The Cop on the Corner Read Free Page A

another shot of gin right now,” Gladys said.

         “Shut up,” Vince said.

         “Let's go back two years ago,” Elrick began. “It was New Year's Eve. Everybody was happy. Everybody was making noises. Tooting horns and wearing paper caps and—”

         “Here we go again,” Gladys said. “Right down Memory Lane.”

         “Shut up,” Vince said.

         Elrick continued, “New Year's Eve at Jimmie Renzelli's place.” He paused. He saw that Gladys was shivering again. He saw that Vince was stiffening. He went on, “I was there that night. I was off duty. I was having a swell time. I was even a bit cockeyed. But not so much that I couldn't remember afterward.”

         “Remember what?” Vince said, and the meekness was gone and the query was flipped out harshly.

         “Plenty!” Elrick replied, and he made it loud. “You had an argument with Renzelli that night. A big argument—about a lot of things, mainly Gladys. Now look, Vince, if you get up off that bed, if you make one move I don't like, I'll send a bullet into you. Now sit still and listen. You got tough with Renzelli. You had Lou with you and you decided to settle things once and for all. Well, like I said before, I was carrying a big package of bourbon inside me but I knew what was taking place though, I knew that Jimmie Renzelli was anything but a model lad. I didn't want to see any trouble.

         “You and Lou had followed Renzelli into his office and I opened a side door where I could see and hear everything that was going on. I saw you and Lou standing near Renzelli. And you were telling him to leave town. You were telling him that if you ever saw him inside city limits again, you'd shoot him down. Ain't that right, Vince?”

         Perspiration flowed glimmeringly along Vince's forehead. He touched the tips of his trembling fingers to his lips.

         “Yeah, that's right,” he said.

         “So you told Lou to open a window. You pulled a rod and you held it on Renzelli and you told him to climb out the window. Then he pleaded with you to let him stay around. He promised that he'd leave Gladys alone. He promised that he'd never cross you again. He was on his knees. But you had that rod pointed at his head and you laughed at him. You reminded him of what a tough guy he had always been, and how often he had bullied you. And once again you said that if you ever saw him in this town again, you'd put bullets in him.”

         VINCE looked at his hands which were shaking. He looked at Gladys. She was sobbing again. He looked at Elrick. “Why are you bringing that up now? It happened two years ago.”

         “If it happened thirty years ago, I wouldn't be forgetting it,” the cop said. “My job won't let me forget things like that. And so, Vince, I'm arresting you for the murder of Jimmie Renzelli!”

         Paralysis dominated the short, heavyset guy. For a moment it seemed that he was going to collapse.

         “Murder?” he whispered.

         “Don't bother to fake it, Vince. I've seen that act pulled too many times already . Your best bet is to come along without any trouble.”

         “I didn't kill Renzelli!” Vince screeched. He started to leap away from the bed, but the muzzle of Elrick's gun was like a rivet, and it cast frigidity upon him. He gulped and he was trying hard to pull himself together.

         “Believe me, Elrick, I don't know anything about this,” he said. “I'll admit I got tough with Renzelli that night. I told him to leave town. And he did. Since then I haven't seen him.”

         Something was happening to Gladys. Her eyes were wide. Her lips were drawn tightly. Slowly turning her head, she looked at Vince.

         “Maybe the cop is right,” she said. “Maybe you did kill Jimmie!”

         “What are you saying?” Vince mumbled. He was stupefied.

         A dim, almost idiotic smile