Devious Murder (19 page)

He kept rambling on and on and hadn't even greeted his visitors.

‘We've just one or two questions to ask you.…'

‘You'll have to be quick about it. We're with Mr. Havenith now, working on the case, and we left him waiting for us.'

‘The case is solved, so you needn't hurry. We just want to ask you where you and Leo were on the night Charles Blunt met his death.'

Cairncross made an impatient gesture.

‘We've already told you. Both of us were here at the time of the crime, which I gather was about eleven o'clock. We were here and in bed. I admit it's difficult proving an alibi when you're in bed at the time a crime's committed…'

‘Will you stop chattering, Cairncross! Especially when you're not telling the truth. You and Mr. Leo were at Hampstead, visiting a place called
Mountjoy
.'

Leo, who had been standing there letting Cairncross do the talking, suddenly joined in.

‘Hampstead? What would we be doing there? I tell you, we were here. Cairncross will confirm that.'

‘He's already done so, but it isn't true.'

Cairncross grew aggressive.

‘Well, like it or not, that's where we were and we're sticking to our statement. You can't prove otherwise.'

Littlejohn turned to Cromwell.

‘Ask Treadwell and Monk to come in, please.'

‘Who are Treadwell and Monk? I've never heard of them. If this is a trick.…'

‘Why should we trick you? We're seeking information about a murder and you're trying to make us believe a pack of lies.…'

Cromwell returned shepherding in the two taxi drivers, but four men entered the room.

‘What the hell's going on here?' said the fourth.

He was a tall, skinny man with grey dishevelled hair and a fringe across his forehead. He looked tough and domineering and everybody stood still when he spoke. Yet he was not the blustering, plethoric, type-cast tycoon. An active man with cold light-blue eyes.

‘Who are you?' he said to Littlejohn. ‘And who are all these men? What's going on?'

Littlejohn introduced himself and Cromwell and suddenly Mr. Havenith grew more affable.

‘My name's Havenith, Wilbur K. Havenith, and I thank you for your assistance in this case. I'd like to talk with you both later, but get on with what you were doing. I won't disturb you. Who are these two men? Are these detectives too?'

‘No, sir. Two taxi drivers who are helping us with our investigations.'

‘Well?'

Littlejohn turned to the two bewildered drivers who stood blinking at the scene, as though almost blinded by strong light.

Treadwell was the first to understand what was required of him. He pointed at Cairncross.

‘That's him! That's the man I took to Hampstead.'

Monk stood still for one worried moment, swallowed air and belched it out dyspeptically. Then he pointed a crooked finger at Leo.

‘Same here,' he said.

‘So much for your alibi,' said Littlejohn to Cairncross.

‘Will somebody tell me what this is all about? Who wants an alibi?'

Wilbur Havenith looked nettled and ready to explode.

Then came an interruption. A young man, neatly dressed and well-trained, like a good retriever, entered and approached Wilbur Havenith.

‘What is it, Harry?'

‘Chicago and Frankfurt are both on the phone, sir.'

Mr. Havenith took with him a portable office and staff and transacted business all the time. It was business as usual wherever he pitched his tent.

‘Tell them to go to hell. I'm busy.

Harry, still like a good hound, turned and trotted off to transmit the news.

‘Now,' said Mr. Havenith. ‘What's been going on?'

He looked with irritation at all the men standing round.

‘Sit down, all of you. I hate men standing on one foot, then the other, and breathing down my neck.'

Cairncross and Leo, struggling to find words, sat down without an excuse and Littlejohn and Cromwell brought up chairs and made themselves comfortable.

Havenith turned on the two taximen.

‘Sit down or get out.'

They, too, drew up chairs and sat on them gingerly as though they might collapse under them.

Havenith sat down himself and faced Littlejohn.

‘Well, Captain?'

Cromwell corrected him.

‘Chief Superintendent.…'

‘This is rather premature, sir. I ought to tell you to wait until it is all fact. Now its part fact, part surmise.…'

‘That's all right by me, Mr. Littlejohn. Proceed. That's life, isn't it? Part fact, part surmise.'

