1951 - In a Vain Shadow (14 page)

The red turned to crimson.

‘You were at Four Winds this morning.’

‘Was I? Now that’s interesting. I had an idea I was in a flat in Lannox Street. What time this morning?’

She was watching me the way a cat watches a mouser ‘Nine o’clock.’

‘Oddly enough I was in bed with a beautiful blonde at nine this morning. What makes you think I was at Four Winds, or are you just trying to make mischief?’

She stared at me and I stared right back at her. She didn’t get a blink out of me.

‘Mr. Sarek is coming back tonight on the nine forty-five plane.’

‘Look, my spotty friend, you’ve just hinted in your grubby little way that I’ve been sleeping with Mrs. Sarek. I don’t give a damn what goes on in your cesspit of a mind, but I’m sure Mr. Sarek would. If you don’t withdraw that remark of yours and apologize at once, I shall tell him what you said and I’ll tell Mrs. Sarek too, and then they can take it up with you.’

She sat glaring at me, looking like an infuriated pig.

‘I - I didn’t mean ft.’

‘Then be careful what you’re saying. Did I hear you say you’re sorry.’

She gulped twice, and her face went the colour of an overripe plum, but she said it.

‘I’m sorry.’

I was loving every second of this. She had given me the fright of my life, at least, I was getting my own back. I had her over a barrel, and she knew it.

‘That’s fine. The next time you get those ideas in that thing you call your mind, keep them to yourself.’

She didn’t say anything, but the hate on her face was something to see.

‘So he’s coming back tonight, is he? That’s fine. I’ll be there to meet him.’

Still she said nothing.

I gave her a jeering little grin and opened the door.

‘Well, so long. Pearl of Great Price, it has been a beautiful experience seeing you again.’

Still grinning, I sauntered into the corridor, leaving the door open. When I was halfway down the stairs, I heard the door slam.

I arrived at Netta’s flat in Lannox Street a few minutes after eleven. I didn’t expect to find her up and she wasn’t. She answered the door in a silk wrap over a pair of crimson pyjamas. Even without makeup she looked good enough to eat.

‘Oh! Frankie, darling!’

‘I said I’d be haunting you before long, didn’t I?’

I closed the door with my heel and grabbed her. ‘Oh, Frankie! This is wonderful! Do be careful, darling, you’re hurting me a little.’

I carried her into her bedroom and dumped her on the bed. Then I sat on the bed beside her and ran my fingers through her short, golden curls, ‘Well, how’s it been, baby? Did you miss me?’

‘I missed you terribly. Why did you run of like that? It wasn’t very nice, was it?’

‘You didn’t want to see me in tears, did you? I was scared I’d break down if I
didn’t get away from you fast.’

Her big blue eyes widened; just for a moment she believed it, then she made a face at me.

‘You were horrid, and you know it. A girl doesn’t like being treated that way.’

‘I’ll remember next time; if there is a next time.’

‘Have you come to - to stay, Frankie?’

‘A couple of hours; no more. I’m a busy man these days, baby.’

‘Oh. I was hoping...’ She checked herself. ‘Are you getting on all right? You’re not getting into trouble, are you, Frankie?’

I wondered how she would have looked if I had told her the kind of trouble I was getting into.

‘I was all wrong about Sarek. I told you I thought he was a crook, but he isn’t. He’s a genuine, one hundred percent diamond merchant. Now, what do you think of that?’

‘Diamonds?’

‘That’s right. The reason why he wants a bodyguard is because he’s always carrying diamonds around with him: diamonds worth thousands.’

Her eyes widened.

‘But I thought he had threatening letters.’

‘He was kidding. He had to make some excuse for hiring me. He couldn’t tell me about the diamonds until he knew he could trust me. So he made up that tripe about the letters. Now he and I are almost partners. He just wants me around to guard the diamonds.’

‘I’ve read about people like that. They deal in Hatton Garden, don’t they?’

Who said she was a dope?

I patted her under the chin.

‘That’s pretty smart, baby, you mean you read that all on your own: big words and all?’

‘Oh, Frankie, don’t start being nasty again.’

‘I was only kidding. That’s exactly what he does do.’

‘And I suppose that’s why he wears that awful coat you were telling me about. He keeps the diamonds hidden in the coat, knowing no one would steal it. Is that it?’

