Slack tide (17 page)

He seemed to know that this was Harry Danaher, even before he used the glasses. Harry was walking toward the cruiser but when he drew level with it, he continued on to the dinghy. As he stopped to release the painter, MacLaren turned the glasses on his dock and saw the woman stand-

ing there. He knew at once that this was Ruth Kingsley, and as he saw Danaher push out in the dinghy, he reahzed that she must have rung the bell with its underwater cable to summon him.

Why?

This was what MacLaren asked himself and in his brain there was no answer.

What reason would the girl have for going to the island at this hour? That something was worrying her had been apparent from the way she had acted when he found her with Danaher that noon. Now, with the doubt and uncertainty begiiming to nag at him again, he knew what he had to do.

It had been his intention to caU the poHce, for this was a pohce matter now. He could still caU them, but not using this telephone. He could call just as well from his father's house, and because it seemed important that he go at once to the island and find out why Ruth had gone back, he knew that he would have to make his call to the pohce an anonymous one.

It may have been his ragged nerves and the Hngering shock that had come when he found Sam Wilhs's body that helped him make up his mind. It may have been some intuitive pressure that warned him of trouble yet to come; whatever the reason, he gave in to the impulse to follow the girl. Later he could make his explanation to the police. Right now it seemed important that he make sure she was all right.

WHEN THE HANDS of her wristwatch pointed to seven forty-five, Ruth Kingsley pushed out of her chair and walked quickly to the wall telephone. This was the moment she had been waiting for, and though the pressures of doubt and uncertainty were still punishing her emotional system, there was a feehng of rehef, too, now that the past interminable hours were behind her.

She had been waiting here in her room since five o'clock. She had not dared to go down to the lobby or the dining-room or the bar for fear that she would run into MacLaren. The look of hurt disappointment on his face when she had dismissed him that noon was still etched clearly in her mind and she could not risk meeting him again until this sordid business with Harry Danaher was safely behind her. She had considered having a dinner tray sent up, but when the time came she found she had no appetite. Because she knew she should eat something, she had ordered a sandwich and a pot of tea.

It had been hard work getting half of that sandwich down, but the hot tea had helped, and that awful emptiness at the pit of her stomach became less noticeable. It had been difficult to keep from chain smoking and she had disciplined herself by hmiting her consumption to one every half hour. Now it was over, and she was asking for the number of the island house and wondering just

what she would say if someone other than Harry answered the ring. In this she had worried herself needlessly, because she recognized his voice at once, and he came directly to the point.

"Harry?"

"Have you got the certificate?"

"Yes."

"Did you endorse it? Did you get your signature guaranteed?"

"Yes."

"Who by?"

"By a notary."

"All right. Here's what you do—"

This time she interrupted, and wondered where she had found the nerve to do so. "Do you have that fire extinguisher with the fingerprints on it?"

"I'll have it when I need it."

"And you'll tell the police who hit Ohver?"

"I said I would. I said I'd put a httle something in writing, didn't I?"

She knew she had to accept his word. "All right," she said.

"You be on MacLaren's dock at, say, eight fifteen sharp. If you should run into him anywhere, stall him. If you should meet anybody else you know, give him the same treatment. You're coming over to the island, and it's nobody else's business why . , . Okay?"

"Yes."

"I'll see you at the dock."

She had a hard time sitting it out in the minutes that

followed. She tried to think whether what she was about to do was right or wrong. The fact that the pohce had not questioned her that day meant nothing in itself because she understood they were awaiting final word on the autopsy, but in her present state of mind she dared not gamble that such a report would clear her.

The hardest thing of all was to be alone. What she needed most was someone to talk to, someone she could trust, whose advice she could count on. If MacLaren had not been equally involved, she might have gone to him. She had considered such a move at least a dozen times during the afternoon. Each time she was stopped by some intangible fear that he would argue with her; perhaps even try to handle Danaher in his own way, and in doing so spoil all chance of getting this evidence.

At five minutes after eight she picked up the stock certificate and examined it once more. She turned it over and looked again at her signature and the notary's stamp and signature. She refolded it and tucked it into her handbag; then she was ready.

She saw no one she knew in the lobby as she left her key with the desk clerk. Outside, the night was cool and darkness was closing in fast. She shivered unconsciously against it, glad that she had worn the tailored woolen dress and wondering if perhaps she should have brought a coat. But it was too late now and she kept going, turning into the side road that led down to the boatyard.

When she reached the dock itself she hesitated a few moments while she wondered whether she should ring for the dinghy or simply wait until Danaher came. Because

she was a minute or two early and alone on the dock, she decided to wait, and presently she became aware of someone moving toward the catwalk across the inlet. A half minute later the soimd of a motor came to her and she could make out the dinghy curving toward her.

Danaher said nothing at all to her when she stepped into the httle boat. She sat down in the stern, her knees close together and her skirt pulled down. When he had tied up at the catwalk piling, he gave her a hand, and as she stepped ashore he spoke.

"You want a piece of paper so you can be sure I don't double cross you? Okay, I'll write something for you. Go on up to the house. You can wait in my room and I'll be there in less than five minutes."

She turned toward the house, aware that he had stepped back aboard the cruiser, and then she was staring straight ahead while she noted the hghts in the Hving-room and in two of the upstairs windows.

It was not imtil she stepped hghtly onto the porch that she began to think about who else might be in the house. Until then it had not occurred to her that someone might interfere. Except for her trip into the center of the village when she went to find a notary pubhc, she had not been away from the Iim. She had no idea who else might be here now, and suddenly her worry was concentrated not on the propriety of her transaction with Danaher, but on the possibility that something might happen to prevent it.

