O is for OUTLAW

by Sue Grafton

  I unhooked the two sets of drapes and lifted down the rods. I removed the finials, flashed a light down into the hollow core, and removed the cash. I replaced the rods and rehung the drapes, moving with a sudden sense of anxiety. I lifted my head. Had I heard something?

  Maybe the removal of the crime tape was done to tempt me, and Detective Aldo was outside waiting. He’d be thrilled to catch me with the duffel load of burglar tools, the handguns, and the phony documents. I kept the overhead light off, restricting myself to the use of my penlight as I went through the apartment, quickly gathering my tools, checking to see that I’d left no personal traces. The whole time I had the feeling I’d overlooked something obvious, but I knew I’d be pushing my luck to go back and try to figure it out. I was so focused on escape that I came close to missing the crunch of cinders and the putter of a motorcycle as it glided to a stop in the alleyway below.

  Belatedly, I realized I’d picked up the muted roar as the motorcycle passed along the street out in front. The rider must have cut the switch at the entrance to the alley, coasting the rest of the way. I went over to the rear window and opened the drapes a crack. From that angle, I couldn’t see much, but I was relatively certain someone was moving along the alley. I closed my eyes and listened. Within thirty seconds, I could hear the chink of boots on the stair treads, accompanied by a jingle as each step was mounted. The guy was coming up the back way. Possibly a tenant or a neighbor. I turned off my flashlight and followed the sounds of the guy’s progress as he rounded the gallery along the back of the building and came up to Mickey’s front door. I had hoped to hear him pass. Instead, I heard a tap and a hoarse whispering. “Hey, Mr. Magruder. Open up. It’s me.”

  I passed through Mickey’s bedroom and headed for the rear door, fumbling in my jeans pocket for the key. My hand was steady, but every other part of me was shaking so hard I couldn’t hit the keyhole. I was afraid to use my flashlight because the guy had now moved to Mickey’s bedroom window, where the tapping became sharper, a harsh clicking as though he might be rapping on the glass with a ring. “Open the fuck up and get your ass out here.” He had moved the few steps to the front door, where he began to knock again. This time, the pounding was of the fee-fi-fo-fum variety and seemed to shake the intervening walls.

  The next-door neighbor, whose bedroom must have been contiguous with Mickey’s, yelled out his window, “Shaddup, you prick! We’re tryin’ to sleep in here.”

  The guy at the door said something even worse than the F word, which I won’t repeat. I could hear him jingle his way toward the neighbor’s bedroom window, where I pictured him bashing through the glass with his fist. Sure enough, I heard the impact of his blow and the subsequent tinkling of glass, followed by a startled yelp from the tenant. I took advantage of this tender Hallmark moment to shine a quick light on the keyhole. I turned the key in the lock and was almost out the door when I stopped in my tracks. I’d never get into this apartment again. By morning the sheriff’s deputy would arrive and the locks would be changed. While I could probably pick my way in, I didn’t want to take the risk. Now that all the stashes had been cleaned out, there was only one thing of value. I set down the two duffels and returned to Mickey’s closet, where I lifted the leather jacket from its hanger and shrugged myself into it, then grabbed the two duffels and eased out the back door, barely pausing long enough to lock it.

  I was halfway down the back stairs when a face appeared above me. Over the wroughtiron railing, I saw shaggy corn-yellow hair, a long bony face, narrow shoulders, and a sunken chest in a blue denim jacket with the sleeves cut out. I slung one duffel over my shoulder, hugged the other to my body, and began to bound down the stairs, taking them two at a time while the guy in the jacket strode toward the landing. I reached the bottom of the stairs at the same moment he started down. I could hear every step he took because of the jingling of his boots, which must have been decorated with chains. I ran on tiptoe, keeping wide on the outside, conscious to avoid knocking into the water meters near the building.

