Look at the Birdie Part 7

"How much will it cost?" said Harve.

"Fifty dollars to start," said Lemming.

"You mean right now?" said Harve.

"The cla.s.s of people I do business with," said Lemming, "I get paid right away, or I never get paid."

"All I've got with me is twenty," said Harve.

"That'll do nicely for the moment," said Lemming. He held out his hand.

As Lemming was putting the money into his billfold, a policewoman with clacking heels brought Claire Elliot in.

Claire was snow-white. She wouldn't speak until the policewoman was gone. When she did speak, her voice was ragged, barely under control.

Harve embraced her, encouraged her. "We've got a lawyer now," he said. "We'll be all right now. He knows what to do."

"I don't trust him. I don't trust anybody anybody around here!" said Claire. She was wild-eyed. "Harve! I've got to talk to you alone!" around here!" said Claire. She was wild-eyed. "Harve! I've got to talk to you alone!"

"I'll be right outside," said Lemming. "Call me when you want me." He left his briefcase where it was.

"Has anybody threatened you?" Claire said to Harve, when Lemming was gone.

"There's been some pretty rough talk," said Harve.

"Has anybody threatened to kill you?" she said.

"No," said Harve.

Claire whispered now. "Somebody's threatened to kill me, and you-" Here she broke down. "And the children," she whispered brokenly.

Harve exploded. "Who?" he said at the top of his lungs. "Who threatened that?" he replied.

Claire put her hand over his mouth, begged him to be quiet.

Harve took her hand away. "Who?" he said.

Claire didn't even whisper her answer. She just moved her lips. "The captain," her lips said. She clung to him. "Please," she whispered, "keep your voice down. We've got to be calm. We've got to think. We've got to make up a new story."

"About what?" said Harve.

"About what happened," she said. She shook her head. "We mustn't ever tell what really happened again."

"My G.o.d," said Harve, "is this America?"

"I don't know what it is," said Claire. "I just know we've got to make up a new story-or-or something terrible will happen."

"Something terrible already has happened," said Harve.

"Worse things can still happen," said Claire.

Harve thought hard, the heels of his hands in his eye sockets. "If they're trying that hard to scare us," he said, "then they must be plenty scared, too. There must be plenty of harm we could do them."

"How?" said Claire.

"By sticking to the truth," said Harve. "That's pretty plain, isn't it? That's what they want to make us stop doing."

"I don't want to do anybody any harm," said Claire. "I just want to get out of here. I just want to go home."

"All right," said Harve. "We've got a lawyer now. That's a start."

Harve called to Lemming, who came in rubbing his hands. "Secret conference over?" he said cheerfully. "Yes," said Harve.

"Well, secrets are all very fine in their place," said Lemming, "but I recommend strongly that you don't keep any from your lawyer."

"Harve-" said Claire warningly.

"He's right," said Harve. "Don't you understand-he's right."

"She's in favor of holding a little something back?" said Lemming.

"She's been threatened. That's the reason," said Harve.

"By whom?" said Lemming.

"Don't tell him," said Claire beseechingly.

"We'll save that for a little while," said Harve. "The thing is, Mr. Lemming, I didn't commit this murder they say I did. But my wife and I saw who really did it, and we've been threatened with all kinds of things, if we tell what we saw."

"Don't tell," said Claire. "Harve-don't."

"I give you my word of honor, Mrs. Elliot," said Lemming, "nothing you or your husband tells me will go any farther." He was proud of his word of honor, was a very appealing person when he gave it. "Now tell me who really did this killing."

"Ed Luby," said Harve.

"I beg your pardon?" said Lemming blankly. "Ed Luby," said Harve.

Lemming sat back, suddenly drained and old. "I see," he said. His voice wasn't deep now. It was like wind in the treetops.

"He's a powerful man around here," said Harve, "I hear."

Lemming nodded. "You heard that right," he said.

Harve started to tell about how Luby had killed the girl. Lemming stopped him.

"What's-what's the matter?" said Harve.

Lemming gave him a wan smile. "That's a very good question," he said. "That's-that's a very complicated complicated question." question."

"You work for him, after all?" said Harve.

"Maybe I do-after all," said Lemming.

"You see?" Claire said to Harve.

Lemming took out his billfold, handed the twenty dollars back to Harve.

"You quit?" said Harve.

"Let's say," said Lemming sadly, "that any advice you get from me from now on is free. I'm not the lawyer for this case-and any advice I have to give doesn't have much to do with the law." He spread his hands. "I'm a legal hack, friends. That must be obvious. If what you say is true-"

"It is is true!" said Harve. true!" said Harve.

