“Who did you leave in charge in Los Angeles?”
Who was it Della had said? For a moment I was rattled, then I remembered.
“Hollenheimer. Why?”
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“Curiosity,” he said. He picked up the paper-knife again and began punching more holes in
the blotter. “I’m a very curious man, Ricca.”
VII
“We’d better dust while we can,” I said.
Della reached for a cigarette. She lit it and put the lighter down with exaggerated care. She
was lying on the divan near the window. The sunblinds were drawn, and there was a subdued,
restful light in the room. Out on the beach I could hear voices and laughter. There was quite a
crowd lounging on the sands, but no one was bathing. It was too soon after lunch.
She had taken off her dresss and was wearing a blue silk wrap. There was a cold, brooding
expression on her face, and she drew on the cigarette hungrily, blowing a long stream of
tobacco smoke to the ceiling.
I stood in the middle of the room, my hands in my trouser pockets, my nerves jumpy, my
eyes on her. Slowly she turned her head until she was looking at me.
“Scared, Johnny?” she asked, and her eyebrows lifted.
“It is not a matter of being scared,” I said. “It’s a matter of knowing when you’re licked.
We’ve played our best card, and he’s trumped it. I don’t know the first thing about checking
his accounts, but that’s neither here nor there. Even if I could read a balance sheet that still
doesn’t give us access to the reserve. I always thought this was a screwy idea. What made
you think he would hand over his keys?”
She stared at her cigarette, flicked ash on the floor, and smiled secretively to herself.
“So you want to run away?”
“There’s no alternative. Can’t you see that? All he has to do is to put a call through to
Hollenheimer and ask him for a description of Ricca: then up goes the balloon.”
“There was always that risk. You don’t think I hadn’t taken that into consideration?”
I stared at her.
“Had you?”
“I thought it was more than likely he’d check with Hollenheimer. Nick’s no fool.”
I moved closer and stood at the foot of the divan.
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“What’s the answer, then? What do you suggest we do when he finds out I’m not Ricca?
He’s probably found out by now.”
“Let’s not worry about that,” she said. “There are more important things to think about.”
“Not for me there aren’t. Suppose Reisner gives Hame the story? Then it’ll all come out,
and we’ll go to jail for what we did to Wertham.”
“Poor Johnny,” she said, and laughed. “How fussed you’re getting. Can’t you see Reisner
will be as anxious as we are that no one should find out Paul’s dead? When a kingdom loses
its king, there’s always a scramble to grab. Zoe, Itta, Hame and Ricca - especially Ricca -
aren’t going to stand aside and let Reisner take over, and he knows it. He’ll be as anxious as
we are that no one should know Paul is dead until he has got control of the casino. He won’t
tell Hame. He won’t tell anyone. Now do you see why we haven’t a lot to worry about?”
I sat on the foot of the divan. This was something I hadn’t figured on.
“That guy’s dangerous,” I said. “Okay, suppose he keeps his mouth shut? What’s he going
to do about us?”
She lifted a long, slender leg and examined it critically.
“He’ll probably put a bullet through our heads,” she said calmly. “It would be the most
sensible thing to do so far as he’s concerned. He’s good at arranging accidents. Does that
scare you, Johnny?”
Did it? Maybe it did, but I wasn’t going to admit it.
“That doesn’t come into it.”
“Are you sure? It would be easy. He could fix Hame. You’d be surprised what Hame does
for money.”
“But not murder. You don’t kid me he’d cover up murder.”
“I didn’t say murder. I said an accident.”
I got up and began to move restlessly about the room.
“What’s on your mind, Della? All day you’ve been hinting at something. Let’s have it.”
“I haven’t been hinting at anything. I’ve been showing you a kingdom you can inherit.
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Hasn’t it sunk into your head yet the casino and the rake-off from Bay Street are yours for the
taking? Yours and mine? Can’t you see that?”
“No, I can’t. What are you getting at?” Looking at the intent, set expression on her face I
suddenly felt my mouth go dry.
“With me behind you, Johnny, you could run this place. Between us we could clean up a
fortune. Do you really think I’m so cockeyed as to imagine Reisner would let us walk off
with the reserve?”
I was getting rattled now, and I came and stood over her.
“But that was the idea, wasn’t it? That’s why you brought me here!”
“That’s what I told you,” she said, and swung her legs off the divan and stood up. “I wanted
you to see the set-up. It was a bait to bring you here. Well, you’ve seen it. Haven’t you the
itch to take it? And you can. You can take over right away - if you have the guts.”
I lit a cigarette; My hands were unsteady: whether from excitement or fear I didn’t know.
“So there’s no half million ?”
“Of course there is. That goes with the casino, but we can’t walk off with it. Take over the
casino and you take over the reserve.”
“And Reisner? What’s he supposed to do? Welcome me with open arms? Dust off his desk
chair for me? A moment ago you said he was going to put a bullet in me.”
“I said if you had the guts, Johnny. Reisner must meet with an accident.”