  The manager’s apartment was fully dark by now, but Cordia, as promised, had left the back door unlocked. I turned the knob and opened the door to let myself in. My entrance was delayed briefly when the duffel over my shoulder got hung up on the door frame. I jerked it free and flung both duffels into the room. I was just turning to close the door when Dorothy streaked out through the narrow opening. She must have come running to see what I was up to and then couldn’t resist making a bid for freedom. Once out, she stopped, astonished to find herself alone in the chilly dark at that hour. I heard a thumping noise and a resounding curse. The guy must have caught a foot on a water meter and gone down sprawling. I could hear him cussing as he recovered his gait and came limping down on us in a towering rage. If he caught up with Dorothy, he was going to wring her neck and fling her over the fence, thus forcing her return to this life in some other form. I grabbed her by the tail and dragged her backward while she struggled to gain purchase on the concrete with her outstretched claws. I hauled her, squawking, into the dark of the kitchen, closed the door, and bolted it in one motion.

  I sank down on the floor, clutching her against me while my heart kept on banging and my breath came in gasps. I heard the jingling footsteps approach and come to a halt outside the Hatfields’ door. The guy kicked the door hard enough to hurt himself. He must have had a flashlight with him, because a beam was soon being played across the far wall, briefly raking the kitchen table. The wand of light streaked back and forth. At one point, I could tell he’d angled up on tiptoe, trying to shine the light down into the darkened area where I was crouched. Meanwhile, Dorothy strained against my embrace and finally manage to wiggle free. I lunged, but she eluded me. She gave me a cranky look and then made a point of sashaying toward the dining room so that her path took her directly through his beam of light. There was a long, labored silence. I thought he’d break the door down, but he must have thought better of it. Finally, I heard the scritch and jingle of his boots as they receded along the walkway.

  I slumped against the door, waiting to hear his motorcycle start up and go screaming away in the night. There was no such reassuring sound. I finally staggered to my feet, retrieved the two duffels, and crept through the dining room toward the guest room. The nightlight in the hallway illuminated my way. The two other bedroom doors were closed, Cordia and Belmira having slept through the uproar in the enveloping silence of poor hearing. Once in the guest room, I kicked my shoes off and lay down on the bed, still wearing Mickey’s jacket. Dorothy was already on the bed. The pillow turned out to be hers so I wasn’t allowed the full use of it, just a few paltry inches around the edges. The still-indignant cat now felt compelled to wash from head to toe, comforting herself after the insult of having her tail pulled so rudely. The bedroom curtains were closed, but I found myself staring at them, fearful a fist would come smashing through the glass. Dorothy’s steady licking took on a restful quality. The warmth of my body activated Mickey’s personal scent from the lining of the jacket. Cigarette smoke and Aqua Velva. I stopped shivering and eventually fell asleep with Dorothy’s feet resting neatly in my hair.

  I woke to the smell of coffee. I was still wearing Mickey’s jacket, but someone had placed a heavy afghan across my legs. I put a hand above my head, feeling across the pillow, but Dorothy was gone. The door was open a crack. Sunlight made the curtains glow. I looked at my watch and saw that it was close to eight. I put my feet over the side of the bed and ran a hand through my hair, yawning. I was getting too old to horse around at all hours of the night. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then show 1ered and dressed again. In the end, I looked much as I had when I’d arrived.

  Belmira was sitting at the kitchen table, watching a talk show, when I finally made my appearance. She was a tiny thing, quite thin, so short her feet barely touched the floor. Today, she wore a white bib apron over a red-and-white print housedress. She was shelling peas, the colander in her lap, a paper bag sitting ne
xt to her with the rim folded back. Dorothy was on the counter licking butter from the butter dish.

  Bel smiled at me shyly. “Coffee’s over there,” she said. “The sheriff’s deputy just arrived with the locksmith, so Cordia went upstairs to let them in. Did you sleep well?”

  “I didn’t get enough of it, but what I had was fine.” I crossed to the coffeepot, an oldfashioned percolator sitting on the stove. There was a mug on the counter, along with a carton of milk. I poured a cup of coffee and added milk.

  “Would you like to have an egg? We have cereal, too. Cordi made some oatmeal with raisins. That’s what we have. Brown sugar’s in the canister if you want to help yourself.”

