Chapter 4
The fog began to drift away. I opened my eyes. The pink haze was still around me. But it no longer smelled like a stable. There was a good clean smell, mixed with chemicals. It smelled like a drug store or a doctor's office.
I rolled my head to the right. A blonde was propped up in the bed next to me, reading a magazine.
She looked over at me. "You had quite a nap."
My throat was so dry I could hardly swallow. But I managed to whisper, "Where am I?"
"The prison ward of County General."
"How long have I been here?" I asked.
"They brought you in at dinnertime last night. It's now nearly noon."
I nodded. Through the fog, I tried to remember how long it had been since I had gone to the box supper at the Bear Creek Church. But I gave it up. It seemed as if it had been a month ago.
I turned my head to the left. A redhead lay on her bed, with her right arm bandaged, and sound asleep.
Across from me I could now make out other beds.
A muse came down the aisle, glancing at the beds on either side. She saw I was awake and came over to me.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"My mouth and throat are so dry," I said.
She nodded. "I'll take care of that."
She went back up the aisle and soon returned. She cranked me up, poured water into a glass, and shoved a straw into it. She came over to me.
"Now sip this slowly," she said, "or it might make you sick."
How good that cold water tasted. And then I realized that I was hungry.
"Arc you hungry?" she asked. I nodded.
"The cart will be up in a few minutes. So hang on."
"Am I allowed to smoke?" I asked.
"Yes. Do you have any cigarettes?"
I shook my head. "They took my purse away from me."
She pulled a pack and some matches from her pocket. "Here. You can have these."
She put a cigarette between my lips and lit it. I took long slow drags and began to feel alive again.
"What's the matter with me?" I asked.
"Nothing much. Shock, mostly."
"Did Jarvis die?" I asked.
"I don't know. Someone will be in to see you this afternoon."
Yeah. Another cop. But at least he wouldn't be able to rape me there in the ward.
The nurse went on down to the end of the ward and came back again. She waved at me as she walked past. Then she went to the end and to the door. And I noticed a cop down there unlocking the door.
The blonde slid off her bed and came over to me. "What you need is a shot," she told me.
"Shot of what?" I asked.
She pulled a bottle of mouthwash from her bedside stand. She grinned. "Did you ever see mouthwash that looked like bourbon? And it's seven years old. Want a shot?"
I nodded.
She dug a paper cup from the drawer of her stand and poured some booze into it. She handed it to me. "Wait a minute," she said.
She rounded my bed and went to my stand. She poured some water. "Here's a chaser."
I gulped the booze. It made me gasp.
"Get some water down," she told me.
I gulped some water and put out the fire. But I felt strength fanning out through my body. I dragged on my cigarette and felt human again.
"I'm Peggy Karnowski," she said. "I know your name-Connie Stewart."
I nodded.
"They say you're in here for murder," she said.
I nodded. What was the use of talking about it?
"I am, too. My old man has been beating me up for years. He came home the other night and started slugging me, and something snapped. They say I stabbed him with a butcher knife. But I don't remember anything about it."
"Then it was self-defense, wasn't it?"
"That's what my lawyer says. The big job is to talk the judge and jury into it."
"Is that why you're in the hospital?" I asked.
"Yes. He beat my guts to a pulp. And you should have seen the shiner I had. But most of it has gone away."
She looked up the aisle. "Well, here comes the chow wagon. I'm ready for it, are you?"
"Yes," I said. "That cocktail really set me up."
She grinned and made a circle of thumb and forefinger. She went around my bed and returned to hers.
I was cranked upright and a table was shoved across my bed. And then a tray was set on it.
"You're in luck," Peggy said. "You're on special diet, too."
I had steak with baked potato and green beans. There was even a salad. And, of course, as in all hospitals, there was Jello. To top it off, there was a pot of coffee.
I made short work of that tray. I had had no solid food since the box supper. And I couldn't remember how long ago that was.
I pushed my plate back and pulled my coffee to me. I reached over and got the cigarettes and matches. And then I lay there luxuriating in that clean bed, sipping my coffee and dragging on a cigarette.
