Free Bring Him Back Dead by Day Keene

office saw the ambulance go by and checked. Then, knowing I am a friend of Andy’s, he phoned and woke me up.”
    Sheriff Belluche lighted one of the dollar cigars he affected. “You’re here as counsel for Andy?”
    “If he wants me,” Avart said. “But let’s get one thing straight right now. Are you going to play this across the board or is the hush on?”
    Belluche gave the matter some thought. “No, by God,” he said finally. “If I wind up in Angola, this is straight across the board. I know what you think of me, Jean. But there are some things I can’t stomach. And this is one of them.”
    “Just so I know,” the attorney said. He sat in the chair Mullen had vacated. “How do you feel, Andy?”
    “Lousy,” Latour admitted.
    Avart patted his shoulder. “Hang on. In a minute you and I will have a little talk. But right now I want to know where we stand.” He looked at Mullen. “How much do you have on him, Tom?”
    “Plenty,” Mullen said. “There are two empty shells in his gun and Mrs. Lacosta has identified him as the man who rapped on the door of the trailer and demanded admittance. She thinks it was a few minutes just before or just after two o’clock.” He added wryly, “When things began to happen, she was too busy to look at the clock.”
    “Her identification is positive?”
    “She says he flashed his light on his face.”
    Avart lighted a cigarette. “Is that correct, Andy?”
    Latour said, “I was there. I knocked on the door of the trailer. I flashed my light on my face.”
    Sheriff Belluche rolled his cigar between his lips. “It’s true enough about his knocking. According to the story the girl told Doc Walker when he could get her to stop screaming, he knocked so hard he woke Lacosta, who was sleeping in the bedroom. Then when Jacques staggered out into the living area of the trailer, all hell broke loose.”
    “I see,” the lawyer said.
    Latour wished he did.
    Sheriff Belluche continued, “I guess those trailer doors aren’t very strong. Anyway, the screen doors.”
    Avart buttoned his shirt and took a tie from the pocket of his coat. “Never having lived in a trailer, I wouldn’t know.” He knotted his tie. “Now tell me this. How was the alarm sounded so soon? After all, that’s a rather lonely section of the parish.”
    Pringle said, “A field hand tipped us.”
    “White or colored?”
    “I’d say colored. You know how they talk when they’re excited. He said he’d just passed the clearing when one of his tires went flat. He was a little hard to understand. But as I got it, he had his truck jacked up and was changing the tire when he heard the shots. Then when the girl began to scream, he had a fair idea of what was happening. So as soon as he changed his tire, he headed for the nearest phone.”
    “Did you get his name?”
    “No. Like I say, he was pretty excited. And I imagine he didn’t want to get involved in anything concerning a white woman.”
    “What did you do after the call?”
    “I got in touch with Tom and Sheriff Belluche. Then I called Louaillier in to sit on the desk and the three of us drove out there.”
    “I see,” Avart said. “And where did you find Andy?”
    “About a hundred yards this side of the clearing. He was sitting behind the wheel of his car, pretending he was passed out.”
    “That sounds rather stupid to me,” Avart said. “And I think we all agree that whatever else Andy may be, he isn’t stupid. If he’s guilty of the charges against him, I should think he’d have got out of there.”
    “He couldn’t,” Mullen explained. “In his excitement he put his car into reverse instead of drive and backed into the slough. It’s still out there, hub-deep in mud. So he did the next best thing he could do. He pretended he was so drunk he didn’t know what had happened.”
    “I see,” Avart said. “Now let’s hear your side of it, Andy.”
    “I don’t know what they’re talking about. I didn’t hear any shots.