1953 - The Sucker Punch (15 page)

"If it's not me, it must be my ghost," I said, shoving my chin at her.

I wasn't in the mood to take anything from her this night.

After I had changed the wheel I had put the burst tire into the boot and locked the boot. During the rest of the journey back to Cliffside, my mind had been busy.

My murder plan was nearly complete by the time I had garaged the Rolls and had walked up the steps to the terrace.

I felt impersonal about it. What puzzled me was why I hadn't thought of murdering Vestal before.

Seeing her in the casement doorway, hearing her strident voice, killed any shrinking feeling I might have had of ridding myself of her.

"You've been with some woman!" she said furiously. "Don't you dare lie to me! Who is she?"

"Top Sergeant Jim Lasher," I said, grinning at her. "He may sing soprano, but at least he has hair on his chest."

Her hand flashed up and caught me on the side of my face, a hard, stinging slap that made my eyes water.

Women don't do that to me and get away with it.

I felt a vicious surge of fury run through me, and I grabbed her; my fingers dug into her skinny shoulders.

I had a sudden impulse to shift my grip to her throat, but luckily for me I didn't do it.

Two hands that felt like steel grips closed around my wrists and broke my hold. I was shoved back as violently as if I had walked into an advancing bulldozer.

"Take it easy, Mr. Winters," Police Lieutenant Leggit said quietly.

Instinctively I set myself to throw a punch at him, but his voice suddenly barked, "I shouldn't do that!" And that bark brought my hands down.

I shrugged my coat into place and fumbled for a cigarette. I was shaking with rage, but somehow I kept hold of myself. This was dangerous. I wouldn't have touched the little bitch if I'd known Leggit was on hand.

Vestal had vanished. That left Leggit and me on the terrace.

He offered me a light, and in the light of the flame we looked at each other.

"Women can be hell," he said easily. "Sometimes I feel like strangling my own wife, but it's not the best thing to do."

"I guess that's right," I said, and I was startled to hear how shaky my voice sounded.

"Well, maybe I'll go home now. Mrs. Winters was uneasy about you so I stuck around." He turned and walked into the lounge, I followed him.

"Would you mind ringing for my hat, Mr. Winters?" he went on, and I felt his eyes going over me searchingly I crossed over to the bell and rang it.

"The trouble with my wife," I said, trying to force a grin, "is she's a little possessive. I had a date with an old army friend of mine, and for some reason or other she seems to think I was out with a woman."

He nodded.

"Yeah. Women do get odd notions."

I began to relax.

This guy seemed to be a bigger sucker than I had imagined him to be.

"Oh well, we'll patch it up," I said. "She'll get over it. I didn't bring this guy to the party because he's a bit rough."

Hargis came in with Leggit's hat. He handed it to him and after giving me a quick, cold stare, went away.

"Well, good night, Mr. Winters," Leggit said, offering his hand.

I shook hands with him.

"I'd get rid of that lipstick you have on your collar," he went on. "Mrs. Winters may have eyes as sharp as mine."

He went out, leaving me standing rigid, my heart hammering.

chapter twelve

T
he big grandfather's clock in the hall was striking three when I cautiously opened my bedroom door and stepped into the dimly lit passage.

I stood for some moments, listening. No sound came to me except the steady ticking of my wristwatch and the deeper, slower tick of the clock in the hall.

I shut my door and locked it, taking the key. Then I walked silently along the passage and paused outside Vestal's door. I listened with my ear against the door panel. I heard nothing.

I went on to the end of the passage, then before turning down the cul-de-sac that led to Eve's room, I looked over my shoulder to satisfy myself no one was watching me.

I paused outside Eve's door, turned the handle and pushed gently. The door swung inwards.

I stepped into the moonlit room, closed the door and turned the key.

"Who's there?" Eve asked sharply.

I could just make out her outline as she sat up in bed.

"Keep your voice down," I said, "and don't turn on the light."

"What do you want? What are you doing here?"

I could tell how alarmed she was by the tone of her voice.

"She accused me of going out with a woman, and we had a scene."

"She doesn't know who?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing here? Go away! Leave me alone!"

"Keep your voice down. I want to talk to you."

