whole carney if it spread. And a clem can spread like a flash fire and be just as destructive. So Charlie's had been an important job and he'd handled it perfectly. Despite the fact that he hadn't been a big man he'd been one who could say, "Back there, you," quietly but in a voice that would get quick and positive results with the toughest or the drunkest marks.
What had Charlie been before he'd joined the carney? Dr. Magus remembered his first guess - that Charlie was a red hot, a moderately bi g time gangster or robber, either on the lam or holing in with the carney between jobs.
And he and Mack Irby had become close friends.
So even though Irby had been small time up to then, Charlie Flack, with the guts and the experience Irby lacked, could have taken him in on something big. A jackal would not be afraid to help pull down big game if he had a lion to lead him.
Dr. Magus had another drink, but a short one. He might be on the verge of figuring out something and he wanted to get just a slight edge and hold it. His mind worked best that way.
Or, he wondered, was he kidding himself, reading more into Irby's reactions Monday night than there had been?
Well, there was one person who could confirm part of his guess. Maybelle had known Charlie Flack before he'd joined up; it was probably because of her he'd come here, or at any rate she was the reason he'd chosen this particular carnival. She'd know something at least about what he had been. She might even know whether he and Irby had pulled a job together, although he doubted that.
It would be easy to get out of her whatever she knew and she wouldn't even suspect he was doing it. Maybelle believed in fortune telling and had told him Monday night that she'd like to have him give her a reading sometime. He could look her up now on the excuse of wanting to compare notes on how the police lieutenant had taken their story. And once they'd finished that topic she might suggest the reading herself. If she didn't he could easily enough lead her into it in such a way she'd still think it was her own idea and never in a thousand years suspect him of wanting to get rather than to give information.
He hated the thought of having to go out again in the rain, a steady drizzle now, and the mud. But he sighed and again donned the galoshes and the slicker.
He stepped out, deciding to start his search at the chow top since she'd been there half an hour before and might still be there. But luck was with him and he didn't have to search after all. Sammy was going by. He called and Sammy came over.
"Sammy, do you know Maybelle?"
"Yes, Mr. Magus."
"Will you see if you can find her anywhere around the lot and tell her I said to ask her if she'd drop in the mitt camp as soon as she's free and has time? Look in the chow top first." He dug a quarter out of his pocket and flipped it to Sammy.
Sammy caught it and smiled. A nice smile Sammy had.
"Sure, Mr. Magus, I'll find her. And tell her you want to see her."
"When she's got time, Sammy. Don't make it sound like an emergency."
"Yes, Mr. Magus. Say, will you tell my fortune sometime?"
Dr. Magus laughed. "I'll tell it right now. You're going to get rich, Sammy."
"Gee. You mean paper money, folding money?"
"Lots of it, Sammy."
"When, Mr. Magus? Soon?"
"Maybe sooner than you think, Sammy. Run along now and find Maybelle before you forget what to tell her."
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE MURDERER had not slept well. Not nearly so well as he had slept Monday night after killing Mack Irby.
And in the long hours of last night he had come to the reluctant decision that Dolly Quintana was too dangerous to him to be allowed to live. Rather, it was not Dolly herself who was dangerous - he felt full and complete confidence that she would never give him away, probably would not have even if he had not given her money - but it was the explosive situation caused by Dolly's fear of Leon and Leon's completely psychopathic attitude toward
What had Charlie been before he'd joined the carney? Dr. Magus remembered his first guess - that Charlie was a red hot, a moderately bi g time gangster or robber, either on the lam or holing in with the carney between jobs.
And he and Mack Irby had become close friends.
So even though Irby had been small time up to then, Charlie Flack, with the guts and the experience Irby lacked, could have taken him in on something big. A jackal would not be afraid to help pull down big game if he had a lion to lead him.
Dr. Magus had another drink, but a short one. He might be on the verge of figuring out something and he wanted to get just a slight edge and hold it. His mind worked best that way.
Or, he wondered, was he kidding himself, reading more into Irby's reactions Monday night than there had been?
Well, there was one person who could confirm part of his guess. Maybelle had known Charlie Flack before he'd joined up; it was probably because of her he'd come here, or at any rate she was the reason he'd chosen this particular carnival. She'd know something at least about what he had been. She might even know whether he and Irby had pulled a job together, although he doubted that.
It would be easy to get out of her whatever she knew and she wouldn't even suspect he was doing it. Maybelle believed in fortune telling and had told him Monday night that she'd like to have him give her a reading sometime. He could look her up now on the excuse of wanting to compare notes on how the police lieutenant had taken their story. And once they'd finished that topic she might suggest the reading herself. If she didn't he could easily enough lead her into it in such a way she'd still think it was her own idea and never in a thousand years suspect him of wanting to get rather than to give information.
He hated the thought of having to go out again in the rain, a steady drizzle now, and the mud. But he sighed and again donned the galoshes and the slicker.
He stepped out, deciding to start his search at the chow top since she'd been there half an hour before and might still be there. But luck was with him and he didn't have to search after all. Sammy was going by. He called and Sammy came over.
"Sammy, do you know Maybelle?"
"Yes, Mr. Magus."
"Will you see if you can find her anywhere around the lot and tell her I said to ask her if she'd drop in the mitt camp as soon as she's free and has time? Look in the chow top first." He dug a quarter out of his pocket and flipped it to Sammy.
Sammy caught it and smiled. A nice smile Sammy had.
"Sure, Mr. Magus, I'll find her. And tell her you want to see her."
"When she's got time, Sammy. Don't make it sound like an emergency."
"Yes, Mr. Magus. Say, will you tell my fortune sometime?"
Dr. Magus laughed. "I'll tell it right now. You're going to get rich, Sammy."
"Gee. You mean paper money, folding money?"
"Lots of it, Sammy."
"When, Mr. Magus? Soon?"
"Maybe sooner than you think, Sammy. Run along now and find Maybelle before you forget what to tell her."
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE MURDERER had not slept well. Not nearly so well as he had slept Monday night after killing Mack Irby.
And in the long hours of last night he had come to the reluctant decision that Dolly Quintana was too dangerous to him to be allowed to live. Rather, it was not Dolly herself who was dangerous - he felt full and complete confidence that she would never give him away, probably would not have even if he had not given her money - but it was the explosive situation caused by Dolly's fear of Leon and Leon's completely psychopathic attitude toward
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