Veda closed her eyes.
‘I guessed it,’ she said wearily. ‘Of all the dumb ideas this is the dumbest. The girl’s a lunatic, my pet. Remember? She’s dangerous. She might kill us. Do you think I want to be killed?’
Magarth snorted.
‘You wouldn’t let a little thing like that stop me getting some money, would you?’ he asked reproachfully. ‘Besides, I can handle her. Remember the time I spent two hours in an orang-outang’s cage to get a sensational story?’
‘Well, the orang-outang wasn’t in the cage, so I don’t see that makes you very brave,’ Veda said.
‘Never mind,’ Magarth said impatiently. ‘It must prove something. Anyway, I’m not scared of a girl. Ever since I was knee-high to an ant—’
‘I know. I’ve heard it all before. But this is different—’
‘No, it isn’t. I’ve had a word with the girl’s nurse. What a cute little number she turned out to be! She has a figure like a Coney Island switchback.’
‘You once told me switchbacks made you feel sick,’ Veda said coldly.
Magarth leered at her.
‘That depends how fast you go over them,’ he said.
Veda kicked him through the blanket.
‘Well, what did the nurse say?’
‘She told me Carol’s got a split mind. She gets these attacks now and then — and more then than now. She’ll go for months being a sweet, normal girl, and all she needs is watching.’ He sighed. ‘Watching a sweet normal girl is right up my alley.’
Veda kicked him again.
‘You’re a rat,’ she said simply.
‘Don’t keep interrupting,’ Magarth said severely. ‘One of the trustees, an old crum with a face like a squeezed lemon who calls himself Simon Hartman, has shown up at the Sanatorium. And the nurse tells me he’s half crazy with rage that Carol’s escaped. He sees the trusteeship going up in smoke and six million dollars sliding through his fat little paws.’ He gave himself another drink. ‘And I’ll tell you something else. I don’t believe the girl is anything like as dangerous as they make out. I don’t believe she should have been certified. I think she’s been railroaded into that nut-house so old Hartman could collar the six million.’
‘Don’t talk such drivel,’ Veda said sharply. ‘John Blandish had her put away... three or four years ago.’
‘Blandish knew nothing about her. He wasn’t interested in her. Hartman did it all. Hartman looked after Blandish’s affairs. The girl was put away because she went for a lug who was beating a dog. Wouldn’t you go for a lug who beat a dog?’
Veda stared at him.
‘But she’s dangerous. Look what she did to that poor truck-driver.’
Magarth waved that aside.
‘She was protecting her honour,’ he said airily. ‘You wouldn’t know what that means, but let me tell you some girls take that sort of thing very seriously.’
‘All right,’ Veda sighed. She didn’t feel like arguing. ‘Have it your own way. You haven’t found her yet.’
Magarth tapped the side of his nose.
‘But I’m coming on. I’ve found where she’s been hiding these past days. I’ve just been there.’
‘For heaven’s sake,’ Veda groaned; went on: ‘I think I’ll have a little whisky after all. My nerves are beginning to fray.’
‘Not a chance. I wouldn’t waste the stuff on you. Just relax and listen. I saw a couple of guys tonight in a big black Packard They were asking for Steve Larson, who has a fox farm up on Blue Mountain Summit.’
‘I’ve seen him,’ Veda said enthusiastically. ‘He’s big and fair and cute and made my heart go pit-a-pat.’
‘Never mind how cute he is,’ Magarth said sourly. ‘Your mother must have been frightened by a pair of trousers just before you were born. You have men on the brain. Let me get on, will you?’
‘Well, it won’t kill me to listen,’ Veda said, closed her eyes again.
‘These two were asking after Larson and I recognized them. I think they’re the Sullivan brothers — professional killers.’
‘What do you mean?’ Veda asked, opening her eyes and staring.
‘If you wanted to get rid of anyone you’d get into touch with the Sullivan brothers, give ’em some dough and they’d do the rest; and that’s no fairy tale,’ Magarth said. ‘Anyway, I thought I’d sniff around and I went up to Larson’s place. It was deserted. The lights were on, the doors open, the Buick van was in the garage and the dog, scared silly, in its kennel. I went through the cabin and found this’ — he dropped a handkerchief on the bed. ‘I bet that’s Carol Blandish’s property. See, it has her name in the corner. And another thing: I found the trench coat belonging to Doc Travers’s chauffeur; the one Carol took when she escaped from Glenview.’
Veda looked intrigued.
‘But where does all this get you?’
Magarth scratched his head.
‘I wish I knew,’ he said, ‘but it’s a start. Larson has been hiding her up. These two — the Sullivans, if they are the Sullivans — have smoked them out into the open. That’s the point. They’re out in the open. Maybe the Sullivans are after them. I don’t know. If I can get to her before anyone else I’ll bring her here. No one would think of looking for her here. If I don’t find her, then I’m out of luck and our marriage is as far off as ever.’
Veda pulled him down, slid her arms round his neck.
‘It needn’t be, Phil,’ she said softly, nibbled at his ear. ‘I’ll give you all my money and then we can live happily ever after.’
Magarth pushed her away, stood up.
‘I may be a rat, but even a rat has its pride,’ he said, began to loosen his collar and tie. ‘Do you think I’m going to stand for everyone saying I married for money? Not a chance. Now move over, I’ve got to get me some rest before daylight, and when I say rest, I mean rest.’
Carol gripped the steering-wheel of the Packard, stared through the windshield at the bright blob of light coming from the headlights that raced ahead of her, lighting up the twisty mountain road.
Her heart seemed frozen, her brain numbed with shock and fear. In the light of the dashboard she could see Steve’s white face as he lay crumpled up on the floorboards, his eyes closed. She wanted to stop, but the thought of the Sullivans forced her on. She would stop in a little while, when she was sure that the Sullivans couldn’t reach them, and she prayed it would not be too late; that she would be able to do something for Steve.
The narrow, twisting road made speeding impossible, but she drove as fast as she could, skidding at corners, jolting the big car recklessly over potholes and ruts, her only thought to put as much distance between the Sullivans and herself as she could in the shortest time.
A few more minutes’ driving brought her out on to the State Highway and she sent the Packard hurtling forward. A mile or so farther on she slowed down, looked for a place where she could stop. Ahead she saw a clearing, leading to an abandoned logging camp, and she drove the car off the road, bumped over the rough track which led to a number of half-ruined shacks that had, at some time or other, given shelter to the lumberjacks.
Hidden now from the road, the Packard slid to a standstill and Carol bent over Steve.
‘I must keep calm,’ she said to herself. ‘I must control myself.’ The thought that he was dead or even badly hurt filled her with such dread that every muscle in her body was trembling and her teeth chattered.