“He came in raving about you,” she told him listlessly. “Said you had let him down-turned against him. He was furious when I reminded him of all the things you’d done for us. He had some big deal on that he was awfully secretive about. He called somebody and made an appointment for eleven o’clock, then stamped out about nine o’clock saying he was going to give you one last chance to prove your friendship.”
“And you haven’t seen him since?”
“No. The telephone woke me up this morning. A telegram from Larry in Jacksonville.”
She stared past Shayne vacuously for a moment, a picture of dejection and hopelessness. Then she turned listless eyes upon him and asked, “What’s wrong, Michael? Why did you quarrel with Larry?”
“Didn’t he tell you?”
Helen Kincaid’s expression took on a spark of interest at the harsh tone of Shayne’s voice. She studied him with a puzzled frown, said, “No. He didn’t tell me anything. He never does-any more.”
“Didn’t he accuse you of being in love with me?”
She was startled. Panic showed in her big dark eyes. Sharp teeth caught her underlip tightly.
“He-he said something silly like that.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him it was too late for that,” she cried with sudden passion. “I told him I might have married you long ago, but I made a mistake and chose him instead.”
“For which,” said Shayne fervently, “I thank God.” Tears welled into her eyes and ran down her pale cheeks. She started to speak, but Shayne said harshly, “Don’t waste your cheap tears on me. I’m not interested. I admit I was taken in by your pretty face five years ago-just as you took Larry in. You’re no damned good, Helen. Any girl who lets circumstances rob her of her pride and ambition at twenty-six was no good to start with. You’ve nagged at Larry about money until he’s reached the state he’s in today. Whatever happened to him, you’ll be to blame. And stop your darned sniveling.”
“Wh-a-at,” she sobbed, “has happened?”
“I don’t know.”
Shayne lit a cigarette, got up and paced around the room, his features twisted into a frown of furious concentration.
Helen’s sobbing gradually subsided and she dabbed at her face with a corner of her apron.
“You-hate me, don’t you?” she faltered.
“No. I don’t waste energy hating people. I just can’t be bothered. You’ve let selfishness make you despicable. A whore walking the streets has more honor than you. At least, they give value received. You demand everything and give nothing. Look at you-look at this room.”
He stopped in midstride and pointed a long finger at her.
“You slop around the house like a gin-soaked hag. Larry was a good clean kid with ideals when you married him. You’ve driven him to-to be something else with your eternal complaining. I’ve watched it happen. And now-it’s too late.”
“What do you mean?” Helen sprang to her feet, stood tense before him. “What has happened to Larry?” Her voice was clear, commanding.
“What do you care? He carries insurance.”
Color flamed in her cheeks. Her breath came in convulsive gasps, then she slapped him hard on the cheek. “That’s a lie,” she raged. “I do care.”
“You’ve got a hell of a way of showing it.”
Shayne observed her with calculating eyes. With her cheeks aflame and her eyes bright with anger she was almost beautiful again. The muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched and he took a deep drag on his cigarette to keep from smiling.
She swayed back into her chair and covered her face with her hands. Shayne went to a window where he stood looking out.
Helen’s sobbing was loud in the little room. It rose almost to the pitch of hysteria, but Shayne kept his back stubbornly turned. Slowly the sound died to rasping, long-drawn sighs. She got up and left the room hurriedly.
Shayne remained at the window until he heard her re-enter ten minutes later. He turned to see that she had changed to a fresh dress, combed her hair, washed, rouged and powdered her face.
She said humbly, “Perhaps I deserved the things you said to me.”
“You did.” Shayne’s tone was uncompromising.
He went back to the needlepoint chair and dropped into it, stretched his long legs out in front of him.
“You’ve managed to mess things up pretty thoroughly for Larry.”
“I’ll make it up to him,” she cried. “I’ll-”
“If you have an opportunity,” Shayne grunted.
“Oh, why do you keep hinting of disaster without telling me what it’s all about.” Her eyes pled with him.
Shayne hesitated, then said deliberately, “From where I sit, it looks as though your husband tried to plant evidence that would frame me for a murder. Which is wholly your fault. You nagged him into trying to make a lot of money fast, and you egged him on with some nasty insinuations to make him sore enough at me to pull the frame-up.”
“But where is he? What-?”
“I don’t know. I wish to God I did. So far, he’s clear with the law. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep him clear.”
He paused, studying Helen with low-lidded eyes, then asked abruptly, “Are all your glad rags worn out?”
“My-what?”
Shayne made an impatient gesture. “Your evening gowns and wraps. You used to be a knockout when you got fixed up.”
“Why would they be worn out? I haven’t had a chance to wear an evening gown for four years, and-”
“Cut that,” Shayne growled. He frowned down at the worn, faded rug, tugging at the lobe of his left ear. “If you care a damned thing about Larry and want to help him, maybe I can figure out a way.”
“I’ll do anything,” she cried out.
“Anything?”
She colored and lowered her eyelids, then looked at him levelly and said, “Anything you suggest.”
“All right.”
Shayne stood up, sliding a bill-fold from his pocket and extracting a twenty.
“Spend some of that at the beauty parlor this afternoon-and get your glitteringest evening gown out of the mothballs. Can you arrange for someone to spend the evening with Dicky?”
“Yes. I can get a neighbor girl, but-”
“Don’t ask me any questions. I have only a glimmer of an idea. Maybe we’ll go stepping tonight-maybe not. I’ll call you. And if you hear anything from Larry, call me at my apartment pronto.”
Chapter Eleven: THE RETAINER
Shayne stopped in front of the Miami News building on Biscayne Boulevard and went up to the city room. Amid the noise of clacking typewriters and through the acrid haze of tobacco smoke, he found Timothy Rourke hunched over a typewriter in one corner, pounding out copy with a rubber-tipped forefinger.
He looked up, and a delighted grin broke over his elongated face as Shayne drew up a chair and sat down.
“Hi there, Shamus,” Timothy said heartily. “Committed any murders since I saw you last?”
“No murders,” Shayne had to admit. He lit a cigarette. “Anything new on the Grange killing?”
“Not a damned thing. Petey Painter is running around hunting clues like a bantam with his neck wrung. I don’t think he’s looking very hard because he’s afraid he might turn up something that would point away from you.” Rourke’s wide grin moved his ears a trifle.
Shayne let out smoke to becloud the atmosphere further.
“He’s always picking a victim and trying to fit the crime on him. What sort of dope do you fellows have on Harry Grange, Tim?”
“Grange? Not much except the playboy angle. Wealthy socialite wintering at the beach.”
Shayne said drily, “Any fourflusher who can pay the tariff at a beach hotel is a playboy to you birds. What do you know about Elliot Thomas?”
“Now it’s Thomas, eh? What are you fishing for, Mike?”
“Damned if I know, Tim,” Shayne responded truthfully. “What am I going to catch?”