1951 - In a Vain Shadow (12 page)

‘Is it? If you’re so smart, why ask me?’

‘Don’t get angry about it. We’re going to work together and you’ve got to get this into your smart little head: I’m going to help you, and it you want my help you’ve got to trust me.’

She didn’t say anything.

‘I’ll tell you something else. When I was hunting for that typewriter I came across a box of letters in your wardrobe drawer. They told me quite a lot about you. You had hundreds of offers of marriage from men who must have been a damn sight easier to live with than a little vulture like Sarek. You could have had the pick of any of them, but you had to choose him. That puzzled me. Why did a girl with your looks and shape throw herself away on a little honor like Sarek? I know now. He had something on you, and you didn’t dare refuse him. That’s why you’re still with him now. That’s why you know, sooner or later, you’ll have to give him a child. That’s why you know if you steal his hoard he’ll give you away, and that’s why you want to murder him: to stop his mouth once and for all!’

She sat up, her wrap falling open, her fists clenched, her face as white as a fresh fall of snow.

‘Something like that, Frank. Now what are you going to do about it?’

‘There are two things I can do. I can walk out of this house and leave you to poison him. If I do that, they’ll hang you as sure as God made little apples. And I wouldn’t like them to do that to you, Rita. You’re too lovely to hang. If I don’t do that; if I stay, then we’ll have to trust each other. I don’t want to know what he’s got on you. But I do want to know where he’s hidden his hoard. And when you’ve told me that, I’ll have to think of a way to kill him. How much will you pay me to make a safe job of it: a guaranteed job?’

She lay still for some seconds while her eyes searched my face. ‘How much do you want?’

‘All of it and you too to spend it with.’

‘You’re sure about me?’

‘I’m sure all right.’

‘It’s in the barn, Frank. I don’t know where exactly. It’s buried somewhere. We would have to hunt for it.’

‘How do you know it’s there?’

‘When we first came here, he shut himself in there with a spade. It must be there.’

‘How about my terms?’

‘It would be safe, Frank?’

‘It’s got to be safe. If I can’t think of a safe plan I’m not going to touch it. My neck is worth more to me than a hundred and fifty thousand. It’ll be safe all right if I do it.’

‘Have it all then, Frank, and me too; only make it safe.’

Later, when she had dressed, we went out to the barn.

‘Somewhere here, you think?’

‘I’m sure of it.’

I looked around. The place was full of the kind of things you put in barns. There was a heap of hay, a number of bales of straw, a great pile of wood logs, a pile of coal, a couple of chicken houses, a motor mower and rolls of wire netting. There wasn’t a great deal of free floor space.

‘When did that coal and wood come: before he shut himself in here or after?’

‘After.’

‘Then it could be under either of those stacks.’

‘Yes.’

I dug my heel into the earth floor. It was as hard as concrete.

‘He only had a spade?’

She wasn’t missing one move I made.

‘Well, he might have had a pick-axe. I forget.’

He would have to have a pickaxe to dig a hole in that ground, but I didn’t say so. There wasn’t a pickaxe in the tool shed, but I didn’t remind her of that either.

I was certain she was lying. The money wasn’t in the barn.

I hadn’t thought it was likely when she told me, but now I was sure of it. He wouldn’t bury it where it could get covered by a couple of tons of coal or wood He hadn’t the stamina to shift loads like that, and besides, if he wanted it in a hurry he had to be sure he could get it in a hurry.

All this had blown up a little too rapidly for me. I needed time to think about it, and until I had time to think about it I would let her kid herself I was believing her lies. I even pulled over some of the logs, pretending to examine the ground.

‘Don’t do that. If he thinks for a moment we’ve been looking, he’ll move it.’

‘That’s right.’

I stood back.

‘There’s a lot of stuff to be shifted out of here before we can get a good look at the floor: a week’s hard work.’

‘We’ll have plenty of time - when he’s gone.’

Getting rid of him was all she was worrying about. ‘Yes. Well, all right. If you’re sure he’s buried it here there’s nothing we can do until we can clear the place. Come on, let’s have a drink.’

As she moved with me to the door. I went on, ‘You are sure about it aren’t you?’

