The Soft Centre

‘Thresby here,’ the manager of the Florida Banking Corporation said. ‘I thought you would be interested. This morning, Mrs. Burnett paid the twenty thousand dollars back into her account… the money we thought was blackmail money.’

Terrell scowled and ran his fingers through his greying hair.?‘The same numbers?’?‘Yes. She paid in the exact bills we issued to her.’?‘Thanks. I don’t know what it means, but it looks as if we’ve got off to a false start.’ ‘That’s what I think. Suppose we forget it? A man like Travers… you know what I mean.’ ‘Yeah. Okay. Henry, be seeing you and thanks for calling.’ Terrell hung up.?‘So what now?’ Beigler asked.?‘Mrs. Burnett paid the money she gave to Hare back into her account… so that let’s Hare out. Now, why in hell, did she do that? How did she manage to get the money away from Hare?’

‘Do we still talk to Karsh?’

Terrell hesitated.?‘We haven’t a thing to go on. We can’t bring a charge against Hare for blackmail now. If we start something we can’t finish with Burnett, we’ll have Travers on our necks. Don’t let’s rush this.’

He picked up his pen and began to make holes in his blotter with it.?‘Has the U-Drive car been checked for prints?’?‘Sure… it’s been wiped clean. No prints.’?‘If we could find Burnett’s prints in the motel cabin we would be getting somewhere. Did you check the knife for prints?’

‘Only the Lang woman’s and yours.’?‘Send Jacobs to Gustave’s sanatorium right away. Tell him to see Gustave and get Gustave to give him something Burnett has handled. Then get Hess to check through his list of prints in the cabin and see if Burnett was there.’

Beigler left the office. Terrell kept making holes in his blotter until Beigler returned. ‘He’s on his way. How about Karsh?’

‘Yeah. Let’s talk to the creep. Maybe he’ll open up.’?‘Maybe: the same way as he’ll join the Salvation Army.’ Beigler said.

Karsh was brought in. He was pale, worried and jumpy.

Terrell asked him about the U-Drive car.?‘So what’s it to you?’ Karsh demanded indignantly. ‘I’m getting sick of the way you cops keep shoving me around. I happened to be driving in the district and I found the car. I told this jerk it looked as if it were dumped. Can’t I do another guy a good turn without you stamping all over me?’

‘How did you find it?’?‘I tell you… I was driving around. The frigging car was dumped. I was curious … it’s my nature to be curious… so I checked the tag, found it belonged to the U-Drive outfit and as I was passing, I dropped in and told them. I was doing them a good turn.’

‘Imagine you doing anyone a good turn,’ Beigler sneered. ‘If you think we believe a yarn like that, you need your head examined.’

‘Okay, so I need my head examined.’?‘What did you find in the car, Karsh?’ Terrell demanded, leaning across the desk and glaring at Karsh.

‘What do you mean? I didn’t find a goddamn thing!’?‘I think you did. You found a sports jacket with blood on it!’

Karsh was too wily a bird to be caught with that one. Although sweat began to appear on his narrow forehead, he went through the act of looking amazed.

‘Blood? Jacket? Look, Chief, honest to God I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ ‘There was a blood-stained jacket in the back of that car and you found it!’?‘I found nothing! I don’t know what you’re talking about! If I had found anything, I’d have turned it over to you. I saw this car, I thought it was dumped. I tipped off the U-Drive people.’ Karsh shifted in his chair. ‘I swear to God…’

‘You found out the name of the woman who hired the car and you telephoned her, didn’t you?’

Karsh rolled his eyes.

‘Wait a minute… just out of curiosity, I did ask Morphy who had rented the car, but I didn’t telephone her. Where did you get that from?’

‘You telephoned this woman and you asked if she had lost her driving licence, didn’t you?’ ‘Not me, Chief. You’re confusing me with someone else. Not me.’

For the next hour, Terrell and Beigler battered away at Karsh, but they didn’t break him. Finally, in disgust, Terrell had to admit defeat. He had no proof. He was sure Karsh was lying, but he knew he was wasting his time trying to get him to admit anything.

‘Get him out of my sight!’ he said finally and walked over to the window, turning his back on Karsh as Beigler hustled him out.

There was another irritating wait, then Hess came in.?‘Nothing, Chief,’ he said. ‘Jacobs gave me Burnett’s prints, but they don’t show on my list.’

Terrell grunted and waved him away. He looked over at Beigler who was drinking coffee. ‘Well, that’s it. It’s my bet Burnett did the job, but we can’t nail it on to him … anyway, not yet. Maybe not ever.’

Beigler picked up the Sue Parnell file.?‘We keep this open then?’?‘That’s it,’ Terrell said as he began to fill his pipe. ‘You never know. We may have some luck. I don’t know how long he’ll stay in the sanatorium. As long as he’s there, he’s safe, but if he comes out, he could do it again. If he does, then we’ll have him. These killers usually try it again. Yes keep the tile open.’