her knuckles turned white.
‘There must be some other way,’ she said.
‘Okay, if you think so,’ Calvin said, watching her, ‘then you tell me. Once the money has gone, they’ll know it’s an inside job. So it has either to be me or Alice. Now you take it from there.’
‘There must be some other way.’ Two faint red spots showed on her cheeks. She looked at the whisky bottle standing on the night table. Calvin got up, lifted the bottle and poured a stiff shot of liquor into her glass.
‘You won’t have anything to do with it. It’s my job to fix Alice,’ he said.
He watched her as she again drained the glass.
‘You’d better go slow on that,’ he said sharply. ‘You don’t want to get drunk.’
‘I won’t get drunk.’
He put down the bottle, then sat on the bed.
‘I’ve thought about this,’ he said. ‘There’s no other foolproof way. You have to make up your mind whether Alice is more important than three hundred thousand dollars. It’s as simple as that. I’m no stranger to murder. I murdered a number of people during the war… not only soldiers, but civilians who got in my way. I have waited years for the chance of getting my hands on big money without a risk to myself. It was you who started my thinking.’ He paused, then went on, a sudden edge to his voice, ‘It might not be all that safe for you to back out now. You can see that, can’t you?’
She got to her feet and walked over to where he had put the bottle of whisky. She poured a stiff drink into her glass.
‘Are you threatening me?’ she asked.
‘You can call it what you like. You’re in this thing now with me. Give me an idea that will keep both Alice and me in the clear and I’ll listen. But make up your mind to this fact: I’ve told you too much for you to back out now. I’m reasonable. Give me an idea that takes care of your scruples and keeps me in the clear and we’ll do it your way.’
‘I’ll think about it,’ she said in a flat voice and moved towards the door.
‘Tomorrow I’m going to persuade Alice to take the bank examination,’ Galvin said. ‘We have time, but there is no need to waste it.’
Without looking at him, Kit went into her bedroom, carrying the glass of whisky. Calvin heard the key turn.
He sat there on the bed for a long time, smoking and humming tunelessly under his breath. Then suddenly, he got to his feet and began to undress.
Putting on his pyjamas and his dressing-gown, he went along to the bathroom and washed. Then he returned to his room and picked up a cigarette. He held it unlighted between his thick fingers as he looked towards the communicating door. He stared at the door for several seconds, then he put the cigarette down. Moving silently, he went to the door and gently turned the handle. The door yielded. He pushed it wide open. The bedside lamp was alight. Kit was in bed.
They looked at each other, then he moved into the room, closing the door behind him.
He felt a surge of satisfied triumph run through him. This was her way of telling him she would go ahead with him in this plan of his.
When he reached the bed, she turned off the light.
CHAPTER FOUR
1
‘The thing we have to make up our minds about,’ Calvin said, ‘is what we are going to do with the money when we get it.’
Kit and he were alone in the kitchen. The house was empty except for them. The old people and Alice had gone to church. Flo didn’t come in on Sundays. Kit was preparing the lunch. Calvin sat on the kitchen stool, away from her, a cigarette between his lips.
‘That won’t be difficult for me,’ Kit said. ‘I know what I’m going to do with my share.’
‘The take is three hundred thousand dollars. We split it down the middle… a hundred and fifty each.’
‘Yes… I’ve always dreamed of owning such a sum.’
‘You may have dreamed about it,’ he said, flicking ash off his cigarette, ‘but I don’t think you have thought about it.’
