10
There was tension in the room like an electric charge.
The first voice to come out of the loudspeaker was Tallant’s:
“He’s gone!”
MRS. CANNON: “Dan! I’m scared! What are we going to do?”
TALLANT: “Julia, for Christ’s sake, relax! There’s nothing to get excited about. He’s just bluffing—”
MRS. CANNON: “I told you! I told you to go back and see if he was still unconscious under that other car. Why didn’t you listen—?”
TALLANT: “Will you shut up for a minute? I tell you, he was out the whole time. He’s guessing, and making it up. He got the idea from Purvis. Purvis must have described you, and he realized it was you he saw out there on the road in the swamp—”
MRS. CANNON: “And why in the name of God didn’t you make sure there was nobody else in the apartment before—?”
TALLANT: “Listen! He has to be lying about that too. I tell you I looked. There wasn’t anybody in that kitchen.”
MRS. CANNON: “What about those two bottles of beer?”
TALLANT: “I didn’t see any bottles of beer.”
MRS. CANNON: “Can’t you see, you fool, he has to be telling the truth? The police would know. And there hasn’t been anything about them in the paper. And where did he get that thing about the radio inspector, if he wasn’t there?”
TALLANT: “All right! All right! Maybe he was there. But it’s just his word against mine—”
MRS. CANNON: “Word! For the love of heaven, can’t you see that if the police even suspect for a minute you were there they’ll see the whole thing?”
TALLANT: “Look, he won’t go to the police. How can he?”
MRS. CANNON: “Of course he’s not going to the police, because we’re going to pay him off. There’s no other way. If there’s even a hint that it wasn’t an accident, we haven’t a chance in the world.”
TALLANT: “Are you crazy? Pay him off? Don’t you know any better than to give in to a blackmailer? Once you give him a nickel, he’ll bleed you for the rest of your life.”
MRS. CANNON: “Maybe you have a better suggestion.”
TALLANT: “You’re damn right I do.”
MRS. CANNON: “No! We can’t!”
TALLANT: “The hell we can’t. He’s asking for it, the same as Purvis.”
MRS. CANNON: “But suppose he’s telling the truth about the other copy of that letter?”
TALLANT: “He’s not. It’s an old dodge.””
MRS. CANNON: “But Dan! We don’t know. We can’t take the chance.”
TALLANT: “There’s no other way, I tell you! The thing to do is bluff him and stall for time until we’re sure. Then get rid of him. We’re in this too deep to be squeamish or turn chicken now. Jesus Christ, I wish we’d never been out there that day! If only— Oh, hell, there’s no use crying about it now. We’ve got to go ahead.”
MRS. CANNON: “Purvis. And now this one. Will we ever be able to stop?”
TALLANT: “We’ll never be safe as long as he’s alive. You know that.”
MRS. CANNON: “Yes. You’re right. But we’ve got to be sure, first. I mean, that he’s the only one. And we’ve got to be careful. We can’t let anything go wrong this time.”
TALLANT: “Don’t worry. If he’s stupid enough to think we’d fall for an old gag like that, he’s too stupid to worry us. Let him think we believe it.”
MRS. CANNON: “But suppose he is telling the truth?”
TALLANT: “He’s not! Good God, can’t you see that? Do you think a pig like Harlan would divide anything with anybody? He’s in it alone. He wouldn’t trust anybody else.”
MRS. CANNON: “It’s so dangerous. If we guess wrong—”
TALLANT: “Stop it! Stop it! Leave it to me. I can outguess a thug like that— Shhhhhh!”
There was the sound of the front door opening and closing, and then Tallant’s voice saying, “We told you once, Harlan—”
That was all of it.
Brother, I thought, it’s enough. Once that was out of their reach I could write my own ticket.
Tallant had started to get up. He stared at her, his eyes hard. “How did he get that in here? Don’t you even know what goes on in your own house?”
“Sit down,” I said. “I planted it last night after she’d gone to bed. Now. Both of you stay right where you are. This is not going to cost you anything but money, and you’ve got plenty of that, so play it safe, and don’t take any chances.”
“I’ll get you, Harlan,” he said.
I nodded toward the machine. “I heard you the first time.”
He remained crouched, estimating his chances.
“Sit down,” I said again. He slowly settled back on the hearth.
