1975 - Believe This You'll Believe Anything

by James Hadley Chase

  ‘Dyer! She’s out there!’ I shouted at him. ‘Get away from the door! She’ll be killed! I’m going after her!’

  ‘Clay!’

  The sound of her voice turned me to stone. Slowly, I moved my eyes, my body rigid with shock.

  Val was standing in the doorway of a small room to my right.

  ‘It’s all right Clay.’ A ghastly little smile hovered around her lips. ‘It was the only way. You couldn’t do it, so we did it.’

  I stared from her to Dyer who was wiping his sweating face with his sleeve, then back to her.

  ‘At last, I’m free Clay,’ Val went on, her voice trembling. ‘He’s gone forever.’

  I couldn’t grasp what she was saying. I felt so bad I thought I was going to pass out and I grabbed hold of the top of the banister rail to steady myself.

  ‘You and Dyer? What are you saying?’ My voice was a croak.

  ‘You failed to help me Clay, so Vernon has freed me!’

  Bitter jealousy and anger swept over me. I faced Dyer. ‘What is she to you to have done such a thing? You’ve murdered him!’

  ‘Shut up!’ His voice was a thin quaver. ‘It’s done!’

  Then above the sound of the hurricane there came a violent hammering of fists on the door.

  Dyer jumped away as if the door had turned red hot, his face a mask of fear. He looked with horror at Val who seemed to shrink, her face that of an old, terrified woman.

  ‘Burden!’

  Vidal’s voice came through the door panels.

  ‘He’s alive!’ I started forward but Dyer moved between me and the door.

  ‘You want him dead, don’t you?’ he quavered. ‘Leave him! He’ll be swept away. You want Val to be free, don’t you?’

  I hesitated.

  ‘Open the door Burden!’ Vidal’s voice sounded fainter. ‘Burden!’

  ‘He’s calling to me.’ I said stupidly.

  ‘Let him!’ Dyer’s voice turned vicious. ‘Go away! Leave this to me. He can’t hold out much longer.’

  ‘No’

  I saw my father, blood on his hands, as he skinned a rabbit. All the old revulsion of violent death swept over me. I realised then that I would never have been able to shoot Vidal. And now, I knew I couldn’t stand by and let him die out there. I had to save him! I just could not stand by, listening to him calling to me for help and do nothing.

  The hammering on the door abruptly ceased.

  ‘He’s gone!’ Dyer exclaimed.

  Val hid her face in her hands.

  I moved towards the door. Dyer grabbed hold of my arm.

  ‘Get back!’

  I shoved him aside and took hold of the bolt. I received a stunning blow on the side of my head that made me stagger.

  As I spun around Dyer hit me again, his fist thudding into my right eye, half blinding me.

  Mad rage seized hold of me. All my pent up frustration seemed to burst inside me. My fingers closed around Dyer’s throat. He dropped the torch as he tried to drag my fingers away, but I was stronger than he.

  He went down on his knees. I increased my grip.

  Vaguely I heard Val screaming.

  ‘Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!’

  Her screaming voice brought me to my senses. With a shudder, I threw Dyer from me, pushed Val aside, grabbed hold of the bolt and wrestled it back.

  The wind pounced as the door slammed open. I went down on hands and knees, peering into the wet darkness.

  ‘Vidal!’

  A vivid streak of lightning lit up the roof. I saw him. He was lying flat, his fingers trying to get a grip on the wet roof, the wind moving him closer and closer to the sloping edge.

  Once there - nothing could stop him from being swept away.

  I heard the door slam and the bolt go home. Dyer had locked me out! I didn’t care. I had this compulsive urge to save Vidal and I was going to save him! Laying flat, buffeted by the wind, I began to edge towards him.

  ‘Vidal!’ I yelled at him.

  He looked around. The roof was lit by more lightning and he saw me.

  The wind suddenly flung me towards him. Grabbing hold of a low wall that ran along the side of the roof, I managed to anchor myself. I saw the wind shift Vidal towards the sloping edge. I was within ten feet of him. I relaxed my grip slightly so I was blown closer to him. Still holding on to the wall, I stretched out my leg and his fingers closed around my ankle.

  The wind tore at us. I thought my grip must be broken.

  My arm felt as if it was being pulled out of my shoulder socket. Vidal shifted his grip to my knee and heaved himself on top of me. As my grip was broken, he reached above me and grabbed the wall. I began to slide away and I seized hold of his jacket.

  Half drowned, hammered by the wind, we lay panting.

