“Lois, if you won’t tell me what’s frightening you, how can I help?”
“You can’t,” she said. “Oh, Bill, please.”
Roger raised his voice.
“Don’t let her go out the back way. It might be dangerous for her.” The words sounded melodramatic but that didn’t matter. There was another short silence and then ‘Bill’s’ decisive voice.
“I’m going to see who it is.”
“Bill! If you do I’ll never —”
She did not finish, for ‘Bill’s’ footsteps sounded in the room and the door opened. A young man stood squarely in front of Roger. He was well-built with untidy hair and clear blue eyes. He wore a tweed coat which had seen better days, baggy flannels and an open-necked shirt; he looked as if he had just stepped out of a bath.
“Well?” he demanded. “What’s all this about?”
“It’s not him !” The girl cried.
“Do you mind if I come in?” Roger pushed past ‘Bill’, who seemed so startled by the girl’s reaction and the obvious relief in her voice that he made no protest. Roger closed the door and stood regarding the girl.
“Who are you?” demanded ‘Bill’ gruffly.
“He’s a policeman !” Lois exclaimed. “He came to the office to make inquiries. Bill, send him away! I won’t say anything.”
‘Bill’ growled : “You heard her.”
Roger said briskly : “Supposing we behave like sensible human beings. Miss Randall will be hysterical in a few minutes if you let her go on like this and you won’t help matters by threatening to punch my nose.” He took out his cigarette case and offered it to the startled ‘Bill’. The diamond ring on the girl’s finger caught his eye. “I am a policeman but I am not on duty and my inquiries this afternoon were private ones. Miss Randall can help me; I hope she will.”
“Send him away !” gasped Lois.
“Lois, surely you’re not afraid of the police?”
“Will you tell him to go?” she flared. “Or do you want to send me to jail ?”
“Nothing you have done under pressure will send you to prison,” Roger said. “I’ve made it clear that I’m here in a private capacity, nothing you say now will be used in evidence against you.”
He heard a sharp movement in the room behind them, as if something had been knocked over. The girl turned and stared at the other door, terrified. Roger stepped to the door while ‘Bill’ darted to the girl’s side.
Roger stretched out a hand, but before he touched the handle the door opened.
He did not know why he was quite so shocked, although at the first glimpse he identified the man standing in the doorway. The man had a twisted smile on his narrow face. His hands were deep in his pockets, and he was clad in a narrow-waisted suit with padded shoulders, a gaudy tie and wide trousers. He wore no hat and his hair was carefully marcelled.
Roger thought: “Malone, for a fortune!”
“What’s all the noise about?” demanded Masher Malone, swaggering .forward and eyeing first Roger, then ‘Bill’ and finally the girl. “Hallo, honey, aren’t you pleased to see me? I’ve just come to take you for a little ride.” He looked at the men again and his lips curled. “Beat it,” he said. “You’re in the way.”
He stared at them insolently and with astounding confidence.
CHAPTER 12
MALONE EXPECTED them to go. It did not seem to occur to him that they would refuse. In his wide experience, Roger had met nothing quite like this swaggering confidence.
‘Bill’ stared open-mouthed at him, but the expression in his eyes suggested that his temper was rapidly coming to boiling point. The girl looked only at Malone; obviously she knew him, and was terrified.
‘Bill’ made the first move, stepping forward and speaking in a high-pitched, wondering voice :
“Who the devil do you think you are?”
“Bill, don’t argue with him!” exclaimed Lois. “Go away, please, both of you go away ! I shall be all right. He’s — he’s a friend of mine. Yes, a friend,” she repeated in a pitiful effort to sound convincing. “Don’t worry about me, Bill.”
“You heard her.” Malone cut across her words; he put his head on one side and peered at ‘Bill’. “I’m a friend of hers. Be on your way, boys.”
Roger watched the younger man and saw the slow metamorphosis. At first he had felt impatient with ‘Bill’, who seemed absurdly naive and young for his age, but the man’s eyes narrowed and his expression grew more shrewd. He closed his mouth and a wary expression filled his blue eyes. Then — the most surprising thing — he smiled faintly.
“So you’re a friend of hers.”
“You heard me the first time, I don’t want to get rough, so be on your way.”
“Bill’s’ smile widened.
“Come on, get rough,” he invited. “Lois isn’t leaving here with you, now or at any other time.”
