The Way You Die Tonight

by Robert Randisi

  ‘The belt left a mark where you strangled her, and another mark where you strung her up,’ I said. ‘The cops knew all along it wasn’t a suicide. And I never believed it was.’

  She laughed at herself and said, ‘I’m a fool. It was late – Helen and I stayed late often – and none of the office staff was around. I thought I had gotten so lucky.’

  ‘Marcy …’

  ‘Eddie,’ she said, ‘you’re not going to turn me in, are you?’

  ‘I am, Marcy.’

  ‘B-but … we’re friends.’

  ‘I know,’ I said. ‘That’s why it hurts.’

  Suddenly, she did something I never expected. She put her hand in her sweater pocket and took out a gun – a small one. I hadn’t even noticed the weight of it in there.

  ‘Oh, Marcy,’ I said, ‘don’t be a bigger fool.’

  ‘I-I don’t know what else to do.’

  ‘Why do you have a gun?’

  ‘I’ve been carrying it since … since I killed Helen.’

  ‘Where’d you get it?’

  ‘I’ve always had it at home,’ she said. ‘A woman alone … you know.’

  I didn’t know. There was a lot I didn’t know about Helen, and about Marcy. The other thing I didn’t know was whether or not she’d really pull the trigger.

  I got a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  ‘Are you gonna shoot me, Marcy?’

  ‘Just let me go, Eddie,’ she said. ‘You-you won’t see me again.’

  Why not? I thought. Let her go, and then call Detective Martin. Let him worry about finding her, catching her.

  ‘OK,’ I said.

  ‘W-what?’

  ‘OK. Go.’

  ‘D-do you mean it.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Eddie … thank you.’

  ‘Just stop pointing the gun at me.’

  She did, but only for a second. She aimed it, again.

  ‘Marcy—’

  ‘You’re going to tell the cops,’ she said. ‘You’ll let me go, and then you’ll call the detectives and tell them. I can’t let you do that, Eddie. They’ll-they’ll catch me.’

  ‘Then turn yourself in,’ I said. ‘It’ll go better for you.’

  ‘I can’t go to jail, Eddie!’ she almost screamed. ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Marcy, people know I’m here, waiting for you.’

  ‘Who? You told?’

  ‘Jack Entratter,’ I said, ‘and Jerry … they know. Danny Bardini, too,’ I lied, figuring the more, the merrier. ‘You can’t kill all of them. If you kill me they’ll know. The cops will find you, anyway.’

  She frowned, trying to figure out her next move.

  ‘It’s over, Marcy. Take a rest. Give me the gun.’

  ‘I-I didn’t mean … I didn’t mean it. Any of it.’

  ‘I know you didn’t,’ I said. ‘I know.’

  She was just standing there, frozen, so I took a chance. I took a step, then another, and another. When I was close enough I took the gun from her hand, and then she collapsed into my arms.

  My friend.

  EPILOGUE

  2007

  I turned off my VCR, took my glass into the kitchen and washed it out in the sink. Time for the old man to turn in.

  While I got myself ready for bed I thought back some more …

  Detective Martin came and took Marcy off my hands. He came without Hargrove.

  ‘Solving this myself, I can get rid of him as a partner,’ he said. ‘Thanks, Eddie.’

  ‘Sure.’

  Eddie Robinson lost a bundle playing poker, but as he said, the experience was invaluable. He gave a bravura performance in The Cincinnati Kid, which was a big hit.

  Jerry stayed around a few more days, then went home.

  ‘Maybe I should just move here,’ he said, at the airport.

  ‘Leave Brooklyn?’

  ‘You did.’

  ‘Give it some thought, Jerry.’

  ‘Sure, Mr G.’

  Jack Entratter had to hire two new employees, one to replace Marcy, and the other to be his new girl. What was her name?

  Oh yeah, I had one more visitor that week …

  I was in my pit when he walked up.

  ‘Can we talk?’

  ‘Sure,’ I said. I waved at somebody to take my pit for a few minutes, then walked Robert Maheu over to the lounge.

  ‘What’s on your mind?’ I asked.

  ‘Look,’ he said, ‘Mr Hughes had nothing to do with the men who … assaulted you.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  ‘In fact, I didn’t, either,’ Maheu said. ‘That was all the attorneys. They were trying to impress Mr Hughes. Needless to say, they’ve been fired.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And Mr Hughes has left Vegas,’ he said. ‘I’ll be leaving today.’

  ‘Good,’ I said. ‘Tell him not to come back.’

  I started to walk away, but he grabbed my arm. I stopped and he took it away.

  ‘You came out on top this time, Eddie,’ Maheu said. ‘Mr Hughes doesn’t want to push it, but he’ll be back. Maybe next year, maybe two.’

  ‘So you’re blaming the lawyers. You’ll let some time go by, and then try again?’

  ‘And you won’t know a thing about it,’ Maheu said.

  I smiled at him.

  ‘My town, Maheu,’ I said. ‘If you or Hughes put one foot into it, I’ll know. Count on it.’

  I walked away …

  Howard Hughes did come back to Vegas in 1967, and he started buying. But that’s another story.