‘I had to tell the Narcotic Chief why I wanted these. He’s been wanting to get his hands on Barratt for months. He welcomes the idea.’ Mifflin looked shocked ‘Some cops just haven’t any ethics.’
I took the box and stood up.
‘Nor have I when I deal with a rat like Barratt.’
‘Watch out, Vic. I didn’t like the look that Dedrick woman gave you.’
‘Nor did I. How’s Perelli?’
‘He’s all right, Francon saw him this morning. You don’t have to worry about him; anyway, just yet.’
‘Any chance of seeing him?’
‘Not a chance. Brandon’s put a special guard on him. No one except Francon can go near him.’
‘When you get your hands on Barratt, make him talk, Tim. I have a hunch he can blow the lid right off this case.’
‘I’ll get it out of him if he knows anything,’ Mifflin promised.
I collected the gramophone from the charge-room, went into the street to call a taxi.
The time was ten minutes to eleven.
It had been quite a day.
CHAPTER SIX
I
THE next morning, I was kept busy with the routine work of the office until lunch-time. I missed Kerman, as there were many little jobs that had to be done, and which, now he was in Paris, I had to do myself. But by one o’clock I was through, and could give my attention once more to the Dedrick kidnapping.
‘I’m going along to Barratt’s place this afternoon,’ I told Paula while we were eating a quick snack in the office. ‘I have a little present I want to plant on him.’
I told her what I had cooked up with Mifflin.
‘Once we get Barratt alone, and on a charge, we might be able to soften him. Tim thinks he can, anyway.’
Paula didn’t approve of the idea, but then she never ap-proved of anything that wasn’t strictly dealt off the top of the deck.
‘What do you plan to do—wait until he’s out?’ she asked.
‘That’s the idea. It’ll cost money, but then I’m getting hardened to spending money. I’ll bribe Maxie to give me the passkey.’
‘Be careful, Vic.’
I grinned at her.
‘You’re always telling me to be careful. What’s the matter with you these days? You didn’t talk like that two years ago.’
She gave me a quick, worried smile.
‘I suppose I know you better. I wish you’d stick to our usual business, Vic, and cut out these dangerous jobs.’
‘I’m not doing this for fun. If Perelli hadn’t saved my skin, nothing would persuade me to stick my oar in this. He’s not much of a guy to take risks for but he took a risk for me. Barratt might easily have knifed me. I guess I have to go on until I square the score.’
It was half past one when I parked outside the apartment house in Jefferson Avenue.
Maxie was lolling against the counter of the reception desk as I walked across the lobby. There was no girl at the switchboard. The telephone harness was on the counter where he could reach it
‘Want some money?’ I said briskly. ‘I have some for you if you’re going to be co-operative.*
He eyed me suspiciously.
I never refuse money. What do you want?’
‘Your pass-key.’
If I had let off a shotgun he wouldn’t have been more startled.
‘My-what?’
‘Pass-key, and make it snappy. It’s worth fifty dollars, cash on the nail.’
The small eyes blinked.
‘Fifty bucks?’ he said wistfully.
I spread five tens on the counter. If this spending jag kept up, I’d be ruined in a few more days.
He eyed the notes, licked his lips, scratched the side of his nose.
‘I could get slung out,’ he said, lowering his voice. ‘I can’t do it.’
I laid two more fives on the counter, bent over them and breathed on them gently.
‘That’s the limit,’ I said, and smiled at him. ‘Your pass-key for ten minutes.’
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘Barratt’s room. Is he out?’
The small eyes grew round.
‘Yeah; he went out about an hour ago.’
‘What are you worrying about, then? It’s not as if he’s a friend of yours.’
‘I’d lose my job,’ he said thickly. ‘Sixty bucks wouldn’t keep me off the bread line for more than a week. It ain’t worth it.’
‘Well, all right, if that’s how you feel about it’ I pushed the bills into a neat pile, folded them and put them in my hip pocket. I wouldn’t want you to have a sleepless night.’
