Just Another Sucker

by James Hadley Chase

  These guys are professionals, I thought. Where was I going to hide Odette’s body? With road blocks in operation, with over a thousand men already in action, searching, checking house after house, apartment after apartment, how was I going to get rid of the body?

  While we waited, the telephone bell kept ringing. Every five minutes or so we got a report of progress. These guys were really working. Already a quarter of the map had been checked. I saw the search was drawing closer to my street. Would they think to check the garage? Would they think to check the car?

  There came a sudden knock on the door and in came Herbert Carey and his wife.

  They made an odd looking couple. She towered above him. His bald head glistened with sweat and he was twisting his hat nervously as he followed his wife in. Looking at him, not having seen his face in the darkness of the car park, I looked curiously at him. He was one of those weak nondescript characters who always got imposed upon, and who live in nervous bewilderment, never quite sure if he is doing the right thing at the wrong moment or the wrong thing at the right moment.

  The woman was big and blowsy with small, hard eyes and an aggressive chin. She was the boss.

  Anyone could see that. She sailed in as if she owned the place and selecting Meadows as her target, she went into the attack.

  The accident, she declared, was not her husband’s fault. The fact the man had run away proved it.

  What was the idea of bringing them down here? They had their store to look after. Did Meadows imagine an eighteen-year-old chit of a girl could handle the store while they wasted time with the police, and so on and so on with Meadows trying to stem the flood.

  I sat there, frozen with panic while I stared at Carey.

  Maybe that was the wrong thing to have done. My concentrated stare attracted his attention and he turned suddenly and looked at me.

  I felt my heart contract as I saw him stiffen. He looked away, then looked again at me. Our eyes met.

  I had a horrible feeling that he recognised me. For a long moment we stared at each other, then he turned away, hunching his shoulders, back into his role of bewilderment.

  Meadows was explaining to the woman about the kidnapping and she was quietening down.

  ‘I’m not interested in the accident,’ he told her. ‘I want a description of this man.’ He side-stepped her and went over to Carey. ‘You talked to him?’

  The little man nodded nervously.

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Tell me what he was like.’

  Carey looked at his wife, then back at Meadows. He dropped his hat, picked it up, flushing.

  ‘Well, he was a big fellow, sir. It was dark. I didn’t get a good look at him.’

  ‘Big and broad?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Mrs. Carey said. ‘He was broad all right, but he wasn’t tall. He was like you,’ and she pointed at Meadows.

  He scowled at her.

  ‘I’m talking to your husband,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’

  ‘My husband never notices anything,’ the woman said. ‘It’s no good asking him. His brother’s the same. You can no more rely on anything my husband says than you can rely on anything his brother says. I should know. I’ve been married to him now for twenty-six years.’

  Ignoring her, Meadows said, ‘You had the impression, Mr. Carey, this man was tall. How tall?’

  Carey hesitated, looking apologetically at his wife.

  ‘It’s hard to say, sir. The light wasn’t good. I certainly got the impression that he was tall.’

  Meadows made a movement of exasperation. He pointed to Renick.

  ‘That tall?’

  Carey stared at Renick, dropped his hat again and fumblingly picked it up.

  ‘Something like it. Maybe a little taller.’

  The woman snorted.

  ‘I wish I knew what the matter is with you,’ she said. ‘The man wasn’t any taller than this gentleman here,’ and again she pointed to Meadows.

  ‘I was under the impression, my dear, he — he was a big man,’ Carey said and he wiped his bald head with his handkerchief.

  Meadows swung around to me.

  ‘Stand up, will you?’ he said impatiently.

  I was the tallest man in the room. Slowly, I stood up. My heart was thumping so violently I was scared they would hear it.

  ‘This gentleman is a giant!’ the woman said. ‘I keep telling you the other one was not tall at all.’

  Carey was staring at me.

  ‘It seems to me,’ he said hesitantly, ‘this gentleman is about the same size in build and in height to the man in the car.’

  I sat down. Carey still continued to stare at me.

  ‘Okay, tell me what happened. You collided with this guy’s car?’ Meadows said.

