nodded.
‘Yes… all right.’
She went out of the kitchen. He waited a few moments, then he went to his room. He sat down, loosened his tie, lit a cigarette and began to think.
He was still thinking when he heard Kit come upstairs and enter her room. There was a long pause while he waited expectantly. The lock of the communicating door clicked back and the door swung open.
She came into the room, closing the door behind her. Calvin sat motionless, watching her as she walked to an armchair and lowered herself into it.
‘Well?’ she asked, looking at him. ‘What is it?’
‘You say you want money,’ Calvin said. ‘Will you tell me why?’
‘That’s not difficult. I want it to get out of this dreary town. I want it so I don’t have to slave for the rest of my days. I want it so my daughter can live a decent life instead of working in the box office of a third-rate movie house. I want it so I can take her away before she is stupid enough to marry a small-time deputy sheriff with no future and no hopes of making any money. I want it to give her the opportunity to have the right clothes and right background to hook a rich husband.’
‘Why shouldn’t your daughter marry a deputy sheriff?’ Calvin asked.
‘If she does, she’ll have to remain in this narrow-minded, gossip-ridden town for the rest of her days. She’ll have to scrape for money as I have done when I was fool enough to marry a man who lived here. I know what it means. I’m going to take her away if it is the last thing I do.’
‘Maybe she doesn’t want to leave here. Maybe she even wants to marry this guy. Maybe she’s even in love with him.’
Kit made an impatient movement with her hands.
‘She’s too young to know her own mind. Once I can get her away from here, show her how the world really lives, she won’t want to marry that small-time boy.’
‘Just how far would you go to get your hands on big money?’ Calvin asked.
‘You mean the payroll?’
Calvin nodded.
‘I told you… I would take any risk,’ Kit said. ‘If you think I can help you and if my share is big enough, you can rely on me.’
Calvin drew in a long slow breath.
‘We’ll have to trust each other,’ he said.
She smiled.
‘You are frightened of me?’
‘Why shouldn’t I be?’ He leaned forward, his blue eyes gleaming. ‘I don’t know you. You could call the sheriff and tell him I’m planning to steal the payroll. Then where would I be?’
She laughed.
‘Where would I be too? I’d never do such a thing. I’ve been waiting and waiting and hoping and praying that someone like you would come into my life… a man who isn’t scared to take risks.’
Looking at her, he was suddenly convinced that he could trust her.
‘Okay, so you have yourself a partner,’ he said. ‘With your help, we could lay our hands on this money… three hundred thousand dollars!’
‘But how?’
‘I don’t know – yet. It’ll be tricky. I’ll be the first one they’ll suspect.’
‘So you haven’t even an idea, let alone a plan?’
‘Not yet, but I now have a partner and that’s important. If we are going to do this thing we mustn’t rush it. When
