Wednesday, May 26st 8:00 P.M.
Dean dusted off a Christmas present bottle of VO with thoughts of re-igniting the glow from Ethel's gin and chasing away the gloom of the empty house but one sip and he re-capped the jug, deciding it wasn't a good idea. Better to have a clear head when Fred telephoned. He remembered Saturday night's overindulgence in beer that made him far too loquacious with Cynthia Byrne, who incidentally had not called back. Instead he tried and discarded a who-done-it and then attempted a conversation with Mrs. Lincoln, but she seemed more interested in sleeping than listening to a bored detective. The phone rang twice, both calls from Fred's lady friends, who were anxious for his return. So was Dean, though loath to admit it. He even stooped to playing a Loretta Lynn CD, although if Fred had caught him he would have sworn it was in the wrong container. As it turned out, Fred nearly did catch him. At 11:00 Dean had given up waiting for the old man's phone call and was ready for bed when he heard a noise at the door. In dropped Fred O'Connor looking like a New York commuter during a subway strike.
"You're not due until tomorrow," Dean said as Fred dropped his cardboard suitcase and plopped into his easy chair. "How did you get here this time of night?"
It took a pot and a half of coffee and a lot of patience before Dean learned just how complicated the Scranton excursion and return trip had been. Fred spent Monday and Tuesday checking every merchant of any size in the area, to find out if J. Cleary, alias half the telephone book, had tried to establish credit and therebya new identity. No luck-at least with any of the known names. Even visiting the banks in person produced no success.
"Those guys are as tighter with their information than Aunt Gertie's dress," the old man complained. Dean was wise enough not to ask what guise Fred used to cover his snooping-surely a technique borrowed from a mystery book hero and borderline illegal. Dean prayed it wouldn't land them both in jail.
"I stopped by World Wide Insurance's local office too," Fred continued. "They moved into a brand new building a couple of months back. Byrne came out for the moving-in party-the night the money turned up missing. A darlin' lady told me all about the shindig-said the contractor and his boys put out a big spread with lots of drinks." He didn't add "just as I said" but it didn't need saying.
"What was their opinion of Byrne?"