“What’s more, you’d have unquestionably telephoned Spred before you came out to prepare him for what was happening. Now then — suppose you give me the low down. If you do, I might be able to clear Spred, and that would change the political situation here overnight.”
“You can’t beat the rap on Spred. He’s hooked this time. He killed him.”
“How about his self-defense angle?”
“I wouldn’t know about that. You see, we drove away.”
“And you heard some shots?”
“Yes, about the time we got to the corner,” Bode said.
“And you didn’t go back?”
“No. We telephoned the police.”
“And you,” I said, “run the police.”
“There’s a chief,” Bode pointed out, “but it’s an appointive office.”
“And I take it, that as is usual with cities of this size, the councilmen sort of divide up the work. One of them works with the tax department, one with the auditing department, and one with the police system.”
“That’s right.”
“And you were the one who had charge of the police system?”
“Yes.”
“Seems to me you could have used your position to put a sugar-coating on the pill.”
“I couldn’t. It was too hot. It was loaded with dynamite, I tell you. You’ve no idea of how intense the feeling is in this city.”
I ground out my cigarette and said, “Well, I guess I don’t want those slot machines after all.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s hopeless,” I said, “I can’t get you in office.”
“Why not?”
“Because you won’t come clean with me. You’re a poor liar, considering all the practice you give yourself.”
Bode said, “Now listen, I could tell you something which would change the whole complexion of this thing and make it look reasonable.”
“I’m listening,” I said.
“Ray Mansfield and I figured the fight wasn’t doing the town any good,” he said. “We went directly to Dalton and asked him what he wanted to call it off. He told us. He wanted eighty percent of the city printing, and Mayor Spred’s scalp.
“He figured that Spred was inefficient and was giving the town a poor business administration. And he couldn’t make peace without something to save his face. He said if Spred would quit, he would withdraw the recall business, and give us a list of a dozen men who would be satisfactory to him. We’d only have to agree to appoint any one of these men to fill Spred’s unexpired term.”
“And so you drove him out to Spred’s place to put that proposition up to Layton Spred?”
“Yes. We figured there was a good chance Spred would do it, if it was put to him in the right way.”
“Then why didn’t you give him the right kind of sales’ talk?”
“Because we didn’t want Spred to know we were in back of it. We didn’t want him to think the deal had been made. He’d have been sure we were selling him out. It was agreed that Dalton was to go in and put the proposition up to Spred. If Spred fell for it, or was dubious, Dalton was going to ring us in on the conversation.
“Otherwise, we were just going to sit in the car and Spred would never know we were waiting out there. Then Spred would tell us about it later and we’d try to sell him on the idea — as his friends.”
“And what happened?” I asked.
“Dalton went to the front door and rang. He pushed his face against the diamond-shaped glass in the front of the door. He saw Spred coming down the corridor. Spred saw him. I don’t know what Spred did that frightened Dalton, but I can guess.
“He started to run toward the car. Then he saw he couldn’t make it, and swerved around the porch. Spred jerked the door open and didn’t waste a second. He dashed along the porch. We could see that he was holding a revolver.
“We didn’t want Spred to see us there. Dalton had already headed in the direction of the alley. There was nothing for us to do. We pulled out.”
“And called the police?”
“I put through as anonymous call. I didn’t want to figure in it. Later on, of course, I admitted my identity.”
“And you really thought Dalton could sell Spred on quitting?”
“Yes. He was to resign on account of his health — after the recall had been dropped. Otherwise, he’d have been kicked out in the recall.”
“Why didn’t you point that out to him?”
“We wanted Dalton to break the ice. We didn’t want Spred to think we’d sold him out.”
“But you had, hadn’t you?”
“Don’t act dumb,” he said savagely. “Of course we sold him out. Someone had to be the goat. It was better to toss him overboard than to have the whole damn ship sink.”
“Whose proposition was it,” I asked, “yours or Dalton’s?”
Mine, Bode admitted, “and I had to talk like hell to make it stick. Dalton had us on the run, and knew it.”
“Well,” I said, slowly, “that makes a lot more sense than the story you gave the press.”
“But you see why we don’t dare to tell the truth, Wennick.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And so I’ll see you tomorrow morning at ten-thirty. In the meantime, where can I get some action?”
“What do you mean, action?” Bode asked.
“You know what I mean — gambling. I’m a stranger in town. I have no place to go.”
“There isn’t any place in town where you could sit in on a game,” he protested. “This is a clean town. The police have—”
“Come on, Bode,” I said. “You’ve got to do better than that. In the first place, you aren’t fooling anyone, and in the second place, I’m a bad man for you to irritate right now.”
He shifted his eyes and said, “Try three-eighteen Benson Avenue. Watch the crowd and get the set-up before you burn any bridges. And if you ever say I gave you the name of the place, I’ll call you a liar. Do you get me?”
I said, “Okay, be seeing you tomorrow.”
III
Judicious inquiry gave me the information I needed about how to get out to Spred’s house. I bought a pocket flashlight in a drugstore, caught a bus, and had a fifteen minute ride from the center of town.
Layton Spred’s residence was a product of bygone architecture. There were spacious grounds with a tennis court on one side and trees and hedges casting black splotches over the darkness of the lawn. The stars were staring down with that steady blaze of illumination which you’ll only see in localities which are in the high, dry mountains or which border the desert.
I was able to get a pretty good idea of the lay of the land. I could see the wide veranda which ran around the south and west corner of the house. Evidently, Spred had run out the front door, dashed down this porch, and shot from the extreme end of it.
I decided to take a look around toward the back, where the body had been discovered, and debated for a moment whether to walk around the corner of the block keeping to the sidewalk and coming up the alley, or to vault the hedge. It was the part of prudence to keep out of the ground and go around the sidewalk.
It was shorter vaulting the hedge. I vaulted the hedge.
I was about half-way through the grounds, keeping to the denser darkness, and not taking my eyes from the huge pile of the dark house, when I became conscious of a shadow wavering across the lawn.
I stopped stock-still, wondering what had caused that sudden flickering. Had a light gone on in the house?