1944 - Just the Way It Is (19 page)

‘If a fella cuts himself, what do you expect me to do?’ Lorelli demanded. ‘Hang out flags?’

Schultz took the handkerchief off his lap and put it in his pocket. He was holding an automatic in his left hand.

Both Lorelli and Joe froze when they saw it.

‘What’s the idea?’ Lorelli demanded, harshly.

Schultz waved the gun at her and then at Joe. ‘Just a precaution,’ he said, with an oily smile. ‘I’ve learned to take precautions and besides, didn’t I tell you that it would be unwise to double-cross me?’

Joe said, ‘What’s the idea?’ He was careful not to move because he didn’t like the determined, cold expression on Schultz’s face. It was almost as if Schultz had made up his mind to shoot.

‘Never mind,’ Schultz said, getting to his feet. ‘We’re going on a little journey. I’ve got a job I want you to do.’ He jerked his head. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘You can drive the car, my pigeon, and Joe can sit beside you. I’ll sit at the back. I won’t be lonely

because I’ll have the gun.’

‘Well, if that’s how you feel,’ Lorelli said, shrugging, ‘I suppose we’ll have to go. You don’t mind if I get a coat, do you?’

‘I’m afraid we won’t stop for that,’ Schultz said, smiling again. ‘It’s hot out . . . you won’t need a coat, nor will Joe need a hat. You’ll come just as you are.’

Lorelli looked at Joe helplessly, but he gave no sign.

Schultz motioned her to the door. ‘Get moving,’ he said.

‘What are you going to do with me?’ Lorelli asked, now getting into a panic. She didn’t like the fixed, glassy look in Schultz’s eyes.

‘If you don’t get out of this room when I tell you,’ Schultz said softly, ‘I’ll hurt you and then Joe’ll have to carry you.’ His other hand groped and caught up the whisky bottle by its neck. ‘I’ll knock you on your pretty head with this.’

She suddenly felt weak and put her hand on Joe’s arm. He winced away, going pale and Schultz was quick to notice his pain.

‘More than a cut, Joe,’ he said, softly. ‘We’ll look at that later. Now, march!’

They went out of the room, into the darkness outside. For one fleeting moment, Lorelli nearly ran for it, but she remembered Schultz was an expert shot and she remembered, too, the look in his eyes. She climbed into the car and Joe followed her.

‘What are we to do?’ she whispered, as Schultz was climbing in.

Joe said, ‘Wait. He’ll slip up. Just wait.’

‘Don’t whisper,’ Schultz said, evenly. ‘It’s rude,’ and he smacked Joe on the side of his face with the gun barrel,

Joe sat forward, holding his face in his hand, his breath coming from between his teeth in a little hiss.

Lorelli had a horrible premonition that Schultz was going to kill them. She sat back against the cushions of the car, her fists clenched to her mouth, trying not to scream.

Schultz poked her with the gun. ‘Pull yourself together, my pigeon,’ he said in her ear. ‘Or I’ll get annoyed with you.’

With trembling fingers she turned the ignition switch and started the engine. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked.

‘To the office,’ Schultz said. ‘And step on it.’

The drive through the dark streets was a nightmare to Lorelli. She clung to the wheel, her eyes staring at the jerking pools of light thrown by the headlights. She wanted the car to go on forever into the darkness, because she knew that so long as she was driving nothing would happen to her.

The gun barrel rapped her shoulder. The sharp pain made her catch her breath and she squirmed away.

‘All right, all right, you stop here,’ Schultz said. ‘Don’t tell me that you don’t know the place.’

She stopped the car and sat huddled behind the wheel. Joe hadn’t moved. He sat, his face in his hand, leaning forward, motionless.

Schultz slid out of the car and stepped away. The gun jerked up, covering them. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Both of you out this side.’

Lorelli and Joe got out of the car and stood looking at him.

Joe’s arm began to throb and he was worried about it. If it wasn’t for that he wouldn’t have been scared of Schultz. Joe had a lot of confidence, but with one arm, it wasn’t going to be so easy.

‘Take the key and open up,’ Schultz said, tossing the key at Joe.

It fell at Joe’s feet. He picked it up and walked to the door of the poolroom. He unlocked it and went in, putting on the lights. Schultz had to give Lorelli a little shove before she would go in and she immediately ran over to Joe.

Schultz shut the door. ‘Across the room and downstairs. Be careful how you go. I’ll be right behind you.’

They crossed the room and with Schultz following them they went down a steep flight of stairs. They stood in a dimly lit cellar that smelt damp. There was also a strong smell of whisky and beer from the large vats that stood round the room

Schultz pointed to a trap door. ‘Get it open,’ he said. ‘Go on, it won’t bite you.’

