1945 - Blonde's Requiem (34 page)

At last I had got all the screws out and I stood back, almost too scared to go further. The beam of the flashlight lit up one side of the vault and threw my shadow across the face of the wall. I put the screwdriver down on the shelf and wiped my hands with my handkerchief.

Audrey said in a low voice:
“
What is it?
”

I glanced back at her. She stood up and moved a few steps forward, then she stopped.

“
It
’
s all right,
”
I said.
“
I
’
m nearly through.
”

Then I put my hands on the coffin-lid and raised it.

As I did so a vivid zigzag of lightning lit up the vault. For one brief second I saw the frightened, grotesque face of Marian French staring up at me from the coffin and then Audrey screamed.

Dropping the coffin-lid, I spun round.

Audrey was crouching back, her hands to her face. I looked beyond her to the door. Reg was clawing desperately at his throat. Even as I stood staring at him, unable to move, he suddenly seemed to be drawn into the darkness, and a moment later the heavy vault door closed with a thud. As the thunder died away, I heard the key creak and then the lock snapped into its stone socket.

I
t was a full minute before I realized how completely trapped we were. In that time I had darted to the door and flung myself against it. It was solid stone and I simply bounced off it with a badly bruised shoulder. I ran round the square building with the flashlight, but there was no other exit. The floor was of stone with no possibility, without proper tools, of hacking it up.

I stood staring at Audrey, my face glistening in the now yellow beam of the flashlight, while she looked at me in horror.

“
Did you see?
”
she gasped, running to me.
“
He
’
s killing Reg! You must do something . . . you must help him!
”

I held her to me.
“
For God
’
s sake, Audrey,
”
I said, gripping her arms,
“
don
’
t lose your head. We can
’
t do a thing. Don
’
t you understand, kid, we
’
re buried alive!
”

She stiffened and held on to me, but she didn
’
t say anything.

I waited a moment, then said:
“
What fools we were to come in here without telling anyone! He
’
s got us all right. What the hell are we going to do?
”

Trying to steady her voice, Audrey said:
“
We
’
ll get out . . . it
’
s—it
’
s Reg . . . there was a rope around his neck . . .
”
She caught back a sob.

I hadn
’
t even my gun. Except for the flimsy screwdriver, I had nothing with which to tackle the door. Pushing Audrey gently aside, I examined the lock. I saw it was hopeless. A stick of dynamite wouldn
’
t shift it.

To make matters worse, the flashlight was failing. I snapped it off and we stood in the heavy darkness, listening, but the thick walls of the tomb cut off all outside sound.

The thick, cloying atmosphere, the darkness and the feel of death in the place stretched my nerves almost to breaking point.

“
I
’
m not so scared now,
”
Audrey said suddenly out of the darkness.
“
Let
’
s sit down, Marc. I
’
m sure someone will get us out of this.
”

I groped for her, touched her hand, and together we sat on the bottom step. I wished I felt as she did, but it was no use showing her how scared I was.

“
So it was Hench, after all,
”
Audrey said, leaning against me.
“
We
’
ve just got to get out and make him pay for this.
”

“
I don
’
t think it was Hench. Why shouldn
’
t Ted have been there too? Know what I think? Hench is tied up with this but he isn
’
t the murderer. He
’
s the guy who
’
s been getting rid of the bodies, but I
’
ve a hunch he
’
s not the killer.
”
I put my arm around Audrey
’
s shoulders.
“
But this isn
’
t going to help us get out of here.
”

“
Don
’
t think about it,
”
Audrey said. I could feel a little shiver run through her.
“
We mustn
’
t think about it, or we
’
ll go crazy. I
’
ve often dreamed of being buried alive . . . haven
’
t you?
”

“
Now, shut up!
”
I said roughly.
“
That
’
s no way to talk. I wish this flashlight wasn
’
t going back on us.
”
I put it on again. The yellow feeble light was not reassuring.
“
Wait a second,
”
I said, and getting up I walked over to the coffin I had opened. I lifted the lid and made sure that it was Marian French and I hadn
’
t imagined it. She was there all right.

If I could only get out of this vault I could bust the case wide open. The silence in the tomb was overpowering and I began to find breathing difficult. In a few hours, I thought dismally, we
’
d both suffocate.

I went back to Audrey and again turned out the flashlight.
“
If we get out of here,
”
I said, slipping my arm around her again,
“
shall we get married?
”

She rested her head on my shoulder.
“
Hmmm,
”
she said,
“
but, do you really want to get married?
”

“
To you . . . more than anything else,
”
I said, knowing it to be the truth.

“
It
’
ll be something to tell our children, won
’
t it? I mean that you proposed in a tomb.
”
Her voice was shaky, but she was trying hard to be flippant.

