XIV + 

The Crumpled Chrysler + 

We climbed to the path again and went on to the CollinsonsтАЩ house. I showed Rolly the stained towels, handkerchief, dress, and slippers; the paper that had held morphine; the gun on CollinsonтАЩs floor, the hole in the ceiling, and the empty shells on the floor. + 

тАЬThat shell under the chair is where it was,тАЭ I said; тАЬbut the otherтБатАФthe one in the cornerтБатАФwas here, close to the gun, when I saw it before.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou mean itтАЩs been moved since you were here?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut what good would that do anybody?тАЭ he objected. + 

тАЬNone that I know of, but itтАЩs been moved.тАЭ + 

He had lost interest. He was looking at the ceiling. He said: + 

тАЬTwo shots and one hole. I wonder. Maybe the other went out the window.тАЭ + 

He went back to Gabrielle CollinsonтАЩs bedroom and examined the black velvet gown. There were some torn places in itтБатАФdown near the bottomтБатАФbut no bullet-holes. He put the dress down and picked up the morphine paper from the dressing-table. + 

тАЬWhat do you suppose this is doing here?тАЭ he asked. + 

тАЬShe uses it. ItтАЩs one of the things her stepmother taught her.тАЭ + 

тАЬTch, tch, tch. Kind of looks like she might have done it.тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah?тАЭ + 

тАЬYou know it does. SheтАЩs a dope fiend, ainтАЩt she? They had had trouble, and he sent for you, andтБатАФтАЭ He broke off, pursed his lips, then asked: тАЬWhat time do you reckon he was killed?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. Maybe last night, on his way home from waiting for me.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou were in the hotel all night?тАЭ + 

тАЬFrom eleven-something till five this morning. Of course I could have sneaked out for long enough to pull a murder between those hours.тАЭ + 

тАЬI didnтАЩt mean nothing like that,тАЭ he said. тАЬI was just wondering. What kind of looking woman is this Mrs.┬аCollinson-Carter? I never saw her.тАЭ + 

тАЬSheтАЩs about twenty; five feet four or five; looks thinner than she really is; light brown hair, short and curly; big eyes that are sometimes brown and sometimes green; white skin; hardly any forehead; small mouth and teeth; pointed chin; no lobes on her ears, and theyтАЩre pointed on top; been sick for a couple of months and looks it.тАЭ + 

тАЬOughtnтАЩt be hard to pick her up,тАЭ he said, and began poking into drawers, closets, trunks, and so on. I had poked into them on my first visit, and hadnтАЩt found anything interesting either. + 

тАЬDonтАЩt look like she did any packing or took much of anything with her,тАЭ he decided when he came back to where I was sitting by the dressing-table. He pointed a thick finger at the monogrammed silver toilet-set on the table. тАЬWhatтАЩs the G. D. L. for?тАЭ + 

тАЬHer name was Gabrielle Something Leggett before she was married.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, yes. She went away in the car, I reckon. Huh?тАЭ + 

тАЬDid they have one down here?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬHe used to come to town in a Chrysler roadster when he didnтАЩt walk. She could only have took it out by the East road. WeтАЩll go out that-away and see.тАЭ + 

Outside, I waited while he made circles around the house, finding nothing. In front of a shed where a car obviously had been kept he pointed at some tracks, and said, тАЬDrove out this morning.тАЭ I took his word for it. + 

We walked along a dirt road to a gravel one, and along that perhaps a mile to a gray house that stood in a group of red farm buildings. A small-boned, high-shouldered man who limped slightly was oiling a pump behind the house. Rolly called him Debro. + 

тАЬSure, Ben,тАЭ he replied to RollyтАЩs question. тАЬShe went by here about seven this morning, going like a bat out of hell. There wasnтАЩt anybody else in the car.тАЭ + 

тАЬHow was she dressed?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬShe didnтАЩt have on any hat and a tan coat.тАЭ + 

I asked him what he knew about the Carters: he was their nearest neighbor. He didnтАЩt know anything about them. He had talked to Carter two or three times, and thought him an agreeable enough young fellow. Once he had taken the missus over to call on Mrs.┬аCarter, but Carter told them she was lying down, not feeling well. None of the Debros had ever seen her except at a distance, walking or riding with her husband. + 

