“Okay. Okay.”
“Stand up!”
She lowered her legs until her feet met the ground. Though she still had to stand tall, she no longer looked as if she were being pulled apart on the rack.
“Now,” I said, “what about it?”
“He doesn’t. Have it.”
“Have you been to his new place?
She shook her head.
“Then how do you know what kind of phone he has?”
“I…gave it to him.”
“What?”
“His phone. I gave it to him. When we were…going together. He…I don’t think he’d…get rid of it.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t,” I said. “Not if it came from you. And it didn’t have redial?”