I stared at her, feeling a tingle creep up my spine.

‘What was that?’

‘Why, I only said... What’s the matter, Frankie? Don’t look like that. I’m sorry if I-’

‘Shut up!’

I got up and went to the window, turning my back on her so she shouldn’t see my face.

He keeps the diamonds hidden in the coat, knowing no one would steal it.

And I had been racking my brain for hours wondering where he kept them. For hours! And Netta the brainless, the pinhead, the girl who could scarcely read drops it into my lap without any more brain effort than a sneeze. What a thickheaded, dimwitted fool I was! I should have been on to that coat the moment I had seen him in it. He had practically told me that was where he hid his diamonds when we first met.

‘Frankie, darling, what’s the matter?’

‘Hold everything; just keep quiet a moment.’

I still didn’t tum. I was scared she would see what was going on in my mind. I was so excited I began to shake.

Now I knew! In that awful coat all the time! That was why he even took it to bed with him. Now I came to think of it, he never let it out of his sight. And no wonder: that coat was worth thousands, if Rita wasn’t lying. Why, even I would wear a coat like that if it was worth all that money.

I got myself under control, turned and went to her.

She was still lying on the bed; her big blue eyes were worried and she looked up at me, not knowing if I was going to hit her or kiss her.

‘I don’t know what I’ve said wrong but I’m sorry Frankie...’

‘What are you sorry about?’ I caught hold of her and shook her. ‘Why should you be sorry?’

‘Don’t be angry with me, Frankie.’

‘Angry? You’re the loveliest, cleverest, brightest, most perfect woman in the world!’

‘Oh, Frankie!’

I raised my head and squinted at the bedside clock. The hands showed a quarter to three.

Netta stirred, opened her eyes and smiled at me.

‘Hey! Shake a leg, will you? I’m hungry. Look at the time.’

‘I’ll get you something, darling. I wish I’d known you were coming. I would have got you a steak. There’s some cold chicken. I could heat it up in a wine sauce if you would like that.’

‘Sounds swell. Go and heat it up, and hurry.’

I watched her scramble into her wrap and bolt into the kitchen.

I couldn’t imagine Rita jumping to it at the word of command. There was a lot to be said having a girl like Netta around. She was completely unselfish, aching to do things for me, looked good, and although when I was broke she could be tiresome, I didn’t think she would be when I was in the money.

And I was going to be in the money! I was certain of that now. The coat clinched it. It was so obvious I could have kicked myself for never tumbling to it. He had to pay cash wherever he went. Therefore he had to carry big sums around with him.

He did more than that. He carried his diamonds around with him as well.

The smell of cooking was sending me frantic.

When I went into the kitchen I found her making a dry martini, the way I like dry martinis: three-quarters gin, a dash of French vermouth, a squeeze of lemon and ice. She had filled a pint cocktail shaker and as I came in she gave it to me.

‘Shake it, darling, while I serve up.’

I shook it and poured.

‘Netta.’

She looked up, surprised. I don’t usually call her that: it was generally baby or dopey or pinhead or something like that.

‘How would you like to go to America?’

‘America?’

‘With me, I mean.’

She turned red, then white.

‘With you? America? Oh, darling, I’d love it! I’d love it more than anything else in the world. You - you don’t mean it, do you?’

I caught hold of her.

‘And another thing: how would you like to marry me?’

‘Oh, Frankie...’

I finally levered her arms of my neck.

‘Steady on; you’re strangling me.’

‘Frankie, you wouldn’t say that if you didn’t mean it, would you?’

‘I mean it all right. Now listen, Sarek and I are doing a deal together. If it comes of I’ll be in the money. I introduced him to a fella who wants his diamonds, and he’s going to pay me commission. This is a big deal, and if it comes of, I’ll be really in the money: thousands. Then we’ll get married and go and look at America. How do you like that?’

She looked anxiously at me.

‘It’s honest, isn’t it, Frankie?’

‘Of course it is, pinhead!’

‘But suppose it doesn’t come off?’

‘It will.’

‘Couldn’t we get married even if it doesn’t come of? I - I wouldn’t mind not having a lot of money or even going to America. I’d - I’d rather have you.’

I have her a little shake.