‘Now, wait a minute,’ he said, tilting his bowler hat to the back of his head and wiping a shiny forehead with his sleeve. ‘I ain’t fussy how I sleep. Make it another ten, and it’s yours.’
‘Sixty’s my top. Take it or leave it’
He struggled with his conscience, groaned, nodded his head.
‘The key’s hanging by the switchboard. Gimme the dough.’
I slid him the sixty and he hurriedly stuffed the notes into his pocket.
‘Sure Barrett’s out?’ I asked.
‘Yeah; I saw him go. No one’s up there.’ He looked furtively around the lobby. ‘I’m going to draw myself a can of beer. Make it snappy, and for Gawd’s sake don’t let anyone see you go in.’
I gave him a second or so to get out of sight, then leaned over the counter and unhooked the key from behind the switch-board.
The elevator took me up to the fourth floor. I walked along the corridor to apartment 4B15. In the apartment opposite someone was playing the radio. Somewhere down the passage a woman laughed shrilly. I pressed my ear to the door panel of 4B15, but heard nothing. I rapped, listened, waited, but nothing happened. I looked to right and left. No one was watching me. Silently I slipped the pass-key into the lock, turned it gently and pushed open the door.
The man in the fawn suit was sitting in an armchair facing me. He held a .45 in his lap, the barrel pointing at my chest. He gave me a thin, cold smile.
‘Come in,’ he said. ‘I thought it might be you.’
The moment I heard that deep baritone voice I knew who he was, and couldn’t understand why I hadn’t known it before.
‘Hello, Dedrick,’ I said, stepped inside the room and closed the door.
II
‘Don’t make any sudden moves, Malloy,’ the man in the fawn suit said and lifted the gun. ‘No one on this floor would bother about the sound of a gun, and I’m in the mood to make a mess of you. Sit down.’ He waved his other hand to an armchair, facing his on the other side of the fireplace.
He couldn’t have missed me at that range, and I had an idea he wasn’t bluffing so I sat down.
‘You’re quite a puncher,’ he went on, and his hand touched the back of his neck tenderly. I’ll have a stiff neck for weeks, damn you!’ His hard, black eyes roamed over my face. ‘Bit of luck, you walking in like this. We’d made up our mind to get rid of you as soon as we could. You’re getting a nuisance.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said. ‘The trouble is I’m full of theories and have no proof. Does Serena know you’re here?’
He shook his head and grinned
‘No; she hasn’t an idea. Make yourself at home. There’re cigarettes by your elbow. We have a little time to kill before anything can happen. Barratt’ll want to talk to you. Don’t try anything funny unless you’re tired of life, will you?’
I lit a cigarette while he watched me, his finger curled round the trigger of the .45, its barrel continuing to point at my face.
‘Be careful with that gun,’ I said. It looks very dangerous from this end.’
He laughed.
‘You don’t have to worry. It’ll only go off if you don’t behave yourself.’ He stubbed out the cigarette he was smoking, reached for another and lit it I sat still while he did so. The expression in the hard black eyes told me he would shoot if he had to.
‘If I’d known
you were going to be so damned interfering, I wouldn’t have called you in the first place,’ he went on. ‘I thought it was smart at the time. I acted that little scene well on the phone, didn’t I? And the untouched whisky, and the burning cigarette were nice touches, too.’
‘Yeah, very pretty,’ I said. ‘But did you have to shoot Souki?’
‘Oh, yes.’ He frowned, as if he didn’t like being reminded of Souki. ‘He asked for trouble, and he got it’
‘And was it you who framed Perelli?’ I asked.
‘That was Barrett’s effort. It has a way of settling debts. Perelli had it coming to him, anyway. It was a bright idea. At one time the heat was getting top fierce, but now they have Perelli in a cell, everything is fine and dandy.’
‘Don’t be too sure. The police are looking for you for the Gracie Lehmann killing.’
‘You don’t have to worry about me,’ he said lightly. ‘You worry about yourself.’
The door into the apartment opened and Barratt came in. For a second or so he stood rooted, staring at me, then he moved into the room, closing the door, his thin, handsome face lighting up.
‘How did he get in here?’ he asked.
