1945 - Blonde's Requiem

by James Hadley Chase

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Reg said scornfully. “A guy can go to high school with a dame, pull her hair, pour ink over her and then suddenly he gets singing in his ears and he falls for her, It’s happened to me.”

  “Will you pipe down?” I said, shortly. “When I want extracts from your love-life I’ll ask for them.”

  “Don’t quarrel, you two,” Audrey said, hastily. “Ted and I haven’t mixed for years. I just happened to work on him and he’s interested.”

  “That’s a laugh!” Reg said bitterly. “What a word—interested And in ordinary circumstances the guy wouldn’t look at a girl.”

  I finished up my Scotch as the waitress brought the ice cream, so I ordered another.

  “You’ve got a thirst, haven’t you?” Reg asked, staring.

  “I’m laying a foundation,” I said. “There’s a job we have to do tonight and it won’t be a pleasant one.”

  “So you’re loading up enough liquor for the three of us, is that it?” Reg asked, pushing his coke away in disgust.

  “You’ve got it,” I returned, “but we’ll fix Audrey first.” I turned to her.

  “What are you up to?”

  “Can’t you see? If Ted’s the killer, this is the one way we can trap him. When I was photographed I knew what I had to do I started working on Ted and he fell for it. We’ve the same set-up now that led to the other killings. I’m Ted’s new girlfriend. I’ve been photographed. My photograph will appear in the Street-Camera Studio window, and it only needs me to disappear. The wheel’s turned a full circle. Only this time I don’t intend to disappear.”

  I thought about this. “Maybe you’ll be safe until the picture appears in the Street-Camera Studio window. It may not. If it does, then we mustn’t leave you for a second.”

  “It will appear,” Audrey said. “I telephoned them and fixed it. They’re making a special enlargement and have promised to put it in their window.”

  Reg looked at her admiringly. “You’ve got guts,” he said. “Now maybe we’ll get somewhere.”

  I didn’t like any of this, bet it was no use raising objections.

  “Okay, kid,” I said, “we’ll stick close to you. Where are you meeting Ted tomorrow night?”

  “He’s calling for me. He said something about dinner and a dance, but there was nothing decided.”

  I looked at Reg. “We three are going over to the Cranville cemetery when it gets dark. I want to look around. Then you take Audrey back to the hotel and stick with her. I’m going to take a look at Esslinger’s Funeral Parlour.”

  “Listen,” Audrey said, leaning forward. “Why don’t you also have a look at Ted’s bedroom? He told me he’d be late tonight. We could go over there now.”

  “You can’t do that,” Reg said hastily. “If we’re caught Esslinger’ll stick the cops on us.”

  “Do you know where his room’s located?” I asked, thinking it was a good idea. “Can I reach it without trouble?”

  Audrey nodded. “It’s at the back,” she said. “You could do it easily. Come on, I’ll drive you over now.”

  I pushed back my chair. “Okay,” I said, “let’s go.”

  Reg groaned. “You’re sticking your neck out,” he said. “Hench and Mrs. E. will be in the house. You don’t think they’ll let you get away with this, do you?”

  “Don’t be chicken-hearted, Pinkie,” I grinned, and led the way out.

  * * *

  Esslinger’s house was a modest, two-storey building on the outer limits of the town. It stood on its own small plot of land and was hidden from the other houses by a tall box-hedge.

  In the rapidly falling darkness Audrey brought us to the back of the house along a narrow, deserted road. It was after ten o’clock by the time we had reached the house, and although the upper floor was in darkness, lights blazed from a room on the ground floor.

  Audrey stopped the car and we all got out.

  “That’s his room, there,” she whispered, pointing to a small window that projected from the sloping roof. “All you have to do is to walk tip the garden path, climb the pipe-stack and you’ll be on the roof. It’s easy to walk up to the window from there.”

  “Who do you think he is—Tarzan of the Apes?” Reg muttered.

  “Okay,” I said. “You wait here. If you see anything moving, sound the horn.”

