He hung up the phone and said, “What’s first?”
I said, “Chris Maxton. He’s the one who put the ad in the paper offering two hundred and fifty dollars reward.”
“Well, what’s wrong with that? He was trying to help Holgate out.”
I said, “Why help Holgate out?”
“Because Holgate was his partner.”
I said, “What do you mean, help? Holgate had admitted liability to the insurance company. The insurance company had admitted liability to Vivian Deshler. Any witness to the accident could only have testified that it was Holgate’s fault. So why the hell would he be helping Holgate out getting a witness?
“The only reason he could help Holgate out with a witness was because he knew the accident was phoney and he was willing to offer a big enough bribe to get some person to perjure himself—”
“Let’s go,” Dale interrupted.
“Do you know where to find Chris Maxton?”
“Sure I do. He has an apartment here in town.”
“Married?”
“Man about town,” Dale said. “He plays around a bit, has some pretty good-looking babes on the string.”
“Including Vivian Deshler?”
“Hell, I don’t know,” Dale said. “I’ve never cared enough to find out, but I’m going to make it my business to know now. Come on, Lam, let’s go.”
We got in the chief’s automobile.
The chief drove conservatively for about three blocks. I could see that he was thinking over my theory. The more he thought it over, the better he liked it.
At the end of three blocks he put on the red light. At the end of five blocks he turned on the siren.
Chief Dale was in a hurry.
We got to a rather swanky apartment house, and the chief parked his car in front of a fireplug, said, “Come on, Lam.”
We went up in an elevator, and the chief pushed the mother-of-pearl button.
Chimes sounded on the inside.
Chris Maxton came to the door. He didn’t see me for a moment but saw the chief.
“Why, hello, Chief,” he said.
“I want to talk with you,” Dale said.
Maxton was flustered. “I... I’m not alone... I—”
“I want to talk with you,” Dale said.
“I... I have a young woman here. I—”
“I want to talk with you.”
“Look,” Maxton said, “give me just ten seconds to get her...”
Dale started in.
“Go in the bedroom, honey,” Maxton called over his shoulder.
He said, “It’s quite all right, Chief, but— What the hell, who’s this with you?”
“Donald Lam,” Dale said. “Do you know him?”
“Do I know him? The two-time chiseling, dirty crook! Why didn’t you say this had to do with the case against Donald Lam? I’d do anything to nail that two-timing—”
“Take it easy,” Dale said, pushing his way into the room. “You just answer questions.”
“Well, I’m making a complaint. I’m having Donald Lam arrested for obtaining money under false pretenses and—”
“Save it, Chris,” the chief said. “You just answer questions. What the hell’s going on here?”
“Nothing,” Chris said. “Oh, just a little sociable party.”
The chief looked around. There was a bottle of whiskey, some ice cubes, a couple of bottles of mixer, two empty glasses, a couple of women’s shoes on the floor, a bra hanging over the back of a chair and a skirt rumpled into a corner.
Maxton said, “I’d just shut off the hi-fi when I heard the chimes.”
“No, you didn’t,” Dale said, walking over to the window and looking out. “You shut off the hi-fi when you heard the siren. What the hell kind of a joint you running here?”
“Now, take it easy, Chief, take it easy,” Maxton said.
I realized that the chief was getting him in the proper frame of mind, putting him sufficiently on the defensive so he’d spill everything he knew. It was a good job.
The chief went over to the corner, picked up the girl’s skirt and looked at it. He walked over to the bra, looked at that, turned to the davenport, walked over and picked up a square box that had just been unwrapped. The wrapping paper was there on the floor.
The chief reached into the box, pulled out a pair of silk panties. There was lettering all over the silk.
“What the hell are these?” Dale asked.
Maxton said, “I sent away for them. They were advertised in one of the men’s magazines as the ideal gift for the one girl friend.”
“I see,” Dale said, “and you’d just talked the young lady into trying them on to see what they looked like?”
Maxton grinned sheepishly.
Chief Dale glowered at him, said suddenly and accusingly, “Why the hell did you advertise for witnesses to that accident?”
“I... I wanted to — well, I wanted to help my partner out.”
“Cut out that jazz,” Dale told him, “or I’ll open that door and run you both in for running an immoral party.”
Chris spilled words out in a stream. “Well, you know how it is, Chief. My partner was involved in an accident and— Now look, Chief, you couldn’t drag the young woman into this — and this is my apartment. I pay rent on it and—”
“To hell with that stuff,” Dale said, “get back to the case. Why did you try to dig up a witness?”
Maxton took a long breath and said, “All right, I’ll tell you why I tried to pick up a witness. I thought the accident was a phoney.”
Chief Dale sat down. His face softened. “Now you’re beginning to talk,” he said. “What made you think it was phoney?”
Maxton said, “I knew damned well it was phoney. Holgate’s automobile was in good shape at four-thirty that afternoon. Whatever happened took place sometime after that.
“My partner had been drinking. He’d been involved in an automobile accident and he sure as hell was going to lots of trouble to cover it up.”
“So what did you do?”
“I wanted to find out about it.”
“By trying to bribe a witness to say he’d seen it?” Dale asked suspiciously.
“You don’t get the sketch,” Maxton said. “I wanted to prove that there weren’t any witnesses. In that way I could prove there hadn’t been any accident the way Holgate claimed. I intended to offer up to five thousand dollars to anyone who could prove that he’d seen the accident, but I wasn’t going to stick my neck out all at once. I was going to make it a sure thing and play it up in such a dramatic way I’d cook Holgate’s kettle of fish.
“I figured I’d start the ante at a hundred and then, when no witnesses showed up, I’d increase it to two fifty, then five hundred. Then, when no witnesses showed up, I’d make it a thousand. Then, with no witnesses, I’d make it two thousand. By that time I’d be sure of my ground and I’d have had the ads attracting so much attention that the insurance company would get suspicious and everyone would get suspicious.”
“That’s better,” Dale said. “Why did you want everyone to get suspicious?”
“Because,” Maxton said, “Holgate thought he had something on me and was trying to force me to sell out my interest in the partner-»hip for less than it was worth. I just felt that I’d get something on that smug s.o.b. so he wouldn’t be pushing me around. Now if you want to know, that’s the truth.”
“How do you know his car was in good shape at four-thirty in the afternoon?” Dale asked.
“I’d rather not go into that.”