Nightfall by David Goodis Read Free Book Online Page A

dollars slip out of his fingers just like that. And that brings us to another angle. If you really lost the money, you lost it in Colorado. And that means you wouldn't be here if you didn't have the money. You'd still be in Colorado, looking for it.”
      “Colorado is a big place.”
      “Three hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money. Most people I know would use a magnifying glass and search every inch of the state.”
      “Maybe you and I don't know the same kind of people.”
      John threw the cigarette onto the floor, waited until it burned the rug, then stepped on it. He looked at the mashed stub. He said, “We're not getting anywhere.” Then he looked up at Vanning without raising his head. “Are we?”
      Vanning sighed. “We can't get any further than this. I don't know where it is. I tell you I don't know where it is.”
      “Don't get excited,” John said. “We have plenty of time.”
      “I don't look at it that way. If I did, I'd try to stall. I'd try to bargain. I'd ask for some assurance that you'd leave me alone after you had the money, and I'd give you assurance that I'd leave you alone.”
      “You wouldn't have to do that,” John said. “We know you'd leave us alone. We know you wouldn't go to the law. How could you go to the law when the law is looking for you?”
      Vanning frowned. “What do you mean, looking for me?”
      “You're wanted for murder,” John said. “Didn't you know that?”
      “You're way ahead of me,” Vanning said. “I don't remember murdering anybody.”
      John smiled with understanding and patience and allowed it to coast for a while. Then he beckoned with his fingers and said, “Come on, come on.”
      Vanning, without moving his head, could see part of the window at his side, and he wondered if he could make it in a leap. He wondered how far it was to the ground. With a big effort he got his mind away from the window and he said, “How much do you know?”
      “We know you killed him,” John said. “We know the law has you tagged. People saw you with him that night. So the law found out what you looked like. And the car license. That was another thing. Your description tallied with the description of the car owner. And still another thing, the big thing. You bought the car in Los Angeles and you got a license there. That gave them a record of your fingerprints, and the prints checked with prints on the gun.”
      “How do you know all this?”
      “It's the kind of news that gets around,” John said. “Newspapers and people talking and so forth. We hung around in Denver for a while, and then we picked up on you from a tip that came from New Orleans. Later we got another tip from Memphis. And then a third tip from New York. We figured you'd stay in New York for quite a time. It's a nice place to hide. What happened was you were spotted in a Village bar. The man who made the contact had to go and lose you in a traffic jam, but we figured we'd tag you again, sooner or later. And that's the way it adds, so now maybe we can come to terms.”
      “I wish we could,” Vanning said. “I wish I had something to offer.”
      “Put yourself in my place,” John said. “I'm very hungry for that cash. I'm so hungry that I'm willing to give you a slice. Say fifty thousand. How does it sound?”
      “It sounds great. That's what makes this picture so miserable. I just don't know where that money is.”
      John stood up. He said, “Final?”
      “Final,” Vanning said.
      “No,” John said. “I don't think so.” He looked at the two men who stood motionless against the wall.
      “Well?” Pete said.
      “All right.” John was walking toward the door. “You can have him now.”
      Beyond the pain, beyond the spinning and all the gleaming red, and beyond