‘Very well. It all arose out of Mrs. Havenith's diamond necklace.…'

Wilbur Havenith smiled grimly.

‘My diamonds. Mine. I bought them as an investment and whatever Julie has told anybody about them, she wears them because I say she can. If they're ever recovered I want them. I've got a buyer. She isn't fit to wear them. She's just trash.'

Leo and Cairncross both started to talk at once, so loudly that each drowned the other.

‘Sit down, you two, and not another word out of you till I say you can talk.'

And they obeyed him meekly

‘Go on.…'

‘Your purchase of the jewellery at auction, sir, was so much publicised by the newspapers and glossy magazines
that they not only attracted the small fry of the criminal fraternity, but a crook who was the best burglar in Europe.'

‘Who might that be?'

‘Charles Blunt.'

‘Never heard of him.'

‘That would have pleased Charles had he been alive. He didn't like publicity.'

‘And he stole my diamonds?'

‘Yes.'

‘In spite of the security work of Mr. Cairncross?'

‘Yes.'

Cairncross broke in again.

‘I was on his tail right from the beginning. After he got the diamonds I was still on his tail.…'

‘But where are the diamonds, then, you bum? You'd better shut up. We'll deal with you later. Go on, Littlejohn. And no more interruptions from any of you.'

He glared at Cromwell to show that he was included, too.

‘Blunt took a flat in the house next door to this. It overlooked this one almost fully. From the windows of his flat he patiently accumulated all the information he needed for his job. The layout of the rooms, the alarm system and its weak points.…'

‘Weak points? What do you mean. That system was foolproof. I saw to that myself.'

‘Mrs. Havenith insisted on switching it off in her room and slept with the window open.'

Wilbur Havenith ground his teeth and crossed to Cairncross, seized him by the lapels, dragged him to his feet, and thrust his face in his.

‘And you allowed that? You phoney, you fool.…'

‘I couldn't prevent her. She wanted her own way and if she didn't get it she raised the roof.…'

‘How did this fellow Blunt get to know? Was he allowed the run of the house, as well as spying through the windows?'

Cairncross made choking noises.

‘He couldn't have got into the house and examined the whole circuit. I don't know where he got the information.'

‘Where is your copy of the plan of the system, Mr. Cairncross?' said Littlejohn.

‘In my desk in my flat under lock and key.'

Wilbur Havenith turned on Cairncross noisily.

‘Littlejohn tells us this guy was the top housebreaker in Europe and always planned his jobs meticulously. Hasn't it struck you that he went over your flat? The lock on your desk must have been just a toy to him. Why didn't you put the plan in the bank?'

‘How was I to know he was a top-ranking crook?'

‘That's what you're paid for.'

Littlejohn interrupted the fracas.

‘You mentioned Blunt's having the run of the house, Mr. Havenith. He had the next best thing to that. His wife was engaged as a temporary maid here and gave him plenty of information about the place. She didn't think her husband was a crook. He told her he was a private inquiry agent, engaged by you to spy on your wife and Mr. Leo.'

Havenith chuckled mirthlessly.

‘That was clever of him. I never heard of Blunt till just now. But I got all the information I require from Morgan and his wife.…'

He was just working himself to a fury against Leo when Littlejohn interrupted him again.

‘You can settle this between you when the police have gone. Meanwhile, let me finish our business. My colleague and I have other work waiting for us at Scotland Yard.'

Havenith shrugged his shoulders, bit the end off a cigar and lit it.

‘Go on then.'

‘On the night he was murdered Blunt decided to finish his job and take the diamonds. He watched Mrs. Havenith and Leo leave the house with their friends. Then he entered and took the necklace. Mrs. Havenith was holding a quiet little theatre party prior to leaving for the country. She only wore the necklace on special occasions and this night it was left in the safe. I think Blunt must have obtained this private information from his wife. He didn't allow for the fact that Mrs. Havenith either had a headache or was bored with the idea of the party. However, she and Leo didn't even go to the theatre, but turned about and came home. Their return brought Cairncross to the house where Blunt was still operating and he found himself trapped.'

‘Why wasn't he detained and handed over to the police, then?'