"Then you need a lawyer who can fight a whole town," said Lemming, "because Ed Luby is is this town. I've won a lot of cases in Ilium, but they were all cases Ed Luby didn't care about." He stood. "If what you say is true, this isn't a case-it's a war." this town. I've won a lot of cases in Ilium, but they were all cases Ed Luby didn't care about." He stood. "If what you say is true, this isn't a case-it's a war."

"What am I going to do?" said Harve.

"My advice to you," said Lemming, "is to be as scared as your wife is, Mr. Elliot."

Lemming nodded, and then he scuttled away.

Seconds later, the sergeant came in for Harve and Claire, marched them through a door and into a room where a floodlight blinded them. Whispers came from the darkness beyond.

"What's this?" said Harve, his arm around Claire.

"Don't speak unless you're spoken to," said the voice of Captain Luby.

"I want a lawyer," said Harve.

"You had one," said the captain. "What happened to Lemming?"

"He quit," said Harve.

Somebody snickered.

"That's funny?" said Harve bitterly.

"Shut up," said Captain Luby.

"This is funny?" Harve said to the whispering blackness. "A man and a woman up here who never broke a law in their whole lives-accused of killing a woman they tried to save-"

Captain Luby emerged from the blackness. He showed Harve what he had in his right hand. It was a slab of rubber about four inches wide, eight inches long, and half an inch thick.

"This is what I call Captain Luby's wise-guy-wiser-upper," he said. He put the piece of rubber against Harve's cheek caressingly. "You can't imagine how much pain one slap from this thing causes," he said. "I'm surprised all over again, every time I use it. Now stand apart, stand straight, keep your mouths shut, and face the witnesses."

Harve's determination to break jail was born when the clammy rubber touched his cheek.

By the time the captain had returned to the whispering darkness, Harve's determination had become an obsession. No other plan would do.

Out in the darkness, a man now said in a clear, proud voice that he had seen Harve hit the girl. He identified himself as the mayor of Ilium.

The mayor's wife was honored to back him up.

Harve did not protest. He was too busy sensing all he could of what lay beyond the light. Someone now came in from another room, showing Harve where a door was, showing him what lay beyond the door.

Beyond the door he glimpsed a foyer. Beyond the foyer he glimpsed the great outdoors.

Now Captain Luby was asking Judge Wampler if he had seen Harve hit the girl.

"Yes," that fat man said gravely. "And I saw his wife help him to make a getaway, too."

Mrs. Wampler spoke up. "They're the ones, all right," she said. "It was one of the most terrible things I ever saw in my life. I don't think I'll ever forget it."

Harve tried to make out the first row of people, the first people he had to pa.s.s. He could make out only one person with any certainty. He could make out the policewoman with the clacking heels. She was taking notes now on all that was being said.

Harve decided to charge past her in thirty seconds.

He began to count the seconds away.

Part Two Harve Elliot stood in front of a blinding light with his wife, Claire. He had never committed a crime in his life. He was now counting off the seconds before he would break jail, before he would run away from the charge of murder.

He was listening to a supposed witness to his crime, to the man who had actually committed the murder. Ed Luby, somewhere behind the light, told his tale. Luby's brother, a captain on the Ilium Police Force, asked helpful questions from time to time.

"Three months ago," said Ed Luby, "I turned my restaurant into a private club-to keep undesirable elements out." Luby, the expert on undesirable elements, had once been a gunman for Al Capone.

"I guess those two up there," he said, meaning Harve and Claire, "didn't hear about it-or maybe they figured it didn't apply to them. Anyway, they showed up tonight, and they got sore when they couldn't get in, and they hung around the front door, insulting the members."

"You ever see them before?" Captain Luby asked him.

"Back before the place was a private club," said Luby, "these two used to come in about once a year. The reason I remembered 'em from one year to the next was the man was always loaded. And he'd get drunker in my place-and he'd turn mean."

"Mean?" said the captain.

"He'd pick fights," said Luby, "not just with men, either."

"So what happened tonight?" said the captain.

"These two were hanging around the door, making trouble for the members," said Luby, "and a dame came out in a taxi, all by herself. I don't know what she figured on doing. Figured on picking up somebody on the way in, I guess. Anyway, she got stopped, too, so I had three people hanging around outside my door. And they got in some kind of argument with each other."

All that interested Harve Elliot was the effect Luby's tale was having on the mood in the room. Harve couldn't see Luby, but he sensed that everyone was watching the man, was fascinated by him.

Now, Harve decided, was the time to run.

"I don't want you to take my word for what happened next," said Luby, "on account of I understand some people claim it was me who hit the girl."

"We've got the statements of other witnesses," said the captain sympathetically. "So you go ahead and give us your version, and we can double-check it."