While I was looking at her and thinking she had the largest eyes I have ever seen and that her long and silky eyelashes were probably her own, she was looking at me. In the few second of silence that followed we sized each other up with frank curiosity.
‘I have about a couple of minutes in hand, Mrs. Dedrick, I said. ‘But even at that I seemed to have kept you waiting. I’m sorry. Do you want to talk here or somewhere else?’
‘Where else is there?’
‘Well there’s a river view near the golf-course that isn’t bad. At least it’s quiet.’
‘All right. We’ll go there.’ She moved along the bench seat. Perhaps you’ll drive.’
I got in under the steering wheel, switched on and trod on the starter. As I manoeuvred the car out of the lot into the drive-way, I gave her a quick glance. She was looking away from me, remote and thoughtful, her face as expressionless and as smooth as an ivory mask.
I drove through the entrance gates, turned right, continued up the brilliantly lit avenue to the bridge, then swung the car on to the bridle path that led along the river. A few minutes’ more driving brought me to the spot I had in mind. I slowed down, turned the nose of the car to face the glittering moonlit river and parked. Except for the occasional croak of bullfrogs in the reeds farther up the river and the lap-lap-lap of water against the bank, there was no sound to disturb us.
‘Do you want to get out?’ I asked, breaking the silence that had brooded over us since we had driven from the club.
She roused herself, as if her thoughts had been miles away, tossed her cigarette end into the river and shook her head.
‘No; we can talk here. It was you who found Souki, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes. Have you any news of your husband?’
‘They ‘phoned tonight. They want five hundred thousand. They told me he was well and was looking forward to seeing me again.’ She spoke in a cold, flat voice that didn’t quite conceal a frightened anxiety. ‘The money is to be paid the night after next, and he will be released as soon as they have it.’
I didn’t say anything. After a long pause, she turned to look intently at me. ’
‘Someone has to deliver the money. I want you to do it. I’ll pay you well.’
I was afraid she was going to say that. Dealing with kidnappers could be a dangerous business. More often than not the stooge who hands over the ransom money gets himself knocked off.
‘Have you made any arrangements with them yet?’
She shook her head.
‘This is only the opening move. The money is to be in used twenty-dollar bills. It is to be made up into three parcels, wrapped in oilskin. I shall get last-minute instructions where the money is to be delivered.’ She turned to look at me. ‘You’re not frightened of the job, are you?’ ‘I’ll tell you that when I’ve heard what the arrangements are.’ Then you think it could be dangerous?’
‘It could be.’
She opened her handbag and took out a cigarette case. As she offered it, she said, her voice a little unsteady, ‘Do you think they’ll send him back?’
I took the cigarette, tapped it absently on my thumb-nail before saying, ‘The possibilities are that they will.’
I lit her cigarette, and for some moments we smoked in silence. ‘I want you to tell me the truth,’ she said suddenly. ‘Will they send him back?’
‘I don’t know. It depends if he’s seen them. If he hasn’t, then there’s no point in not sending him back.’ ‘But if he has see them?’
‘It depends on them. Kidnappers are about as ruthless as blackmailers, Mrs Dedrick. Kidnapping carries the death penalty. They won’t take chances.’
‘There’s nothing I wouldn’t do or pay to get him back. It’s all my fault this has happened. If it wasn’t for my money, he wouldn’t have been worth kidnapping. He’s got to come back!’
There was nothing I could think of to say to that. My own feeling was she had seen the last of him: anyway, alive. With all that money at stake they were pretty certain to get rid of him. Most kidnappers prefer to kill rather than return. It is a lot safer for them. Too many kidnapped people in the past have given clues to the police that have led to the kidnappers being caught.
‘Have you consulted the police about this development?’ I asked.
‘No; and I’m not going to! This man tonight said every move I make is being watched, and if I communicate with the police, Lee would be murdered. Besides, the police are useless. They haven’t done a thing.’
‘We have time to set a trap. The money could be marked in a way no one would spot it. At least, it would give the police a chance to catch them after your husband’s safe.’
‘No!’ she said emphatically. ‘I gave them my word not to try any tricks. If I did that, and they found out, and Lee suffered, I’d never forgive myself. I don’t care a damn about the money. It’s Lee I want.’
‘Who ‘phoned you? Did you get an idea from his voice what kind of man he was? I mean was he educated? Did he have an accent? Was there anything about his voice that you would recognize if you ever met him?’
‘I think he was talking through a handkerchief. His voice was very muffled. He didn’t have an accent, but that’s all I can tell you.’
‘Did he talk tough?’
‘Oh no. In fact, he was horribly polite.’
I stared thoughtfully at the river. Probably they had killed Dedrick as soon as they got him out of the house. They hadn’t hesitated to kill his chauffeur, and they wouldn’t hesitate to wipe me out after they had the money. It was a job I didn’t want.
She was smart enough to guess what I was thinking.
‘If you don’t do this, I have no idea who else to ask. I’ll come with you if you will do it.’
‘Oh no. If I do it, I do it alone.’
‘There will be no question of that. I’ve made up my mind to see the money delivered to them with my own eyes. If you won’t go with me, I’ll go alone.’
I turned to look at her, surprised by her vehemence. We stared at each other for about three seconds. I could see by the expression in her eyes no one would make her change her mind.
‘Well, all right, if that’s how you feel about it,’ I said. I’ll come with you.’ We sat for some moments in silence.
‘There’s one thing I wanted to ask you,’ she said abruptly. ‘What was this woman like who said she was my secretary?’ ‘You mean to look at?’
‘Yes.’
"Well, she was about thirty or so, dark, good-looking and well dressed. I thought at the time she didn’t look like anyone’s secretary.’
‘Was she very pretty?’
‘I suppose she was, and she had character too. She hadn’t the usual vacant face of the usual pretty woman.’
‘She called my husband by his Christian name. Is that right?’
‘Yes.’
I saw her clench her fists.
‘That fat fool of a policeman thinks Lee was having an affair with her,’ she said, and she seemed to be speaking through locked teeth. ‘Do you think that?’
‘Does it matter what I think?’
‘I’m asking you—do you think that?’ Her voice was harsh and tight with emotion.
‘I don’t know. I know nothing about your husband. It looks like it, but she may have just been a friend of his.’
‘He wasn’t in love with her!’ she said so quietly I could scarcely hear her. ‘I know it! He wouldn’t have done a thing like that. He wouldn’t have taken another woman into my home. He wasn’t that type.’ She stopped, looked quickly away, her hand going to her face.
‘Have the police found her yet?’
‘No. They’re not trying to. They’re so sure she’s Lee’s mistress. They say it’s better not to find her. I don’t believe it! She must know something.’