The Soft Centre

by James Hadley Chase

  Chris Burnett was reading under the big tree. The nurse, sitting a few yards from him, was knitting. She nodded and smiled at Val as she saw her coming along the path. Chris looked up, closed his book, after slipping a paper marker into the place where he had been reading. He put the book down and got to his feet. He didn’t come towards her, but his smile was a little warmer than the last time they had met and he had taken the trouble, Val noted, to get to his feet.

  ‘Did you hear the news?’ he asked, pulling a chair nearer his. ‘About Zimmerman?’?‘Yes.’ She sat down, longing to touch him. ‘How do you feel about it, Chris?’?‘I’m rather excited.’ He slumped down into his chair. ‘I’m getting pretty bored with myself here. If I could only get back to the office again! It’s dull just sitting here with her watching me all the time.’

  ‘It would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?’ Val said, trying to sound enthusiastic. ‘They seem very hopeful. But we mustn’t expect a miracle all at once. They did say…’

  ‘Oh, I know. They told me.’ He stared away down the path frowning. ‘How’s your father?’ ‘He’s fine. Busy as usual. He is telephoning tonight.’?‘Better not tell him about Zimmerman. You know what your father is. If it doesn’t come off, he’ll get disagreeable again.’

  ‘No, he won’t,’ Val said quickly. ‘But I needn’t tell him if you don’t want me to.’?‘Better not.’ He looked at her, his eyes probing. ‘How are we off for money? I suppose we can afford this operation? This chap charges the earth.’

  ‘We are quite all right for money.’

  He hesitated, looking away from her, then he said, ‘But this blackmailer?’

  Val hesitated, then aware of the tension from her husband, she decided to tell him the truth. ‘I’m not paying him.’

  Chris stiffened. His hands suddenly turned into fists. The twitch around his mouth became more pronounced.

  ‘Is that wise? You said you were going to pay him.’?‘Yes, but I changed my mind. I talked to him again and I decided he was bluffing.’

  He moved uneasily.?‘This could be serious. If I have this operation and I am cured, I don’t want to be arrested just when I’m starting a new life.’

  ‘Why should you be arrested?’

  He again hesitated, then said, ‘This blackmailer could turn spiteful. I think we should pay him.’

  ‘But it doesn’t matter if he does turn spiteful. You haven’t done anything, Chris, so why should we worry?’

  He put his hand to his face to hide the twitching.?‘I can’t remember what happened on that night I could have done something.’ He paused, frowning uneasily, then went on, ‘I get a vague idea sometimes that I did do something.’

  Val drew in a deep breath. It was some moments before she could control the shake in her voice to ask, ‘You remember the woman and the elephants?’

  ‘Yes. Why?’?‘I’ve been thinking about her. I wondered if she wore a bracelet with miniature elephants on it and that was why you associated elephants with her.’

  He looked startled, then he slapped his knee.?‘That’s clever of you. I remember now. Yes, she did wear a bracelet with elephants on it.’ ‘Did she remind you of a Pekinese dog?’

  He stared at her, his eyes narrowing.?‘Is she the one who is blackmailing us?’?‘No. The other day I saw a girl in the hotel restaurant. She wore this bracelet. She was attractive. She had one of those squashed, attractive puggy faces.’

  Chris rubbed his face with his hand. He thought for some moments, frowning.

  Finally, he said, ‘Yes: so did this girl. I can see her plainly now.’?‘You were sorry for her. You told me that,’ Val said. ‘Why were you sorry for her?’?‘I don’t know. Did I say that?’ His face suddenly relaxed into blackness. It was as if a shutter had come down between his eyes and his brain, cutting her completely off from him.

  ‘I say lots of things I don’t mean.’

  She realised she would only be wasting time trying to get any further information from him and she abruptly began to talk about her morning’s swim. He listened politely, but she could see he wasn’t interested. After a few minutes of further futile conversation, she got up to go.

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Chris. Perhaps I’ll be able to talk to Zimmerman.’

  ‘You still don’t think it would be safer to pay this man?’ he asked, peering up at her.?‘What man, Chris?’

  He made an impatient movement.

  This blackmailer.’?‘No. I don’t.’

  His long lean fingers moved uneasily over his knees.?‘We might be sorry if we don’t.’?‘I still think it would be wrong and stupid to pay him. Why should we?

