1953 - The Sucker Punch

by James Hadley Chase

  As I hung up, Vestal came in.

  "Chad, darling, I've been invited to open the Shelley Lecture Hall at my old school the day after tomorrow. Father left money to build the hall and it's now completed. I want you to come with me."

  "For God's sake!" I said. "Those kind of shindigs bore me stiff. You go without, me."

  "But I'll be away for three days, Chad," she said, coming to sit on the arm of my chair. "You wouldn't want me to be away from you all that time?"

  My heart skipped a beat, and then began to race madly.

  Three days!

  Two safe nights with Eve!

  Then my mouth turned dry. Suppose Vestal took Eve with her? The chances were that she would.

  "Where is your school then?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

  "San Francisco. I'll fly, of course, but there's a sports meeting the next day and they've asked me to give the prizes."

  "I've got work to do," I said, patting her hand. "I'm most certainly not coming. I'm sorry, but that kind of thing isn't my line."

  "I suppose not," Vestal said regretfully, "but I would like you to have heard my speech. I'll be taking Eve so I won't be lonely."

  I very nearly struck her.

  But she didn't take Eve.

  At the last moment Eve suddenly went down with sickness and a violent headache.

  "At least she might have waited until we got back," Vestal said crossly when she told me. "She's very inconsiderate."

  "Take your maid," I said, and I had to make a tremendous effort to hide my feelings. "The girl can't help getting ill."

  "I've a good mind not to go," Vestal said irritably. "Oh well, I'll have to take Marianne. She's a fool, but I'll have to put up with her."

  She had been working all day on her speech and she had got it on the tape recorder. It is important that I should mention here that Vestal was crazy about tape recorders. She had one in her sitting room and she had given me one for my study.

  She made me listen to her speech which was adequate enough, and I was careful to lavish praises on her.

  She made three tape recordings before she was satisfied, and she took the machine along with her to the airport so she could play the record back just before she had to open the Lecture Hall.

  I went with her to see her off.

  "You'll behave yourself, Chad, won't you?" she said suddenly as we walked across the tarmac to the waiting plane. "Don't get into mischief while I'm away."

  I forced a laugh.

  "Tonight I'm dining with Blakestone. Tomorrow night I am dining with Sternwood. Can't see how I can get into much mischief with those guys."

  "I was only joking, darling. Of course, I shouldn't really leave you alone with Eve."

  I felt a little chill crawl up my spine.

  "Can't say I'm exactly alone with her," I said, trying to sound casual. "There're ten servants and Hargis in the house with us: not entirely alone, Vestal."

  "If she wasn't such a dowdy thing I'd be jealous," she said with a brittle little laugh.

  I had an idea she was more serious than she made out.

  "You're talking nonsense, and I don't like it," I said curtly. "If I were to be unfaithful to you I'd take a damn good care to find someone who doesn't live in the house."

  She looked quickly at me; her pinched face alarmed.

  "You—you're not going to, are you, Chad?"

  "What's the matter with you? Of course not! Now get your mind off this subject. It's not even funny."

  Her claw-like hand closed around my wrist.

  "You won't ever do that to me, will you, Chad? I couldn't bear it. I—I'd feel so humiliated. I do so want our marriage to be a success."

  "Quit talking like this," I said, pretending to be angry. "You have nothing to worry about. Have a good time and hurry home."

  Her face brightened.

  "You'll miss me then?"

  "Sure, and I'll think of you."

  It was as much as I could do to look down at her ugly little face and tell these drivelling lies.

  "I wish I didn't have to go."

  "You'd better get in. They're waiting for you."

  She put her skinny arms around my neck and pressed her dry lips against mine.

  It was bad enough to have to kiss her in private, but with a couple of dozen people looking on, seeing her ugliness and knowing I couldn't have married her for anything else but her money, it was sheer murder.

  She got into the plane at last, and she was waving when it took off.

