1979 - You Must Be Kidding by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online Page B

you in the cabin last night?’
    ‘Yes, I was, alone, I like being alone sometimes. I like to unwind after working in this dump all the week.’ Karen fluttered her eyelashes at him. ‘Don’t you like to be alone sometimes, Mr. Lepski?’
    Into Lepski’s shrewd mind came a doubt. This sexy piece might be trying to con him.
    ‘You heard nothing? No screams? Nothing?’
    ‘I was watching T.V. Do you dig T.V.? I guess you’re too busy to be able to watch much. I find it relaxing.’
    Lepski smiled his wolfish smile.
    ‘What were you watching, Miss Sternwood?’
    He saw her eyes flicker, and he knew, from his long experience as a cop, he had sunk in a punch that told him she was lying.
    ‘Oh, something.’ She shrugged, once more on even keel. ‘Does it matter? Some goon screaming.’
    ‘You didn’t hear a car?’
    ‘I’ve told you, Mr. Lepski, I didn’t hear a thing. Who is this girl? What happened?’
    Lepski stared at her, his cop eyes cold.
    ‘It was a messy murder, Miss Sternwood. I’m glad you were safe in your cabin, watching T.V. I wouldn’t like anyone to see what this killer did to this girl.’
    Karen grimaced.
    ‘How awful!’
    ‘That’s right, Miss Sternwood. So you can’t help me? You saw no one, heard nothing . . . right?’
    She tilted her chin at him.
    ‘That’s right.’
    They regarded each other, then Lepski tipped his hat.
    ‘Thanks, Miss Sternwood.’ He paused, then gave her a long hard cop stare. ‘Miss Sternwood, this is no business of mine, but spending weekends in that lonely cabin entirely on your own could be dangerous.’
    ‘Thank you, Mr. Lepski.’ She smiled brightly at him. ‘As you say, no business of yours.’
    As soon as Lepski had gone, Ken appeared, white faced and shaken.
    Looking at him, Karen said sharply, ‘Come on! Relax!’
    ‘That guy with the beard we ran into!’ Ken said. ‘If the police find him and he talks, he could prove you were lying.’
    Karen returned to her desk and sat down.
    ‘It would be his word against mine, and my word, plus Pop’s word, draws a lot of water,’ she said and began typing.
     
    * * *
     
    At 17.00, there was a conference around Chief of Police Terrell’s big desk. Sitting before him were Sergeant Beigler, Sergeant Hess, Detective 1st Grade Lepski and Detective 3rd Grade Jacoby.
    The various police reports that had flowed into Terrell’s desk had been summarized: reports from Hess, the M.O., Lepski, Jacoby and other detectives.
    ‘Janie Bandler,’ Terrell said. ‘She kept a diary. She has been on the hoof as an itinerant prostitute for some years. That’s about all we know of her. Dr. Lowis tells us she was knocked on the head, stripped, raped, strangled and ripped. This is a savage, sex nut murder. So far, none of the hippies have come forward with any useful information. None of them seemed to have seen or heard anything.’
    ‘I’m checking every one of them out,’ Hess said. ‘There were about fifty of them at the time of the killing. It’ll take a little lime.’
    Terrell nodded.
    ‘From what we have, it would seem the only possible lead is Lu Boone who admits being near the scene of the killing at the time of the killing. The killer must have had blood on his clothes.’ Terrell glanced at Lepski. ‘You checked his clothes and found them clean.’
    ‘Yeah, but I’m pretty sure he knows something. He either saw someone or else he’s the killer. When I questioned him, I got the impression he was lying. He played it too cool. He says he has money, likes to live rough and plans to stay at the colony for a couple of weeks.’
    ‘Check on him, Fred,’ Terrell said.
    ‘I’m doing it,’ Hess returned.
    ‘Right. Now we come to Miss Sternwood who owns this cabin within two hundred yards of the murder scene.’
    ‘I talked to her,’ Lepski said. ‘She’s a smart sexy cookie. She admits being in the cabin at the time of the murder, watching T.V. She claims to have been listening to some goon singing.