Lady Killer, page 15
'No,' George said. 'Not Jo,' and he seemed ready to weep.
'Remember that picture I showed you today?' Hawes asked.
'Yes! That wasn't Jo! That was someone else. That's the man—'
'Wasn't it?' Hawes asked. He took the picture and a pencil from his pocket, and hastily went to work on it. 'Wasn't it Jo Cort?' he asked George, and he showed him the changed picture.
'Yes,' George said. 'Yes, that's Jo.'
'Believe me,' Hawes said. 'He tried to kill you.'
George brushed at his eyes. 'He succeeded,' he said.
In the police sedan, with the prisoner between Meyer and Carella on the back seat, Hawes drove leisurely back toward the precinct.
'Why'd you shout "Smith!" when we were leaving?' Carella asked.
'Because I was looking at Meyer's damn box of cough drops, and all of a sudden I remembered.'
'What'd you remember?'
'I remembered a landlady saying, "That's the way he looked this morning." It didn't make sense at the time, but actually it meant he looked different this morning than he had looked on other mornings. And then this girl who lived across the hall from him. She said he'd reminded her of a Russian spy. All he needed was a bomb. And she thought it was funny that his name was Smith. When I asked her why, she said, "Well, the cough drops and all, you know." I thought she was nuts at the time. But tonight, when I saw Meyer's box of Smith Brothers Cough Drops, it all clicked into place. Cort had shaved in the apartment the night before, that's what the scissors and straight razor were doing in that medicine cabinet.'
'It figures,' Carella said. 'He's had that beard since he was eighteen. He thought he wouldn't be recognized without it.'
'And he wasn't,' Hawes said. He stopped for a traffic light. 'But what I don't understand is how he planned to go back to the diner tomorrow morning? He'd be identified immediately.'
'Maybe this'll help you,' Carella said. 'I found it in bis pocket.'
He nipped a soft furry object on to the front seat. Hawes picked it up. 'A false moustache and beard!' he said. 'I'll be a son of a bitch!'
'I guess he planned to wear that until the real McCoy grew back,' Carella said.
'He can grow a real long beard where he's going,' Meyer said. 'Anybody want a cough drop?'
Carella and Hawes burst out laughing.
'Man, I'm weary,' Carella said.
'I guess O'Brien gets to see his ball game, huh?'
The traffic light changed. On the back seat Cort stirred into consciousness. He blinked and then mumbled, 'You stopped me, didn't you?'
'Yeah,' Carella said. 'We stopped you.'
'You've got the light, Cotton,' Meyer said. 'Let's go.'
'What's the hurry?' Hawes asked. 'We've got all the time in the world.'
END
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
McBain, Ed, Lady Killer
