Free The Blue Movie Murders by Ellery Queen Page A

murder?”
    Kozinski shrugged. “I don’t know. Until tonight I never would have thought him capable of murder.”
    â€œYesterday he tried to assault a black striker, George Watts.”
    â€œI know Watts. He’s a good man.”
    â€œWhat did Tanner have against him, besides his colour?”
    Kozinski shifted uneasily, touching fingers gently to the bandage on his head. “I don’t know. I never heard anything except plant gossip.”
    â€œAnd what was the gossip?”
    â€œWell—the usual things. Watts was getting too much money. You know.”
    â€œBut there had to be something more. Watts as much as told me there was.”
    â€œI …”
    â€œSomething about the movies they made there. You know about the movies, don’t you, Jack?”
    Kozinski hung his head. “I heard some of them talking.”
    â€œTell me.”
    â€œGeorge Watts was in one of them, because they wanted a big black man making love to a white girl.”
    â€œI see.” McCall heard a suppressed gasp from April. “Go on.”
    â€œWell, you know Tanner. First they take the jobs, and then they get paid for making love to white women. He couldn’t take that standing still. He was out to teach Watts a lesson.”
    â€œDid you see this film?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWho was the girl with Watts?”
    â€œSome prostitute from downstate. They used to bring girls in regularly.”
    â€œWho brought them in?”
    â€œThe people that made the films.”
    â€œI need names, Jack.”
    â€œAsk Watts, not me. All I heard was talk.”
    â€œXavier Mann?”
    â€œYeah, sure. It couldn’t have gone on all this time without him knowing about it.”
    â€œMayor Jordan?”
    â€œMaybe, years back.”
    â€œSol Dahlman?”
    â€œI told you, I never heard the name. It was before my time.”
    â€œDid Tanner ever mention Dahlman?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œAll right,” McCall said. He glanced at his watch. It was past ten o’clock, but he thought there was still time for one more visit. “Do you know where George Watts lives?”
    â€œSure. Over in Camptown, the other side of the city. You don’t want to go over there, though. Not this late at night.”
    â€œI’ll take my chances. Give me the address, and then April will drive you home.”
    â€œWhat about me?” the girl asked.
    â€œI’ll see you tomorrow,” McCall told her. “But there are some things won’t wait. I want to see Watts while Tanner is still locked up.”

EIGHT
    Thursday, May 13 and Friday, May 14
    His dashboard clock showed a few minutes before eleven as McCall pulled up and parked in front of the address Kozinski had given him. It was a single house crowded in among its neighbours, with a grassless yard that had once been protected by a low picket fence. Now, in the too-bright glow of the overhead street light, there was nothing but a yard full of hard-packed dirt and a shadowed house with a tilting front porch.
    As he mounted the steps and reached out a hand towards the doorbell, a rasping voice commanded, “Put your hands nice and high, or you’re a dead man.”
    McCall strained to see beyond the curtained window into the blackness of the room. “Watts? Is that you, George?”
    â€œThat’s me, and I got two barrels of a shotgun aimed right at your gut.”
    â€œThis is McCall. Don’t you remember? We talked yesterday.”
    â€œThat was yesterday.”
    â€œLook, George, I’ve got news for you. Tanner is in jail. You’ve got nothing to fear now.”
    â€œIn jail?”
    â€œThat’s right. At least for a day or two. And when he gets out on bail he’s not about to stir up any more trouble right away.”
    â€œSo you came here to tell me that?”
    â€œI want to talk with you, George. You’ll remember our conversation was interrupted