the Hills Of Homicide (Ss) (1987)

by L'amour, Louis

  He Hills Of Homicide

  Louis L'amour

  *

  Foreword

  One Evening In The Brown Derby On Vine Street In Hollywood I was introduced to a former convict who had written a book. Several of us were talking but I believe it was that gentleman who told the story of a man who had been arrested a number of times for petty crimes. For each he served but a few weeks or months in jail.

  Someone got the idea that if this man were taught to read and write he would then get a job and live a decent life.

  He was taught to read and write, became an excellent penman and within months was back in jail, for forgery!

  Only that time he got three years.

  .

  THE HILLS OF HOMICIDE is a special collection that I have put together of my detective and crime stories. They were written in the so-called "hard-boiled- style for magazines that also featured the work of writers like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Cornell Woolrich. Although I am best known for my fiction about the American frontier, there's no reason why a person who is known for stories about one area cannot write successful stories in another. Good storytelling can be applied to any area at any time.

  The detective genre fascinated me right from the beginning of my professional writing career. I had travelled around cities a good deal all over the world and of course one of the major differences between the detective story and the frontier story is that the former generally takes place around a city. I've also known many police officers through the years from whom I learned a great deal, I met a lot of characters through my professional prizefighting days, and of course, during recent years, I suppose everybody has become increasingly familiar with crime since it's happening everywhere. In beginning to do detective stories, I just applied the situations that I knew and with which I had made myself familiar through experience or research.

  *

  THE IMPOSSIBLE MURDER

  The station wagon jolted over a rough place in the blacktop, and I opened my eyes and sat up. Nothing had changed. When you are in the desert, you are in the desert, and it looks it. We had been driving through the same sort of country when I fell asleep, the big mesa that shouldered against the skyline ahead being the only change.

  "Ranagat's right up ahead, about three, four miles." Shanks, who was driving me, was a thin-faced little man who sat sideways in the seat and steered with his left hand on the wheel. "You won't see the town until we get close." "Near that mesa?"

  "Right up against it. Small town, about four hundred people when they're all home. Being of the state highway, no tourists ever go there. Nothin' to see, anyway."

  "No boot hill?" Nearly all of the little mining towns in this section have a boot hill, and from the look of them, shooting up your neighbors must have been the outstanding recreation in the old days.

  "Oh, sure. Not many in this one, though. About fifteen or twenty with markers, but they buried most of them without any kind of a slab. This boot hill couldn't hold a candle to Pioche. Over there they buried seventy-five before the first one died of natural causes."

  "Rough place."

  "You said it. Speakin' of guys gettin' killed, they had a murder in Ranagat the other night. Old fellow, got more money than you could shake a stick at."

  "Murder, you say?"

  "Uh-huh. They don't know who done it, yet, but you needn't worry. Old Jerry will catch him. That's Jerry Loftus, the sheriff. He's a smart old coot, rustled a few cows himself in the old days. He can sling a gun, too. Don't think he can't. Not that he looks like much, but he could fool you."

  Shanks put a cigarette between his lips and lit it with a match cupped in his right hand. "Bitner, his name was. That's the dead man, I mean." He jerked his cigarette toward the mesa. "Lived up there."

  "On top?" From where I sat, the wall of sheer, burnt-red sandstone looked impossible to climb. "How'd he get up there?"

  'From Ranagat. That's the joker in this case, mister. Only one way up there, an' that way is in plain sight of most of Ranagat, an' goes right by old Johnny Holben's door. Nobody could ever get up that trail without being seen by Johnny.

  "The trail goes up through a cut in the rock, and believe me, it's the only way to get on top. At a wide place in the cut, Johnny Holben has a cabin, an' he's a suspicious old coot. He built there to annoy Bitner because they had it in for each other. Used to be partners, one time. Prospected all this country together an' then set up a company to work their mines. 'Bitner and Holben,' they called it. Things went fine for a while, an' they made a mint of money. Then they had trouble an' split up."

  "Holben kill him?"

