‘If what you have to tell me is worth so much, I will pay you.’
He grinned uneasily at her.
‘It’ll be worth it. Let’s see the money, then I’ll start talking.’
She thought of the eight thousand dollars upstairs in her bedroom. He mustn’t know about that. He could over-power her, take the money and run.
‘You don’t imagine I keep a sum like that here? I will give you a cheque.’
He sipped more brandy, then shook his head.
‘No cheques. I want cash.’
‘That can be arranged. The Diamond Beach hotel will give me the money.’
He thought about this, then nodded.
‘Yeah. Well, okay. Then it is agreed: I talk, I get five thousand... right?’
She mustn’t let him think he was beginning to intimidate her.
‘Talk first, Jackson. It is for me to decide.’
He studied her, sipped more brandy, then set down his glass, his hand unsteady.
‘You’re a real toughie, aren’t you?’
‘Come on, Jackson... how did you find out this girl is Sheila Rolfe?’
‘She arrived on the same plane as you did,’ Jackson said, sitting back in his chair. ‘Acting on Rolfe’s instructions I was at the airport to see you arrive. When you left, Sheila came up to me and asked me if I knew of a cheap pad.’ He grinned. ‘I attract the chicks, Mrs. Rolfe. They are always coming up and asking me dopey questions. Then she asked if you were Mrs. Herman Rolfe. I asked myself why this chick was interested in you, so I got friendly with her. I drove her to a motel. I told her what my job was and that I was watching you. Then she said you were her stepmother so I asked her what she was doing here.’ He blew out his cheeks. ‘By this time, Mrs. Rolfe, she and I were very friendly. I get very friendly with chicks pretty fast.’ He leered at her. ‘You know that, don’t you? I got very friendly with you, didn’t I?’
‘What did she say she was doing here?’ Helga asked, her face like stone.
‘She had seen in the papers her father had come here. She had always wanted to see Nassau. She had saved some money so she took off. Simple as that.’
‘Did she see her father?’
‘From a distance.’ Jackson shrugged. ‘From what she told me they don’t hit it off.’
‘And Jones? Where does he come in?’
‘That little creep? Like I told you, he worked for me. If there’s a snake... it’s Jones. I offered him a hundred dollars to search your apartment. When he found and read that letter to Winborn, the little bastard held me up for four thousand bucks to buy his goddamn motorbike. Then you blackmailed me and got the letter back. Then you started real trouble by telling him you wanted him in Paradise City. He came crying to me, but there was nothing I could do about it and I told him so. I won’t forget the way he looked at me... like a goddamn cornered rat. “I’m not going,” he said. “I’ve got a way to stop her leaving here.” He often used my beach hut to keep a lot of junk he didn’t want his mother to know about. After I had shut up my office, I went out there and found him making this doll. He’s damn clever with his hands. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was stopping you taking him to Paradise City. He said it was Voodoo magic. I told him he was crazy. I sat there watching him. When he had finished the doll, he drove the needle into the doll’s head, then he began to bang on a drum. After a while, he said Rolfe was not too ill to travel. I again told him he was crazy. He gave me a sly little grin and told me to wait and see.’
Helga stared at the doll.
‘This is utter rubbish and you know it!’ she said angrily.
‘Is it? What do you or I know about these coloured finks who live here? It worked, didn’t it? You didn’t take the fink to Paradise City, did you?’
‘It just happened my husband became worse.’
Jackson shrugged.
‘I’m telling you what happened. Now I’ll tell you something else. Sheila came to my beach hut when I wasn’t there and she met Jones. They hit it off. Don’t ask me how he found out who she was, but he did. Maybe she told him. She liked boasting about her rich father. Now this fink is no dope. I told you he wanted to hold you up for five hundred thousand but you didn’t believe me. He had read the letter and he knew Sheila was coming in for a million. He also knew just how rich Rolfe is. He thought why bother with a million? Why not grab the lot? With Rolfe and you out of the way, Sheila would get a lot more than a million. She and he were already rolling in the hay. So suppose he could persuade her to marry him? That’s the way the fink began to plan, so first things first... he begins carving a doll like this.’
‘Did Sheila know about this?’
‘Maybe... maybe not. I don’t know.’ Jackson’s eyes shifted from her direct stare.
‘But he told you?’
‘Yeah. When he bust his arm he couldn’t get the doll finished so he came to me and offered to cut me in. He wanted me to get something of yours you had worn, but I wouldn’t do it. So he did it himself, then the little bastard got scared I would talk so he called up Lopez and told him I was having it off with Maria.’ Jackson wiped his sweating face with the back of his hand. ‘So, Lopez is looking for me and I’ve got to get off the island pronto and I need money. This is where we came in, Mrs. Rolfe.’
‘If you imagine I believe for one moment any of this, you need your head examined,’ Helga said quietly. ‘But to be rid of you, I will give you a thousand dollars and that is all.’ She got to her feet. ‘I’ll get my bag.’
‘Wait, baby.’ Jackson leaned forward. ‘I want more than that. You say Voodoo is rubbish. Want to gamble on it?’ He pointed to the doll. ‘Take that needle out of the head. See what happens. The fink said to get Rolfe out of his coma, he had only to remove the needle. Go ahead and do it! Then call the hospital.’
‘Oh, stop it!’ Helga snapped. ‘I’m not listening to any more of this damn nonsense. I’ll give you the money and you’ll go.’
Jackson studied her.
‘Wait, baby, don’t rush this,’ he said. ‘I’ve got something very special to tell you. I read that letter to Winborn. I know if Rolfe lives you are out in the cold, but if he dies, you’ll have no problems. You want the old ruin to die, don’t you? You’ve been sitting around, willing him to die, haven’t you? Okay, suppose you make an experiment? The fink told me — and baby, listen hard to this — that if he took the needle out of the doll’s hear and stuck it where the doll’s heart is, Rolfe would be dead in minutes. That’s how the fink was planning to get rid of you, once he had finished the other doll. Maybe you haven’t the guts to do it, but for five thousand dollars, I’ll do it. What do you say? You don’t believe in Voodoo. Okay, I don’t believe in it either, so let’s see what happens. You promise me five thousand if Rolfe dies and I’ll move the needle!’
Suppose it worked? The thought flashed into Helga’s mind. Just suppose this ridiculous Voodoo theory wasn’t ridiculous. Suppose this half-drunk amateur blackmailer by moving the needle killed Herman? The very idea was sheer fantasy but she remembered Gritten saying that twenty years ago who would imagine men walking on the moon? So suppose it worked?
It would mean she would be free, that she would control an enormous sum of money and she wouldn’t have to face the life of a nun!
She stared at the doll. It brought back the picture of Herman lying in bed, his useless arm propped on a pillow, saliva dripping from his slack mouth.
Suppose he did die? Wouldn’t it be a blessing to him?
A sudden chill ran through her. No! This was a con trick! So far the cards had been falling her way, but now... the joker in the pack!