“Yes, Lieutenant,” Sweeting said, dabbing his eye. “But I don’t know a thing.”
“You might,” Adams said, stretching out his short legs. “I had an idea Johnny Dorman knocked this girl off. How do you react to that one?”
Sweeting looked startled.
“Johnny? He wouldn’t kill anyone!”
“Don’t talk through the back of your neck! Of course he would. He’s as vicious as they come. You knew him pretty well, didn’t you ?”
“I played billiards with him from time to time,” Sweeting said. “Yes, I guess I knew him well, but I haven’t seen or heard from him since he was put in that home. What makes you think he did it?”
“I don’t think he did it now. I said I liked him for the job, but I’ve changed my mind. He threatened to kill her before he went into the home, and that made me think maybe he’d done it.”
“He wouldn’t kill her,” Sweeting said. “He was through with her. I know. He told me. She meant nothing to him after he had beaten her up.”
“Okay. Do you think Holland did it?”
Sweeting hesitated. He wanted to get Ken Holland into trouble if he could, but he decided Adams might not like him to side-track him because of his own private hate.