Shell Game – Chapter 13 – Claire’s Story

Claire Porter drew a deep breath and walked away from the window before continuing. “I met Mr. Charles at The Broadway like we’d arranged, like I told you and Mr. Silver that morning, and we went for a walk.  It was damp, and I got chilled, so I asked that we go by my hotel room to pick up a wrap.  Then, we got some dinner.  I asked the man to seat us by the window so Mr. Silver could get a good look at me with Jason.  I remembered that was something you both asked of me.  I had to make up some excuse about looking at the quaint scenery because Mr. Charles wanted to sit in the dark corners of the dining room, but eventually, he agreed.”

“What happened next?”

“We had dinner.  We talked.  We left the restaurant and walked some more.  Then, Mr. Charles dropped me off at my hotel around eleven.”

“Then what?” Evan asked.

Claire shrugged. “I don’t know.  I said goodbye to Mr. Charles and watched him leave.  I saw Mr. Silver.  I wasn’t looking for him; he just caught my eye here and there.  A moment later, I saw Mr. Silver walk out after Jason.  That’s the last I saw either of them till their faces showed up in the paper.”

Evan turned his nose up at the ceiling and thought for a moment before saying, “You said yesterday that Charles was staying at The Broadway,” Evan said.

Claire said, “That’s right.”

Evan put his hand to his chin and scratched his stubble, “I wonder, then, why Charles’ body ended up so far away from there.  I mean, I wonder what he was up to. You’re new here, but trust me when I say that where they found Charles’ body is not in a direct line between The Gloria and The Broadway.” He mused a moment longer before asking, “What did you do after you saw Charles leave?”

“I went up to my room, changed my clothes, and went to bed.  I can tell you that I found most of my interactions with Mr. Charles quite draining, and it was already so late.  Then, I woke up, read the paper that was outside my door.  I confess terror filled me seeing both of their faces and the headline saying they had been shot.  I don’t know what I thought, but I guess I wondered if I would be next.  I knew I needed to move addresses, so I got dressed, quickly made my way here, secured this apartment under the name Wolf, went back to The Gloria, paid my bill, and the rest you know.”

“Why would seeing their faces make you so afraid?  Maybe they killed each other?” Evan spitballed.

“Two things,” Claire said, making her way back to Evan. “First, the newspapers said where their bodies were found, as you say, I’m not familiar with this town, but the article made it sound like they were far apart.”

“And the other thing?” Evan asked.

“Someone had searched my room,” Claire said without blinking.

Evan cocked his head to one side before asking, “When in all of this do you think that happened?”

“When I was at your office yesterday morning,” Claire said, and then her eyes went wide. “I suppose I should have mentioned that earlier?”

Evan smiled at her and settled on the arm of the sofa. “Should I assume from what you’ve said that you and this Charles character had a past?” Claire nodded. “Romantic?”

“We were close, but not that close,” she said.

“Mmm-hmm,” Evan said. “So, you wanted him followed.  Since this wasn’t about your missing father, why would you want us to do that?”

Claire looked at him.  Her face said she had something to say but was too scared to put words into reality.  Evan said, “I need a line on Jason Charles, Claire.  Listen, I don’t want to drag anything out of the closet that needs to stay in there, but if I can’t even arrange the dots to look like the possibility of a picture, believe me, the police will do just that, and trust me, their conclusions may not lead to a place you or I want to be.”

She drew a deep breath. “I met Mr. Charles in Colorado.  We had some business dealings together.  It went poorly, and we needed to get out of town.  We decided to meet up here.  We arrived separately.  He promised to help me out of a jam, but then I found out he was planning to betray me.”

“Another woman?” Evan asked.

Claire just shook her head.

“Why did you want him followed?” Evan asked.

“Oh,” she sighed, “I wanted to know what he was up to when I wasn’t around.  I wanted to know how far he’d taken his plan, where he was staying, with whom he was meeting.  That kind of thing.”

Evan looked her in the eye, “Do you think Charles killed Silver?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him, for sure.  Jason Charles was not a stable man.  If he suspected he was being followed, if, say, Mr. Silver wasn’t as careful as he could have been, who knows what a spooked Jason Charles might do?” Claire finished off her glass of water and set it on the table.

“Do you know what kind of gun Charles carried?” Evan asked.

“He was a collector of odd and hard-to-come-by guns,” Claire said. “I’ve never been interested in them and couldn’t tell you one gun type from another.”  

