The Pastor’s Daughter: Episode XXXIII

Back in Middle River, around nine o’clock the following morning, and still in bed, I called Phorbus Taylor again. He said he had had a call from our Trenton office for more details of Vito Roselli’s life in Atlantic City and in Baltimore, and could I do anything about it? I said it might be an idea if he went to Atlantic City instead of me.

“I would love to,” he said, “but Candace’s not in today. She’s fooling around with the stuff at Brittany’s family house. I just can’t leave the office without someone to handle the telephone calls, at least.”

“So Candace is not there now?”

“She asked for the day off. She will be at Brittany’s family house around ten o’clock. She said Reverend Waters wanted the place cleared.”

“She’s right,” I said. “That’s what the Reverend does want. Anyway, I’ll go over there and send her back so you can get off.”

“I’m surprised you don’t want to handle this yourself,” Phorbus said. “This story is a score: it’s the biggest story  in years.”

"As you are taking over the Middle River office,” I said, “this is now your story. I will get Candace  back to you at, say, half-past eleven. There’s a train to Atlantic City at two o’clock. So it’s important  you get yourself a reservation before it’s too late.”

“I will do that pronto,” he replied.

I got out of my bed, took a shower, shaved and dressed. Then I drove down to Brittany’s family house and rang the bell. Candace opened the door.

“Hello Harry,” she said, smiling.

“What’s up,” I said, and following her into the lounge, I went on, “You having enough fun here?”

“Fun?” she said. “I’m working my ass off here! That’s not my idea of fun Harry. Anyway, I’m packing now. There’s so much to clear. I hope to be done in about half an hour.”

“So you have gotten rid of it all, then?”

“Yes.” She sat on the arm of one of the chairs and looked at me. “What’s been happening Harry?”

I dropped into a chair near to hers.

“Plenty,” I said. I went on to tell her about the capture of Vito Roselli. “Phorbus wants to get down to Atlantic City. He’s waiting at the office now for you to relieve him. You’d better get off, Candace. Leave the rest of these stuff here for me. I will take care of them.

“There’s plenty of time,” she said. “You just said he’ll catch the two o’clock train. Harry, how did you know that Vito Roselli was in this vacation house?”

I looked at her.

“Does it bother you?” I said.

“Not really,” she replied. “But I’m asking you, Harry. It’s too good to be true. I mean, you are smart enough to know that. Every policeman in Trenton and Baltimore area has been looking for Vito Roselli. Then  you find him. So, let me ask you again: how did you know he was there? If I don’t ask you, sooner or later the police will.”

She is right, I told myself. And, now she had put the question, I was surprised that Lieutenant Reid  hadn’t asked me.

“I could see the sense in that,” I said. “But it’s a very long story.”

“I want to hear it, Harry,” she replied. “You have deliberately kept  away from me. You think I didn’t know, right? Please don’t deny it. It will hurt me more if you do. You are involved somehow in this Brittany business, aren’t you?  You knew she was calling herself Mrs. Graham Reed. There’s something wrong somewhere, Harry. And I’m worried. I want you to tell me now.”

“I don’t want you to get involve, Candace,” I said. “Stop asking questions. Brittany was murdered. I didn’t kill her but, for some reasons, the police have an idea that I did. See? I can’t tell you anything without getting you involved.”

Her small hands turned into fists.

“Why should I care?” she said. “I want to know. Harry, please. What kind of trouble are you in?”

“I’m in a lot of trouble, Candace. But I can’t tell you the details without making you an accessory, see? That will be unfair of me. So, you’ve got to keep clear of it.”

“Did Brittany mean anything to you?”

I hesitated.

“At one time I think she did, but not when I found out how rotten she was. I was so stupid…”

“Don’t say it,” she said. “I know how it was. Just tell me what happened Harry.”

“I can’t!” I got to my feet and wandered over to the window. “I put myself into this mess, and so I should face the music alone.”

“Are you scared Reverend Waters will find out?”

