After a bit I get up an' I scram. I lock the rancho door an' get in the car an' start back for Palm Springs.
I have got this job in the bag. Findin' that letter from Aymes has just about sewed it up. I am a tough sorta guy but I have a feelin' that I wanta be ill.
Why? Well, I have handled some lousy cases in my time, an' I have seen some sweet set-ups. I been bustin' around playin' against the mobs ever since there have been mobsters an' there ain't much for me to learn.
But believe it or not this job is the lousiest, dirtiest bit of mayhem that's ever happened my way. It's so tough that it would make a hard-boiled murderer hand in his shootin' irons an' look around for the local prayer meetin'.
I woulda liked to have seen Fernandez fried. That guy oughta got the chair, an' I'm sorry I hadta shoot him. But before I'm through with this job, three-four other people are goin' to take that little walk that runs from the death house to the chair an' when they take it I'm goin' to have a big drink an' celebrate.
I start singin' Cactus Lizzie. It sorta takes the taste outa my mouth.
CHAPTER 14
SHOW-DOWN
I LOOK at 'em.
I am in the chair behind Metts' desk in his sittin' room. It is twenty minutes to four. Metts is in a big armchair in the corner smokin' his pipe an' lookin' as if this sorta meetin' was just nothin'. Henrietta is sittin' with Maloney on a big sofa on the right of the room, an' Paulette is in a chair on the other side smilin' a sorta wise little smile just as if we was all nuts except her.
Everything is very quiet. An' the room is kinda restful because Metts has turned the main light off an' there is only an electric standard lite in the comer behind Paulette. The light is fallin' on her face an' makin' her look sweller than ever.
I tell you dames are funny things. Take a look at this Paulette. Here she is, a swell dame with a swell figure, good looks, poise an' personality, but she can't play along like an ordinary dame. She has to go around raisin' hells bells.
I often wonder what it is that starts a dame off like this. I wonder what bug gets into 'em an' turns 'em into trouble-starters, because I never yet knew a crook or a bitta dirty work that some dame wasn't at the bottom of, an' I reckon that the French guy who said 'cherchez Ia femme' knew his onions. An' I reckon every case I have ever handled has boiled down in the long run to 'cherchez la femme'. But maybe that's what makes life so interestin'.
I look at 'em all an' I grin.
"Well, people," I say, "here is what they call the end of the story. I reckon that I am bein' a bit irregular in havin' this meetin' right now, an' without havin' Paulette's lawyer around. But you don't have to worry, Paulette, I ain't goin' to ask you any questions an' I ain't goin' to ask you for any statement. What you are goin' to do or what you ain't goin' to do is just up to you.
I look over at Henrietta.
"Honey," I tell her. "You have had the worst sorta deal. I reckon that I have had to make things tough for you, but the way I played it was the only way that it woulda worked. The day I had you down here at the Police Station an' grilled you about the clothes you was wearin' that night when you went to New York from Connecticut, was an act. It was an act that I put on for the benefit of Fernandez an' Periera. I was goin' to Mexico an' I had to do somethin' that was goin' to make 'em think that the case was all closed up, that you was the woman I was goin' to pinch for killin' Aymes.
"The same sorta thing had to happen earlier tonight when I pinched you for Aymes' murder. I hadta make them two guys believe that I had the case complete against you, an' that I was goin' to take them to New York as witnesses. I did this because I knew that if they knew they hadta leave the Hacienda in the mornin' the first thing they would do would be to clean up the counterfeitin' plant. I knew that plant was around there somewhere but I just hadta make 'em show me where it was an' that was the way I picked to do it. I'm sorry, lady, but by the time I'm through I reckon you'll understand."
Henrietta gives me a little smile.
"It's all right, Lemmy," she says. "I'm sorry I was rude. I might have guessed that you were much too clever to suspect me of murder."
"Swell," I tell her. "Well people, I reckon I'm goin' to do a lotta talkin', an' I reckon I want you to listen durn carefully to what I'm sayin'. Especially you, Paulette, because you gotta realise that this an' that are goin' to make one helluva difference to you. I told you just now that this meetin'is pretty well out of order from a legal angle; but I'm havin' it for your benefit. When you hear what I gotta say you can go back to the can an' think it over, an' you can also think over just what you're gonna tell that lawyer of yours in the mornin'.
