SSC (1950) Six Deadly Dames

by Frederick Nebel

  Donahue said: “Tsk, tsk!”

  She scrambled up and ran crazily into the bedroom. He followed her. He found her hiding beneath the bed. Pulling her out by one leg, he lifted her to her feet, held her erect. She looked horror-stricken.

  He shook her. “Pull yourself together.”

  Her teeth began chattering and her face became so white that Donahue was uneasy. He was annoyed, irritated. He laid her on the bed and she buried her face in a pillow and began sobbing and moaning.

  He thought she might be out of her mind.

  He went into the living-room and walked round and round, angry one moment, puzzled the next. Her moaning was unpleasant to hear. He was standing in the middle of the room, cogitating, when she came stealthily out of the bedroom and crept across the living-room. Fascinated, he watched her. She appeared to be unaware of his presence and kept creeping towards the hall door. Finally he jumped, caught her as she was about to open the door. Her voice was hoarse: “Lemme out!”

  “Listen-”

  “Lemme-” She tussled, kicked, clawed in sudden fury. '

  “Now, Token, take it easy!” She tore away from him, fell on the doorknob, managed to unlock the catch. But he grabbed her by the arms, lifted her, swung her about and whisked her across the living-room, into the bedroom. Her feet did not once touch the floor. He dropped her to the bed, his shirt cuffs protruding, his hair rumpled and several bloody scratches on his face. He rasped: “Cut out this damned nonsense!” She tried to heave off the bed, but he caught her, flattened her on the bed, held her down.

  “Listen,” he said earnestly, “I'm not going to hurt you. See? You understand? I want to know what happened to Consadine. I want to know where Harrigan is. I want to know if that fight was framed. I want-Wait a minute. Stay here. Stay on this bed. I want to lock that door.”

  He rose, swung into the living-room. He stopped short. Two men were coming across it towards him and both had guns leveled. They were young men, impeccably dressed. One was tall, handsome and hard in a pale-faced, red-lipped way. The other was small, anaemic, and the .45 automatic he held looked huge in his skinny little hand. They were bent on business.

  “Back up, you,” the tall man said.

  “Wait a second-”

  “Back up!”

  The two men crowded Donahue, and he backed into the bedroom. The smaller of the two had a nervous affliction; his upper lip kept twitching while the rest of his face remained cold, stony. His eyes were as cold as a lizard's.

  The tall man snapped: “There she is!” He leaped after Token Moore as she staggered towards the bathroom.

  The small man kept Donahue covered. The tall man, rough-housing Token across the room, said: “Where's Harrigan, brat?”

  “Oh, my-!” she moaned.

  “Where's Harrigan?”

  “I-I don't know.”

  He held her up with his left hand. With his right he slapped her face. She choked and groaned and he backed her up, slapping her hard, first on one cheek, then on the other. Meanwhile he wore a hard, tight smile. He stopped slapping her, took hold of her left arm and bent it behind her back. She grimaced. Her eyeballs bulged, rolled, showed the whites as she bent backward. Her knees gave way and she slumped. He let her fall to the floor.

  Donahue offered: “She's just drunk.”

  The tall man spun on him. “You're Donahue,” he rasped.

  “Okey.”

  The tall man took one step, one swing. Donahue crashed against the wall. His eyes blazed.

  “What the hell's the idea of that?” he exploded.

  “For being funny,” the tall man said.

  The little man grinned with his twitching lip, but the gun he held did not waver.

  The tall man went into the bathroom, came out with a glass of water which he threw in Token's face. She stirred and he hauled her to her feet, shook her.

  “Where's Harrigan?”

  “Please-” Tears began to stream from her eyes.

  He said: “Stop yammering, brat! Where is he?”

  “Please-honest-so help me-”

  He scoffed: “Crap!” The hard flat of his hand whanged against her face. Furious, but coldly so, he pitched her to the bed. As she tried to crawl off, he walked around the foot of the bed, waited a second, then struck her full in the face. She toppled back to the other side of the bed, fell to the floor, groaning weakly.

  The little man giggled. “Jeeze, she's frail, the dame!”

  Donahue said: “In about a minute I'm going to get sore.”