  It would have given me the greatest possible happiness if the plane had suddenly stalled and crashed in flames. That's how much I had grown to loathe her.

  There was no sign of Eve when I got back to Cliffside.

  I casually asked Hargis where she was.

  "She is in bed, I believe, sir," he said, lifting his bushy white eyebrows. "I understand she is unwell."

  That jarred me.

  I had forgotten she would have to remain in her room for at least this day. Hargis might report to Vestal that as soon as she had gone, Eve had apparently recovered.

  I had no idea where Eve's room was in this great palace of a house. I went to my study and checked the house directory. I found her room number and put through a call.

  She answered immediately.

  "Tonight," I said, keeping my voice down. "At twelve. Will you come to me or shall I come to you?"

  "I'll come to you," she said and hung up.

  I wiped my sweating hands. I was shaking.

  chapter ten

  The illuminated hands of the bedside clock stood at ten minutes past two. We had been in this room together since midnight.

  "It doesn't seem possible that two hours ago I was ready to walk up a wall," I said. "These past weeks have been hell. We've got to think of a way out of this mess. It mustn't happen again."

  "Be happy with what you have had," she said. "There can be no easy way. Even this is dangerous. She might come back. She might walk in at this very moment."

  "She won't do that. I've locked the door."

  "It's not safe," she repeated.

  "Don't worry so much. Now, listen, I've been beating my brains out how to get around this damned problem. I have an idea. You get a day off every week, don't you? Suppose I get an apartment at Eden End? It's within easy reach, and we're not known out there. We could meet when I'm supposed to be in my office, and you're taking your day off."

  I felt her stiffen.

  "I can't do that, Chad. I have to see my mother on my day off."

  "For the love of Mike! Your mother? Does she come before me?"

  "Don't talk like that. She knows Vestal. If I suddenly gave up seeing her, she might call Vestal and ask why. My mother and I don't get on too well. She's never trusted me."

  "You've got to make some excuse. You must leave that day free for me, Eve."

  "I can't," she said sharply. "Besides, it's dangerous. Someone might see us. You never know who might be in Eden End. It's too dangerous."

  "Then what are we going to do? Wait another six weeks before we can be alone together again?"

  "I warned you, Chad."

  "That's no answer. If you want me as badly as I want you…."

  "I do, Chad."

  The look she gave me set me on fire for her again. I went to her and took her hand.

  "I can't face another six weeks of torture. I'm making money now. I've got over thirty thousand dollars salted away. I could buy a partnership with a broker friend of mine. Look, Eve, why not let us come out into the open? I'll make Vestal divorce me and then we can get married."

  She stared at me.

  "Get married? Chad! Have you gone crazy? What's thirty thousand dollars? How long would that last? How much do you imagine you could make out of a broker's business? Besides, I've told you: I won't give up this job."

  "Why not? What fun can you possibly get out of it?"

  "I don't want fun. I live in this lovely house. I get good money. I have a car.
I have everything I want and I don't have to work very hard. I would be a fool to give it up."

  "Tell me, Eve, why do you make yourself so dowdy? You don't need those glasses, do you? You don't have to wear your hair the way you do?"

  She smiled.

  "Do you imagine she would tolerate me for a moment if she thought I was prettier than she? That's why she has got rid of so many secretaries. She's jealous of prettiness. The agency who got me the job warned me. Perhaps that will convince you that I'm determined to keep this job. I've had a hard life, Chad. My mother and I get on badly. For years I have had to struggle. I'm not giving up this luxury."

  "You're not telling the truth," I said angrily. "You're only hanging on to this job because you imagine Vestal is going to leave you a lot of money. That's it, isn't it?"

  She looked away.

  "That's my business. I couldn't help falling in love with you, but no matter how much I love you, I'm not going to ruin my own chances."

  "She's fooling you. She's only left you a few hundred dollars. She told me so."

  Eve touched my hand gently.

  "You're the one she's fooling, Chad. I know how much she has left me. I've seen the will."

