Candy gave a little shrug. "Lou told me about Jack Buck," she said, returning to the female voice she'd used earlier. "He told me that I had to keep him alive against that one.' "And when Buck's mob attacked the apartment?" Bud

asked.

Candy looked down at her long skirt, her false eyelashes fluttered again. She smoothed non-existent wrinkles down the sides of the skirt. "I told Lou to stay in the bedroom, but he was too angry. He had some of his own mob on mattresses in Seventy-Third. He wanted to bring them around and take those guys from the street."

"You did hear the shot from the alley?"

"Oh, definitely," the platinum hair bobbed up and down. "It wasn't silenced. I didn't do a very good job of keeping Lou alive, did I?" she added ruefully.

"You knew the men who attacked the apartment?" Bud sisted with his questions.

Again Candy shook her almost-white, shiny hair. "Lou just said that it was Buck, and dashed for the bedroom. I held them off, and joined him when I could.”

"Buck's boys must have seen you firing at them, then," said Bud.

Candy gave him a grim, little smile that did not change her feminine attitude one bit. "The ones that saw me aren't alive today," she said quietly.

"You wounded one at least," said Bud. "My boys outside saw that much."

"It must have been with some of the shots I fired through the wall," said Candy. "Only three of them actually got inside." "And you killed all of those," stated Bud.

Candy took her purse from the desk in front of her. She took out a pack of cigarettes, used a small lighter and then, once the cigarette was lit, laid it on the extended ashtray. There was no hint of nervousness in her manner. “Yes, she said finally, looking at Hamilton with candid blue eyes. "I killed them all."

(Later)

The apartment to which Candy took Bud Hamilton was in a 'low-rent' district of the city. The second floor apartment had its own private entrance from the alley between that building and its neighbor. Bud took Sievers with them up to the apartment. The door opened into a very neat, feminine room, brightly patterned, frilled curtains at each window. Candy moved across to the large window and opened the drapes to let

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