Fast Buck (30 page)

He looked over his shoulder along the passage. He could see the faint light of the moon coming through the skylight. If he remained in the passage, they would take him in the rear. Some of them would come up the stairs, the others would come through the skylight.

Slowly he dragged himself to Anita’s door. He reached up and turned the handle, but the door was locked. The effort sent him into a half-conscious stupor, and he lay on his side, against the door, fighting off the feeling that he was about to slip off the edge of the world.

More sirens brought him alert again. He caught hold of the door handle and dragged himself to his feet. He set his back against the door. From this position he could watch both the skylight and the stairs.

He got the Thompson under his arm with the butt against the door, his finger curled around the trigger. It wouldn’t last long, he told himself, but he’d take some of them with him. He remembered with startling clearness the same thing had happened to him in this very passage some five weeks ago. Then he had given himself up for lost, but she had saved him. It was still possible she might save him again.

Time hung in space. He waited with the patience of a wounded and trapped animal. Every now and then his head dropped to his chest, and his legs sagged, but each time he made the effort and stopped himself from sliding to the floor.

It was a long time before he heard footsteps on the stairs. He raised the gun, and waited.

Then he saw her. She was coming up the stairs, her hand on the banister rail, a red and blue scarf on her head, and her shabby overcoat dark with rain. She looked at him, white-faced, and her eyes big and frightened.

‘Hel o,’ he said huskily. ‘This is where we came in, isn’t it?’

She didn’t say anything. He saw her eyes shift from him to the gun. He realised he was still pointing it at her, and he hurriedly lowered the barrel.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, not moving.

‘My arm’s bad,’ he said. It was extraordinary how her presence had suddenly given him a new lease in life. The sight of her seemed to lift him above the fever that was devouring him. ‘Are the cops outside?’

‘There’s been an accident,’ she said, ‘A man died.’

‘Aren’t they looking for me?’

‘It’s the accident,’ she repeated, and began to move slowly and warily up the stairs. ‘Do you want me to look at your arm?’

He tried to grin.

‘It’s past being looked at. It’l have to come off.’

‘Perhaps I can do something.’ She came within a yard of him and stopped, her eyes on the gun.

‘Your door’s locked. I tried to get in.’

‘I always keep it locked. Do you want to lie on the bed?’

‘Maybe I’d bet er not. I don’t want to get you into trouble. I may die on you.’ He closed his eyes for a moment. ‘Are you sure the cops aren’t looking for me?’

‘There was an accident,’ she said, refusing to lie to him. ‘They found a dead man in a car outside.’

‘A dead man? You’re sure he’s dead?’

‘Yes.’

‘That’s Hater,’ he said. ‘I remember now. He’s dead, is he?’

She didn’t say anything.

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ he said, his mind groping vaguely into the past. ‘I forgot about him. We tied him and hid him under a blanket, then my arm got bad and I forgot about him. I forgot about everything except you. I’ve driven over five hundred miles to see you.’

Still she didn’t say anything.

‘Hater was quite a guy,’ Baird went on, half to himself. ‘You wouldn’t believe it to look at him. He hid four million bucks worth of jewellery somewhere. Think of that! Now he’s dead, and no one will ever find the stuff.’

‘You killed him,’ she said, in a cold, flat voice.

‘No. If he’s dead it’s because it was coming to him. I forgot about him, that’s al . You can’t cal that killing a man.’ He put his hand on the door knob. ‘Aren’t you going to open up?’

‘Yes,’ she said, and moved closer to him. She touched the gun. ‘Shal I take this? You won’t need it.’

His fingers tightened on the gun.

‘I might,’ he said. ‘I guess I can manage. Open the door, won’t you?’

She put a key in the lock and pushed open the door.

‘Remember the last time?’ he asked, looking into the shadowy room, lit by the moonlight coming in through the window. ‘Take it.’ He pushed the Thompson into her hands. ‘When I woke up last time you had put my rod by my side. I haven’t forgot en that. You’re the only one I’ve ever met who I can trust.’

He sank down on the bed. ‘I’ve often thought about you and what you did for me. I’ve often thought what you said about kindness isn’t something you buy from a grocery store. I guess you were right.

You’ve got to have kindness in you.’

