Flaggerty called in the Casino barman who said I had threatened Herrick. “He said ‘You keep your snout out of my business or I’ll push it through the back of your head’,” the barman told Flaggerty. He looked shocked and sad.
“How much did they pay you to recite that little piece?” I asked.
“Never mind, Cain,” Flaggerty snapped. He turned to the barman. “Okay, that’s all. You’ll be wanted at the trial.”
The barman walked out, still shaking his head.
“Then you returned to the hotel with this woman,” Flaggerty went on, pointing to Miss Wonderly, who’d been brought in. She looked out of place in her blue crepe in the sunshine. She looked unhappy too. I winked at her, but she wouldn’t catch my eye. “You two got drunk. She passed out, and you got brooding about Herrick. You figured he might be dangerous, and might upset your plans, and that made you mad. So you called him and asked him to come over, because you thought you could scare him to lay off you.”
“Don’t be a dope,” I said. “I was the sucker who passed out. Ask baby-face over there. She’ll tell you. Better still, get that bottle of brandy in the next room; it’s full of shut-eye medicine.”
“What brandy?” Flaggerty demanded.
One of the cops went into the bedroom. He came back after a moment or so.
“No brandy,” he said.
There wouldn’t be,” I said, shrugging. “Well, ask her. She’ll tell you.”