ELEVEN

I went directly to police headquarters. I demanded to see Captain

Marion. After fifteen minutes they let me see him.

I told him that I thought Ruth's disappearance had something to do with

Fitzmartin. He looked older and tireder. He nodded without surprise.

He said, "She knew George pretty well. Maybe she remembered something

George said about Fitzmartin. So she tried to check it out herself.

Maybe he'd think she was the only one who'd guess. I've thought of

that, Howard. I don't like it. I've got a crew out there searching the

yard. I thought of something else, too. Maybe Grassman guessed. Maybe

that's why something happened to him. Thanks for coming in, Howard. I

added it up about a half hour ago. I don't like the total."

"Can I help in any way?"

"You look like hell. You better try to get some sleep."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep."

I drove back out to the motel. It no longer seemed important about

meeting Antoinette in the morning. It didn't matter any more. I had

come here to Hillston to find treasure. I had thought I would find it

buried in the ground. I had found it walking around, with dark red

hair, with gray eyes, with a look of pride. And I hadn't recognized it.

I had acted like a fool. I had tried to play the role of thief. But it

didn't fit. It never would fit. The money meant nothing. Ruth meant

everything. I had had a chance and I had lost it. They don't give you

two chances.

I parked in front of my motel room. The office was dark, the _No

Vacancy_ sign lighted. Cars sat in the light of an uneasy moon, and the

travelers slept.

I unlocked the door with my key and stepped inside, reaching for the

light switch. Something came out of the darkness and slammed against my

jaw. Pain blossomed red behind my eyes, a skyrocket roaring was in my

ears and I felt myself fall into nothingness.

I came to in a brightly lighted place. I opened my eyes and saw nothing

but the white glare and closed them quickly. The white glare hurt.

My hands were behind me, fastened there somehow. I was in an awkward

position. Something soft filled my mouth, holding it open.

I opened my eyes again, squinting. I saw that I was in the small tile

bathroom of the motel. The door was closed. I lay on my side on the

floor. Earl Fitzmartin sat on the side of the tub. He wore khakis.

He looked at me with those eyes like smoke. His pale colorless hair

was tousled. I could sense at once that he had gone beyond the vague

borderline of sanity. It was like being in a cage with an animal.

He stood up, closed the lid on the toilet, bent over me, picked me up

with disconcerting ease, and sat me on the closed lid, holding me for

a moment until he was certain I wouldn't topple over. He sat on the rim

of the tub again, facing me.

"We aren't going to talk over a whisper, Tal. We aren't going to make

any sudden noises. If we make any sudden noises I'm going to snap your

neck with my hands. It wouldn't be hard to do. Nod your head if you're

going to be quiet."

I nodded. He took a knife out of his pocket, opened the blade, and

leaned toward me. He put the cold steel against my cheek, holding it

there, smiling in an odd way, then yanked it toward him, cutting the

strip of sheeting that held the dry washcloth in my mouth. I pushed the

washcloth out with my tongue and it fell to the floor at my feet.

"Where's Ruth?"

"That was just a little bit too loud. Not much too loud. Just a little

bit. So soften it up, Tal. Ruth is all right."

"Thank God."

"Not God. Me. I had the idea, not God. She was on the ground. On her

face. Out like a light. I took hold of that wonderful hair in my left

hand and I pulled her head up. I held this little knife against her

throat. It's sharp enough to shave with. I was about to pull it through

her throat when I suddenly began to wonder if she might be worth

something. So I didn't do it. She's all right. Don't thank God. Thank

Earl Fitzmartin. She isn't comfortable. She isn't happy. But she's

still alive, Tal."

"Where is she?"

"Not over a half mile from here. But you don't know what direction.

It's across country. I was trained to fight at night. I move well at

night, Tal. I'm good at night. You know how I used to get around the

camp. You remember that. She's well tied, Tal. She can't even wiggle.

She can't make a sound. You're really worried about her, aren't you?

She came to the yard. For a little heart-to-heart talk. Did they find

the bodies, Tal?"

"They tore up the garage floor."

