“Did anyone ever see the actual bonds?” Shayne said.
“No,” Gibbs said. “They were in a safety deposit box; he had the key with him.”
“Thank you,” Shayne said.
Gibbs watched Shayne stand up to leave. “Alistair is not a killer, Shayne.”
“No killer ever is,” Shayne said grimly.
10.
Shayne drove fast out of the city toward the east. The sun was at his back all the way. It had still not set by the time he reached the State Police barracks. Masters was in his office.
“No trace of the guy who killed Olney,” Masters said. “Your two Italians are safe and cooling off. Bonn says that Kurt Berger could have been in Italy at the time. Records are bad from Nazi days. But he had a personal friend on Kesselring’s staff. He was at Peenemunde for a time, something he never mentioned.”
“That’s the rocket development station?” Shayne said.
“It was,” Masters said.
“What about the elusive Steiner?”
Masters shook his head. “Nothing. Or just about nothing. Steiner was a real secret Gestapo agent. Worked all sides of the line. Absolutely no record seems to have ever been kept. No picture, no description, no file at all. The Bonn people aren’t even sure Steiner was one man.
“They do have three facts we could use. Steiner was working in Italy at about the right time. They don’t know the job, or where, or how, or if anything happened. No report. The only reason they know Steiner was in Italy is that in one of Kesselring’s intelligence reports the name is mentioned in connection with an accidental bombing of a hospital.
“Steiner was known to specialize in Partisan work. Whatever or whoever Steiner was, he was an expert in busting up Partisans. The other things are that Steiner was reported to have broken an arm badly, and that Steiner once got inside Auschwitz to ferret out a hiding Jewish scientist. That means that Steiner probably has a number tattooed on his arm.”
“Or has a scar where it was removed,” Shayne said.
The big detective sat and thought. He pulled on his earlobe and narrowed his steely grey eyes. A theory was taking shape. The key was the deaths of Maltz and Olney. They were the only two men Corelli had actually talked to in America, if Finch was telling the truth. Shayne decided it was time to get the truth from Finch.
“Thanks, Masters, I may have something for you in a few hours. Come to the Finch house about nine o’clock. Okay?”
“I can use something, I’ll be there,” Masters said.
Shayne drove back to the big house on the beach. The road was deserted. But as Shayne approached the house he had a definite impression that someone was watching him from an upstairs window.
He parked the car and walked in. He went up to change for dinner. Dinner was strained and quiet. They all seemed to be watching him except Kurt Berger who spent his time watching Laura Finch. Berger seemed to have nerves of iron. A trained spy would have nerves like that, Shayne mused.
After dinner Shayne followed them all into the living room. It was ten minutes to nine. Shayne lighted a cigarette and stood in front of Alistair Finch.
“All right, Ally, now really tell me about Corelli,” Shayne said.
Finch seemed to flinch away as if he had been expecting to be asked that. Quite obviously he had no intention of answering.
“Go to hell, Mike,” Finch said. “I should have known better than to hire you.”
“You made a mistake, all right, if you wanted everything to stay top secret,” Shayne said. “I’ve got a hunch at least two other people in this room know besides me and you. Anyway, there are three murders to worry about now, and they all had one thing in common. The killer knew about you and Corelli.”
Finch snapped, “I’m completely innocent, Shayne. Just remember that.”
“Tell me the story,” Shayne said. He looked at his watch. As he did so, he noticed Sally Helpman had come into the room. Shayne had not seen her go out. The tall, bony woman sat in a chair near her husband and smiled at Shayne. Masters would arrive in six minutes.
“Tell it yourself,” Finch said.
Shayne nodded. “Okay, I will. I figure it goes something like this. You and Maltz and Olney and your other three men were in with Corelli’s Partisans. Everything was smooth until one day Corelli told you he’d planned a mission you knew was sheer suicide.
“Maybe you weren’t sure if Corelli was just nuts or a traitor, but you knew it would be curtains for everyone. So you had to stop Corelli. You’re not a killer, Ally, and I don’t think Maltz or Olney were. Anyway, you like being the nice hero too much to risk all the trouble involved if you held a kangaroo court and executed Corelli.
“You couldn’t even prove your suspicions, and you couldn’t trust the other Partisans to believe you. So it was go through with a job you knew was a bad one, or get rid of Corelli. You tipped the Germans somehow and set up the ambush of Corelli.
“You figured they’d kill him, and you’d be safe. Or they’d show their hand and a deal by letting him live. You didn’t figure on Marcello seeing you, but you had to go through with it. So in reality, you betrayed Corelli to save your unit and the Partisans. You were a hero, Ally.”
For a long time, a full minute, Finch said nothing. No one moved in the room. Berger was looking at Laura Finch who was looking at her husband.
Finally Finch sighed. “How did you figure it, Mike?”
“It had to be,” Shayne said. “Maltz and Olney had to know about it, and they never talked. They must have approved. Both you and Olney said Corelli thought up the suicide job. Besides, I believed that you both thought Corelli was dead. And you’re just not a killer, Ally.”
“Thanks, Mike, but—” Finch began.
Shayne nodded. “But you couldn’t resist the money. I believe you when you say you didn’t know about the money when Corelli got caught. That was another thing that tipped me that Corelli was the liar, not you. Corelli had that money. Only he didn’t have it when he was caught. You found it later and you couldn’t resist. You’ve felt like a traitor ever since.”
Shayne fell silent, waiting.
“I found it later,” Finch said dully, his eyes on the floor. “I was going through Corelli’s papers and I found this note. It said the money would be under a certain tree. I dug it up. After that I couldn’t look anyone in the face, but I had to have that money! I was broke, the company was going under as soon as I got home and—”
Shayne said, “What else was on that note?”
“A name,” Finch said. Finch looked at Shayne. “Just a name. Steiner.”
11.
Alistair Finch shrugged. “Then I knew Corelli was a traitor. I had heard of Steiner. I wish to God I hadn’t taken that money. I had to get rid of Corelli, but I didn’t have to take the money. I can pay it back now. I’ve done good work, but I’ll never live it down. I hoped, when I called you, I could keep it quiet. I should have known better, Mike.”
Shayne looked at his watch. Masters would arrive any minute. Shayne turned to face Kurt Berger.
“How did you find out about Finch and Corelli?” Shayne said to Berger. “That was your hold on Finch, wasn’t it?”
Berger smiled a cool smile. “I had a connection on Kesselring’s staff. I found out a little about Finch and Corelli. It was in a report that an American had betrayed Corelli. Corelli was supposed to have been shot, but there was an error. I destroyed the record after I photographed it. I needed an industrial connection in America.”
“Kurt had a good deal,” Finch said. “But I might have turned him down except that he knew about Corelli.”