A Dance at the Slaughter House

by Lawrence Block

Page 6

 

  "What about the tape?"

  "Ordinary adhesive tape, white, kind youd find in your medicine chest. "

  "Not in mine," I said. "In mine youd find a bottle of Rexall aspirin and a thing of dental floss. "

  "Well, the kind youd find in your medicine chest if you happened to live like a human being. Gottschalk said he thought they had adhesive tape, and there wasnt any in the bathroom. They didnt leave the roll behind, or the twine either. "

  "I wonder why not. "

  "I dont know. String savers, I guess. They took the pry bar, too. If I just left a woman dead in an apartment, I dont think Id want to walk down the street carrying burglars tools, but if they were geniuses-"

  "Theyd be in some other line of work. "

  "Right. Why take the stuff? If Thurman was in on it, and if he was the one who bought the stuff, maybe they were afraid it could be traced. If they used what they found in the apartment… I dont know, Matt, the whole things so fucking speculative, you know?"

  "I know. You bat around the whys and what ifs, though, and sometimes something shakes loose. "

  "Which is why were batting them around. "

  "Did he describe the burglars?"

  "Oh, sure. A little hazy on the details, but consistent from one interrogation to another. He didnt contradict himself enough to amount to anything. The descriptions are in the files, youll see them for yourself. What they were, they were two big white guys about the same age as Thurman and his wife. They both had mustaches, and the bigger one had his hair long in the back, the way some of them wear it, with like a little tail growing down there?"

  "I know how you mean. "

  "A really classy style, marks you right away as a member of the upper crust. Like the spades with those high flattops, looks like they got a fez stuck on their heads, like they trim it with hedge clippers. Class all the way. What was I saying?"

  "The two burglars. "

  "Yeah, right. He went through the books of mug shots, very cooperative, very eager, but he didnt spot them. I sat him down with a police artist. I think you know him. Ray Galindez?"

  "Sure. "

  "Hes good, but his sketches always come out looking Hispanic to me. Theres copies in the file. I think one of the papers ran them. "

  "I must have missed it. "

  "I think it was Newsday. We got a couple calls and wasted a little time checking them out. Nothing. You know what I think?"

  "What?"

  "I dont think he did it all by himself. "

  "No, neither do I. "

  "I mean you cant positively rule it out, because he could have found a way to tie himself up, and he could have managed to lose the pry bar and the tape and the twine. But I dont think thats what happened. I think he had help. "

  "I think youre right. "

  "He makes arrangements with a couple of skells, says heres a key to the front door, make it easy on yourselves, walk on in and go up three flights and bust into the fourth-floor apartment. Not to worry, theres nobody home, there wont be anybody home upstairs either. Make yourselves at home, dump the drawers, throw the books on the floor, and help yourselves to all the cash and jewelry you can find. Just so youre ready to go at twelve-thirty or one, whatever time we get home from the party. "

  "And they walk home because he doesnt want to get there too early. "

  "Maybe, or maybe they just walk home because its a nice night. Who knows? They get to the Gottschalks floor and she says, Oh, look, Ruth and Alfreds door is open, and he shoves her through it and they grab her and knock her out and fuck her and kill her. Then he says, Hey, asshole, you dont want to walk down the street middle of the night carrying a television set, you can buy ten TVs with what Im paying you for this. So they leave the set, but they take the twine and tape and pry bar because maybe they can be traced. No, thats bullshit, how do you trace drugstore and hardware store shit like that?"

  "They take the stuff because that way well know he couldnt have done it himself, because how could the twine and tape walk out of there under their own power?"

  "Right, okay. But first before they take anything out of there they knock him around a little, and they do some fairly impressive superficial damage, youll see photos we took of him in the file. Then they tie him up and tape him up, his mouth, and maybe they rip it halfway off for him so hell be able to make the call when its time. "

  "Or maybe theyve got him tied loosely enough that he can get a hand free and do what he has to do and then slip it back under the twine. "

  "I was coming to that. Jesus, dont I wish those blues had been a little slower to cut him loose. "

  I said, "Anyway, they clear out and he waits as long as he can and then calls 911. "

  "Right. I dont see any holes in that. "

  "No. "

  "I mean, show me some other way it makes sense that hes alive. They just killed her, shes lying there dead, so why would they tie him up when its so much easier to kill him?"

  "They already tied him up and taped his mouth before they did her. "

  "Oh, right, thats his story. Even so, why leave him alive? He can ID the both of them all day long, and theyre already going to hang for doing her-"

  "Not in this state. "

  "Dont remind me, will you? Point is theyre already down for Murder Two for doing her, they dont make it any worse for themselves by doing him while theyre at it. They got the pry bar, all they gotta do is hit him a lick upside the head, as our little brown brothers would say. "

  "Maybe they did. "

  "Did what?"

