The Referral Game

Paula on many occasions.”
    Bill shrugged, but an evil grin crossed Paula’s lips.
    “Bill and I go way back, don’t we hon?” she said. I met Bill through Silas after I married that dry stick Edgar. I only married him because I thought the old woman would croak sometime soon and I could have some of that Pomeroy money that she was hoarding. But it became clear pretty quick that she wouldn’t leave him anything that I could get my hands on. She was going to leave it to him in a trust or something; Bill explained it to me. So, since Bill and I were already seeing each other on the sly, we decided to scam the family out of some pocket change. I was going to leave anyway, so I told Silas that unless he gave me fifty K to divorce Edgar I was going to get myself pregnant. He was terrified that I would have a baby, Bill found that out. He thought that a grandchild might change the old lady’s mind about Edgar and me. Maybe cost him a chunk of his inheritance; maybe even ace him out altogether. The old woman didn’t have any grandchildren and with the kind of disappointing sons she had, maybe he had reason to be worried. A new generation to terrorize might have appealed to her. Anyway he fell for it, although he chewed me down to twenty, and I left. Bill and I stayed together off and on ever since. When the old witch died Silas came to Bill complaining about his share of the estate. It was his idea to bump off Edgar, we just came up with a plausible plan, which unfortunately included you.”
    She was breathing hard, almost panting. She looked to Bill. He was staring out the window again. He finally looked over at me and said, “Frank I didn’t want it to come to this. I was just so deep in debt I couldn’t refuse when Silas came to me with his proposal. If you knew those brothers like I did you wouldn’t judge me so harshly. The whole family was a cancer on society; they were only protected by their money. You gotta believe me, the world is a better place without them.”
    “What are you doing?” screeched Paula. “You know what you have to do. Get it over with. We can’t trust him with what he knows.”
    “We can trust him if he gives us his word. Didn’t you learn that much about him in all the time you spent together? He’s different than me and you.”
    “I’ll tell what I know,” she spit at him. “Unless his hands are as dirty as ours, which they aren’t, he’ll rat us out eventually. I don’t care what he says now.”
    They were glaring at each other. Paula’s face was red and her knuckles were white. Bill looked like my father had after he had been embalmed.
    “Listen, both of you,” I said. “I can settle this for you. I mailed a letter to Captain Woodward this morning. I didn’t trust myself not to change my mind. My feelings were to deep for both of you to take that chance. I couldn’t let two murders slide, but I couldn’t stay away either. I had to tell you to your faces. You’ve still got at least 24 hours before Woodward gets my letter. Once you’re done with me you’ll have a chance to make it out of the country, maybe get lost somewhere. They won’t look forever.”
    “You see?” Screamed Paula. “I told you.”
    Bill smiled at me. For the first time that morning he looked like the old Bill, the guy who had shown me the ropes when I was a wet behind the ears rookie. He taught me more about police work than any academy or college ever could. He also taught me about honesty and integrity in a job where temptations were everywhere you looked, from hookers offering freebies to dealers who would pay a thousand a week just to look the other way. The guy who wouldn’t boost an apple off a pushcart, yet here he was up to his neck in a double murder. I was still hoping I would wake up and find it was a bad dream.
    “You’re one in a million, you know that Frank?” He said. “Boy, you’ve really got me backed into a corner.”
    “I’m sorry Bill. I couldn’t figure any other way to play it. I’m new at this kind of situation.”
    “Me too.” Bill said. “I don’t reckon we’ll ever be in one like this again.”
    “No, I don’t think so.”
    “I wish it hadn’t come to this Frank, that’s the truth.” He hesitated, fingering the gun. “I just can’t see any other way.” He cocked the gun. “Goodbye Frank.”
    He put the barrel to his head and pulled the trigger.
    The explosion shook the room. Paula screamed and I covered the distance to Bill in one leap,