“You’re making me feel a little better,” Toni said. “I thought you were going to tell me I’m a snooping little brat.”
“Perish the thought,” Jake said. “I’m not going to tell you anything like that. However, I’m going to tell you that you’re a stupid little liar, Toni.”
“What do you mean?” she cried.
“When did you move your desk?” Jake said evenly. “I didn’t — I don’t know when I moved it,” Toni said, twisting her hands together.
Jake lit a cigarette, and said mildly, “You love Dean, I suppose.”
“Yes.”
“You’d like to keep him from getting hurt, then?”
Toni’s eyes became enormous. “Yes,” she whispered.
“All right, just relax a little bit and listen to me. You can’t see my desk from your desk. You couldn’t, at least, until yesterday or today. Now, your desk has been moved forward to a spot where it’s in line with mine. Coincidentally enough, that move corroborates the story about the diary that Niccolo told me. Curious, isn’t it?”
Toni wet her lips. “I–I don’t know.”
“Dean’s in trouble. Serious trouble. You aren’t doing him any service by keeping quiet now. Let’s have the story.”
Toni looked to Sheila, then back at Jake. “Dean called me yesterday afternoon,” she said, in a low, hesitant voice. “He asked me to tell you I’d seen you get the diary.”
“What time was that?”
“I don’t know. He was at Mr. Riordan’s apartment, though.”
Jake thought that Niccolo hadn’t wasted any time correcting his slip about the diary.
“Go on,” Jake said.
“Dean sounded upset,” Toni said. “He said if you asked me had I seen you get the diary that I was to say yes. And I was also to tell you that I’d told him about it. Then he asked me if I could see your desk when I was sitting at my own. I said no. For a few seconds he didn’t say anything. Then he told me to move my desk up enough so that it was in line with yours.”
“And you did, of course?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“No. I asked him why he wanted me to lie for him, but he just said, ‘Why not?’ and hung up.”
Jake said to Toni, “Do you have a phone?”
Surprisingly, she had. It was on a piano stool in the closet. Jake picked up the receiver and gave the operator Niccolo’s number. Toni was beginning to cry. “He’ll hate me,” she said.
“I don’t think so,” Jake said.
The phone on the other end was lifted. Jake’s hand tightened on the receiver.
“Yes?” It was Niccolo’s voice, low and guarded.
“Dean, this is Jake.”
There was silence. Then Niccolo said, “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m at Toni’s. Let’s don’t waste time. She told me the whole story.”
Dean was silent, and Jake said, “Are you still there?”
“I didn’t bolt for the door,” Niccolo said. His voice was tired. “Where are you now?”
“At Toni’s.”
“Well, do me a favor. I shouldn’t have dragged her into this mess, but I was desperate. Tell her for me she’s a good kid, and that I’m sorry. Will you do that?”
“I’ll do that,” Jake said. “Now let’s come to the point. How did you know I received May’s diary?”
“I sent it to you,” Niccolo said. “I wrapped it with brown paper, put your name on it, and dropped it into a mail box. That’s how I knew you got it, Jake.”
Jake felt perspiration starting on his forehead. He said, “Where did you get it, Dean?”
“I got it from Avery Meed, Riordan’s little batman. I killed Meed, Jake. I killed him and took the diary. Does that shock you?”
“You’re crazy. Don’t talk any more. I’ll come over and we’ll go over this thing. Will you wait there for me, Dean?”
“Sorry, Jake. Thanks, but I have other plans. I need a half hour’s start. How about a half hour for auld lang syne? Have a drink, smoke a couple of cigarettes before you call the police, eh, Jake?”
“I won’t give you thirty seconds unless you listen to me. Why in hell did you do it, Dean?”
Niccolo chuckled, and Jake could imagine the light in his eye and the cynical good humor of his strong and handsome face. “I have a sordid story in the balcony, doctor,” Niccolo said. “Jake, I killed Meed because I’m a smart operator.”
“Stop this neurotic babbling,” Jake said sharply. “Give me the story.”
Toni had come closer to the phone. “He’s in trouble, isn’t he?” she said in an anguished whisper. Sheila put an arm around her shoulder and held her close.
“Okay,” Niccolo said, quietly. “I’ll give it to you, Jake. But in exchange for that half hour. Is it a deal?”
“Go ahead.”
“Here it is then, in my own clean and sparkling style. I needed money, Jake. I liked the horses but they didn’t like me, Mr. Bones. I got in deep with some characters who weren’t interested in excuses or good intentions. Remember our first conference with Riordan? He said that May Laval had some dope on him. I was in a straw-grabbing mood, so I decided to see May. I hoped to talk her into joining me in a deal to pry Riordan loose from some of his cash. Blackmail is the traditional word, I guess.” Niccolo laughed drily. “Still interested?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. I went to May’s the morning she was murdered. But I was too late. A little man, whom I later learned was Avery Meed, was going up the steps of her house. He went in and came out not more than a minute later, with a flat book under his arm. I didn’t get the pitch. Anyway, I lost my nerve. I went home, but the next morning I met Meed in your office. By that time I knew that May had been murdered, and that the diary was missing. So I reasoned that Meed had killed May and taken the diary. The rest was pretty simple. I followed him when he left the office — you wanted me that morning but I was gone, remember? Anyway, I talked to Meed in his apartment. He had an appointment with Riordan and he didn’t have much time. Neither did I, Jake. I told him what I knew, and gave him an opportunity to join my little deal. But he turned me down. More than that, he reached for a phone to call the police. He must have been bluffing, but I couldn’t take a chance. I killed him and took the diary. Later that morning, I clipped the information in it that pertained to Riordan, and sent the rest of the diary to you.”
“Do you still have the dope on Riordan?”
“Yes,” Niccolo said, and laughed. “It’s plenty hot, Jake. But it didn’t do me any good. I sent you the diary because I hoped you’d tell Riordan. I thought it might put a little psychological pressure on him to know that the dirt had gotten into someone else’s hands. But I’m a bad guesser. I called Riordan the next night and made him a proposition. He told me to go to hell and hung up. And that’s just half of it. Tonight I called that character Prior, the government man. I offered him the dope on Riordan for a price, and he told me to go to hell, too. Funny, isn’t it?”
“Dean, you can’t help yourself by running now. You’d better face this thing.”
“You promised me a half hour, remember?”
“You’ll get the half hour,” Jake said.
“Okay. We’ll see how far I can get. I have plans but I don’t honestly expect them to work. I’m kind of disappointed in myself, Jake. Take it easy.”
The phone clicked in Jake’s ear. He jiggled the hook automatically; then he shrugged and put the receiver back into place.
“What did he do?” Toni whispered.
Jake looked at her for a moment without speaking. Then he said, “He killed Avery Meed.”
Toni frowned as if the words had no meaning for her, and then she sat down in a straight chair and began to rub her forehead. “That’s not — Dean couldn’t do that,” she said, in a puzzled, reasonable voice, and started to cry. The tears ran down her cheeks, but she stared at the opposite wall, sitting straight in the chair, and made no attempt to brush them away.