We got out of the car and walked up the road. It was now dark. I could see the lights were on in the house.
‘Well, see you at your pad, Joe,’ I said. ‘I’ll take care of Benny. You have nothing to worry about. You get Miss Glenda to the Sherwood Hotel.’ I caught hold of his damp hand and shook it. ‘Give me ten minutes from now.’
‘Sure, Mr. Lucas.’
I walked quickly up to the gate, pushed it open and walked to the front door. My heart was hammering and my mouth was dry. As I rang on the doorbell, my hand pulled out the gun Joe had given me.
Benny opened the door.
‘Come on in, fink,’ he said.
As I stepped into the lighted lobby, I lifted the gun and shoved it hard against his fat belly.
‘Don’t take chances, Benny,’ I said quietly. ‘I’m longing to put a bullet in your guts. Take me to Klaus.’
Benny stared down at the gun, his brutal face expressionless. Then moving carefully, he walked ahead of me and into the living-room.
Klaus was sitting at his desk. His ice-grey eyes regarded me as I closed the door.
‘The fink’s got a gun,’ Benny said.
Klaus’s expression didn’t change.
‘Get over there, against the far wall,’ I said to Benny, ‘and stay there.’
Benny grinned.
‘Anything you say, fink,’ and he crossed the room so he was behind Klaus, and he rested his heavy shoulders against the wall.
Klaus said, ‘A gun, Mr. Lucas? So you have decided to be tricky. That is regrettable. Now, you are going to tell me the operation is off.’
‘Correct.’ I put the brief-case and the tape player on his desk. Using my left hand, still pointing the gun between Klaus and Benny, I opened the brief-case, took out my statement to Brannigan and slid it across the desk. ‘Read that.’
Klaus picked up the statement and read it. Then he looked up.
‘A masterpiece of brevity, Mr. Lucas.’
I had expected a violent reaction, and this relaxed remark made me uneasy.
‘The bonds you sent me are forgeries,’ I said. ‘Here are two tapes I want you to listen to. They will convince you the break-in is off.’
I put the tape on the player and turned the player on. For two or three minutes, Klaus listened to his own voice. When my voice said, Did you have to murder Sheriff Thomson? and his replied, Let that be an example to you. When anyone obstructs me or is likely to obstruct me, I get rid of him, he leaned forward and pressed the stop button.
‘I’ll take the rest as read,’ he said, and sat back.
‘Copies of the statement and the tapes are with the police,’ I said, and glanced at my watch. I had been in the room for fifteen minutes. By now, Glenda would be driving with Joe to the Sherwood Hotel. ‘I have arranged for the statement and the tapes to be delivered by the police to Brannigan on Monday morning. If anything happens to me, Brannigan will have enough to nail you, Klaus. That’s why I am telling you the bank break-in is off.’
‘Why should anything happen to you, Mr. Lucas?’ Klaus lifted his eyebrows. ‘If anything is going to happen, then it will happen to your woman. You are far too important to me to harm.’
‘By now, Klaus, Glenda is out of your reach.’
He gave a little chuckle that sent a chill up my spine.
‘First, let me congratulate you, Mr. Lucas. You made an excellent try.’ He waved to the statement and the tape player. ‘All very efficient, and well thought out, but unhappily for you, you are an amateur dealing with a professional. At three o’clock on Saturday morning, you will supervise the bank break-in. Make no mistake about that!’
I stared at him, feeling a gradual and deadly loss of confidence.
‘You are wrong. You now know the situation. Your sick idea isn’t going to work. Take my advice: get out of Sharnville before Brannigan puts you in jail.’
‘So you imagine Glenda is out of my reach?’ He shook his head. ‘She is locked in her room. I think you are romancing, Mr. Lucas.’
It was twenty-five minutes since I had been in the house. By now, Glenda would be safe in the Sherwood Hotel.
Then I heard a sound that froze me: the mournful spiritual, played on a harmonica.
‘There’s Joe,’ Klaus said, and chuckled. ‘Mr. Lucas, don’t wave that gun about. You don’t imagine I would let Joe give you a loaded gun? You see, the trouble with an amateur is that he doesn’t check like a professional does. The amateur is given a gun, and he jumps to the wrong conclusion that it is loaded. Shoot at me to convince yourself.’
Grinning evilly, Benny started across the room towards me. I lifted the gun, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger. I knew that I had been outwitted.
‘I owe you this, fink,’ Benny snarled, and his enormous fist smashed against the side of my face. A bright light exploded inside my head as I crashed to the floor. For some moments, I swam in darkness, then very faintly I heard Klaus say, ‘You shouldn’t have done that, Benny. There’s no need for violence.’
Then I became aware of hands digging into my jacket pocket. I made a feeble effort to push the hands away as I struggled back to consciousness. There was a long pause. My head began to clear, and my face began to ache. I rolled over, then dragged myself to my knees. The room swam into focus. I saw Joe standing by the desk.
I heard him say, ‘The sucker gave me five grand, boss. He tore the bills in half. I’ve got the other half now. Can I keep the money?’
‘Of course, Joe. I would say you earned it.’
I heard Joe giggle. The sound told me that all my work on him had been wasted. Glenda was still a prisoner!
Slowly, I got to my feet, and moved to a chair and sat down.
‘Give Mr. Lucas a drink,’ Klaus said. ‘He looks as if he could do with it.’
A glass of whisky was thrust into my hand.
‘I apologize, Mr. Lucas,’ Klaus said. ‘Benny gets carried away.’
I turned and threw the whisky in Benny’s sneering face. He yelled, his hands going to his eyes and he staggered back. Then wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he started towards me, his brutal face a mask of snarling rage.
‘Benny.’ Klaus didn’t raise his voice. ‘Go and see Glenda.’
Benny paused in his rush, stopped, looked at me, then grinned.
‘Yeah.’
He started to the door.
I forced myself to my feet and staggered after him. My head was raging with pain and the floor seemed tilted. Joe moved swiftly, caught hold of my arm, swung me around and slapped me hard across my mouth, then he flung me back into the chair.
Dazed, I again tried to stand up. Again Joe slammed me back. Then I heard a long, piercing scream somewhere at the back of the house: a woman’s scream, and I knew it was Glenda.
‘You’d better stop him, Joe,’ Klaus said mildly. ‘He doesn’t know his own strength.’
Grinning, Joe slipped out of the room.
‘It’s all right, Mr. Lucas,’ Klaus said. ‘She won’t be hurt again unless, of course, you don’t co-operate.’
I remembered what Glenda had said about her husband: all his guts, and he had lots of guts, drained out of him. They took Alex’s guts from him like a surgeon takes out an appendix.
Hearing that piercing scream took all the guts I had ever had from me.
‘I’ll co-operate,’ I said in a harsh whisper.
Joe and Benny came into the room. Benny was grinning, Joe was sweating and shaking his head.
‘Well now, Mr. Lucas,’ Klaus said. ‘Tomorrow morning you will get this statement of yours and the tapes back from the police. Is that understood?’
I nodded,
‘Good. You will bring them here. Is that understood?’
Again I nodded.
He leaned forward, his face a snarling mask, his eyes blazing.