I got off the bed.
‘How about Gail Bolus?’ I asked.
‘She’s in your car, waiting for you.’
‘Doesn’t she collect anything for that punch in the jaw? She could sue for assault.’
Bannister gave a tired smile.
‘She could but she won’t. We know her. She’s been cheating the house for weeks. A punch on the jaw will do her good. I hope so anyway.’
‘If that’s how you feel about it,’ I said and shrugged. ‘Which way do I go?’
‘Show him,’ Bannister said to Shannon. ‘And neither the girl nor Malloy is to come here again. Understand?’
I went across to the door, opened it and found myself in a dimly lit passage. Shannon came pounding after mc.
‘Straight ahead,’ he said. ‘The door at the far end takes you to the car park. Now scram out of here, and don’t show your mug here unless you want it flattened.’
I turned and grinned at him.
‘I won’t,’ I said, ‘and don’t you punch any more girls in the jaw. One of them might get annoyed.’
He was beginning a slow, leering smile when I hit him. I didn’t give him a chance to duck. The punch travelled about four inches, and it had all my weight behind it. My fist bounced against the side of his jaw with a crack like the snapping of dry wood. As he began to fall I slammed in another punch to the same spot and stood back to watch him fold up on the floor. Then I grabbed his arm and rolled him over on his back. I had to work fast. Gates might come out to see what the row was about. When I had him on his back, I placed the heel of my shoe squarely on his nose and mouth and put my weight on it.
If there’s one thing that makes me madder than another it’s the louse who hits women.
III
I pulled up outside the gates of the Santa Rosa Estate, and tapped my horn button. It was now a little after one o’clock in the morning, and I wasn’t sure whether there’d be a guard on duty at that hour. There was, and he wasn’t Comrade Mills. The guardhouse door opened and a tall, thickset man in a peaked cap and knee boots, opened one of the gates and came out.
‘Is Mr. Cerf back yet?’ I asked as he threw the beam of a powerful flashlight on me.
‘Well, he’s back, but I don’t know if he’s seeing anyone. It’s kind of late, mister. Who are you?’
I told him.
‘Stick around,’ he said. ‘I’ll find out,’ and he went back into the guard house.
I got out of the car and fidgeted around like an expectant father waiting for news. Since leaving L’Etoile I had taken Miss Bolus to her two-room apartment on Jefferson Avenue, and had driven right over to the Santa Rosa Estate in the hope that Anita Cerf had come home, or at next best Cerf would know where she was.
The guard returned.
‘Yeah, he’s in and will see you,’ he said. ‘I’ll open the gates and you can drive up.’
I drove up.
The house was in darkness, but the regal looking butler was waiting on the doorstep as I ran up the steps. He took my hat without a word. His back was stiff with disapproval. Maybe he didn’t like me keeping him out of bed, or maybe he just didn’t like me.
We tramped through the big hall, along the passage lined on either side with suits of armour, into the elevator that took us up to the second floor, along another mile of corridor to Cerf’s study.
The butler opened the study door and said in a low, dismal voice, ‘Mr. Malloy, sir,’ ushered me in and shut the door behind me.
Cerf was sitting in a big armchair, a cigar between his fingers, a book open on his knee. As I crossed the room towards him, he closed the book and placed it on the table beside him.
‘Well? What do you want?’ he demanded, as aggressive as a pneumatic drill.
‘I want Mrs. Cerf, and I want her quick,’ I snapped back, matching his tone.
He stiffened and the mauve in his face deepened.
‘We’re not going over that again. I told that girl what would happen if you tried to drag Mrs. Cerf into this. If that’s all you want you can get out!’
I said, ‘That was this morning. A lot of things have happened since then. I’ve dug up something that connects your wife with the murder. It’s just a matter of time before the police get on to it too.’
‘What have you dug up?’
‘It’s a long story. Where’s Mrs. Cerf?’
‘She’s out of town. I’m keeping her out of this, Malloy. You can forget Mrs. Cerf. You’ll have no opportunity to talk to her. I’ll see to that.’
‘I’ve already talked to her.’
The cigar slipped out of his fingers and dropped to the floor. Muttering under his breath he bent to pick it up and remained bent, his face hidden for much longer than it takes to pick up a cigar. When he finally straightened, his nice mauve sun-tanned complexion was a shade paler, and there was a worried look in his eyes.
‘You’ve... what?’
“That’s right,’ I said, pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘You told Miss Bensinger this morning you were sending Mrs. Cerf out of town. The truth was, Mr. Cerf, you didn’t see your wife after she had gone out last night, and I don’t think you have an idea where she spent the night. You think she’s connected with Dana Lewis’s death. You may even think she shot Dana, and you’re trying to cover her up. It won’t work. And I’ll tell you why. Mrs. Cerf came to see me last night a little after ten o’clock. She wanted to know why she was being watched. I didn’t tell her. She offered a bribe, but I referred her to you. She left my place and contacted Dana Lewis. The two of diem went to Dana’s apartment. They arrived there about eleven-thirty. They were seen together. About twenty minutes later, Mrs. Cerf left. She took a taxi to East Beach. Nearly an hour later Dana had a phone call, and she left her apartment. She was later discovered by a guy named Owen Leadbetter, shot to death in some shrubs out at East Beach. One of my operators went to her apartment to make certain there was nothing in the apartment that would connect you with her murder. He found Mrs. Cerf’s necklace under Dana’s mattress.’
He had been listening to all this in motionless silence. His face had been as expressionless as the wall behind his head, but the reference to the diamond necklace was a little too much for him. The muscles in his face went suddenly slack and he nearly dropped his cigar again.
‘That’s a lie,’ he said, and sounded as if he were speaking through clenched teeth.
‘I have the necklace, Mr. Cerf. The situation is tricky because we had no business to take it from the apartment. But I’m trying to keep you clear of police inquiries. I have accepted you as a client, and I’ll maintain our guarantee of secrecy as long as I can, but how long that will be depends on how fast I can find Mrs. Cerf.’
He sat staring at me, his fists clenched and an ugly glitter in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
‘To make matters worse there’s another murder,’ I went on. ‘Leadbetter, who was responsible for finding Dana’s body, was shot this afternoon. He either saw the murder committed or else the murderer. I think he was trying to blackmail the murderer and the murderer silenced him. Anyway he was shot this afternoon.’
Cerf made a sudden furious gesture with his hand, spilling ash over his trousers.
‘I must have been crazy to have employed you!’ he exploded, his face turning a deep purple. ‘I won’t be dragged into this! Do you understand? I’ll sue you! Just because this blasted woman gets shot...’