"OK. Here we go: Fernandez an' Periera are dead. Periera squealed on Fernandez an' Fernandez shot him. I croaked Fernandez an' that's that. Both these guys was tied up with the Granworth Aymes counterfeitin' an' the guy who was behind the counterfeitin' an' responsible for it was Granworth Aymes.
"Granworth Aymes had gotta great idea. He was supposed to be a gambler playin' the stock market. Well he did-some-times. When things was good OK, an' when they wasn't, well he reckoned that he could keep goin' by counterfeitin'. This Hacienda Altmira - the place that he built an' mortgaged over to Periera - was the place where the phoney stuff was made an' was it a good scheme? He started off by getting Periera to make phoney money because it was easy to get it inta circulation up in the card room. People who have drunk plenty ain't liable to examine the bills they won or got in change, an' most of the guys who used to play at the Hacienda Altmira was birds of passage. If somebody come along who was livin' in Palm Springs I reckon they'd lay off handin' him any phoney dough. It was when they got a mug that they issued him out with this fake money.
"You remember, Metts, you told me the first night I was here that you found some guy who'd been banged over the head out on the desert not far from the Hacienda? Remember you told me that you thought that this guy had got his up in the card room. Well, I reckon you was right. I reckon this was one of the few guys who'd been given some phoney dough an' made a song an' dance about it. So they croaked him. Altogether this idea of usin' the Hacienda as a place for workin' off this counterfeit on people was swell. They got away with it easy.
"It wasn't until afterwards that they started to make phoney stock an' bond certificates an' I'll tell you why they done this later on.
"This mob was well organised. Aymes was the head of it an Langdon Burdell, the butler at the apartment, Fernandez the chauffeur and Marie Dubuinet the maid, was all in it. Periera was responsible for runnin' the Hacienda an' makin' the phoney stuff. I reckon they been gettin' away with this game for a helluva time.
"OK. Well now I'm goin' to tell you why they started makin' phoney stock an' bond certificates an' transfers, an' I'm goin' to tell you why they made that two hundred thousand dollars' worth of Registered US Dollar Bonds, the stuff that was planted on Henrietta here. It's a swell story an' the dame responsible for it is sittin' right here with us now."
I grin over at Paulette. She looks back at me an' gives me a horse laugh. She is still fightin' fit an' don't give a durn for anything.
"I gotta apologise to you too, Paulette," I tell her "I gotta apologise to you for bringin' you back here on a charge of kuhn' Granworth Aymes. You didn't kill him, but just at the time it looked like the easiest thing for me to do. Right now you are just bein' held on a charge of accessory to counterfeitin', but I don't want you to get too pleased with yourself. Just wait nice an' patient till I get finished, an' then you can laugh as much as you like.
"All right, well about a year ago Granworth meets Paulette an' he falls for her an' she falls for him. I reckon that he was a weak, silly sorta cuss an' the kinda guy who would fall for a swell dame with a strong personality like this Paulette. These two play around together an' Paulette gets to know about the money counterfeitin' business an' she thinks the idea is swell.
"An' then she gets a helluva idea. You gotta realise that she has gotta husband an' this husband is in a pretty
bad way. He has got consumption bad an' he can't get around much. He don't get inta New York an' he don't suspect what is goin' on between his wife an' Granworth.
"But it looks as if he hasn't got very long to live, an' Paulette don't wanta wait until he's dead to get her hooks on the money he has got. So she has a helluva idea. She gets the very swell idea of gettin' Rudy Benito to do his investin' through Granworth Aymes, an' she suggests to Granworth that it would be one swell idea if all the stocks an' bonds that he is supposed to buy for Rudy could be made out here at the Hacienda. In other words she an' Granworth stick to the money an' issue Rudy with counterfeit stocks an' bonds.
"Rudy ain't goin' to get wise because Paulette is bein' the lovin' wife who is lookin' after his business affairs - got me? She will be the person who handles the certificates an' share documents an' Rudy is too sick to examine the stuff through a magnifyin' glass an' anyhow he trusts his wife.