  "When did you see it?"

  "A few days ago. She's just made a new one. Her attorney sent her the draft. She left it on her desk. I looked at it."

  I was tense now.

  "Then how much has she left you?"

  "Fifty thousand."

  I stared at her.

  "She told me only a few hundreds."

  "Perhaps she thought you might be jealous. I've seen it in black and white. I'm not giving up that amount of money for anyone."

  My heart began to beat more rapidly.

  "What has she left me, Eve?"

  "Everything: the house, her property and sixty million dollars. The rest of the money goes in legacies and charities."

  I drew in a long, slow breath.

  "You are sure?"

  "Yes. Now do you still want her to divorce you?" There was a jeering expression in her eyes as she fondled my hand. "Do you?"

  "It makes a difference." I got up and began to pace up and down. "We may never get it. We may be too old to enjoy it if we do get it."

  "There's Providence."

  "You mean she may get ill, meet with an accident and die?"

  "People do."

  Even now while Eve lay on the bed and I paced the room and we talked of Vestal's possible death, it never entered my mind to murder her. It never occurred to me that the easy way out would be to arrange an accident and kill her. The thought just didn't enter my head.

  "What a hope," I said. "You and I could grow old, waiting for her to meet with an accident that might never happen."

  "What else is there to do?"

  "Damn her!" I said. "I wish she would die!"

  Then suddenly and without warning the telephone bell began to ring.

  It's soft note made both of us start violently.

  Eve grabbed up her wrap as if someone had burst into the room.

  I stood, motionless, staring at the telephone.

  "It's her!" I said in a hoarse whisper. "At twenty past two!"

  "Answer it," Eve said. "Be careful what you say."

  My hand was shaking as I lifted the receiver. I had enough presence of mind to make my voice sound sleepy.

  "What is it?" I growled.

  "Oh, Chad!"

  It was her! Even when she was three hundred miles away, the bitch still thrust herself between Eve and I.

  "Why, Vestal! For goodness sake! It's after two."

  "Did I wake you, Chad?"

  "You certainly did."

  "Don't be cross with me." There was a whimper in her voice. "I'm so lonely without you, darling."

  "I guess I miss you too."

  I cursed her in my mind, and I looked across at Eve who stood by the door, fastening her wrap. Her face was white in the soft light of the lamp.

  "I had to call you, Chad. I've just had a horrible dream. It frightened me so. I dreamed I lost you," the whimpering voice went on. "I dreamed you hated me. There was an expression on your face that terrified me. When I went to you, begging you to be kind to me, you threw me aside and you ran away down a long passage. I went after you, but you went too quickly. You went on and on until I lost sight of you. I woke up, crying. I was frightened something had happened to you. I had to telephone."

  I felt sweat on my face.

  "It was only a nightmare," I said, trying to steady my voice. "It's all right, Vestal. There's nothing to worry about."

  "It's so good to hear your voice, Chad. I shouldn't have gone away. You do love me still, don't you?"

  I gripped the receiver until my fingers turned white.

  "Of course I do."

  "I love you so, Chad. It's so good to hear your dear voice."

  "You must go to sleep now, Vestal. It's late."

  "But don't you want to hear about my speech?"

  Was she never going to get off that line? The effort I had to make to keep the exasperated fury out of my voice made me tremble.

  "Was it a success?"

  "It was wonderful."

  For the next five minutes she talked solidly. She told me what she had said, how the headmistress had told the school that she had been one of her brightest pupils, how the school had cheered her.

  I cut in finally, not caring if she liked it or not.

  "That all sounds fine, Vestal, but you'd better hang up now. It's late, and we both want our sleep. Now don't worry anymore."

  "All right, Chad. I'm sorry I woke you. I think of you."

  "I think of you too. Good night, Vestal."

  I put down the receiver.

  Somehow that telephone call had ruined the atmosphere in the room.