‘He shut himself up for a couple of hours in here. He had tools with him. When he came out there was soil on his shoes and he looked tired He had been burying something. What else could it be?’

‘It certainly looks like it. You didn’t see him take anything in with him; besides the tools, I mean?’

For a fraction of a second she hesitated ‘I can’t be sure, but I think he had something bulky under his coat.’

I hid a grin. Her lies were as convincing as a politician’s smile.

Rain ran down the bedroom window and the wind slammed against the side of the house and shook the yew trees, making them creak.

I lay full length on the bed, a cigarette burning between my fingers while my mind grappled with the problem.

After lunch I had told her I was going to give the situation a little thought and I wanted to be alone.

‘The sooner the better, Frank.’

‘I know, but I’m not rushing into anything. I’ve told you: it’s got to be foolproof or I don’t touch it.’

‘Think about it.’

Well, I was thinking about it.

I had to decide whether or not she was lying about the money. I knew for certain Sarek had a hold on her, and she wanted to shut his mouth for good, but I had only her word that he had this money. Was she dangling the money before me as a bait to kill him for her? That was what I had to decide.

Assuming he had the money, where was it hidden? I was certain it wasn’t in the barn. Where else could it be? In the house? I had already searched the place carefully when they had been in Paris, and had found nothing except the typewriter and her letters. It didn’t seem likely he would hide all that money in the house where she might come on it accidentally.

Where else then? In his office? That was possible, but he had no safe, and was he likely to leave it there when the building was empty during the night and might catch fire? Would he take that risk? I wouldn’t, and he was a lot more cautious than I. Was Emmie looking after it? I didn’t think so. Rita had been right when she said no one was to be trusted with an amount as big as that. In the car? No, that wouldn’t be safe either. Cars have accidents. Where else then?

I lit another cigarette and scowled up at the ceiling. What evidence had I that would convince me, no matter where it was hidden, that he owned all that money? It wasn’t impossible. He was a racketeer, and worked in the black market. He would need large sums in cash for his business transactions. The racketeers I had read about in the newspapers had sums of money as large as the sum Rita said he had. It wasn’t impossible to believe.

She had said the bulk of it was in small diamonds. I had seen a heap of small diamonds on his desk. Then there was Emmie’s diamond ring. Not entirely convincing, but convincing enough.

Suppose there was only half that sum? Seventy-five thousand. I could do a lot with seventy-five thousand. I could do a lot with even half that amount. Suppose she was exaggerating to make sure I had a real incentive to kill him?

Suppose he was only a small-time racketeer and had say fifteen thousand? Even if it was only five thousand and I could lay my hands on it, it would be a hundred per cent profit with no risk.

I was now beginning to get the pictures in my mind.

There had to be some money. I was sure of that. It might be five thousand or a hundred and fifty thousand. However much it was, it was there for the taking. He hadn’t anything on me, and he couldn’t explain to the police. Whatever it was, it would be money for jam.

But if I wanted her as well as the money, then I was heading for trouble. I would have to kill him to get her. I thought about her. She was good, satisfying, and exciting; as a woman she was in a class of her own. But I wasn’t all that weak in the head to risk my neck for a woman. I certainly wasn’t going to kill him for her. I would kid her along until I got my hands on his money, then I would ditch her.

Kidding her along wasn’t going to be easy. I really had to believe I was going to kill him. I had to think up a foolproof, watertight method that would convince her I meant business.

And when I had convinced her, I had somehow to force Sarek to get his money out of hiding so I could grab it, and when I had grabbed it, I had to ditch her and that wouldn’t be easy at all. She was dangerous. A woman who planned to kill her husband was always dangerous. I had to remember that.

I closed my eyes and bent my brain to the problem.

‘You’ve been a long time.’

The room was in darkness. The only light came from the fire. She was sitting on the settee, her hands gripped between her knees, her shoulders hunched. She still wore the sweater and slacks, and her hair hung over her face. The long wait had rubbed her nerves raw.

‘Do you think you can work out a thing like this in two minutes?’

‘Have you worked it out?’

‘I think so.’

She looked up: the firelight showed me a tense, hard face and eyes that were suspicious and alert.