Evan rubbed his chin and looked at his shoes. “Here’s something you might find interesting about Gabe’s murder.  I can’t quite get my mind around it, but Gabe’s gun was still in his holster when his body was pulled from the river.  No missing bullets,” Evan said. “Stranger still, Charles also had an unused gun in his holster.”

Claire looked at him.  Her forehead continued to pucker.

“You mentioned you don’t keep track of guns, but did he mention any?  Try to remember.  Did he call his guns anything around you?” Evan asked.

She shrugged. “I really can’t help you.  I always thought it was a kind of sickness.  Jason talked a lot about guns.  He loved guns.  But I’ve never thought one moment about them.” She laughed to herself as she remembered, “He told me he’d gone out west to be a bouncer at a saloon.  You know something out of the dime books boys read.  Ends up he gets attached to this big deal gambler out in Colorado.  One thing leads to another, and he’s this gambler’s bodyguard.  I don’t know what, but something distasteful happened between them, and the gambler disappeared like a ghost.  Jason was always looking over his shoulder.  He always kept several guns on him in case he should run into the gambler again or one of his associates.”

“Is that right?” Evan said.

“Yeah,” said Claire. “Fact, that gambler was so much inside Jason’s head that at night, Jason would always spread empty tuna cans by the door to his room so he would know if someone was trying to sneak in.”

“Sounds like he was quite the catch for you,” Evan smirked.

“He wasn’t so bad,” she said. “If he’d stayed loyal, maybe this whole thing never would’ve happened.”

Evan took Claire’s hands. “So, how bad off are you?”

“About as bad as you could think,” she said.  Her cheeks were suddenly flush, and there was tragic sobriety to her features.

“I hate to tell you this, Claire, but you keep associating with the Mr. Charles’ of the world, and someday you’re going to meet a fate like his,” Evan said.

“I know,” she sobbed, pulling away from him. “I know.”

Evan slapped his hands on his thighs and stood up.  He rubbed the back of his neck and began pacing the room again. “This is no good,” he said eventually. “I’ve got nothing to go on.” With urgency in his voice, he swung back around and said, “Who killed Charles?”

Claire just shook her head.

“Why did the two of you travel here from Colorado separately or otherwise?” he asked.  Claire just stood there, tears welling up in her eyes.

Evan put his hands on his hips. “This is hopeless!  I don’t see how you expect me to help you keep your pretty neck out of the gallows if you won’t come clean with me!”

She continued to shake her head and mouthed, “I can’t.”

“You know they’re coming for you, yes?” Evan asked her. “Else, why would you be worried?  Whoever did this, the gambler?  Whoever did this, they’re coming for you, and you can’t, sorry, you won’t tell me why.  Between you and me, sister, these people don’t play clean.  Changing your name and moving addresses will distract them only for so long.  I can’t help you if you don’t bring the goods.  You don’t bring the goods; you’re going to have to take your chances with them yourself.  I can’t stand here and hold your hand while you’re willing to walk to the gallows or worse.”

“I know,” she said, talking through her tears, “I know I’m difficult. You’re right about everything you’ve said.  I shouldn’t have brought you and Mr. Silver into this.  I should just take my chances on my own.” Claire collapsed on the sofa and closed her eyes. “Oh, Evan, I’m so tired.  So very tired.  You should leave me here and not look back.”

Evan sucked his teeth again and wrinkled his nose.  Then a “Gah!” exploded from his mouth, and he poured himself a glass of water.  After finishing it off in one swallow, he slammed the glass down and asked, “How much money you got on you?”

Claire answered weakly, “Around five hundred.”

“Give it to me,” Evan said.

Claire stood up silently and made her way to the bedroom.  A few moments later, she reappeared and held out the bills to Evan.  He took them from her and made a quick count of them. “You’re a little light. There’s only four hundred here.”

“A girl has to have some money to live,” she pleaded. “You can’t take everything.”

“Can’t you get any more?” Evan asked.

Claire shook her head.

“Sell something?” he tried again.

“No,” Claire said, indicating the sparse dwelling. “None of this is mine.  The place came furnished.”

“You want to be free from the people after you or not?” Evan’s tone started to show signs of impatience.

Claire handed over the remaining bills.  Evan recounted the money, peeled off fifty dollars, folded the bills over his thumb, and handed them to Claire.  She took them and wrapped her delicate fingers around them.

Evan went to the table and picked up his hat. “I’m going out to drum up some information. I’ll come back and let you know what I find.  When I come back, you’ll know it’s me when I ring the bell five times in a row.”

Claire smiled broadly. “Like the song.  Five gold rings.”

Evan Gold looked at Claire, placed his hat on his head, winked at her, and shut the door behind him.