‘It’s going to come of. Make no mistake about that. It’s damn well got to come off!’

chapter twelve

A
s I pulled up outside the farm gate, she came running out of the house to open it. It was a few minutes after five o’clock, and the light was going. There was a smell of rain in the air and heavy black clouds were building up in the west and moving slowly across the sky.

‘Did you see her?’

I got out of the car and slammed the door.

‘Yes; and I made her eat her words. I wish you could have seen her ugly face. I made her apologize.’

She was looking closely at me, peering at my face.

‘You’ve been long enough.’

‘The fella I had to see was out. I had to hang around for three hours. I nearly went nuts.’

I was feeling very sure of myself. I had spent ten minutes in the Charing Cross lavatory checking up that there was no lipstick or powder on me. I couldn’t afford to make a slip now.

‘I have a job to do.’

She followed me into the bam, and while I collected the tool chest and some lengths of wood, she stood by me, watching.

‘What are you going to do?’

‘You’ll see.’

I cut two three-foot lengths of wood and joined them together at right angles, making a little shelf. Then I bored two holes close together in the upright length of the wood.

‘Nip inside and get the gun, will you? It’s in the bottom drawer of the desk. Don’t throw it about: it’s loaded.’

While she fetched the gun I screwed the gadget I had brought with me to the upright piece of wood. It was a neat little thing: something like a Meccano clockwork motor, only bigger.

She returned with the gun and gave it to me. I slid out the clip and jacked the slug out of the breech.

‘What are you going to do with it?’

‘I’ll show you. You see this gadget? It runs by clockwork. It can either be started by a clock, setting the dial here or it can be started by vibration by setting the dial in the opposite direction. This hook will pull the pin out of Mills bomb or the trigger of a gun. It’s simple enough. Suppose you walked in here when it was set; your footfalls would set the machine working and the bomb would go of. We used this in house-to-house fighting. If things got too hot, all we had to do was to set the time machine and get out. Then every two or three minutes the mechanism would pull at the trigger of a gun and the Hun thought we were still there.’

She was listening to all this impatiently.

‘But what are you going to do with it now?’

‘We three are going to be together in the front room, then suddenly a gun goes off and the window gets smashed. Don’t you think that’ll scare the daylights out of him? And he won’t suspect us either. But if I was outside, when the shot was fired then he might suspect us. That’s why I’ve brought this gadget. It’ll give me an alibi.’

‘But one of us might get hit.’

‘I’ll take damn good care we don’t.’

‘It sounds dangerous, Frank. Can’t you use a blank?’

‘The window must be smashed. I’ll fix it the gunfires high. It’ll be all right’

‘If it hit him...’

‘It’s not going to hit him, so shut up!’

‘If it hits him, that’ll bring the police, Frank. I don’t like this. Can’t you think of another way of scaring him?’

‘It’s not going to hit him! I know how to handle this. He’ll be sitting down when it goes off. It’ll miss him and you and me by four feet. That’s a safe margin, isn’t it?’

‘How do you know he’ll be sitting down?’

I felt the blood rush into my face.

‘Because he’ll be playing chess with me! Now, shut up belly aching!’

I fastened the wooden shelf to the wall of the barn by a bolt and butterfly screw. I made certain I could get the bolt out quickly. After the shooting I would have to hide the booby-trap fast, although I was pretty certain he’d be so shattered he wouldn’t dare come out to investigate. But in case he did come out I had to be sure I could get the thing of the wall and hidden in seconds. I put the gun on the shelf. It was pointing directly at the sitting room window.

‘Go in there and turn on the light and stand still in the middle of the room. I want to make sure it’s aimed high enough.’

‘It’s not loaded, is it?’

‘Of course it isn’t. Didn’t you see me unload it?’

‘Let me see the cartridges.’

I swung round to stare at her. Her face was stony and expressionless.

‘You saw me take them out, didn’t you?’

‘Let me see them.’

Even then I didn’t tumble to what she was getting at. I took the slugs out of my pocket and showed them to her.

‘Seven; does that satisfy you?’

‘No. Let me look at the gun.’

‘What the hell’s on your mind?’

‘Nothing; I just don’t want to meet with an accident. If I’m going to stand there and let you aim the gun at me I want to be sure I’m not going to get shot.’