Well, it was out now. At the back of my mind I had known this was coming. The way she
had talked all the morning pointed to it, but I had refused to believe it. Now the cards were on
the table, face up.
I stubbed out my cigarette, not looking at her.
“Get rid of Reisner,” she went on as calmly as if she were discussing the weather, “and the
casino and Bay Street automatically fall into our laps. By the time Ricca tries to move in it’ll
be too late. Once we get our hands on the reserve and books, he’ll have to make a deal with
us. We’ll keep Lincoln Beach. He can have Los Angeles, and Levinsky can have Paris. Then
we’re set for life.” She moved closer. I could smell the perfume in her hair. Her hands slid up
to my shoulders while she looked into my eyes. “What are you going to do about it, Johnny?”
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I knew right away what I was going to do about it. She had made one mistake, and she
didn’t know it. She was certain she had sunk her hook in too deep to come out, but she
hadn’t. All right, I was sold on the place. The idea of taking control of a set-up like this was
something that got me by the throat, but not at that price.
“You talk about an accident,” I said, “but it won’t be an accident: it’ll be murder.”
She continued to look at me, her face as set and as cold as granite.
“It’s your life or his, Johnny. As soon as he finds out you’re not Ricca he’s coming for you
with a gun. You’ve got to get in first. That’s not murder: it’s self-defence.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t let’s kid ourselve
s. It’s murder.”
She moved away from me and walked over to the window.
“This is what we tell Hame,” she said, her back to me. “Reisner has been dipping into the
reserve. We came down to check the books. He is caught, and he knows it. There’s no out for
him, so what does he do? He walks to the window of his office and keeps walking. They find
him lying on the terrace with a broken neck.”
“Do you think Hame would believe that? Reisner’s not the suicide type.”
“He would believe it. It would cost money, but he’d believe it. Use your head, Johnny. The
casino is yours if you’ve got the nerve to take it. All you have to do is to give Reisner a push.
That’s not asking much, is it?”
“It’s murder,” I said. “And I’m not touching it. I don’t care how much it pays off. It’s
murder.”
She sat on the divan and held out her hand to me.
“Come and sit down,” she said. “Don’t look at me like that. You love me, don’t you?”
I didn’t move.
“We’ll leave love out of it,” I said. “Look, maybe I am only a third-rate fighter, but I hope
I’m not a dope. You worked this out ten seconds after you found Wertham was dead, didn’t
you? You knew unless you could get rid of Reisner you were sunk. Someone had to kill him,
and you picked on me. You thought all you had to do was to show me this place, give me a
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car and throw yourself in as a make-weight, and I’d take murder in my stride. Well, you’re
wrong. I can only hope you don’t realize what it means to commit murder. It’s a thing you
live with for the rest of your life. Maybe you haven’t thought of it like that. I hope you
haven’t. Even if we could fix Hame, we have still ourselves to live with, and every now and
then the thought will drop into our minds we killed Reisner, and that thought will poison any
happiness we can get out of this place. We’ll never know if Hame will continue to keep his
mouth shut. He’ll have us on a spot for the rest of our days. He’ll want more money and more
power as he gets used to the idea. It won’t be long before he’ll want to run the casino himself.
He might even do a deal with you. He might pin the murder on me and take my place. Oh, no,
I’m not getting into a jam like that. I’m not all that crazy. Murder is out! I’m not doing it: not
for you nor the casino nor for all the money in Lincoln Beach!”
She sat still, watching me while I talked, her face expressionless, her eyes hot and intent.
“You don’t really believe that, Johnny,” she said, and got up. “It’s not true.” She came over
to me and put her hands on my arms, looking up at me. “I do love you. I didn’t give myself to
you for any other, reason except I love you. I couldn’t refuse you last night. I knew it was
dangerous. I knew we were taking a risk that could ruin my plans, but I couldn’t refuse you.”
Her arms went round my neck. “Oh, darling, I’m crazy about you. I’ve never felt like this
before about any man. You must believe me! I know you’re right about Nick. But what are
we to do ?” She was clinging to me now, her face pressed against mine. “If we don’t get rid
of him, he’ll get rid of us. Can’t you see that? We’ll have nothing. We’ll be lucky to get out
of here with our lives. It’s he or us, Johnny. You must see that!”
I started to say something, but her mouth covered mine, and I felt her breath against the
back of my throat. We stood like that for a long moment of time; my heart was hammering,
blood pounded in my head.
“Johnny …”
She pressed herself against me. Her eyes were closed. Only she and I mattered at this
moment; the rest of it, Reisner, the casino, the money and murder were a bad dream after you
had wakened up.
My fingers sank into the hard, firm flesh above her hips. She gave a soft little moan and her
mouth opened against mine.
“All right, break it up,” Reisner’s soft voice said from the doorway. “There’s a time and
place for everything.”
I felt her shudder and stiffen, and she tore herself away from me with a strangled scream.
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Her face had gone blue-white like the colour of ice. I turned.
