‘Three thousand dollars.’
‘Three what?’ she cried.
‘Thousand,’ I said. ‘Three grand. I want it now.’
‘Donald, you talk as though you were crazy.’
‘You act as though you were,’ I said. ‘This is your only out. I’m giving it to you. Do you want it, or don’t you?’
‘How do I know I can trust you?’ she asked.
I wiped lipstick off my lips and said, ‘You don’t know.’
‘I’ve been betrayed lots of times by men whom I’ve trusted.’
‘How much did Morgan leave in those safety deposit boxes?’ I asked.
‘He didn’t have any.’
‘They were in your name. It won’t be long until the police sew those up too.’
She laughed then, and said, ‘Do I look as though I was born yesterday?’
‘I suppose,’ I observed, ‘you went out and stripped the boxes, and thought you were being smart. By the time the prosecuting attorney gets finished with that, it’ll make a swell motive for murder.’
I could see startled realization in her eyes.
‘And if you happen to have that money on you,’ I said, ‘you’re just crazy, because every move you make from now on is going to be shadowed. Sooner or later the police are going to take you down to jail and a great big broad-hipped matron is going to take all your nice clothes off and search your pretty little body. While that’s going on, detectives will be searching the apartment. What do you think of that?’
‘Donald, they wouldn’t!’
‘They’re going to.’
She said, ‘It’s in a money belt on me.’
‘How much?’ I asked.
‘Lots.’
I said, ‘You don’t dare to ditch it all, Sandra. You’d better leave some money, a hundred or two, in the money belt so they won’t realize you’ve slipped one over on them. As far as the rest is concerned, you can do either one of two things. You can either trust it to me, knowing that I may go south with it; or you can split it up in a lot of letters, address those letters to yourself at general delivery, and drop them in the mail chute. You’d better do something quick.’
It took her about five seconds to make up her mind. During those five seconds she stood staring at me, her head slightly on one side. I stood still. She looked at me and I met her look. Then she unsnapped buttons at the side of her skirt, slipped it down and fumbled with buckles — it wasn’t exactly a money belt. It was a money corset. She handed it to me. I couldn’t get it around me. I loosened my belt, shoved it down along my back, and pinched my belt tight.
‘God knows why I’m doing this,’ she said. ‘I’m putting myself absolutely in your power. I’m stripping myself of everything.’
I said, ‘Just one thing— Give Alma a square deal and I’ll give you a square deal. I’m doing this for her.’
‘Not for me?’ she asked, pushing out her lips in a little pout.
‘No,’ I said. ‘For Alma.’
‘Oh, Donald, I thought it was because you―’
‘Well, think again,’ I said, and stepped out into the corridor, pulling the door shut behind me.
I’d got as far as the head of the stairs when she opened the door and screamed, ‘Donald, come back here!’
I went down the stairs in a rush. I heard her scream and run after me. I must have beat her to the lobby by a matter of seconds. I started through the door. A car was parked in front of the place with two men seated in it. They weren’t the two plain-clothes men who had been there earlier. The way in which they looked up as I came out showed what they were.
I pretended not to see them, crossed to an automobile, got in, and stepped on the starter, leaning forward as I did so, so that my head was lowered almost below the line of the windows.
She came dashing out to the street, looking up and down, her face showing puzzled bewilderment as she saw I was nowhere in sight. She started to run toward the corner. The officers exchanged glances. One of them climbed leisurely from the car. ‘Looking for something?’ he asked.
She turned to look at him — and knew.
‘I thought I heard someone yell fire,’ she said. ‘—Is there a fire?’
The officer said, ‘You’re dreaming, sister.’
To my surprise the ignition wasn’t locked. The motor of the car I was in throbbed to life.
I straightened up. She caught sight of me then, and stood there with the eyes of the officer on her, powerless to do anything.
I’ll hand it to her. She played the one card that would have got her by. Her lips quivered, and she said, ‘I’m awfully n-n-nervous this morning. My husband was m-m-murdered.’
I saw tension go out of the officer’s frame. ‘That,’ he said sympathetically, ‘is too bad. May I see you up to your apartment?’
I drove away.
Chapter 11
I registered at the Perkins Hotel as Rinton C. Watson of Klamath Falls, Oregon. I got a room with a bath and asked the bellboy to have the captain step up to the room for a minute.
The captain had that smirk of simulated deference which characterizes pimps, panderers and procurers the world over. He thought he knew what I wanted before I’d said a word.
‘You aren’t the one I want,’ I said.
‘I can do anything for you that any of the others can.’
‘No, it’s not that. I want to see a man, an old friend.’
‘What was his name?’
‘I think,’ I said, ‘it’s been changed.’
He laughed. ‘Tell me what it was, and I may know it.’
‘You would if I told you,’ I observed, letting him see suspicion in my eyes.
He quit laughing. ‘There are three of us on duty,’ he said.
‘Live here in the hotel?’ I asked.
‘I do. I have a room down in the basement. The others live out.’
‘This man,’ I said, ‘is about twenty-five, with very thick black hair. It comes down low in the center of his forehead. He has a short, stubby nose and slate-colored eyes.’
‘Where’d you know him?’ he asked.
I deliberated for a while before I said, ‘Kansas City.’
The answer registered. The bell captain made a gesture of cooperation. ‘That’s Jerry Wegley. He comes on duty at four this afternoon and works until midnight.’
‘Wegley,’ I mused.
‘That the name you knew him under?’ the captain asked curiously.
I hesitated perceptibly before saying, ‘Yes.’
‘I see.’
‘Where could I reach him?’
‘Here, after four o’clock.’
‘I mean now.’
‘I might find out his address — perhaps you’d like to talk with him over the telephone.’
‘I’d have to see him,’ I said. ‘I was going under another name when he knew me.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Do that,’ I said, and locked the door as he went out. I took the money corset out of my belt and started taking out fifties and hundreds. There was eight thousand four hundred and fifty dollars in all. I put the bills in four rolls, distributed them in my trousers pockets, and rolled the corset-belt into a compact bundle.
The bellboy came back. ‘It’s Brinmore Rooms,’ he said. ‘If Jerry isn’t glad to see you, don’t tell him where you got the information.’
I gave him a fifty-dollar bill. ‘Could you,’ I asked, ‘bring me forty-five dollars in return for this?’
His face broke in a cheerful grin. ‘Surest thing you know,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back with the forty-five in five minutes.’
‘Bring me a newspaper, too,’ I told him.
When he returned with the forty-five dollars and the newspaper, I wrapped up the corset-belt and walked out of the hotel. I went to the Union Depot, sat down on one of the benches for a few minutes, then got up and walked away, leaving the newspaper-wrapped parcel on the seat.