  "Some folks think so, but others say no. Bitner's got him a niece, a right pretty girl named Karen. She came up here to see him, and two days after she gets hem he gets murdered. A lot of folks figure that was a mighty funny thing, her being heiress to all that money, an everything."

  So there were two other suspects, anyway. That made three. Johnny Holben, Karen Bitner, and my client. "Know a guy named Caronna?"

  "Blacky Caronna? Sure." Shanks slanted a look at me out of those watchful, curious eyes. I knew he was trying to place me, but so far hadn't an inkling. "You know him?"

  "Heard of him." It was no use telling Shanks what I had come for. I was here to get information, not give it.

  "He's a suspect, too. An' in case you don't know, mister, he's not a nice playmate. I mean, you don't get rough with him. Nobody out here knows much about him, an' he's lived in Ranagat for more than ten years, but he's a had man to fool with. If your business is with him, you better forget it unless it's peaceful."

  "He's a suspect, you say?"

  "Sure. Him an' old Bitner had a fight. An argument, that is. Bitner sure told him off, but nobody knows what it was about but Caronna; an' Blacky just ain't talkin'.

  "Caronna is sort of a gambler. Seems to have plenty of money, an' this place he built up here is the finest in town. Rarely has any visitors, an' spends most of his time up there alone except when he's playin' poker.

  "The boys found out what he was like when he first came out here. In these Western towns they don't take a man on face value, not even when he's got a face like Blacky Caronna's. Big Sam, a big miner, tangled with him. Sam would weigh about two-fifty, I guess, and all man. That's only a shade more than Caronna.

  "They went out behind The Sump, that's a pool hall an' saloon, an' they had it out. Boy, was that a scrap! Prettiest I ever seen. They fought tooth an' toenail for near thirty minutes, but that Caronna is the roughest, dirtiest fighter ever come down the pike. Sam was damn near killed." "Big guy, you say?"

  "Uh-huh. Maybe an inch shorter than you, but wide as a barn door. And I mean a big barn! He's a lot heavier than you, an' never seems to get fat." Shanks glanced at me. "What do you weigh? About one-eighty?"

  Two hundred even."

  "You don't say? You must have it packed pretty solid. But don't you have trouble with Caronna. You ain't man enough for it."

  That made me remember what the boss said before I left. "His money is as good as anybody's money, but don't you get us into trouble. This Caronna is a tough customer, and plenty smart. He's got a record as long as your arm, but he got out of the rackets with plenty of moola, and that took brains. You go over there and investigate that murder and clear him if you can. But watch him all the time. He's just about as trustworthy as a hungry tiger." The station wagon rolled down the last incline into the street and rolled to a halt in front of a gray stone building with a weather-beaten sign across the front that said Hotel on one end and Restaurant on the other.

  The one street of the town laid everything out before you for one glance. Two saloons, a garage, a blacksmith sh
op, three stores, and a cafT. There were two empty buildings, boarded up now, and beyond them another stone building that was a sheriff's office and jail in one piece.

  Shanks dropped my bag into the street and reached out a hand. "That will be three bucks," he said. He was displeased with me. All the way over I had listened, but he had no more idea who I was than the man in the moon. Two thistle-chinned prospectors who looked as if they had trailed a burro all over the hills were sitting on the porch, chewing. Both of them glanced up and stared at me with idle curiosity.

  The lobby was a long, dank room with a soot-blackened fireplace and four or five enormous black leather chairs and a settee, all looking as if they had come across the plains fifty or sixty years ago. On the wall was a mountain lion's head that had been attacked by moths.

  A clerk, who was probably no youngster when they opened the hotel in '67, got up from a squeaky chair and shoved the register at me. I signed my name and, taking the key, went up the stairs. Inside the room I waited just long enough to take my .45 Colt out of the bag and shove it behind my belt under my shirt. Then I started for thesheriff's office. By the time I had gone the two blocks that compromised the full length of the street, everyone in town knew me by sight.

