Benny found the door and knocked on it lightly. He opened it and went in when a voice called out for him to do so. The lieutenant with the red hair was back of a desk.
He said, "Sit down, Benny. Officer Hoff radioed in earlier that you want to confess to two murders. Is that right?"
Benny sat down. "Yes, sir, Lieutenant. I did kill them women, both of them. I choked 'em to death." He held up the evidence—his hands.
The red-haired lieutenant nodded gravely. "Benny, we'll have to hold you overnight and Doc Kranz will talk to you tomorrow. What happens after that depends on what he says. Do you understand?"
Benny nodded. Although he didn't see where a doctor came in, that didn't matter as long as they were going to put him in jail and punish him. Then God and his father would forgive him and everything would be all right.
The lieutenant said, "One thing, Benny. That woman who takes care—that you stay with. Does she know you were coming here? If not, I'll phone her to save her worrying when you don't come home tonight."
Benny shook his head, feeling ashamed of not having thought about Mrs. Saddler. She would worry about him. And wait up. She never went to bed until he got home.
"Let's see," the lieutenant said, reaching to pull the phone book over in front of him. "Her name's Saddler, isn't it? And on Fergus Street?"
"I got her number here, sir," Benny said, glad of a chance to be helpful. He took a card from his pocket and handed it across the desk. It was an "in case of accident or illness, notify" card with Mrs. Saddler's name, address, and phone number on it. She'd asked him to carry it always and once in a while asked him to show it to her so she'd be sure he hadn't lost it.
"Thanks, Benny." The lieutenant took the card and gave the number on it to the switchboard operator over the phone. And then he was saying, "Mrs. Saddler? I'm phoning you about Benny—this is Lieutenant Burton speaking—so you won't worry when he doesn't get home tonight.