1953 - The Sucker Punch

by James Hadley Chase

  He offered me a light, and in the light of the flame we looked at each other.

  "Women can be hell," he said easily. "Sometimes I feel like strangling my own wife, but it's not the best thing to do."

  "I guess that's right," I said, and I was startled to hear how shaky my voice sounded.

  "Well, maybe I'll go home now. Mrs. Winters was uneasy about you so I stuck around." He turned and walked into the lounge, I followed him.

  "Would you mind ringing for my hat, Mr. Winters?" he went on, and I felt his eyes going over me searchingly I crossed over to the bell and rang it.

  "The trouble with my wife," I said, trying to force a grin, "is she's a little possessive. I had a date with an old army friend of mine, and for some reason or other she seems to think I was out with a woman."

  He nodded.

  "Yeah. Women do get odd notions."

  I began to relax.

  This guy seemed to be a bigger sucker than I had imagined him to be.

  "Oh well, we'll patch it up," I said. "She'll get over it. I didn't bring this guy to the party because he's a bit rough."

  Hargis came in with Leggit's hat. He handed it to him and after giving me a quick, cold stare, went away.

  "Well, good night, Mr. Winters," Leggit said, offering his hand.

  I shook hands with him.

  "I'd get rid of that lipstick you have on your collar," he went on. "Mrs. Winters may have eyes as sharp as mine."

  He went out, leaving me standing rigid, my heart hammering.

  chapter twelve

  The big grandfather's clock in the hall was striking three when I cautiously opened my bedroom door and stepped into the dimly lit passage.

  I stood for some moments, listening. No sound came to me except the steady ticking of my wristwatch and the deeper, slower tick of the clock in the hall.

  I shut my door and locked it, taking the key. Then I walked silently along the passage and paused outside Vestal's door. I listened with my ear against the door panel. I heard nothing.

  I went on to the end of the passage, then before turning down the cul-de-sac that led to Eve's room, I looked over my shoulder to satisfy myself no one was watching me.

  I paused outside Eve's door, turned the handle and pushed gently. The door swung inwards.

  I stepped into the moonlit room, closed the door and turned the key.

  "Who's there?" Eve asked sharply.

  I could just make out her outline as she sat up in bed.

  "Keep your voice down," I said, "and don't turn on the light."

  "What do you want? What are you doing here?"

  I could tell how alarmed she was by the tone of her voice.

  "She accused me of going out with a woman, and we had a scene."

  "She doesn't know who?"

  "No."

  "Then what are you doing here? Go away! Leave me alone!"

  "Keep your voice down. I want to talk to you."

  "I don't want to listen. Please go! Look what happened the last time you came to my room. Please go at once!"

  "Never mind what happened last time. This is important. How would you like to earn fifty thousand dollars, Eve?"

  "What are you talking about? You must go, Chad!"

  "Listen to what I'm saying. I'm offering you the chance of collecting fifty thousand dollars. I'm also offering you myself as a husband with the right to share sixty million dollars. What do you say to that?"

  There was a long pause as she peered at me, trying to see my expression in the half darkness.

  "Are you drunk? What are you saying?"

  "You remember the other night you talked about Providence, and I asked you if you meant Vestal might get ill, meet with an accident and die? You said people do. Remember?"

  Her fingers dug into the sheet that covered her.

  "Chad! What are you saying?"

  "Vestal is going to meet with an accident."

  "How do you know? Oh, please stop talking nonsense and go away. She might come in any moment!"

  I leaned forward and whispered, "I'm not going to wait for Providence, Eve. I'm going to kill her."

  I heard her catch her breath sharply.

  I waited as I had waited for Vestal's reaction when I had suggested the tax fraud. I had an idea that I could count on Eve, but I wasn't sure. If she shied away from the suggestion, I was sunk, and my mouth was dry as I waited to see what she would say.

  She remained motionless for what seemed a never-ending time. Her hands clutched the sheet; her eyes, glittering in the moonlight, stared straight at me. I could hear the heavy thud of her heart.

  "Kill her?" she whispered. "But how will you do it, Chad?"

