1968 - An Ear to the Ground (13 page)

For the first time since they had lain together, Harry had an uneasy idea that Tania wasn’t with him. He felt her thoughts were far away.

The following day, he had to catch the eleven-forty plane to Nassau. They woke late and while he was drinking coffee, Tania said suddenly, ‘Harry . . . if anything happened to her, would that wonderful house be yours? Would you have all her money?’

‘Yes. When we married, she made a will leaving everything to me, but she will live for years. Her doctor told me.’

‘Oh.’ Tania walked her long, slim fingers along the edge of the table. ‘But one never knows, does one? She could die, then you would be free. Please tell me something truthfully, Harry, if you were free would you want to marry me?’

Harry looked up sharply. Would he? He had never considered marrying Tania. But seeing her beauty and the anxiety in her eyes, he smiled, nodding.

‘Of course. But look, darling, she’s not going to die for years and years. She could even outlive me. Let’s forget it.’

Tania studied him.

‘But if you were free, you would really marry me?’ Harry felt suddenly uneasy. There was a tension about Tania that was foreign to her.

‘Yes, Tania, but I’m not free and I won’t be free.’ He got up from the table. ‘I must hurry. Time’s getting on.’

When he had gone, Tania sat on the bed, staring down at her slim hands.

She was thinking of the necklace, the house . . . she also thought of Lisa.

Five

M
artha, Henry, Gilda and Johnny sat around the table on the terrace and regarded Mrs. Lowenstein’s jewels. Gilda wanted to try on a ring. She wanted to try on one of the magnificent diamond and gold bracelets, but Martha scooped up the jewels and returned them to the wash-leather bag.

‘Here, Henry, you take them,’ she said and handed the bag across the table to Henry who dropped the bag into his pocket.

Martha sat back and surveyed the other three.

‘Now for the second one. Mrs. Warren Crail. The take is six hundred and fifty thousand. She leaves on this fishing trip the day after tomorrow. We work the same carpet cleaning gag. We must know who has been left in the house.’

Two days later, Gilda, wearing her black wig, her prim dress and sun-goggles, called on the Crails’ sumptuous residence. The door was opened by the resident housekeeper, a thin, hard-faced woman who regarded Gilda suspiciously.

Gilda told her story, but she could see this woman wasn’t going to be convinced.

‘Mrs. Crail has said nothing to me about it,’ the woman said curtly. ‘Before I let you in, I must have it in writing from Mrs. Crail herself,’ and she shut the door in Gilda’s face.

Gilda realised this could be dangerous. The woman had only to look in the telephone book to find the Acme Carpet Cleaning Co. didn’t exist. She drove rapidly back to the villa.

Martha listened to her recital, her fat face dark. She looked at Henry, ‘What do you think?’

‘It’s worth the risk,’ Henry said, gnawing his moustache. ‘We know where the safe is. These two stand a good chance of breaking in. Yes, I think we should do it tonight. The prize is worthwhile.’

‘Who’s taking the risk?’ Johnny demanded, sitting forward. ‘Not you! I’m not breaking into a house I know nothing about. No . . . we’ll let this one cool off and try somewhere else. Let me look at that list.’

Henry passed the list over to him and exchanged looks with Martha. Johnny studied the list.

‘How about the Lewis’s? This diamond necklace? How about grabbing that?’ he asked.

‘That’s out!’ Martha snapped.

Johnny stared at her.

‘What’s the matter with it. . . three hundred and fifty grand! That’s money!’

Martha had no intention of telling him that the necklace was insured by the National Fidelity and that Maddox of the Claims Department had got her a five year stretch. She kept her prison sentence to herself: only Henry knew about it.

‘I tell you it’s out. . . so it’s out!’

Johnny shrugged.

‘Don’t get worked up. Okay. How about Mrs. Alec Johnson? She’s on a yacht off Miami according to this. She has four hundred thousand dollars’ worth of stuff. Suppose we take a look at her place?’

‘I still can’t see why we don’t do the Crail job,’ Martha grumbled.

‘You do it. . . I’m not going to. Let it cool off. How about the Jacksons?’

‘All right, then we’ll do that.’

This time Gilda had no difficulty in getting into the house. The caretaker was an old man who had an eye for a pretty girl. He accepted Gilda’s story, took her over the house, let her measure the carpet in the main bedroom and gossiped.

He told Gilda he was alone in the house and he gave her time to locate the safe and study the window locks.