‘He had a key,’ the man in the fawn suit said, and got to his feet. ‘Better check to see if he’s wearing a rod.’
‘Get up!’ Barratt said to me.
I stood up.
He came to me from behind and ran his hands over me. He found the .38, jerked it out of the
shoulder holster. Then he found the box of reefers.
He stood away while he opened the box, then gave me a sneering little smile.
‘Very smart. Where were you going to plant them?’
‘Oh, somewhere,’ I said. ‘You can’t expect to hold the monopoly of planting evidence.’
He tossed the box on the table, came over to prod me with my gun. ‘How did you get in?’
‘Took the pass-key. It hangs by the switchboard downstairs. Didn’t you know?’
He went through my pockets again, found the pass-key and tossed that on to the table.
He looked at Dedrick.
‘He’s lying, of course. Maxie must have given it to him. Well, all right; it’s about time I fixed
Maxie.’ He took out a silver cigarette case, selected a cigarette, stuck it on his lower lip. As he lit it, his eyes browsed over my face. ‘I owe you something, Malloy. You’ll find I’m good at paying off old scores.’
‘Can’t imagine you’d be good at anything, but I’ll take your word for it,’ I said.
‘What are we going to do with him?’ Dedrick asked.
Barratt moved to the mirror over the fireplace and admired himself.
The mine, of course,’ he said. There’s no better place for him. He’ll take a nice long time to die.’
Dedrick grimaced.
‘Why not put a slug through his head and leave him here? I don’t want to go down there again. It gives me the horrors.’
‘You’ll do what I tell you,’ Barratt said and ran his thumbnail along his thin moustache. Tie his hands.’
Dedrick went out of the room. He returned in a few seconds with a roll of two-inch-wide adhesive tape.
‘One wrong move, and you’ll get it,’ Barratt warned me, raising the gun. Put your hands behind you.’
I put my hands behind me. There was nothing else I could do at the moment. Dedrick wound a length of tape around my wrists. He made a good job of it.
‘Round his mouth too,’ Barratt said.
Dedrick taped my mouth, crushing my upper lip against my teeth.
Barratt came over and stood before me, smiling viciously.
‘I’m going to make you sorry you interfered with me,’ he said, and hit me across the face with the gun-barrel. I staggered back. The back of my knees collided with the arm of the chair and I went over with a crash that shook the room.
‘Take it easy!’ Dedrick said, alarmed. ‘We don’t want anyone coming up here.’
Barratt snarled at him, came over to me and kicked me in the ribs. He kicked very hard, and I felt my ribs bend under the impact.
‘How about Maxie?’ Dedrick asked. ‘We’re wasting time, Jeff.’
‘Get him up here,’ Barratt said, and kicked me again.
Dedrick picked up the telephone receiver.
‘Mr. Barratt is asking for you,’ he said into the mouthpiece. ‘Please come up.’
Barratt grabbed me by my coat front, hauled me to my feet and slammed me into the armchair.
‘We’ll fix Maxie, and then we’ll blow,’ he said. It’s time I changed my address. Leave him to me.’
He stood against the wall by the door.
Dedrick faced the door.
There was perhaps a five-minute wait, then a rap came on the door.
‘Come in,’ Barratt said.
The door pushed open. Maxie came in. His round, fat face was sullen, and his lower lip was pushed out aggressively.
Dedrick kept the .45 down by his side, out of sight.
‘Come in and shut the door,’ he said.
Maxie gaped at me, changed colour, came into the room and shut the door.
‘What goes on here?’ he demanded.
Dedrick raised the gun and pointed it at Maxie’s paunch.
‘Did you give him the pass-key?’
Maxie glared at me.
‘If he said that, he’s lying. What are you pointing that gun at me for? Don’t you know it’s dangerous?’
‘It’ll probably be fatal,’ Dedrick said, and smiled.
Barratt moved silently up to Maxie and tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Hello, little brother,’ he said.
Maxie nearly jumped out of his skin.
