1953 - The Sucker Punch

by James Hadley Chase

  I looked at him.

  It would be his testimony that would save me from the chair. The situation suddenly struck me as comic. I grinned.

  "Get out, you silly old fool, before I throw you out!"

  He crossed the room with the dignity of an archbishop. He even remembered to shut the door quietly behind him.

  I looked at my desk clock. The time was twenty minutes to five. At half past five the staff left in a body.

  Five of them had cars. They all managed to squeeze into the cars, and by five-thirty they had gone.

  The great, rambling house seemed suddenly to have died. The only sounds I could hear was the busy ticking of the desk clock, and the steady thump of my heart.

  I sat motionless, concealed behind the window curtain. I looked! down the long, neat drive and waited for Eve.

  chapter eighteen

  Dusk was falling when I saw Eve's little coupe coming up the drive. I had sat by the window for three hours waiting for her, and as each minute of those hours dragged away, so my rage against her mounted.

  I realized now that it was she who had dropped the seed of murder into my mind. I remembered saying to her when we had spent our first night together in this house that we might be too old to enjoy Vestal's money when we did get it, and her reply.

  She had said: "There's Providence."

  "You mean she might get ill, meet with an accident and die?" I had said.

  "People do," she had replied.

  She had been the one to mention death. She had planned to persuade me to murder Vestal, probably from the moment she learned I was going to marry Vestal.

  I moved back from the window and watched her come out of the garage and walk briskly up the steps and along the terrace to the front door.

  I moved silently across the room, across the lounge and slipped behind one of the big settees.

  I heard her open the front door and cross the hall. She came into the lounge. She stood looking around for a moment, then turned and walked back into the hall and up the stairs.

  I waited until she had rounded the bend in the broad stairway, then I moved silently into the hall, turned the key in the front door and dropped it into my pocket.

  I stood, listening.

  I could hear her mounting the stairs, and then walk along the passage to her room.

  A moment or so passed, then somewhere in the servants' quarters a bell rang faintly.

  This was her house now. She was entitled to ring for a servant. She was entitled to give orders.

  I walked up the stairs, my hand on the banister rail, my feet making no sound on the thick carpet.

  As I reached the head of the stairs, the bell rang again.

  She was the mistress of this house now, and she was entitled to be impatient. No servant had ever kept Vestal waiting. No servant should keep Eve waiting.

  I opened one of the spare bedroom doors and stepped into the room, leaving the door ajar.

  The bell rang again: long and persistently. Then I heard a door open, and Eve came out of her room. I watched her walk along the passage and pause over the banisters.

  There was a puzzled, angry expression on her face. She had taken off her glasses and was holding them in her hand. She was wearing a black, frumpy looking frock which made her look paler than she was.

  She leaned over the banisters. She looked down into the vast ball and listened.

  The only sound that came to both of us was the steady ticking of the grandfather's clock.

  She stood motionless for some moments, then she went along the corridor to where a house telephone stood on a table.

  I watched her dial impatiently. She held the receiver to her ear, and in the silence, I could hear the steady and unanswered burr-burr of the buzzer. After a long moment of listening, she replaced the receiver.

  There was a sudden wary expression in her blue eyes.

  She looked quickly up and down the corridor, then she walked hurriedly down the stairs.

  I moved out into the corridor, crept to the banisters and looked into the hall.

  She was standing in the middle of the hall, listening.

  "Hargis!"

  Her voice came sharply to me.

  She waited, and then she abruptly walked over to Vestal's study door and opened it. She went in, leaving the door open, Again I heard the persistent ring of a bell in the servants' quarters.

  I went to the head of the stairs.

  I heard the whirring of the telephone dial. I went down the stairs swiftly and silently. As I reached the hall I heard the receiver slam back on its cradle. I stepped behind a suit of armour as she came out into the hall again.

  Her movements were uneasy. I could almost hear the thud of her heart.