  Whereas, before it had come, the room had been a little dark world shared only by Eve and I, like the cabin of the gondola: a room made for love; a secret place away from everyone, but now it felt as public as a street. I could feel Vestal's presence everywhere.

  "I'm going, Chad," Eve said.

  "Damn her! She said she dreamed she was losing me."

  "I told you she ferreted out secrets."

  "I know. Don't go yet. We have another three hours before daylight."

  "No. It's no good now. I feel she's here in this room."

  "I feel that too." I went over to her and slipped my arms around her, but she broke away.

  "No, Chad, no more."

  "Then tomorrow night: at the same time. Shall I come to you this time?"

  "Poor Chad, how little you know about her. There won't be tomorrow night for us. She'll be back."

  "She won't. She has to give the school prizes. She can't come back."

  "She'll be back, Chad."

  And she did come back.

  As I came up the drive after spending the afternoon at the office, I saw the Rolls at the front door.

  Vestal was waiting for me on the terrace.

  That night of violent passion I had had with Eve hadn't satisfied me.

  I tried to tell myself that if Vestal hadn't returned, and Eve and I had been able to have had one more night together, I shouldn't be feeling this body wracking desire for her, but I knew I was kidding myself. I would never have enough of Eve: she was in my blood now as no other woman had ever been before.

  Vestal nearly drove me crazy. It was as much as I could do to keep my temper with her, and it was inevitable that she should become aware of the tension between us.

  Three days after her unexpected return, she came into my study.

  "Chad!"

  I dragged my attention from a stock market report I was reading and looked up.

  "I'm busy, Vestal. What is it?"

  "I'm having a party tomorrow night: only a few old friends. Lieutenant Leggit is coming. You will be there?"

  "Oh, sure," I said, not paying much attention to what she was saying. "Be a good girl, and run along now, will you? I have a whale of a
lot of work to get through before dinner."

  If anyone had told me I could talk to Vestal in this way two months ago, and get away with it, I should have thought he was crazy. But that was how it was. Her love for me had softened her. She was scared to lose me, and she seemed ready to take any kind of treatment from me so long as I stayed with her.

  "All right, darling," she said meekly. "I'll go up and change."

  When she had gone, I tossed the papers on the desk, lit a cigarette and made myself a highball.

  I wondered where Eve was. I hadn't seen her all day. Since that night, I had only caught an occasional glimpse of her, and she was in my mind like a festering wound.

  I gulped down the highball, and went into the hall. I still had no idea where her bedroom was, but hoping she might be still in Vestal's study, I went along there.

  She was at her desk, busy with Vestal's correspondence. She looked up as I walked in. Her pale face was expressionless as I came over to her.

  "She's upstairs changing," I whispered. "I've been thinking of you, Eve. Can't we meet somewhere on Thursday?"

  "No!" she said in a fierce undertone. "I've already told you. I have to see my mother. Will you stop worrying me?"

  "Doesn't my love for you mean anything to you?" I said angrily.

  She got up, moved around the desk and made for the door.

  I grabbed her wrist and swung her around.

  "Eve! I can't wait! We must meet again somewhere."

  "Keep away from me!"

  She wrenched herself free, jerked open the door and went quickly across the hall and up the stairs.

  I leaned against the desk, feeling sweat on my face. My heart thumped against my side, blood hammered in my temples.

  A soft footfall made me look up.

  Hargis was standing in the doorway. His coldly suspicious stare sent a chill up my spine.

  "What do you want?" I snarled at him.

  "I was about to pull the curtains, sir," he said. "But if I am disturbing you..."

  I walked past him and up the stairs.

  The house felt full of spies. It was like living in a glass box, with prying eyes on me all the time.

  I walked along the corridor towards my dressing room. It was a long corridor with many doors, and I was so occupied with my thoughts, trying to think of a way in which I could get Eve to myself, that I passed my dressing room and went on until I came abruptly to the end of the corridor.