  Audrey slipped her hand in mine. “You will be careful, won’t you? I mean I don’t want you to break your neck.”

  I looked down at her, wishing Reg was out of the way. “Don’t worry about me,” I said, “I’ll be all right.”

  “If you two want to be more intimate, don’t worry about me,” Reg said sarcastically. “I can stand it if you can.”

  I put my hand over his face and gave him a shove, then with a quick smile at Audrey I swung myself over the fence and dropped onto the soft ground of the flowerbed.

  Keeping in the shadows, I moved silently up the garden. The light from the sitting room blazed on to the lawn and I could see, before I reached the house, I would have to pass right through this patch of light. As I drew nearer, I slowed my pace, and finally, just outside the edge of light, I stopped and peered into the silting-room.

  Mrs. Esslinger sat facing me. She was sitting in a large armchair and she was knitting. Although her fingers guided the needles with what seemed to me an incredible speed, her eyes stared out of the window. She seemed to be staring right at me and the fixed, cold expression in her eyes gave me a spooky feeling. I instinctively ducked back into the darkness. I waited for a moment, wondering if she had seen me, and then as nothing happened I peered into the room again.

  She still stared out of the window, but I was sure now that she couldn’t see me out there in the darkness. But I would have to be careful how I crossed the patch of light.

  I went down on my hands and knees and, moving slowly, crawled into the patch of light. I felt naked for those few seconds it took me to reach the cover of the shadows.

  I stood up as I neared the house and listened. Nothing happened. Except for a car that roared past the front of the house, there was no sound. But I made no move. I leaned against the wooden rails of the verandah and waited.

  Nothing happened for a long minute, then I saw a shadow on the lawn, near me. Mrs. Esslinger was standing at the window. The light from the room threw her shadow in a long, distorted shape on the close-clipped grass. My heart began to thump steadily and suddenly my mouth went dry.

  I pressed myself further against the verandah, knowing it was dark enough where I stood, but I was scared. There was no time to analyse this feeling of fear.

  Somewhere in my subconscious I was astonished at being so scared. Mrs. Esslinger was certainly bad for my nerves.

  I waited there, hardly breathing and in a chill of a cold sweat. The shadow moved suddenly and then I saw Mrs. Esslinger’s head. She was peering into the garden, silently and intently. I knew she was listening.

  She was so close to me that if I had taken three steps towards I could have touched her. If she turned her head and looked in my direction, I felt sure she would see me. It was the worse few seconds I’ve ever experienced.

  She suddenly seemed satisfied that no one was in the garden, for she disappeared from the window and abruptly drew the curtains. The garden was plunged into complete darkness, and for a few seconds I could see nothing. Then gradually my eyes became used to the darkness and the house took shape again.

  I hesitated about entering the house, wondering where Hench was, wondering if Mrs. Esslinger had gone upstairs. That was something I had to find out.

  Moving cautiously, I approached the window. The curtains were tightly closed across the window, but the window itself was open. I leaned forward, my heart banging against my ribs, and listened. At the back of my mind I wondered if Mrs. Esslinger was standing behind the curtains waiting to spring out on me. Just the thought of that made my knees knock together. Very faintly, I heard the cli
cking of knitting needles and I quietly stepped away from the window.

  If I was going to get into the house, I must do so quickly. There were no other lights showing, and I hoped both Esslinger and Hench were out.

  I found the stack-pipe Audrey had told me about. It was at the far end of the house away from the room where Mrs. Esslinger was sitting. I tested it and found it strong enough to take my weight. Before making the climb I took off my shoes and then, gripping the pipe in both hands, I edged my way up the side of the house.

  It took me only a few moments to reach the sloping roof, and hooking my fingers in the gutter I drew myself up on to the tiles. I was sweating with the exertion, and it was only then that I realized the night had become hot and oppressive. Although the moon rode high, a black cloudbank was moving slowly on the horizon and it looked to me as if a storm were blowing up.

  I stood on the roof and looked across the garden into the road. I could see the car parked not far away and the dim outlines of Audrey and Reg watching me. I raised my hand and they waved back. Then I turned and walked carefully up the gentle slope of the roof towards Ted’s bedroom window.