  The twitch at his mouth jumped like an aching nerve, ‘Who is he?’?‘A private detective.’

  Chris flinched.?‘That type is always dangerous. We’d better pay him.’?‘Don’t you want to know why he is trying to blackmail us?’

  A shifty expression came into Chris’ eyes as he shook his head.?‘No, I don’t want to know. I’m not well. You know that. I don’t want to be worried by things.’

  She realised he was now hiding himself behind a smoke screen of unreality.?‘People say so many disgusting things about other people. I don’t want to hear anything like that.’

  On a sudden impulse, she opened her handbag and took out the gold cigarette lighter. She put it into his hand.

  ‘I found this, Chris.’

  He stared at the lighter, holding it for a brief second. Then he gave a shudder, and with a movement of revulsion, he threw the lighter from him the way a man who finds some loathsome insect on him, gets rid of it.

  Then he looked up at her. The expression on his face terrified her. He wasn’t Chris any more. He wasn’t human any more. He began to move out of his chair as she began to back away from him. His breath came through his clenched teeth in a soft, hissing sound. His hands, his fingers hooked, moved upwards as he got to his feet.

  ‘Chris!’

  Her voice was sharp and terrified.?‘I’ve had enough of you,’ he said, his voice a soft, frightening whisper. ‘I’m going to kill you the way I killed her!’

  Then the nurse was behind him. Her hands gripping his wrists, and with speed and strength, locking them behind him in a Judo grip. She held him powerless while he glared at Val, his mouth working and the awful twitch moving under his skin like the flickering of a snake’s tongue.

  ‘Go!’ the nurse said urgently. ‘Tell Dr. Gustave! Hurry! I can manage him!’

  Val turned and ran blindly back towards the house. At the end of the path she met one of the male attendants who turned as he heard her quick footfalls.

  She gasped out what was happening, then as he ran to the nurse’s help, she dropped on her knees on the grass and hid her face in her hands.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  At the time Val was burning her husband’s jacket, Terrell was finishing his favourite breakfast of eggs and grilled ham.

  A few minutes before he had sat down, Jacobs had driven Mrs. Prescott, Angel and her Teddy Bear from Terrell’s bungalow, back to the Park Motel.

  Both Terrell and his wife were relieved to see them go. The child had been too much even for Terrell’s patience.

  As he ate, Terrell looked back on the previous day. Jacko and Moe were now accounted for. He thought with regret of the officer whom Moe had killed. Lee Hardy was dead. Terrell had no regrets about him. With Jacko and Moe out of the way, Henekey’s murder could be considered closed. There still remained Sue Parnell’s murder to be solved. So far there was not a single clue that might lead him to the killer. Then there was this odd business of Val Burnett paying Homer Hare twenty thousand dollars. Terrell was sure Hare was blackmailing Val Burnett, but there was nothing he could do about that, he told himself, unless she was willing to co-operate.

  It was while he was finishing his second cup of coffee that he heard a car pull up outside the bungalow. Glancing through the open window, he saw Joe Beigler and Fred Hess get out of a police car and come striding up his garden path.
/>   ‘More trouble,’ he said to Carrie. ‘Now what do they want this time?’

  He left the morning-room and opening the front door let Beigler and Hess in.?‘What’s up now?’ he asked as he led the way into the lounge.?‘I took Hardy’s prints when they dumped him in the morgue,’ Hess said. ‘I’ve been checking all the prints I found in the cabin where the Parnell woman was knocked off. Hardy’s prints are on the list. He was definitely in the cabin at some time. While I was at it, I checked Henekey’s office. Hardy’s prints are also on Henckcy’s desk.’

  Terrell moved around the room, puffing at his pipe.

  Finally, he said, ‘This could be the answer. That alibi the Lang girl gave Hardy never jelled with me. Could be Hardy did the job. Let’s go talk to her.’

  ‘I guessed you’d want to do that,’ Beigler said. ‘I have a search warrant. If we tear the place apart, we might even turn up the motive.’

  The three police officers arrived outside Lee Hardy’s penthouse front door at a few minutes to nine. Beigler dug his thumb into the bell push and held it there for several seconds, then the three men waited. More seconds dragged past and Beigler again thumbed the bell push.