She held the gun stiffly, the barrel pointing down at the floor.

‘Paul Hater was my father,’ she said.

Baird rubbed his ravaged face with the back of his hand.

‘What’s that?’

‘I said Paul Hater was my father.’

He looked at her, then at the gun.

‘Would you have told me that if I hadn’t given you the gun?’

She shook her head.

‘No.’

‘But he can’t mean anything to you. You can’t have seen him for fifteen years. You must have been about five when they took him away.’

‘My mother told me about him,’ she said quietly. ‘She told me how they tortured him. The only thing that kept him alive was the knowledge I’d be waiting for him when he came out.’

‘The only thing that kept him alive,’ Baird said, ‘was the thought of that stuff he had hidden away, and what he was going to do with it.’

‘No, that’s what everyone thought,’ she said, coming to the foot of the bed and looking down at him.

‘When he was arrested, my mother took the col ection. No one knew he was married. It was easy for her to get out of the country. The ship struck a reef. Only she and five others were rescued. The collection went down with the ship. For fifteen years my father suffered so my mother could go free. I never told him she found someone else. Then you had to come along and kill him when his suffering was nearly ended.’

‘I didn’t kill him,’ Baird said obstinately.

‘But you did. If you had left him alone, he would be alive now.’

‘You’re feeling pret y bad about it, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘I guess I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known. I want you to believe that. I stil owe you a lot. I could have squared our debt if I had known.’

‘I shouldn’t have helped you the first time,’ she said. ‘That’s where I went wrong. I only did it because I remembered what they did to him. If I had let them find you here, he would be alive now.’

‘I guess that’s right,’ he said, and lay back on the pillow. ‘There’s not much of me left. They can have what there is. Go ahead and call them.’

‘They’re waiting now,’ she said.

‘I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known,’ he muttered. ‘I don’t suppose you’l believe that.’

‘Does it mat er now? It’s a lit le late for regrets, isn’t it? You did it, and he’s dead. I blame myself, not you.’

His despair was bitter as she went out of the room without looking at him. For the first time in his life he felt afraid, for he realised he was going to die as he had lived: uncared for and in loneliness.

Olin and two patrolmen, guns in hand, came into the room. Dallas followed them.

Baird lay flat on his back, his eyes closed. He was breathing with difficulty, and sweat ran off his face, soaking the pillow.

Olin snapped, ‘Get that intern up here, and tel him to hurry.’

Dallas shook Baird’s shoulder.

‘Hey, you! Wake up!’

Baird opened his eyes.

‘Did Hater tell you where the stuff is?’ Dal as demanded. ‘Come on, spil it! It’s not going to be of any use to you now.’

Baird shook his head.

‘I forgot to ask him,’ he said, in a voice that was scarcely audible. ‘Too bad, isn’t it, copper?’ His eyes moved from Dallas to Olin. ‘I holed up in this room after I knocked off those two in the drug store,’

he said, speaking with difficulty. ‘I told her if she didn’t hide me Rico would get her. She didn’t want to do it. Do you understand? I made her. You’re not going to hold it against her, are you?’

‘Get ing soft?’ Olin said with a sneer. ‘You know as well as I do she covered you, and that makes her an accessory to murder!’

‘She thought Rico would rub her out if she didn’t cover me.’ Baird made an effort to sit up, but he couldn’t make it.

‘Quit lying!’ Olin said. ‘Why should you want to shield her? She took your gun. If it hadn’t been for her we wouldn’t have found you. Now, come on; she hid you wil ingly, didn’t she?’

Baird looked at Dallas.

‘You fix it,’ he gasped. ‘She’s a good kid. I made her do what she did. Put it in writing. I’l sign it.’

‘Listen,’ Dal as said to Olin, ‘if she hadn’t got his gun, you’d have had a bat le on your hands. What do you want to pick on her for?’

Olin made an impatient gesture.

‘Oh, the hel with it! I don’t want her. She can go for al I care. Where’s that damned intern?’

Baird relaxed limply back on the pillow. His eyes closed.

Dallas said, ‘Can I tel your man to let her go?’

‘Sure,’ Olin said impatiently. ‘Do what you damn well like.’

As Dallas went into the passage, the intern came up the stairs.

