Clark dropped back onto the couch before the fireplace and stared into the flames for hours. His mind ran around and around in circles and he got nowhere. Faye telephoned and he told her he was not feeling well, but for her to stay at the Lodge and enjoy herself. He sat and stared into the flames and his mind was a blank.
He was out of the house early in the morning, not wanting to face Joey or Faye or the servants. He had breakfast at the Pine Inn in Carmel, drove about aimlessly for a while, then played a solo round of golf at the country club. He drove home during the lunch hour and pulled into the driveway behind a parked sheriff’s car. Joey was leaning back against the car, smoking a cigarette and talking with Scott, the deputy, who was half seated on a front fender. The officer had his cap off and was scratching his scalp through thin, graying hair. His florid face looked tired and drawn, as if he had not slept all night, but when he saw Clark his features hardened and a cold look crept into his eyes.
Clark got out of his car and walked toward him, thinking, Well, whatever it is, this is it. When he put out his hand to Scott the deputy ignored it and Clark dropped it slowly to his side. Joey looked at the two of them and shifted uncomfortably.
Scott’s lips were thin and white as he said, “I’ve been doing a good deal of checking since yesterday, Mr. Holt. I thought you might be interested in knowing what I’ve learned.”
“Why, certainly, Officer. You know, of course, that this is an extremely sad blow. I was very fond of Elsie. An excellent maid and a wonderful girl.”
Scott squinted deeply into his eyes and said, “Elsie Brown is from a fine colored family in Florida and had a good education. Her reputation until last year was the best. Then she became involved in a jewel theft in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve checked with the department there and learned that the real criminal was apprehended long ago. Miss Brown was in the clear, but evidently didn’t know it and thought she was hiding out.” He said dryly, “I have a feeling you know all about that.”
“Well, of course, we realized she was in some sort of difficulty, but we liked her so well — ”
Scott interrupted. “Naturally. You were shielding her, of course. That is the impression Mr. Malloy has also been trying to give me.”
Clark looked pained. “Impression?”
“We’ll skip that for the moment. Anyway, until this morning, I thought that was probably the reason she took her life. That may have had a little to do with it, but it wasn’t the main reason.” He paused, squinting narrowly at Clark, then asked coldly, “Did you know that Elsie Brown was pregnant?”
Clark felt the blood draining from his face and knew from the cold, twin lights of hatred that leaped into Scott’s eyes that he had given himself away. But he recovered quickly and said, “No, by God, that’s news to me.”
Scott snarled, “You’re a liar.”
Clark’s face flushed a dangerous red and his hands clenched into hard fists. He said softly, “I’ll tell you something, Officer. I’d as soon smash your face in as anyone else’s. That badge won’t stop me.”
“Maybe not, but my gun will, and believe me, Holt, I’d love to use it on you. Care to make a move?”
Joey got between the two of them and said soothingly, “Now, wait a minute. Let’s not have trouble. After all, Scott, how you expect a man to act when you call him a liar?”
Scott’s lips pressed into a thin smile. “I was wondering,” he said. “Now I know. You’re a pretty rugged character, Holt. You don’t look it, but I had a hunch.”
Clark sensed that the man he was facing, even though middle-aged and balding, was also a pretty rugged character, and that his threat to use his gun had not been an idle one. He forced himself to relax and shrugged the tightness out of his powerful shoulders. “O.K.,” he said. “You have something on your mind. Let’s hear it.”
“I got plenty on my mind. So the doc told me this morning that this Elsie Brown was far gone in pregnancy. I hadn’t seen her yet, so I went in and had a look at her. Young girl and beautiful. I haven’t seen a figure like that except in the movies. And that got me thinking. I asked the doc how far back and he told me and I checked and it comes out about two weeks after you move in this house. Was she nice, Holt? Did you have a good time with her?”
Clark’s voice was a rasping file: “Why me?”
“Plenty of reasons. The biggest one is just looking at you.”
