A soft moan came from under the rug, but I didn’t wait. I went back to the Cadillac and climbed under the steering wheel. Serena sat huddled up in a corner. She was crying.
I sent the car shooting down the drive.
‘Don’t let it get you down.’
She went on crying quietly. I decided perhaps it was the best thing for her, and drove as fast as I could without taking risks, and ignored her.
As we drove along Orchid Boulevard I said, ‘Better get hold of yourself now. You haven’t told me yet what was said. If we make one false move, we may spoil his chance of getting back to you. These guys will be a lot more scared than we are. Now, come on, pull yourself together, and tell me. What did they say?’
It took her some minutes to control herself, and it wasn’t until we were shooting up Monte Verde Avenue that she told me.
The money is to be left on the roof of a shed standing before the old shaft. I don’t know if you know it?’
‘I know it. What else?’
‘Each parcel is to be placed at least a foot apart and in a row. After we have placed the parcels we must leave immediately.’
‘That the lot?’
She gave a little shiver.
‘Except for the usual threats about setting a trap.’
They didn’t bring your husband to the ‘phone?’
‘No. Why should they?’
‘Sometimes they do.’
The fact they hadn’t made it look bad for Dedrick, but I didn’t tell her so.
‘Was it the same man who spoke to you before?’
‘I think so.’
‘The same muffled voice?’
‘Yes.’
‘All right. Now this is what we do. I’ll stop the car at the entrance to the mine. You stay in the car. I’ll take the money and put it on the roof. You’ll be able to see every move I make. I’ll come straight back and get into the car. You will drive. At the beginning of Venture Avenue you’ll slow down and I’ll drop off. You carry on and get back to the house.’
‘Why are you dropping off?’
‘I may catch sight of them.’
‘No!’ She caught hold of my arm. ‘Do you want them to kill him? We’re leaving the money and doing what they tell us. You’ve got to promise.’
‘Well, all right; it’s your money. If they double-cross you, you’ll stand no chance of catching up with them. I’ll guarantee they won’t see me.’
‘No!’ she repeated. ‘I’m not going to give them any opportunity to go back on the bargain.’
I swung the long black nose of the Cad into San Diego High-way.
‘All right, but it’s the wrong way to play it.’
She didn’t answer.
There was a lot of traffic belting along the Highway, and it took me some minutes before I could swing the car across to the dirt track leading to the mine. We went bumping over the uneven surface of the track. It was dark and forlorn up there, and the headlamps bounced off great clumps of scrub and dumps of rubbish. Although only a few hundred yards or so off the main Highway, once on this track it was as lonely and as dark as the inside of a tomb.
Ahead of me was the entrance to the mine. One of the high wooden gates had been blown off its hinges. The other still stood upright, but only just. I pulled up before the gateway. The headlights sent a long, searching beam along the cracked concrete driveway that led directly to the head of the shaft.
We could see the shed. It was not more than seven feet high; a rotten, derelict building where probably at one time the time-keeper had sheltered while he checked in the miners.
‘Well, that’s it. Now you wait here. If anything happens get out of the car and run for it.’
She was staring at the shed as if she expected to see Dedrick come out of it. Her face looked as if it was carved out of ice.
I got out, opened the rear door and collected the three par-cels. Holding them under one arm, I loosened the .38 in its holster and set off down the driveway towards the shed.
Only the distant rumble of traffic on the Highway disturbed the silence. Nothing moved. No one jumped out on me with a gun. It seemed a long way to the shed, and the brilliant headlamps made me a nice target for anyone with a trigger itch. I was glad when I got there. My right hand slid inside my coat and rested on the gun butt as I peered through the half-open door.
Only a broken chair, a lot of dirt and scraps of paper on the floor greeted me. The headlights of the car went through the doorway and made two pools of light on the spider-infested wall.
I was reluctant to leave all that money on the roof of the shed. I had a feeling Serena would never see it again; nor would she buy Dedrick back with it. But I had been hired to put the money there, so I put it there. I placed the packages along the rusty, corrugated roof in a row, spacing them carefully a foot apart as she had been instructed. There was nothing more to do. I would have liked very much to have hidden near-by and watched, but if I was spotted and Dedrick died, I would have his death on my conscience. She was right. Her one hope was to trust them to carry out their end of the bargain.
I walked towards the car, my flesh creeping a little, still a target for anyone who wanted to shed a little blood. I wondered if they were watching. There were many number of places to hide in this ruined mine.
I reached the Cadillac, jerked open the door and slid under the wheel.
She was crying again.
‘If you’re sure you don’t want me to watch, I’ll take you back,’ I said, not looking at her.
‘Take me back,’ she said in a muffled voice and turned away from me.
As I drove through the gates I caught sight of a shadowy figure that ducked behind a pile of old railway sleepers. I thought it was Kerman, but couldn’t be sure. If it was Kerman, he would probably hang around and see something. I looked quickly at Serena, but she was busy with her handkerchief and hadn’t noticed anything.
In a more optimistic mood I headed for Ocean End.
V
The hands of the clock on the mantelpiece showed a quarter past two. I sat alone in the lounge, nibbling at a whisky and soda, staring at a silver-and-gold inlaid Mexican saddle that was hanging on the wall without particularly noticing it.
Serena was upstairs somewhere.
We had been waiting for two and a half hours.
A sudden soft whistle from behind me jerked me round I and spilt my whisky.
‘Lousy nerves you’ve got,’ Kerman said, coming in. ‘Is that whisky you’ve spilt?’
‘There’s plenty more. Help yourself. You look as if you could use it.’
‘I can.’ He crossed to the wagon and mixed himself a long stiff drink. ‘Phew! Think we’ll get any sleep tonight?’
‘Never mind sleep. Did you see anything?’
He flopped into an armchair opposite me.
‘No. At least I didn’t see them, but I did see the money go.’
‘But didn’t you see who took it?’
He shook his head.
‘The guy’s smart He kept hidden. I think he was probably standing on one of the girders that support the shaft head. It was pitch dark up there. Anyway, he must have been above the roof of the shed. He had a fishing rod. One of those deep-sea rods, I should imagine. It would have to be something pretty hefty to take the weight of those parcels. He just dropped a hook on the parcel and fished it off the roof into the darkness. I never heard a sound or caught a glimpse of him. It was damned spooky seeing those parcels take off in the moonlight until I tumbled to what he was doing.’
‘Yes, that’s smart. Did he see you, Jack?’
‘Not a chance.’
‘Don’t be too sure. I saw you.’
‘I’ll bet my life you didn’t. Besides, I didn’t arrive until you were driving away. I saw your tail lights. And when I reached the mine I was crawling around like a Red Indian.’