I kissed her.
“
We
’
ll get out all right,
”
I said, and as I spoke I felt a slight draught of wind against my face. I stiffened, then pulling her to her feet, I faced the door of the vault.
“
Not a sound,
”
I whispered, my lips against her ear.
“
The door
’
s opening.
”

We stood like that for a few seconds, then pushing her behind me I snapped on the flashlight.

The vault door was opening and as the beam of the flashlight shone on it, it swung wide.

I braced myself, expecting to see Elmer Hench, coming to finish us off, but instead, Reg stood there, blinking in the yellow light.

“
I
’
m quitting,
”
he said in a strangled voice.
“
Brother, this is the end!
”

I sprang forward and grabbed him by his coat collar.
“
Reg!
”
I shouted, while Audrey, pushing me away, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

We were both all over him for a few seconds and then:
“
What happened?
”
I demanded, pulling him away from Audrey and shaking him.

“
That
’
s right, spoil it all,
”
he said bitterly.
“
I was having a swell time. Can
’
t she kiss me just once more?
”

“
She can
’
t, you dope,
”
I said, delighted to see him again.
“
Hell! I thought you were dead.
”

Reg looked over his shoulder into the darkness of the graveyard.
“
So did I,
”
he said, with a lot of feeling.
“
I would have been if those two had any guts.
”

“
Two?
”
I said sharply.
“
There were two?
”

“
Sure—Hench and someone else. Whoever it was with Hench did the rope trick. I was standing at the door keeping my eyes open when a sudden brilliant streak of lightning lit up the darkness. In that split second I saw Hench. He was standing a good fifty yards from me, but I could see him all right. I was going to yell to you when something fell over my head and before I could call out a cord had tightened around my throat and I was being dragged backwards—
”

“
I saw you,
”
I broke in.
“
It scared the pants off me.
”

“
You can imagine what it did to me,
”
Reg said, feeling his throat tenderly.
“
If I hadn
’
t used my head, I
’
d been stiff by now. I heard someone rush past me—I guess it was Hench—and then I heard the vault door slam. I knew what that meant if they rubbed me out. The noose was pretty tight by now and I couldn
’
t breathe. I kept my balance and I staggered towards the guy who was hauling on the rope. By doing that I managed to keep some slack on the rope, but not much. I felt myself blacking out and then—why I hadn
’
t thought of it before I don
’
t know—I remembered I was holding your gun. I started shooting. That did it. These two killers don
’
t like anyone who hits back. They scrammed. The moment the guy let go of the rope I was okay. I gave
‘
em a couple more shots to help them on their way and then I came back to find out what had happened to you two. The door was locked and the key had gone, but after a while I found it lying in the grass where Hench had dropped it, and here I am.
”

I drew in a deep breath.
“
You didn
’
t see who the other person was?
”
I asked.

Reg shook his head.
“
No—all I
’
m sure of is there was someone else with Hench.
”

Audrey put her hand in mine.
“
Don
’
t you think we should go? They might come back.
”

“
We
’
re going in a moment,
”
I said, squeezing her hand.
“
There
’
s just one more thing to do and then we
’
ll scram. You got a flashlight, Reg? Mine
’
s nearly done.
”

He gave me a small pocket affair.
“
What
’
s on your mind?
”
he asked anxiously.
“
I
’
ve had more than enough of this place.
”

“
You
’
ve got the key of the vault?
”

“
Yeah.
”
He held up the key so I could see it.

“
Close the door and stand with your back to it. I
’
m opening one more of these coffins.
”

“
Aw, you
’
re crazy,
”
he said, but he closed the door and put his back against it.

Audrey sat down on the step and rested her head against the stonewall. She looked white and drawn, but she didn
’
t raise any objections.

I went over to the coffins again and set to work on the coffin next to the one I had already opened. In five minutes or so I had drawn all the screws and I lifted the lid. One glance was enough.

“
Reg,
”
I called,
“
come here. Do you know who this is?
”

He crossed the vault and stood at my side.
“
Ohmigod,
”
he said under his breath, and turned away.
“
That
’
s Luce McArthur.
”

I lowered the lid and wiped my hands with my handkerchief; I was sweating ice.

“
That
’
s good enough,
”
I said.
“
I
’
m not looking at the others. It
’
s a safe bet they
’
re all here. Come on, we
’
re going home, but we
’
ve got to get a police guard on this vault or the killer may try to hide
‘
em again.
”

Reg opened the vault door and stared into the darkness. It was beginning to rain. We crowded behind him and stood listening. The thick smell of tuberoses, carnations, lilies, violets and jasmine saturated the hot, still air. The thunder was now a faint distant rumble, but rain fell in heavy isolated drops, making the sound of hundreds of taps on a slack drum.