  “I think I better go on up and see if I can catch Mickey’s neighbors before they go off to work. I can always have breakfast once the deputy’s gone.” At the door, I looked back. “Did she say anything about a motorcycle parked in the alley?”

  Belmira shook her head.

  I took my coffee mug with me and headed for the stairs. I could see the sheriff’s patrol car parked at the curb, not far from my VW, which as far as I could tell was still intact. The day was sunny and cool, the air already fragrant with the morning’s accumulation of exhaust fumes. I passed along the second-floor gallery. A few neighbors had gathered to watch the locksmith at work. Maybe, for them, this was a cautionary tale about paying the rent on time. Most seemed dressed for work except for one woman in her robe and slippers, who’d also brought her morning coffee with her. Like rubberneckers passing a highway accident, they looked on, both repelled and attracted by the sight of someone else’s misfortune. This was all faintly reminiscent of the fires that burned across the Santa Teresa foothills back in 1964. During the long smoky evenings, people had gathered on the street in clusters, sipping beer and chatting while the flames danced across the distant mountains. The presence of catastrophe seemed to break down the usual social barriers until the atmosphere was nearly festive.

  Cordia Hatfield was keeping a careful eye on the situation, standing in the open doorway with a white sweater thrown over her shoulders. Her oversized blue-and-white checked housedress was worn ankle-length, and she sported the same pair of slippers with her bunion peeking out. She turned as I approached. “I see you found the coffee. How’d you sleep last night?”

  “Dorothy was stingy with the pillow, but aside from that I did great.”

  “She was never one to share. Even when she came back, she insisted on having her old room. We were going to keep it closed up for guests, but she refused to use the litter box until she got her way.”

  Mickey’s immediate neighbor, who appeared to be 1somewhere in his forties, emerged from his apartment, pulling on a tweed sport coat over a royal-blue Superman T-shirt. His shiny brown hair extended to his waist. He wore large metal-framed glasses with yellow lenses. A mustache and a closely trimmed beard bracketed a full complement of white teeth. His jeans were ripped and faded, and his cowboy boots had three-inch platform soles. Behind him, I could see the broken bedroom window, patched together now with cardboard and a jagged bolt of silver duct tape. He said, “Hey, Ms. Hatfield. How are you today?”

  She said, “Morning. just dandy. What happened to your window? That’ll have to be repaired.”

  “Sorry about that. I’ll take care of it. I called a glass company on Olympic, and they said they’d be out to take a look. Has Mickey been evicted?”

  “I’m afraid so,” she said.

  The deputy clearly wasn’t needed, so he returned to his car and went about his business. The locksmith beckoned to Cordia. She excused herself, and the two of them moved inside to have a consultation. The next-door neighbor had paused to watch the proceedings and he now greeted a couple who came out of the third apartment on that side. Both were dressed for work. The woman murmured something to her husband and the two continued toward the stairs. Mickey’s neighbor nodded politely in my direction, acknowledging my presence.

  I murmured, “Hi, how’re you?”

  “Good, thanks. What kind of crap is this? This dude’s in a coma and they’re changing the locks on him? “

  “I guess the owners are pretty hard-nosed.”

  “They’d have to be,” he said. “So how’s Mickey doing? You a friend of his?”

  “You could say that, I guess. We used to be married.”

  “No shit. When was this?”

  ‘Early seventies. It didn’t last long. I’m Kinsey, by the way. And you’re…”

  “Ware Beason,” he said. “Everybody calls me Wary.” He was still working to absorb the information about my marital connection to Mickey. “An ex-wife? How cool. Mickey never said a word.”

  “We haven’t kept in touch. What about you? Have you known him long?”

  “He’s lived in that apartment close to fifteen years. I’ve been here six. Now and then I run into him at Lionel’s Pub and we have a few beers. He feeds my fish if we have a gig someplace.”

  “You’re a professional musician?”

  Wary shrugged self-consciously. “I play keyboard in a combo. Mostly weekends here locally, though I sometimes play out of town as well. I also wait tables at a health food cafe down on National. I take it you heard about what happened?”

