Tiger by the Tail

by James Hadley Chase

  “All right,” Ken said reluctantly. “I’ll get to her if I can.”

  “Maybe she can think of some way to get me out of this jam. She’s full of ideas. Don’t let anyone see you. There’s a night clerk in the lobby. You’ll have to get past him without him seeing you.” He pointed to his coat, lying on a chair. “Get me my billfold.”

  Ken took the leather billfold from the inside pocket of the coat and handed it to him.

  Johnny found an old envelope addressed to himself in the billfold.

  “Got a pencil?” he asked.

  Ken gave him his pen.

  Johnny scribbled on the back of the envelope.

  “Give her that. She’ll know you’ve come from me.”

  Ken took the envelope and put it in his pocket.

  “Good luck,” Johnny said. “I’ll keep the gun. I may need it more than you.”

  “So long,” Ken said, anxious to get away. He was uneasy about leaving Johnny. If the police found him before Adams got to him, and if Johnny were killed in a gun battle, he would be stuck with Fay’s murder. But he had to go. He had to get in touch with Adams.

  “Come on, handsome, if you’re going,” Rose said impatiently. “They may get around to watching the roof before long.”

  Ken followed her into the passage. At the far end was a skylight.

  “Go ahead,” she said. “It’s not too bad. Make for the Paramount movie house. You can’t miss it. That’s the way my brother used to go when he was in trouble. There’s an escape on the movie house that’ll bring you down to their parking lot. Get over the wall and you’ll find an alley that’ll take you to Lennox Street. The rest is up to you.”

  “Thanks,” Ken said awkwardly, “I owe you something. If I get out of this mess I won’t forget you.”

  “I bet you do, handsome. Go on, beat it! I’ll look after your pal.”

  “But I won’t forget you,” Ken said obstinately.

  “Okay, then you won’t forget me,” she said carelessly. “Go on, beat it.”

  “I’m very grateful for your help,” he said, and held out his hand.

  She giggled, looking at him.

  “You’re a nut, handsome,” she said, moved close, slid her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his. Then she pushed him away. “Get going, Romeo. You’re wasting time.”

  He reached up, slid the skylight back, caught hold of the wooden surround and hauled himself up.

  He hung for a moment, looking over the dark roof; then, seeing no movement, he pulled himself up until he was on the roof. He looked down at the dim white shape of Rose’s face, waved to her, replaced the skylight, and, crouching down, began to move silently across the roof to the shelter of a chimney stack.

  When he reached the stack, he paused to study the geography of the roofs. Away in the distance he could see the blaze of neon lights on the walls of the movie house. They looked some way from him. The sounds below of men’s voices and the tramping of feet unnerved him. It was some moments before he could steady himself to concentrate on his way of escape.

  Roof after roof stretched away into the darkness; some of them flat, some sloping, some ridged. Having decided the way to go, he cautiously set off, climbing a six-foot wall to haul himself up on the next roof. This sloped gently into a gutter, then rose steeply to the next roof.

  Half-way up the steep roof, his foot slipped, and he slithered back into the gutter, making a noise that brought him out in a cold sweat. He tried again, and this time managed to hook hi9 fingers over the ridge of the roof. He hung for a moment, then hauled himself up, trying to keep as flat as possible against the skyline.

  He climbed down on to another roof, crossed it, and as he was peering down at the roof below, he heard an excited shout away to his right.

  He looked quickly over his shoulder, his heart pounding.

  Across the alley, standing on a balcony, he could just make out a man and a woman looking in his direction. The man waved at him, then he bawled at the top of his voice: “Hey! “A guy’s up on the roof. Over there!”

  Ken swung his legs over the edge of the roof and dropped, landing with a thud. He staggered, regained his balance, as police whistles shrilled in the darkness below.

  He bolted across the roof, then came to an abrupt stop when he found himself face to face with a twelve-foot brick wall.