My situation didn't look so hopeless now. I was full of fight. But how I was going to fight was something else. I had very little money. But I hoped the judge would appoint an attorney for me. That might not turn out too well. I had heard many wild stories about court appointed attorneys.
I finished the pot of coffee and shoved the table away. Then I lay back and sucked on my cigarette.
I felt the cigarette being pulled from between my fingers.
"You're about to burn up the bed," Peggy told me. "I'll stub this out."
I nodded, realizing that I was sleepy. And that's the last I remember.
A hand gently clamped on my arm. I opened my eyes. I frowned up at him. I had seen him somewhere before. He had a red crew cut and freckles.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi, yourself," I said. "You don't act like these other cops."
He laughed. "I'm no cop. I'm an attorney." I stared at him. "Aren't you the one I saw when they dragged me out of The Hole?"
"Yes. I'm willing to represent you as your attorney. That is, if you want me to."
"I don't have any money," I said.
"That doesn't matter. I'll tell you why some other time. The first thing to do is to get you out of here."
"Out of here? I'm charged with two murders."
He shook his head. "You didn't kill that cop." He chuckled. "Of course, he'll be punchy for the rest of his life. He'll probably wind up selling newspapers on the street. But he asked for it and you gave it to him. So I'm shedding no tears and you shouldn't, either."
"But they say I killed Johnny Blake."
"Did you?" he asked.
"No. But nobody will believe me."
"I do. And I found some evidence to back up your claim. So I got a writ from Judge Howser this morning. You are released to me until the investigation is over."
"So that means I have to sleep with you?"
He grinned again and shook his head. "No such thing. I brought some clothes for you. I'm taking you back to Slocum."
"Slocum? You're from Slocum?"
"Originally. Years ago. I've been away for nearly fifteen years. Ever since I graduated from high school."
A nurse came down the aisle carrying a suitcase. He looked at her. "I'll wait in the hall."
I grabbed his hand. "You're one up on me. You know my name and I don't know yours."
He flashed his big grin again. "Tim Riley."
I grinned back at him. "Talk about the luck o' the Irish."
He nodded and started up the aisle. The nurse grabbed the sheets and pulled them around the rod.
She opened the suitcase. It was mine. I knew it because of a big stain on the inside of the lid. And my clothes were neatly packed in the bag.
I wondered who had picked out my traveling outfit. It was just rigiit for hot summer weather. It was a blue seersucker dress with white sandals. And of course everything to go under the dress.
A few minutes later, I was dressed. The nurse brought a wheel chair.
"I don't need that," I said. "I can walk."
"Perhaps you can. But you're riding in this to the door. We're taking no chances on you falling."
I climbed into the chair and waved to the blonde. "I hope everything comes out all right for you."
"It will. Don't worry. I'm supposed to get out of here in another week or so. Then I should be out on bail."
"Good. If you ever come up to Slocum, look me up."
"I hear you're a barber."
"Yes," I said. "But that doesn't matter. I can cut your hair, too. And all for free." She smiled. "You're a doll."
The nurse wheeled the chair around. She pushed me up the aisle. The cop unlocked the door and I was rolled into the hall. Tim stood there.
"I'll take her to the door," the nurse said.
Tim nodded.
A few minutes later I was wheeled alongside a shiny red convertible. Tim opened the door. He helped me out of the chair and into the car. He shut the door and talked to the nurse for a moment. Then he came around and got under the wheel.
It was a beautiful day. I was glad he had the top down. It seemed as if it had been years since I had seen clouds floating across the blue sky.
The wind rumpled my hair but I didn't care. I was free ... free ... free! Never again would I complain about anything. Not after what I had just been through.
We rode in silence for a while. Tim skillfully guided the big car through the heavy traffic. But we soon left that behind and were out in open country.
"Was that Broken Tree back there?" I asked. "Yes."
"They really ought to be proud of their sheriff and jail."
"Yeah. They've tried to clean that up for years. But Jim Baylor has been sheriff for about thirty years. And Hank Loveless has been D.A. for about the same length of time. They've teamed up and built a political machine. The only way to get them out of office is to dynamite them."
