Free Cat and Mouse by William Campbell Gault Page B

odar is back to haunt us. And this time it’s breaking and entering.”
    Odar is the Armenian word for other, for the non-Armenian. I said, “Entering, but not breaking. The door wasn’t locked.”
    “A minor difference. And what is your interest in this woman who was killed, this Jane Meredith?”
    “We think she might have been living with the man who killed Jasper Belton in San Valdesto. This is Jasper’s father.”
    Aram’s broad face became more somber. “I read about what happened, Mr. Belton, but the San Valdesto police never notified us he was here. If he is, I assure you the full cooperation of this department.” He looked at me. “Is this the same man who threatened you?”
    I nodded.
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t even know who he is. I suspect it might be some man I put away when I was working down here.”
    He took a deep breath. “Wait here. I’ll see if any reports have come in to Homicide.”
    He came back five minutes later. Nothing, he told us. None of the neighbors knew the man’s name. He had been living, off and on, with Jane Meredith for the last month. Evidently, she wasn’t a socializer.
    “And,” he added, “the detective who frisked you both reported that neither of you was carrying a gun. Weren’t you taking a big risk?”
    “I guess,” I admitted. “I didn’t bring mine and I don’t think Harley has one. I rarely carry a gun, as you must remember.”
    “Well, that’s one plus for your side. What else have you learned while you were in town?”
    Harley put our list on Aram’s desk. “Here are some of the people who knew my son and also this man we’re looking for. You may copy it, if you wish.”
    “I wish,” Aram said. “I’ll be right back.”
    He came back about ten minutes later. “We’ll check out these names and I’ll also phone San Valdesto. Where are you two staying?”
    “At the Bayside Inn. If we’re not there, leave a message.”
    He promised us he would and warned us to be careful.
    It was a tedious and unproductive trip from then on. We were told what we already knew or told nothing by the resentful kids who probably considered us establishment citizens. Three of them weren’t home; they worked days.
    We stopped in to see Aram on the way back to the motel. I told him what I should have told him earlier, about the Corinth cigarettes. So far as I knew, I explained, they were a rare brand. If they were available in town, a stakeout of the stores that sold them might be a wise move.
    He agreed.
    In the car, Harley said, “Back to San Valdesto? I can’t believe that jerk would stay here when he’s as hot as he is now.”
    “We’ll stay over,” I said. “We still have three places to go tonight.”
    In the room, he said, “I’m going out for a run on the beach. The only thing we’ve been exercising is our mouths.”
    “Did you bring running shoes?”
    “Everywhere I go.”
    I was trying to find a pattern in all that I had learned since my trip to Tritown when Aram phoned around four o’clock. They had located a store that had sold Corinth cigarettes to a man that fit Big Bear’s description. “But we got there an hour late,” he said.
    “He’ll probably be back.”
    “Maybe not. He bought two cartons. And something else. We learned that Jane Meredith withdrew five hundred dollars from her savings account yesterday but we didn’t find a plugged nickel in the house. The man now has traveling money.”
    “If he got it from her, why would he kill her?”
    “Our best guess is that she learned his real name, somehow. Are you staying in town?”
    “At least for tonight. We still have to talk to three people who weren’t home today.”
    “We can handle that. What are their names?”
    “Aram, you know what we both think of your night watch!”
    “Shit, yes! Okay. But report to me tomorrow.”
    “Of course.”
    Harley came in five minutes later, soaked in sweat. I relayed the information Aram had given me. “They were twenty