  "Hit him hard enough so that they thought he was dead. Remember, they just killed her, and maybe they didnt plan on it, so-"

  "You mean if hes telling the truth. "

  "Right, playing devils advocate for a minute. They killed her unintentionally-"

  "Just happened to get her panty hose accidentally wrapped around her throat-"

  "- and they dont exactly panic, but theyre in a hurry, they hit him a shot and hes unconscious and they think hes probably dead, that hard a shot with a steel bar ought to kill a man, and all they want to do is get the fuck out, they dont want to take his pulse, see if hes got enough breath left to fog a mirror. "

  "Shit. "

  "You see what I mean. "

  He sighed. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Thats why its an open file. The evidence is inconclusive and the facts weve gotll support any theory you want. " He stood up. "I want some coffee," he said. "Can I get you some?"

  "Sure," I said. "Why not?"

  * * *

  "I dont know why the coffees so bad," he said. "I really dont. We used to have this machine, you know, coin-operated, and you can never get a halfway decent cup of coffee out of one of them. But we chipped in and bought one of these electric drip pots, and we use premium coffee, and it comes out tasting like this. I think there must be some law of nature, youre in a station house, the coffee has to taste like shit. "

  It didnt taste that bad to me. He said, "If we ever clear this one, you know how itll happen. "

  "A snitch. "

  "A snitch hears something and passes it on, or one of the geniuses steps on his cock and we pick him up for something heavy, and he tries to do himself some good by ratting out his partner. And Thurman, assuming were right and it was his game. "

  "Or even if it wasnt. "

  "What do you mean?"

  I said, " She was alive and kicking when we left there, man. We put the pork to her but I swear she liked that part of it, an we sure didnt wrap no stockings around her neck. Musta been her husband, decided to get hisself an instant divorce. "

  "Jesus, thats just how theyd say it. "

  "I know. Thats what theyd say if Thurman was a hundred percent innocent. Wasnt me killed her, she was alive when I left. And it could even be true. "

  "Huh?"

  "Say it was a crime of opportunity. The Thurmans come home, walk in on a robbery in progress. The skells rob them and beat him up and rape her because theyr
e animals, so why not act like it? Then they leave, and Thurman gets a hand free, and his wifes unconscious and he thinks shes dead-"

  "But shes not dead, but it gives him an idea-"

  "- and her panty hose is right there on the bed next to her, and next thing you know its around her neck and this time she really is dead. "

  He thought about it. "Sure," he said. "Could be. The medical examiner set the time of death at around one oclock, which squares with Thurmans story, but if he did her right after they left and then stalled a while, the time he was supposed to be unconscious and then struggling to free himself, well, that would all fit. "

  "Right. "

  "And nobody could implicate him. They could say she was alive when they left, but thats something theyd say anyway. " He finished his coffee and threw the Styrofoam cup at the wastebasket. "Fuck this," he said. "You can go around and around. I think he did it. Whether he planned it or it fell in his lap, I think he did it. All that money. "

  "She inherited better than half a million, according to the brother. "

  He nodded. "Plus the insurance. "

  "He didnt say anything about insurance. "

  "Its possible nobody told him. They took out policies payable to each other shortly after they were married. Hundred-thousand-dollar straight life, double indemnity for accidental death. "

  "Well, that sweetens it a little," I said. "Raises the ante by two hundred kay. "

  He shook his head.

  "Am I figuring wrong?"

  "Uh-huh. She got pregnant in September. Soon as they found out, he got in touch with his insurance agent and raised the amount of their coverage. A baby coming, increased responsibilities. Makes sense, right?"

  "What did he raise it to?"

  "A million on his own life. After all, hes the breadwinner, his incomes gonna be tough to replace. Still, her roles important, so he boosted her coverage to a half mil. "

  "So her death-"

  "Meant an even million in insurance, because they still had the double-indemnity clause, plus all of her property that hell inherit. Round it off, call it a total of a million and a half. "

  "Jesus. "

  "Yeah. "

  "Jesus Christ. "

  "Yeah, right. Hes got means and motive and opportunity, and hes a heartless little fuck if I ever saw one, and I couldnt find a shred of evidence to show that hes guilty of a single fucking thing. " He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at me. "Can I ask you something?"

  "Sure. "

  "Do you use the dental floss?"

  "Huh?"

  "Aspirin and dental floss, you said thats all youve got in your medicine chest. Do you ever use it?"

  "Oh," I said. "When I remember. My dentist nagged me into buying it. "

  "Same here, but I never use it. "

  "Neither do I, really. The good news is well never run out. "

  "Thats it," he said. "We got a fucking lifetime supply. "