  She looked about the dark, gloomy hall. She was listening now like someone who has heard a stealthy sound and is frightened.

  I watched her, savouring her growing fear. I was in no hurry. The whole night was before me.

  "Is there anyone here?" she said pitching her voice up. There was a little shake in it. "Hargis! Why don't you answer me?"

  Only the steady ticking of the clock disturbed the heavy silence that followed.

  She gave an angry shrug and turned to the stairs. Then she paused and looked back over her shoulder, and again she listened.

  "They can't have all gone," she said, half to herself.

  She turned around, and moving quickly, she crossed the hall to the front door. She took hold of the big iron latch and pulled at the door, but I had locked it, and it didn't move.

  I came out silently from behind the suit of armour while she was tugging at the door, and took up my position in the middle of the hall.

  "It's locked, Eve," I said softly.

  She whirred around with a sharp little scream. She leaned against the massive door, staring at me, her blue eyes wide with fright, her hand covering her mouth.

  "You look scared," I said. "Have you a guilty conscience, Eve?"

  "Why are you staring at me like that?" she said hoarsely.

  "Can't you guess? I've heard about the will."

  She flinched.

  "I don't know what you mean. Where's Hargis? I've been ringing for Marianne. Where is she?"

  I smiled.

  "They have all gone. I paid them off. There's no one here except you and I, Eve. We're alone together."

  She gave a little gulp, then pushed away from the front door and moved slowly and cautiously around me.

  I turned, following her with my eyes.

  "Frightened, Eve?" I asked.

  "Why should I be frightened? I'm going to my room."

  "Not yet. I want to talk to you."

  "I have nothing to say to you. We shouldn't be alone here together. I must leave tonight."

  "I don't think you will. I doubt very much if you will feel like leaving, Eve."

  I moved suddenly and quickly, cutting off her retreat to the stairs.

  "I was forgetting to congratulate you. How does it feel to own a house as big as this one, and have thirty million dollars to call your own?"

  "I can't help it if she left me the money, can I?" she said breathlessly. "It wasn't my fault."

  "Did you and Larry plan to tempt me into murdering her or was it just your idea?"

  "It was your idea, and you know it!"

  "Oh no, it wasn't. No wonder you don't want to marry me now. Larry will fall over himself to get you back so he can spend your money, won't he?"

  She stiffened and her pale face-hardened.

  "I've had enough of this! I'm going upstairs to pack."

  I smiled at her.

  "Leggit knows you and I did it. He was here this afternoon, and he told me exactly how we did do it."

  She went white.

  "You're lying!"

  "I wish I was. He's a lot smarter than I thought. He found some sand in the inner tube of the burst tire. There was no sand where the car lodged, nor any sand on the cliff road. That told him it was murder. He suspects you mo
re than me. You have the motive, Eve. He asked me if you had talked me into murdering Vestal. That's how close he is to you."

  She took a quick step back.

  "What did you say to him?" she asked, her voice shrill.

  "I told him to prove it. I don't think he can, but he might. If he does, Eve, you'll go to the chair too."

  "You're trying to frighten me! I don't believe you!"

  ''You don't have to believe me. If he cracks that alibi of ours, you'll know fast enough what it feels like to be arrested. They won't be gentle with you."

  "He can't prove it!"

  "I hope not. Have you broken the good news to Larry yet? Is that where you have been all the afternoon?"

  "That's nothing to do with you! I'm going upstairs to pack!"

  "You love him still, don't you? You're going to bring him here to live, aren't you? Does he know anything about the murder?"

  "Leave me alone!" she said, backing away.

  "Can't you guess what's going on in my mind, Eve? I'm trying to decide if it's safe to kill you. I want to kill you. I want to get my hands around that lovely throat of yours and choke your cheating, lying breath out of your body!"

  "You don't know what you are saying!"

  I began to move slowly towards her.

