The Complete Krug & Kellog by Carolyn Weston

Author:Carolyn Weston [Weston, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781941298497
Publisher: Brash Books
Published: 2020-06-01T22:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

They kept as king the same questions, reworded, rephrased, working patiently as weavers across the pattern of his evening with Susannah. Time seemed to obsess them—When had he picked her up at her apartment? Exactly what time had they walked out the door? How long had they spent dining at the Ultimate Perception? What time had they arrived at the beach-house party? When had they left? What was the last time Rees had looked at his watch?—on and on. “I keep telling you,” he said exhaustedly, “I can’t say exactly. We weren’t on any kind of schedule.”

“Get as near as you can.”

“But why does it matter?” Rees asked the young detective, but.

It was Krug who answered. “Just take our word, it does.”

Hoisting a haunch onto the corner of the table nearest Rees, Krug fished in a breast pocket, producing a thin, narrow carton and opening the flap. “Smoke?” he offered.

“No, thanks, I don’t use cigars.”

“Un-hunh.” Krug glanced at his partner. “You want to part with one of your gaspers, Casey?”

“Sure, why not?” He offered a pack of Carltons, and Rees took one gratefully.

Krug lit it and his own small cigar with a kitchen match he snapped alight with his thumbnail. “Okay,” he said, puffing, “it’s about four, you think, maybe four-thirty this morning when you go to sleep, right? And she’s tucked in there with you, no worries about getting home. So then what?”

“I don’t know,” Rees said miserably. “She seemed so happy. I can’t believe anything was preying on her mind. It can’t be suicide! She wasn’t—”

“Mr. Rees,” Casey stopped him. “She was an actress. And you said yourself you hardly knew her.”

“But she wasn’t that sort of—”

“Okay, okay,” Krug interrupted, “let’s go on.” He blew a plume of smoke just over Rees’s head. “She a good lay?” he asked softly. “Kicky, maybe? Little whory?”

“Go to hell!”

“Ah come on, fella, you only knew her the one day. Isn’t as if she was your steady.” Krug hitched himself closer. “So you ball maybe an hour at your place, right? Then you catch your breath and try some new tricks at her place—” Rees kept shaking his head, but Krug went bulldozing on: “How many times did you do it? Two? Three? Don’t just sit there wagging your head, lover boy. Tell us what happened.”

“I’m trying to,” Rees said hoarsely, suppressing his rage. “I have told you.” He blinked at Krug dizzily, seeing him double for an instant. “Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to get at with all this. I told you I was asleep when she left, so I don’t know what happened.” He hesitated, but neither detective spoke. “You’re right, I suppose,” he went on quietly. “I didn’t know her at all. But I can’t believe I couldn’t have sensed it if she was troubled. Sensed something, anyway.” His voice cracked and he swallowed a lump. “We’d had a lot to drink. And she couldn’t see very well. She could’ve opened the window and—and lost her balance—” But there was no response, and helpless, baffled, he gave up.

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