If Death Ever Slept

I had no reason to think there would be any occasion for the gun, but ever since Jarrell had opened the drawer and found his gone I had felt unfurnished. A man who-I beg your pardon-a woman who steals a loaded gun deserves to be treated with respect. As for the keys, they were routine equipment when calling on a stranger who might have useful information and who might or might not be home. There would probably be no occasion for them either, but I dislike waiting in dark halls with nothing to sit on.

The address, which I got from my notebook, on 49th Street between Second and Third avenues, was above the door of an old five-story building that was long past its glory if it had ever had any. In the vestibule, I found EBER in the middle of the row of names, and pushed the button. No click. I pushed it five times, with waits in between, before giving up. I certainly wasn’t going to do my waiting there, if any, and the old Manson lock was no problem, so I got out the keys, selected one, and in less than a minute was inside. If the position of his name in the row was correct he was two flights up, and he was-or his name was on the jamb of a door in the rear, with a button beside it. When I pushed the button I could hear the ring inside.

I was in the dark hall with nothing to sit on that I don’t like to wait in. Since there might be some information inside, in some form or other, that I could get more easily with him not there, I was sorry I hadn’t brought Orrie along, because with a lookout there would have been nothing to it, but in three minutes I was glad I hadn’t. That was how long it took me to decide to go on in, to get the lock worked, to enter, to see him sprawled on the floor, and to check that he was dead. Then I was glad Orrie hadn’t come.

He was backside up, so I didn’t have to disturb him in order to see the hole in the back of his head, a little below the center. When I spread the hair it looked about the right size for a.38, but I wasn’t under oath. Standing up, I looked around, all the way around. There was no gun in sight, and it couldn’t very well be under him. I didn’t have to sniff to get the smell of powder, but there were no open windows, so it would take it a while to go.