  "I don't think it would be safe to kill you, but that doesn't mean you're going to get away with this. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have killed Vestal. I wanted you as I've never wanted any other woman before. I wanted to marry you, and you promised. All the time you were fooling me. Don't think you're going to get away with it because you're not."

  She suddenly dived past me and ran towards the stairs. I went after her.

  As she reached the foot of the stairs, she dodged swiftly, and my reaching hand slid off her shoulder. She darted into Vestal's study.

  She was behind the desk as I entered the room, and we stared at each other.

  "Keep away from me!" she said breathlessly. "Have you gone crazy?"

  I grinned at her.

  "I'm going to teach you not to cheat. I'm going to give you a beating. I'm going to flay the flesh off your back!"

  She jerked open a drawer in the desk as I came for her. I was reaching out for her when I saw the gun in her hand. That stopped me as if I had walked into a brick wall.

  "Come and flay me," she said softly, and her fingers curled around the trigger. The blunt nose of the .38 pointed at my chest.

  We glared at each other. The look of hate and loathing in her eyes shocked me.

  "Not so brave now, are you?" she said. "You don't think I’d be such a fool as to come back here without some means to protect myself. Come near me, and I'll kill you!"

  I stepped back.

  The sight of the gun and the expression on her face sent a chill up my spine.

  "Yes, Chad, I cheated you. I fooled you too," she said. "And there's nothing you can do about it. I knew she was going to leave me all that money. I played on her pity. She was a sucker for anyone plain and as ugly as she was. When you came along, I saw my chance. Why should I wait years and years for her to die, when you could kill her?" She leaned forward. "Marry you? I hate you. I've hated every moment of your filthy lovemaking. Sometimes I've wondered if all that money was worth pretending to love you. Well, I have it now, and I've paid for it, and you can't touch it. This house belongs to me too! Now, get out! Keep away from me! Tell Mr. Howe where you are and he'll see you get all your things. I don't want one single thing of yours here to remind me of you. Now get out!"

  "I'll fix you for this, Eve," I said furiously. "Watch out! The first chance I get I'll hit back. You've got it coming to you, and it'll come!"

  "Get out!"

  I walked into the hall and over to the front door. I took the key from my pocket, unlocked the door and threw it open. Then I looked back over my shoulder.

  She was standing in the study doorway, her gun covering me, her eyes alert.

  "Good night, Eve. You won't be lonely here tonight. Vestal's ghost will keep you company," I said and walked out into the dark night.

  The time was half past eleven. Jack's bar was crowded. I pushed my way through the mob at the bar to order my fourth whisky.

  I had nowhere to go, nothing to do. I decided to get systematically drunk.

  "Hallo, Chad, darling."

  I looked around, and there was Glorie, smiling up at me.

  For a long moment I just stared at her. It was over sixteen months since I had seen her. I had forgotten about her. I had seen her the night before I had married Vestal, and I told her we would meet again when I had returned from the honeymoon. Then Eve had pushed her right out of my mind.

  "Why, Glorie…"

  She smiled as she slid her hand into mine and gave it a hard, friendly squeeze.

  "Aren't you glad to see me again?"

  "You bet I am. What are you doing here?"

  “I wish I knew." She pouted. "I imagined a nice-looking boy was going to meet me here, but he doesn't seem to be coming."

  ''Why should you worry? You've got yourself a nice-looking boy. Let's get out of here where we can talk."

  She nodded.

  We pushed our way to the exit.

  "My car's over there. Where shall we go, Glorie?"

  "My place." She got into the car and slid down in the bucket seat beside me. "Third left at Roosevelt Boulevard. Chad, darling, had you forgotten all about me?"

  I grinned at her as I sent the car shooting out of the parking lot.

  "Not entirely. Things have been pretty hectic since last I saw you. Looking at you now, I realize just how much I have missed you. What have you been doing?"

  "I've been in Florida. A nice old gentleman took an interest in me when you went to Venice." She giggled. "His wife caught up with him last week. Wives can be hell, can't they, Chad?"

