"I admit it," I said.
"It's nothing compared to the plans I have in mind. They'll make me rich, Sloan. I'll be stinking rich. After I get what I want, I'll resign from the force. My first million and I quit. I'm no hog."
I said, weakly, "Of course if I'd known, I wouldn't have made all that trouble for you. Lawsuit and all . . ."
"I'm not worried about it. In a little while, there won't be anybody to press the suit. Besides, you'll be found here nice and dead. I'll take the credit for your capture. Sure—I saw you around the Met, I saw you snip off the necklace and I trailed you. That'll prove you're nothing but a cheap, lousy crook. Where would your case be-then—even if you were alive to push it?"
I had to stall. "Listen, Kane, we're on the same side now. I thought I was supposed to work for you."
"Do you actually think I'd trust a rat like you, Sloan? What would happen if I did? You'd be looking for a way out. Maybe you'd find it. Knowing I was a crooked cop would help. The least you could do would be to run for it—and take my wife with you. You goddamn stinking rat."
I said nothing, but he didn't need any conversational help from me. He went right on. “I’ve known it for a long time. Your old girl friend told me. Well, at least I can thank you for her. We get along, Mona and I."
"What about Maxine?" I asked.
"She knows where she stands with me." Maxine jumped off the bench, left her handbag there and walked up to stand beside Kane. There was hate in her eyes. "Are you telling me this guy was fooling around with your wife?"
"Sure," Kane said. "He swiped more than jewelry."
"Shoot him, Jack. Blow his damned head off. Do you know what that rat was doing? Conning me. Yeah—making me think I was the only dame in his life. Go on—plug him. What's keeping you?"
"He'll get it when I'm ready," Kane said. "Well, Sloan, how does it feel to be on the other end of a lot of trouble?"
"What happens to Sheila?" I asked him.
"I haven't made up my mind yet. I hate her guts, but throwing her out would only be doing her a favor. I'll keep her around. I'll remind her of you occasionally."
I said, "Kane, I know you're going to kill me. That's okay because, when I went into this business, my eyes were open. But that girl used to be in love with you. She told me so a dozen times. She said she married a swell guy who went sour somewhere along the way. If she thought you used to be good and decent, you must have been in love with her, too. Why must you crucify her? Think back to what you used to be. If you don't want her any more, let her go."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Maybe I should let you go, too, so the two of you could scamper off somewhere. I'll decide what to do about her later. I've already made up my mind about you, Sloan. Now hand over that necklace."
I reached into my pocket, took out the glittering green string of emeralds and watched them reflect the single overhead light. I started to hand them to Kane and stopped short. I brought them back and squinted closely at them. Then I began laughing.
"What the hell is wrong?" Kane yelled.
I kept on laughing. "This is too funny, Kane. It's the perfect finish to the goofiest business I was ever in. These things are phonies."
He yanked them out of my hand. "You're a liar. They're genuine."
"Okay, Kane, but wait until you try to sell them. I don’t know why I should, but I can prove they're no good if you want me to."
"How?" He regarded me suspiciously.
"Hand them over," I said. He gave them to me reluctantly, but I could see that he was worried. "I'll prove it by crushing one of the stones just like the glass it is."
Nobody stopped me when I walked toward the workbench. I put the necklace down beside Maxine's purse. They were coming up behind me fast, but I had a chance to open the catch of the purse.
"Well, go ahead," Kane ordered. "If this is a trick, you'll be a hell of a long time dying, Sloan."
I said, "Lend me a knife."
Kane fished into his pocket and gave me one. I opened the small blade, bent over the bench and the necklace and pried one of the stones out of its setting. Then I hacked at it with the point of the blade. I picked up the loose stone and handed it to Kane.
"Take a look yourself. See the scratches, notice how deep they are. Now I'll loosen another stone and smash it if you need more proof."
He held the stone between his fingers and turned toward the light just as I knew he would. Maxine was at his side, the four hoods pressed close, worried that they'd been cheated out of a big cut. All I had to do was open Maxine's leather handbag, the same one I'd already examined at her apartment, and take out the gun it contained.