  There it was: the exact thing I was hoping she would say. I knew then I could go ahead, for without her, my plan wouldn't work.

  I searched in my dressing gown pocket for a pack of cigarettes, offered her one, but she shook her head. I lit up, and for a brief moment we stared at each other in the flame of the lighter.

  She was as white as a fresh fall of snow, and her eyes looked like dark holes in her face.

  "How will you do it?" she repeated.

  "Never mind for the moment how I'll do it. If I do do it, will you marry me, Eve?"

  "Marry you? But how can I? I'm married to Larry."

  "We can take care of him. He'll give you a divorce. With sixty million dollars to play with you can take care of anyone. Now listen, I'm not doing it unless you give me your word we'll marry within nine months of you getting a divorce. While we are waiting for the divorce, we'll go to Europe, and we'll live as man and wife. The moment she's dead, Eve, I'm not losing sight of you. I don't know how you feel about me, but I know how I feel about you. You're the only woman I have ever loved. You're in my blood. I'm not going to ask you if you love me, but I know you and I could be happy together. Will you marry me after she's dead?"

  "If you want me to, I will."

  A little too quick: a little too glib. Although I was crazy about her, I didn't trust her. I was sure she was still in love with Larry. I wasn't going to risk my neck, and then finish up with a double cross.

  "Listen carefully, Eve. We won't only share the money, we'll also share in Vestal's death. It'll be murder. You will have to play as big a part in it as I. If you change your mind after she's dead about marrying me, I'll give myself up to the police. I promise you that. If I do that, you'll be caught too. So don't make a snap decision. If you like I'll come back tomorrow night to give you time to think about it. Would you like me to do that?"

  She caught hold of my wrist.

  "No. I'll give you my answer now. If you want me, I'll marry you, Chad. I'll be glad to—only—only it's got to be safe."

  I slid my arms round her. The feel of her body under the thin stuff of her nightdress set me on fire, but this wasn't the time for love. Love would come later: nights of love. With a little patience, and a lot of nerve Eve would be mine for the rest of my days.

  "Murder's never safe, but I have a plan that could be safe if I can rely on you. When I came in tonight, she accused me of going out with a woman. I kidded her, and she smacked my face. I lost my head and got hold of her. I wanted to wring her neck. It was lucky I didn't. That police Lieutenant was in the lounge. He came out and parted us. He made a crack about strangling his wife, but it was just eyewash. As he was going he made another crack about me having lipstick on my collar. The point is this: he knows Vestal and I have had a quarrel. When he hears she has met with an accident, he's going to jump to the conclusion that I've murdered her. I'm a natural for her murder. I don't love her. We've just quarrelled. I get all her money. I have everything to gain by her death. Okay, maybe it isn't a bad thing for him to think I did it, because after I've shown him I couldn't possibly have done it, he might begin to think it really was an accident, and if he does that, we're safe."

  Eve clutched hold of my hands.

  "I don't understand," she said, her voice unsteady. "It frightens me, Chad. How exactly will
you do it?"

  "Do you know what happens if your front tire bursts? If it's your left wheel, the car slews to the left; your right wheel, it goes to the right. It happened to me as I was driving from Eden End. I finished up among the sand dunes. It'll happen to Vestal when she's driving down the cliff road; but there's no sand dunes to break her fall."

  Eve's grip tightened on my hands. She didn't say anything.

  "I took her car when I went out to Eden End. In the boot is the burst tire. This is what I do; one of these nights she'll be going out. We'll have to take care of Joe. The stuff you gave her that made her ill; we'll give him some of that. She doesn't mind driving herself, only we'll have to be sure Joe is out of the way. When she goes down to the garage to get the car I'll be waiting for her. I'll hit her over the head, then I'll drive her to the top of the cliff road. I'll take the offside wheel off and put on the wheel with the burst tire. I'll put her in the driving seat and steer the car over the cliff. It's easy, but the refinements are difficult. As soon as Leggit hears what has happened, he'll think of me. I've got to have a cast-iron alibi; an alibi that's unbreakable, and that's where you come in. I have got it all doped out, and if you do what I tell you, we can't go wrong."

