I paused as I knotted my tie.
But had I the job?
If the police found out I was mixed up in this faked kidnapping, I wouldn’t hold the job for five minutes. Maybe those two tapes would save me from being prosecuted, but they wouldn’t save the job.
I got down to the D.A.’s office a few minutes after nine o’clock. A girl took me to Renick’s office.
‘Come on in, Harry,’ he said, getting up from behind a massive desk. He gripped my hand. ‘I’m glad you’ve decided to throw in with us. You won’t regret it. The D.A. is on his way now. He should be here any minute.’
I sat on the arm of a lounging chair and took the cigarette he offered me.
‘What’s all the excitement about, John?’ I said, trying to sound casual. ‘What’s this about Malroux’s daughter?’
There was a tap on the door and a girl looked in.
‘Mr. Meadows is here now, Mr. Renick.’
Renick stood up.
‘Let’s talk to Meadows,’ he said.
As we walked down the long passage, Renick went on, ‘Watch your step with him. He’s a good guy, but a little touchy. He knows all about you and he admires your work and also the way you came out of that mess. You deliver the goods, and you’ll have no trouble with him.’ He paused outside a door, rapped and entered.
A thick-set man with chalk white hair was standing by the window, lighting a cigar. He glanced around. His small, piercing blue eyes swept over me. He was around fifty: his red fleshy face, jutting chin and this thin hard mouth gave me an immediate impression of ruthless efficiency.
‘This is Harry Barber,’ Renick said. ‘He’s on the staff from this morning.’
Meadows pushed out a cold, hard hand.
‘Glad to hear it,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard about you, Barber: what I’ve heard is good.’
I shook hands with him.
Blowing a cloud of smoke from between his thin lips, Meadows walked over to his desk and sat down. He waved Renick and myself to chairs.
‘You’ve spoilt my week-end,’ he said to Renick. ‘I was planning to take the wife and kids for a picnic. What’s all this about?’
Renick dropped into a chair and crossed his long legs.
‘Could be we have a kidnapping on our hands, sir,’ he said. ‘I thought you would want to be in on it from the start. Early this morning, I had a telephone call from Masters, the manager of the Californian and Los Angeles Bank.’ He looked over at me. ‘We have an arrangement with all the banks to report sudden withdrawals of any large sums of money if the circumstances seem urgent and unusual. From experience, we have learned that such withdrawals usually mean they are for ransom demands.’
I took out my handkerchief and wiped my sweating face. This was something I hadn’t known and hadn’t even suspected.
‘Masters said he had just had a telephone call from Malroux telling him to open up the bank and have ready for him five hundred thousand dollars. This is Sunday of course, and Masters tried to persuade Malroux to wait until tomorrow, but Malroux, who is the bank’s best client, said he must have the money right away. This seemed to conform to the arrangement between Masters and us, so he telephoned.’
Meadows scratched his chin.
‘Maybe Malroux is swinging a business deal involving cash.’
‘That’s what I thought, and I decided to check.’ Renick looked over at me. ‘As you should know, Harry, what usually happens in a kidnapping case is the parents of the kidnapped child are so scared that something will happen to their child that they pay up at once without consulting us. They seldom give us the chance to mark the money or set a trap for the kidnappers. Then when the child isn’t returned, they come running to us and expect us to find it. I’m blaming no one for not coming to us: a kidnapper is the most vicious type of criminal we know. He always warns his victim if he goes to the police the child will be murdered, but by not coming to us, they put us in a bad position to get moving. Hence this idea of getting bank managers to co-operate secretly. We don’t, of course, act on the information — we can’t, but at least we are geared and ready to go into action when the parents do ask for help.’
‘What makes you think the girl has been kidnapped?’ I asked, feeling I should say something.
‘She’s missing,’ Renick returned. ‘Malroux’s chauffeur is an ex-cop. When Malroux came to live here, he wanted a bodyguard. A man with his wealth is constantly being pestered by cranks. He asked us to recommend a thoroughly experienced man who could act as his chauffeur and keep him clear of trouble. O’Reilly wanted a change. He was a good cop, and he was sick of the way things were being run at that time. He took the job. I’ve had a word with him. He tells me Odette Malroux, the daughter, had a date last night to go to the movies with a girl friend. Odette didn’t turn up at the movies and O’Reilly says she didn’t come home last night.’
‘How does he know she didn’t go to the movies?’ Meadows demanded.
‘The girl friend telephoned and O’Reilly took the message.’
‘Malroux hasn’t asked for our help?’
‘No.’ Renick got to his feet and began to wander around the office. ‘I have a man watching the bank.
He’ll report to me as soon as Malroux gets the money.’
‘Is Masters recording the numbers of the bills?’
Renick made a grimace.
‘I don’t think so. Recording small bills worth five hundred thousand would take a hell of a time.’
‘What about this girl? Know anything about her? She couldn’t have run off to get married?’
‘Then why does Malroux want all this money?’
‘Blackmail?’
Renick shrugged.
‘I doubt it: more like kidnapping. As for the girl, she is about twenty and pretty. She gets around and has more freedom than is good for her. She’s had a number of speeding raps. We have her fingerprints and there are plenty of photographs we can get from the Press.’
Meadows brooded for a long moment, then he said, ‘If this is kidnapping, it is going to be a sensation.
We’re going to be right in the limelight.’ He looked over at me. ‘This is where you come in, Barber. It’ll be your job to handle the Press, and believe you me, every newspaper man in the country will come storming down here.’ He pointed a fat finger at me. ‘I like publicity, Barber, so long as it is good publicity. Understand? It’s your job to see I get it. It’s your job to see I don’t get panned. That’s what we are paying you for. It’s your job to put Palm City on the map. A kidnapping like this is just the thing to put a town on the map. You have a very responsible job, Barber: that’s why we picked you.’
‘I understand, sir,’ I said.
Meadows turned to Renick who was still prowling around the office.
‘Is her car missing?’
‘Yes. It’s a white T.R.3. O’Reilly gave me the number.’
‘Can’t do any harm to look for it. Tell the boys to find it. There’s not much else we can do until Malroux calls us in. I’ll talk to the Police Commissioner. How about talking to the Federal boys. They’ll come into this automatically.’
‘I’ll do that, sir.’
‘Okay, let’s get going.’ He looked over at me. ‘We don’t want you for the moment, Barber. You might as well enjoy your Sunday. Give Renick a call every two hours just in case something breaks.
Right?’
I got to my feet.
‘Sure.’ I hesitated, then went on, ‘Just an idea, sir. Couldn’t we watch Malroux when he’s got the money? Couldn’t we follow him if he delivers the money some place?’
Meadows shook his head.