“I’ve got beyond that. He’s offered me the job to be in charge of Trenton Office. When he finds out that I fooled around with his daughter, I won’t get it. The Trenton Office job is important to me, Candace.”

“You’ll leave Middle River?”

“That was the idea,” I replied. “But it looks now as if I won’t have a job at all as soon as Reverend Waters knows what I’ve been up to.”

The silence in the room was so sharp that I turned and looked at her. My God! Her eyes were full of unshed tears and she had lost color.

“Don’t look like that Candace,” I said. “The end of the world hasn’t come yet.”

“Not to you perhaps,” she said.

For the first time since I had known her I realized what this beautiful girl really meant to me. I went over to her and put my hands on her hips. Then, pulling her to me, I said, “Okay, you win. I’m in a hell of a mess. And, I should drown on it alone because it’s my own stupid fault. I just don’t feel it’s fair for me to drag you into it by telling you too much. Like I said before, they could hang an accessory rap on you if you know too much.”

“You don’t understand, Harry,” she said, beginning to cry. “Do you think I care about all that? It’s you I care about, Harry.”

My lips came down on hers as she raised her face, which was glistening with tears. We stood like that for a long moment. I remembered my experience with Brittany. I became scared and gently pushed her back.

“This isn’t the right way, Candace,” I said. “I guess I must have been crazy to have chased after Brittany – that crazy tramp. Anyway, it’s too late now. No need to cry over spilled milk. I’ve got to pay the price for what I did. Keep clear of me, Candace. You must stay away from an undesirable like me.”

She smiled at me and then moved her fingers up into my hair.

“I can help you if you let me, Harry,” she said. “I know I can. Do you want me to?”

“I want you to stay away from me. I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.”

“Harry, do you love me a little? You know me very well, but do I mean a thing to you?”

“Of course you do! It was stupid of me to take this long to find out.” I pulled her to me again. “But that’s beside the point, Candace. I will need a lot of luck to survive this problem that I have. Lieutenant Ludlum is more or less convinced that I’m the guy he’s looking for.”

“But, can you do me a favor? Can you tell me what really happened? Please don’t keep anything back. Start right from the very beginning. I’d like to know.”

I sat down and told her. I didn’t hold a thing back – I gave her the whole story, starting from the day Brittany arrived in Middle River.

She sat listening, her face pale. When I had finished, she said, “Oh my, it’s been dreadful for you!”

“Yes – it has been bad, but then I brought it on myself. If I could only pin Brittany’s death on councilman McCutchen I could be in the clear. But it’s a hard nut to crack, and I just can’t see how I’m going to do it.”

“Your story rings true, Harry,” she said. “You must tell Lieutenant Ludlum the whole story just as you’ve told it to me. I’m sure he’ll understand. It’s very important that you tell him.”

I shook my head.

“The evidence against me are numerous. Now don’t get me wrong: I should have told him before. But I didn’t. So, if I tell him now, he’ll think I lost my nerves and I’m trying to get out of this problem. In the end, he’ll arrest me and then I won’t be able to get after councilman McCutchen. I’ve got to take care of councilman McCutchen myself if possible.”

“No, please, Harry. You must tell Lieutenant Ludlum. I’m so sure it’s the only thing to do that I can bet on it.

“Well, I will think about it, to please you since you insisted. I’m not ready to tell him yet”

“Harry! I’ve suddenly remembered something,” Candace  said, jumping to her feet. “Yesterday while I was here the postman brought a carton of film addressed to Brittany.”

I stared at her.

“A carton of film!”

“Yes,” she said. “She must have sent it  to be processed.”

My heart started thumping painfully.

“Are they with you here?”

“Yes,” she said, opening her handbag and taking out a yellow carton. “It may be a film she took in Atlantic City.”

As she said that, she held out the carton to me. I was about to reach for it when the door swung open and we both turned quickly.

Councilman McCutchen stood in the doorway, and he grinned widely.

“Let me have that,” he said. “I have been waiting for the damn thing to turn up for days. Come on, give it here, or else…”

END OF EPISODE XXXIII

P.S. Episode Thirty-Four  will be published here next Monday.