  "What do I do?"

  "The setup is this: I've got to be in two places at once. I've got to be on the cliff road and I've got to be in my study with you. We've got to have witnesses who will swear they saw and heard me in the study while in actual fact I shall be on the cliff road fixing the tire and sending the car over the cliff. They've got to be witnesses Leggit will believe. One of them must be Hargis. Leggit will find out fast enough that Hargis hates me, and if Hargis says I was in my study at the time of the accident, Leggit will believe him. The other witness will be Ryan Blakestone. He's respectable, and Leggit will know he's not the type to stick his neck into trouble by lying to the police."

  "But how can you be in two places at once?" Eve said. "It sounds all right, but how do you do it?"

  "It'll take patience, care and practice but it can be done. I’ll tell you what appears to happen: Vestal leaves the house say at nine o'clock. At nine-ten, you will ring for Hargis. When he comes to the lounge, you will come out of my study and leave the door wide open. He'll hear me dictating a letter on the tape recorder. He will see the back of my armchair, and part of my arm and elbow on the armrest. That's all he'll need to see to convince him I'm in the room. He'll imagine he has seen my head and feet: imagination fills in a lot of gaps. You'll tell him I want coffee. You will remind him Blakestone will be arriving in a few minutes, and when he does arrive, he is to show him into the lounge, but not into the study as I'll be tied up for half an hour. You'll go back to the study, leaving the door open. When Hargis brings the coffee, let him come into the study, but keep between him and my chair. Motion to him to put the coffee on the side table by the door, and sign to him to keep quiet. My voice will be dictating all the time remember. When he has gone, you shut the door and wait for Blakestone to arrive. He'll be along in about a quarter of an hour. When Hargis shows him into the lounge, come out at once and leave the study door open so both of them can see me in the chair. Tell Blakestone I am just finishing dictating,, and I won't keep him more than ten minutes. Then go back to the study and shut the door. That's all there is to it— think you can do it?"

  "You said that is what appears to happen—what does happen?"

  "I'll prepare a tape record. I'll dictate a number of letters and you'll play the tape back so Hargis and Blakestone will hear my voice. My arm on the chair arm will be easy enough. A coat and a wire frame will take care 'of that. We'll use the wing chair and turn it so its back is to the door. The voice, the arm and we can fix up a smouldering cigarette will be enough to convince anyone I'm in the room. While you are taking care of this end, I'll be on the cliff road changing the wheel. When I've done the job, I'll come straight back, get through the study window, put on the coat that they've seen and come to the study door. I'll apologize to Blakestone for keeping him waiting. So long as you don't lose your nerve and follow out what I'm telling you, this alibi is unbreakable. Now go ahead and pick holes in it." She leaned against me, and I could feel she was trembling slightly.

  "Suppose Blakestone's late and the tape record runs out?" she asked.

  I nodded.

  "That's a good point. You have an hour's running time on the recorder. As soon as Hargis has brought the coffee and gone, turn off the recorder and wait until Blakestone comes, then start the machine again as soon as you hear him enter the room. You'll have tape enough. There is one tricky bit that is essential to the success of this plan. It'll need a lot of practice and you've got to time it dead right. When you come out to tell Blakestone I won't be long, I'll join in. I'll say 'Sorry, Ryan, shan't be long now, or something like that. Then I'll appear to go on dictating. That will convince him faster than anything that I'm in the room, but the timing will be tricky. I'll have to record that speech and you will have to fix it that it fits in absolutely at the right time."

  "Sounds too difficult, Chad."

  "It's got to be done."

  "We can't tell until we try it. There's one thing you haven't thought of. You can hear the car leave the garage from the house. If she leaves at nine o'clock and Blakestone doesn't arrive until nine-thirty, suppose Hargis wonders why she hasn't gone? Suppose he goes to see if she is having trouble starting the car?"

