"Brixton, Danvy - Dead Hands On The Wheel (Avenger 4203)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brixton Danby)

So I told the D.A. I wasn't talking till I could see my lawyer, Joe Larkin.

And what did that get me? I saw Joe Larkin, all right. But when he came to see me,
I was lodged in jail, charged with the murder of Rocco Landi!


Gosh how I sweltered and suffered in the heat and stuffiness of that prison cell in the
weeks I was awaiting trial. I lost weight; grew thin, and flabbier than ever.

Joe Larkin did his best for me. He was a white guy, if ever there was one. When the
trial finally got under way, he fenced and haggled with the district attorney about
choosing the jury.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" he'd ask every prospective juror.

If the man said "yes," Joe challenged him.

Then he'd ask: "Do you believe that doctors can tell accurately how long a person
has been dead. simply by examining the body?"

Most of them said "yes" to that one; but he found four willing to admit that doctors
were often mistaken, and they went to the jury box.

Then there were speeches to the jury by the opposing lawyers, and after that came
the witnesses.

There were the detectives who examined the ground around Landi's garage; but he'd
been lying in weeds and tall grass, and the dicks couldn't tell much about footprints,
and so forth, on that account.

After them, came Honest Dan Flint--known as "the squarest bookie alive"--who
testified that I'd tipped him off to the clean-up that could be made on the future
betting, when Landi failed to show up for the big race.

Honest Dan gave me a square shake. He told the D.A. I'd lost heavy, and paid off
all my bets. Killing Landi wouldn't do me any good after the race.

Other bookies, too, testified that I'd given them the tip on Landi's failure to
appear. Not one of them said anything to connect me with the murder.

Joe Milligan and the others who'd actually been in the ring and put up the dough
to fix Landi managed to keep out of sight. Their names were never mentioned.

Then the D.A. put a procession of witnesses on the stand--the mechanic Vetti, who
testified. as before, that he had sat with Landi throughout the race; that Landi actually
drove the car--and then mysteriously disappeared. Vetti could not tell how or why or
where.

The doctors who performed the autopsy on Landi's body stated with professional
certainty that he had been dead at least ten hours when found. There was not a shadow