тАЬI donтАЩt guess thereтАЩs anybody around here thatтАЩs talked to her,тАЭ he wound up, тАЬexcept of course Mary Nunez.тАЭ + 

тАЬMary working for them?тАЭ the deputy asked. + 

тАЬYes. WhatтАЩs the matter, Ben? Something the matter over there?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe fell off the cliff last night, and sheтАЩs gone away without saying anything to anybody.тАЭ + 

Debro whistled. + 

Rolly went into the house to use DebroтАЩs phone, reporting to the sheriff. I stayed outside with Debro, trying to get moreтБатАФif only his opinionsтБатАФout of him. All I got were expressions of amazement. + 

тАЬWeтАЩll go over and see Mary,тАЭ the deputy said when he came from the phone; and then, when we had left Debro, had crossed the road, and were walking through a field towards a cluster of trees: тАЬFunny she wasnтАЩt there.тАЭ + 

тАЬWho is she?тАЭ + 

тАЬA Mex. Lives down in the hollow with the rest of them. Her man, Pedro Nunez, is doing a life-stretch in Folsom for killing a bootlegger named Dunne in a hijacking twoтБатАУthree years back.тАЭ + 

тАЬLocal killing?тАЭ + 

тАЬUh-huh. It happened down in the cove in front of the Tooker place.тАЭ + 

We went through the trees and down a slope to where half a dozen shacksтБатАФshaped, sized, and red-leaded to resemble boxcarsтБатАФlined the side of a stream, with vegetable gardens spread out behind them. In front of one of the shacks a shapeless Mexican woman in a pink-checkered dress sat on an empty canned-soup box smoking a corncob pipe and nursing a brown baby. Ragged and dirty children played between the buildings, with ragged and dirty mongrels helping them make noise. In one of the gardens a brown man in overalls that had once been blue was barely moving a hoe. + 

The children stopped playing to watch Rolly and me cross the stream on conveniently placed stones. The dogs came yapping to meet us, snarling and snapping around us until one of the boys chased them. We stopped in front of the woman with the baby. The deputy grinned down at the baby and said: + 

тАЬWell, well, ainтАЩt he getting to be a husky son-of-a-gun!тАЭ + 

The woman took the pipe from her mouth long enough to complain stolidly: + 

тАЬColic all the time.тАЭ + 

тАЬTch, tch, tch. WhereтАЩs Mary Nunez?тАЭ + 

The pipe-stem pointed at the next shack. + 

тАЬI thought she was working for them people at the Tooker place,тАЭ he said. + 

тАЬSometimes,тАЭ the woman replied indifferently. + 

We went to the next shack. An old woman in a gray wrapper had come to the door, watching us while stirring something in a yellow bowl. + 

тАЬWhereтАЩs Mary?тАЭ the deputy asked. + 

She spoke over her shoulder into the shackтАЩs interior, and moved aside to let another woman take her place in the doorway. This other woman was short and solidly built, somewhere in her early thirties, with intelligent dark eyes in a wide, flat face. She held a dark blanket together at her throat. The blanket hung to the floor all around her. + 

тАЬHowdy, Mary,тАЭ Rolly greeted her. тАЬWhy ainтАЩt you over to the CartersтАЩ?тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm sick, Mr.┬аRolly.тАЭ She spoke without accent. тАЬChillsтБатАФso I just stayed home today.тАЭ + 

тАЬTch, tch, tch. ThatтАЩs too bad. Have you had the doc?тАЭ + 

She said she hadnтАЩt. Rolly said she ought to. She said she didnтАЩt need him: she had chills often. Rolly said that might be so, but that was all the more reason for having him: it was best to play safe and have things like that looked after. She said yes but doctors took so much money, and it was bad enough being sick without having to pay for it. He said in the long run it was likely to cost folks more not having a doctor than having him. I had begun to think they were going to keep it up all day when Rolly finally brought the talk around to the Carters again, asking the woman about her work there. + 

