Dark Passage (24 page)

“Yes, I knew that. I told you.”

“And you wanted to get your hands on that
cash.”

“I’ll admit that.”

“All right then, it checks. Part of it,
anyway. Two hundred thousand is something out of the ordinary. You
could have figured it this way—you could have said to yourself
she’d get a year or two for helping me get away. But if I killed
somebody while I was loose then she'd be in real trouble and she'd
get maybe ten years or even twenty. And you had your mind set on
that two hundred thousand. So maybe you followed the taxi when I
left her apartment.”

“No.”

“Maybe you followed the taxi and when I
went in there you followed me and you were hiding in the vestibule
and watching to see what button I pressed. Then after I left you
pressed that same button. And here’s what you could have been
thinking—that the taxi driver would be a witness. At least when the
police gave him my description he'd say I was the man who came to
the apartment house at a certain hour that night. So the taxi
driver would be one thing and my fingerprints here and there would
be another. You knew I wasn't going up there to kill Fellsinger and
you knew I was going up there to see somebody who would help me.
You didn't know it was Fellsinger but you knew it was a friend of
mine. And you knew the police would tie me in and when they got my
fingerprints and when they got a statement from the taxi driver
they would come right out and say I did it. You knew all that. So
maybe you went up there and killed Fellsinger.”

’“No.”

“It’s got to be. You admit you were
watching her apartment house. You admit you were waiting for me to
come out. That checks. You had your car there. And that checks. And
you could have followed me to Fellsinger's apartment. And you had a
reason for killing Fellsinger. Because you knew I'd be blamed and
that would bring her in on it. So that checks.”

“No,” Arbogast said. “I didn’t kill
Fellsinger.”

“Then who did? Somebody did, and it wasn’t
me. So who was it if it wasn't you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Whoever killed Fellsinger followed me
there, went up and killed him after I went away. I know that much.
So let’s go back. You were outside her apartment house. You saw me
get in a taxi. You saw the taxi going down the street. Did the taxi
pass you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you follow the taxi?”

“No. I told you no.”

“You just stayed there and watched the
taxi going away?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re a liar. I walked three blocks
before I got in that taxi.”

“And I followed you for three blocks,”
Arbogast said.

“You said you stayed there.”

“I said I stayed at the place where I saw
you getting in the taxi. That was as far as I wanted to go. Look,
here’s what I did. I saw you walking down the street. You made
about a block, and then I put the car in gear and followed you. I
stayed about half a block behind you and I had the car in second
and I was just creeping along and watching you. Then you were about
three blocks away from the apartment house and you were getting in
that taxi.”

“What did you do?”

“I pulled up at the curb.”

“And then what did you do?”

“I stayed there. I watched you going away
in the taxi.”

“And then what?”

“I made a turn and went back to the
apartment house. I parked on the other side of the street, far down
the block.”

“You say you made a turn. What kind of a
turn? Around the corner?”

“No,” Arbogast said. “It was a
U-turn.”

Parry examined Arbogast’s eyes. Parry
said, “You're sure it was a U-turn?”

“I’m giving it to you straight. I made
that U-turn and went back and parked across the street from the
apartment house. I knew you'd come back.”

“How did you know?”

“I’m no dope. You had a perfect set-up
there. You get new clothes out of it, and I knew you were getting
money out of it. And when they gave me the lowdown on her they told
me she was single and that meant you were alone with her up there
so it was perfect for you and you'd be a dope to walk out on it.
What I figured was you'd stay there until things calmed down and
then you'd make a break out of town.”

“Now you’re sure you made a U-turn? You're
sure you didn't go around the corner and up the next block and then
down?”

“Look,” Arbogast said. “ If I made a turn
around the corner and up the next block and then down it would’ve
brought me on the same side of the street as the apartment house.
You lamped the car, didn't you?”

“Yes.”

“You saw it was on the other side of the
street?”

“Yes,” Parry said.

