Katz shrugged. “Well, didn’t you?” he said. He moved round the bed and sat down close to me. “Listen, punk,” he went on, I m goin’ to tell you somethin’… then you’re goin’ to tell me somethin’. We’ve got your jack all right. Blondie lifted it, like you thought she did….”
Blondie made a move forward. “What the hell….” she began.
Katz turned his head. “Shut up,” he said. “I’m handlin’ this. I want this guy to know where he gets off.”
He turned his head back to me. “We’ve been watchin’ you for some time. You went to Vessi’s bump-off, didn’t you?”
I said: “What of it?” It struck me that if this guy talked enough, I might learn something.
“We’re interested to find who sent you… get this right, we don’t care about you… we just want to find who’s paying you; get it?”
I looked at Blondie. I was getting a little of the angle. “I thought you were Vessi’s side-kick,” I said. “I see. I’m wrong. Vessi was framed, an’ you know it. This guy’s no pal of Vessi’s… what the hell are you playin’ ball with him for?”
Blondie said viciously: “You lay off that. Who sent you that five grand… that’s what you gotta tell us.”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell you that… I don’t know myself. I just got a note offerin’ me five grand to bust the frame-up open, an’ I was interested. I went along to see Vessi die…. I didn’t learn anythin’, and the five grand turned up to encourage me, an’ you knocked it off. That’s the history as far as I’m concerned.”
I was careful not to tell them that I had my instructions by ’phone, because I didn’t want to give them a lead that it was a woman. I reckoned I’d given them just enough information without telling them more than they knew.