"All of which goes to show you just how lousy a dame can be if she wants to be. I reckon most women whose husbands were sick an' dyin' woulda been glad to have stuck around an' given him a hand. But Paulette ain't like this. This lady is the real tough guy - an' is she tough?
"So the game works well an' they get away with it. In a few months they have cleaned Rudy out, an' all he has got is a bunch of phoney certificates.
"Okey doke. Everything is goin' hunky dory when something happens. One day - a day when I reckon that Paulette is away at New York - Rudy gets in a specialist an' gets himself examined again. The specialist tells Rudy that he's pretty bad, but that he will last longer if he gets down to a good dry climate like Arizona or Mexico. Rudy figures to do this an' thinks that he'll take a look at his finances an' things, an' see how he is goin'. So he probably goes an' gets some of the stocks an' bonds that are in Paulette's safe an' maybe he gets around to some local broker just to see what the stuff is worth an' to see how quickly he can realise on it, Can you imagine what a helluva shock this Rudy Benito gets when he finds out that the whole durn lot is phoney, that it is not worth the paper that it's printed on?
"Can you imagine how that poor guy felt? When Paulette gets back he lets her have it. He asks her what the hell has been goin' on.
"So what does she say? She can't tell him that she has been in on this job from the first. She has to make out that Granworth has done 'em both in the eye. She tells Rudy that he needn't worry because Granworth has just made a bundle of dough on the stock market - which is a fact-an' that they will make him cough it up or else they will go to the police.
"But is she annoyed with Rudy? You bet in her heart she hates him like hell. She didn't like him in the first place because he was dyin'. She didn't like him in the second place because she had been twicin' him, an' sometimes if she ever thought about herself she must have reckoned that she was pretty lousy. But when this poor sick guy gets enough intelligence to know that he is bein' done left, right, an' centre, then I reckon she does get burned up. After this she hates this guy like hell.
"Directly she gets the chance she gets on the telephone to Granworth an' tells him that Rudy is wise to the swindle an' that they will have to keep this guy quiet by payin' him back the dough.
"Granworth says OK but believe me he ain't so pleased an' I'll tell you why. He has just made two hundred grand legitimately on the stock market. He reckons that he is goin' to give up this counterfeitin' business an' go straight. Also he is beginnin' to get tired of Paulette. He has gone so far as to make over the two hundred grand to his wife Henrietta an' he has also taken out a big insurance. He don't feel so pleased at the idea of partin' with the dough back to Rudy, but he tells Paulette OK he will pay up an' that the great thing to do is to keep this Rudy Benito quiet.
"But Rudy is beginnin' to get suspicious. He reckons that Paulette musta known something about what was goin' on. He makes some inquiries an' he finds out that Paulette has been gettin' around with Granworth Aymes - that their names have been coupled together.
"The poor guy don't know what to do. He knows that Granworth is a crook an' he is beginnin' to suspect his own wife, so he gets down an' he writes an unsigned letter to Henrietta. He tells her that her husband is playin' around with some woman, but he don't say who. He writes this letter so that Henrietta will get after Granworth an' bust up the business between him an' Paulette.
"Now we are comin' close to the time when the works start shootin' properly. Henrietta writes some letters to Granworth from Hartford, Connecticut, where she is stayin', accusin' him of gettin' around with a woman, an' this puts Granworth in a jam. He has got to get his hooks on the two hundred thousand Registered Dollar Bonds that are in the safe deposit in Henrietta's name so as to give 'em to Rudy to keep him quiet, an' he has gotta do this without Henrietta knowin' anythin' about it. So what does he do? He gets goin' directly he gets the first letter from Henrietta. He gets Periera to manufacture counterfeit dollar bonds an' he sticks 'em in the safe deposit in the place of the real ones. This way he reckons he is safe. The phoney bonds will keep Henrietta quiet an' he can hand the real ones over to Rudy an' keep him quiet. Paulette has told him that Rudy ain't goin' to last long an' he reckons that when he dies he can get the real bonds back again.
"He tells Paulette about all this an' she thinks that it is a swell idea an' that if they play it carefully they can get away with it. But they don't reckon on one thing. They forget Rudy Benito. This guy is suspicious an' not only is he suspectin' Granworth but now he is also suspectin' Paulette.