  Carey dragged his eyes from me.

  ‘I was in my car and I backed out, I had forgotten to put on my lights. I backed right into his car. I just didn’t see it.’

  ‘You did nothing of the kind! You had backed out and this fellow came along and ran into you,’ his wife interrupted. ‘It was entirely his fault. Then he got abusive and drove away. When he parked his car, he ran off. If it hadn’t been his fault, why did he run away?’

  ‘I don’t give a damn who’s fault it was,’ Meadows snarled. ‘All I’m interested in is finding this man.

  Now, sir,’ he went on to Carey, ‘did you notice anything else about this fellow? Could you make a guess at his age?’

  ‘From his voice and the way he moved, I’d say he was a man in his early thirties,’ Carey said. He looked hopefully at his wife. ‘Wouldn’t you say that, my dear?’

  ‘How can anyone tell by a voice how old anyone is?’ his wife snapped. ‘My husband reads detective stories,’ she went on to Meadows, ‘read, read, read — always with his head in a book. People shouldn’t read detective stories — they are unhealthy.’

  ‘You couldn’t guess his age?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Perhaps I could, but I’m not going to. I don’t believe in misleading the police,’ and she glared at her husband.

  ‘Did you get an idea what this man was wearing, Mr. Carey?’

  The little man hesitated.

  ‘I wouldn’t like to say definitely, but I had the impression it was a sports suit. It could have been brown. As he got out of the car, I did think the jacket had pouch pockets.’

  ‘How can you stand there and tell this gentleman all this nonsense I don’t know,’ his wife said. ‘It was dark: you couldn’t have seen the colour of his suit; not with your eyesight anyway.’ She turned to Meadows. ‘Talk about a vain man. He should wear his spectacles all the time. I’m continually telling him. He shouldn’t drive without his spectacles.’

  ‘My eyesight isn’t all that bad, Harriet,’ Carey said, showing a little spirit. ‘I only need my glasses for close work.’

  Meadows pointed to a newspaper lying on his desk about six feet away.

  ‘Can you read the headlines from where you are standing, Mr. Carey?’

  Carey read the headlines without hesitation.

  Meadows looked over at Renick and shrugged, then he asked, ‘Was this man wearing a hat?’

  ‘No, sir.’

  Meadows glanced sarcastically at the woman.

  ‘Would you agree to that?’

  ‘He wasn’t wearing a hat, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have one,’ the woman said angrily.

  ‘Was he carrying one?’

  She hesitated, then said crossly, ‘I didn’t notice.’

  While this was going on, Carey was again looking at me, his expression bewildered.

  ‘Mr. Carey,’ Meadows said, ‘was this man dark or fair?’

  ‘I couldn’t say, sir. The light wasn’t good enough.’

  ‘He spoke to you?’

  ‘He yelled at us,’ the wife put in. ‘He knew he was in the wrong. He…’

  ‘Would you recognise his voice again?’ Meadows asked paying no
attention to the interruption.

  Carey shook his head.

  ‘I don’t think I would, sir. He said very little.’

  ‘What time did the accident happen?’

  ‘Ten minutes past ten. I particularly looked at my watch.’

  ‘Then this fellow ran off. Where did he go?’

  ‘I think he got into a car that was waiting outside the park. Anyway, after he had run off, I heard a car start up and drive off.’

  ‘You didn’t see the car?’

  ‘No, but I did see the glare of its headlights.’

  ‘In which direction was the car going ?’

  ‘Towards the airport.’

  Meadows stopped prowling around the office and stared at Carey, then he looked over at Renick who was taking notes.

  ‘The airport?’

  ‘Well, the car could have been going to West Beach which is beyond the airport. I didn’t mean…’

  ‘The airport!’ Meadows exclaimed. ‘That’s an idea.’ He suddenly got excited. ‘Goddam it! That is an idea! Have we checked the airport, John?’

  Renick shook his head.

  ‘No. We reckoned they wouldn’t dare take the girl on a plane. We’ll check if you think…’

  ‘We’ll check everywhere,’ Meadows said. ‘I want a list of all passengers who travelled from the airport from half past ten to midnight. Fix that, John.’

