The Mercenaries by Donald E Westlake

Author:Donald E Westlake [Westlake, Donald E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Donald E Westlake
Published: 2010-11-10T07:28:36.539000+00:00

"That's a pity," said Grimes. "All those golden memories, all gone."

"Yeah," I said. "It's sure rough."

"Okay," said Grimes. "Then let's work our way forward. Who do you figure will be next? After--what did you say that girl's name was?"

"Anita Merriwell."

"No, no. I mean the new one."

"I didn't say."

"Well, say now."

"Ella."

"Ella what?"

"Ella Cinders."

"You're cute," said one of the other cops.

"I do my part," I told him.

"Anyway," said Grimes. "Who do you think will be next? After Ella?"

"I don't know," I said. "I haven't thought about it yet."

"What about Betty?" he asked me. "Is she next? Or is she one of the old ones?"

I just sat there and looked at him. Betty? Who the hell was Betty? "I don't know any Betty," I said.

"Sure you do."

I tried to think. Betty--Betty Benson? Mavis St. Paul's old roommate? He couldn't mean her, there wasn't anything there that would interest a cop, and if I asked him about her we'd go off onto another line of questioning, one I wouldn't particularly like.

Unless Betty Benson had called the cops on me, for some reason. Got suspicious after I left, called the cops, described me, told them I'd mentioned Grimes. It was a possibility, and not a very pleasant one. "What's this Betty's last name?" I asked.

"How many Bettys do you know?"

"None."

"Come on, Clay," said one of the other cops. "Quit playing around. We know you went to see her today. You left fingerprints all over the place. The coffee cup you used, everything."

So it was Betty Benson. "I thought you said this didn't have anything to do with Billy-Billy Cantell," I said.

Now it was their turn to look surprised, and I knew I'd opened my mouth once too often. If I hadn't been so damn tired, it never would have happened. They hadn't made the connection before, and now the surprise on their faces was changing to pleasure. They thought they had me, and I still didn't know what they thought they had me on.

One of the other cops snapped his fingers. "Betty Benson!" he said. "That was the St. Paul woman's old roommate!"

"Well, well," said Grimes. He looked at me and smiled. "So you wouldn't cover for Billy-Billy Cantell, is that right? You don't know where he is, is that right? If you see him, you'll turn him over to the law, is that right?"

"She knew something," said one of the other cops. He was getting excited. "She knew something, maybe saw Cantell, and he went to buy her off." He looked at me. "Isn't that right? She could make things rough for Cantell, so you went to pay her to keep her mouth shut, didn't you?"

"You're sick in the head," I told him. "How could things be rougher for him than they already are? You don't need anything more than you've got. You could convict him six times over without getting any more evidence than you have right now."

"So what were you doing there?" Grimes asked me.

"I forget," I said. I spent a second wondering when Clancy would get on the stick and spring me out of here.

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