On her return to the villa, she told them how easy it was. She described the locks on the windows picked up five hundred thousand dollars’ worth of stuff: with little effort and no trouble. ‘The owners don’t even know the stuffs gone. The cops don’t know we exist. That’s smart.’

‘But we haven’t the money,’ Gilda pointed out. ‘That’s what is worrying me. We couldn’t sell the stuff ourselves. It is worthless to us as it is.’

Johnny frowned, his eyes narrowing. This hadn’t occurred to him.

‘You’ve got something. Okay, we’ll do something about that. It’s time we had some cash. I’ll talk to the Colonel.’

They found Martha and Henry waiting anxiously for their return. After the jewels had been examined and put back in the bag, Johnny said, ‘Let’s see Abe tomorrow, Colonel, and get some cash on this lot and the other lot.’

Henry looked startled.

‘That isn’t the arrangement. When we have the Crails’ collection, then we see Abe . . . and Martha and I see him . . . not you and I, Johnny’

Johnny smiled at him. He reached out and picked up the bag, holding it in his big fist as he stared levelly at Henry.

‘You and me, Colonel,’ he said quietly. ‘Tomorrow.’

‘Now listen to me . . .’ Martha began, her face turning purple.

‘Quiet!’ Johnny said. ‘I’m talking to the Colonel.’ He continued to stare at Henry. ‘I want some money. . . not this stuff. I’m not waiting. You and me either go and see Abe tomorrow morning together or I go alone.’

Henry knew when he was licked. He knew this powerfully built young man could brush him aside as if he were a fly.

Johnny could go to Henry’s bedroom, find the other jewels and walk out on them. None of them could stop him.

‘All right, Johnny,’ Henry said mildly. ‘Then we’ll see Abe together tomorrow.’

Johnny put the bag of jewels back on the table, nodded, stood up and went to his room.

Martha waited until she heard his bedroom door shut, then looking at Gilda, she said viciously, ‘Maybe you’d better start loving up this sonofabitch. Someone’s got to control him!’

Gilda stared stonily at her, then got up and left them.

‘So you think you can handle him!’ Martha turned on Henry ‘When Abe pays out, that punk will take his share and we’ll never get our hands on it!’

Henry stroked his moustache.

‘I must think about it.’

Martha snorted. She stumped off to bed. She was so furious she forgot to visit the refrigerator and only remembered when she was in bed.

‘Oh, the hell with it!’ she said to herself and turned off the light.

The following morning, Abe Schulman was sitting at his desk jotting down figures on a sheet of paper. He had had an unsatisfactory week. Although the season was in full swing, nothing of any account had passed through his hands.

Police security had been drastically tightened up in Miami and the boys had been scared off. There hadn’t been one decent jewel robbery all the week.

He was surprised when Henry and Johnny walked into his office.

‘Hello, Colonel. . . Johnny . . . what brings you here?’

‘Money’ Johnny said, putting a briefcase on the desk. Abe smiled bitterly.

‘Who doesn’t want money?’ His little eyes rested on the briefcase. ‘You got something for me?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Wait.’ Abe got up and locked the office door.

Johnny unzipped the case, took from it three small wash-leather bags and a parcel done up in tissue paper. He undid the tape around the bags and poured the contents of the bags in separate piles on Abe’s blotter. At the sight of the diamonds, emeralds and rubies and four splendid ropes of pearls Abe sucked in his breath. This was the finest haul he had seen in years.

‘The gold, silver and platinum settings are in the parcel, Abe,’ Henry said.

They waited until Abe examined the various settings, then Johnny said, ‘The insurance value for this little lot is five hundred and eighty grand.’

Abe put on his deadpan expression. He lifted his fat shoulders.

‘Never believe insurance values, Johnny, my boy. Quite fatal. Jewellery is always over insured . . . it’s a racket.’

He spread out the diamonds and breathed over them. He spent ten minutes examining the various stones, regarding the pearl necklaces, now and then screwing a watchmaker’s glass in his eye to examine a diamond more closely while Johnny and Henry watched.

Finally, he took the glass from his eye and began to make calculations on a sheet of paper. Then he dropped the pencil and looked at Henry.

‘It’s good stuff, Colonel. . . no doubt about it, but at the present market calculation, I couldn’t get more than a hundred and fifty grand. You want a third? We agreed about that. . . sheer robbery . . . but we agreed and I’m a man of my word. So okay, I pay you fifty thousand dollars.’ He smiled at Henry. ‘Right?’