"Now they can ask George all about it. But George won't have a word to

say. George isn't talking. George didn't have much more left. Just

a little equity in the lumberyard. A little stock in the store. Not

enough left to stay around for. He was good for forty-seven thousand,

seven hundred dollars. It should have been more. He didn't have to give

up. He could have gotten on the ball and started making more. He could

have tried to fatten up the kitty. But he was selfish. He would have

lived longer."

"You killed him."

"That was a shade too loud, Tal. Just a bit too loud. How are you

coming with Cindy, Tal. Find her?"

"You took an awful chance killing George."

He smiled again. "You won't believe this, but I didn't kill him. He

started to come to while I was stripping him, but I poured more liquor

into him. I read that people drown themselves and shoot themselves and

cut their wrists naked. Did you know that? Very interesting. I got him

propped on the side of the bed. I got the muzzle with the towel around

it between his teeth. The gun was about the only thing holding him up.

I wanted the angle to be right and I wanted to do it when there was a

lot of noise on the floor. But I wanted to do it, Tal. You know, you

plan a thing, and work it out just right, you want to do it. But he

opened his eyes. He looked right at me. He looked ridiculous, with the

gun in his mouth. He looked right at me and put his big toe against the

trigger before I could stop him. I don't know if it was an accident.

What do you think?"

"I think he did it on purpose."

"So do I. So do I. It makes me feel a little strange. He maybe did it

like a joke. He did that well. He didn't do much else well. He didn't

do well marrying that woman or burying her, either. I thought I'd hit

the sixty thousand when I dug under the pines. But it turned out to be

the woman and the salesman. It disappointed me, Tal. But it turned out

to be just like finding money, didn't it?"

"They're all after you now."

"Do you think that worries me? Now hear this. It doesn't worry me a

bit. Maybe you ought to be worried. Where is Grassman? I didn't think

you could get out of that. You surprised me a little, Tal. I thought

it would give you the jumps. What did you do with it?"

"I hid the body in a barn, an abandoned barn."

"And I bet you did some sweating. Grassman was smart. He was in my

league, Tal. Not yours. He added things up. He was a pro. He added

things, up and came after the money. He knew I had to have it around

somewhere. He knew I was too smart to spend it. I caught him looking

for it. We had a little talk. He got rough. I got mad and hit him too

hard. That made it awkward. I put him in the back end of my car. I

didn't know where to dump him. I was thinking of an alley, so they'd

think he'd been mugged. But I found your car by accident. It saved me a

lot of time. After I killed Grassman, I knew I had to get George out of

the way. He was the only one who could tie me to Grassman. It took some

planning, and some luck. I won't have time to work on the Cindy angle.

How are you coming?"

I could see the shape of it. George could tie him to Grassman and

George was dead. I could tie him to both of them. It was only through

his greed that I could buy time, buy my life. "I found her."

He waited ten seconds. He said, "A hundred and seven thousand sounds

better than forty-seven. I think I better have that much before I take

off, Tal."

"They're going to get you."

"I don't think so. I don't figure it that way. They might have got me

if I'd cut her throat. I wanted to. But I didn't let myself. They would

have hunted me too hard. Now you can trade information for her, Tal.

If she doesn't mean anything to you, too bad. I can kill you right

here and go and kill her and be on my way and be careful and take

my chances. I couldn't leave you here telling them about George and

Grassman and then finding my sixty thousand. I'd rather nobody found

it."

"Somebody is going to find it, anyway. The girl is going to find it.

She knows where it is."

"Where is it, Tal?"

"She wouldn't tell me. I told her too much. I couldn't find out any

other way. She's--more in your league, Fitz. I'm picking her up

tomorrow morning in Redding. At ten o'clock. She's going to go with me

to where the money is hidden."

He smiled in that wild, unpleasant way. "You're kidding the troops,

boy. You're stalling. I scared you and you're making things up. You're

just smart enough to know that if you are going to get it tomorrow, and

yet you don't know where it is, I've got to leave you alive. You're

that smart, and that's why you made it up."

"It's the truth."

"I don't think it's the truth at all. I think maybe you haven't gotten

any place. I think I've stalled around here too long. I think I'd like

to hear your neck snap. I can do it so quick you'll hardly know it

happened. Maybe you won't know it at all."

"Wait a minute. Look in the closet in the bedroom. Her luggage is

there."

