“God! My head. How did I get in here?”
Beery said: “Papa carried you.” He stood up and went to the door for a minute, came back and sat down. “And what a piece of business! You were out on your feet — absolutely cold — squeezed that iron, one, two, three, four, five, six — like that. One in the wall about six inches above my head, five in baby-face.”
“That was O’Donnell.” Kells closed his eyes and moved his head a little. Beery nodded. “Who hit me?”
“Rose.”
Kells looked interested. “What with — a piano?”
“A vase...”
“Vahze.”
Beery said: “A vase — a big one out of the bedroom. I don’t think he had a gun.”
“Would you mind beginning at the beginning?” Kells closed his eyes again.
“After you left, Fenner and Gowdy sat there like a couple bumps on a log, afraid to crack in front of me.”