"So now we come to the big day. We come to the 12th January-the day that Granworth Aymes goes over the edge of Cotton's Wharf. Now I reckon that this day is a pretty interestin' sorta day. In fact I will go as far as to say that durin' a long experience of crooks an' murderers an' what will you I ain't ever heard of a day that was just like this 12th January.
"It is a day that all you guys are goin' to remember all your lives, an' personally speakin' I reckon I am goin to remember it too.
"Now get the set-up. This 12th January is the day that Paulette has told Rudy that she is goin' inta New York to make the wicked Granworth pay up the two hundred thousand that he has swindled Rudy an' her out of. Rudy listens to all this stuff with his tongue in his cheek. He is gettin' pretty wise to Paulette an' he reckons that when she goes to see Granworth he is goin' to string along too, but he don't tell her.
"OK. Well Granworth ain't feelin' so pleased with the 12th January either. He knows that he has gotta hand over the two hundred thousand in bonds to Paulette an' he has also received the third note from Henrietta who has come back to New York an 'in this note she tells him that she is goin' to see him an' have a showdown about this woman he is gettin' around with."
I look around at 'em. Metts is sittin' holdin' his pipe in his hand, lookin' at me as if he was hypnotised. Henrietta is starin' straight in front of her. Poor kid I reckon she ain't feelin' so good at hearin' all this stuff about Granworth. Across on the other side of the room Paulette is lyin' back on her chair keepin' her eyes on me. There is a sorta half smile playin' around her mouth. She sits there, quite still, not movin' a muscle, just like she was petrified.
"OK," I go on. "So here we are on the afternoon of the 12th January. Paulette comes to New York for the express purpose of seem' Granworth Aymes an' gettin' the two hundred grand in dollar bonds from him, an' after her, keepin' well under cover, comes the poor sick guy, Rudy Benito, coughin' his way along, with his guts fulla hatred for his wife who has sold him out for the man who has helped her to do it.
"Rudy has got his own scheme. I reckon that in the afternoon he takes himself a room at some little quiet hotel and rests himself. He is preparin' for the big act he is goin' to put on with Granworth. Just for the minute I'm goin' to leave him there.
"In the afternoon Paulette goes along an' sees Granworth in his office. Maybe Langdon Burdell is there an' maybe he ain't, but anyhow Paulette spills the beans to Granworth. She tells him that the only way of keepin' Rudy quiet is to pay back the dough. She
don't know that Rudy suspects her an' she tells Granworth that the guy is goin' to die soon anyway an' that then they can join up again.
"Granworth says OK. He gives her the two hundred grand in dollar bonds an' he tells her about the fast one he has pulled on his wife, Henrietta. He tells her how he has got Periera out here at the Hacienda to fake up counterfeit dollar bonds to replace the real ones that he has just handed over to Paulette. I reckon that they think that this is one helluva joke. Maybe they sit there an' laugh their heads off.
"Well, after they have enjoyed this big joke, Granworth tells Paulette his big news. He tells her that his wife Henrietta is in New York an' that he has just received a note from her to the effect that she is goin' to see him that evenin' an' have a showdown about this woman he is supposed to be runnin' around with. Paulette is interested like hell. You bet she is. She is rather enjoym' the joke. She asks Granworth what he thinks Henrietta will do. He tells her that he reckons that Henrietta will say that unless he gives up this dame he is gettin' around with she will divorce him. He says that she will be all the more inclined to take one helluva strong line because she thinks that she has got the two hundred grand in dollar bonds that was in the safe deposit. She don't know that they have been switched an' that they are fake;
"Then Granworth an' Paulette have another helluva big laugh.
"Paulette says OK, but she is mighty curious to know about this interview that is comm' along with Henrietta an' she would like to stick around an' hear what happens an' Granworth says OK, that when he is through with Henrietta he will come back to his office an' if she will be waitin' there for him about eight-thirty he will tell her the works an' they can have another big laugh.
"Paulette says OK, an' she goes back to her hotel an' probably gives herself a facial an' a big drink. She thinks that she is doin' swell.
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