  Below, he could hear running feet, and then someone began to hammer on a door that seemed immediately below him.

  He moved hurriedly along the wall until he came upon an iron ladder.

  “Hey! You!” a voice shouted.

  Ken didn’t pause. He went up the ladder, scraping his hands and knees, and as he reached the top of the wall, a gun banged and splinters of brickwork sprayed dangerously near his face.

  He let himself drop into the darkness and landed on another roof.

  “There’s only one of them,” a man shouted. “He’s heading to your right.”

  Ken looked back over his shoulder, his heart hammering. A cop had joined the man and woman on the balcony. Ken ducked down just in time. The cop fired at him, and the slug whizzed within a foot of Ken’s head.

  Keeping in the shadows, he ran desperately for the shelter of a long line of chimneys. He reached them as the cop fired again, but his aim was wild, and Ken didn’t even hear the slug. He dodged around the stack, paused for a second to take a quick look to right and left.

  The movie house was still far off. He couldn’t hope to reach it now. He

  had to get down somehow and take his chance in the mass of alleys below.

  He heard noises behind him, and he peered between the chimneys.

  Outlined against the skyline, he could see four figures moving cautiously towards him. They were still four roofs away from him, but they were coming fast.

  Crouching, he bolted across the roof, came upon another ladder that led down to a lower roof. He went down it.

  “Can you see him, Jack?” a voice bawled.

  “Naw,” the cop on the balcony shouted. “More to your right. He’s behind that big stack.”

  Ken spotted a skylight not far from him, and he ran over to k and lifted it. He bent to peer into darkness, trying to see what lay below, then, as the sounds of pursuit grew louder, he swung his legs over the wooden surround, hung with one hand while he lowered the skylight down on top of him. He released his hold and dropped quietly on to floor boards.

  As he regained his balance, he heard gunfire, followed by three cracks from a heavier gun. He heard a yell, and then more gunfire. It sounded to him as if the police were shooting at each other.

  He leaned against the wall, panting and scared, while he listened.

  “There are two of them by the big stack,” a voice yelled. “I can see them.”

  Again the heavier gun barked.

  Bewildered, Ken struck a match and looked quickly around him. He found himself in a dusty attic, full of old junk. He went quickly to the door, opened it, and stepped cautiously out into a dark passage.

  III

  Tux and Solly made their way over the roofs towards Rose’s skylight.

  They had had several narrow escapes in getting up on to the roofs, but once there, they felt free to move quickly.

  Suddenly Solly grabbed Tux’s arm and pulled him down.

  “Look! Over there,” he muttered, and pointed.

  Tux stared into the darkness. For some seconds he couldn’t see anything, then he thought he saw something moving ahead of him.

  “Someone up here,” Solly whispered.

  Tux’s hand slid behind him and he jerked out his .45. They lay still and watched.

  The figure ahead of them began to climb up the steep slope of a roof, three roofs away from them. He got halfway up and then slithered back.

  “Think it’s Johnny?” Solly whispered.

  “Johnny was hit. Must be the other guy,” Tux said. “To hell with him. I want Johnny.”

  They watched the figure climb the roof and slide ove
r. Then they heard a man shout.

  Tux cursed under his breath.

  “The cops will be here in a moment. Come on! I’ve got to get Johnny.”

  Bending low, he moved hurriedly across the roof, dropped down on another roof, followed by Solly.

  A shot rang out.

  Four roofs away, Tux could see Rose’s skylight.

  “Cops!” Solly muttered, and slid like a shadow towards a line of chimneys.

  Tux hesitated, then followed him.

  As they crouched in the shadows, Tux caught sight of four cops climbing through a nearby skylight. They spread out and began to move cautiously forward.

  “They’ll walk right into us!” Tux snarled.

  Solly pulled a .38 from inside his coat.

  “Yeah,” Tux said. “Get them before they get us. I’ll take the outside guy. You take the one on the left.”

  They both fired.