Joe took hold of the small iron ring that protruded from the trap and pulled. It was too heavy for him and Lorelli went to his help. Together, they got it open. They looked down with growing uneasiness into a dimly lit vault.

Schultz watched them with a little smirk on his face. ‘Down you go,’ he said, softly. ‘Now is the time for you to start anything if you feel that way. I warn you, no one will hear me shoot, so you must please yourselves what you do.’

Lorelli said, ‘Paul, you can’t do this. What have I done? Why have I got to go down there?’

‘You won’t be there long,’ Schultz said, gently, ‘I just want to make sure where you are when I want you. I’m going to be busy for the next few hours. You’ll be all right down there and you’ll have company. Now, get down.’ His finger tightened on the

trigger of the gun and the hammer lifted slightly.

Lorelli sat on the floor, her legs hanging into space. The drop was not more than twelve feet and she swung herself down.

‘Now you, Joe,’ Schultz said, watching the boy with intent eyes.

Joe hesitated. He hoped that Schultz would have been off guard at least a few seconds, but he had given him no chance. He had been watching Joe the whole time, the gun never leaving Joe’s chest.

Catching Schultz’s eye Joe decided that this was not the time to start anything and with a little shrug, he dropped through the trap.

Lorelli and Joe stared up at Schultz as he padded forward and lifted the trap door. Then they suddenly heard a startled gasp from behind them. Out of the dim shadows a figure moved, slid away from them and crouched in a corner.

Lorelli screamed and grabbed hold of Joe.

‘There’s nothing to be scared of,’ Schultz called from above. ‘Let me introduce you. The lady in the corner is Miss Russell. Miss Clare Russell, late of the Clarion
.
You’ll all have time for a nice little chat,’ and laughing quietly, he let the trapdoor down

with a slam.

TWENTY

H
arry Duke drew up outside the Chez Paree, got out of his car and stood looking up at the dark building.

Somewhere down the street a clock chimed one.

The Chez Paree was closed and two patrolmen stood at the front door. They looked at Duke suspiciously. One of them came down the steps.

‘What do you want?’ he asked, looking Duke up and down.

‘Why, it’s closed,’ Duke said, looking beyond the patrolman at the building. ‘What’s the idea? I wanted a drink.’

‘You’d better come inside. The sergeant might like a word with you,’ the patrolman said, grimly. ‘Come on.’

Duke fell in step beside him. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘If it’s O’Malley, he might dig me up a drink.’

The patrolman looked at him closely. ‘I’ve seen you before somewhere, ain’t I?’ he asked.

‘Duke . . . Harry Duke’s the name.’

The patrolman relaxed. ‘Why, Mr. Duke, I didn’t recognize you. The sarg’ll be pleased to see you.’

They came up to the door and the other patrolman looked at Duke with interest.

‘It’s Mr. Duke,’ his companion said to him. ‘Wants to see the sarg.’

‘Go right in,’ Stone said, pushing open the door. ‘He’s in the office up on the left.’

Fleming, the other patrolman, cleared his throat as Duke walked into the hall. ‘Mr. Duke, you’ll pardon me, but how do you fancy Daybreak for tomorrow? Sarge says he looks good and I wanted to make myself a little dough for the weekend.’

‘He looks fine,’ Duke said, airily, ‘I’ve never seen a finer horse in the stable. Take the stable away and he’ll fall down.’ He crossed the hall, leaving the two patrolmen gaping after him.

He found O’Malley in Bellman’s office wandering around, smoking one of Bellman’s cigars.

The police sergeant seemed surprised to see him.

‘Hello, sarg,’ Duke said with a smile. ‘They said you were up here.’

‘Hey!’ O’Malley said, his red face darkening. ‘What about that licence number you got me to turn up.’

‘Forget it,’ Duke returned, his eyes busy round the room. They had taken Bellman’s body and the place looked as if they’d given it a thorough combing. ‘She was a nice-looking kid and I thought after all I’ve done for you, you might just as well do

something for me.’ He sat on the edge of the desk. ‘I hear you think Daybreak looks good.’

O’Malley’s eyes popped. ‘Well, doesn’t it?’ he asked, anxiously.

‘You’d better give up picking winners, you just haven’t got the feeling for them. Cigars broke that horse’s wind years ago. Get on to Hottentot. You can’t go wrong.’

O’Malley closed his eyes. ‘Gee!’ he said. That was close. I nearly put my week’s rent on Daybreak.’