"It's a good thing you found me when you did," I said.
"Yeah. I had one helluva time. Jim denied that you were in jail there. I was about to give up. And then I bumped into Jack Selby. We were in high school together. He's now a deputy there. He couldn't talk, of course. We had a friendly greeting. He looked all around. Then he told me to meet him for lunch at The Green Lantern. So I did. And he told me you were in The Hole. I went to Judge Howser. He issued a writ, requiring the sheriff to let me talk to you."
"But does Judge Howser know about The Hole?" I asked.
"Yes. So does everybody. But nobody does anything about it. The sheriff and the D.A. are too strong. And if anybody squawks, they're run in on any kind of a trumped-up charge. So everybody keeps their mouths shut, so they'll stay out of trouble."
"Gutless wonders," I said.
He nodded. "But if you're a merchant or making your living in Broken Tree, you either put up with the court house gang or move out of town. There's no other way. And that isn't easy to do if you've spent years building a business. You don't just walk away from it."
I nodded and opened my purse. I pawed through it. Apparently nothing had been disturbed.
"Did you have any trouble getting my purse?"
"No. I got it this morning after I got you released. So I stuck it in the suitcase. Is everything there?"
"Yes. So far as I know."
I lit a cigarette and passed it to Tim. I lit one for myself. And then we smoked in silence, with trees and barns and houses whizzing past us.
"Am I out of business in Slocum?" I asked.
"Not unless you want to be."
"But everybody must be afraid of old man Blake," I said. "Why?"
"You should have seen that doctor that examined me. He said I wasn't raped. But he knew a damn sight better. He looked at my throat. He said he saw no finger marks. That I must have tried to hang myself."
"What did he look like?"
I told him.
He nodded. "That sounds like Carl. He was always a pompous ass in high school. I heard he went to medical school."
"Is he tied in with the sheriff and D.A.?"
"Yes. He's the coroner."
"And he's afraid of Blake?"
"Yes. Actually, the sheriff and D.A. are puppets. Blake pulls the strings."
"So no wonder I got such royal treatment."
"Exactly. Probably if I hadn't found you, they'd have killed you. And Carl would have said you died from falling out of an upper bunk, and broke your neck."
"So what chance would I have in a trial?" I asked.
"Damn little. I don't think it will ever go to trial. But if it does, I'll ask for a change of venue."
"What killed Johnny Blake?" I asked.
"Somebody caved in the back of his head with a rock. Did you hear anything?"
"No. But he was choking me and I was nearly gone. So why do you think I didn't do it?"
"I was playing cribbage with Sy Perkins. He has a short-wave radio. He likes to tune in on the police broadcasts. So we heard about Johnny's death. Johnny was in my class, too. He always was a sonofabitch. And then I heard a cop saying they were bringing you in. Sy told me about you. He's all for you."
"I'm glad. They're both wonderful people."
"They sure are. When I was a kid, Sy had a big spread down the grade. I worked for him every summer."
"So after you heard the radio, what then?"
"I ran to my car and headed toward Bear Creek. When I out there, the deputies tried to stop me. I ran a bluff. I said I was representing you. So they let me through. They had run a generator truck in there and strung lights. So it was pretty easy to see what had happened. The ripped clothes were still on the ground. Johnny wore only his shirt and socks. And from the way the grass was mashed down, it was easy to see what had been going on."
"But that still doesn't explain why you think I didn't do it," I said.
"Simple. If you were under him, you couldn't have caved in the back of his head. Unless he was lying flat on you. Was he?"
"No. But almost. When he came too close, I grabbed his hair."
"They found the rock nearby. But it was the only rock around there. And it was still stained from lying in the creek. So that's where it must have come from."
"So that's how you got me released?"
"Yes. Be thankful the side of his head wasn't caved in. But you're still not out of the woods yet. You're not allowed to leave the county."
"I'm not about to. Why should I? That is, if I still have a barber shop."
"As I said, it's up to you."
"Is the town scared of Blake?"
