“Ah, g’wan. You make me laugh—you. When they put a lily in your hand, you’ll deserve the Good Boy’s Epitaph.”
“What’s that?” demanded Bob suspiciously.
“ ‘He loved his grandmother.’ ”
“You think you’re funny, don’t you? Well, I wasn’t crazy about this Cosgrove. I would have been ready to do him in. He was no good for Paula, even if he did have all that coin. He was a fast worker, that’s what he was. I guess you ought to know. He was a dirty bum.”
“ ‘Swine’ is what you say in this country.”
“I said I’d have polished him off, and I meant it. Wouldn’t you?”
“Hush up, Bobby. Keep that stuff under your hat. You don’t want somebody to overhear you talking crazy, do you?”
“Well, wouldn’t you?”
Lib lowered her voice and spoke rapidly. “Yes, I would, for a brick like Paula. My God, what a man Cosgrove was! And she fell for him!” Then, “Change the subject, change the subject! To hear you talk like that would give an alligator nervous prostration. Suppose a few of those detectives were in the armoury.”
There was a spell of silence, sharply broken by Lib. “Leggo my hand! What do you think this is, a golf links?”