She told us she had been hired two weeks ago, when they took the house. She went there each morning at nineтБатАФthey never got up before tenтБатАФcooked their meals, did the housework, and left after washing the dinner dishes in the eveningтБатАФusually somewhere around seven-thirty. She seemed surprised at the news that CollinsonтБатАФCarter to herтБатАФhad been killed and his wife had gone away. She told us that Collinson had gone out by himself, for a walk, he said, right after dinner the previous night. That was at about half-past six, dinner having been, for no especial reason, a little early. When she left for home, at a few minutes past seven, Mrs.┬аCarter had been reading a book in the front second-story room. + 

Mary Nunez couldnтАЩt, or wouldnтАЩt, tell us anything on which I could base a reasonable guess at CollinsonтАЩs reason for sending for me. She knew, she insisted, nothing about them except that Mrs.┬аCarter didnтАЩt seem happyтБатАФwasnтАЩt happy. SheтБатАФMary NunezтБатАФhad figured it all out to her own satisfaction: Mrs.┬аCarter loved someone else, but her parents had made her marry Carter; and so, of course, Carter had been killed by the other man, with whom Mrs.┬аCarter had now run away. I couldnтАЩt get her to say that she had any grounds for this belief other than her womanтАЩs intuition, so I asked her about the CartersтАЩ visitors. + 

She said she had never seen any. + 

Rolly asked her if the Carters ever quarreled. She started to say, тАЬNo,тАЭ and then, rapidly, said they did, often, and were never on good terms. Mrs.┬аCarter didnтАЩt like to have her husband near her, and several times had told him, in MaryтАЩs hearing, that if he didnтАЩt go away from her and stay away she would kill him. I tried to pin Mary down to details, asking what had led up to these threats, how they had been worded, but she wouldnтАЩt be pinned down. All she remembered positively, she told us, was that Mrs.┬аCarter had threatened to kill Mr.┬аCarter if he didnтАЩt go away from her. + 

тАЬThat pretty well settles that,тАЭ Rolly said contentedly when we had crossed the stream again and were climbing the slope toward DebroтАЩs. + 

тАЬWhat settles what?тАЭ + 

тАЬThat his wife killed him.тАЭ + 

тАЬThink she did?тАЭ + 

тАЬSo do you.тАЭ + 

I said: тАЬNo.тАЭ + 

Rolly stopped walking and looked at me with vague worried eyes. + 

тАЬNow how can you say that?тАЭ he remonstrated. тАЬAinтАЩt she a dope fiend? And cracked in the bargain, according to your own way of telling it? DidnтАЩt she run away? WasnтАЩt them things she left behind torn and dirty and bloody? DidnтАЩt she threaten to kill him so much that he got scared and sent for you?тАЭ + 

тАЬMary didnтАЩt hear threats,тАЭ I said. тАЬThey were warningsтБатАФabout the curse. Gabrielle Collinson really believed in it, and thought enough of him to try to save him from it. IтАЩve been through that before with her. ThatтАЩs why she wouldnтАЩt have married him if he hadnтАЩt carried her off while she was too rattled to know what she was doing. And she was afraid on that account afterwards.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut whoтАЩs going to believeтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm not asking anybody to believe anything,тАЭ I growled, walking on again. тАЬIтАЩm telling you what I believe. And while IтАЩm at it IтАЩll tell you I believe Mary Nunez is lying when she says she didnтАЩt go to the house this morning. Maybe she didnтАЩt have anything to do with CollinsonтАЩs death. Maybe she simply went there, found the Collinsons gone, saw the bloody things and the gunтБатАФkicking that shell across the floor without knowing itтБатАФand then beat it back to her shack, fixing up that chills story to keep herself out of it; having had enough of that sort of trouble when her husband was sent over. Maybe not. Anyway, that would be how nine out of ten women of her sort in her place would have played it; and I want more proof before I believe her chills just happened to hit her this morning.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell,тАЭ the deputy sheriff asked; тАЬif she didnтАЩt have nothing to do with it, what difference does all that make anyway?тАЭ + 

The answers I thought up to that were profane and insulting. I kept them to myself. + 

