SIXTY-EIGHT

When we got to his office Jack was taking two aspirin.

‘On top of the bicarb,’ he said, putting down the glass of water. ‘Does wonders.’

‘I’ll pass,’ Jerry said.

‘Me, too.’

We both sat.

‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘this is a switch.’

‘Whataya mean?’ I asked.

‘You guys really haven’t done anythin’ wrong, and you’re still in trouble.’

Jerry held up a huge forefinger and said, ‘We did break into the dead guy’s house.’

‘Well, compared to murder, that’s not much of a charge,’ Jack said.

At that point the phone rang. Jack picked it up, said, ‘What?’ listened, then said, ‘Thanks,’ and hung up. ‘Two detectives are on the way up.’

‘Do we know them?’ I asked.

‘We’ll know when they walk in.’

We waited, heard the elevator, then the footsteps and some unintelligible words. Presently, two men wearing suits walked in, both looking like they’d been awake for many hours. Happily, neither of them were familiar to us. No Hargrove.

‘Mr Entratter?’ one of them said.

‘That’s right,’ Jack replied, standing.

The detective shook Jack’s hand, took a quick look at us.

‘I’m Detective Maddox, this is my partner, Detective Lang. I’m the one who spoke to you on the phone. Sorry to have to wake you.’

‘That’s all right,’ Jack said. ‘Murder’s a serious business.’

‘Yes, it is,’ Maddox said. ‘I assume these are the two gents we talked about?’

‘That’s Eddie Gianelli, one of my pit bosses,’ Jack said, ‘and Jerry Epstein, a friend of his who is a guest with us right now.’

Jerry and I both stood up.

‘Stay seated, guys,’ Maddox said. ‘We just have a few questions.’

We sat back down.

‘You gents know a man named Philip Arnold?’

‘We know him,’ I said.

‘How?’

‘We were helping another of our guests, Bing Crosby, buy a horse from a man named Chris Arnold. As you probably know, he was killed a couple of days ago.’

‘We do know,’ Lang said. ‘That’s how we got on to you.’

‘We got a flag that cases involving anyone in the Arnold family should be referred to Detective Hargrove,’ Maddox said.

‘We know Hargrove,’ I said. ‘Where is he?’

‘He’s off, today,’ Maddox said, ‘but when he gets in this morning he’ll find a note on his desk.’

Great.

They asked us when we last saw Philip, what the circumstances were, and then what we had been doing last night. We told the truth, that we’d gone to the show at the Flamingo and then for a night out with Frank and company.

When they asked what we’d done during the day Jerry gave them Mack Grey’s name, and I reluctantly gave them Penny’s name and contact info. Reluctantly, because when I told Danny that I’d be using Penny as my alibi – that she had volunteered – he hadn’t been real happy about it. But there was nothing he could do about it, because he knew if he told Penny she couldn’t do it, she’d just dig her heels in.

‘But don’t use her unless you absolutely have to,’ he told me.

‘I’ll do my best,’ I promised.

So much for my best.

The detectives finished their interview in about twenty minutes. They thanked Jack Entratter for his assistance in gathering us in one place, then thanked us for our time.

‘I’m sure Detective Hargrove will be in touch when he gets to his desk in the morning and catches up,’ Maddox said.

‘I’m sure he will,’ I said.

They said good-morning and left. We waited until we heard the elevator come and go.

‘Wow,’ Jerry said, ‘good cop and quiet cop.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘I’m sure Hargrove will play the bad cop very well.’

‘You fellas and your other buddy, Bardini,’ Entratter said, ‘better try to wrap this thing up today. The only way you might stay out of jail is to hand Hargrove the killer.’

I looked at my watch.

‘Have you slept?’ Entratter asked.

‘No.’

‘You?’ he asked Jerry.

‘No.’

‘You both might as well catch four or five hours,’ he said.

‘Three would be more like it,’ I said. ‘In four or five hours Hargrove will be here lookin’ for us.’

‘OK,’ Jack said, ‘so three hours. Do it, and then go catch a killer.’

Jerry and I stood up and headed for the door.

‘You’ll have to get Mack off your sofa,’ I said, as we walked to the elevator.

‘Let him sleep,’ Jerry said. ‘He won’t bother me. Are you gonna be in the hotel?’

‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I’ll go down to the desk and get a room. I’ll meet you at seven forty-five . . . but not in the lobby. We might accidentally run into Hargrove.’

‘The café?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘The parking lot, by the car. We’ll get somethin’ to eat and figure out our next move. I’m too tired to figure it out now.’

‘Me, too,’ Jerry said. ‘I’ve seen enough TV to last me a long time.’