“The front of the car was facing you,
wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“All right, that proves I made a U-turn.
And what’s all this about a U-turn?”

“Two U-turns.”

“Well, sure it was two U-turns,” Arbogast
said. “I was parked on the other side of the street when I saw you
coming out of the apartment house. I had to make a U-turn to follow
you, didn’t I? And I had to make another U-turn to come
back.”

“You made the first U-turn right
away?”

“No,” Arbogast said. “I told you I waited
until you were about a block away.”

“You had your headlights off?”

“They were off. I’m not a
dope.”

“That second U-turn. Tell me about
it.”

“What’s there to tell about a U-turn? You
turn the steering wheel and you turn the car around and that's all
there is to it.”

“That second U-turn. Did you make it right
away?”

“No. Like I told you I stayed there and
watched the taxi going away.”

“You’re trying to tell me you saw the taxi
going away and you just stayed there and watched it go away. That
doesn't make sense.”

“My car can’t do more than
thirty.”

“All right, that does make sense,” Parry
said. ” But you didn’t know the taxi would go past thirty. So again
it doesn't make sense. There was a reason why you didn't follow
that taxi and I know what it is and you know I know what it is. You
saw a car going after that taxi.”

“What do you mean a car?”

“A car. A machine. An automobile. You saw
it following the taxi. That’s why you waited there. You saw that
car going down the street with its headlights turned off. You
didn't know who it was but you knew it was going after the taxi. So
here's what you thought. You thought it could be the police. Then
again maybe it wasn't the police. And as long as you weren't sure
you decided to make a U-turn and go back and watch the apartment
house and wait for me. You figured maybe the taxi would shake the
car and maybe I'd come back and even if I didn't come back there
was a chance I'd stay on the loose. And even though I was on the
loose you had something on her. And as long as you had something on
her you were going to stay in the neighborhood and watch the
apartment house. So that night you were playing for say ten or
fifteen thousand. The next morning when you saw me coming back with
the bandages on my face you knew you were still in it for ten or
fifteen. Later that day you were patting yourself on the back and
saying I'm no dope because a morning paper told you of a man
murdered the night before and the police said I did it. So then you
knew you were in it for all she had. You saw yourself with every
cent of her two hundred thousand. Now all you see is a gun. And all
you know is you've got to tell me about that car.”

“I didn’t see any car.”

“Tell me or I’ll shoot you above the knee.
I'll keep on shooting until I tear your leg off.”

“There wasn’t any car,” Arbogast
said.

“There had to be a car. And it had to be a
certain kind of a car. You got a chance to walk away from here with
both legs if you tell me what kind of car it was and if it’s the
same car I'm thinking of.”

Arbogast looked at Parry’s
face.

Parry stood there waiting. He knew he had
thrown everything into that one. That was the big one. That was the
big bluff.

Arbogast looked at the gun.

“I don’t have a thing to lose,” Parry
said.

Arbogast took a lot of air in his mouth
and swallowed it.

“I can see it’s no use,” Parry said. ” You
won't tell me. And if you do tell me you won't be telling the
truth. You've tried to make things miserable for her and for me and
now I'm going to make things miserable for you.”

“I’ll tell you,” Arbogast said.

“Tell me and make it good the first time,
because there won’t be a second time.”

“It was a roadster,” Arbogast said. “It
had a canvas top and it was a bright color. I think it was
orange.”

“Bright orange,” Parry said.

“A bright orange roadster,” Arbogast
said.

“And who was in it?”

“I couldn’t see.”

“All right,” Parry said. “I guess that
doesn’t matter. I guess I got everything I need now.”

“What happens to me?”

“That’s not my worry.”

“What are you going to do with
me?”

“Nothing. I’m going to leave you here.
What do I need you for? You're out of it now.”

“If I’m out of it, let me go.”

“Sure,” Parry said. ” You can go. Just
turn around and start walking.”

