Around half past nine I went up to Dester’s room and shut myself in. I took a suitcase from the closet and put it on the bed. I took off my suit and shoes and packed them in the case. Then I put on one of Dester’s dark suits that fitted me pretty well and a pair of his nigger brown calf shoes. I laid his camel-hair coat on the bed and one of his wide-brimmed slouch hats.
I lit a cigarette and began to pace slowly up and down. My nerves were jumpy, my heart beat heavily.
I kept trying to think of Marian and trying to imagine us in Rome together. If it hadn’t been for her, I told myself, I would have backed out at this last minute, but the only person I was kidding was myself.
I heard the Rolls pull up outside the house and I went to the window and looked out.
Helen had timed it to the second. It was two minutes past ten as she got out of the car. She was wearing a pale green summer frock, a small white hat and white gauntlets. She looked lovely as she swung the car door to and came up the steps and into the house.
A few moments later she entered the room.
‘She’s not back yet?’
I remained at the window looking down the dimly lit drive. ‘Not yet.’
She joined me at the window. ‘Well, this is it.’
She sounded calm, almost casual.
‘Yes.’
‘Are you jumpy?’
‘I’m all right.’
‘You’d better be.’
I looked at her. Her green eyes were glittering and her face was as hard as stone. ‘This was your idea,’ she went on. ‘You’re not so enthusiastic as you were. Get this girl out of your mind!’
‘It’s going to be all right, so shut up!’
‘It had better be all right!’
I turned back to the window. I saw Marian coming up the drive. She walked quickly, swinging her handbag, and as she came under the porch light, I could see she was smiling.
‘Here she is.’
‘All right. I’ll go down and talk to her.’
‘Don’t let her come beyond the kitchen door.’
‘I know what I have to do.’
I gave her a few seconds, then I sneaked out and stood in the shadows at the head of the stairs.
She and Marian were in the lounge. I heard Helen saying, ‘I’m taking Mr. Dester to the sanatorium now. I was expecting Mr. Nash back. He went out in the car about an hour ago to get some cigarettes. He may yet be back in time. I can’t imagine what’s keeping him, but if he isn’t back would you be ready to help me? Mr. Dester is very shaky. We may have to support him to the car. If you will stand in the kitchen doorway and keep out of sight, you can come to me if I need you. Don’t let him see you. He’s sensitive, and he doesn’t want help.’
Marian said, ‘Yes, of course, Mrs. Dester.’
‘I expect he’ll be all right. I’m going up now.’
I returned to the bedroom. The time was seventeen minutes past ten. I wished now I had left a bottle of whisky in the room. I wanted a drink pretty badly.
I heard Helen come up the stairs. She entered the room, leaving the door open.
‘Can you manage, Erle?’ she asked in a loud, clear voice. ‘Let me help you with that.’
For a moment I stared stupidly at her, not realizing she was already into the act we had planned.
‘Get on with it, you fool!’ she whispered fiercely.
I pulled myself together.
‘I can manage,’ I mumbled, making my voice deep and indistinct.
‘The car’s at the door,’ she went on. ‘You don’t have to get fussed. There’s no one in the house except me.’
I mumbled again.
Helen pushed over the bedside table. It landed on the carpet with a thud. The glass of water and the bedside lamp smashed, adding to the noise,
‘Steady, darling,’ she said. ‘Look what you’ve done.’
I mumbled again.
We looked at the clock on the overmantel.
‘Yes,’ Helen whispered.
I put on the camel-hair coat and the hat, pulling the hat well down over my face. I turned up the collar of the coat. Helen looked critically at me, then nodded.
We moved to the door. I paused and mumbled again.
‘But, Erle, if I turn off the hall light, you may fall,’ she said, pitching her voice well up.
‘It hurts my eyes,’ I said without opening my lips.
She went to the head of the stairs and turned the two-way switch up. The main light in the hall went out, leaving on only the four wall lights.
‘Give me your arm, Erle.’
We started down the stairs. I walked heavily and slowly, dragging my feet. My heart was banging against my side. Would Marian recognize me? I hunched my shoulders and slightly bent my knees, attempting to disguise my height. We got down the stairs into the hall.
The front door stood open. I could see the Rolls under the porch light. Helen had parked the car so that the light from the porch lamp fell only on the back of the car.
We went slowly down the steps. I could almost feel Marian’s eyes watching us.
‘I’ll open the car door,’ Helen said.
I put a gloved hand on the side of the car as if to support myself while she opened the door. I got in and she shut the door.
Then she said, ‘I’ll just get your case. I won’t be a moment.’ She turned and went back into the house. I bent and pulled off Dester’s shoes, ready to slip into my own shoes as soon as she returned with the suitcase. I heard her speaking to Marian. Then she came out, closed the front door, ran down the steps, got in the car, slid the suitcase to me, started the engine and drove quickly down the drive. By the time we had reached the gates, I had changed my shoes and had wriggled out of the camel-hair coat. I got out of the car, took off Dester’s suit and took my suit that Helen handed to me through the car window. I struggled into it.
‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ I said.
She turned off the car’s lights.
‘Don’t let her keep you.’
That was easier said than done, but I had to show myself to Marian: it was the vital part of my alibi. I ran up the drive and when I saw the lights of the house I slowed to a quick walk. I entered the hall and paused. Marian came out of the lounge.
‘You’ve got back?’ I made out I was surprised. ‘I thought you were going to be late. Where’s Mrs. Dester?’
‘She’s just gone.’
‘Gone? With Dester?’
‘Yes.’
‘Damn it! I was supposed to be here. I’ve had a hell of an evening. The Buick broke down. I’ve been all this time, trying to fix it. In the end I took a bus back. I promised Mrs. Dester I’d get back to give her a hand with Mr. Dester.’
I was aware that Marian was looking intently at me. There was a puzzled expression in her eyes.
‘Did he go off all right?’ I went on, stepping back into the shadows so she couldn’t get a good view of my face.
‘Yes. He’s only just gone. Didn’t you see the car?’
‘I must have just missed it.’ I took out my cigarette-case, then lit a cigarette. ‘Well, I’ve got to call the sanatorium and tell them he is on his way. Mrs. Dester didn’t call them, did she?’
‘I didn’t hear her.’
‘Look, you go to bed if you want to. I’ll phone from the garage apartment.’
‘Mrs. Dester said she wouldn’t be back before one o’clock,’ Marian said. ‘Won’t you stay with me for a little while, Glyn? I want to talk to you.’
That was just what I had been scared she would say.
‘Not tonight, kid. I’ve got to fix the car yet. As soon as I’ve talked to the sanatorium, I’m going back to where I left the car.’
‘I could come with you, Glyn. I don’t want to stay here alone.’