  The window was uncurtained and the room was in darkness. I got my fingers under the window-frame and pushed it up. It opened noiselessly and I peered into the room. The light from the moon was sufficient for me to see the room was empty. It was a hard, bare masculine room with a polished wood floor, a couple of small rugs in an Indian design, two straight chairs, a bureau in dark-grained wood with a man’s toilet set and black candles in foot-high brass candlesticks.

  The bed was narrow and looked hard and had a dark-green cover. The room felt cold.

  I across the windowsill and walked to the door. I opened it a few inches and listened. No sound came to me. Then I shut the door, took a small wooden wedge from my pocket and forced it into the chink between the door and the floor. I wasn’t taking chances of anyone coming in and catching me off-guard.

  I went immediately to the bureau and began going through the drawers. The last drawer gave me what I wanted. In a corner, under a pile of silk shirts, I found a packet of photographs. I took them to the window and in the light of the moon I saw they were the photographs of the missing girls. I felt blood hammering against my temples as I looked down at the calm, attractive face of Marian French.

  I shoved the photographs into my pocket and turned back to the bureau. As I did so I paused, feeling the hair on the back of my neck stiffening.

  The moonlight was now shining directly on the white painted door and I distinctly saw the handle slowly turn. Then the door moved, but immediately stopped as the wedge held it.

  That was enough for me. Silently I stepped to the window, swung my leg over the sill and got on to the roof. I waved once to Reg, who waved back, and then I half slid, half slithered to the gutter. My legs went over the edge of the roof and hung in space while I got a grip on the gutter. I hung for a moment, my heart pounding and fear catching at my belly. Then I dropped silently into the garden, staggered, recovered my balance and stood up. A moment later I had wedged my feet into my shoes and, not pausing to tie the laces, I turned to run down the garden path.

  Without warning a sudden swishing sound made me duck. I felt something hit against my shoulder. I had one horrified glimpse of a noosed cord falling to the ground and then I spun on my heel and ran.

  I blundered across the garden, fell over the fence and landed almost at Reg’s feet.

  “Come on!” I panted. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

  Audrey had started the engine and I scrambled into the seat beside her. Reg tumbled in behind us.

  “Scram!” I said to Audrey. “They’ve spotted us.”

  Nothing was said for the next few minutes. Audrey drove fast, concentrating on the road, while I sat limply beside her, trying to get over my fright.

  “Okay,” I said at last. “Pull up here. We’re far enough away now.”

  She slowed down and stopped under a street light. “You seemed in a hurry to leave,” she said, looking at me intently. “Why, good gracious, the poor man looks actually scared.”

  I drew a deep breath. “Scared?” I said. “That’s an understatement. I nearly had a heart attack.”

  Reg leaned forward and breathed heavily down my neck. “Dicks don’t get scared,” he said dryly. “Not New York dicks.”

  “Shut up, you two,” I snapped. “This is serious. Someone was waiting for me in the garden and damn near strangled me.”

  “You were dreaming,” Reg said with a snigger. “Why don’t you admit the shadows scared you and you ran away.”

  “Don’t rib him, Reg,” Audrey said softly. “I believe he has had a fright.”

  I took the photographs out of my pocket and dropped them in Audrey’s lap.

  “Take a look at this little lot,” I said grimly. “Maybe they’ll hold you two dopes for a moment.”

  “Where did you get them?” Audrey asked as soon as she saw what they were.

  “They were hidden under a pile of shirts in Ted’s bureau,” I said grimly.

  “This is the first real evidence I’ve got. They’re all there, even Marian. He’ll have to be smart to talk himself out of this.”

  “You weren’t kidding about being strangled?” Audrey asked, looking at me with wide, anxious eyes.

  “You bet I wasn’t,” I said, fumbling for a cigarette and offering her one.

  “Someone tried to lasso me. If I hadn’t ducked they’d have had me around the neck. It was quite a circus trick.” I turned to Reg. “Do you know if rope-spinning’s one of Ted’s accomplishments?”