  Two cops dropped. The remaining two threw themselves flat, and opened up with their guns.

  The cop on the balcony across the alley yelled excitedly, “There are two of them by the big stack. I can see them.”

  Tux swung around, lifted his gun and fired.

  The cop on the balcony staggered, his legs banged against the rail of the balcony, and he pitched forward into the alley below.

  Tux felt a violent blow on his arm, then a searing pain. The bang of a gun followed immediately.

  Cursing, he dropped the gun and clutched at his wrist. Solly fired calmly, and one of the cops who was lying flat heaved up and rolled over.

  “Get the other lug,” Tux snarled, groping for his gun with his left hand.

  Both Solly and the cop fired simultaneously. The cop jumped up, ran a few yards, then dropped.

  Tux felt Solly recoil as the cop’s slug slammed into his thick body. Solly gave a little coughing grunt and dropped his gun.

  Tux didn’t wait to see if he were badly hurt. He had to get Johnny. He was losing blood, and every second wasted made his task more difficult. He moved forward, his damaged arm hanging uselessly at his side, slithered down one roof, lost his balance and fell heavily on the roof below. For a moment he blacked out, then shaking off his faintness he got up and staggered across the roof and paused to look down at Rose’s skylight.

  He didn’t see a cop come quietly around the stack. Moving silently, the cop crept up to him.

  “Stick your hands up!” the cop barked suddenly.

  Tux swung around, firing from the hip.

  The cop staggered, dropped on one knee and shot at Tux.

  Tux took the slug in the belly. He tottered, fired again, saw the cop drop on his face, then Tux bent double, took a back, overbalanced, and went crashing through the skylight to the passage below.

  IV

  Johnny and Rose had been listening to the shooting.

  Rose leaned against the wall, her face white and her eyes large. Johnny sat on the edge of the bed, holding his gun in his lap, his face twitching.

  “He shouldn’t have tried to get away,” Rose said fearfully. “It was my fault. He’ll be killed.”

  “Shut up!” Johnny snarled. “Let me listen.”

  More gunfire rolled above them.

  “I didn’t know he had a gun,” Johnny muttered. “He’s shooting it out with them!”

  “But aren’t there two guns firing at them? Listen!”

  “Yes, you’re right.”

  Two guns! Johnny immediately thought of Tux and Solly. Were they up on the roof? Had they somehow found out where he was and in coming after him had run into the cops?

  He pushed himself off the bed and slowly stood up. It was as much as he could do to stand upright, and he had to hang on to the bedpost to steady himself.

  “I’ve got to get out of here,” he said thickly.

  “You can’t go now — listen!” Rose said.

  From the noise going on outside in the alley, it sounded as if the police were right under the window.

  A voice shouted, “Get some more men up there! What the hell are you playing at?”

  More gunfire crashed above their heads, and Rose flinched, crouching down.

  Johnny moved slowly over to the door.

  “Don’t be a fool!” Rose cried. “Stay where you are!”

  Suddenly there was a tremendous crash of breaking glass and a thud of a heavy weight just outside the door.

  Johnny recoiled, staggered, and sprawled on the floor.

  “What’s that?” Rose whispered, her hand over her mouth.

  “Someone’s got in!” Johnny gasped. “Put out the lamp!”

  Rose ran over to the lamp, turned down the wick and blew out the flame. She stood in the darkness, her heart hammering, while she listened to a slow dragging sound outside as if someone were crawling along the passage.

  “Lock the door!” Johnny panted.

  She blundered to the door. As she groped for the key, she felt the door open, and she caught her breath in a sharp scream.

  She threw her weight against the door in an endeavour to shut it, jut it jammed.

  Leaning against the door, she groped down into the darkness. Cold fingers suddenly closed over her wrist; fingers that gripped into her flesh like a vice.

  She screamed wildly, tried to wrench free, but the grip didn’t slacken.

  Hearing her scream, Johnny crawled up on hands and knees. He remained crouched in the darkness, cold sweat on his face.