“I wouldn’t say that’s much to go on. How do you know she didn’t have some colored guy she was going with?”
Scott shook his head. “It isn’t likely. She was scared and she was hiding. I asked around and learned she never left this house unless she had to go shopping. Then she only went into Carmel and came back right away. Of course, I can’t prove anything, and even if I could it still wouldn’t mean anything except maybe to smear you a little. That would be a pleasure, but it isn’t in my line. Holt, I know you’re the one. That girl was scared and you probably put the pressure on her. When she found she was pregnant I imagine she was terrified and probably went a little off her rocker. So she killed herself.” He slammed his fist down on the fender of the car and cried, “And the thing that gets me is there isn’t a thing I can do to you about it. She’s written off strictly as another suicide and you keep on walking around.”
“You’re making some pretty wild accusations.”
“Listen, Holt. I’ve been checking you, too, ever since that Hibbard Hicks deal. You and your pal here are both phonies and if anyone asked I could prove it. But I’m saving that and I hope to God one of these days I can really pin something on you. I haven’t forgotten Hicks, you know. If that was an accident, then I belong in a booby hatch. I checked into that, too, and learned that the only way you could get your paws on his wife’s dough was by getting rid of him.”
Clark’s eyes had turned green from the wild rage surging within him, but still he managed to keep himself under control. “Do you care to make an official statement on that line?”
“You go lose yourself, Holt. I’m not putting my neck out until I’m ready. You’ll slip one of these days. Your kind always does. And when you do, I’ll be there waiting.”
He slammed his cap on his head, jerked open the door of the squad car, and got inside. He looked back at Clark once, with a cold smile, then spun the wheels and pulled out of the driveway. Joey looked after him thoughtfully, silently, until the car had disappeared around a curve of the lane. Then he turned slowly to stare at Clark.
“Hell,” he whispered. “So that was it. That poor girl.”
Clark cried, “She could have come to me, couldn’t she? She didn’t have to do that. I could have done something about it.”
“Marry her?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Look, kid. I don’t think she was the kind who’d go for an abortion. Prolly too scared, anyway. So — Aw, hell, what a shame! A good-lookin’ queen like that, too. Ain’t too many around like that one, and now she’s on a slab.” His eyes narrowed to slits as he said, “Another thing, kid: How about that Hibbard Hicks deal? That Scott sure thinks you done it. Your hands are clean, ain’t they?”
“Good Lord, yes!”
“I hope so. I sure hope so. Way I was thinkin’ while that Scott was talkin’, maybe I got myself in with the wrong guy.”
Clark shouted, “You can pull out any damn time you please.”
“Well, now, I don’t know. Too much of that beautiful green stuff at stake. Alla which reminds me: I need dough. How about knockin’ off a pigeon? That Phelps is ready to take.”
Clark shook his head. “We’re out of that racket for good. I can’t afford to take chances with an angry sucker.” He put an arm about Joey’s shoulders and said, “How about me lending you five grand or so? Faye won’t know the difference.”
“That’s oke with me. Now I think maybe I could use a good hot shower.” He shrugged himself away from Clark’s arm and walked into the house.
Clark frowned and followed him, wondering why he was feeling a s
ense of loss.
He became immediately the saddened but generous master of the house. He secured the address of Elsie’s family in Florida and had all of her belongings sent to them. He also had the body sent to Florida for burial accompanied with a check more than sufficient to cover the funeral expenses. It became known that Elsie had been in trouble and that Clark had been chivalrously protecting her. The esteem in which Clark was held rose another degree and even the older residents had a warm smile for him.
Joey said one day, “It sure gets me. If this joint had a mayor, you could run for the job and get it.”
Clark was not unaware of his position, and used it to his advantage. All of the people he knew regularly traveled back and forth to San Francisco. They did their shopping in the city and transacted most of their business there. Some of them had city homes or apartments, but most of them stayed in the city hotels. Clark began talking with some of the residents about forming a men’s club in the city with a membership confined strictly to the Monterey Peninsula. The idea caught on and he soon had a considerable group of men interested.
