She laid down the comb, turned slowly and faced me. Her face now was chalk white. There was something half hidden behind the white flesh and the bone structure that sent a prickle up my spine.
‘What did you say?’
‘You heard me,’ I said. ‘That was a stupid move of yours. You should be grateful to me for stopping it. You should be very grateful.’
‘Are you drunk? What do you mean?’
‘You know what I mean. You don’t imagine I would have stopped it if I had been sure it was foolproof, do you? But it wasn’t foolproof.’
She continued to stare at me.
‘You must be drunk,’ she said. ‘Get out of here!’
‘I know Dester has insured his life for three-quarters of a million dollars, and you want to get your hands on the money,’ I said. ‘You want that money so badly, you tried to kill him the night before last.’
That jolted her. She stiffened, and her face turned the colour of bleached bones. ‘That’s a lie!’ she said in a voice scarcely above a whisper.
‘You know it’s the truth,’ I said, watching her. ‘The night before last you decided to get rid of him, but I was in the way as all the other servants you have had have been in the way. Don’t think you’ve kidded me. I know how you have got rid of them so you could be alone with Dester. You thought you would have one more attempt to fix him, but you had to be sure I was out of the way. You left me stranded at the Foothills Club as you thought, and came back here and found, as you thought, Dester drunk and incapable. You were going to launch him in the car into the traffic and hope for the best. Only I wasn’t stranded and Dester wasn’t drunk and, besides, the idea wasn’t watertight.’
She looked away, reached for her comb again and began to run it through her silky, copper-coloured hair.
‘I knew you were going to be a nuisance,’ she said as if speaking to herself. ‘I knew it the moment I saw you. Well, what are you going to do about it? Tell the police?’
‘No, I’m not going to tell them. I am on your side,’ I said. ‘If I wasn’t I should have let you drive him down to the gates. I didn’t know he was faking. If he had been drunk and had hit something, you would be in jail by now.’
‘Would I?’ She looked at herself in the mirror, then put down the comb, opened a silver cigarette-box that stood on the dressing-table and took out a cigarette. ‘Why?’
‘Because there was no guarantee that he would have been killed. He might have been hurt; he might have come out of it without a scratch. Suppose he had told the police you had put him in the car? Even if they didn’t slap an attempted murder rap on you, they would have tipped the insurance company and that would have been that.’
‘I still don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said, blowing smoke at the reflection of herself in the mirror.
‘You don’t fool me,’ I said, stubbing out my cigarette and lighting another, ‘but okay, if you want it in one syllable words here it is: when Dester dies he will be worth three-quarters of a million. You are his wife. Unless he has willed the money elsewhere, it will come to you. You don’t want to wait until he dies naturally. For all you know he might outlive you. You have decided to help him into his grave. That’s okay if you can do it, but you don’t seem to realize how tricky it is. You have only to make one slip and you’ll kiss that money good-bye for keeps. You’re dealing with the biggest and the most powerful insurance company in the country. You have already made one slip. You’ve shown your husband your hand.’
‘How have I done that?’ she asked.
‘He wasn’t drunk. As soon as you left the garage he came to. He told me he wanted to make sure you would murder him for the insurance money and now he is sure. He said he is going to take care you don’t ever get the money.’
She lifted her eyebrows. ‘Did he say that?’
‘Yes.’
She thought for a moment, then she shrugged her shoulders.
‘Well, that seems to be that then, doesn’t it?’ She looked at me. ‘It is very touching that you should tell me this. Why don’t you go to the police and tell them instead of me?’
‘Don’t be dumb,’ I said. ‘I told you I’m on your side.’
‘Why are you on my side?’
I grinned at her. ‘Take a look in the mirror: that should tell you. Besides, I was planning to take half of what you got from the insurance company.’
She studied me, her face expressionless.
‘What makes you think you would have got it?’
‘You’re not stupid. You would have figured it was better to have half a bun, than no bun at all. If you hadn’t shared with me, I would have blown the lid off your racket.’
‘You couldn’t have proved anything,’ she said.
‘No, but I could have created doubt. I’ve been digging into your past. After seeing the way you handled Dester when he was pretending to be drunk, I can see how easy it was for you to tip Van Tomlin out of the window.’
‘He fell out. I didn’t touch him.’ There was a wary look in her eyes that told me I had jolted her again.
‘That’s your story,’ I said. ‘If I went along to the National Fidelity and told them what I had seen in the garage on Wednesday night and jogged their memory about Van Tomlin, you wouldn’t have a hope in hell of ever collecting Dester’s insurance. They would stick their best dicks on to you. They would investigate Van Tomlin’s death. They would make you sue them for Dester’s insurance, and they would cast so many doubts, paint such a picture of your character that no judge would find for you. They might even hang a murder rap on you. I’ve had some experience with big insurance companies, and you’d be surprised at the antics they get up to so they don’t have to settle a claim.’
She continued to stare at me. ‘So you imagine you’re in a nice, safe position to blackmail me?’
I laughed.
‘I was in a nice, safe position to blackmail you, but you’ve handled it so badly there won’t be any insurance money now for you: nor for me. Dester’s on to you, and he’s going to make sure you don’t get the money. You’ve got to face it.’
‘Have you finished?’ she asked, stubbing out her cigarette.
‘Yes, I’ve finished. I just wanted you to know where you stood. Don’t make plans to knock Dester off. Your only chance is to wait now until he dies of drink. Maybe he’ll have a change of heart and leave you the money in his will, providing you are nice to him. Why not try it? It can’t hurt you. Play ball with him. Win him over. He can’t last much longer at the rate he’s swallowing the stuff.’
‘When I want your advice I’ll ask for it. Now, get out!’ She stood up, facing me.
‘He said you were as cold as an iceberg,’ I said, getting up. ‘I don’t believe it. I’m tempted to find out just how cold you are.’
She didn’t move, but the colour of her eyes darkened.
‘We’re alone here,’ I went on, moving towards her. ‘Do you see any reason why we shouldn’t use this opportunity?’ I got within a foot of her, then reached out, putting my hands on her shoulders. Her hand flashed up towards my face, but I was expecting such a move. I caught her wrist, jerked her to me, twisted her arm behind her and crushed my mouth down on hers. For a long moment she remained rigid, not fighting me off, but her lips hard and unyielding, then she suddenly relaxed against me, her arms slid up and around my neck.
Around twenty minutes past one, I went into her bathroom and took a shower. I was feeling pretty good. My forecast had been accurate. She was no iceberg, and I wished now I had had a bet with Solly when I told him I could thaw her out.
I dressed in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom. She was lying on the bed, covered by the yellow wrap, her hair spread out on the pillow, her eyes closed, her breathing gentle and steady. Her face was flushed. She looked younger and more lovely than I had ever seen her before. I stood at the foot of the bed and looked down at her. Like a relaxed cat, she stretched, opened her eyes and stared up at me.