‘That’s right,’ the big man said. ‘What’s it to you?’
‘Are you going?’ Duke asked.
The big man scratched his head. He put his hat on again carefully and shrugged. ‘I guess so,’ he said. ‘They’ve been trying to get us out for the last year. Well, it looks like we’ll have to go this time. So long as no one bought the place we were safe enough. We paid the rent and they couldn’t get us out. Now, it’s bought. I guess there ain’t anything we can do but get out.’
Duke lit a cigarette. ‘The guy who bought Pinder’s End cut his throat last night,’ he said, watching the big man closely. ‘The title deeds of this place are floating around and haven’t turned up yet. It’d pay you to stick until they’re found.’
‘What’s the game, mister?’ The big man looked at him with interest. ‘What are you getting out of this?’
Duke shook his head. ‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘At least, I don’t think so. You see Timson, the fella who bought Pinder’s End, was murdered. I want to find the guy who killed him. If you stick and refuse to move, they’ll have to bring an action to get you out. The title deeds will be asked for and the fella who produces them is the fella who killed Timson.’
The big man got to his feet. ‘Come inside,’ he said. ‘This wants thinking about.’
Duke followed him into the dark house. The wallpaper was peeling off and hanging in long strips from the wall. There was a damp smell in the place and the boards creaked under his feet. Most of the windows were boarded up and he couldn’t see at all after the blinding sunlight on the porch. He had to follow the big man by sound.
‘Casy’s the name,’ the big man said, leading him into a small room at the back of the house. It was roughly furnished but clean and Casy waved him to an old rocking chair while he took from a cupboard an earthenware jar and two mugs.
‘Applejack any good to you?’ he asked.
‘Sure,’ Duke said, relaxing in the rocking chair and flicking his ash into the empty fireplace. ‘You guys are living the hard way, ain’t you?’
Casy shrugged. ‘One time it was all right,’ he said. ‘That was five years ago. We all had farms and we didn’t do too badly. Now, Fairview, I guess, is on the skids. The ground out here’s no good anymore. It’s just the way things go. Maybe, if we did leave, we’d do a lot better, but the women and the kids don’t like changes.’
Duke found the applejack very strong. He controlled a coughing spasm only by an effort of will. ‘All I want you guys to do is to stick. I’ll look after the law end of it. I’ll get the best lawyer in Bentonville to fight for you and I’ll pay for it,’ he said, putting the mug down on the floor beside him. ‘Someone wants Pinder’s End badly. Another party wants it too. The second party wants it badly enough to do murder. I want to find out why. Have you any ideas?’
Casy laughed. ‘Look at the place,’ he said. ‘You go out and look at it. Even we don’t want it.’
‘I wouldn’t know,’ Duke said, ‘I don’t know anything about soil, or buildings, but from first glance, this place is just a desert, but someone knows different and I want to find out why. There couldn’t be a mine around here, I suppose?’
Casy laughed. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘There couldn’t be. No, mister, this place is finished. It’s not worth a damn.’
Duke finished his applejack with a little grimace. ‘Well, all right,’ he said, ‘there must be a reason for buying it. I’ve got to find that out. All I want you to do is to stick tight. Will you do that?’
Casy scratched his beard. ‘We’ve got orders to quit,’ he said, uneasily. ‘What do I do with them?’
‘Let me have ‘em,’ Duke said, ‘I’ll turn ‘em over to a smart lawyer and he’ll fight it for you. You don’t have to do anything else. Just dig your toes in and let me do the fighting. Will you do that?’
Casy thought about it, then he said, ‘Well, I guess so. I’ve heard about you. You’ve got a tough reputation and I’ve heard that you keep your word. You play with us and I’ll see that the rest of the folks around here play with you.’
Duke got to his feet. ‘Get me these orders and I’ll fix things,’ he said.
Casy nodded. ‘You wait here, mister,’ he returned, ‘I won’t be long,’ and he went out, leaving the door open.
Duke sat down in the rocking chair again and lit another cigarette. His mind was busy. Berhman would look after the law end of it. There was no smarter lawyer in Bentonville. It was just the kind of fight Berhman loved.