For the first time he looked uncertain. He turned out the bathroom

light and went into the next room. He came back with the two suitcases.

He shut the door, turned the light on again. He opened them and looked

at the clothing.

"This is pretty good stuff. This belongs to her? What's it doing here?"

"We were going to get the money and go off together."

I could see him appraise that, and half accept it. "But I don't like

the idea of letting you go and get it. I can't keep an eye on you."

"Fitz, listen to me. I don't give a damn about the money. You can have

every cent of it after I get it. I'll trade all of it for Ruth Stamm.

Then see how it will be. You'll have the hundred and seven thousand.

They think George was a suicide. Maybe they'll never find Grassman. I

covered the body with hay. The barn is about to fall down. Nobody ever

goes in there. They won't look as hard for you. You'll be a lot safer."

"You're lying. This is a stall."

"It's not. I'll prove we were going to go away together when we got

the money. Look for the small black box in the bottom of the smaller

suitcase. Under all the clothes. Yes, that's it. Look under the

partition."

He took the money out. He riffled through it. He folded it once and

put it in his shirt pocket. He looked at me for long moments, his eyes

dubious.

I do not like to think about the next half hour. He put the gag back in

my mouth. He had his strong hands, and he had the small sharp knife,

and he had a sadistic knowledge of the nerve ends. From time to time

he would stop and wait until I quieted down, then loosen the gag and

question me. The pain and humiliation made me weep like a child. Once I

fainted. Finally he was satisfied. He had learned how much I thought of

Ruth. He had learned that I knew that we had to go where the money was

hidden by boat. He knew that I had guessed we would start from the Rasi

house north of town. And he knew that I knew no more than that.

After that he cut my hands loose. He was perfectly safe in so doing. I

was too enfeebled by pain to be any threat to him.

"You'll get the money. You'll dig it up. You'll come back here with it."

"No."

He took a quick half step toward me. I couldn't help flinching. Memory

of what he could do was too clear.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't trust you to do what you promise, Fitz. I've got to

know Ruth will be all right. I've got to know she'll be safe. Or you

don't get the money."

"I broke you this far. You want to be broken the rest of the way?"

"I don't think you can do it."

After a long time he gave a shrug of disgust. "Maybe not. How do you

want it worked?"

"I want to see her. I want to see that she's alive before I give you

the money. It could be by the river. Then if you try to cross me, I'll

throw the money in the river. I swear I'll do that."

"You would, wouldn't you? You're making it rough. I can't risk being

seen."

"I'll see that we start off by boat at one o'clock. I don't know how

far we have to go or how long it will take. You could bring her to the

Rasi house at two."

"It's a risk."

"It's isolated. There's no phone there. At least I don't think they

have a phone. I'll give you the money and I'll see that you get a fair

start. That's the most I can do. I won't try to make it any safer for

you."

"But you promise a fair start?"

"I promise that."

He snapped out the bathroom light. I heard the door open, and then

heard the outer door open and close. I walked unsteadily through the

dark room to the front door. I opened it. The moon was gone. A wind

sighed across the flats on the far side of the road. There was no sign

that Fitzmartin had ever been there. The night was still. He was very

good in the night. I remembered that.

There was a first-aid kit in the trunk compartment of my car. I got it.

The small cuts had not bled very much. I cleaned myself up and bandaged

the cuts. I ached all over. I felt sick and weak, as though I were

recovering from a long illness. I kept seeing his eyes. His powerful

hands had punished nerves and muscles. Even my bones felt bruised and

tender.

I went to bed. I was certain that Ruth was still alive. I hoped his

greed would be stronger than his wish to kill. I hoped his greed would

last through the night. But there was something erratic about his

thought patterns. There was an incoherency about the way he had talked,

jumping from one subject to the next. He had a vast confidence in his

own powers.

I wondered where he had Ruth. A half mile away. Across country. Maybe

she was in his car, and it was parked well off a secondary road. Maybe

he had found a deserted shed.

As I lay awake, trying to find some position in which I could be

comfortable, I heard it begin to rain. The rain was light at first,

a mere whisper of rain. And then it began to come down. It thundered

on the roof. It made a drench of the world, bouncing off the painted

metal of the cars, coming down as though all the gates of the skies had

been opened.