“Jason Cordell of the Mirror?”
“Yes, they got into a fight of some sort. Ben was discharged, and he didn’t take it very well.”
“Was he a hard drinker?”
“Ben? Not that I ever heard. I used to think he was a pretty fair reporter, but he made enemies.”
Penny nodded, and without explaining why the information interested her, bade Salt goodnight. Leaving the Star building by the back stairway, she walked slowly toward the bus stop.
As she reached the corner, she heard the scream of a police car siren. Down the street came the ambulance, pulling up only a short distance away. Observing that a crowd had gathered, Penny quickened her step to see who had been injured.
Pushing her way through the throng of curious pedestrians, she saw a heavy-set man lying unconscious on the pavement. Policemen were lifting him onto a stretcher.
“What happened?” Penny asked the man nearest her.
“Just a drunk,” he said with a shrug. “The fellow was weaving all over the street, and finally collapsed. A storekeeper called the ambulance crew.”
Penny nodded and started to move away. Just then, the ambulance men pushed past her, and she caught a clear glimpse of the man on the stretcher. She recognized him as Edward McClusky, a deep water diver for the Evirude Salvage Company. She knew too that under no circumstances did he ever touch intoxicating liquors.