  Then with incredible strength, Vidal began to claw his way back along the wall, dragging me with him. He kept moving back until we reached the shelter of a chimney stack. The wind continued to roar around us but no longer dragged at us.

  Vidal leaned forward, his mouth close to my ear.

  ‘There’s another exit on the far side of the roof,’ he shouted. ‘If the door’s locked, we’re cooked.’

  His face lit by a flash of lightning showed no fear. He looked confident and calm which was a lot more than I felt.

  ‘Stay here,’ he went on. ‘I’ll try to get across.’

  ‘You won’t make it!’ I shouted.

  He didn’t stop to argue. Keeping flat, he began to edge out of the shelter of the stack. Instantly, the wind pounced on him and if I hadn’t caught hold of his arm, he would have been swept away, across the roof and over the edge.

  I dragged him back to shelter.

  ‘So we stay here,’ he said.

  We stayed there, the warm rain beating down on us, the wind howling around us, but at least we were in no immediate danger.

  The minutes dragged by: the most uncomfortable minutes I had ever lived through. There was no let up from the violence of the wind and the rain. We had to keep our heads down to breathe. The almost continuous crash of thunder deafened me. My mind was bludgeoned. I didn’t even wonder how long we could remain as we were.

  Then suddenly Vidal gripped my arm.

  ‘Look!’

  I followed his pointing finger. Across the far side of the roof appeared the light of a powerful torch. The beam swept the roof, passed near us, continued on, came back and found us.

  For several seconds the beam held us, then abruptly went out.

  ‘Gesetti!’ Vidal shouted.

  I felt a surge of hope.

  Again the light appeared, then I saw Gesetti’s squat figure, lit by the lightning, as he plunged towards us. The wind threw him flat and swept him across the roof. For a moment I thought he was going over the edge but another flash of lightning showed me he had a rope around his middle and the rope was secured somewhere inside the doorway he had just left.

  He fought his way nearer. Again the wind swept him back and again, but for the rope, he would have gone over.

  ‘Hang on to me,’ Vidal shouted.

  As I caught hold of his jacket, he moved out of the shelter.

  We were swept towards Gesetti who grabbed hold of Vidal’s wrist.

  Then began the long and desperate struggle to get to the open doorway. Gesetti hauled on the rope, dragging himself, Vidal and myself inch by inch across the wet roof until we finally rolled through the doorway, out of the rain and the wind. As I leaned against the wall, my knees buckling, Vidal and Gesetti got the door shut.

  ‘You took long enough,’ Vidal said harshly. ‘What the hell were you doing?’

  Gesetti snorted.

  ‘Getting the goddamn rope. If you think that was easy, have another think.’

  ‘Where are they?’

  ‘Trying to bust into your office.’

  ‘That’ll take them quite a time. Where do they think you are?’

  Gesetti gave a snorting laugh.

  ‘Dyer put on a big act
and I fell for it. He got me out of bed, yelling you were out in the garden and in trouble so I go out in the wind and the sonofabitch locks me out. I saw you on the roof so I get the rope, kick in the back door and here I am.’

  ‘They’ll be busy for an hour or so. We’ll take a shower and a change of clothes,’ Vidal said. ‘Here, Gesetti, find Burden something to wear. I’ll be in Harris’s room.’ Taking a small flashlight from his pocket he went down the corridor and into a room at the far end.

  Gesetti led me to another room. He lit a hurricane lamp, then regarded me with his sneering snake’s eyes.

  ‘Go ahead, buster,’ he said. ‘Help yourself,’ and he left me.

  Unsteadily I went into the small bathroom, stripped off, took a shower and then returned to the room. Going to a closet I found a shirt and a pair of slacks that fitted me.

  I moved like an automaton, my mind completely blank. I felt I was in the grip of a nightmare and what made this nightmare so terrifying was the certain knowledge that when I woke from it, reality would be even more terrible.

  The door jerked open and Vidal came in, wearing a dressing gown that trailed around his ankles.

  ‘Come along Burden, you need a drink.’ He led me down the corridor and into the butler’s sitting room.

  Gesetti, wearing only a towel around his thick middle, was pouring whisky into glasses.

  ‘Give Burden a drink,’ Vidal said, sitting down, ‘then get out.’

  ‘Yes, boss.’

  Gesetti gave me a tumbler half-full of whisky and crushed ice, then left the room.

  ‘Sit down Burden,’ Vidal said. ‘Smoke if you want to. There are cigarettes in that box.’

  I drank some of the whisky, then putting the glass on a nearby table, I sat down.