"I don't want to listen. Please go! Look what happened the last time you came to my room. Please go at once!"

"Never mind what happened last time. This is important. How would you like to earn fifty thousand dollars, Eve?"

"What are you talking about? You must go, Chad!"

"Listen to what I'm saying. I'm offering you the chance of collecting fifty thousand dollars. I'm also offering you myself as a husband with the right to share sixty million dollars. What do you say to that?"

There was a long pause as she peered at me, trying to see my expression in the half darkness.

"Are you drunk? What are you saying?"

"You remember the other night you talked about Providence, and I asked you if you meant Vestal might get ill, meet with an accident and die? You said people do. Remember?"

Her fingers dug into the sheet that covered her.

"Chad! What are you saying?"

"Vestal is going to meet with an accident."

"How do you know? Oh, please stop talking nonsense and go away. She might come in any moment!"

I leaned forward and whispered, "I'm not going to wait for Providence, Eve. I'm going to kill her."

I heard her catch her breath sharply.

I waited as I had waited for Vestal's reaction when I had suggested the tax fraud. I had an idea that I could count on Eve, but I wasn't sure. If she shied away from the suggestion, I was sunk, and my mouth was dry as I waited to see what she would say.

She remained motionless for what seemed a never-ending time. Her hands clutched the sheet; her eyes, glittering in the moonlight, stared straight at me. I could hear the heavy thud of her heart.

"Kill her?" she whispered. "But how will you do it, Chad?"

There it was: the exact thing I was hoping she would say. I knew then I could go ahead, for without her, my plan wouldn't work.

I searched in my dressing gown pocket for a pack of cigarettes, offered her one, but she shook her head. I lit up, and for a brief moment we stared at each other in the flame of the lighter.

She was as white as a fresh fall of snow, and her eyes looked like dark holes in her face.

"How will you do it?" she repeated.

"Never mind for the moment how I'll do it. If I do do it, will you marry me, Eve?"

"Marry you? But how can I? I'm married to Larry."

"We can take care of him. He'll give you a divorce. With sixty million dollars to play with you can take care of anyone. Now listen, I'm not doing it unless you give me your word we'll marry within nine months of you getting a divorce. While we are waiting for the divorce, we'll go to Europe, and we'll live as man and wife. The moment she's dead, Eve, I'm not losing sight of you. I don't know how you feel about me, but I know how I feel about you. You're the only woman I have ever loved. You're in my blood. I'm not going to ask you if you love me, but I know you and I could be happy together. Will you marry me after she's dead?"

"If you want me to, I will."

A little too quick: a little too glib. Although I was crazy about her, I didn't trust her. I was sure she was still in love with Larry. I wasn't going to risk my neck, and then finish up with a double cross.

"Listen carefully, Eve. We won't only share the money, we'll also share in Vestal's death. It'll be murder. You will have to play as big a part in it as I. If you change your mind after she's dead about marrying me, I'll give myself up to the police. I promise you that. If I do that, you'll be caught too. So don't make a snap decision. If you like I'll come back tomorrow night to give you time to think about it. Would you like me to do that?"

She caught hold of my wrist.

"No. I'll give you my answer now. If you want me, I'll marry you, Chad. I'll be glad to—only—only it's got to be safe."

I slid my arms round her. The feel of her body under the thin stuff of her nightdress set me on fire, but this wasn't the time for love. Love would come later: nights of love. With a little patience, and a lot of nerve Eve would be mine for the rest of my days.

"Murder's never safe, but I have a plan that could be safe if I can rely on you. When I came in tonight, she accused me of going out with a woman. I kidded her, and she smacked my face. I lost my head and got hold of her. I wanted to wring her neck. It was lucky I didn't. That police Lieutenant was in the lounge. He came out and parted us. He made a crack about strangling his wife, but it was just eyewash. As he was going he made another crack about me having lipstick on my collar. The point is this: he knows Vestal and I have had a quarrel. When he hears she has met with an accident, he's going to jump to the conclusion that I've murdered her. I'm a natural for her murder. I don't love her. We've just quarrelled. I get all her money. I have everything to gain by her death. Okay, maybe it isn't a bad thing for him to think I did it, because after I've shown him I couldn't possibly have done it, he might begin to think it really was an accident, and if he does that, we're safe."

