In Cold Blood - Truman Capote [107]
"Until November twentieth," said Nye, and Hickock seemed not to understand him. "The day you stopped doing swell and started hanging paper. Why?" Hickock sighed, and said, "That would make a book." Then, smoking a cigarette borrowed from Nye and lighted by the courteous Church, he said, "Perry - my buddy Perry Smith - was paroled in the spring. Later on, when I came out, he sent me a letter, Postmarked Idaho. He wrote reminding me of this deal we used to talk over. About Mexico. The idea was we would go to Acapulco, one of them places, buy a fishing boat, and run it ourselves - take tourists deep-sea fishing." Nye said, "This boat. How did you plan to pay for it?"
"I'm coming to that," Hickock said. "See, Perry wrote me he had a sister living in Fort Scott. And she was holding some heavy change for him. Several thousand dollars. Money his dad owed him from the sale of some property up in Alaska. He said he was coming to Kansas to get the dough."
"And the two of you would use it to buy a boat."
"Correct."
"But it didn't work out that way."
"What happened was, Perry showed up maybe a month later. I met him at the bus station in Kansas City - "
"When?" said Church. "The day of the week."
"A Thursday."
"And when did you go to Fort Scott?"
"Saturday."
"November fourteenth." Hickock's eyes flashed with surprise. One could see that he was asking himself why Church should be so certain of the date; and hurriedly - for it was too soon to stir suspicions - the detective said, "What time did you leave for Fort Scott?"
"That afternoon. We did some work on my car, and had a bowl of chili at the West Side Cafe. It must have been around three."
"Around three. Was Perry Smith's sister expecting you?"
"No. Because, see, Perry lost her address. And she didn't have a telephone."
"Then how did you expect to find her?"
"By inquiring at the post office."
"Did you?"
"Perry did. They said she'd moved away. To Oregon, they thought. But she hadn't left any forwarding address."
"Must have been quite a blow. After you'd been counting on a big piece of money like that." Hickock agreed. "Because - well, we'd definitely decided to go to Mexico. Otherwise, I never would've cashed them checks. But I hoped . . . Now listen to me; I'm telling the truth. I thought once we got to Mexico and began making money, then I'd be able to pay them off. The checks." Nye took over. "One minute, Dick." Nye is a short, short-tempered man who has difficulty moderating his aggressive vigor, his talent for language both sharp and outspoken. "I'd like to hear a little more about the trip to Fort Scott," he said, soft-pedaling. "When you found Smith's sister no longer there, what did you do then?"
"Walked around. Had a beer. Drove back."
"You mean you went home?"
"No. To Kansas City. We stopped at the Zesto Drive-in. Ate hamburgers. We tried Cherry Row." Neither Nye nor Church was familiar with Cherry Row. Hickock said, "You kiddin'? Every cop in Kansas knows it. "When the detectives again pleaded ignorance, he explained that it was a stretch of park where one encountered "hustlers mostly," adding, "but plenty of amateurs, too. Nurses. Secretaries. I've had a lot of luck there."
"And this particular evening. Have any luck?"
"The bad kind. We ended up with a pair of rollers."
"Named?"
"Mildred. The other one, Perry's girl, I think she was called Joan."
"Describe them."
"Maybe they were sisters. Both blond. Plump. I'm not too clear about it. See, we'd bought a bottle of ready-mix Orange Blossoms - that's orange pop and vodka - and I was getting stiff. We gave the girls a few drinks and drove them out to Fun Haven. I imagine you gentlemen never heard of Fun Haven?" They hadn't. Hickock grinned and shrugged. "It's on the Blue Ridge Road. Eight miles