‘Any idea what happened?’ Purvis said, dropping back on his pillow and frowning up at the ceiling.
‘The Gil is girl cal ed on her brother tonight. She left around eleven-thirty. I watched Gillis’s window until he turned off the light and presumably went to bed. It was after two before I got away. I ran into Ainsworth on his way to relieve Burns. I went with him. We found Burns’s car near Baird’s place, but no Burns. A cop told us Baird had left his house, carrying hand-baggage, about five minutes before we showed up, and Burns had gone after him. We went after them. Obviously from the direction, Baird was heading for the railroad depot. We found Burns in an alley, bleeding like a pig, and the top of his head shoved in. No sign of Baird.’
Purvis made clicking noises with his tongue.
‘Is Burns bad?’
‘Yeah, but the croaker says he’ll survive.’
‘Did you go to the depot?’
‘Ainsworth did while I took Burns to hospital. The ticket agent told Ainsworth that Baird had booked through to Shreveport.’
Purvis sat bolt upright in bed.
‘Shreveport! You sure?’
‘Of course I am. What’s the excitement?’