“Yeah?” Joe’s eyes snapped. “Well, this guy sent her crazy. He’d got a bad mind, this guy. I guess from what I’ve heard he was a real bastard. He got her to his apartment one night an’ he did things to her. I ain’t tellin’ you what he did—but you can take it from me they were raw. She ran out of the apartment screamin’ like hell, without any clothes on, slap into a copper’s arms. There was an awful stink. The cops got hold of this guy and his dog—”
“His dog?” Hienie said.
Joe shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, he had a dog as big as an elephant.” He lowered his voice. “I guess it was the dog that sent her crazy.”
Hienie sat back. “Hell!” he said.
“That’s how it went. They got her back home, and they couldn’t do a thing with her. She’d just sit around broodin’, not sayin’ a word. I guess old Drutten had a bad time. Then she got on the booze; she got so she must have a man.” Joe shook his head. “It was a bad business. They kept her locked up, away from any guy, until one day one of the old man’s chauffeurs ran into her just after a drinking jag. Of course, she encouraged him, and after that they put her in a home.” Joe shuddered. “She’s bad when she gets with a man. She fixes him. That dame’s got a hell of a way of fixin’ a guy. When she fixes him, she fixes him good.”
Hienie wasn’t listening. He was already making plans. Boy! What a set-up. He’d only have to take the dame to her pa and tip the old man how much he knew, and he’d be in the gravy for the rest of his days.
He turned and looked at Joe. “It stinks,” he said. “I don’t believe a word. Joe, you’re gettin’ out an’ you’re walkin’.”
“You double-crossin’ son of a bitch,” Joe said furiously.
“Cut it out, sucker,” Hienie said viciously. “Get out or I’ll blast you.”
Joe hesitated, then opened the door and slid into the road. Hienie got into the driving-seat and started the engine. “Take it easy, pal,” he called, “the first ten miles are the worst.”