He then approached Faye, when they were alone at the dinner table one evening, and told her about his idea. As soon as she showed interest, he said, “Your house in the city would be perfect for that purpose. It’s big enough, without being too big, the location is excellent, and it would take very little reconstruction to turn it into a club.”
Faye sipped at her coffee, with brandy added. “It’s certainly a wonderful idea, but I don’t know, darling. That was Daddy’s house. I don’t think it’s right to sell it.”
He chuckled happily and said, “But that’s the whole point. It isn’t necessary to sell it. These men aren’t interested in buying any property. All they want is to form a club where they’ll have a nice place to stay in the city. They’ll just be members, you see.”
Faye smiled fondly at him. “You know, darling, sometimes you frighten me, you have such wonderful brains. I would never have thought of a thing like that in a million years. And it would be kind of a monument to Daddy, too, wouldn’t it?”
“We could name it after him.”
“That would be awfully nice.”
Clark suddenly snapped his fingers. “Damn! I’m afraid there’s a catch to the whole thing.”
Faye cried, “Oh, no! It’s such a beautiful idea.”
“But there is a catch I’d forgotten about. Just one simple little thing and I overlooked it.” He shrugged and sighed, “I guess I’ll have to forget it.”
“But what is it, darling? What is it?”
“Well, you see, in a club of that sort, the property owner, also being a member, is automatically chairman of the board.”
Faye blinked at him without understanding. “Is anything wrong with that?”
He laughed and chucked her under the chin. “Now, really, Faye, can you picture yourself as chairman of an exclusive men’s club? After all.”
She giggled. “It would be pretty silly, wouldn’t it?”
“So,” he said, “I guess I’ll have to drop it.”
Faye beamed at him. “But, darling, that shouldn’t stop it! Why can’t I put the property in your name?”
“Hmmmm. I don’t know….”
“But wouldn’t that get around it?”
He said slowly, “I suppose it would, but — I don’t know.”
“Don’t be a silly boy. If the deed is in your name, then that takes care of it. We’ll do it. It would be a shame to drop an idea like that. Now, we’ll just consider it settled and forget it.”
Clark did not allow her to forget it for long. He got in touch with his attorney the next afternoon and the following day the deed was transferred to his name. He was not actually interested in a men’s club, he had used the idea simply to get possession of the property, but he made the gestures of carrying through on the idea and was finally surprised to learn that it was a good one that could easily be profitable. He interested Ricki in the venture and placed the whole thing in his hands. Ricki was enthusiastic and also grateful. It gave him something to do other than wonder how to fill each new day.
Clark felt he was riding the crest of the wave and that it would be foolish not to press his luck to the limit. Faye was not suspicious about the fact that it was all her money going into his various enterprises; she was sold on the idea that he was a business genius and she had no doubt that she would be reimbursed as soon as his South American ventures were terminated. So Clark was able to cash in more of her securities to buy the General Fremont Hotel and to get two subdivisions under way, one of eighty homes and the other just over two hundred.
Joey was more or less field supervisor over the subdivisions and, not surprisingly, quickly grasped the business. He had no difficulty recognizing chiseling and conniving in the construction game and so was able to keep the contractors and subcontractors in line. In fact, he soon learned that they had embarked upon a building program that could be highly successful.
Clark was happily engaged in transferring as much of Faye’s wealth as possible into land deals in the names of Mr. and Mrs. Clark Holt when he suddenly received a letter from Mrs. Nyland, in Paris:
Dear Mr. Holt:
Mr. Nyland and I have just learned, with great sorrow, of the tragic death of our maid, Elsie. We never regarded her as an ordinary domestic and were extremely fond of her. Naturally, I would have expected some word from you in such a serious matter, so was shocked to receive the news from a Mr. Scott in the sheriff’s office of Monterey County. I might add that there was a certain implication in his letter that strikes me as being rather odd.