She could see no one through the front windows and a small unconscious sigh of rehef escaped her as she opened the door and found the hving-room empty. She closed the

door quietly. She started for the stairs on tiptoe. A glance into the darkened dining-room told her that the table had not been set for dirmer, but that in itself was not unusual. If anything, it was an indication that most of the household was absent.

She started up the stairs, still on tiptoe, although she did not know it. At the landing she glanced down the front hall, at the closed door which led to her husband's room, at the door beyond, which should have been hers, at the one across the hall, which Carla Lewis occupied. She knew that Harry Danaher's room was next to the shuttered one in which she had been imprisoned, and she turned that way, hurrying a httle now lest someone step into the hall unexpectedly and ask what she was doing there.

She saw no one, heard nothing but the tap of her heels on the hall carpet. As she approached the door, she saw that it was ajar. She took the knob and started to open it, and then she stopped. Light from a shaded lamp in the comer of the room which was now visible gave an effect of high-hghts and shadows to the interior, and it was not until she had taken another small, tentative step that she realized the room had been ransacked.

The drawers of the dresser had been pulled out to their hmits and most of the contents scattered on the floor. A studio couch had been pulled away from the wall, the cushion of a club chair had been flung aside, and the mattress of the bed had been doubled back to disclose the box spring underneath.

For another second or two she stood where she was, the

door haK open and her hand still on the knob. She had no idea why the room should have been torn apart like this. The sight of it was mildly shocking, but she sought no explanation at the moment, and it was not curiosity alone that made her continue. Harry Danaher had told her to wait in his room and his instructions remained in her mind as she pushed the door wide and stepped beyond it.

Because she had heard no sound it had not occurred to her that someone might still be in the room. The only warning she had was some whisper of movement that came from behind as she stepped clear of the door. By that time it was too late for a sluggish instinct to do its job.

She tried to turn and there was no time. Something soft brushed her shoulders. The Mght went out. At least that was what she thought in that first bewildering instant. And then, as the fear struck at her, she felt the fabric descend upon her head and face and shoulders.

Too startled to react effectively, she felt the arms encircle her. Her own arms were pinioned at her side. Her handbag was snatched from her fingers.

It was all over in two seconds but even so there was a definite progression to the brief and violent action.

She felt herself being jerked off balance, and the arms were still tight, guiding her, as she staggered a step or two backward. She was twisted to the right and yanked another step, and then, suddenly, the arms released her and she felt herself being flung aside.

Because there was only blackness in front of her eyes, she had but one thought, to regain her balance. Before she could do so, she bumped into a wall and bounced off into

a second one. As she tried to free herself from the smothering hood that had covered her, her feet sHpped out from under her, and she fell heavily. She tried to tear the hood from her head, knowing now that it was a blanket. Before she could do so, a door slammed against one foot and she heard the key turn an unseen lock.

More stunned and bewildered than hurt, she sat up and pulled the blanket oflF. Exploring hands told her that she was in a closet of some sort. She did not know why, or what it meant; she only knew that she was locked in and would have to stay here until someone came to release her.

18

DON MacLAREN left the WilHs house the way he had come. He knew he should call the pohce, but he had no intention of waiting for them to arrive and then being further delayed by the investigation. He had touched nothing in Sam WilHs's room except the binoculars, and in his present state of mind it seemed best to use the telephone in his father's house.

He was unlocking his front door when he heard the ringing inside the living-room. He hurried then, not bothering to close the door as he plunged forward and grabbed the telephone. He heard the operator ask if this was Donald MacLaren, and he said yes, and then she spoke to someone on the other end telling him she had his party.

"Hello," said a voice he did not recognize. "MacLaren?"

"Yes."

"This is Lynch."

"Whor

"Detective Lynch in New York."

"Oh, yes," MacLaren said, as recognition came to him, "what's up?"

"Nothing much. Just thought maybe I could repay a favor."

"Oh?"

"Those two burglars talked a httle. Not too much about the job they pulled, but you wanted me to ask Lew if he saw anything that night he went out fishing, so I did."

Anticipation triggered new hope inside MacLaren, and he quickly gave voice to the point which seemed most important to him.

"Did he see Kingsley?"

"He saw somebody. He don't know who it was. It was too dark for him to see faces or even people and he played it mostly by ear. But he heard that rumble you had with Kingsley on the dock. After that he heard a splash and the sound of somebody swimming. He don't think Kingsley actually pulled himself into the dinghy because he didn't hear any motor or the sound of anybody rowing."

"What else?"

"He thinks Kingsley pushed the dinghy ahead of him. You know, hanging on to the side and kicking with his feet until he reached the other side. Lew says he was pretty nearly down to the mouth of the inlet, and he's not sure what happened after that, but he did hear an argument.

He don't know what it was about or what happened—or if he did he's not saying—but he says one of the people doing the arguing was a woman. . . . Does that help any?"

"It sure does," MacLaren said. "It proves that Kingsley was ahve enough to start another argument after he reached the island. Thanks a million. I appreciate it."

"Glad to do it," Lynch said. "Also, we've got this much on paper in case the Connecticut people want to see the statement."

MacLaren hung up and started to evaluate the information he had heard. Then he stopped when he reahzed he was wasting time. He had to call the poHce and teU them about Sam Willis, but his first thought—that he would do this anonymously so as not to involve himself for the present—he discarded when he considered Sergeant Wyre. He had known the sergeant quite a while. He also knew that Wyre, being the resident state pohceman, kept more or less regular hours, and he decided to try the man's home first.

A woman answered the ring and said that Wyre was in. "Just a minute, please."

"What about the autopsy report?" MacLaren asked when he heard the sergeant's voice.

"The second blow came from a blunt instrument," Wyre said.

"A rounded one?"

"Probably. How did you guess?"