When he had got Berhman on the job, he’d go over to see Bellman. He was sure that Bellman had started all this. Then there was this guy Spade. Spade the mystery man. He scowled at his cigarette. After cigars, cigarettes were just punk, he thought.
This fella Casy looked as if he might be a help. He was a fighter. A blind man could see that. If he could keep all these other punks tight in Pinder’s End, Duke felt he would be doing something. At least, whatever Bellman or Spade or even Schultz wanted to do, couldn’t be done with that mob sitting on Pinder’s End.
What the hell did they want to do? If he knew that he’d know everything. What could be at the bottom of this dump? It must be something big, Duke was sure of that. If it wasn’t a mine, what could it be?
He stroked his nose thoughtfully. This house was old, he thought, every movement made by the wind sounded like a giant’s tread. He listened to the creaking boards and thought he wouldn’t like to live here on his own.
Sitting there, in the dimly lit room, he suddenly became uneasy. He didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because he was used to bright lights and the sound of voices that always drifted up from the poolroom. Here, there were only the creaking of old boards and the soft whimpering of the hot wind that blew against the dry, bleached sides of the house.
He sat listening to the sounds. Then, quite suddenly, he felt the hairs on his neck bristle. Just above him upstairs, someone coughed. It was a quiet strangled cough as if the someone was anxious that no one should hear him.
Duke sat forward in his chair, his ears straining and his eyes intent. He could hear nothing except for the creaking of the house and he wondered if he was imagining things. Then a sound of a soft footfall came to his straining ears. Someone was walking very quietly above his head.
He stood up and tiptoed across the room. He stood listening at the door. Footfalls came distinctly as if someone was moving about upstairs, but moving with extreme caution.
It was pitch dark in the passage. The broken window in the hall had been boarded up and it let in no light.
Duke felt a trickle of sweat run down behind his ears, but he paid no attention. It was hot and still in the house. Faintly, he could hear the children playing outside and fainter still, he could hear the footfalls above him.
His eyes brightened as he felt for his gun. The smooth butt felt good in his hand. He pushed the door open gently, but it creaked. The sound seemed to echo through the house and he paused, his head on one side, his hand on his gun.
There was an abrupt silence in the house. He stood listening, but nothing moved. Whoever it was up there was listening too. It might be Casy’s wife, of course, he reasoned. It might be someone Casy was boarding. In which case, he’d look a prize
fool, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
Something told him that whoever it was had nothing to do with Casy. It might even be Spade. A hard little grin came to his lips. Well, if it was Spade, then he’d get a hell of a shock.
He took two swift steps into the passage. The old boards creaked under his weight. He cursed the house under his breath. It was impossible to move without telegraphing his actions.
He stood in the pitch-black hall, trying to remember where the stairs were. He had caught a glimpse of them as he had come in when the front door was open. Could he get up the stairs without warning whoever it was up there? He doubted it and if he was the kind of guy Duke thought he was, he’d start shooting.
To be caught on a staircase wasn’t Duke’s ide
a of a picnic. All the same, he was going up and no one would stop him.
He levered his gun out of the holster and took another step forward. It was like being a blind man, groping after another blind man. He touched his pocket and felt for a match, then decided against it. By the time the match had flared up, he would be picking hot lead out of his guts.
He didn’t know if the stairs went straight up or whether they curved. He didn’t know even if they were steep. Whoever it was up there probably knew the run of the house and that was an advantage.
His groping foot touched the first stair and very cautiously he put his weight on it. It was solid and he mounted to the next stair. It was groping all the time in thick, hot darkness. His hand found the wall and touched the hanging wallpaper. It rushed under his touch and he took his hand away quickly.
He groped with his other hand and felt the banister rail. It moved when he took hold of it. He guessed it would come away from the wall if he put any weight on it. That was no use, so he lowered his hands to the stairs and went up very slowly on his hands and knees.