  Rose felt the door moving against her, and opening. She struck downwards with her free hand, and her fist encountered a face.

  She heard a man curse, then she was jerked savagely forward and she fell across a body that lay on the floor.

  Terrified and desperate, Rose struck out while she screamed wildly.

  Tux let go of her wrist and hooked her close to him. He had only one hand, but that was enough. He scarcely felt her fists beating against his face; his hand reached for her throat. He held her while she scratched at his face. Her finger-nails cut one of his eyes and he cursed. Then he tightened his grip on her savagely. Her hands scratched and tore at his fingers; then he felt the girl go suddenly limp against him. He threw her off, reached inside his coat for his gun and lay panting while he tried to locate where Johnny was.

  Johnny had remained still, listening in terror to the sounds coming out of the darkness.

  Now he could hear Tux’s heavy breathing. He knew Tux was no more than a few feet from him, but he was too frightened to fire, knowing if he missed the gunflash would give away his position.

  Tux felt as if red-hot wires were being drawn across his belly. He didn’t think he could hang on much longer.

  “Are you there, Johnny?” he whispered, the .45 thrust forward while he strained his ears for the slightest sound.

  Johnny held his breath. Cold sweat ran into his eyes; hit heart hammered so violently he thought he was going to faint.

  Then he heard a heavy thud in the passage, followed by two more thuds, and he knew the police had broken in.

  He knew what the police would do. They would take no chances. They would kick the door open and spray the room with riot guns. Nothing living in the room would survive.

  He lost his nerve.

  “Keep out!” he screamed wildly. “Don’t shoot!”

  Tux’s .45 went off with a deafening roar. The slug caught Johnny in the centre of his forehead, scattering his brains.

  Tux flopped back, tried to lift his gun again as the door kicked open.

  He couldn’t find the strength to raise the gun, and a blast of machine-gun fire ripped open his chest.

  CHAPTER X

  I

  Ken stood in the dark passage and listened. All he could hear was the gun battle overhead raging more violently. The house was silent, and no lights showed.

  He made for the stairs, and, moving as quietly as he could, he went down into the darkness, holding on to the banister rail. He reached the bottom of the stairs, and, before moving on, he struck a match to see where he was
going. Ahead of him was the street door. He eased the bolt, blew out the match and very cautiously opened the door.

  He looked out on to an alley that led to a side street. He listened, hearing shouting away to his right, and then more gunfire.

  He had no idea what was happening up on the roofs, but he realized the attention of the police was focused up there and not where he was, and this was too good a chance to miss.

  He moved into the alley, ran to the end of it and paused to peer into the side street.

  The street appeared deserted, and keeping in the shadows he began to walk quickly to the main street he could see ahead of him. He hadn’t walked more than thirty paces or so when a police car came around the corner and headed towards him.

  He had no time to duck for cover. The car was coming fast, and with his heart hammering, Ken kept moving. The car swept past him. He caught a glimpse of four cops in the car; none of them looked in his direction, and when the car pulled up at the end of the street, the cops jumped out and ran into one of the side alleys.

  Ken kept on until he reached the main street. He paused to peer cautiously around the corner before showing himself. Some way up thestreet a line of cops formed a barrier, holding back a dense crowd that were staring expectantly towards the waterfront.

  Ken stepped quickly back.

  A narrow alley between two houses offered a way of escape, and he went down the alley which ran parallel to the main street. By climbing over several walls and crossing several backyards, he came eventually out into the main street again, but this time well behind the crowd and the police cordon.

  His one thought now was to find a telephone booth and get into touch with Adams. Further up the street he spotted a lighted drug store, and he made his way towards it.

  The drug store was deserted. The white-coated clerk stood on the kerb, staring down the street at the police cordon. He was too absorbed in what was going on to notice Ken, and Ken entered the store and shut himself in the telephone booth by the door.

  He called police headquarters.