“Let me take my car.”

“No,” Parry said. “I’m taking
that.”

“You can’t take my car.”

“And you didn’t think I could take your
gun either but I took it.”

“You won’t get away.”

“I’m not trying to get away,” Parry said.
“Not any more. I've got the big lead now. You handed it to me on a
silver platter. You followed me and kept on following me until
finally you gave me exactly what I needed. Maybe that's the way
things are arranged. I don't know, do you?”

“I’m not out of it yet,” Arbogast
said.

“Maybe it’s got to be that things always
turn out this way,” Parry said. “Maybe there's a certain
arrangement to things and even if it takes a long time it finally
has to work itself out.”

“You’re not taking that car.”

“You can’t tell me what I can take and
what I can't take. All you can do is stand there and tell yourself
you've lost a couple hundred thousand dollars. You know it's
wonderful when guys like you lose out. It makes guys like me
believe maybe we got a chance in this world.”

“I tell you I’m not out of it
yet.”

“Take a walk, mister. Turn around and take
a walk.”

“I’m not through yet,” Arbogast said. “I
started out to get something and I'm gonna get it.”

And he came leaping at Parry. And Parry
lifted the gun and fired in the air hoping to scare Arbogast but
Arbogast was beyond scaring and came slamming into Parry and they
went down together with Arbogast trying for the gun. Parry
stretched his arm back to get the gun away from Arbogast’s hand.
The weight of Arbogast was heavy on Parry and Arbogast went sliding
forward to get the gun and Parry tried to slide away and Arbogast
kept on sliding forward. Parry twisted and rolled but Arbogast was
there now with the gun and trying with both hands to get the gun
out of Parry's hand. Parry held onto the gun. Arbogast used his
knees to keep Parry down and he was still going forward and making
noises down in his throat as he tried to get the gun out of Parry's
hand. Parry wouldn't let go of the gun and Arbogast kept going
forward until he got a knee against Parry's throat and when he knew
he had the knee there he pressed with the knee. Parry's head went
back as the knee went jamming against his throat and hurting and
blocking the air and the knee pressed harder and already it was bad
and then it was very bad and it was getting worse but he wouldn't
let go of the gun. And he had a feeling that his hand had become
part of the gun and it was impossible for anything to get the gun
away from his hand and he had a feeling that Arbogast knew that
also because now the knee was taking everything away from him
because the knee was so heavy and fierce against his throat and
taking everything away from him and now the pain in his throat was
a long tube of pain that went out from both ends, went up to his
eyes and down to his stomach and twirled itself and kept twirling
as the knee pressed harder. And he wouldn't let go of the gun as
the pain went driving into him and going up and down the tube and
in his stomach the tube was glossy and purple and in his brain the
tube was black and burning and somewhere in the middle the tube was
clear and it was a glass tube and he could see into it and know
that Arbogast was no longer trying hard for the gun but trying hard
to kill him with the knee in the throat. He could see it in the
glassy clear middle of the tube, Arbogast burying him here and then
going back to her and getting sixty thousand from her and going
away and getting twenty more thousand from her and going away and
coming back and getting thirty more thousand, forty more thousand,
going away, coming back, going away and coming back and he could
see her giving the money to Arbogast and he could get the sound of
her asking Arbogast where he was and what had happened to him and
Arbogast telling her he was somewhere around and what difference
did it make where he was and what he was doing as long as she gave
the money when she was asked for it. And the pain came slashing
into his throat and pouring into the tube, going up and down, going
fast now and it was killing him. Outside the pain he felt something
on his hand, like a little warm breeze warmer than the warm yellow
air, and he knew it was the breath of Arbogast, coming from the
face of Arbogast close to his hand as Arbogast kept jamming the
knee into his throat. He twisted his hand and, bringing it up as he
twisted it, bringing the gun up, far outside the tube of pain he
heard the scream of Arbogast and then he pulled the
trigger.