I had to say something I just couldn’t sit there like a dummy.
‘If he collected the ransom,’ I said, hoping my voice was steadier than it sounded, ‘why didn’t he skip? He didn’t have to meet and kill her.’
Renick glanced at me, then away. He lit a cigarette.
‘Suppose he had skipped with the money? The girl might have told her father. The killer probably guessed she would be dangerous if he double-crossed her. It was safer to silence her.’
The telephone bell rang.
Renick answered it.
He listened for a moment, then said, ‘You have? That’s fine. You’re sure? Okay,’ and he hung up.
Turning to Meadows, he went on, ‘The lab boys say the sand in her shoes comes from East Beach. It is an artificial beach there and they are absolutely sure the sand comes from East Beach, and nowhere else.
There’s a bathing station there with cabins. That’s where they must have met. I’ll get down there now.’
He looked at me. ‘You’d better come with me, Harry.’
That’s just what I didn’t want to do. Bill Holden would recognise me. Then with a sudden prickle of fear, I remembered I hadn’t paid him the last week’s rent on the cabin.
‘I’d better get on with my work, John. I’m getting way behind,’ I said, aware my voice sounded breathless.
‘Never mind the routine stuff,’ Renick said curtly. ‘That can look after itself. I want you with me.’
‘And listen, Barber, no more information for the Press,’ Meadows said. ‘Let them know we’re still working on the case, of course, but that we’ve struck a slow patch. Start playing it down. If it gets out this girl faked her own kidnapping to get money for her lover from her father — phew! what a stink!’
I said I understood.
While he was talking, Renick was on the telephone, alerting his team.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, hanging up. To Meadows, he went on, ‘I’ll report to you, sir, as soon as I get back.’
As I walked behind Renick out of the office, I wondered if I could borrow money from him to pay Holden. I decided not to try. I couldn’t imagine he would have fifty dollars on him anyway. I just hoped that Holden wouldn’t mention that I hadn’t paid him. It wasn’t much of a hope, but there was nothing I could do about it.
As we reached the head of the stairs, I saw Renick give a quick signal to the two waiting detectives.
They followed us down the stairs to where two cars were waiting. Renick and I got in the back of one, the two detectives got in the front with the driver. The car shot away, followed by the second car with the technical men.
We reached East Beach around six o’clock. The beach was still crowded.
Renick told his men to remain in the cars. Nodding to me, he walked to the entrance of the bathing station. I plodded behind him, feeling the way a steer probably feels when going to be slaughtered.
Bill Holden was in his office. He looked up as Renick and I came in.
‘Why, hello, Mr. Barber,’ he said, getting to his feet. He looked inquiringly at Renick.
‘This is Lieutenant Renick, City Police, Bill,’ I said. ‘He wants to ask you a few questions.’
Holden looked startled.
‘Why, sure, Lieutenant. Go right ahead.’
Here it comes, I thought. This is something, if I can’t lie myself out of, that’ll sink me.
Renick said, ‘We’re trying to trace a girclass="underline" she’s around twenty, pretty, with red hair and wearing a blue and white cotton dress. She wore big sun goggles and ballet type shoes. Mean anything to you?’
Holden didn’t hesitate. He shook his head.
‘I’m sorry, Lieutenant, it’s no good asking me a thing like that. I see thousands of girls here during the season. To me, they’re like so many grains of sand. I never even see them.’
‘We have reason to believe this girl was here around midnight on Saturday. Were you here Saturday night?’
‘No. I went off duty at eight.’ Holden looked at me, ‘but you were here, weren’t you, Mr. Barber?’
Somehow I managed to look a lot calmer than I felt.
‘Not Saturday, Bill. I was at home.’
Renick was staring at me.
‘Well, then I guess I can’t help you, Lieutenant,’ Holden said.
‘What makes you think Mr. Barber was here on Saturday night?’ Renick asked in a deceptively mild voice.
‘I just imagined he was. He…’
I cut in.
‘I had rented a cabin here, John. I was planning a book. I found I couldn’t work at home.’
‘Is — that — right?’ The unbelief in his voice was painful to hear. ‘You didn’t tell me that.’
I forced a grin.
‘The book didn’t jell.’
Renick stared at me for a moment, then turned to Holden.
‘Were all the cabins locked on Saturday night?’
‘Sure,’ Holden said. ‘I locked them myself: except Mr. Barber’s cabin of course. He had the key.’
‘None of the locks had been tampered with?’
‘No.’
‘Did you lock your cabin, Harry?’ Renick asked.
‘I think so. I can’t be sure. Maybe I didn’t.’
‘Which was your cabin?’
‘The last one on the left, Lieutenant,’ Holden said. He was now uneasy and he kept shooting glances at me and then at Renick.
‘Anyone in the cabin now?’
Holden looked at a chart on the wall.
‘It’s empty right now.’
‘Have you ever seen Odette Malroux here?’ Renick asked.
‘The girl who was kidnapped?’ Holden shook his head. ‘She never came here, Lieutenant. I’d know her. I’ve seen enough pictures of her. No… she never came here.’
‘I’ll take a look at the cabin. Got the key?’
‘It’ll be in the door, Lieutenant.’
Renick started for the door and I started after him.
Holden said, ‘Oh, Mr. Barber…’
Here it comes, I thought. I turned and grimaced at him.
‘I’ll be right back,’ I said, and as Renick paused, I crowded up against him, trying to shove him out of the little office.
‘What is it?’ Renick asked Holden, refusing to be shoved.
‘It’s okay, Lieutenant,’ Holden said, looking unhappy. ‘It’s nothing important.’
Renick went out into the hot sunshine. We walked in silence along the wooden slats laid on the sand, avoiding the half-naked sun-bathers who stared at us, wondering who we were in our city clothes, until we came to the cabin where Odette had died.
The key was in the lock. Renick pushed open the door and stepped in. He looked around, then, turning, he looked hard at me.
‘You didn’t tell me you had hired this cabin, Harry?’
‘Should I have done?’ I remained by the door. ‘It didn’t cross my mind you’d be interested.’
‘This is where she could have been murdered.’
‘Think so? She could have been murdered on the beach.’
‘I want you to think: did you lock the door or didn’t you?’
‘I don’t have to think — I didn’t lock it,’ I said. ‘I didn’t tell Holden that. I didn’t want him to get mad at me. I left the key in the lock. I found it on Monday when I looked in to pick up my typewriter.’
‘So she could have been murdered here.’
‘The locks on these doors don’t mean a thing. She could have been murdered in any of the cabins or on the beach.’
He brooded for a long minute while I stood there, listening to the thump-thump-thump of my heart beats.
Then he glanced at his wrist watch.
‘Okay, Harry, you get off home. I don’t want you any more for tonight. Get one of the boys to run you home. Tell the others I want them right here.’
‘I don’t mind sticking around if I can be of any help,’ I said.