Reisner was standing just inside the room. His mouth was fixed in a stiff little smile, and
the .45 automatic in his hand looked as big as a cannon.
“And don’t make any silly moves,” he went on, not raising his voice. He jerked the gun to
an armchair near me. “Sit down, Farrar. And you, Mrs. Wertham, sit on the divan. If either of
you make a move I’ll drill you and think up a reason for it after,”
Della collapsed on the divan. She looked as if she were going to faint. I sat in the armchair,
a tightness in my throat that made breathing difficult.
“That’s fine,” he went on, came farther into the room and closed the door with his heel.
“Well, you two certainly know how to pass the time.’* He moved to the centre of the room.
The gun pointed to a spot just between us. “Played it pretty rough, didn’t you?” he said.
“Didn’t it occur to either of you I’d come back last night to see what you were up to? Imagine
my surprise when I found one of the cabins empty.” He looked at me, his eyes glittering.
“What have you done with Wertham?”
Neither of us said anything.
“Is he dead?” He hooked a chair towards him and sat down.
“Did you kill him?”
“Are you crazy?” Della said. Her voice sounded as if she were speaking through locked
teeth. “He’s on his way to Paris.”
“On his way to hell, you mean,” Reisner said. “Did you really think you could get away
with this wet idea? The moment I saw you I knew something was phoney. Paul wouldn’t let
you travel with Ricca or anyone else all the way from Los Angeles to Lincoln Beach without
someone to keep an eye on you. You’ve quite a reputation for taking a tumble in the hay
whenever there’s an opportunity, and Paul knows that as well as I do.”
“How dare you talk to me like that!” Della said furiously.
“There were three of you in the car: you, Wertham and Farrar. One of you died,” Reisner
went on, crossing his legs. “This guy isn’t Ricca, so that makes him Farrar. It makes the dead
man Wertham. The set-up’s gone sour. You may as well admit it.”
“Wait, Nick,” Della said, leaning forward, her clenched fists pressed tight between her
knees. “You, I and Johnny can do a deal. No one but we three know Paul’s dead. Cut us in on
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half shares and we’ll work our passage. You can do with help now Paul is dead. You know
I’ve picked up a lot of his ideas. I could be useful to you, Nick.”
Reisner seemed surprised. He glanced at me.
“Where does he come in? Why should I cut him in on anything?”
“Take a look at him,” Della said. “Don’t you think he’d scare Ricca? He’s a gunman as
well as a fighter. You’d need someone like him around once the news leaked out.”
I sat still, listening, as surprised as Reisner seemed to be.
“And suppose I didn’t want to share?” Reisner asked quietly. “What then?”
Della licked her lips. Her face was still white, but she had steadied herself. She was
gambling with her last buck. You could tell that by looking at her. She was playing a
king,
and only an ace could beat it, and she wasn’t sure if Reisner held the ace.
“Then we talk, Nick. We tell Hame, Ricca, Itta and Zoe, and let them move in. I don’t think
you’re big enough to handle them all.”
Reisner smiled.
“So he really is dead. Well, well, that’s the best news I’ve heard in thirty-eight years. Paul
dead, huh? And a damn good riddance. It’s something I’ve been praying for.”
Della’s hand closed on a yellow and red cushion lying at her side. She gripped it, a fixed
smile on her white face.
“When we hit that car, he was thrown out,” she said. “He broke his neck.”
“That’s your story,” Reisner returned, still smiling, “but suppose you two killed him? Has it
crossed your minds I could slap a murder rap on you both and make it stick? Hame would
frame you two for a grand. He’s a little short of money.”
I felt suddenly cold.
“That still wouldn’t stop the news leaking out,” Della said, but her face stiffened.
“That’s right,” Reisner said, “but maybe it can’t be helped. Now look, this is the way I see
it. I happen to overhear you two talking, and I get the idea you killed Paul. I walk in on you
and Farrar pulls a gun. I beat him to the draw. I’m pretty quick with a rod, and Hame knows
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it. You pull a gun, too. So you both get shot. I then put a proposition up to Hame. He gets a
slice from the casino if he takes care of me. He might even be persuaded to toss Itta and Zoe
in the can until I get things organized. There’d be no difficulty in making a charge against
them. Then by the time Ricca’s got over his drinking jag - oh, yes, Hollenheimer told me
about that - it’d be too late for him to start trouble. How do you like it?”
“You wouldn’t want to cut Hame in,” Della said, and shifted forward. “He’d take the lot in
time. He’s like that, and you know it.”
Reisner gnawed at his lower lip, his eyes thoughtful. “Maybe,” he said, “but it’s a way out
of this mess.” “There’s another way,” Della said softly. “What’s that?”
She turned to look at me. The expression in her eyes set my heart pounding.
“We could kill you, Nick. That’d be the best way. We were talking about it when you came
in.”
Reisner continued to smile, but his eyes turned to ice.
“Yeah, I heard you. That’s why I like my idea, and that’s why it’s going to be my idea.”
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