  “I did, but it was purely by accident. I didn’t even know he was in trouble until earlier this week. I’m from Santa Teresa. I tried calling from up there, but his phone was disconnected. I didn’t think too much of it until a couple of detectives showed up and said he’d been shot. I was horrified.”

  “Yeah, me too. I guess it took ‘em awhile to figure out who he was. They showed up at my door about seven A.M. Monday. Big dark-haired guy?”

  “Right. He’s the one I talked to. I thought I better head on down in case there was something I could do.”

  “So how’s he feeling? Have you seen him?”

  “He’s still in a coma so it’s hard to say. I went over there yesterday and he didn’t look too good.”

  “Damn. That’s a shame. I should probably go myself, but I’ve been putting it off.”

  “Don’t even bother unless you notify the cops. You can only visit with their permission, and then they keep someone with you in case you try to pull the plug.”

  “Jeez. Poor guy. I can’t believe it.”

  “Me neither,” I said. “By the way, what was that bunch of hollering last night? Did you hear it? It sounded like somebody went berserk and started banging on the walls.”

  “Hey, no shit. That was me he was yelling at. And look what he did, bashed his fist through the glass. I thought he’d dive in after me, but he took off.”

  “What was he so mad about?”

  “Who knows? He’s some pal of Mickey’s; at least, he acts that way. Mickey never seemed that glad to see him.”

  “How often did he show up?”

  “Every couple of weeks. They must’ve had some kind of deal going, but I can’t think what.”

  “How long has that gone on?”

  “Maybe two-three months. I should probably put it this way: I never saw him before then.”

  “You know his name?”

  Wary shook his head. “Nope. Mickey never introduced us. He seemed embarrassed to be seen with him, and who wouldn’t be?”

  “No shit.”

  “Guy’s a scuzball, a real sleaze. Every time I see that show about America’s Most Wanted, I start lookin’ for his face.”

  “Literally? You think he’s wanted by the cops?”

  “If he’s not, he will be. What a creep.”

  That’s odd. Mickey always hated lowlifes. He used to be a vice detective. We worked for the same department up in Santa Teresa.”

  “You’re a cop too?”

  “I was. Now I work as a P.I.”

  “A private investigator?”

  ‘That’s right.”

  ‘Oh, I get it. You’re looking into this.”

  “Not officially, no, but I am curious.”

  ‘Hey, I’m with you. Anything
I can do to help, you just say.”

  “Thanks. What about the scuzball? Couldn’t he be the one who shot Mickey? He sounds like a nut to me.

  “Nah, I doubt it. If he did, he wouldn’t come around pounding on the door, thinking Mickey’d be there. Guy who shot Mickey must have figured he was dead.”

  Wary glanced at his watch. “I better get a move on.

  How long you going to be here?”

  “I’m not sure. Another hour, I’d guess.”

  “Can I buy you breakfast? That’s where I’m heading. There’s a place around the corner. Wouldn’t take more’n thirty minutes if you have to get back.”

  I did a quick debate. I hated to leave the premises, but there really wasn’t anything more to do. Wary might prove to be useful. More important, I was starving. I said “sure” and then took a brief time-out to let Cordia know where I was going.

  Wary and I headed down the front stairs, chatting as we went. Idly, he said, “If you want, after breakfast, I’ll show you where he was shot. It’s just a couple blocks away.”

  Chapter 13

  *

  I’ll skip the breakfast conversation. There’s nothing so boring as listening to other people get acquainted. We chatted. We traded brief, heavily edited autobiographical sketches, stories about Mickey, theories about the motive for the shooting. In the meantime, I discovered that I liked Wary Beason, though I promptly erased all his personal data. As crass as it sounds, I didn’t seriously think I’d ever see him again. Like the passenger sitting next to you on a cross-country plane ride, it’s possible to connect with someone, even when the encounter has no meaning and no ultimate consequence.

  I did appreciate his showing me the spot where Mickey was gunned down, a nondescript section of sidewalk in front of a coin and jewelry shop. The sign in the window advertised rare coins, rare stamps, pocket watches, antiques, and coin supplies. “We also make low-rate loans,” the sign said. At A.M. I didn’t think Mickey’d been there to negotiate a loan.