  The front door was suddenly jerked open by Gina, her face like a stone mask and dark smudges under her eyes. She was wearing a flower patterned wrap and her feet were bare. She looked as if she had just got out of bed. By the way she screwed up her eyes as if trying to focus the police officers, Terrell could see she was drunk.

  ‘I want to talk to you,’ Terrell said and riding her back, he moved into the lobby.

  She shrugged indifferently and then walked unsteadily into the lounge. She seemed glad to flop into one of the big comfortable Lounging chairs. She rubbed her eyes, yawned and then stared at Terrell without seeing him.

  ‘Make some coffee,’ Terrell said to Beigler. ‘She’s plastered.’

  Beigler went out of the room in search of the kitchen. Hess took a chair behind Terrell and fiddled with a notebook while Terrell slowly filled his pipe.

  Gina said abruptly, ‘What is it? If you’ve just come to stare at me, then get the hell out of here?’

  ‘You told me Hardy spent the evening here with you the evening Sue Parnell was murdered. I’m asking you again: was Hardy here or were you lying?’

  ‘Lee didn’t murder her,’ Gina said.?‘I didn’t ask you that. I asked if you gave him a false alibi. This is serious. I have reason to believe he was in this woman’s cabin at the motel on the night she died.’

  ‘What’s it matter where he was now? He’s dead, isn’t he?’ Gina, said, lighting a cigarette. ‘Did you or did you not lie when you said he was with you on that night?’ Terrell demanded, his voice hardening.

  ‘Oh, go to hell! What does it matter? He’s dead! He was the only man I ever cared for! He’s dead! Get the hell out of here!’ She got unsteadily to her feet and started towards the door as Beigler came in, a jug of coffee in one hand, a cup in the other.

  ‘And you… clear out too!’ Gina screamed at him. She gave him a violent push so that the jug of coffee flew out of his hand, smashing against the wall. The coffee streamed down the wall as Gina, dodging around Beigler, ran into her bedroom and slammed the door.

  Beigler smothered an expletive and then put the cup on the occasional table. He looked at Terrell.

  ‘Leave her be for the moment,’ Terrell said. ‘Let’s look around and see if we can find a motive for the killing.’

  Methodically, the three men began to search the penthouse, avoiding Gina’s room. It was Hess, a couple of hours later, searching Hardy’s bedroom who found what they were looking for. In a large envelope, tucked behind a reproduction of a Picasso designed, above Hardy’s bed, was a thin leather-bound diary, a folded letter addressed to Gina, and two cancelled cheques of five thousand dollars each made out to ‘Bearer’.

  Terrell sat on the bed and read the letter.

  Dear Pekie,?If anything should happen to me, turn the contents of this envelope over to the police. Sue found out about the reefer racket I’m snarled up in, and she’s been squeezing me ever since I threw her out. She got hold of the duplicates of the records and she has enough to put me away for ten years. She is set to squeeze me dry, but if I walk under a car or something, I want her to pay for the merry hell she’s cooked up for me. Give Terrell the diary and the cheques. If he can’t fix her, no one can.

  Lee

  Terrell spent some time going through the diary, then he looked over at Beigler who was smoking and sipping coffee he had made while Terrell was occupied.

  ‘Here’s the motive. He got tired of paying, so he knocked her off. He ripped her to make it look like a sex killing,’ Terrell said. ‘Now, I’ll talk to her.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ Beigler said. ‘Want me along?’?‘What do you think?’ Terrell got to his feet, and followed by Beigler, he walked from the lounge and into Gina’s bedroom.

  They found Gina, now dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed, a glass half full of whisky in her hand.

  ‘The Parnell woman was blackmailing Hardy.’ Terrell said. ‘We have proof here.’ He waved the diary and the letter. ‘Now come on: you lied when you said he was here on the night she died, didn’t you?’

  Gina frowned at the whisky in the glass, then suddenly, she shrugged.?‘So what does it matter? So I lied,’ she said, ‘but he didn’t kill her. You’re not pinning murder on him even if he is dead.’

  Terrell sat down. His slight signal alerted Beigler who moved over to the window, sat down and took out his notebook.

  ‘If you’re so sure about that, who did kill her?’ Terrell asked.