The room fell silent again. I flipped the machine onto rewind and put all the tape back on one spool. Lifting it off, I backed across to the opposite end of the room, near the doorway to the entrance hall. There was a big chair here, with a table beside it. I slid the table around a little so I could sit on the arm of the chair, facing them, with its surface in front of me. They were twenty-five feet away, at least. I put the gun down on the table, still watching them, and pulled the empty cardboard box from my pocket. Slipping the roll of tape inside it, I took out the wrapping paper and what was left of the ball of twine and made a shipping parcel of it. They continued to watch me like two big cats. I stuck on an address label, but left it blank. Finally I put on some stamps and shoved it into the breast pocket of my jacket alongside the other package containing the bass bugs. They were identical except for weight I stood up with the gun in my hand again. “Toss me your car keys,” I said to Tallant.
He shook his head. “You’ll have to. Take ‘em away from me.”
I wondered if he thought I was that stupid. “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’ll just rip the ignition wiring out of your car.”
He slowly drew the keys from his pocket and threw them across the room near my feet. I picked them up.
I switched my gaze to her. “Where are yours?”
She made no answer.
“Come on,” I said. “A little co-operation.”
“They’re in the dining-room. On the sideboard.”
“Get ‘em,” I ordered.
“Get them yourself, if you want them. They’re behind you.”
I motioned with the gun like somebody in a western movie. “The keys, honey. You’re driving me to town.”
Her face was white as chalk, but she defied me. “Do you think I’d go out of the house dressed this way?”
Women, I thought. “Never mind the way you’re dressed. You won’t have to get out of the car. Is there a door from the kitchen into the garage?”
She nodded.
“All right. Lead the way.”
She hesitated. I stared at her without saying anything. In a moment the defiance wilted and she came toward me. I stepped aside to let her go through the doorway. They ganged me then, but I had been expecting it and was ready.
As she passed me she swayed slightly and then fell, as if she had fainted. She came over against me and tried to get her arms around my neck. I peeled her off with one arm and dropped her across the chair, turning at the same time to meet him. He had come too far and was moving too fast to stop or change direction by the time he saw I’d got rid of her. I sidestepped and gave him the stiff-arm with the flat side of the gun just above his ear. He plowed on into the table and chair and came to rest with the wreckage of the table settling down on top of him.
She opened her eyes and began pushing herself out of the chair. “You ape—”
“Sure, sure,” I said.
“You’ve killed him!”
“He’s all right,” I said. “Just take your feet out of his face and he’ll get up.”
He climbed unsteadily to his knees with a trickle of blood running down the side of his neck, too groggy to stand yet. All the fight was gone out of both of them for the moment. I jerked my head for her to go ahead into the dining-room. She went through the doorway. “We’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said to Tallant. “Make yourself at home. Go ahead and call the police if you want me to be picked up with this roll of tape on me.”
He put a hand up to the side of his head and stared at the blood on his fingers as he brought it away. “Someday,” he said softly.
I said nothing. I went on into the dining-room and motioned for her to pick up the keys. She led the way. The kitchen door opened into a two-car garage. The stall next to the kitchen was vacant; a new Buick sedan stood in the other. I stepped out and stood where I could watch her and the doorway at the same time.
“Open the garage door and get in the car,” I told her.
She pressed a button on the wall and there was a whirring sound of an electric motor. The door behind the Buick came up. She got in behind the wheel. I crossed over and climbed into the rear seat.
“Postoffice,” I said.
There was no sign of Tallant. We backed out into the street. I put the gun on safety and shoved it into the right-hand pocket of my jacket, breathing softly in relief now that the pressure was off. We rolled down the hill, saying nothing. I looked at her face in the mirror. It was white and still, the brown eyes enormous but devoid of any expression at all, as if she were beyond caring.
We were several blocks from the house now. “Pull to the curb for a minute,” I said.
We stopped. I took out the box containing the bass bugs. It was much lighter than the other, so there was no chance of mixing them up. When I’d packed it I had put wadded paper inside so they wouldn’t rattle around. Taking out my pen, I printed George Gray’s address on the sticker. She could see what I was doing by glancing into the mirror, but she couldn’t see the address. I placed it upside down in my lap and recapped the pen.
“All right,” I said.
We went on. I leaned back in the seat and lit a cigarette. Traffic was fairly heavy this time of the morning. “There’s a drive-in box in front,” I said. “Just pull up at that and we won’t have to go inside.”
We came into the square and across the west side, past the Cannon Motors showroom. I could see the new models shining beyond the glass. “Nice,” I said.
She made no reply.
We turned right at the next corner. When we got to the postoffice there was another car in front of the drive-in box and we had to wait a minute. I held the parcel so she couldn’t see the address. The other car pulled away and she moved up. She turned her head a little and watched without expression as I reached out and dropped it into the slot sticking out over the curb.
“There it goes, honey,” I said. “You’ve had it.”
