“Alley?” Curly queried. “What alley?”
“Where the side door is.”
“I never noticed any side door on any alley. Me, I went in at the front—tonight and the other two times I’ve been there. I went there the first time with Pearl—I mean Miss Florrine——”
“Got real well acquainted for three days, didn’t you, son? Quite a few folks must have noticed it, one place and another. And it never occurred to you, I s’pose, that when Millie said she wa’n’t going to supper with you, it might be because she thought prob’ly you’d rather be out again with the new girl. I don’t know that, but I don’t guess it’s a bad shot in the dark.
“Girls are fussy that a way about dividing their time with new ladies,” he went on. “Millie didn’t tell me either that or anything else about it all, but I gathered from something she said that you had trompled on her feelings. That didn’t stop her saying she knew you didn’t kill him, though.”
“Who do you suppose did, judge?”
“No more idea’n the man in the moon,” Pres had to admit. “But we aim to do some investigatin’ between now and sunup, me and this friend of mine that’s a detective. I see you’re wearing the usual red handkerchief.”
Curly’s fingers went to it.
“What’s that got to do with things?”
“I dunno,” the ex-ranger replied. “I dunno as it’s got anything to do with ’em a-tall. I only happened to notice it. Have you happened, escortin’ her round to one place and another, to meet any of Miss Florrine’s friends?”