At DebroтАЩs again, we borrowed a loose-jointed touring car of at least three different makes, and drove down the East road, trying to trace the girl in the Chrysler. Our first stop was at the house of a man named Claude Baker. He was a lanky sallow person with an angular face three or four days behind the razor. His wife was probably younger than he, but looked olderтБатАФa tired and faded thin woman who might have been pretty at one time. The oldest of their six children was a bowlegged, freckled girl of ten; the youngest was a fat and noisy infant in its first year. Some of the in-betweens were boys and some girls, but they all had colds in their heads. The whole Baker family came out on the porch to receive us. They hadnтАЩt seen her, they said: they were never up as early as seven oтАЩclock. They knew the Carters by sight, but knew nothing about them. They asked more questions than Rolly and I did. + 

Shortly beyond the Baker house the road changed from gravel to asphalt. What we could see of the ChryslerтАЩs tracks seemed to show that it had been the last car over the road. Two miles from BakerтАЩs we stopped in front of a small bright green house surrounded by rose bushes. Rolly bawled: + 

тАЬHarve! Hey, Harve!тАЭ + 

A big-boned man of thirty-five or so came to the door, said, тАЬHullo, Ben,тАЭ and walked between the rose bushes to our car. His features, like his voice, were heavy, and he moved and spoke deliberately. His last name was Whidden. Rolly asked him if he had seen the Chrysler. + 

тАЬYes, Ben, I saw them,тАЭ he said. тАЬThey went past around a quarter after seven this morning, hitting it up.тАЭ + 

тАЬThey?тАЭ I asked, while Rolly asked: тАЬThem?тАЭ + 

тАЬThere was a man and a womanтБатАФor a girlтБатАФin it. I didnтАЩt get a good look at themтБатАФjust saw them whizz past. She was driving, a kind of small woman she looked like from here, with brown hair.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat did the man look like?тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, he was maybe forty, and didnтАЩt look like he was very big either. A pinkish face, he had, and gray coat and hat.тАЭ + 

тАЬEver see Mrs.┬аCarter?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬThe bride living down the cove? No. I seen him, but not her. Was that her?тАЭ + 

I said we thought it was. + 

тАЬThe man wasnтАЩt him,тАЭ he said. тАЬHe was somebody I never seen before.тАЭ + 

тАЬKnow him again if you saw him?тАЭ + 

тАЬI reckon I wouldтБатАФif I saw him going past like that.тАЭ + 

Four miles beyond WhiddenтАЩs we found the Chrysler. It was a foot or two off the road, on the left-hand side, standing on all fours with its radiator jammed into a eucalyptus tree. All its glass was shattered, and the front third of its metal was pretty well crumpled. It was empty. There was no blood in it. The deputy sheriff and I seemed to be the only people in the vicinity. + 

We ran around in circles, straining our eyes at the ground, and when we got through we knew what we had known at the beginningтБатАФthe Chrysler had run into a eucalyptus tree. There were tire-marks on the road, and marks that could have been footprints on the ground by the car; but it was possible to find the same sort of marks in a hundred places along that, or any other, road. We got into our borrowed car again and drove on, asking questions wherever we found someone to question; and all the answers were: No, we didnтАЩt see her or them. + 

тАЬWhat about this fellow Baker?тАЭ I asked Rolly as we turned around to go back. тАЬDebro saw her alone. There was a man with her when she passed WhiddenтАЩs. The Bakers saw nothing, and it was in their territory that the man must have joined her.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell,тАЭ he said, argumentatively; тАЬit could of happened that way, couldnтАЩt it?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah, but it might be a good idea to do some more talking to them.тАЭ + 

тАЬIf you want to,тАЭ he consented without enthusiasm. тАЬBut donтАЩt go dragging me into any arguments with them. HeтАЩs my wifeтАЩs brother.тАЭ + 

That made a difference. I asked: + 

тАЬWhat sort of man is he?тАЭ + 

тАЬClaudeтАЩs kind of shiftless, all right. Like the old man says, he donтАЩt manage to raise nothing much but kids on that farm of his, but I never heard tell that he did anybody any harm.тАЭ + 

тАЬIf you say heтАЩs all right, thatтАЩs enough for me,тАЭ I lied. тАЬWe wonтАЩt bother him.тАЭ + 