NIGHTFALL by David Goodis

Author:David Goodis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: マイコンテンツ
Published: 2011-01-27T05:09:16.722000+00:00

8

In the Fraser apartment the phone rang. She raced to it. And the first thing he said was a big thank you, thanks for everything.

“You feel better?” she said.

“I'm with him again.”

“I knew that,” she said. “I knew it the moment I heard your voice.”

“I wanted to call earlier—”

“Of course—”

“But I couldn't get away. I've been with him ever since he came home this morning.”

“You sound so excited.”

“I ought to be,” he said. “Something's happened. It's big. He's home now and I have a chance to breathe. I just checked with Headquarters. They told me he called Denver. The call was traced and they put two and two together. I knew he was making a long call but I couldn't do the tracing myself. Too many booths in the drugstore. A big place on Madison Avenue. He called Denver and pretended to be a newspaperman. He told them what they already knew. Denver can't figure that one out. Neither can Headquarters. But I think I can.”

“You mean he's working toward giving himself up?”

“Not yet. I figure he wanted to find out how much they knew.”

“Wouldn't a smart criminal do that?”

“No,” Fraser said. “A smart criminal would know for sure they'd trace the call. Everything he's done today backs up my ideas about the case. When he left the drugstore he got in a cab. I followed him. Somehow he knew he was being followed and he managed to lose me.”

“How did you find him again?”

“He went back to his apartment. He's there now, across the street. I'm watching the front door.”

“He got away from you and then he went home?”

“Right.”

“He must be stupid.”

“Not stupid,” Fraser said. “It's just that he isn't operating like a guilty party. That phone call to Denver. And then knowing he was being followed. And coming back to his apartment instead of leaving town. A guilty man wouldn't do things like that.”

She sighed into the phone. “I guess I'm thick. I just don't get it. You say he's a killer and yet he isn't guilty.”

“I know. It sounds all mixed up.”

“Why do you think he's staying in town?”

“I've got an idea he wants us to find those other men.”

“Why?”

“I don't know,” Fraser said. “I'm trying to hit an answer.”

“What did Headquarters say?”

“They wanted me to bring him in. I begged for more time.”

“How much more?”

“Not long,” Fraser said. “Forty-eight hours.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Vaguely.”

“Anything to work on?”

“Just Vanning. I better hang up now, I'm beginning to worry again. Vanning isn't enough. I need something else. It's like waiting for rain in the desert.”

“Maybe you can talk to him again.”

“If I could find a good excuse.”

“But there's only forty-eight hours—”

“Don't remind me,” he said. “Every time I look at my watch I get sick.”

“Does it make you feel better, talking to me?”

“A lot.”

“Stay there and talk to me.”

“All right, dear.”

“Tell me things.”

“Things you don't know already?”

“Anything you want to tell me.”

“Even if it's unimportant?”

“Even if it's silly,” she said.

“Headquarters told me something funny,” he said. “I shouldn't even mention it.

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