‘Well, why don’t you ask next time? You know I don’t mind giving you boys a break. Besides, it’s a good thing to keep in with the cops, ain’t it?’

O’Malley looked at him. ‘Can I go the limit on this Hottentot?’ he asked.

‘Sure, I’ll put the bet on myself. What do you want? A grand?’

O’Malley blinked. ‘I ain’t got a grand,’ he said.

‘Okay, I’ll put you on for a grand.’

There was a short pause and then O’Malley looked away. ‘It’ll be tough if it loses,’ he muttered, loud enough for Duke to hear.

Duke watched him closely. ‘Tough for me,’ he said. ‘But it’ll win all right.’

O’Malley brightened. ‘You come in here pretty often, don’t you, Mr. Duke?’ he said, after another pause.

‘In here? You mean in this actual room?’

‘Yeah. There were some fresh fingerprints of your on the desk. I know that little burn you’ve got on your right forefinger.’

Duke didn’t say anything.

‘Doc says Bellman knocked himself off, so I didn’t think I’d complicate the case with your prints. I got rid of them.’

Duke drew in a little breath. ‘I suppose Hallahan knows about them?’ he asked, casually.

O’Malley shook his head. ‘I don’t tell Hallahan more than he needs to know,’ he said. ‘Just thought I might save you some trouble.’

‘Thanks.’ Duke remembered the many tips he had given O’Malley in the past and was glad that he had done so. ‘Well, I looked in to see Kells,’ he went on. ‘Is he around?’

O’Malley shook his head. ‘He’s over at the Western Turkish Baths,’ he said. ‘He’s spending the night there.’

‘I wanted to see him. I’d better get over there,’ Duke said. He looked round the room. ‘I suppose this joint’ll be up for sale?’

O’Malley shrugged. ‘Not my idea of an investment,’ he returned. ‘I like a joint where you can spit on the floor.’

‘Oh, you can spit here if you like. They only charge you more for it.’ Duke went over to the door. ‘So long, pal. I’ll fix that bet for you. You’ll have quite a time spending your winnings.’ He nodded and went out.

At the foot of the stairs, Fleming and Stone were waiting for him. ‘How about this Daybreak?’ they asked, anxiously.

‘Hottentot,’ Duke returned, feeling that he might as well keep in with the whole force while he was about it. ‘Get your shirts on him, boys, it’s a cinch.’

He left the club and drove over to the Western Turkish Baths.

The Negro attendant’s face lit up when he saw him. ‘Ain’t seen you for a long time, Mr. Duke, boss,’ he said.

‘I haven’t had time to get drunk recently,’ Duke said, regretfully. ‘Seen Mr. Kells?’

‘Why sure, boss, he’s in the hot room now.’

‘That’s fine. I’ll join him How’s trade . . . quiet?’

‘It’s slow tonight. You and Mr. Kells are the only two I’ve seen in the last couple of hours.’

‘I’ll probably stay the rest of the night,’ Duke said. ‘It’s late enough now. That okay?’

‘You suit yourself, Mr. Duke, boss. Can I order you breakfast?’

‘Yeah. I’ll want it early. Let me have a tenderloin steak, fried eggs and a coffee, will you? I’ve got a lot of things to do tomorrow morning.’

‘Okay, boss, I’ll fix it,’ the Negro said, handing out towels and a bathrobe. ‘You know your way?’

Duke nodded and went into the changing room. While he was undressing he thought about Clare. Where was she? She could, of course, be tucked up in her bed oblivious of his anxiety. She might be at the Clarion office pounding out the story of Bellman’s sensational suicide. But he doubted it. She might be scared and have left town or she might be kidnapped. These were the most likely ideas, he thought. If she had left town there was nothing to do except wait until the news got round that Bellman had committed suicide. If she’d been kidnapped, there was nothing to be done about it until he could determine the most likely people who could have done it. If she was kidnapped, it meant that she had seen Bellman’s killer. There were ugly possibilities that she might, herself, be dead. Duke didn’t like to think about that.

He wrapped a towel round his middle, lit a cigar and wandered down the passage into the hot room He found Kells lolling back in a canvas deck chair, a towel across his knees. He was asleep.

Duke felt tired too, but he had to talk to Kells. He drew up another deck chair and sat down close beside Kells.

‘Hey!’ he shouted in Kells’ ear, ‘the place is on fire!’

Kells opened his eyes and looked at him sleepily. ‘Oh, it’s you,’ he said in disgust, and closed his eyes again.

Duke admired his nerve. ‘I want to talk to you,’ he said. ‘Wake up. This is important.’

Kells sighed and opened his eyes again. ‘Got a cigar for me?’ he asked, hopefully.