  Jerry Loftus was seated behind a rolltop desk with both feet on the desk and his thumbs hooked in the armholes of his vest. His white, flat-crowned hat was shoved back on his head, and his hair and mustache were as white as the hat. He wore cowboy boots with spurs, and a six-shooter in an open-top holster.

  Flipping open my wallet, aid it in front of him with my badge and credentials showing. He glanced down at them without moving a hand, then looked up at me.

  "Private detective? Who sent for you?"

  -Caronna."

  "He's worried, then. What do you aim to do, son?" "Look around. My orders are to investigate the crime, find evidence to clear him, and so get you off his back. From the sound of it" I was fishing for information "he didn't seem to believe anybody around here would mind if he was sentenced or not. Guilty or not."

  "He's right. Nothing against him myself. Plays a good hand of poker, pays when he loses, collects when he wins. Maybe he buys a little highgrade once in a while, but while the mine owners wish we would put a stop to it, we don't figure that what gold ore a man can smuggle out of a mine is enough to worry about.

  "All these holes around here strike pockets of rich ore from time to time. Most of the mines pay off pretty well, anyway, but when they strike that wire gold, the boys naturally get away with what they can.

  "The mines all have a change room where the miners take off their diggin' clothes, walk naked for their shower, then out on the other side for their street clothes, but men bein' what they are, they find ways to get out with some gold.

  "Naturally, that means they have to have a buyer. Caronna seems to be the man. I don't know that, but I never asked no questions, either."

  "Would you mind giving me the lowdown on this killing?"

  -Not at all.- Loftus shifted his thumbs to his vest pockets.

  -Pull up a chair an' set. No, not there. Move left a mite. Ain't exactly safe to get between me an' that spittoon." He chewed thoughtfully for a few minutes. "Murdered man is Jack Bitner, a cantankerous old cuss, wealthy as all get-out. Mine owner now, used to be a prospector. Hardheaded as a blind mule and rough as a chapped lip. Almost seventy, but fit to live twenty years more, ornery as he was. Lived up yonder on the mesa."

  Loftus chewed, spat, and continued. "Found dead Monday morning by his niece. Karen Bitner. Killed sometime Sunday night, seems like. Stabbed three times in the back with a knife while settin' at the table.

  "Only had two visitors Sunday night. Karen Bitner an' Blacky Caronna. She went up to see the old man about five of the evenin', claims she left him feelin' right pert. Caronna headed up that way about eight, still light at that hour, an' then says he changed his mind about seein' the old man without a witness, an' came back without ever gettin' to the cabin.

  "Only other possible suspect is Johnny Holben. Those two old roosters been spittin' an' snarlin' for the last four years, an' both of them made threats.

  "Johnny lives on the trail to the mesa, an' he's got ears like a skittish rabbit an' eyes like a cat. Johnny saw those two go up an' he seen 'em come back, an' he'll take oath nobody else went up that trail. Any jury of folks from around Ranagat would take his word for it that a gopher couldn't go up that trail without Johnny knowin' it. As for himself, Johnny swears he ain't been on the mesa in six years.

  "All three had motives, all three had opportunity. Any one of the three could have done it if they got behind Bitner, an' that's what makes me suspect the girl. I don't believe that suspicious old devil would let any man get behind him."

  "Caronna can't clear the girl, then? If he had gone up to the house and found the old man alive, she'd be in the clear."

  -That's right. But he says he didn't go to the house, an we can't prove it one way or another. The way it is, we're stuck. If you can figure some way to catch the guilty man,you'd be a help." Jerry Loftus rolled his quid in his jaws and glanced at me sharply. "You come up here to find evidence to prove Caronna innocent. What if you find something to prove him guilty?"

  "My firm," I said carefully, "only represents clients who are innocent. Naturally, we take the stand that they are innocent until proved guilty, but we will not conceal evidence if we believe it would clear anyone else. If we become convinced of a client's guilt, we drop out of the case. However, a good deal of leeway is left to the operative on the case. Naturally, we aren't here to convict our clients."

  "I see." Loftus was stirring that one around in his mind. "Mind if I look around?"

