1958 - Hit and Run

by James Hadley Chase

  I pulled up outside the gate.

  ‘I’ll get your cycle.’

  ‘I’ll come in, Ches. I want to talk to you.’

  ‘Well, all right.’

  I followed her up the path and into the bungalow. She went on ahead of me into the lounge while I paused to lock the front door.

  As I came into the lounge, she sat down in an easy chair and stared out of the big window at the beach and the sea.

  I looked at the clock on the overmantel. The time was a quarter to eleven. It seemed a lifetime since she had come out of the shadows last night and had fainted in my arms. I moved over to another chair and sat down. I looked at her. She was no longer the lovely kid I had been infatuated with when I had seen her for the first time, admiring herself in the mirror. Since then, she had grown a skin: a veneer of hardness. She was still lovely, still desirable, but the innocence and the youth were now missing.

  She turned her head slowly and looked at me. Our eyes met.

  ‘I seem to have made a complete mess of this,’ she said. ‘Thanks to you, I could have ducked out, but leaving that: swimsuit puts me back into the picture again, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ I said, speaking slowly and carefully. ‘It depends who took it. A sneak thief might have broken in in the hope of finding something valuable. There was nothing else in the car except the swimsuit. He might have taken that in the hope of raising a few dimes on it.’

  She shook her head.

  ‘I don’t think so. You see, the suit had my name on it.’

  I looked at her, my heart suddenly beginning to thump.

  ‘Nearly everyone in this city knows how rich Roger is,’ she went on.

  I felt my hands turn damp. I had really believed that a sneak thief had broken into the garage, but this matter-of-fact utterance of hers lit up a ltd light in my mind.

  ‘After all;’ she went on, not looking at me, and speaking very quietly, ‘why should a sneak thief take a swimsuit? Who would want it? I think we are going to be blackmailed, Ches.’

  ‘You’re jumping to conclusions …’

  She made an impatient little movement with her hands.

  ‘That remains to be seen.’ She turned her head slowly and looked directly at me. ‘Would you pay blackmail, Ches?’

  ‘That gets you nowhere,’ I said trying to match her quiet tone, but aware that my voice was harsh. ‘Once you start to pay I blackmail, you have a monkey on your back.’

  ‘I just wanted to know.’ She stared down at her hands, turned them and looked at her blood-red fingernails. ‘I think I must talk to Roger.’

  ‘He can’t do anything,’ I said sharply.

  She continued to study her hands.

  ‘You don’t know him as well as I do. He is very particular about his position and what people think of him. If I told him exactly what had happened and that you were willing to take all the blame, then I think he would pay blackmail.’

  I sat staring at her in frozen silence.

  ‘He has a lot of money,’ she went on after an interminable pause. ‘He can drive a very hard bargain. I don’t think it would cost him much. I think he would pay.’

  ‘But he would divorce you,’ I said.

  ‘I’d rather be divorced than go to prison.’

  I took out my pack of Camels, lit one and noted my hand was steadier than I expected it to be.

  ‘But we don’t know yet that we are going to be blackmailed.’

  She lifted her hair off her shoulders in a nervous gesture I had come to recognize.

  ‘You think this man took my swimsuit as a souvenir?’ she asked with exaggerated politeness.

  ‘You don’t have to be sarcastic about it,’ I said. ‘I’m trying to be helpful.’

  ‘At least you might be realistic.’

  ‘At the moment there is no question of blackmail,’ I said, my voice sounding unnaturally loud. ‘I said I would keep you out of this, and I mean it.’

  She regarded me, her eyes thoughtful.

  ‘Does that mean you will pay this man to keep quiet?’

  ‘What man?’

  ‘The man who took my swimsuit.’

  ‘But he is only a figment of your imagination,’ I said. ‘We don’t even know he exists.’

  ‘Do you think my swimsuit disappeared of its own accord?’

  ‘I think it’s possible you left it on the beach.’