Olin called to him, ‘Give this guy a shot of something. I want him to make a statement.’

Dallas ran down the stairs.

Anita and a patrolman were waiting in the lobby. Dallas stepped past them and shut himself in the pay booth at the end of the passage. He put a call through to Purvis. Rapidly he brought Purvis up to date on the night’s happenings.

‘Looks like we’re sunk,’ he concluded. ‘With Hater dead, our last chance of finding the stuff goes with him.’

‘How about the girl?’ Purvis said. ‘Maybe she knows.’

‘Do you want me to ask her?’

‘Certainly,’ Purvis said. ‘Tel her I’l give her ten grand if she can tell us where he hid the stuff.’

‘Get ing pret y generous all of a sudden, aren’t you?’

‘Go and tel her!’

‘Now wait a minute, if she knows where the stuff is hidden, and she tells us, what’s to stop Olin nabbing her as an accessory?’ Dal as pointed out.

‘What do I care?’ Purvis barked. ‘Let her worry about that. And listen, don’t go put ing ideas into her head. The chances are she won’t think of that angle. Ten grand’s a lot of money.’

‘Would you cover her if Olin asked questions?’ Dal as persisted.

‘I’m not that crazy,’ Purvis said. ‘Just don’t tel her. The chances are she won’t figure that angle.’

‘Hold on,’ Dal as said. ‘I’l ask her.’

He laid down the receiver, left the pay booth and walked over to where Anita and the patrolman were waiting.

‘The Lieutenant says this woman can go,’ Dal as said to the patrolman. ‘He wants you upstairs.’

‘Okay,’ the patrolman said. ‘That lets you out,’ he went on to Anita. ‘You’d bet er take a walk until they’ve got him out of here.’

As he went up the stairs, he gave Dallas a slow wink.

‘Just a minute, Miss Jackson,’ Dal as said as Anita began to move away. ‘I’m Ed Dal as of the International Detective Agency. We’ve been trying to find the Chittabad collection since it was stolen.

I’ve been authorised to pay you ten thousand dol ars if you can give me any information that’l lead to the recovery of the jewels.’

She looked up at him, her face expressionless.

‘It’s only fair to warn you,’ he went on, ‘that if you do know what’s happened to them and you tell me, you run the risk of being prosecuted as an accessory.’

‘But you shouldn’t tel me that, should you?’ she said.

‘Maybe not, but I don’t like the way my boss is handling this case. Al he thinks about is what he’s going to get out of it. It’s up to you. If you think ten grand is worth the risk, and you know something, now’s the time to spil it.’

She shook her head.

‘I have no information to give you.’

‘Sure?’

‘Yes, I’m sure.’

‘Is there anything I can do for you?’

She stiffened, and her eyes became hostile.

‘No, thank you.’

He took out his card and slipped it into her hand.

‘You might change your mind. If you do, give me a call. It’s not much fun being on your own after a thing like this. I might be able to help you.’

‘Thank you, but I’l manage.’

She walked past him, down the passage to the street door. Dallas watched her until he lost sight of her in the crowd that stood either side of the entrance. He wondered if he would see her again, and hoped he would.

He went back to the pay booth.

‘You there?’ he asked, as he picked up the receiver.

‘Of course I’m here,’ Purvis said. ‘What did she say?’

‘She doesn’t know. Hater never told her a thing. I’m not surprised. She was only five when he went inside.’

‘You’re sure she isn’t lying?’

‘Not a chance. I can always tell when a woman’s lying. If you ask me the col ection never wil be found.’

‘I’m not asking you!’ Purvis snapped. ‘Come back to the office. Maybe we can figure an angle.’

Dallas watched two white-coated attendants carrying the stretcher down the stairs. They had covered Baird’s face with the blanket.

‘You still there?’ Purvis asked suspiciously.

‘Yeah,’ Dal as said. ‘They’re just carrying Baird out. The crowd’s get ing a big bang out of it.’ He opened the booth door so he could watch the stretcher being carried into the street. ‘Funny how people like to gape at a corpse. I believe he was really fond of that girl.’

‘Wil you stop mutering to yourself,’ Purvis said angrily. ‘Come back here at once. I think I’ve got an angle already.’

‘How you love to kid yourself,’ Dal as said pityingly and hung up.