  "Not at all." He took his feet down from the desk and got up. "In fact, I'll go along. Johnny might not let you by unless I am with you."

  When we started up the trail, it took me only a few minutes to understand that unless Johnny Holben was deaf as a post it would be impossible to get past his cabin without his knowledge. The trail was narrow, just two good steps from his door, and was of loose gravel.

  Holben came to the door when we came alongside. He was a tall, lean old man with a lantern jaw and a handlebar mustache that would have been a dead ringer for the sheriff's except for being less tidy and more yellowed.

  "Howdy, Loft-us. Who's the dude with you?" "Detective. Caronna hired him to investigate the murder."

  "Huh! If Caronna hired him, he's likely a thief himself." Holben stepped back inside and slammed the door. Loftus chuckled. "Almost as bad as Old Bitner. Wouldn't think that old sidewinder was worth a cool half-million, would you. No? I guessed not. He is, though. Bitner was worth half again that much. That niece of his will get a nice piece of money."

  "Was she the only relative?"

  "Matter of fact, no. There's a nephew around somewheres. Big game hunter, importer of animals, an' such as that. Hunts them for shows, I hear."

  "Heard from him?"

  Not yet. He's out on the road with a show of some kind. We wired their New York headquarters." "Wouldn't be a bad idea to check and see where his show is playing. It might not be far away."

  Loftus glanced at me. "Hadn't thought of that. Reckon I'm gettin old. I'll do that tonight."

  "Does the girl get all the money? Or does he get some?" "Don't know. The Bitner girl, she thinks she gets it. Says her uncle told her she would inherit everything. Seems like he had no use for that nephew. So far we haven't seen the will, but we'll have it open tomorrow." The path led along the flat top of the mesa over the sparse grass and through the scattered juniper for almost a half-mile. Then we saw the house.

  It was built on the edge of the cliff. One side of the house was almost flush with the edge, and the back looked out over a natural rock basin that probably held water during the winter or fall, when it rained.

  It was a three-room stone house, very carefully built and surprisingly neat. There were a few books and magazines lying about, but everything else seemed to have
its place and to be kept there. There was a dark stain on the tabletop that identified itself for me, and some more of the same on the floor under the chair legs. Looking at the dishes, I figured that Bitner was alone and about to begin eating when death had struck.

  The one door into the house opened from a screened-in porch to the room where he had been sitting. Remembering how the spring on the door had screamed protestingly when we opened it, there was small chance that anyone could have entered unannounced.

  Moreover, a man seated at the table could look out that door and down the path almost halfway to Ranagat. The windows offered little more. There were three in the main room of the house, and two of those opened over that rock basin and were at least fifteen feet above the ground. Nobody could have entered quietly from that direction. The third window appeared to be an even less probable entrance. It opened on the side of the house that stood onthe cliff edge. Outside that window and about four feet below the sill was a cracked ledge about two feet wide, but the ledge dwindled away toward the back of the house so it was impossible to gain access to it from there. At the front, the porch ran right to the lip of the precipice, cutting off any approach to the ledge from that direction.

  Craning my neck, I could see that it was fifty or sixty feet down an impossible precipice, and then a good two hundred feet that was almost as steep, but could be scaled by a daring man. The last sixty feet, though, made the way entirely impracticable.

  The crack that crossed the ledge was three to four inches wide and about nine or ten inches deep. In the sand on the edge of a split in the rock was a track resembling that of a large gila monster, an idea that gave me no comfort. I was speculating on that when Jerry Loft-us called me.

  *

  Night Walker At the door I was confronted by three people. Nobody needed to tell me which was Blacky Caronna, and I had already seen Johnny Holben, but it was the third one that caught me flat-footed with my hands down and my chin wide . Open.

  Karen Bitner was the sort of girl no man could look at and ever be the same afterward. She was slim and lovely in whipcord riding breeches and a green wool shirt that didn't have that shape when she bought it. Her hair was red-gold and her eyes a gray-green that shook me to my heels.