  “I guess so." I swung the car off Roosevelt Boulevard. "Is this the turn?"

  "That's right. Stop by the second lamp post."

  I pulled up outside a tall building.

  "Anywhere to leave the car? I'm spending the night with you."

  "You haven't been invited, but I don't suppose that makes any difference. Take it around the back. Top apartment, darling, and hurry."

  I left the car in an empty lockup at the back of the building and took the elevator to the top floor.

  Glorie's apartment consisted of a small bedroom and large lounge: comfortable, but nothing to get excited about.

  She was waiting for me as I pushed open the door. She had changed out of her dress and was wearing a lemon-yellow silk wrap. She looked so cute I wondered how the hell I had ever forgotten her.

  "Come in and shut the door, Chad. Gee! Am I glad to see you again."

  "That makes two of us," I said, shutting the door and coming over to her. I put my hands on her hips and pulled her against me. "It's been a long time, Glorie."

  "Too long. What happened, Chad? Was it as bad as you thought?"

  "It was bad enough. You know she's dead?"

  "I saw it in the paper." She leaned back, pressing her body against mine and looking into my eyes. "So you have her money, Chad?"

  "I have some of it. She gave a lot away."

  "How much?"

  "Enough. Let's not talk about it. There're better things to do than to talk."

  It was while we were having breakfast that Glorie dropped her bombshell.

  I was thinking that the hard morning light showed up her defects more sharply than I had ever noticed before. I decided she was getting older; the hard, reckless life she lived, her drinking, the late hours, her too generous and enthusiastic lovemaking were beginning to leave traces.

  "Chad, darling, have you fallen in love with someone?" she asked suddenly.

  I continued to eat the scrambled eggs she had put before me, but I didn't meet her eyes.

  "Don't be inquisitive, Glorie."

  "I just thought you might like to talk about it. You know it makes no difference to me. I've long a
go given up hope of you making an honest woman of me. Tell me about her if you feel like it."

  I shoved my plate aside and half-turned my chair so my back was also turned to the window.

  "She was Vestal's secretary. It was pretty hot while it lasted, but it's washed up now," I said, trying to sound casual.

  "Poor Chad!"

  I stiffened and looked up.

  "What the hell do you mean?"

  She smiled and patted my hand.

  "It's never happened to you before, has it? You've always been the one to walk out. It hurts, doesn't it, Chad?"

  I forced a grin.

  "Yeah. How do you know, Glorie?"

  "I used to walk out on them myself. Now they walk out on me. I'm not as cute as I used to be."

  "Rot. What's the matter with you this morning?"

  "I guess you've been walking over my grave." She got up and moved over to stand before the mirror above the mantelpiece. "I look like hell. No wonder you were staring, but you were very brutal last night, Chad."

  "Let's skip the post mortem," I snapped. "Come and finish your coffee."

  She came back, took up her coffee cup and then stretched out on the couch.

  "Was she pretty, Chad?"

  "She was beautiful; not pretty. She had something I've never found in another woman. Something no words can describe."

  "I didn't like her voice. I thought she could be hard. Is she hard, Chad?"

  "Yes, she's hard." I began to pace up and down. Then suddenly the nickel dropped and I paused to stare at her. "When did you hear her voice?"

  "On the telephone. When I got back from Miami I wondered what had happened to you so I called you up."

  "You called me? She didn't tell me."

  Glorie lifted her elegant shoulders.

  "I don't blame her."

  "Did you tell her who you were?"

  "I didn't get the chance. She said you were out and slammed down the receiver, but she was lying. I heard you dictating a letter."

  I suddenly felt cold.

  "What do you mean—dictating a letter?"

  She looked at me and her blue eyes opened wide.

  "Chad, darling! Why are you looking so startled?"

  I went over to her and sat on the couch.

  "When did you telephone?"

  "A few days ago. What are you getting so excited about?"