‘Hey! What’s the idea? Who’s this guy with the gun?’ He tried to make his voice sound tough, but his eyes showed alarm. ‘Guns ain’t allowed in this building. I’ll have to report it.’
‘I’m afraid you won’t have the time,’ Barratt said. ‘I’m a little sick of you, Maxie. Now Gracie’s gone, I think we might get rid of you too.’
Maxie’s mouth fell open. He looked with horror first at Dedrick and then at Barratt. Hurriedly he put up his hands.
‘I won’t make any trouble, Mr. Barratt,’ he said. ‘You can rely on me…’
He caught his breath in a strangled gasp when he saw the knife in Barratt’s hand.
‘Sorry, Maxie.’ Barratt poked the knife into Maxie’s side,. ‘You’ve seen too much, and you’re too great a nuisance. Go into the bathroom.’
Maxie fell on his knees, his face turning green.
‘Don’t touch me, Mr. Barratt,’ he said between locked teeth.
‘I promise you…’
Barratt clubbed him over the head with the gun-butt, driving him to the floor.
Maxie fell forward on his hands, shaking his head, groaning.
‘Give me a hand with him,’ Barratt snarled.
Dedrick and he grabbed Maxie and hauled him across the room to a door that led into the bathroom.
As Dedrick released Maxie to open the door, Maxie suddenly stumbled to his feet, hit out at Barratt and made a staggering rush to the door of the apartment.
Barratt swung his gun and clubbed Maxie to his knee again. They dragged him into the bathroom. There was a struggle, and Maxie began to yell. The dull, heavy sound of a blow stopped the yelling. There came a rasping, choking gasp and Dedrick backed out of the bathroom, his face white and set.
The gasping noise continued, making me feel sick. After a while the sound petered out
Barratt appeared in the doorway. He looked at me and showed his teeth.
‘It’ll be your turn in a little while, my friend,’ he said. ‘But you won’t get it the easy way.’ He turned to Dedrick, who was watching him. ‘All right, take him away. Careful how you go. If you run into trouble, shoot him.’
‘You don’t expect me to take him alone, do you?’
‘Why not? I’ve got to get rid of Maxie. We’ll have to mov
e.
‘What are you worrying about? Shoot him if he tries anything funny.’
‘And get a load of law on my neck.’
‘Shoot them too,’ Barratt said and laughed.
Dedrick hesitated, then shrugged.
‘Better lend me a coat to hide his hands. I’ll bring it back when I’ve planted him.’
Barratt went into the bedroom, came out a moment later, carrying a light overcoat.
Dedrick hauled me to my feet.
‘I’ll be using your car,’ he said. ‘One false move, and I’ll blast you.’
Barratt draped the coat over my shoulders, and wrapped a silk scarf around my mouth to hide the tape.
‘We shan’t meet again, Malloy,’ he said to me. ‘Maybe I’ll see you, but you won’t see me.’ He shoved me towards Dedrick. ‘Get going.’
Dedrick took my arm and led me into the passage.
There was no one to see us get into the elevator. When the elevator came to rest at the ground floor, Dedrick dug the gun into my side.
‘Don’t forget, one false move and you get it,’ he said I could see sweat running down his face.
We walked into the lobby. He shoved me across the stretch of carpet to the front entrance, down the steps to the Buick.
Two girls were walking up the drive. They glanced at us without interest, passed us and entered the lobby.
Dedrick opened the rear door.
‘Get in!’
As I bent forward to get in the car, Dedrick smashed his gun butt down on my head.
III
My mind came fumbling out of a dark pit. Consciousness returned like a hangover on a foggy morning. First, I became aware of a throbbing pain in my head, then, as I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on my back, the beam of a flashlight playing on my face. I grunted, turned my head and tried to sit up. A hand on my chest shoved me back.
‘Stay parked,’ Dedrick growled. ‘I’m just bedding you down.’ His fingers picked the end of the tape loose that bound my mouth. When he had enough purchase, he gave it a quick hard pull, skinning it off my mouth. That hurt, and I grunted again.
The light was bothering me, but the dank, cold air and the darkness beyond the beam of the flashlight bothered me more.
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