Goldilocks by Ed McBain

Author:Ed McBain
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Tags: Amazon, Retail
ISBN: 9781612189826
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Published: 1978-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The dockmaster’s office at Pirate’s Cove was just adjacent to the motel office, the pair of white entrance doors set side by side in an otherwise red-shingled structure. I knocked on the door, got no answer, tried the knob, and found the door locked. I went into the motel office, and asked the woman behind the desk there where I could find the dockmaster. She said he was outside someplace. I went outside again, circled the building, and saw a grizzled old man bent over a bed of geraniums, turning the sandy earth around them with a trowel. He was wearing a battered, soiled yachting cap tilted low over one eye, a striped T-shirt, blue jeans, and scuffed topsiders.

“Excuse me, sir?” I said.

“Yes, sir,” he said, but did not look up from the flowerbed.

“I’m looking for the dockmaster,” I said.

“You’ve found him,” he said.

“I’m Matthew Hope.”

“Donald Wicherly,” he said, and rose abruptly. “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to ask you some questions about a phone call you took last night.”

“Why?” he said. His eyes were the color of the sky behind him, squinched now and studying me suspiciously. The hand holding the trowel was on his hip, he stood in angular expectation, a tall, lean, weathered man wanting to know why I had questions, and probably wondering besides why he should answer them.

“I’m an attorney,” I told him. “I’m here about Michael Purchase.”

“You’re Michael’s attorney?”

“Yes. Well, actually, I’m his father’s attorney.”

“Which is it then? Michael’s attorney or his father’s?”

“His father’s. But I’m here on Michael’s behalf.”

“With Michael’s knowledge or without it?”

“He knows I’m here,” I said. I was lying, but I wanted information, and I was beginning to resent this examination before trial. “Michael got a phone call last night,” I said. “About eleven-thirty. You took the call.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Did you take the call?”

“I took it.”

“Where would that have been?”

“In the office.”

“Who called him?”

“I don’t know. The party didn’t identify herself.”

“It was a woman?”

“A woman, yes.”

“Could you make a guess at her age?”

“Well, no, sir, I don’t think I could.”

“Can you tell me what she said?”

“She asked if this was Pirate’s Cove, and I said it was. She said could she please speak to Michael Purchase? I told her he was down on the boat, and I’d have to go fetch him. She said would I do that please, and I went down to get him.”

“Then what?”

“He came up to the office with me, and talked to her on the phone.”

“Did you hear the conversation?”

“Only the tail end of it. I’d gone back to my apartment for something I wanted to staple on the bulletin board. He was still talking when I came into the office again.”

“What did you hear?”

“He said ‘I’ll be right there,’ then he said ‘Good-bye,’ and hung up.”

“You didn’t hear him mention anyone’s name?”

“No, sir, I did not.”

“Did he say anything to you after he hung up?”

“He said, ‘Thank you, Mr. Wicherly.’”

“That’s all?”

“Yes, sir.”

“He didn’t say where he was going, did he?”

“No, but I’d guess he was going to where he told that woman he’d be going.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.