When his hands felt the top stair, he remained still, listening. Out in the yard he heard a child calling, ‘Chrissie,’ impatiently and shrilly. He hoped it would find Chrissie and shut up. The thin piping voice blotted out the sounds he was listening for. Then as if the child had decided to be on his side, it stopped calling and the house fell silent again.
Still he didn’t move. He remained crouched at the head of the stairs, the .38 in his right hand and his left hand steadying himself. He stared into the thick curtain of darkness, looking for a crack of light which might lead him to a room without a boarded window, but either the doors were light-tight or else the upstairs windows were all boarded up, because there was not a glimmer of light anywhere.
The smell of damp, the rustling of the ribbons of wallpaper in the draught, the whispering sound of the wind gave him an eerie feeling. A board creaked sharply quite near him, making him start. He looked into the darkness wondering if his eyes were playing him tricks. It seemed as if one part of the wall was much blacker than the surrounding darkness. Almost, he argued, as if someone was standing there within five feet of him.
He was in a jam because he didn’t dare shoot in case it was one of Casy’s friends. He didn’t want to speak because, if it was someone after him, it would be inviting a shot. So he remained crouched there, sweating freely and trying to penetrate the darkness.
While he crouched, his ears strained towards the black patch. At first he could hear nothing, then very softly a sound came to him. He had to listen for several seconds before he identified it. Not far from him, someone was breathing.
It was an unpleasant sound and Duke again felt the hair on his neck bristle. He lowered himself further down on the stairs, moving inch by inch and making no noise, then pushing out his .38 towards the dark patch against the wall, he said in a cold, hard voice, ‘Stay where you are, or I’ll blast hell out of you.’
There was a quick movement, two heavy thuds as someone moved forward and a man caught his breath sharply. The sound came from the right and not in front of Duke. This upset his calculations and although he swivelled round fast, his finger tightening on the trigger, a heavy boot whistled out of the darkness and caught him on the top of his head.
He felt his fingers relaxing on the gun and his body began to slide back, then another violent kick caught him on the side of his head and a light exploded before his eyes.
THIRTEEN
Schultz, grinning broadly, waddled out of his dressing room. He went over to the mirror and adjusted his necktie. Behind him, in the mirror he could see Lorelli lying in bed. She was smoking, a breakfast tray across her knees.
‘My pigeon,’ he said, without turning round, ‘that’s a disgusting habit. You should never smoke and eat at the same time. There’s a time and place for everything.’
‘Oh, let me be,’ she said, irritably.
He patted his hair with the brush carefully, observed the effect, then turned. ‘I’m glad you had the sense to come back,’ he said, abruptly. ‘Very glad.’
She buttered some toast without looking up. ‘I must have been crazy,’ she said. ‘He’d’ve been nicer to me than you.’
‘I wonder why you did come back?’ He stood over her, his mouth smiling, but his eyes were granite question marks.
She shrugged, nibbling at the toast and staring out of the window indifferently. ‘You’re a habit, I suppose,’ she said. ‘Where are you going now?’
‘You didn’t tell him anything?’
‘I don’t talk,’ she said, shortly. ‘You were mad with me last night, so I let you cool off. I never intended to stay.’
He wasn’t convinced, but he couldn’t waste any more time. He had things to do. ‘You’d better not go out for a day or so, my pigeon; not until I’ve seen Duke. He may be difficult. Joe will be around.’
Lorelli poured coffee into her cup. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’ve nowhere to go.’
Schultz smiled at her, but his eyes were still watchful. ‘I don’t want Joe in here. He’s very young. We don’t want him getting ideas, do we?’
‘I wish you’d stop talking about Joe,’ Lorelli snapped. ‘What do you think I am? He’s no use to me.’
‘I wonder,’ Schultz pulled at his underlip, ‘I think sometimes he might be.’
‘I can’t help what you think,’ Lorelli replied crossly. ‘He hasn’t a dime and besides he’s only a kid.’
Schultz nodded. ‘That ought to set my mind at rest, but it doesn’t,’ he said, ‘Joe’s killed two men. Did you know that?’