  ‘You puzzle me,’ Vidal said, staring at me. ‘You saved my life.’ He crossed one stumpy leg over the other. ‘What made you do it? It interests me. Only an hour ago you were set to shoot me.’

  I stiffened, staring at him.

  ‘Tell me . . . why did you save my life Burden?’ he went on.

  How could he have known that I was going to shoot him?

  Seeing my bewildered expression, he gave his short, barking laugh.

  ‘There is nothing supernatural about me Burden, in spite of what my wife has led you to believe and there is nothing I don’t know about your association with her. When I discovered how dangerous she is, I had every room in this house bugged. I had your room and hers at the San Salvador hotel bugged. I have been listening for the past weeks to her plan to get rid of me with considerable interest, not to say admiration for her ingenuity.’

  ‘What are you saying? Val? Dangerous?’ I leaned forward to glare at him. ‘It is you who are dangerous! Since you seem to know so much, you may as well know I have loved her for years and I still love her!’

  ‘I know that. I’m sorry for you Burden. Even now you can’t see that she has been using you as a cat’s paw - as a sucker.’

  Don’t listen to him, I told myself. Val has warned you. This man is evil! He is trying to turn you against her.

  ‘My poor Burden,’ he went on after a long pause, ‘you are in for a shock. Valerie is incapable of loving anyone. She just uses people for gain: as she used you, as she has used Dyer and as she tried unsuccessfully to use me.’

  ‘I will believe nothing you say against her!’ I shouted at him. ‘She warned me! You are evil, vicious and ruthless. You have molested her under hypnotic influence! Nothing could be more despicable than that!’

  ‘And yet you saved my life?’ He lifted his eyebrows. ‘Why did you do that Burden?’

  ‘Why did I? I have a conscience! I would rather be dead than to have your disgusting life on my conscience!’

  ‘Very praiseworthy and yet you were tempted. She nearly convinced you, didn’t she?’

  ‘I won’t discuss her with you!’

  ‘Do you really believe that nonsense about me hypnotising her?’ he asked. ‘I admit, listening to the tapes, she is very persuasive but I assure you I have no talent for hypnotism.’

  ‘I would rather believe her than you!’

  There was no letup in the storm while we were talking.

  Thunder crashed and the wind howled and the rain hammered against the shuttered windows.

  He got to his feet.

  ‘Possibly they have broken into my office by now. Come along Burden, see for yourself.’

  He went to the door and opened it.

  I sat there, hesitating. I recalled the scene of the landing when Dyer had shoved Vidal out on to the roof. I saw again Val’s ghastly little smile and heard again what she had said: It was the only way. You couldn’t do it, so we did it.

  ‘Are you frightened of testing her Burden? Scared she isn’t the angel you think she is?’ The sneer in his voice flicked me like a whip.

  I got to my feet and followed him down the corridor to a door near the head of the stairs. He opened it and I found myself facing my office door.

  ‘Wait a moment,’ he said and went quickly into his room, leaving me alone in the dark with the sound of the hurricane crashing around the house.

  He was away less than three minutes. His torch showed me he had pulled on a sweat shirt and slacks.

  ‘Now let us go down,’ he said.

  As we reached the foot of the stairs, I saw his office door stood ajar and a light showed. I was also aware that Gesetti was standing just outside the door. Seeing us, he came towards us.

  ‘He’s trying to open the safe, boss,’ he said.

  ‘That should prove difficult,’ Vidal said. He was speaking in his normal voice. The sound of the hurricane turned it into a whisper. He caught hold of my arm and urged me to the half open door. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘Stay right where you are, but listen.’

  I stood there, unable to see into the room, hearing nothing but the screeching wind and the rain.

  Then above the storm I heard Val say, ‘What the hell do you think you are doing? You said you could open it! Damn you! Open it!’

  I scarcely recognised her voice which sounded harsh, strident and vicious.

  ‘He’s changed the combination!’ Dyer shouted, his voice frantic. ‘It won’t open!’

  ‘You’d better open it, you stupid bastard!’ Val screamed. ‘Do you think I’ve gone through all this for nothing?’

  Every word she said made me cringe. I felt Vidal’s hand on my arm.

  ‘Let’s go in Burden,’ he said. ‘Let’s surprise them.’

  Before I could resist, he had shoved me through the doorway and he and I paused just inside the room.

  Above the noise of the storm, I heard Val’s scream.

  Dyer was at the big wall safe. The light of three hurricane lamps played on him. Val was at his side, her eyes wide, her face like grey stone.