  I was now so tense I could scarcely sit still.

  Turning to Carey, Meadows said, ‘I guess that’s all for now, Mr. Carey. Thanks for your help. If there’s anything further I want to know, I’ll get in touch with you.’

  The wife started for the door.

  ‘Come along, Herbert, we’ve wasted enough time already.’

  Carey moved after her, then he paused to look at me. I didn’t dare meet his eyes. I pulled open a drawer in the desk and took out some paper as if I had forgotten his existence.

  I heard him say to Meadows, ‘Excuse me, sir, but who is that gentleman?’

  Here it comes, I thought, and icy fingers squeezed my heart. I looked up.

  Carey was pointing at me.

  Meadows obviously surprised, said, ‘That’s Harry Barber, my Press officer.’

  The woman caught hold of Carey’s arm and jerked him to the door.

  ‘For heaven’s sake! Come along! If you haven’t anything better to do than to waste these gentlemen’s time, I have!’

  Reluctantly, still staring at me, Carey allowed himself to be led out of the office.

  The door closed behind them.

  CHAPTER NINE

  I

  Meadows said, ‘What a woman!’ He sat down behind his desk. ‘What do you think, John? I’d bet on Carey’s evidence.’

  ‘Oh, sure,’ Renick said. ‘Anyway, we have another witness: Kerby also said the guy was tall and broad. Well, we’re getting somewhere. We now know the man we want is around six foot, weighs one hundred and eighty pounds, was wearing a dark sports suit with pouch pockets, no hat, smokes Luckies, and owns a beat up car. We’re about ready to get a composite photo of this guy.’ He suddenly turned to me. ‘What do you weigh, Harry?’

  ‘Around one hundred and ninety, I guess,’ I said huskily. ‘What’s my weight to do with it?’

  ‘I’ve an idea. Carey said you were the same build and height as this guy. We’ll take a photograph of you, blank out your face and get the papers to print it. We’ll ask if anyone saw a man resembling the photograph near Lone Bay parking lot or the Pirates’ Cabin.’ He looked over at Meadows. ‘What do you think, sir?’

  ‘It’s a great idea!’ Meadows said enthusiastically. ‘We’ll do even better than that.’ He called his secretary. ‘Miss Leham, I want you to go out right now and buy a sports suit for Mr. Barber. It’s got to be in dark brown, and it has to have pouch pockets: something quiet. I want it as fast as you can get it.’

  Miss Leham looked me over, nodded and went out.

  ‘While we’re waiting, John, get me that passenger list. I want the names of everyone who travelled from the airport between ten-thirty and midnight.’ To me, he said, ‘How about writing a nice little article about me — a personal thing, about my hobbies, my home life with my kids, my wife: I don’t have to tell you. You’ll get the dope from the files. See if you can get it into Time and Newsweek.’

  Back in my office with the door shut, I sat down limply behind my desk. I felt in a trap. This photograph idea of Renick’s could be dangerous. Although I was pretty sure no one had seen me at the Pirates’ Cabin, I had had enough experience as a newspaper man to know there was always the chance that someone I hadn’t seen had seen me. This also applied to the Lone Bay parking lot. At the airport, I had stupidly carried Odette’s suitcase into the departure hall. The place had been crowded. Any idle watcher might remember me once the photograph appeared.

  But the main thing that haunted my mind was how I was going to get rid of Odette’s body. I would have to do it tonight. I couldn’t keep her in the trunk longer than tonight. I would have to hire a car. My feeling of panic grew as I remembered how short of money I was. I would have to go to my regular garage and try to talk the owner into lending me a car without paying the usual deposit. I had exactly two dollars in my wallet and I had no idea how much Nina had. I wouldn’t be able to draw any money from my job until the end of the week.

  Then when I had the car, I had to transfer Odette’s body from my car to the other. How was I going to do it without being sure Nina wouldn’t suddenly surprise me? It would have to be done when she had gone to bed. I would have to tell her I would be working late, then when she was asleep I would do the job.

