“Give me the damned keys,” Matthews said, putting his hand out for them.
“After you tell me where we’re going.”
“We’re going to go and play supercop, what did you think?”
“In three minutes,” Matt said.
“What?”
“Go on, Susan,” Matt said.
“ ‘Go on, Susan’?” Matthews parrotted.
“You don’t have to go, either of you,” Susan said. “Let me try to reason with her, Matt.”
“We’ve been all over that,” Matt said angrily. “It’s damned near seven. Get going!”
“Oh, God,” Susan said, but she got out of the car and trotted over to Matt’s Plymouth.
“What makes you think she’s going to do what you want her to do?” Matthews asked.
“She will,” Matt said as he watched Susan get in the car.
“Are you really involved with her, Matt?”
“I’m in love with her.”
“You poor son of a bitch!”
Susan started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
Matt handed the ignition keys to Matthews.
“Give it a minute, and then head up Route 611,” he said. “I didn’t want it to look, if Ollwood is already there, as if somebody was tailing Susan.”
Matthews nodded
“How far is Chenowith?” he asked.
“About fifteen miles out of town,” Matt said. “I checked the place out. You’ll have no trouble surrounding it. And there’s no other houses near.”
Matthews grunted, and started the engine.
“Jack, Susan got into this because she felt sorry for the Ollwood girl. She’s not part of that bunch of lunatics.”
“Oh, you poor son of a bitch! You really believe that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I believe it,” Matt said. “Okay. Here’s what’s going down. We’re going to the Crossroads Diner.”
“I know it.”
“Behind it is a bank of pay phones. At seven o’clock, Ollwood is going to call Susan on one of them, to see if she’s there. One of two things will happen then. Ollwood will either come to the restaurant, or she will tell Susan to meet her someplace else.”
“Maybe at Chenowith’s?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think Chenowith wants Susan to come to his house; otherwise, he would have just told her to. But someplace else, that’s possible. If that happens, we’ll have to play that by ear.”
Matthews put his Chevrolet in reverse, backed out of his parking slot, and drove slowly out of the parking lot.