'Maybe he takes boxing lessons.'
Grierson said, 'You can't have been watching very closely. He kicked Lishman, and threw the others. When he hit them, it was like this.'
He moved his hand in the air, demonstrating a karate chop. 'That's right, isn't it?'
Tessa said, 'You're a big man, aren't you?' She turned to Linton. 'So are you. But you better watch out for that one. He'd clobber the pair of you.'
'You seem very sure,' Grierson said. 'I saw him,' said Tessa. 'But you haven't seen him since?' 'That's right.'
'This chap, Diamond. He's a friend of yours, isn't he?' Grierson asked.
Tessa nodded. 'He seemed to think you were fond of this-Reynolds.'
'He thought wrong,' Tessa said. 'Anyway, he was drunk.'
'So if we looked over your flat now, we wouldn't find him here?'
'Of course not.'
'I see.' Grierson smiled, using all his charm. 'Well, in that case, Mrs. Harling, I think we'd better just take a look around, purely for your own protection, of course. I mean, a chap like that could break in at any time, and as you say, he's a madman, and you never know what a madman might do.'
As he spoke, Grierson had moved into the hallway, and opened the kitchen door before Tessa could stop him. The kitchen was empty. Tessa forced herself to go on protesting as he examined her bathroom and bedroom. Then he turned to her at last, beaming comfort.
'There you are, Mrs. Harling,' he said. 'You've got nothing at all to worry about. You're perfectly safe.'
'Well, of course I am,' Tessa said. 'I told you there was nobody here.'
'Oh come now, miss,' said Linton. 'It was you who asked us to look around, now wasn't it? It's not the sort of thing we'd do without a warrant, not unless we were asked.' Tessa took a deep breath, and Grierson admired the rich heave of her breasts.
'Get out,' she said.
Grierson sighed. 'If you insist. We policemen are used to ingratitude. Look, Mrs. Harling, if you should ever see Reynolds again-'
'I won't,' she said.
'Life's very uncertain sometimes. If you should just happen to run into him by accident, ask him to give me a ring, will you?' He scribbled a number on a page of a small notebook, and banded it to her. 'Tell him he can reach me here at any time. You can tell him we know about a chap called Rutter too. And say we can help him. We want to help him.'
'Why bother?' Tessa asked.
'It's no bother,' said Grierson. 'Good-looking chap, was he?'
'He was drunk,' Tessa said. 'Then he was fighting. What he looked like didn't matter.' 'To him, do you mean?'
'To anybody,' she said. 'He was a man on his own.'
They left, and Tessa locked the door and ran to where he'd hidden the suitcases. One of them had been opened, and was empty. She wept for a little, and then began to wash the dishes. In the street outside, Grierson stared in disgust at the soggy imitations of Georgian brick.
'I think we just missed him,' he said. 'You saw the bed, didn't you? And the breakfast dishes? I think it was him.'
'Quick work,' said Linton.
'You're forgetting the circumstances. You shouldn't do that. Always allow for circumstances. Look. She's on her own. She's lonely-bored with heir own company and bored with her friends. She drifts-meets a few of the wrong people-like Lishman. She's not a whore but he treats her like one, and she knows his reputation. She knows what he'll do if she objects. So she doesn't object. She plays along and hopes for a miracle. And she gets a miracle. A knight in shining armor. A rescuer of distressed damsels. Who else would she bed with? He's Robin Hood, Sir Galahad, and Young Lochinvar all rolled up into one gorgeous six-foot package. 'A man on his own,' she said. 'What he looked like didn't matter,' she said. The poor kid's hooked.'
'And Craig? If Reynolds is Craig?'
'He'll know how she feels,' Grierson said. 'And he wants to five. By now he'll be miles away. But just in case he isn't, we'd better go back.'
They went through the building floor by floor, then returned to Tessa's flat. She opened the door at once, her face falling when she saw who it was. 'You seem disappointed,' said Grierson.
'Can you blame me?' said Tessa, but she made no move to stop them as they went once more through the flat.
'You still say he wasn't with you last night?' Grierson asked.
'You have a very nasty mind,' said Tessa.
'No,' Grierson said. 'Not on duty. There were two of you in bed. That's a fact, Mrs. Harling. Just a fact. Who was the other one?'
'I don't remember,' said Tessa. 'I have a very bad memory-for faces.'
'You can't act either,' said Grierson. 'You're not like that at all.'
Tessa flushed.
'Tell Reynolds I want to see him. I want to keep him alive,' said Grierson.
Tessa remade her bed, swallowed a couple of tablets, and slept. Half an hour later Craig came back into the flat, stared at the sleeping girl, and settled down to wait. After three hours she stirred; after four, her eyes opened, to see him looking down at her.
'You shouldn't-' she said. 'Those policemen. They've been back here once already-'
'One of them's still outside,' Craig said. 'They'll be watching you now. I told you what it would be like.'
'But I told them just what you said-'
'The dark one, Grierson,' Craig said. 'I heard the way he was questioning you before I got out. He's good. He knows I've been here?'
'I'm sorry,' said Tessa. 'I just couldn't hide it.'
Craig shrugged.
'It doesn't matter. When they came, I was going to leave you. 1 took my money and went out while you were talking. They searched the whole building before they came back here. Did you know that? Grierson's clever, all right. But he didn't have enough men to do a proper job. All the same, he should have checked the service elevator.' He grinned. 'Just as well for me he didn't. All the time we were playing hide and seek, I was thinking about what I was going to do, and it all came back to the same thing, every time. I don't want to be alone any more. If we play this right, we might just get away with it. There's a chance, anyway. A good chance. All the same, you'll be taking a hell of a risk, Tessa.'
'I don't mind,' she said. 'Honestly I don't. My life wasn't all that marvelous before.'
'And if things got too rough, I might have to leave you again.'
'I'll take what I can get,' she said at last, and drew him down to her.
This time she made love with a completeness, an urgency, that came close to despair, and when they had done, Craig slept, deeply, without fear. Outside, Linton watched, and was angry, and longed for his relief. Craig would be miles away by now, and even if he wasn't, why should he give himself up to Grierson? And even if he did, why should he help Loomis? He shifted from one foot to the other, and looked at a fat, dark cloud, heavy wtih rain. Grierson was all right in his way, but when it came to the boring jobs he always disappeared.
CHAPTER 8
Brady went to the hospital in the splendor of full evening dress. He wore medal ribbons too, the M.C., the North Africa Star, the Italian and Normandy Campaigns. Pinned beside them was a huge badge he'd bought on a visit to the docks. 'Look out, girls,' it warned, in lustful purple letters, 'I've been six months at sea.' Brady was going to the hospital ball, yielding to the threats and pleadings of the latest of his wives, but already he was making his