  “In about a minute,” the tall man said, “you'll be sore-all over.”

  “What's the sense of slamming her around that way? Any punk can do that.”

  The tall man pointed. “You got yours coming, bozo! So keep your trap shut!”

  “What have I done? Hell, I'm looking for Harrigan, too.”

  The tall man narrowed his eyes. “What for?”

  “Murder of a guy named Consadine?”

  The tall man and the small man flicked a glance at each other. Then the tall man said: “What's she told you?”

  “Not a damned thing. She's pie-eyed. I couldn't raise a peep out of her. Harrigan's vanished.”

  “Who says so? Who says Harrigan murdered Consadine?”

  “The cops. Kelly McPard found Harrigan's gun in Consadine's apartment-the gun that killed Consadine. It's open and shut. The cops'll have him inside of twenty-four hours, and it's a murder rap.”

  The tall man quieted down. He said: “Is this straight?”

  “Phone Kelly McPard and check up.”

  The tall man looked sharply at Donahue, at the little man. He turned and walked to the other side of the bed, stood there looking downward. Token was on the floor and Donahue, from where he stood, could not see her. Several times the tall man raised quizzical eyes, nicked them at Donahue. Then he leaned down, picked up the girl and flopped her on the bed. She lay sacklike, unconscious. The tall man slapped her cheeks briskly, not roughly, in an attempt to bring her around. But she remained unconscious. He cursed, shrugged. He blew his nose sharply. There were diamonds on his hands. His clothes looked expensive. He blew his nose again, looked from the girl to Donahue, frowned, went through the apartment like a dog on a scent. Presently he stopped in front of Donahue and frowned seriously.

  “We're breezing,” he said. “You're walking down and out with us. Get your hat.... Watch him, Midge,” he added to the small man.

  Donahue went into the living-room, scooped up his hat. The small man played shadow to every move. The tall man joined them and they went out into the corridor.

  The tall man said: “We'll walk down a couple of floors, then take the elevator. Act nice, Donahue.”

  Donahue looked at their bulging pockets, said: “Wouldn't you, in my place?” The tall man was not in a jocular mood. “Pass up the cracks.” Three floors below, they buzzed for an elevator. The ear dropped them smoothly to the lobby. The lobby was deserted except for the clerk at the desk. He looked up, saw them, looked down again and kept on writing in a ledger. They went out, walked as far as Madison Avenue. On the corner the tall man stopped.

  He said: “Okey, Donahue; keep going. Fade.” It was cold and deserted on the corner, and he looked at their white, humorless faces, their bulging pockets. A lump caught in his throat. He looked up and down the avenue. No one was in sight. He returned his gaze to the motionless white faces.

  The tall man said: “Well, get going-west.”

  He nodded. He turned on his heel and started across the avenue. His jaw was clamped) his shoulders hunched a bit. He went through all the imagined sensations of a man being shot in the back. He didn't dare look around but walked on-not too rapidly; though he had to grit his teeth, almost, to stop from breaking into a run.

  But nothing happened. He reached the next corner, stopped, looked around. He was in a cold sweat.

  He became suddenly angry. He could feel heat rushing through his body and in an instant he was striding back through the st
reet. He broke into a run, up on his toes, the long skirt of his overcoat flapping about his knees. Reaching Madison, he peered south. Several blocks distant, two men passed beneath a street light. But Donahue wasn't sure. He was angry enough, however, to take a chance.

  He flagged a loafing southbound taxi and climbing in told the driver to take it easy. He drove four blocks south, called for a right turn, passed the driver a coin and jumped off.

  From the shadow of a stone stoop he saw the tall man and the small man stride past the corner, heading south on Madison.

  VI

  KELLY McPARD sat on a desk in his office. The office was warm, and the sound of steam whistling from a radiator was not unpleasant. Spengler, his assistant, leaned against the wall; he looked wide awake and kept jabbing industriously at his teeth with a shaved-down match. Kelly looked preoccupied.

  Harrigan, the champ, sat in an armchair and scowled at the floor. Out of fighting togs, he was less prepossessing. He had a good face, far from handsome, and coarse-featured; but he gave the general impression of being clean-cut, honest, straightforward; a fine animal at the peak of his power, aware of his standing, a little obstinate.

