Deep Without Pity | Page 7

"I don't want that kind of language in this house."
"Did you come up with this little scheme on your own or did somebody put you up to it?" I walked over to her, but not close enough to have to smell the whiskey.
"I think you should get out," she snarled. "Mother!" Her voice got shrill and I put my coat on.
"Call me if you change your mind," I said, and stalked out of the house.
Driving back to the office, I made a quick recap. If the Desmond woman was out, that left me high and dry. I had two suspects left, the kid who'd hired me and the woman I was supposed to clear. I'd scored one point though, since Marion King's motive was pretty well shot. Charlene Desmond's story couldn't have held water at the bottom of the ocean, and I doubted that Mrs. King would have fallen for it.
I parked around the corner from my office and went into the GM Steakhouse. After a $2.07 sirloin and a large milk I was in a better mood. After all, I had a client and a hundred dollars. What could go wrong?
The phone was ringing when I got back to the office. I caught it in time, and heard Winslow's voice.
"Found out who our bathing beauty was," he said. "His name was Ernie Singleton. He was a grunt in Korea, lost the leg there. Last residence was Dayton, Ohio. No relatives, no friends, no nothin'."
"So why did he come here?" I asked.
"To drown, looks like."
"Ha ha, I got a hot one for you, now. The King sex scandal was a put-up job."
"That's not too funny. You got proof?"
"I don't need it. The chick is as phoney as a three-dollar bill. She'd never wash in court."
"Well maybe the wife believed her."
"Hey look," I said, "I've heard of blind justice, but don't you think you're carrying this a bit too far? Don't you even want to check this out?"
I listened to a long silence on the other end of the wire, then Winslow said, "Uh, something's come up. I'll get back to you, okay?" and he was gone.
I held the dead receiver in my hand for a minute, then hung up and dialed the Austin American Statesman. "City desk, please."
I had time to tap my fingers on the desk a couple of times and scratch my nose, then a voice said, "Hello?"
"Bennie? This is Dan."
"Let's see...Dan...Dan..."
"Don't rub it in, I'm sorry. I've just been out of circulation for a while."
"I'll say. Did you marry her?"
"No. I got out at the last minute. It was close, though. Listen, I may have a story for you in a bit. I need some information first, though. Like who would a County Commissioner have for an enemy?"
"A bad enough enemy to bump him off, you mean? I thought the wife did it."
"Maybe not that bad. Maybe just bad enough to throw a little dirt on him."
Bennie whistled. "That way, huh? Okay, I can give you a list. How long you got?"
"Just hit the high points."
"A County Commissioner wears a lot of hats, friend. To start with, of course, it could be somebody who lost an election to him, or thinks he could take over the job. Or one of the other Commissioners. But what you're after probably has to do with County contracts."
"Whoa. What sort of contracts?"
"Mainly roads, but all the contracts are let through Commissioner's Court. That includes libraries, parks, hospitals, you name it."
"Good. What else?"
"Commissioners appoint county officials, run the welfare department, handle the budget and all that. Each Commissioner is responsible for the roads in his precinct, and since King used to be in construction, you've got a tie in there. He could have brought along some old enemies when he moved up. Let's see, there's a bond issue coming up, but the contracts on that haven't been given out yet, so I'm afraid that's no help."
"It's help," I said, "but I wish you could have narrowed it down a bit more."
"That's the breaks, kid. Now what about that scoop?"
"I'll let you know. 'Bye."
So there I sat. Not at a dead end, but facing an endless field of possibility. The bond issue mayor may not have been important; it had been on his desk when he was killed, but I had no way of knowing what it meant.
I looked at my cards, and I was holding no suspects, no clues, and didn't even have a long suit. It was time to get some help.
?
VI
I still had friends at the county jail, and they hustled Marion King into a visitor's booth for me in no time at all. I could tell from her bearing that she was merely allowing the guard to lead her. She had a lot of dignity and authority in her