‘Sit down and tell me.’

‘I want a drink. I’ve been tying my brains into knots.’

She got up and went over to the sideboard.

‘Better put on the light.’

‘I can see all right.’

She came back with the whisky bottle and two glasses.

‘It hasn’t been fun sitting here, waiting.’

‘I don’t suppose it has.’

I poured two stiff drinks, gave her one and sat down in the easy chair opposite her.

‘I think I’ve got it.’

‘You mean it’s safe?’

‘I said I wouldn’t touch it if it wasn’t safe, didn’t I? All right, now you tell me if you think it’s safe or not. I say it is.’

‘Tell me.’

‘He’s going to disappear. Not a mysterious disappearances He’ll have a convincing reason for going. He’s got to have a convincing reason. As far as I know there are only three people in the world who would care if he vanished without reason: you and I and Emmie. You and I don’t count, but Emmie does. If we’re going to get away with this, Emmie’s got to be sure he’s one on his own free will and gone for good. Do you see that?’

‘Yes.’

‘If Emmie suspects for one moment he has been murdered or has run into trouble, she’ll go to the police. Be sure of that. She would rather blow the lid of his racket than spend the rest of her days wondering if he was dead. Is that right?’

‘Yes.’

‘Now, get this straight. The police don’t act unless a body is found or a report is received that someone is missing under suspicious circumstances. Then, and only then, do they make inquiries. If no body is found and no report is received, no action is taken. If we handle this right, no action will be taken, and that’s why it’s safe. Do you follow that? There’s not going to be any risk of being questioned by the police, because the police just won’t enter into it. But to keep them out of it we’ve got to convince Emmie he’s gone away for good of his own free will.’ She was leaning forward now, staring at me, and I could hear her heavy breathing.

‘How do we do that?’

‘I’ll convince her. But there’s something I’ve got to do first, more important than convincing Emmie.’

‘What’s that?’

‘I’ve got to make him unearth the money.’ I saw her stiffen.

‘Why do that? We know where it is. Get rid of him and we can find it ourselves.’

‘Can we? Suppose it isn’t there? Do you think I’m going to kill him without knowing for certain that were getting the money? Do you think I’m that much of a fool? Do you think I’m going to risk my neck because you fancy he had something bulky under his coat? Oh, no, he’s going to unearth the money. I’m going to be damned sure he has it on him when I put my hands on his throat.’

She didn’t like this, as I knew she wouldn’t like it, but there was nothing she could do about it.

‘You’ll never make him do it.’

‘You don’t think so? Well, I do. Perhaps I know a little more about human behaviour than you do. The whole of his mean little life is tied up with that money. You said that; I didn’t. Suppose he has hidden it in the bam, and suppose the barn catches fire, isn’t he going to rush in there, without thinking you and I are watching him, and isn’t he going to rescue those diamonds and all that paper money before they burn? Isn’t he?’

She had to lick her lips before she could speak.

‘You wouldn’t be so mad as to set fire to the barn? People would come. The fire brigade would come.’

I laughed at her. I was really enjoying myself.

‘You’re absolutely right. I wouldn’t set fire to the barn. I don’t need to. I’ll tell you why. I don’t need to because I’m damned sure the money isn’t in the barn!’

She turned red, then white.

‘It is!’

‘You think it is, but I’m willing to bet everything I own it isn’t. And I’m willing to bet too he went in there with the spade to fool you into thinking that’s where he was hiding it. What do you think of that?’

I didn’t believe he had ever gone into the barn with a spade, but I had to give her a way out.

‘Yes; he might have done that.’

She hated giving up her story, but she had told her lies so badly, she had no alternative.

‘If it isn’t in the barn then you don’t know where it is, any more than I do. You don’t, do you?’

She looked away.

‘If it isn’t there, then I don’t.’

‘All right. Then neither of us knows where it is. We might search until we’re black in the face and never find it. But if he suddenly decides to leave this country for good, wouldn’t he take the money and diamonds with him? Of course he would. He wouldn’t leave them here. He’d take them out of their hiding place and smuggle them out with him, and, that’s when we’ll move in.’