"Some are, some aren't. But even if they're scared of Blake, they're not about to drive to Broken Tree for a haircut. So play it by ear. If they're friendly, be friendly. If they're not, stay clammed."
"That I will. Now tell me, what are you doing up in Slocum?"
"I'm an attorney in L.A. Criminal law. They thought I had cancer. But it turned out okay. Still, the doctor sent me up here for a month to recuperate. I got into town just before we heard that radio broadcast. Because as soon as I hit town I headed for Sy's place. Our place had been shut up for a year."
"Do you have a home here?" I asked.
"No. It was my folks' place. Dad died five years ago. Mother passed away a year ago. So I just shut up the place and left it."
"I understand. I know how it is."
"But yesterday morning I went up there and walked around. I thought of all the happy times I had had there as a boy. And that it was foolish to be morbid. My folks had to go sometime. So I opened up the house. Amy Blanchard came over and cleaned it from top to bottom. So I'm staying up there and batching it."
"So now what?" I asked. "Are you going to make an investigation?"
"Yes. Fortunately, I was born and raised up there. I know everybody. And they'll talk to me, even if they are afraid of Blake. But they wouldn't talk to an outsider."
"Yeah," I agreed. "I'm surprised they took me in as they did."
"It's because they needed you. Otherwise they wouldn't have given you the time of day."
We were climbing now. The road was a corkscrew. But Tim deftly swung the big car around the curves and gave it the gas.
When we were nearly to the top, Tim glanced over at me. "Want to go on up to my place? You're in no shape to work today. Of course, I'll have to bring you back at a decent hour. If I don't you'll be dead as far as being a barber there. Mamie Tilford lives across the road and down a piece. But she'll see us drive in. And she'll plant herself by the window and never leave it until I take you home. Even if it's midnight. And then she'll get on the phone."
"Why take chances?" I asked. "You'd better take me to my shop."
"Are you chicken?"
"No. But I'm in enough hot water as it is."
"You're my client. I'm taking you up there so we can plan our defense. As long as I get you out of there by ten, it will be okay. So don't worry about Mamie and some of them. In fact, Mamie thinks you made a date with Johnny to meet him in the woods."
"Why, the crazy old bat."
"Yeah. But not very many others agree with her. So I say that you can't pay any attention to Mamie."
We drove in silence. I wondered what I should do. I knew what Tim wanted. But after what I had been through, I wanted no part of that. But Tim was no doubt lonely. I was, too. I was in no shape to work. So if I went to my shop, I'd be holed up all alone in the back, with only the radio for company. Tim seemed to be a gentleman. I didn't think he would rape me. So why not go up there?
I lit a cigarette and watched the pine trees fly past. Tim was lost with his thoughts, too.
But as we reached the top he looked over at me. "Well?"
I nodded. "Okay. I'm as lonely as you. So let's go up to your place. But I'm not promising anything."
"And I'm not asking anything, either."
I smiled. "I know you're not. You're sweet. And I want you to know I appreciate all you've done for me."
"Forget it. I'm like an old fire horse when the bell rings. That's the way I was when I heard that radio broadcast. I love a mystery. They are like a puzzle. And I like to solve them."
"So that's why you're doing all this?"
He laughed. "Well, not entirely. After all, I'm a man and you're a woman. So there has to be some chemistry mixed up it somewhere."
"Not tonight there won't be," I said.
"That suits me fine. I've been divorced for five years. I've been as lonely as hell. So all I have to do is think back over my years with Patti and I'm lonesome no more."
"Then why don't you think about Patti now?" I asked.
He chuckled. "You ought to be a lawyer. Well, I'll tell you why. I'm on vacation. I'm away from L.A. I'm back in my home town. So everything seems different now."
I nodded. But, beat up as I was, I felt the first flickerings of passion beginning to rise within me. And I knew that in spite of our bold and brave protestations, we both would wind up in bed together.
I slid over closer to him. He must have taken that as a sign of surrender.
He glanced over at me and grinned. His right hand left the wheel. It patted my knee. I did not protest. So his hand got bolder.
And by the time we reached the top of the grade, his hand was way above the timber line, stroking my thighs.