  ‘I did not!’ Her eyes flashed as she shouted the words at me. ‘I left it in the car, and someone has taken it!’

  ‘All right, there is no need to get worked up about it. It could have been a sneak thief.’

  She stared fixedly at me.

  ‘Ches, will you swear you didn’t take it?’

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake! Don’t start that again!’

  ‘Will you swear you didn’t take it?’

  ‘Of course I didn’t take it!’

  I met her searching eyes angrily.

  She let her hand fall back against the back of the chair and she shut her eyes.

  ‘I thought it was you who called me on the telephone morning,’ she said. ‘I thought you were trying to frighten me. It sounded like your voice.’

  I stiffened.

  ‘What do you mean? Who telephoned you?’

  ‘This morning, around nine o’clock, the telephone rang. I answered it. A man asked if it was Mrs. Lucille Aitken speaking. I had an idea it was you. I said it was. Then he said, “I hope you enjoyed your swim last night,” and then he hung up.’

  I stubbed out my cigarette, feeling suddenly cold.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before?’

  ‘I thought it was you. That’s why I was so anxious to go with you to get my swimsuit.’

  ‘It wasn’t me.’

  She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.

  ‘That’s why I say I think we’re going to be blackmailed.’

  ‘But there was no one on the beach. We couldn’t have been seen,’ I said.

  ‘Whoever it was knew I had been in for a swim.’

  ‘And you think this man is the one who has taken the swimsuit?’

  ‘Yes.’

  I got slowly to my feet and walked over to the liquor cabinet.

  ‘Will you have a drink?’

  ‘Well, all right.’

  ‘Whisky or gin?’

  ‘Oh, whisky.’

  I poured two stiff drinks into glasses and dropped in ice cubes. As I picked them up to carry them across the room the telephone bell started to ring.

  I felt my muscles stiffen. Slowly I put the glasses down.

  Lucille was upright in her chair, her hands on her knees, her knuckles white.

  We stared at each other as the bell created a strident clamour in the silent room.

  ‘Aren’t you going to answer it?’ she said, her voice a husky whisper.

  I moved slowly across the room and took up the receiver.

  ‘Hello?’ I said and my voice didn’t sound like my own.

  ‘Is that Mr. Chester Scott?’

  A man’s voice. I had the impression the tone was frivolous. It was like listening to a man who has a secret joke he is reluctant to share with anyone.

  ‘Yes. Who is it?’

  ‘You should have made love to her, Mr. Scott. You should never have let her run away. After all, that is what women are given to us for.’

  The words were spoken slowly and distinctly. There was no possibility of mistaking them.

  ‘What do you mean?’ I said, feeling cold sweat on my face. ‘Who is that?’

  The steady humming sound in my ear told me I was talking over a dead line.

  chapter six

  I

  The sound the telephone receiver made as I dropped it back on to its cradle was like a minor explosion in the tight silence of the room.

  I turned slowly and looked at Lucille.

  She was sitting upright, tense and frightened, her hands gripping her knees.

  ‘Who was it?
’ she asked breathlessly.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said, moving back to my chair. I sat down. ‘But I can make a guess, I think it was the same man who telephoned you this morning.’

  I told her exactly what the man had said.

  She hid her face in her hands.

  I was feeling pretty bad myself. This had been a shock, and stared out of the window, trying to control my shaking hands.

  She said: ‘Oh, Ches! What are we going to do?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘This is a complication.’

  ‘You see, I was right. He is going to blackmail us.’

  ‘He said nothing about blackmail and until he does there’s point in assuming he’s going to blackmail us.’

  ‘Of course he is going to blackmail us! He has the swimsuit, he knows you and I were on the beach together, he knows it was my fault the policeman was killed! Of course he is going blackmail us!’

  ‘Now wait a moment. We don’t know he has the swimsuit and we don’t know he knows you killed O’Brien. All we do know for certain is that he saw us on the beach.’

  ‘Of course he has the swimsuit and he’s seen the damaged car!’

