stable fire.
"Freddy, it's Will Graham."
Lounds arched his neck against the pillow.
"The movement's just reflex, he's not conscious," the nurse said. The plastic airway holding open his scorched and swollen throat hissed in time with the respirator.
A pale detective sergeant sat in the corner with a tape recorder and a clipboard on his lap. Graham didn't notice him until he spoke.
"Lounds said your name in the emergency room before they put the airway in."
"You were there?"
"Later I was there. But I've got what he said on tape. He gave the firemen a license number when they first got to him. He passed out, and he was out in the ambulance, but he came around for a minute in the emergency room when they gave him a shot in the chest. Some Tattler people had followed the ambulance - they were there. I have acopy of their tape."
"Let me hear it." The detective fiddled with his tape recorder. "I think you want to use the earphone," he said, his face carefully blank. He pushed the button.
Graham heard voices, the rattle of casters,"...put him in there," the bump of a litter on a swinging door, a retching cough and a voice croaking, speaking without lips.
"Tooth Hairy."
"Freddy, did you see him? What did he look like, Freddy?"
"Wendy? Hlease Wendy. Grahan set ne uh. The cunt knew it. Grahan set ne uh. Cunt tut his hand on ne in the ticture like a hucking tet. Wendy?"
A noise like a drain sucking. A doctor's voice: "That's it. Let me get there. Get out of the way. Now ."
That was all. Graham stood over Lounds while Crawford listened to the tape.
"We're running down the license number," the detective said.
"Could you understand what he was saying?"
"Who's Wendy?" Crawford asked. "That hooker in the hall. The blonde with the chest. She's been trying to see him. She doesn't know anything."
"Why don't you let her in?" Graham said from the bedside. His back was to them.
"No visitors."
"The man's dying."
"Think I don't know it? I've been here since a quarter to fucking six o'clock - excuse me, Nurse."
"Take a few minutes," Crawford said. "Get some coffee, put some water on your face. He can't say anything. If he does, I'll be here with the recorder."
"Okay, I could use it."
When the detective was gone, Graham left Crawford at the bed side and approached the woman in the hall.
"Wendy?"
"Yeah."
"If you're sure you want to go in there, I'll take you."
"I want to. Maybe I ought to go comb my hair."
"It doesn't matter," Graham said.
When the policeman returned, he didn't try to put her out. Wendy of Wendy City held Lounds's blackened claw and looked straight at him. He stirred once, a little before noon.
"It's gonna be just fine, Roscoe," she said. "We'll have us some high old times."
Lounds stirred again and died.
Chapter 23
Captain Osborne of Chicago Homicide had the gray, pointed face of astone fox. Copies of the Tattler were all over the police station. One was on his desk.
He didn't ask Crawford and Graham to sit down.
"You had nothing at all working with Lounds in the city ofChicago?"
"No, he was coming toWashington," Crawford said. "He had a plane reservation. I'm sure you've checked it."
"Yeah, I got it. He left his office about one-thirty yesterday. Got jumped in the garage of his building, must have been about ten of two."
"Anything in the garage?"
"His keys got kicked under his car. There's no garage attendant - they had a radio-operated door but it came down on a couple of cars and they took it out. Nobody saw it happen. That's getting to be the refrain today. We're working on his car."
"Can we help you there?"
"You can have the results when I get 'em. You haven't said much, Graham. You had plenty to say in the paper."
"I haven't heard much either, listening to you."
"You pissed off, Captain?" Crawford said.
"Me? Why should I be? We run down a phone trace for you and collar a fucking news reporter. Then you've got no charges against him. You have got some deal with him, gets him cooked in front of this scandal sheet. Now the other papers adopt him like he was their own.
"Now we've got our own Tooth Fairy murder right here inChicago. That's great. 'Tooth Fairy inChicago,' boy. Before midnight we'll have six accidental domestic shootings, guy trying to sneak in his own house drunk, wife hears him, bang. The Tooth Fairy may likeChicago, decide to stick around, have some fun."
"We can do like this," Crawford