  ‘Oh, a guy,’ Gina said. ‘He was a nut. I didn’t know he had screws loose at first, but it has gradually dawned on me.’

  ‘Just what are you talking about?’ Terrell asked, leaning forward. ‘Who is this man? What do you know about him?’

  ‘A guy I ran into,’ Gina said. She blew out her cheeks and moved a strand of hair off her face.

  Terrell could see she was very drunk now.?‘Suppose we begin at the beginning? Where do you come in on this?’?‘I found the letter and the diary the way you found it,’ Gina said, staring glassily at her drink. ‘I guessed Lee was having trouble with that bitch, but it wasn’t until I found the letter and the diary that I realised she was set to squeeze him dry. I wanted to marry him. I loved him, so I decided to fix her. If he was to spend his money on anyone it was to be me… certainly not her. One evening when he thought I was out, he called her. I listened in on the extension. They made a date at the Park Motel. He was paying her another five thousand. So I decided to go out there and persuade her to part with the records she had stolen from him.’

  She got unsteadily to her feet, weaved across the room, opened a drawer in a closet and took from it a broad bladed hunting knife. She came back and offered it, hilt first, to Terrell.

  ‘I took this along with me. My idea was to knock her out, tie her up and threaten to carve her face to bits. I would have done it too, but I guessed she would part with what she had stolen before I had to start on her.’

  Terrell examined the knife. There were dark stains near the hilt. He put it carefully on the bedside table before saying, ‘Then what happened?’

  ‘After Lee left the motel, I picked up a U-Drive car. I didn’t intend to kill her, but if she wouldn’t play, I was ready to go the whole way and I wanted to be sure no one could trace me so I didn’t use my own car.’

  She paused, wiped her flushed face with the back of her hand and looked over at Beigler. ‘Am I going too fast for you?’?‘You’re doing great,’ Beigler said sarcastically.?‘Why take a U-Drive car? You’d have to show your licence,’ Terrell said.

  Gina sneered at him.?‘You think I’m that dopey? I stole a handbag off some girl and used her licence. I even bought a blonde wig.’ She paused to sip the whisky, then went on, ‘I gave Lee half-an- hour’s start, then I drove after him. I was within ten miles of the Park Motel, driving slow because Ir />
  didn’t want to run into Lee and besides, I was tight, when a man walked right in front of the car. I stopped fast, but he was close enough for the fender to be touching him, when I did stop.’

  She peered at Terrell.?‘You don’t have to believe any of this. I can’t prove it.’?‘Keep going,’ Terrell said.?‘Well, this guy asked for a lift. I said I was going to Ojus and he said that would be fine with him. So he got in. I had had a good look at him in the headlights and he wasn’t the kind who would worry me. Anyway, few men worry me. I know how to handle men. But this guy was something special. He was a looker: a real doll.’ She paused to sip her whisky, then went on, ‘There was something about him that made me want to confide in him. I was drunker than a skunk and weepy. I had to be drunk if I was going to do what I planned to do. Okay. I guessed I talked too much. I told him about Lee. I told him about the Parnell bitch. I told him I had to get these papers from her or kill her. By the time I started shooting my mouth off, we had arrived at the Park Motel. Then he started talking as we sat in the car in the motel’s parking lot. He said he would take care of everything. He said he liked me: he was sorry for me: he knew what it was to be in love. He had lots of authority, looks and confidence. I was so goddamn drunk I was glad to listen to him. He said women like Sue Parnell weren’t fit to live. He said he would take care of her. On the back seat of the car I had left the knife and a tyre lever. He took them. As he got out of the car, I suddenly got scared. I said I didn’t want him to do anything. I could handle it. He smiled at me. “You couldn’t fly a kite,” he said. By this time the drink was really hitting me. I knew if I got out of the car, I couldn’t even stand. I let him go and sat in the car, waiting. After a while he came back and got in the car. He said,

  “I’ve fixed it.” By this time, I was ready to pass out. I had a pint in the car and I kept hitting it. I felt him push me into the passenger seat, and then I felt the car move. I guess I passed out. The next thing I remember was waking up on the grass verge of the highway. He and the car had disappeared.’ She again blew out her cheeks and passed her hand across her face. ‘Gee I’m tight. That’s all. Lee never killed her. It was this guy.’