The Soft Centre

‘Sit down,’ she said. ‘Where did it happen?’?‘The Park Motel at Ojus,’ Terrell said, sitting down near her. Beigler took a seat at the table and opened his notebook.

‘I’ve continually warned her,’ the woman said in a cold, flat voice, ‘but that doesn’t help, does it. Do you know who did it?’

‘Not yet,’ Terrell said. ‘I’m hoping you could help me.’?‘It could be anyone. My sister led the kind of life that must eventually end in violence.’ Joan Parnell made an angry gesture. ‘People have got to work out their own destinies. She wouldn’t listen to me. Well, now she’s dead.’

‘Will you tell me about her?’ Terrell asked.

‘You’ve guessed, haven’t you? She was a harlot. That’s all there is to it.’?‘We found an address book among her possessions,’ Terrell said. ‘It contains some two hundred names. I take it, these men were her clients?’

Joan Parnell shrugged.?‘How do I know? All I do know is she made a lot of money and spent a lot of money. We didn’t meet very often.’

‘It’s just possible,’ Terrell said, ‘that the dead woman might not be your sister. I’d be glad if you’d come with us and identify her.’

Joan Parnell grimaced.?‘I hate the sight of death. Oh, well, I’ll come.’

It was while they were driving to the City morgue that Terrell asked, ‘Did your sister have any particular boy friend?’ He was watching Joan and saw her hesitate.

‘If you mean did she have a pimp, then she didn’t,’ she said finally. ‘There was a man she lived with for a couple of years. She was crazy about him until he walked out on her. I had warned her about him, she wouldn’t listen…she never listened to me. I knew he would drop her in time.’

‘Who is he?’?‘Lee Hardy; he’s some kind of bookmaker.’

Terrell and Beigler exchanged glances.

Terrell asked, ‘How long ago was it since he dropped her?’?‘About three months. He got himself another woman. Sue went on a bender when he threw her out.

She didn’t sober up for three weeks.’?‘Would he have any reason to murder her?’?‘Not unless she made a nuisance of herself. He is a man who could do anything… anything rotten.’

Terrell absorbed this. He was still thinking about it when the car arrived at the morgue. Minutes later, they were standing behind the sheet- covered body. Beigler hovered in the background.

Carefully, Terrell turned down the sheet to reveal Sue Parnell’s dead face. He looked questioningly at Joan who had lost colour.

‘That’s my sister,’ she said, her voice suddenly harsh. Before Terrell could prevent her, she caught hold of the sheet and flicked it off the naked and mutilated body. She stood as if turned to stone as Beigler hurried forward to help Terrell recover the body.

‘So that’s it!’ she exclaimed. ‘I had an idea you were keeping something from me!’ She turned to Terrell, her eyes blazing with fury that startled him. ‘You listen to me! You find this killer! If you don’t, then I will! No man is going to get away with doing that to my sister! All right, she wasn’t much, but you don’t do that to any woman and get away with it no matter how low she is!’ She turned and ran with unsteady steps out of the morgue.

‘Go after her and take her home,’ Terrell said. ‘We’ll talk to her again later.’

Beigler hurried after Joan. He was in time to see her get into a passing taxi. As the cab moved away, he caught a glimpse of her white gaunt face and her glittering eyes.

He went thankfully back to Terrell who was locking the door of the morgue. ‘She’s gone… took a taxi,’ Beigler said.?‘Let’s see if Hess has anything to report, then we’ll talk to Hardy.’

The two men walked over to where the police car was parked.?*****

Val and her father drove back to the Spanish Bay hotel. She was tense and unhappy. She felt her father’s sympathy had switched away from her while she had been with Chris and she braced herself, knowing what was coming.

It wasn’t until they were back in the hotel suite that Travers said in a quietly modulated voice, ‘Val… I think you should pack right away and come back with me. I have to catch the five o’clock plane. Will you hurry? We can talk on the plane.’

‘I’m staying here, Daddy. What should I do in New York with Chris out here?’

Her father restrained an impatient gesture.?‘I’ve talked to Gustave,’ he said. ‘He says there is a chance of Chris eventually recovering, and I want you to grasp this as it is very important—in the meantime this odd blackout Chris has had makes it necessary for him to be under restraint. As he is willing to be a voluntary patient, he need not be certified, but if he shows signs of wanting to leave the sanatorium, he would have to be.’

‘That’s all the more reason why I should stay here and see him every day,’ Val said steadily.

‘I don’t think Gustave wants you to see him every day, Val.’?‘He can’t stop me.’

Travers stared down at his well shaped hands, frowning.?‘Well, Vat, I suppose I’ll have to tell you. Chris could become violent.’