“Would that be Hare’s Investigating Agency?”
“Who else? I said the best, didn’t I? And when they find the man who killed my sister, that fool Terrell is going to look damned small!”
Val’s mind moved swiftly. It became obvious to her that Hare was now double-crossing this woman so he could blackmail Val herself. He had found out something that the police knew nothing about and instead of telling this woman, he had come to her with this blackmail proposition.
“Have you heard from the Agency yet?” Val asked.
“Not yet. I’m giving them a little time. I’ll hear... they’re smart.”
“I see.” Vat pretended to write something in her notebook. “But perhaps you have your own idea who killed your sister, Miss Parnell? This, of course, would be off the record.”
“There is one bastard who could have done it,” Joan said, brushing the cat off her lap and sitting upright. “That’s Lee Hardy. He threw her out and is shacked up with a pug faced bitch who calls herself Gina Lang. I’ll tell you something: Sue wouldn’t stand for any man throwing her out. It’s my bet she made trouble for that heel and he’s fixed her. I told that fool Terrell, but he wouldn’t listen. You go and talk to Hardy. You can tell him from me, I think he did it! Now get out of here!”
“Where do I find him?” Val asked, writing the name in her book.
“Oh, in the phone book,” Joan said impatiently and got unsteadily to her feet. “You tell your Editor I’m going to find the man who killed my sister! I can do without the help of his rotten rag!”
As Val got into the waking taxi and told the driver to take her to the nearest drug store, Lee Hardy sat in his office counting the money he had finally raised for Jacko and Moe’s get away stake. He had had considerable difficulty in raising five thousand dollars. His bank account was overdrawn and the manager had flatly refused him further credit. He had had to go around to several of his bookmaker pals and talk them into advancing sums until the sums totalled five thousand dollars.
He put the money in a brief-case and telling his girl he wouldn’t be back until the following morning, he left the office. It was a few minutes after midday when he reached his apartment. He had been worrying about leaving Gina alone with these two thugs. He didn’t trust them even after the payoff. He had borrowed a.45 automatic from one of his friends and this he now carried in his hip pocket. He felt a lot more sure of himself now he had the gun.
If Jacko and Moe managed to leave town, they all might escape this rap, he was thinking as he paid off the taxi driver, but the chances of them getting clear wasn’t so good. The police were now alerted. Jacko was as easy to recognise as an elephant.
Hardy knew he was in serious trouble. If the police caught these two, they would sing. They would implicate him the moment the cuffs were on their wrists. If he was to get out of this jam, he would have to silence them both. As the elevator took him up to his penthouse, he decided he would have to alert the police the moment Jacko and Moe left. He would get Gina to do this. He would kill them both before they reached the Street. He would then fire Jacko’s gun two or three times into his front door to prove to the police these two turned on him and had tried to kill him. Terrell wouldn’t be able to prove otherwise. The fact Gina had called the police should get him out of this jam.
The elevator came to a sighing stop on the top floor of the apartment block. The doors swung open. As Hardy stepped out into the wide corridor, he saw a tall, slimly built girl move through the open doorway of his penthouse: the door opened by Gina.
Hardy walked quickly across the corridor, catching Gina’s eye. He was in time to hear the slim girl say, “I am Mary Sherrek. I am from the Miami Sun. Could I see Mr. Hardy?”
Gina, her face tense, said, “He’s right behind you. I’m sure he’d love to talk to you.”
The girl turned. Hardy was struck by her beauty, but immediately became uneasy by the expression in her eyes. The steady, searching look threw him off balance.
He switched on his charm as he entered the penthouse and closed the door. Gina moved into the lounge.
“The Miami Sun?” Hardy said, his voice a shade too hearty. “Why, sure. I read it every day. What do you want? But come on in.” He entered the lounge and looked questioningly at Gina. She gave a slight nod, indicating that Jacko and Moe were in Hardy’s bedroom, He was quick to see the door was ajar.
Val looked around the lounge. There was a highly charged atmosphere that scared her. Both this girl, wearing lounging pyjamas, and this big man, seemed very much on edge.
“Sit down, sit down, sit down,” Hardy said waving to a chair. “Just what’s on your mind, Miss... what did you say your name is?”
“Sherrek,” Val said, sitting down, clutching her notebook and trying to control the thumping of her heart.
“Well, Miss Sherrek, I’m pretty busy. Just what is it?” Hardy said. He put the brief-case containing the five thousand dollars on the settee. “How about a drink?”
“No, thank you.”
“Get me a drink, Pekie,” Hardy said. “I have a thirst that would slay a camel. Now what is it?” he went on to Val as Gina moved to the cocktail cabinet.
Val really wasn’t sure how to handle this situation. She knew it could be dangerous. She knew there was something going on in the penthouse that these two didn’t want her to know about. She had seen Gina’s nod to a door leading from the lounge. She was sure it was some signal to Hardy.
“I’m covering the Parnell murder,” she said. “I understand you were a friend of Miss Parnell. I wonder if you could tell me about her... give me something of her background and whether you have any ideas who could have murdered her.”
Hardy sat down. His face became granite hard and his eyes vicious.
“I’m not talking about her,” he said. “She’s dead now. I know nothing about who killed her or why she was killed.”
Gina came across the room, swinging her neat hips carrying a large glass of whisky and ice. As she offered Hardy the glass, she said spitefully, “She was just an old, old flame that flickered out... a nobody... a tart.”
Val scarcely heard what she was saying. She was staring with rooted concentration, feeling a chill crawling up her spine, at the heavy gold bracelet around Gina’s slim wrist. From the bracelet hung a cluster of five miniature gold elephants.
Chapter Ten
The police search for Jacko and Moe had been intensified. Every officer that Terrell could spare was now thrown into the hunt. Somewhat late in the day, road blocks were set up.
Officers Tom Lepski and Bill Williams were told to go to Lee Hardy’s penthouse.
Beigler said, “You won’t find those two hoods there, but they might have been there. Get rough with that pug-faced girl. She might have seen something. Put pressure on Hardy. He could have staked them to get rid of them. Check his bank. See if he has made a big withdrawal yesterday or today.”
“We’ll go to the bank first,” Lepski said to Williams as they got into their car. “I’d like to have a few facts to ram down Hardy’s throat.”
Williams, a tall, youngish man who spent most of his time in the fingerprint department was resentful that he should have been taken from his safe desk and teamed with a crazy man like Lepski. He was sure Lepski could lead him into trouble. The thought of suddenly being confronted by two such vicious thugs as Jacko and Moe scared him. It was all very well for Lepski who had had years of experience handling thugs. He was unmarried and as reckless as a madman. Williams up to now had managed to keep clear of violence. Besides, his wife was expecting their third baby. What would happen to her if he got killed?