We were also recently visited by Mrs. Grace Ranson, a neighbor of ours at Pebble Beach. It was startling to hear from her that you continue to use our station wagon, which was supposed to be put in storage, and that you have made our home a gay center for numerous parties. After all, Mr. Holt, you were really left in charge somewhat as a caretaker. We understand, however, that you have married the former Mrs. Hicks, that you have moved in a large contingent of strange servants, and that you have assumed the pose of a man paying heavy rent for the property. The latter we really do not mind, it is probably a face-saving device anyone would use, but we are concerned over the other matters.
We have decided to cut short our European trip and return home, where we shall arrive on the 22nd of next month. We trust that you will have vacated the premises by then and expect to find everything in order.
Yours truly,
CORA NYLAND
Clark swore under his breath, read the letter through again, then touched a match to it in the library fireplace. He paced the floor and thought of the consequences of Mrs. Nyland’s return. Obviously she was angry and would waste little time in letting it be known how he had acquired her home. Mrs. Ranson probably knew already, but he was not too worried about that. He had done very little lying with Ione and could simply act surprised that she hadn’t known he was getting the house rent-free. That problem could be resolved when he came to it.
His big worry was Faye. He had been lying steadily to her since they first met. The house was one of the big reasons why she had so casually accented him as a solid and substantial citizen and he had been lying about it ever since, especially about the huge rent he was paying every month. Almost anything could be explained to Faye, and believed, except being caught in an outright lie. He knew exactly how she would react to that. Her brain would digest it slowly and chew it over and then gradually go through their whole financial history together. One flaw and she would know the rest. The bubble, therefore, was due to burst the following month.
Clark forced himself to consider the situation calmly and finally began to smile. There was really nothing to worry about. He had at least half of Faye’s wealth already under his name, he owned the home in San Francisco, and within the next few weeks he could probably drain off other considerable sums. It would then be time to leave, anyway.
But what the hell had Mrs. Nyland meant by that c
rack in her letter, “I might add there was a certain implication in his letter that strikes me as being rather odd”?
What’s that guy trying to do, Clark wondered, ruin my reputation?
Chapter Fourteen
CLARK’S FIRST BRUSH was with Ione immediately after her mother’s return from Europe. She called him on the telephone one afternoon and asked him to meet her. She was waiting for him in front of the Ranson mansion when he drove up in his car. She got in without a word, but with a puzzled little smile that seemed to be fixed. He drove slowly away from the house and out beyond the Cypress Point Club, then pulled the car off the road at the side of one of the many beaches.
Clark switched off the engine, cocked his arm over the back of the seat, and looked at Ione. “All right,” he said. “You have something on your mind, something important.”
She tilted her head on one side, frowning at him, deeply searching his eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “You know that Mother just got back?”
“I’ve heard. I hope she had a nice trip. She’s a wonderful woman. I like her.”
“I’m glad you do, Clark. But I have to be honest and admit she’s not fond of you.”
“I know,” he sighed. “I’ll make it my number one job to win her over one of these days.”
Ione’s lower lip was pushed out and she was thoughtfully silent for a moment, then she said, “This is going to be very difficult for me, Clark. I do hope you don’t get angry and make it harder.”
He cupped her chin in his right hand and smiled at her. “How could I ever get mad at you? You know how much I love you. For the first time in my life — ”
“Please,” she interrupted. “Not now. This may be important. I don’t really know. While mother was in Paris she called on Mrs. Nyland.”
“I know that. I had a letter from her the other day. Says they’re coming back and want the house.”
“Oh?”
“They’ll be here on the twenty-second. It won’t be easy giving up that house. I like the place very much, almost as if I owned it. And not only that. How often do you fall into a place of that sort and not have to pay a dime’s rent for it?”
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