  He shook his head. “That’s a new one oh me,” he said, looking blank.

  “Well, that’s the way these girls were killed,” I went on. “I’m glad it happened to me. We now know what to watch out for.”

  “You didn’t see anyone, I suppose?” Audrey asked.

  I shook my head. “Did Ted say where he was going tonight? If he’s the killer, then it was he who was waiting for me with the rope.”

  “He told me he was spending the evening at the Ciro Club. Shall we check up?”

  “You bet we’ll checkup,” I returned. “Let’s get to a drugstore where we can phone and then we’ll go on to the cemetery. You know, I’ve a feeling this case is coming to an end.”

  “You really think Ted’s the killer?” Audrey asked, engaging gears and driving slowly down the dimly lit street.

  “It looks like it. The photographs should be enough evidence to fry him if the case is handled right. Then this attempt to knock me off points to him again. If we can find the bodies, we ought to have a cast-iron case against him.”

  A few minutes’ driving brought us to a drugstore. I told Reg to call the Ciro Club and find out if Ted was there.

  While we waited in the car, I said to Audrey: “When this business is over, have you thought what you’re going to do?”

  She looked away. “Not really,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll be a detective anymore. I don’t seem to be good at it.”

  I put my hand over hers. “With me,” I said, “you could be very good. Why don’t you and me become partners?”

  “I might consider it,” she said cautiously. “But you’re awfully domineering.”

  “Not if I were your husband,” I said airily. “You’d be surprised how nice I could be. Didn’t you know I am one of the world’s great lovers?”

  “I had an idea you thought you were,” she said, with a little giggle. “Although you’re the only one who does think so.”

  I put my arm around her and pulled her to me. “Come on, honey,” I said. “You know you can’t get on without me—say yes.”

  Reg stuck his head through the window. “For God’s sake!” he exploded. “Can’t you two keep your minds on business? The moment I leave you, you start canoodling.”

  “One of these days someone’s going to take a dislike to you,” I said fiercely, hastil
y taking my arm away. “I didn’t think you’d be so quick.”

  He opened the car door and scrambled in. “I made a rush job of it,” he said with a leer. “Why should you be the only one to have fun and games?”

  “Well, come on, you lug,” I said. “Is he still there?”

  “No, and what’s more, he hasn’t been there all evening. What do you make of that?”

  Audrey and I exchanged glances.

  “Okay,” I said. “It looks like we’re on the right track. Let’s go—Cranville cemetery first stop.”

  We came upon the burial-ground as a distant clock struck twelve. Overhead, torn, black clouds obscured the moon and distant thunder rumbled ominously.

  “We only want Bella Lugosi with us and it’d be a picnic,” Reg said, his teeth beginning to chatter.

  “Shut up,” I said, peering out of the car window. “That’s no way to talk so near the dead. Where’s your respect?”

  Audrey pressed her foot down on the brake pedal and the car stopped. “What now?” she said, looking a little fearfully at the tall gloomy walls surrounding the burial-ground.

  I opened the car door and stepped out. The air was still and oppressive. I could smell rain and, far to the east, I could see faint flashes of lightning.

  “Before very long,” I said, glancing up and down the deserted road, “we’re going to have a storm.”

  “Never mind about the storm,” Reg said, climbing out of the car and standing beside me. “It’s this joint that worries me!”

  “Forget it,” I said sharply, feeling spooked myself. “What’s a graveyard between friends?”

  Before he could think up a suitable reply I walked over to the massive iron gates and pushed. They swung open with a harsh squeak that made my nerves tingle.

  “Okay,” I called to Audrey. “Can you drive in?”

  The car edged its way through the gateway and stopped in the middle of the centre lane of the graveyard.

  I closed the iron gates and told Audrey to put out the car lights.

  The heavy scent of graveyard flowers hung in the air. Underfoot, cinders crunched and sounded to me like firecrackers. A faint mist rose from the graveyard. In the shadows of tombstones and willow trees it was like smoke.