She said nothing. We pulled away from the curb and went on. When we came up the hill and made the turn into the street before the house, I told her, “Pull back into the garage.” Tallant’s car was still standing at the curb. Apparently he hadn’t felt up to bridging the ignition switch and taking it on the lam. Or maybe he’d wanted to hear just what had become of the tape. It would be understandable, I thought.
She closed the garage door and we went in through the kitchen. Tallant was on the sofa in the living-room holding a towel to the cut place over his ear. His face was savage as he looked up at us. I left the gun in my pocket and leaned against the doorway.
“Tell him, honey,” I said.
“He mailed it,” she said woodenly. She walked across to one of the big chairs by the coffee table, sat down, and reached wearily for a cigarette.
“You see?” I asked.
He stared and said nothing.
I lit a cigarette and waved the match at them. “Anybody want me to draw him a picture? If not, let’s get on with the business.”
He started to open his mouth, but was interrupted by the sound of the door chime. I motioned for them to remain where they were, and went to the front door. No one was there. When I came back she nodded coldly in the direction of the dining-room. I went through and opened the rear door, which opened on the patio. It was the colored girl. She was chewing gum.
I dug a dollar out of my pocket. “How’s to duck over to the store and buy a dozen eggs? Mrs. Cannon needs them for breakfast.”
She dropped the gum into neutral and considered this. “Long way to the sto’.”
“Well, be sure they’re fresh, then,” I said, and closed the door. I started back into the living-room, but heard it open again behind me. She stuck her head inside.
“Miz Cannon all right?” she asked. “She don’t nevah eat eggs.”
“She does now,” I said. “She’s on a diet.”
Her eyes grew big. “You a doctah?”
“Yes,” I said.
“She ain’t got nothin’ bad, is she?”
“No. Just a touch of caisson disease,” I said. “All she needs is rest. And eggs, if she ever gets any.”
“Oh.” She pulled her head back out of the door.
I went back into the living-room. They hadn’t moved. Tallant looked up at me. “You don’t think you’re going to get away with this?”
I sighed, and went over by them to crush out the cigarette. “You’re a hard man to convince, pal. But if you insist, I’ll make the spiel. Here goes.
“You’re dead, both of you. You had two ways out; you could pay me off, or if you were sure there wasn’t anybody else with another copy of that letter you could kill me. That last has just been answered for you. The whole thing is on the tape, in your own words, and she just now saw me put it in the mail. If anything happens to me, it goes to the- police, along with a copy of the letter. There’s no way you can get it back except by buying it. The man I sent it to has orders to pay no attention to a telephone call from me asking to have it mailed back or given to some other person. He’ll give it to me only, in person, and he names the place and time. So you can see jumping up and down in my face isn’t going to do you any good. If you did force me to call him, he’d only tell me where to meet him. And if I didn’t show up alone and in one piece he wouldn’t show at all. So you can scratch that.
“Which just leaves the easy way. I can’t see what the hell you’re crying about. He left over a quarter of a million, plus the insurance. What do you want, anyway? Give me mine, I kiss you both for luck, and fade. Nobody else knows about it, so you settle down, join the PTA, and spend the rest of your lives bitching about what the younger generation’s coming to. Looks simple to me. How about it?”
She was recovering faster than he was. “And what guarantee do we have you’ll keep your word?” she asked coldly.
“None,” I said. “But what else can you do?”
“I see what you mean. We’re completely at the mercy of a conscienceless thug who’d betray his own mother.”
“Sure, sure,” I said.
“And you wouldn’t even return the tape—”
“Of course I’d return it. What the hell, you think I want it for a souvenir? Look, use your head. This is a simple business proposition. I don’t give a damn what you do or what becomes of you, or whether you kill everybody in this end of the state, as long as I get paid for being run over out there that night. Why get hot under the collar like a bunch of emotional types? You’re a couple of tough cookies looking out for yourselves; I’m another cookie looking out for John Harlan. What’s to blow your stack about? It’s just merchandise—”
Tallant leaned forward with his fingers gripping the edge of the coffee table so tightly the knuckles were white. “You dirty bastard—”
I walked over and dropped his car keys on the table. “Why don’t you get lost? I’m talking to the chairman of the board, and we can probably work out a deal without any static from you. You’re getting a free ride, so what are you kicking about anyway?”
He stared up at me. “You think I’m going to hold still for this?”
“You kidding? What the hell are you holding still for? She’s paying the freight, isn’t she?”
“Who said she was?”
“She did, as I recall. But we can ask her again.” I turned and looked at her. “How about it, baby?”
She stared coldly for an instant, but then she nodded She was a realist, that girl
“You’ll get it,” she said.
It was as easy as that.