  ‘We don’t know that for certain, Lucille!’ I said sharply, ‘If these two telephone calls are a preliminary softening-up process for blackmail, we may find he is going to threaten to tell your husband he saw us on the beach together. He may know nothing about the accident.’

  She made an impatient movement.

  ‘What does it matter? Even if he doesn’t know about the accident, we’ll still have to pay him if you don’t want to lose your job and I don’t want to lose Roger.’

  ‘Don’t be so sure about it,’ I said, staring at her. ‘We could go to the police. They know how to deal with a blackmailer, and they would keep us out of it.’

  ‘How can you talk like that?’ she said angrily. ‘He’s seen the car!’

  ‘We don’t know that. He might not have noticed it in the darkness. He might have searched the inside of the car, found your swimsuit and not noticed the damage.’

  ‘You’re talking for the sake of talking! I’m sure he knows about the accident!’

  ‘Then why didn’t he mention it? That would be a far more powerful lever for blackmail.’

  She lay back as if suddenly exhausted, her hands dropping limply in her lap.

  ‘Have it your own way. I know you are wrong, but have it your own way. What are you going to do?’

  ‘Nothing about him for the moment. I admit he’s a complication, but he isn’t the main danger. The real danger comes from the police. Even if this fella does know about the accident, and he does try to blackmail us, we’ll probably be able to buy him off, but we won’t be able to buy off the police. They are the real danger.’

  ‘You said you would take the blame,’ she said sullenly. ‘The real danger for me is this man – not the police.’

  ‘I promised to keep you out of it, but I can’t guarantee to do it,’ I said quietly. ‘You were careless enough to leave your swimsuit in the car; if someone has taken it to the police, then I can’t keep you out of it. All I do is to swear I was driving, but it still makes you an accessory to manslaughter.’

  She stared angrily at me.

  ‘I am sure this man has my swimsuit! I’m certain of it! I am certain he is going to blackmail us! What I want to know is are you going to pay him or must I go to Roger?’

  ‘Are you threatening me, Lucille?’ I asked quietly. ‘That sounded too like blackmail to me.’

  She pounded her fists on her knees and cried: ‘I don’t care what it sounds like! I want to know what you intend to do when he makes his demand!’

  ‘I’m going to wait until he makes it.’

  She sank back, her eyes smouldering.

  ‘I believe you’re trying to get out of taking the blame. You’re beginning to be sorry you made that promise. Well, you’re not going to get out of it!’

  ‘Do you ever think of anyone except yourself? Ever since this business started you haven’t given me a thought,’ I said, and I made no attempt to keep my disgust out of my voice. ‘All you have thought about is how you can wriggle out of this mess yourself.’

  Her face hardened and she stared at me.

  ‘But for you, I wouldn’t be in this mess,’ she said in a cold, flat voice. ‘Why should I consider you?’ She looked away as she added: ‘It was your fault. It’s been your fault all along.’

  I checked my rising temper.

  ‘Are you so sure about that, Lucille? Have you been all that innocent? You knew you were doing the wrong thing by persuading me to teach you to drive. You led me on. It was your idea for us to go down to that lonely beach. The way you have behaved was enough to make any man think you were easy game, and that’s what I thought.’

  She turned scarlet.

  ‘How dare you say such a thing to me!’ she flared.

  ‘Oh, let’s skip it,’ I said impatiently. ‘Quarrelling won’t help. I have promised to keep you out of it, and if I possibly can; that’s what I’ll do.’

  She leaned forward, her face white and tense.

  ‘You’d better keep me out of it! I don’t intend to lose Roger, and I don’t intend to go to prison simply because you behaved like an animal.’

  I got to my feet and crossed to the window, turning my back on her. I was too angry to speak.

  ‘I’m going now,’ she went on after a long pause. ‘I’m not going to think any more about this. I’m going to leave it entirely to you. I have your promise, and I expect you to keep it.’

  I turned.

  ‘Then you’d better snap out of that pipe dream,’ I said. ‘I’ve had as much as I intend to take from you. You’re nothing but a selfish, calculating, spoilt little bitch. You’re in this mess with me, and the sooner you realize it the less of a jam it will be for you if there is a showdown.’

  She got to her feet.

  ‘I should have told Roger last night. I’m going to tell him right now!’

  I had got beyond caring, and I smiled at her. ‘What’s that supposed to do? Make me cringe and fall on my knees in front of you? All right, if you want your precious and influential Roger to be in on this, then we’ll both go and tell him, and I’ll tell him the facts. I’ll tell him you forced yourself on me, you asked me to teach you to drive, you suggested a midnight swim, you tried to invite yourself to this bungalow disguised in a shady hat and sunglasses because you didn’t want him to know you were going around with me. When I told you to ask his permission you said he was jealous and silly: those were your words, weren’t they? Come on, let’s go. Let’s tell him the facts and see how he likes them.’

  She started to say something, then stopped. She remained motionless, staring at me, her eyes glittering, her fists clenched.

  ‘If you don’t want to come with me, then stay here,’ I said. ‘I’m going, I’ve had enough of this. One thing I’m damned sure about is I’m not going to be blackmailed by you! If you’re bluffing, then I’m going to call your bluff.’

  I walked across the lounge, leaving her staring after me, walked into the hall and opened the front door.

  ‘Ches ... please ...’

  She came running from the lounge and caught hold of me.

  ‘No ... please ...’

  I looked down at her.

  ‘What a fool I’ve been,’ I said evenly. ‘What a mug I was to have fallen in love with you. Get away from me! If you want it the hard way, you can have it the hard way!’

  ‘I didn’t mean it,’ she said tearfully. ‘I’m sorry, Ches. You don’t know how frightened I am. I’m not going to tell Roger. I’m willing to leave it to you. I do trust you. I just don’t know what I’m saying or doing.’

  I stared down at her.

  ‘Don’t you? I think you do. You keep shifting your attitude: first, you’re going to trust me, then you’re threatening me, then you’re going to run to your husband, then you’re trusting me again. Let’s get this straight, once
and for all: do you want your husband in on this or don’t you?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘No, Ches.’

  ‘You’re sure? You’re not going to change your mind and wave him in my face again?’

  ‘No, Ches.’

  ‘Are you willing to let me handle it?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  ‘Of course? You change your mind pretty easily, don’t you?

  It wasn’t of course five minutes ago.’

  ‘Ches, please don’t be angry with me,’ she pleaded. ‘I honestly don’t know what I’m saying or doing. I’m so frightened.’

  ‘You’re saying a lot and you are doing nothing. Come back into the lounge. It’s time we really talked this thing out.’

  She turned around and went back into the lounge and sat down. She put her elbows on her knees and rested her face in her hands. She made a dramatic picture, but I was beyond being impressed by dramatic pictures.

  I sat down and lit a cigarette.

  ‘Have you thought about this business, Lucille?’ I asked, abruptly. ‘Has it occurred to you that there are one or two odd things about it?’

  She stiffened, looked up, her eyes question marks.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘For one thing I can’t understand what this speed cop was doing on that road. It’s no better than a dirt track and it is scarcely ever used. Why should he be down there?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘He must have been there for some reason. I can’t imagine he expected to catch any speeding motorist down there. Haven’t you any suggestions to make why he should have been there?’

  ‘No. I don’t see that it matters.’

  ‘Don’t you? I do. Well, all right, let’s leave it for now. It’s something I intend to look into. Let’s go over the whole thing together. After our swim, you returned to the car, changed and left your swimsuit on the floor of the car. Right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did you see anyone while you were doing this?’

  ‘No, of course not. There wasn’t anyone there.’

  ‘But there must have been. This man who telephoned just now must have been watching us. How else could he have known we swam together? As far as I can remember there was absolutely no cover anywhere except that clump of palm trees where we sat, and yet he must have been there.’