  But while I was doing it, suppose one of the searchers spotted me?

  My mind cringed at the thought of the awful risk I would have to face.

  I had no time to think further about this for the telephone bell started up its continuous clamour. I had to get the articles on Meadows written. Then, as I was finishing the article, Miss Leham came in with the suit, followed by Renick.

  It gave me a hell of a jolt when I saw the suit. It was the replica of the one I owned. I had bought my suit soon after I had left jail to have something new to wear.

  When Miss Leham had gone, Renick said, ‘Change, will you, Harry. The photographer’s waiting. We want to get the photos in the last editions.’

  I put on the suit and followed him down to the police photographer. In half an hour we had a dozen prints for distribution.

  I had a horrible feeling I was committing suicide as I wrote a description of myself and pasted the description to the backs of the photographs. I took the photographs into Meadows’ office and gave them to him.

  My face in the photograph had been blocked out, but in spite of that, I was still able to recognise myself.

  Meadows studied the photographs, nodded, called in Miss Leham and told her to get them to the local papers.

  As she was going out, Renick came in.

  ‘I have the passenger lists for you,’ he said. ‘They don’t help. There were only two planes out between ten-thirty and midnight. One to Japan and the other to San Francisco. The Japan plane I’ve washed out. The ’Frisco plane had fifteen passengers on board. Fourteen of them were business men and their wives. They do a regular trip and the air hostess knows them all personally. The one odd passenger was a girl, travelling alone.’

  ‘That doesn’t help. I’m looking for a girl and a man travelling together. There was just the chance the kidnapper had so terrified the girl she might have travelled with him. Who was the lone girl?’

  ‘She’s listed as Ann Harcourt,’ Renick said. ‘The air hostess particularly noticed her. She was a redhead. She was certainly not Odette Malroux.’

  The hard cold knot that had formed in my stomach eased a little. My legs felt suddenly so weak I had to sit down.

  Meadows flicked the list into the trash basket.

  ‘Well, it was a try. Maybe we’ll have more luck with the photograph.’

  The ti
me was now after seven. I hung around, listening to the telephone reports of the search until eight, then I said to Renick, ‘Okay for me to go home? If anything breaks, you can telephone me.’

  ‘Why, sure, Harry. You get off.’

  I returned to my office and called Nina.

  ‘I could be a little late,’ I said. ‘What are you doing tonight?’

  ‘Why, nothing. I’ll wait for you.’

  ‘Look, why don’t you go to the movies? Why sit at home on your own? There’s a good movie at the Capital. Why don’t you take a look at it?’

  ‘I don’t want to go alone, Harry. I’ll wait for you.’

  If only I could get her out of the bungalow for a few hours!

  ‘It’d please me, Nina, if you’d go. You stay home too much.’

  ‘But darling, I don’t want to go out alone even if we could afford it. When will you be back? Shall I keep supper for you?’

  I gave up. If I went on pressing her to go out, she would become suspicious.

  ‘I guess I’ll be about an hour. Yes, keep something for me. I’ll be seeing you.’

  ‘Oh, Harry, I still haven’t found my car keys.’

  A spurt of irritation ran through me.

  ‘You can’t use the car, so why worry? So long for now,’ and I hung up.

  For a long moment I sat there, staring sightlessly at the desk clock. Usually Nina went to bed around eleven o’clock. I would have to wait until at least one o’clock before I dare move Odette’s body. Now the time to act was drawing closer, the horror of the thing I had to do gave me the shakes. But I had to do it. Where was I going to dump the body? Dare I go out to the old silver mine? I knew it had already been searched. They weren’t likely to search it again. If I could get out there without being spotted, her body might never be found. But could I get out there? Before I had left the Operations Room I had studied the map where Renick was plotting the progress of the searchers. They were moving down the highway, away from the silver mine, towards my place. By one o’clock the highway might be clear except for the odd patrolling car. In my official capacity as Press officer to the D.A., I might be able to bluff my way through if — and it was big if — my nerve held. Right now my nerve wasn’t holding. I was in a terrible state.