  When Donahue came in, McPard looked up, twiddled his thumbs, said absently: “Hello, Donny.”

  “Jeeze, you still up!” bawled out Spengler. “Hey, look, we got Harrigan here!”

  Donahue closed the door, leaned against it. The brown of his lean and chiseled face was ruddied by the cold. His coat belt was yanked tight, the loose end dangling. He looked at Harrigan, who scowled; at Kelly, whose face was steeped in thought.

  “Quick work,” he said.

  “Ah, say,” Spengler said, flapping a big hand, “it was a snap, it was. He just went to another hotel.”

  Kelly McPard said: “The champ says he didn't do it!” Harrigan's jaw jutted. “Of course I didn't do it!”

  “An old refrain,” Donahue remarked. “What?” the champ barked.

  “I was just thinking,” Donahue said; and to McPard:

  “Who did it, Kel?”

  McPard said: “The circumstances say Danny did it.”

  Harrigan heaved up, his thick brows bending. “That there's a lie, Kelly!” He spun on Donahue. “What the hell are you butting in for? You keep your mug out of it!”

  Donahue, leaning against the door, said: “Don't shoot your mouth off at me, Harrigan. You're a nice guy and a real champ, but don't get tough.”

  “Now, now,” McPard chimed in. “None o' that.... Donny, he said he went there, all right. He went to Consadine's apartment. He had an idea Consadine had his girl there. He had an idea the jane and Consadine were cutting corners on him. He was all steamed up and he went there with a gun. But he didn't find the girl. Consadine was scared about Danny holding the gun and he kept talking to him and after a while Danny threw the gun on a sofa. Danny was all shaken up. Consadine wanted him to have a drink, but Danny was too balled up to enjoy a drink, so he just turned around and went out, leaving his gun there.

  McPard paused, then added: “That's Danny's story.”

  Harrigan blurted: “It's the truth!”

  McPard shrugged, strolled around the office. There were no melodramatics about Kelly McPard, but you could see he was deeply disturbed, indecisive, caught in a web of duty and sentiment.

  Harrigan's face worked. “That's what I did! That's why I polished Tripp off in the fourth tonight. I could have done it in the second-but I was making up my mind!”

  Donahue's eyes steadied. “Why?”

  “Why?” Harrigan roared, swinging around. “Because I was sure Consadine was taking my girl away from me. No guy can take a jane away from me!” Some of his self-assurance fled and his shoulders hunched, his big face looked pained, his eyes wandered. “I didn't kill him. I guess I went there to do it. If she'd been there, I guess I would have done it.”

  Donahue felt his way cautiously. “You did a nice job on Tripp.”

  “Sure. Tripp's okey, but I can lick him. Maybe I did surprise him a bit. I guess I surprised him a hell of a lot!”

  “I see. You were to let him stay the fifteen, huh?”

  “Stay!” Harrigan laughed. “The tramp was supposed to win!”

  Donahue, tingling all over, merely said: “H'm.”

  “I was supposed to lay down in the twelfth! But I seen my girl down there with Consadine and I went nuts. I couldn't stand it. I was afraid it was a trick. I was afraid that if I lost the fight I'd never get another come-back chance. Consadine promised me a fight in six months when I was supposed to flatten Tripp. But I was scared. I was scared he was framing me and trying to get Token. I went nuts. I was afraid if I wasn't champ she wouldn't like me any more.”

  Donahue suddenly felt sorry for Harrigan. The champ was just a kid with the mind of a kid. There was something touching in the way his voice broke hoarsely, in the way his face muscles strained and his eyes darted about, harried and uncertain. A splendid machine in the ring; outside, a babe in arms, a sap. “If I wasn't champ she wouldn't like me any more.”

  Donahue said: “What are you going to do, Kel?”

  “Hell, I guess I've got to chuck him in the hold-over.”

  “I didn't do it!” Harrigan cried hoarsely. “I tell you I didn't do it, Kel! I meant to do it, but I didn't, Token wasn't there and I didn't do it. And then I felt like a louse and I didn't have the guts to go back and see her! I felt like a louse!”