  "You're using your head," I said. "That's just the kind of point I want raised. We could slip up on a thing like that." I stubbed out my cigarette and lit another. "As soon as I've knocked her out, I'll put her in the car and drive to the head of the cliff road. I'll stop there in that clump of trees and wait for Blakestone to pass. As soon as he's gone, I'll go on to the first dangerous bend."

  "No, wait, Chad, that won't do. He might notice the fencing is intact. You're trying to make him believe she's already had her accident."

  "Yeah." I rubbed the back of my head and frowned. "Goddam it! That's something I had overlooked! We'll have to shorten the time, Eve. We'll have to get Blakestone up here earlier. Now listen, this is the way I'll work it. As soon as I see his lights coming, I'll get Vestal on my lap, her hands on the steering wheel. I'll drive down to meet him, keeping out of sight behind her. I'll be going fast, and knowing him, he'll be going fast too. He'll see the Rolls, and he might catch a glimpse of Vestal, but he won't see me. I'll keep well down behind her. When he hears the news, he'll assume the accident happened a few seconds after he had passed her."

  "The timing is going to be difficult, Chad. If he's early…"

  "He never is; he's usually late, but I'll impress on him to be on time when I ask him up."

  "If you do it halfway down the road, Chad, how will you get back in time? You can't walk three miles. It's too far."

  "That's right again. In the afternoon, you must take your car and hide it in the woods. Leave it there for me to use when I'm through."

  "I'll do it."

  I looked at my watch. It was now nearly four o'clock.

  "Think about it, Eve. We have time. Work on it. Think of all the likely snags. We can't afford to make a mistake."

  "I'll think about it."

  "Let me know when she is going out in the evening. It's got to be after dark. We've got to have warning, and we've got to be ready."

  "I'll let you know."

  I stood up.

  "Then it's on?"

  "Yes."

  "Scared?"

  "A little."

  "It can't go wrong if you keep your head. You've got the tricky end to handle."

  "Your end's tricky too."

  "Don't worry about me. I'll handle my end all right." I bent and kissed her. "We're in this together, Eve. This is the beginning of our partnership."

  Her arms went around my neck.

  "Yes, Chad."

  "And you'll marry me?"

  "I've said I would."

  "It's damn funny, but I want you more than her money."

&
nbsp; "You'll have both."

  I touched her face lightly, then crossed the room and unlocked the door.

  And that's how we planned it. At the time it didn't seem coldblooded to either of us. We just didn't think about Vestal. She was something in the way; something to be removed. The prize was too big to have qualms— the qualms came later.

  I slept late and I slept dreamlessly.

  While I was taking a shower, it crossed my mind that I had to make up with Vestal. If she really began to believe that I had been unfaithful to her, she might, in a fit of spite, alter her will I got in a mild panic just to think of such a possibility.

  She had gone to her room apparently convinced I had been out with a woman. The difficulty now would be to convince her she had been mistaken. Unless I produced the fictitious Top-Sergeant Jim Lasher, I couldn't imagine any way of convincing her.

  But by the time I had dressed and had had breakfast on my balcony, I had found a way to handle the situation, I put a call through to Vestal's room "What is it?"

  Her voice sounded strident and harsh.

  "This is Chad, Vestal. May I talk to you?"

  "No! I don't want anything more to do with you!"

  "I want to say how ashamed I am, and I've a confession to make to you."

  I was hoping that line might prick her curiosity, and it did.

  "What confession?" she said sharply.

  "I can't blurt it out over the telephone. Can I come to your room?"

  I made my voice sound pretty humble, and I was glad she couldn't see my expression. I had trouble not to burst out laughing when she said in her grand manner, "Very well. You may come in half an hour's time."

  The silly little dope! I thought as I hung up. Well, she could throw her weight about a little longer, but her sands were running out.

  Exactly at eleven-thirty, I tapped on her door.

  She was sitting before her dressing table in a yellow wrap, pretending to do her hair.

  I came over to her and stood uneasily before her.

  "I'm sorry, Vestal, and I hope you will try to forgive me," I said, launching into a speech I had rehearsed after breakfast. "I want to tell you the truth: I was out with a woman last night, and I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself."