by John Creasey
“Move along, please, you’re causing an obstruction. Move along.”
“Is anyone hurt?” floated from the gateway.
“Isn’t that the hostel where—”
“Move along, now! I don’t want to have to tell you again!”
“I’ll be inside,” Rollison said to the constable near him, as the man pushed the aerial in.
“Thank you, sir. We’ll have a car along in a very few minutes.”
Raison looked towards Naomi Smith, who was now standing in the porch with the door behind her open and the light throwing her in dark relief. The policeman and the youth, seeing that they could do nothing more for her, turned towards Rollison.
“Are you the Rollison?” the youth breathed. The—the Toff?”
“Yes,” answered Rollison, crisply. “Now I must look after Mrs. Smith. Why don’t you telephone me later tonight or sometime tomorrow? You’ll find my name in the book.”
“Oh—may I?” There was tremendous excitement in the young voice.
“I’d like you to,” said Rollison. “And thank you for your help.” He moved away, watched very intently now by everyone who was near, and joined Naomi Smith. “Let’s go in,” he said, and took her arm leading her towards the hall beyond.
No one was there.
Rollison noted that the hall was pleasantly bright and much better furnished than might have been expected. There were oil portraits on the wall; the chairs, an oak settle and a big wardrobe were all old and well-preserved. The parquet flooring was well-polished and there was a big Indian square—Mirzapore, Rollison thought. A central staircase ended at a half-landing from which another flight led to the right and to the left.
Looking down from a wooden rail were three girls. In the shadowy light up there, each looked pale and nervous and dark-eyed.
Why hadn’t they come downstairs?
He wished Angela was one of them.
Naomi led the way to a room on the right, and switched on ceiling lights revealing a room which was part office, part sitting room. The big square desk had a green leather top, so did a smaller desk near it, on the right. On the other side was a typing table. Here were two telephones, a terra cotta jar filled with ball-point pens, another with finely-sharpened pencils.
Naomi, her hair ruffled, turned and faced him, her expression one of dismay and distress.
“I suppose you realise you might have been killed,” Rollison said in a conversational voice : there was no point in hectoring her, that would only worsen her distress.
“I—I do. I can’t—thank you—enough.”
“You feared that two of your girls were dead, didn’t you?” asked Rollison in the same, almost casual tone. “Why didn’t you tell me?” When she didn’t answer, he went on : “I could forgive a lot of things, but not that kind of deceit. You reported the girls were missing to the authorities, yet you came to me and asked for help because you said you didn’t want to call the police.” As he spoke, he knew that what she had done made nonsense. It wasn’t simply that she had fooled him—she had done something which was bound to come out, had lied knowing that the lie could not deceive him for long. What purpose could there be in such shortlived deception?
He was astonished at the change in her expression; agitation and a certain, unwilling deviousness could be read there.
She muttered, “But I did tell you! I wrote to you!”
“You wrote?”
“Yes, last week—last Monday. I telephoned twice and there was no answer, and I was distrait. I—I gave it to one of the girls to post. I was terribly worried because Iris, Iris Jay hadn’t arrived at the address she’d given me. Didn’t you get the letter?”
“I did not,” stated Rollison flatly. “Did you write it?”
He remembered suddenly a vague remark over the telephone about having written to him. He had hardly taken it seriously, accepting it as a social insincerity leading up to the request for an interview.
“Mr. Rollison,” said Naomi Smith, “if you can’t count on anything else, you can count on my absolute sincerity in wanting your help.” She was speaking hurriedly, as if to lead him away from the subject. Though he said nothing he was aware that she had not answered his question. Feeling came back to her voice and showed in her face again as she went on: “But what does matter now, obviously you know. I—I’m dreadfully worried about Angela.”
Fear like a knife stabbed through Rollison’s breast. “Why should you be?” he demanded sharply.
“She—she went out, after dinner tonight,” Naomi told him. “There was a telephone message from her to say that she’d discovered something I ought to know—would I meet her at the Oxford Street Corner House, main entrance. She would wait for me until twelve. That’s where I was going, when—”
She caught her breath.
And Rollison stared at her, knowing exactly what was passing through her mind; the fear that Angela’s call had served as decoy, and that going out in response to it had led her near to death.
CHAPTER 8
Decoy?
ROLLISON was acutely aware of three things. First, that although she was outwardly composed, Naomi Smith was in acute distress, and her mood was worsening. Second, that Angela was missing. Angela, whom he had sent here. And third, the chance that one of the residents had been trusted with a lettter which she had not posted—unless, by some freak of mismanagement, it had been lost by the postal officials. He had to calm and reassure Naomi, and he had to find Angela soon. This was the only place to start.
He said: “I could do with a brandy and soda. While you’re getting it may I use your telephone?”
“Of course.”
She moved towards a cupboard near the desk, opened it, and revealed a row of bottles and several glasses.
Raison dialled his flat, hard-faced. Jolly answered at once, and Rollison said : “Miss Angela may be at the Oxford Street Corner House, Jolly—and could be in very great danger. Go and see what you can find out, will you? Tell the police if she doesn’t turn up.”
“Of course, sir. At once.” Jolly certainly wouldn’t lose a moment.
Rollison rang off.
There was brandy, which he really wanted for Naomi Smith much more than for himself. He joined her, seeing her hands trembling.
“Sit down,” he said, and poured brandy and gave it to her. He carefully poured himself a little, then drank with her. Before long the police would be here, and he wanted to hear what had happened before they arrived. The best way to learn would be by quick question and answer.
“Did Angela tell you she was going out?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“One of the girls—Anne Miller.”
“Were they friends?”
“I—I think they get along all right. But since we’ve realised that Iris was missing, everyone—everyone’s been nervous. I gave instructions that no-one was to go out alone, and that their boy-friends must collect them and bring them back. That’s why Anne told me Angela had gone off by herself—it wasn’t simply breaking a rule to go out alone, it was walking into danger.”
It was so like Angela, too; she would be so sure that no rule applied to her, that she was free to come and go—it had probably not occurred to her that any risk might be involved.
“Did Anne have any idea where?” he asked.
“Angela—Angela hinted that it was to see a boy-friend.”
“Had she met any boy-friend before? Or gone out by herself before?”
“No. She was the last person I would have expected to—”
“I’m sure. You say she telephoned you?”
“She telephoned but I didn’t speak to her. I was with one of the residents who’s been very distressed lately. I was trying to soothe this girl, and Anne took the message.”
“Anne Miller?” asked Rollison sharply.
“Yes. Anne usually takes messages, she’s really my secretary, I find her invaluable.”
Was it Anne Miller who was supp
osed to post the letter to me?” asked Rollison, sharply.
“No, that was Judy Lyons. Judy is a bit scatterbrained, she could have—oh, I hardly know what to say or what I’m saying!” exclaimed Naomi, and she seemed almost in tears. “Don’t please start casting aspersions on the girls.”
“Naomi,” said Rollison quietly, “you nearly had your head smashed in. Two of the girls are missing and might be dead. Angela, who is missing, was used as a decoy. A few aspersions here and there really don’t matter. So you didn’t speak to Angela yourself?”
“No—Anne did.”
“I’d like to see Anne, at once,” said Rollison. “But—but —”
“Please send for Anne Miller,” Rollison grated; he had to fight against losing his temper.
Naomi hesitated, then put her brandy glass down with an unsteady hand and moved to the telephone. She picked up the nearest one, pressing a button beneath it; and almost at once Rollison heard a click, and the distant sound of a voice.
“Come into my study, Anne,” Naomi said. “Hurry, please . . . I can tell you about that afterwards . . . Are they?” She seemed startled and now troubled by some additional worry. “Very well, I’ll go and see them when you’re here.” She rang off, pressing one hand against her forehead.
It crossed Rollison’s mind that this could be acting, but as she lifted her face and looked at him, he thought, no; she’s in deep trouble and distress. His heart went out to her, but he did not show his sympathy, as he waited, hard-faced.
“The girls are terrified,” she said. “I must go to the common room and talk to them.” She moved slowly away from the desk. “They know about the attack outside, one of their boy-friends saw it, apparently—the boy with the torch.”
“Are there any other boy-friends here?”
“I don’t know,” said Naomi. “But Anne will.” As she finished there was a movement at the door. It opened to admit a tall, thin, sallow-faced girl with high cheekbones. Her dark hair, falling untidily to her shoulders, drooped over one eye. She wore a very short mini-skirt, emphasising slender but well-shaped legs. “Anne,” went on Naomi Smith, “Mr. Rollison wishes to ask you some questions. Give him all the information you can, please.”
Anne looked blankly—sullenly?—at Rollison, as Naomi went out, closing the door behind her. Anne did not move; the harder Rollison looked at her complexion the more like olive-coloured wax it seemed; and her eyes were the colour of dark olives, too.
“Did you speak to Angela Pax-Elliott tonight?” asked Rollison.
“Yes,” Anne said.
“On the telephone?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she wanted to see Mrs. Smith.”
“Where?”
“At the Oxford Street Corner House.”
“When?”
“She would wait until twelve o’clock.”
“What else did she say?”
“She said she was on to something.”
“Were those her exact words?”
“They were her exact words,” asserted Anne Miller.
Not once as she had answered the swift succession of questions had her voice changed from a low, monotonous tone. And not once had she moved.
“What time did she call?” demanded Rollison, flatly. “At eleven-seventeen.”
“How can you be so precise?”
“Because I am a precise person by nature, and I have a watch.”
“Did Angela sound alarmed?” asked Rollison. “No.”
“How did she sound?”
“Excited,” announced Anne Miller.
“What was the name of her boy-friend?”
“Who said she had a boy-friend?” Now there was an inflection in the girl’s voice which made her answer very nearly insolent.
“Didn’t she tell you she was going to meet one?”
“She indicated it, yes.” For the first time Anne’s expression changed and it was difficult to judge whether it was in a smile or a sneer. She had small but quite beautiful lips, spoiled with pale pink lipstick which jarred against the sallow tone of her skin. “All of us indicate our romantic conquests whether they are true or not.”
“Lie about it, you mean?”
“ ‘Hint’ is a pleasanter word, don’t you think?” suggested Anne.