  Donahue became engrossed in his own thoughts. His train of thought went into reverse, traveled backward over the ground he had covered. Presently he said:

  “You going home, Kel?”

  “I was thinking of it.”

  “Hang around, will you?”

  “Why?”

  “I may need you.”

  McPard squinted. “What's on your mind?”

  “Something goofy as hell.” He opened the door. “Hang around, will you?”

  “Sure, I'll hang around.”

  VII

  DONAHUE was surprised, anxious, when he found the door of Token Moore's apartment unlocked. Entering, he closed it quietly, locked it. He made his way towards the bedroom, reached the doorway.

  She lay on the bed, sprawled. It seemed to him that she lay exactly as she had lain when he and the two men had walked out. Drawing nearer, he could see that she was breathing. This reassured him. She was sleeping, soundly. There were marks on her face put there by the tall man. Her sheer garments were torn in places and there was a bruise on her shoulder, another on one wrist. Obviously she had not left the bed.

  He sat on the bed and began shaking her shoulder. She roused slowly, turned over, away from him, sighed deeply. He kept shaking her and presently she turned back again, opened her eyes quite candidly. In an instant a rush of memory must have come over her, for her eyes widened, her brows shot upward.

  Donahue said: “Take it easy. You're okey. Those guys went away. Now take it easy. Do you want a drink of water?” He saw that she was moistening her dry lips. He rose. “I'll get you a drink of water.”

  He brought a tumbler full from the bathroom. She was sitting up, white-faced, quivering now but giving no hint of being hysterical. He sat down on the edge of the bed, held the glass to her lips. As she drank, her eyes regarded him steadily. Finished, she looked away. Donahue set the glass on the bed-table. He did not say anything for a while, choosing to allow a few minutes for her to compose herself. He didn't say anything when she rose, went to a mirror and looked at herself. He heard a gasp. Then for a moment she seemed stricken, as if remembering. He went over and offered a cigarette. She made a face, shook her head.

  “Too much hangover, huh?” he muttered casually.

  She let herself down on to the chair in front of the dresser. Donahue dragged over another chair, sat down beside her. Instead of looking directly at her, he studied her image in the mirror.

  He said in a conversational undertone: “They've got Harrigan for the murder of Giles Consadine.”

  She looked up quickly, at
her own image, at Donahue's. Her eyes remained round, wide. Then she turned her head and looked at Donahue. He regarded her image, noticing that she had a nice profile. “What?” she said. “Harrigan.”

  “No!”

  “Would I kid you, Token?”

  His voice remained low, conversational, almost intimate. She looked back at the mirrored images. The fact that she was able to see the change in her own features, startled her.

  He said to her image: “I dropped around again, Token, to tell you. Harrigan hasn't got a chance in the world. The cops found his gun-fired twice-in Consadine's apartment. He admits having been there but he says he didn't kill Consadine. He says he left the gun there.” She shook her head. “No-no! He didn't kill Giles!”

  “I thought you might know.”

  “Know?”

  “Know he didn't.”

  Her eyes shimmered as she stared at his image. “I mean-I mean I believe him! He couldn't have-”

  “He could have,” Donahue said pleasantly. “He meant to, in fact. He went there with a gun, expecting to find you with Consadine. He didn't find you there.”

  “No-of course not,” she panted.

  “Were you there?”

  “No!”

  He sighed,, was silent for a moment. Then he said: “You and Consadine were crossing corners with the kid, weren't you?”

  In an instant she was on her feet, quivering. “That's a damned lie!”

  He rose and leaned back on his heels, dropped his chin, regarded her sorrowfully. “You were true-blue to the kid, huh?”

  “Yes!”

  “Didn't Consadine try to make you forget him?” She stuttered: “It-it w-wasn't my fault.”

  “He did, didn't he?” After a moment she said: “Yes.”

  “You hated him?”

  “I-well, I couldn't show it-account of Danny. He was Danny's boss more or less.”

  “Did you know Harrigan was to throw the fight-and didn't?”

  She looked startled, confused; but she managed to say: “I thought something went wrong. I didn't know just what it was.”