‘You can get more for this stuff than that, Abe. Come on, you don’t con me,’ Henry said, shaking his head. ‘We expected it to go for two hundred thousand.’

‘No, we don’t,’ Johnny said quietly. ‘You’ll sell this stuff for three hundred and fifty thousand or you don’t get it!’

Abe sat back, a pained look of astonishment on his face.

‘Are you crazy? Three hundred and fifty? Why I couldn’t possibly get two hundred. I know the market.’

‘So do I,’ Johnny said. ‘I’ve talked to Bernie Baum.’

Abe turned puce in the face.

‘That thief! Don’t make me laugh! Now, listen, Johnny, I know what I’m talking about. I. . .’

‘Shut up!’ Johnny snarled and got to his feet. He leaned across the desk, glaring at Abe. ‘You pay us a hundred and twenty thousand as our cut or you don’t get the stuff. What’s it to be?’

Abe eased back in his chair.

‘It’s impossible, Johnny, but I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll take a loss. The stuffs good. . . I admit that, but the market’s lousy. I’ll give you eighty thousand. How’s that?’

Johnny began to scoop up the diamonds, dropping them into one of the bags. When he began to pick up the emeralds, Abe said, ‘Now wait a minute . . . eighty thousand! It’s a fortune! I swear, Johnny, no one would give you more than fifty. I swear it.’

Johnny dropped the emeralds into the bag.

‘What are you doing?’ Abe asked, sweat glistening on his face.

‘I’m showing this stuff to Baum,’ Johnny said, dropping the pearl necklaces into the third bag.

‘Now look, Johnny, use your head. Bernie won’t give you fifty for them. I know Bernie. . . he’s a thief.’ Then as Johnny began to tape the bags, Abe went on hastily, ‘Okay, I’ll give you a hundred thousand. It’ll ruin me, but I don’t want you to get into Baum’s dirty hands . . . a hundred thousand.’

Johnny paused and looked at him.

‘In cash?’

‘Of course.’

‘Right now?’

Abe threw up his hands.

‘For God’s sake, Johnny, be reasonable. Would I have a hundred grand right here in my office? You’ll get the money in cash next week.’

‘I get it right now or I go to Baum,’ Johnny said, dropping the bags into the briefcase.

‘But I haven’t got it!’ Abe screamed, banging his lists on the desk. ‘Listen to me, you sonofabitch . . .’ which was a mistake.

Johnny reached forward and caught hold of Abe’s shirt front. He gave him a little shake, snapping his head back.

‘What did you call me?’

Abe wasn’t sure if his neck was broken. His fat face turned yellow and his eyes bulged.

‘I take it back,’ he gasped. ‘I apologise . . .’

Johnny released him with a violent shove that nearly sent Abe’s chair over backwards.

‘I want cash. We’ll wait here. Your pals will lend it to you. Go out and raise it!’

‘No one will lend me a hundred thousand!’ Abe wailed. ‘You’re crazy. I just can’t. . .’

‘Okay . . . so you can’t. . . I’m sick of you,’ Johnny said. ‘I’m going to talk to Baum.’

Watching all this, Henry realised that Johnny was handling the haggling as he himself never could have handled it. He knew too that Abe would have talked him into accepting the fifty thousand dollar bid.

Then Abe did something he was to regret. He put his foot on a concealed button under his desk and rang an alarm bell.

He always had two strong arm men lolling around in an office down the passage. When dealing with his various clients, Abe never knew when he might need protection and it seemed to him he needed it now.

‘Hold it, Johnny. You’re a thief, but I’ll see what I can do. It’ll take time. Suppose you come back, huh? You can leave the stuff in my safe. I can’t raise a hundred thousand in five minutes.’

‘I’ll give you three hours, Abe,’ Johnny said quietly. ‘We’ll wait here.’

Abe hesitated, then shrugged, got up and took his hat off a peg.

‘Well, okay, I’ll see what I can do.’

As he unlocked the door, Johnny said, ‘Abe . . .’

Abe paused and turned.

‘Now what is it?’

‘No tricks.’

The two men regarded each other, then Abe forced a smile.

‘Of course not, Johnny. . . don’t be so suspicious. I’ll be as quick as I can.’

He left the room and they listened to his departing footfalls as he walked down the passage to the elevator.

‘Very nice work, Johnny’ Henry said. ‘I couldn’t have done it better myself.’

Johnny stared indifferently at him.

‘You couldn’t have done it. . . period.’

Then the office door swung open and Abe’s two thugs moved in swiftly.