Ross Macdonald - 1960 - The Ferguson Affair Read Online Free PDF Page B

           “I
wanted Larry to know what I thought of him and his lousy ring. Broadman was a
friend of his, and I thought he’d probably tell him.”
                 “How
would Broadman know where you got the ring?”
                 “I
told him.”
                 “You
told Broadman?”
                 “Yes.”
                 “He
knew that Larry gave you the ring?”
                 “After
I told him, he must have.”
                 We
sat and looked at each other.
                 “You
think Larry killed Broadman, don’t you?” the girl said.
                 “Or had him killed.”

  Chapter
4
                 I
GOT IN TOUCH with Wills and a Deputy District Attorney named Joe Reach. We
convened with Ella Barker in the interrogation room on the first floor of the
courthouse. Ella went through her story again. It was recorded on stenotype and
wire by an elderly court reporter named Ed Gellhorn .
                 There
are some quite honest people who make poor witnesses because they can’t tell
the same story twice with any degree of conviction. Ella’s story hadn’t been
too plausible in the first place. The second time around, told in surges of
hysterical assurance with stretches of dismal self-doubt in between, it sounded
like something she was making up as she went along. Wills and Reach didn’t
believe her. To make matters worse, they assumed that I didn’t, either.
                 Wills
kept bringing up the name Donato, trying to make her admit that she knew the
wanted man. Reach kept insisting that she had been fully aware of Gaines’s
activities, and probably accessory to them. You didn’t shack up with a guy—
                 I
stopped him there. “That’s enough, Joe. Miss Barker has made a full and
voluntary statement. You’re trying to twist it around into a confession.”
                 “Any
twisting that’s being done, I think I know who’s doing it.”
                 “What’s
this about a blonde woman?” Wills put in. “This one you said you saw at
Gaines’s place in the canyon.”
                 “I
saw her, all right,” Ella said.
                 “Can
you describe her?”
                 She
looked around the circle of male faces, half despairing.
                 “I
said, can you describe her?”
                 “Give
her a chance to collect her thoughts, Lieutenant.”
                 Wills
turned on me. “You don’t have to think to describe a subject, not if you’re
telling the truth.”
                 “Why
would I lie about her?” Ella said.
                 “Just in case she never existed, for instance. If she
existed, describe her to us.”
                 “I’m
trying to. She was very good-looking. Not so fresh, if you know what I mean, and
not a natural blonde, I don’t think, but very good-looking. You ever go to the
movies?”
                 “What’s
that got to do with it?”
                 “You
ever see this new actress they have, name of Holly May? The woman that Larry
was smooching with looked like Holly May.”
                 Wills
and Reach exchanged incredulous glances. Reach said: “What would a movie
actress be doing with riffraff like him?”
                 “I
didn’t say it was her. I said it looked like her.”
                 “You’re
certain she existed?”
                 I
got angry at this point, told Ella to say no more, and left the room. Wills and
Reach followed me into the anteroom.
                 “You’re
making a mistake,” the Lieutenant said. “This is a murder case now. That little
client of yours is dipping her tootsies into very hot water. You better lay out
all your cards on the table.”