Lorelli’s eyes opened. This was news to her. ‘Killed two men?’ she repeated. ‘Well, that’s nice. That’s like you to leave me with a thug for protection.’
‘Don’t be silly. Joe’s very good protection.’ Schultz looked out of the window. ‘Well, I must go. The garden looks nice, doesn’t it? Perhaps I’ll get back early. I’d like an hour or so in the garden.’ He moved towards her, but she raised a book that was lying on the bed.
‘No,’ she said. ‘That’s out. I’ve had enough of your sloppy kisses.’
‘I was forgetting,’ the hooded eyes half closed, ‘I suppose you really mean that?’
‘I mean it all right,’ Lorelli said.
‘Well, so long as it’s out with everyone else,’ Schultz said, his voice suddenly harsh.
‘You don’t have to worry about my love life. I’ll sublimate with Krafft-Ebing.’
He hesitated, then with an effort, he smiled again. ‘Well, I mustn’t waste time. I’ll see you tonight.’
‘Goodbye now,’ she said, and half turned in the bed, so that she could watch every move he made. As he reached the door, she said, ‘Paul. . .’
He looked back sharply. There was a note in her voice that brought him up short. ‘Yes?’
‘Harry Duke said that he found you putting a rope round my neck . . .’
Schultz laughed. He began to wobble with mirth, slapping his great thighs and shaking his head. ‘The sly dog. He said that? You can see his game, my pigeon? He wants to drive a wedge between us.’
Lorelli’s face remained cold and suspicious. ‘So he was just telling a story?’
‘Harry’s a great kidder. I like that guy. He gets in the way, of course, and he’ll have to go, but he’s fun. Especially his stories.’ The hard little eyes shifted over her face, trying to read what was going on in her mind.
‘I’d stand you beating me,’ Lorelli said, ‘I’d stand having glasses thrown at me, but I don’t like murder . . . especially my murder. If I thought you’d tried that, I’d cut your lights out, Paul.’
Schultz’s parrot-like mouth fell open. Her unexpected viciousness startled him. ‘Now don’t get excited, my precious,’ he said. ‘Don’t you believe anything Harry Duke tells you. Besides, I wouldn’t kill you with a rope.’ He moved towards her, smiling, his round eyes like black marbles. ‘If I was going to kill you, I’d poison you. I’d see tha
t it’d take a long time. You’d waste away and lose all that pretty fat and you’d die ugly enough to turn the stomach of the mortician.’
Lorelli sat up in bed. ‘Get out!’ she said, fiercely. ‘I don’t want to hear your beastly talk. Get out!’
He was immediately in an excellent humour. He saw that at last he had frightened her. It occurred to him that it might be amusing to poison her. She would die very ungracefully.
‘I’m a great kidder, too,’ he said. ‘So you mustn’t believe what I or Harry Duke have to say about violent death.’ He waved his fat hand and went out of the room.
Lorelli sank back on the pillows feeling a little sick. Poison was just the kind of trick a heel like Schultz would think up. He could slip it in her food any time he felt like it. Her hand touched her throat uneasily. Had he put the rope round her neck? She wouldn’t have stayed in the house one second if she thought that he had really done so.
She heard him drive away and slipping out of bed, she ran over to the window and watched the big black car disappear down the street.
It was going to be another hot day. The sun penetrated the thin silk of her gaily coloured pyjamas and looking down into the street, she felt irritated that she had to stay indoors.
She wandered back to her bed, a sulky expression in her eyes. At the back of her mind the poison threat still lingered. It was an unpleasant and unnerving thought.
She slid her small feet into slippers and reached for a wrap. She didn’t want to stay in bed all day. It was too hot and besides, she felt restless. She wanted action of some kind.
Lighting a cigarette, she went once more to the window and leaning against the wall, she watched the line of cars moving towards Bentonville.
As she stood there, her mind half on the street and half on vague shadowy thoughts of Schultz, the door opened and Joe came in.
Like Lorelli, Joe didn’t have any other name. Schultz specialized in finding orphans, people without attachments, or waifs who came from nowhere and could return to nowhere when he had finished with them.
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