‘Blunt must have made a bolt for it, and got away. Cairncross must have been in a dilemma. If he pursued Blunt, he'd have to leave examining the safe and jewellery until he returned to the house. He chose the right thing, I think. He pursued Blunt and left the diamonds until afterwards.'

Cairncross couldn't contain himself any longer. He was almost weeping with rage.

‘I told you, I'd always had my eye on Blunt. As soon as Mrs. Havenith and Mr. Leo left the house I went up to her room, closed the window and switched on the alarm.'

‘Wait a minute, Cairncross,' said Littlejohn. ‘Are you sure you did it right away?'

Cairncross was impatient.

‘I let Mrs. Havenith and party get away and then I did it.'

‘You gave Blunt time to get in the bedroom apparently. How else could he have got in?'

‘There are other places if you know where to go.…'

Wilbur Havenith almost shouted his head off.

‘But he got in, didn't he? And he grabbed the diamonds. Get on with it, Littlejohn. No use arguing with Cairncross. He's only making excuses for himself.'

‘I was thinking that myself. We haven't got a film showing all the details of the events that night, but I guess that Blunt escaped by the way he came, through the window in Mrs. Havenith's room. And Leo was there with her at the time.…'

Leo, hitherto obviously afraid of something which he didn't wish his father to hear about, had remained silent throughout the interview, now suddenly sprang to life. The blood rushed to his cheeks and he jumped to his feet and faced his father.

‘It's a lie. I was in my own room.'

Wilbur Havenith didn't lose his temper this time. He turned to Leo and spoke in a voice which made his son cringe.

‘You needn't lie, Leo. I know all about it. Julie has confessed everything. Down on her knees. Weeping buckets full… She's leaving for Texas with me in the morning and you're coming with us. That is, if the English police don't want you. I've a few knots to untie for you and Julie. She's packing already upstairs.'

‘We'll want Mr. Leo, sir. We need his help in our investigations. When I was interrupted, I was saying that we didn't know all the details of what happened on the night that Blunt was murdered. But we do know that he hurried away with the diamonds and took a taxi at Tolham Station. The driver is outside ready to confirm that. And the other two taximen present.…'

Treadwell, open-mouthed and wide-eyed at what was going on, prodded Monk with his elbow. Monk seemed so little interested in it all that he looked ready to fall asleep. Now and then he swallowed air and belched to ease the pain in his stomach.

‘That's us, Vic,' said Treadwell and Monk nodded wearily.

‘These two taximen will confirm that Blunt was followed in their vehicles by Cairncross and Leo. The two followed Blunt for different reasons. Cairncross, to his credit, was after the diamonds.…'

‘What did I tell you? I was only doing my duty.…'

‘Hold it!' shouted Wilbur Havenith.

‘… What Cairncross was proposing to do when he recovered them, I don't know.…'

‘Blunt hit me on the jaw as he went out. I'd that to settle with him too. I was.…'

‘I said, hold it! Go on, Littlejohn.'

‘… Blunt was on his way to a house called
Mountjoy
in Hampstead. It belonged to a German called Kaltbad, who, we suspect, was a fence used by Blunt. He was returning home to Germany the following morning and he and Blunt met at
Mountjoy
for their last deal: the diamonds. The house was empty and Blunt apparently thought he'd shaken off any pursuers he might have had and was going to trade his loot with Kaltbad. But it didn't turn out that way, did it, Cairncross?'

‘I don't know anything about it.'

‘You and Leo were there. You met in the garden of
Mountjoy
, but you had different reasons in mind. You've explained your reason, Cairncross. You were there to recover the necklace. Leo had a different motive. He thought Blunt was a private detective paid by his father to report on the behaviour of Leo and his stepmother.…'

‘That's right,' shouted Cairncross. ‘He thought Blunt was a private eye. He'd seen him peeping through the window at the flats. When he told me what he thought I didn't enlighten him. I didn't want him messing about in my investigation. Leo was scared stiff of what Blunt was going to report to his father and when Blunt disturbed him and Mrs. Havenith in her bedroom he was sure. I'm certain that he intended to kill Blunt if he got a chance.'