“From what I know, delicate hints about boy-friends are hardly necessary here,” said Rollison, bluntly. He knew that his words were crud but he had to break through this girl’s resistance somehow, and it wasn’t going to be easy.
She narrowed her oyes, but did not speak.
“Anne,” said Rollison. “Do you know what’s going on here?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Mrs. Smith that the other girls are terrified?”
“Yes.”
“Why are they terrified?”
“Do you think we should welcome having our heads smashed in?” demanded Anne, her voice rising to a cutting scorn. “Or don’t you think it matters, if such a thing happens to unmarried mothers?”
So he had hurt her, and had also loosened her tongue.
“I think it matters,” Rollison said. “But weren’t they terrified before the hammer attack on Mrs. Smith?”
“Quite possibly,” she said curtly.
“Then, what was it that frightened them?”
“Mr. Rollison,” said Anne Miller, as if suddenly overcome with weariness, “I don’t know what you’re doing here or why you came, but I can tell you you’re getting nowhere, fast.”
“What terrified the girls?” persisted Rollison, obstinately.
After a brief pause, Anne answered “All right, then. There have been telephone calls from a man threatening to kill us. He always says the same thing—- just one blow will be enough, one blow on the back of your head:” And then he rings off.” She half-closed her eyes but opened them wide again when he took a step towards her. “Wouldn’t you be scared?”
“Anyone would be,” Rollison answered gently. “When did this all begin, Anne?”
“Three days ago.”
“And you’ve each had a call in those three days?”
“More or less. There’s a telephone in each room, and we sleep three or four in a room. Whoever answered the telephone got the same message.”
“What has Mrs. Smith had to say?”
“She doesn’t know about the calls,” said Anne.
“You haven’t told the superintendent!” exclaimed Rolli-son, in astonishment mingled with disbelief.
“Can’t you see she has enough on her mind already?” demanded Anne. “We agreed we wouldn’t tell her. She’s warned us not to go out alone or come back alone. And she’s called in the police. What more can she do? Of course we haven’t told her,” she finished, in exasperation.
“If you had done so, do you think she would have gone out alone tonight?” asked Rollison, quietly.
“No one thought she was in danger,” Anne answered.
“How could you be sure she hadn’t had a threat by telephone?” demanded Rollison, and when Anne didn’t answer but looked appalled, he went on : “Anne, who is doing this? Do you know?”
“My God, if only I did!” she cried. “All I know is that we were happier than we’d been for ages. All of us. Can you imagine what it’s like to be branded? Oh, we were fools, or else we deliberately defied convention, but we are branded. Even today you can stand at the window and see old women pointing and tut-tutting as they pass, and old men leering at us, and young men—” She was almost crying as she went on and the words were sharp and clear and yet every now and again her voice broke. “Do you realise why we’re here? We’ve got good minds, some of us are brilliant at our own subjects but we’ve offended the great god, convention . . . and we haven’t even had the sense to look after ourselves. Our critics think we’re immoral and our one-time friends think we’re fools—God! And there isn’t one of us who can turn to friends or relatives. IV you know what I was doing when I came here? I
was a counter assistant at Woolworth’s haberdashery department—and I was a child prodigy, they tell me there isn’t anyone at my age to touch me in higher mathematics. ‘That’s one-and-eleven, please, penny change. Nail files? On the perfumery counter, madam . . . . That’s seven-and-sixpence exactly, sir . . . .’ ”
“Stop it,” interrupted Rollison, sharply.
“I won’t stop it ! I can’t stop it ! I tell you I was nearly out of my mind when I heard from Naomi Smith. It didn’t seem possible! A chance to study under Professor Offenberger and nothing to pay except time. There’s even a creche here! We aren’t under any pressure to have our babies adopted if we don’t want to—God ! It was like heaven! And then—and then the trouble began. First we had indecent telephone calls and beastly letters, then gradually the tone changed and we were told to go away from here. The very place we’ve come to love—oh, it’s dreadful, it’s dreadful!”
Rollison said briskly : “Yes, Anne, it is. And it won’t get any better if you keep a single thing back.”
He looked at his watch. It was half-past twelve and there was no word from Jolly and no interruption from the police. Jolly would have telephoned had he seen Angela, of course—so she hadn’t gone to the Corner House. He had never really believed she had.
“I’m not keeping anything back,” Anne said, sullenly. “Did you speak to Angela in person?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure it was her voice?”
“Of course I’m sure, you don’t think I could make a mistake about her, surely? She sounded excited, and very sure of herself. Has she been waiting all—”
“No,” Rollison said. “I sent someone there as soon as I heard about the call. Anne, how well did you know Winifred de Vaux?”
It was a long time before Anne answered. She began to sway. Rollison took her arm and led her towards a chair, then poured out brandy. She lifted the glass, then lowered it again as she glanced up at him.
“Not—not really well,” she said. “She wasn’t easy to know. She—she was the only one here who really was obsessed with men, I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone so over-sexed—so obviously over-sexed—and proud of it. Some would say she flaunted it, but she didn’t, she was just proud. She thought it was glorious to be a woman. She—she’s dead, isn’t she?”