The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling - By Lawrence Block Page 0,48
four o’clock? I’ll expect to hear from you then.”
“I think that’s it,” I told Carolyn, after I’d summarized the Demarest conversation for her. “I don’t think there are going to be any more calls.”
“How can you tell?”
“I can’t, but it’s one of my stronger hunches. The first caller was foreign and he’s the one who sicced the Sikh on me. The Sikh came around Thursday afternoon, so he’s known at least that long that I had the book, but he made me read it to him over the phone.”
“What does that prove?”
“Beats me. Right now I’m just piling up data. Interpreting it will have to wait. The second call was from Whelkin and he wasn’t terribly interested in howling jackals or growling monkeys.”
“I think it’s the other way around.”
“Monkeys and jackals aren’t terribly interested in Whelkin?”
“The jackal was growling and the monkey was howling. Not that it makes a hell of a lot of difference. What are you getting at, Bernie?”
“Good question. Whelkin seemed to take it for granted that I killed Madeleine Porlock. That’s why he wasn’t surprised I had the book. Which means he didn’t kill her. Unless, of course, he was pretending to believe I killed her, in which case…”
“In which case what?”
“Damned if I know. That leaves Demarest, and there’s something refreshing about him. He was very open about his name and he didn’t have to be coaxed into supplying his phone number. What do you suppose that means?”
“I don’t know.”
“Neither do I.” I helped myself to more coffee. “The murder’s what screws things up. If somebody hadn’t killed Madeleine Porlock I wouldn’t have a problem. Or if the police weren’t looking to hang the killing on me. I’d just sell the book to the highest bidder and spend the next two weeks in the Bahamas. One of those three killed her, Carolyn.”
“One of the ones who just called?”
“Uh-huh.” I looked at my watch. “We don’t have a hell of a lot of time,” I said. “I’m supposed to call them at hourly intervals, starting with Demarest at four. That gives us a couple of hours to set things up.”
“To set what up?”
“A trap. It’s going to be tricky, though, because I don’t know who to set it for or what to use for bait. There’s only one thing to do.”
“What’s that?”
“What I always do in time of stress,” I said. “Bribe a cop.”
CHAPTER
Fifteen
When he came to the phone I apologized for the intrusion. “Your wife didn’t want to disturb you,” I said, “but I told her it was important.”
“Well, I got Wake Forest and ten points,” he said. “So all I been doin’ is watch twenty bucks go down the chute.”
“Who are they playing?”
“University of Georgia. The Bulldogs got what they call the Junkyard Dog defense. All it means is they’re chewin’ the ass offa poor Wake Forest.” There was a long and thoughtful pause. “Who the hell,” he said, “is this?”
“Just an old friend and enemy who needs a favor.”
“Jesus, it’s you. Kid, I seen you step in it before, but I swear this time you got both feet smack in the middle of God’s birthday cake. Where are you callin’ from, anyway?”
“The Slough of Despond. I need a favor, Ray.”
“Jesus, that’s the truth. Well, you came to the right place. You want me to set up a surrender, right? First smart move you made since you iced the Porlock dame. You stay out there and it’s just a question of time before somebody tags you, and what do you want to get shot for? And the word is shoot first on you, Bern.” He clucked at me. “That wasn’t too brilliant, you know. Shootin’ a cop. The department takes a dim view.”
“I never shot him.”
“C’mon, kid. He was there, right? He saw you.”
“He saw a clown with a beard and a turban. I never shot him and I never shot her either.”
“And all you do is sell books. You told me the whole story, remember? How you’re straight as a javelin and all? Listen, you’ll be okay now. I’ll set up a surrender, and don’t think I don’t appreciate it. Makes me look good, no question about it, and it saves your ass. You get yourself a decent lawyer and who knows, you might even beat the whole thing in court. Worst comes to worst, so you do a couple of years upstate. You done that before.”
“Ray, I never—”
“One thing that’s not so good, this Rockland kid’s young and feisty, you know? If