One of the men saw me. He let out a howl and reached for his pocket. I shot him through the face.
"Your gun, Kane," I said. "I’ll shoot it out of your hand . . ."
He let go of it. The other two moved into line with Kane. They were nicely behaved boys. The guy on the floor without a face was a good example of what they'd turn into if they ceased being good boys.
I backed toward the door. "Maxine—you're coming with me."
She scampered away from the others. She got the door for me and ran through. Maxine wasn't bright, but she knew the more space she put between herself and Kane, the happier she was going to be. The handy handbag and the gun looked like a frame-up on her part.
I slammed the door shut, leaped off the platform, raised the gun and fired two quick shots. Then I ran after Maxine. Kane came out on the platform and threw a couple of slugs my way, but he was too rattled to shoot straight. Then a searchlight from a nearby window in another building bathed him in its glare. He swore and ran back into the building.
Cops, uniformed and in plain clothes, moved in after Kane. Somebody inside smashed a window and started shooting through it. I saw one of the men outside fold up. Maxine, frozen in fear, didn't run when I joined her. The cops weren't doing any shooting yet, but the patrolman on the ground was groaning and trying to crawl away. Another bullet from that same window stopped him. I saw his body jerk as the slug hit and then he was very quiet.
There were more shots from inside, but oddly enough none of the other cops went down. There were yells and screams also and then half a dozen shots. They weren't being fired at anyone outside. You could tell by the reverberations from that massive empty room. Then, suddenly, the loading door opened and the big guy came crashing out, a gun in each hand. He must have been hit by twenty slugs. After that, there was just a lot of eerie silence.
I put my arm around Maxine. "Baby, this is where we part company. I'll stall for you. Get your stuff packed and blow. Move fast."
Her eyes lighted up. "Mike, you're coming with me?"
I said, "Not on your life. I've had enough of bums, but in a way you helped me, and you rate a break. Get going before I changed my mind."
She didn't argue. She took off like a startled doe. I watched her disappear with a small sigh. She hadn't been so bad after all.
Then I saw Inspector McDermott come out of the warehouse. He spotted me and started over.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
McDermott and I went into the first cafe we came upon. That it happened to smell of stale beer, cheap whisky and cheaper perfume didn't matter. We sat down at a table and ordered rye straight
McDermott said, "Damned if I can understand the man. He died in there, Sloan. But he took three of those goons with him."
I nodded, tossed my drink down quickly. "There was something good in Kane, even tonight. Sure, he was going to shoot me down and laugh at me while I died, but I still say the guy wasn't all bad. Do you know what must have happened in there?"
"I think so. I'd like to know what you think, Sloan."
"Everything was okay so long as nobody got hurt. But when Kane saw a cop go down and try to crawl away and then saw one of his boys pump another slug into the wounded cop, Kane stopped being a crook and became a cop again."
McDermott nodded. "That's how I figured it. Well, what do we do now?"
"You're asking me?" I signaled for a repeat drink.
"It's kind of up to you, isn't it, Sloan?"
I said, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing, "Kane saw the job pulled and trailed the necklace here. He died in the line of duty. It would read nice in the papers."
McDermott said, "He had the necklace in his hand when we found him. The necklace in one hand, a smoking gun in the other and three lousy hoods plastered with his slugs."
"Two," I said. "I killed the one without a face."
"Trouble," McDermott said softly. "Trouble all around. Three hoods with Kane's gun."
"Three," I agreed.
"Mrs. Perreau gets her necklace back, a little busted up, but it can be fixed easy."
"A hundred and fifty thousand dollars' worth of green ice," I said. "Kane didn't know his gems. They're as real as he is dead."
"I don't get that, Sloan."
"You don't have to."
McDermott said, "Nobody saw you, Sloan."
"I wasn't even there."
"I'll tell it the way it looked to me. Okay?"
"That's how I'd want it, Inspector."
McDermott frowned and tossed down his second drink. "It would certainly be hell if somebody—some damn fool—-ever tried to make people believe different."