  ‘No luck?’ Vidal said as he moved into the room. ‘Yes, I changed the combination. I thought it safer.’ He gave his short barking laugh. ‘Here’s poor Burden. He still imagines you are an angel, Valerie.’

  I was staring at Val. The bitter fury and fear in her eyes made her a stranger

  Then Gesetti came in.

  The sight of him brought a faint scream from Val. Dyer who had been standing as if paralysed went limp and his face turned a greenish white.

  Vidal walked over to his desk and sat down.

  ‘Let us put Burden in the picture. As he saved my life, I feel that is the least we can do.’ He waved to a chair near him. ‘Sit down Burden. Sit down you other two.’

  There was a long pause, then Val sat down. Dyer looked fearfully at Gesetti and he too sat down, away from Val. I sat in the chair Vidal had indicated.

  ‘Right,’ Vidal said, looking directly at me. ‘I will explain to you why these two nearly persuaded you to commit murder. In that safe that Dyer was trying to open are bearer bonds to the value of eight million dollars, the result of a deal I negotiated in Libya. The money, less my commission, belongs to the Government of El Salvador. Dyer a
ssisted in the deal: he did the paperwork. He knew the bonds were in the safe. I discovered several weeks ago that my wife was having an affair with him. I was not surprised. I have ceased to trust her for some time, but she is useful as a hostess and her infidelities - there have been others - don’t worry me. However, it did worry me that my personal aide was being disloyal. I took the precaution to have the house bugged It was a good move as I discovered they were planning to murder me. All their plotting is on tape. Dyer told Valerie about the bonds and assured her he could open the safe. For some time Valerie has been looking for an opportunity to get rid of me. As my widow she would have been reasonably wealthy, but when she learned she could pick up eight million dollars as well as getting rid of me the temptation was too great to resist. There is an interesting tape of her trying to persuade Dyer to kill me, but Dyer lacked the guts. He wanted her, he wasted the money, but he balked at murder. Valerie, on this tape, even discussed the possibilities of murdering me herself, but she flinched from a police investigation. Then you, poor Burden, arrived in Paradise City. When she insisted you should be her guide to El Salvador, I became curious but not for long. There is another interesting tape which you can hear if you wish which records her and Dyer planning to make you their cat’s paw. I don’t recall her exact words but she intimated that you were gullible, that she would make love to you and revive your old passion for her, then over a short period she would lead you to believe that she was totally in my power and the only way she could get free was either to die herself or for me to die. Quite absurd Burden. I did warn you. If you could believe that, you would believe anything. I arranged to have your room and hers bugged at the Intercontinental hotel. The tapes of her conversations with you were really astonishing, not to say diverting! Trilby and Svengali! My poor Burden, how stupid can you be? And all this talk about devils and me possessing her. Dyer, of course, was on hand to support her story. He even arranged that this old black quack should also support the story. Did you really imagine that old rogue was genuine? I have had him investigated. He would sell his mother for a quarter. Anyway, Valerie and Dyer succeeded in insinuating into your very gullible mind that the only way she could be free of my evil influence was for, you to kill me. Having got that idea firmly fixed in your mind, they then gave you the perfect motive for an apparent suicide so you could feel safe after you had shot me.’ He gave his short barking laugh. ‘Her story that I had lost my money, that I am in trouble with the tax authorities and that I am about to flee to Lima is just hog’s wash. However, you seemed so impressed with her story I took the precaution of removing your gun. Her talent for acting when she faked her trances which not only fooled you but the doctors, comes from being an actress in a third rate touring company some years before she became an efficient secretary. I am not asking you to believe any of this Burden. You can hear the tapes. They will convince you.’ He looked across at Val who was motionless, staring down at her hands. ‘In spite of being on my guard Burden, she very nearly outwitted me. I admit I underestimated her. I really did believe she had gone on the roof. I also underestimated Dyer. I didn’t believe he had the guts to do what he did. Although they had no hope of laying their hands on the bonds, they did nearly succeed in murdering me.’ He got to his feet. ‘I think that will be enough for tonight. Tomorrow, you can listen to the tapes. It will be of interest and will help pass the time while you sit out this hurricane. We will have to remain here for another two or three days: a tiresome necessity. I suggest you all keep to your rooms. Gesetti won’t let you starve. None of you need be anxious. I will arrange a divorce. Dyer will look for other employment. As for you Burden, I could find a place for you in my organisation, but we can discuss that possibility tomorrow.’ He crossed to the door. ‘Good night,’ and followed by Gesetti, he left the room.