Eve clutched hold of my hands.

"I don't understand," she said, her voice unsteady. "It frightens me, Chad. How exactly will you do it?"

"Do you know what happens if your front tire bursts? If it's your left wheel, the car slews to the left; your right wheel, it goes to the right. It happened to me as I was driving from Eden End. I finished up among the sand dunes. It'll happen to Vestal when she's driving down the cliff road; but there's no sand dunes to break her fall."

Eve's grip tightened on my hands. She didn't say anything.

"I took her car when I went out to Eden End. In the boot is the burst tire. This is what I do; one of these nights she'll be going out. We'll have to take care of Joe. The stuff you gave her that made her ill; we'll give him some of that. She doesn't mind driving herself, only we'll have to be sure Joe is out of the way. When she goes down to the garage to get the car I'll be waiting for her. I'll hit her over the head, then I'll drive her to the top of the cliff road. I'll take the offside wheel off and put on the wheel with the burst tire. I'll put her in the driving seat and steer the car over the cliff. It's easy, but the refinements are difficult. As soon as Leggit hears what has happened, he'll think of me. I've got to have a cast-iron alibi; an alibi that's unbreakable, and that's where you come in. I have got it all doped out, and if you do what I tell you, we can't go wrong."

"What do I do?"

"The setup is this: I've got to be in two places at once. I've got to be on the cliff road and I've got to be in my study with you. We've got to have witnesses who will swear they saw and heard me in the study while in actual fact I shall be on the cliff road fixing the tire and sending the car over the cliff. They've got to be witnesses Leggit will believe. One of them must be Hargis. Leggit will find out fast enough that Hargis hates me, and if Hargis says I was in my study at the time of the accident, Leggit will believe him. The other witness will be Ryan Blakestone. He's respectable, and Leggit will know he's not the type to stick his neck into trouble by lying to the police."

"But how can you be in two places at once?" Eve said. "It sounds all right, but how do you do it?"

"It'll take patience, care and practice but it can be done. I’ll tell you what appears to happen: Vestal leaves the house say at nine o'clock. At nine-ten, you will ring for Hargis. When he comes to the lounge, you will come out of my study and leave the door wide open. He'll hear me dictating a letter on the tape recorder. He will see the back of my armchair, and part of my arm and elbow on the armrest. That's all he'll need to see to convince him I'm in the room. He'll imagine he has seen my head and feet: imagination fills in a lot of gaps. You'll tell him I want coffee. You will remind him Blakestone will be arriving in a few minutes, and when he does arrive, he is to show him into the lounge, but not into the study as I'll be tied up for half an hour. You'll go back to the study, leaving the door open. When Hargis brings the coffee, let him come into the study, but keep between him and my chair. Motion to him to put the coffee on the side table by the door, and sign to him to keep quiet. My voice will be dictating all the time remember. When he has gone, you shut the door and wait for Blakestone to arrive. He'll be along in about a quarter of an hour. When Hargis shows him into the lounge, come out at once and leave the study door open so both of them can see me in the chair. Tell Blakestone I am just finishing dictating,, and I won't keep him more than ten minutes. Then go back to the study and shut the door. That's all there is to it— think you can do it?"

"You said that is what appears to happen—what does happen?"

"I'll prepare a tape record. I'll dictate a number of letters and you'll play the tape back so Hargis and Blakestone will hear my voice. My arm on the chair arm will be easy enough. A coat and a wire frame will take care 'of that. We'll use the wing chair and turn it so its back is to the door. The voice, the arm and we can fix up a smouldering cigarette will be enough to convince anyone I'm in the room. While you are taking care of this end, I'll be on the cliff road changing the wheel. When I've done the job, I'll come straight back, get through the study window, put on the coat that they've seen and come to the study door. I'll apologize to Blakestone for keeping him waiting. So long as you don't lose your nerve and follow out what I'm telling you, this alibi is unbreakable. Now go ahead and pick holes in it." She leaned against me, and I could feel she was trembling slightly.