I said, "I'm leaving town in a couple of days. I've had enough of this business."
"Good." McDermott pushed his chair back. "Read the newspapers, friend. It'll be fine reading. After all, he did do his best when the cards were down. Even if he dealt them crooked."
"Somebody ought to tell his widow. I know her. Let me take care of it, Inspector."
"Yeah—if your story jibes with what she'll see in the papers."
"That's exactly how it will be."
McDermott arose. "So long, Sloan. Stay out of town. I'd hate like the devil to see you hauled in."
We shook hands and walked out. On the street, he went one way while I called a taxi.
* * *
Sheila sat there dry-eyed and heard me through. "Kane was a fool to walk into that mess," I said. "I didn't know he had that much nerve. He saw these mugs swipe the necklace, tailed them and got the whole gang. Something must have slipped. They got him, but he got three of them first. He stood there and fought it out They're going to put his name high on the honor roll."
She got up to face me then, put her head on my shoulder and sobbed. I felt clumsy. All I could do was murmur vague words and pat her shoulder.
Finally she drew back a little.
"I'm glad he went that way, Mike. He always thought he would. In the old days, he used to tell me not to cry too much if it happened. He must have had a premonition."
"Yes," I said, "a premonition. I shouldn't be asking this, but does it make any difference between you and me?"
She shook her head and her hair got into her eyes. I brushed it away tenderly.
"No, darling," she said. "You're my new life. I need you more than ever now."
What could I say? It was no time to express joy.
"You see, Mike, I was right. I didn't misjudge Jack. He'd changed, yes, but he was still the big roughneck I married. He had courage. It didn't fail him, and he didn't fail me."
"We don't have to hurry now, baby. Not like before, but I want to get started as soon as this is all finished. That store won't wait forever."
"I'll be ready when you are, Mike. I want to get away, too."
She came into my arms. I held her close with just one hand; the other dipped into my pocket and came out with the little snipping gadget. I sliced through the string of her necklace and when I stepped back, the whole thing slid down to the floor. With a little cry, Sheila bent down to gather up the pearls which had rolled off the string. I helped her.
"Give them to me," I said. "This will be my first job as an honest man. I'll restring them for you."
"Be careful of them, Mike. I know you won't mind if I keep them to sort of—well, remember what Jack was long ago. So long ago."
I dumped the beads into my pocket. "I'll have them for you tomorrow, Sheila. In a couple of days we'll settle everything and get started. I want that new life, too."
She managed a smile. "And we won't have to live in sin. Oh, Mike, it turned out for the best, didn't it? Even if it was—like—this."
She didn't mind when I left. She had a lot of remembering to do and even more anticipation of our future. I picked up a cab and had myself driven to my office.
I paid off the cab driver and stood at the curb until he pulled away, and then I walked to the corner. I took the beads out of my pocket, forced those still on the string free and dumped them all down into a sewer. A couple ran around the concave design of the sewer cover and I pushed them in with my shoe.
I went up to my office, took off my coat, removed the links from my dress shirt and rolled up the sleeves. I opened the big vault, took out my briefcase and carried it into the workroom. I switched on the light, straddled the stool and linked a piece of velvet in which were a couple of hundred fine pearls. I cut the clasp of Sheila's necklace free of its string, tied on a new string and started stringing it with my own pearls.
There might be a slight difference in the size of some of them, but I doubted that Sheila would notice. I knew exactly what her necklace had looked like. Why not? I'd made it up myself. It was the one I'd given Mrs. Brindley to wear home in place of her own. The same necklace which had been stolen from her.
That son of a bitch had found out from Mona that all his men had got for their pains was a phony, and he'd given it to Sheila. That was just like Kane. He was a phony all through.
I got the last pearl on finally. It had taken a long time and I was tired, but I stuck with it. I attached the clasp, made one piece out of the whole thing and held it up for a final examination. She wouldn't know the difference, but if she ever had it appraised, it would be worth about four grand.
The things a guy will do for a woman!
THE END
The Deadly Game Page 14
