“I don’t know.”
Exner smiled. “Come, this is Gerd you talk to, eh? It is not found, I know that from the detective. Who else would have a package of Claude Marais’s? ”
“I don’t know who has it, or where it is,” Claude Marais said. “If I find it, I’ll send it to you. If there is anywhere you can stay long enough to receive mail, Gerd.”
The click was like a slap in all our faces. Gerd Exner had cocked his pistol. It was aimed at Claude Marais.
“You’re lying, Claude. I think I will have to kill you too. All of you. I-”
The shape, figure, man, seemed to come from nowhere. Out of the air of the hotel room. Suddenly there, a shape jumping at Gerd Exner with a wild, unintelligible cry of rage. Exner half turned to face the shock-a shock as much psychological as physical. Surprised, stunned, his gun slow in turning.
Perhaps it was that Exner was getting older. Maybe that he was in New York, and not as alert, wary, as normal. Perhaps only the arrogance of years of sneering at the “gooks,” ignoring them as human beings, despising them as weak. After a time, not even seeing them at all.
Exner had forgotten Jimmy Sung. I suppose we all had. Away against a wall, silent, taking no part, everyone had forgotten that Jimmy Sung was even in the room. Until, wildly, Jimmy Sung charged, and Exner turned too slowly.
Exner shot.
I saw blood on Jimmy Sung’s arm. It didn’t stop him. Half crazy, half drunk, he crashed into Gerd Exner. The tall German staggered, almost fell, held on to a table. It was my chance. I grabbed his gun arm from behind, twisted with all I had. Exner cried out, the gun dropped.
I held on.
Jimmy Sung punched Exner in the face. Viviane Marais had a heavy ashtray, swung it at Exner, missed.
Li Marais scrambled on the floor, got the pistol. She held it in both hands, aimed at the German, still cocked. Exner stopped fighting. Jimmy sat down on the floor, held his arm.
I took the gun, picked up the telephone, told George Jenkins down at the desk to get the police.
Claude Marais stood alone where he had been. He had not moved. Passive, he watched as if none of it concerned him. As I hung up the receiver, Claude Marais lit a cigarette.
18
Three uniformed patrolmen and an ambulance doctor arrived at the suite first. The patrolmen took charge of Gerd Exner and his gun, and the ambulance doctor worked on Jimmy Sung. Jimmy had taken a shot through his right upper arm-a clean wound that had hit no bone or major blood vessel. The police listened to the story, gave Jimmy Sung nods of solemn admiration. They lived with daily danger, admired bravery.
“Nice work, mister,” one patrolman said.
“He threatened three of you,” another patrolman said, writing laboriously in his report book, “wanted Mr. Marais there to go with him on some work. When Mr. Marais refused, he then threatened to shoot you all, and Mr. Sung stopped him. That it?”
“More or less,” I said.
“What’s this about some package?”
“Exner seemed to think Marais had a package that was half his, said he wanted all of it,” I said.
Claude Marais said, “I have no package. It was unimportant. Some trinkets.”
The patrolmen nodded. One made his notes, and that was all. The package wasn’t their problem. When the ambulance doctor had finished with Jimmy Sung, he left. The rest of us waited. Gerd Exner had said nothing since the police had arrived, sat silent with two patrolmen beside him. Jimmy Sung lay on the couch, his arm bandaged, shaking now that the moment of action was over. Claude Marais smoked, still stood where he had the whole time. Li Marais had gone back to her chair in the corner. Viviane Marais was smoking too. I just waited.
Lieutenant Marx and two other detectives showed up half an hour later. Marx listened to the patrolman’s report, made me tell it all again, nodded approval of Jimmy Sung’s crazy attack, considered Gerd Exner and Claude Marais. He watched them, but he spoke to me.
“We got the report from Paris on Paul Manet, Dan,” Marx said. “He’s everything he says. Saved ten Jews that night in 1942 by hiding them, then rescued three others right out from under the Gestapo’s nose. Went on to build quite an Underground record after that. Since the war he’s absolutely clean. He represents ten French companies all over the world, lives high, but has no record and no hint of any illegal activity.”
I didn’t know why Marx was bringing up Paul Manet then, but he had to have a reason. He’d tell me when he was ready, or it would show soon enough.
“We’ll take Exner,” Marx went on. “We’ve been watching him. He’s in the country illegally in the first place. Had to come in like that, he’s wanted in half a dozen countries, not to mention Interpol. A little something about opium trading and all that. The D.A. and Washington are going to have a field day on the extradition. After we get finished with what we’ve got here.”
Gerd Exner shrugged, his blue eyes already calculating what chances he had, what angles he could work on. Marx turned his attention to Claude Marais. I became aware of something missing. The other two detectives who had come in with Lieutenant Marx seemed to have vanished. I hadn’t seen them leave the suite. Marx studied Claude Marais for a moment.
“Interpol is interested in Marais there, too,” the Lieutenant said. “No specific charge, though. Some countries want him, but it’s for gun-running, political action, that kind of stuff. No crimes straight out, except maybe one little matter. That right, Mr. Marais?”
Claude Marais smoked. “You are the one talking, Lieutenant.”
“So I am,” Marx said. “You don’t want to tell us about a batch of diamonds? Seems they turned up missing down in the Congo a while back, just when you and Exner there were making a deal for guns with some rebel group. Those rebels were pretty mad. They say the guns turned out no good, and the diamonds did a vanishing act. So did you and Exner. You didn’t carry the stones out, customs is sure of that. Now I’m hearing all this talk of some package.”
Claude Marais said nothing. He smoked. Li Marais was up straight in her chair, watching him. Viviane Marais was staring at Claude too. On the couch, Jimmy Sung made a sound. Lieutenant Marx ignored Jimmy.
“You smuggled a package to Eugene, right? He had it in his safe, Jimmy Sung there saw it. Mrs. Marais says he mentioned returning something to you the night he was killed. Jimmy says he saw the package out of the safe that night late, on a shelf in the back room. Now we didn’t find any package, did we?”
“I would not know, Lieutenant,” Claude Marais said, his voice wary. “I have not seen the package since before Eugene was murdered.’
“No? That’s funny. It’s funny, too, that you say it’s not important, no value, just trinkets.”
“All right,” Claude said, “it is diamonds. I did send it to Eugene to hold for me, it is half Exner’s. It is worth much money, but I am not interested in money. I planned to get it from Eugene that night, yes. I planned to give it all to Exner. I want no part of it. But I did not return to the shop that night, I have no idea where it is.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about it? A fortune in diamonds there in the shop, your brother murdered, the fortune missing, and you didn’t mention it?”
“I thought-” Claude shrugged again, stopped.
“Thought what?” Marx said. “That Gerd Exner had taken the diamonds and killed your brother? Why protect Exner? You say you want no more to do with Exner.”
“I… Gerd was an old comrade. Eugene was dead. I could not help Eugene. If Gerd killed him it was by chance, an accident when Eugene refused to give him the package. It would not help Eugene to tell, and I could not inform on Gerd.”
“No,” Marx said, shook his head. “Pretty, but no. You were silent because you wanted that package. We had a tip that the package is right here. Exner didn’t kill Eugene, at least not alone. You were in the shop that night, and you have the package. Is that right, Sergeant?”