“Go into the bedroom and pack some of my stuff in one of the bags. Take the best stuff, and leave the rest, and hurry.”
She went past the waxworks without looking at them, and disappeared into the bedroom.
“Any of you guys know how fast I can pull this rod ?” I asked cheerfully. “If you’re curious, just give me the chance to show you,” and I stuck the gun down the waist-band of my trousers.
None of them moved. There were eight of them, and the stout woman. They were too scared even to bat an eyelid.
I lit a cigarette and blew smoke at Flaggerty.
“You boys have had your fun,” I said, “and now I’m going to have mine. I came here for a vacation. All I wanted to do was to have a good time and spend my roll. But you thought you’d be smart. You wanted to murder Herrick because he was in your way. You picked me for the fall guy, and you nearly got away with it. If you hadn’t been so dumb, you would have got away with it. You killed Herrick, but you haven’t killed me, and you’ll find I’m a lot harder to kill than Herrick. I’m going to find out why you wanted Herrick out of the way, and then I’m going to complete his job. I’m here until I’ve taken this town to pieces and found out what makes it tick. I’m here until I’ve bust your Administration wide open: try to stop me if you can. I don’t like being crowded by a bunch of small-town yeggs. It hurts my pride.”
Still they didn’t say anything.
I beckoned to the Irish cop.
“I want you, brother,” I said.
He came towards me like he was treading on egg-shells; his hands above his head.