‘Sure,’ Calvin said.
‘Then I guess I’ll be getting along.’ The sheriff tipped his hat to Alice who was standing by Calvin. ‘Good night, Miss Craig. Good night, Mr. Calvin.’
He walked away down the path, followed by Travers and Calvin shut and locked the bank doors.
He was aware that his big, fleshy hands were damp with sweat and his muscles ached with the fatigue of three almost sleepless nights.
‘Well, let’s get on with it,’ he said to Alice. ‘The sooner we start, the sooner we finish.’
‘Yes, Mr. Calvin.’
He watched her walk to her stool and hoist herself onto it. The lights from her shaded desk lamp reflected on her glasses. He stood for a long moment staring at her, realising that in less than half an hour, she would be dead and he would be responsible. He took out his handkerchief, wiped his hands, then went into his office and closed the door.
He sat down and with unsteady hands, he lit a cigarette.
The past three days had taken a toll of him. He was still not sure if Kit could be relied on. Each night after he had returned from the bank, he had found her drunk. She had been in a weepy, sexually excited state that had nauseated him, but it was essential to keep her in this mood and he had played along with her: hating her, but realising if she was to play her part, he had to jolly her along somehow.
As he sat smoking, he began to talk silently to himself.
‘This woman is neurotic and dangerous, I’ve got to use her, but once I have the money, what am I going to do about her? I have to have her now to impersonate Alice. I still have to have her to provide a reasonable excuse as to why we are both leaving town and more important still, why I am resigning from the bank. Without the money from the sale of the house, the Federal agents will wonder how I could afford to resign. Now wait a minute… let me think about this. Do I really need her for that? Suppose, after she has impersonated Alice, I get rid of her? Suppose someone offered me a good job, and as I’m getting nowhere in the bank, I decide to make a change. That would be an acceptable reason for resigning, but what if they check? I can’t risk a bluff… someone will have to offer me a good job… but who?’
He sat for some minutes, his mind busy.
‘Marvin Godwin… he owes me plenty. I was going to use him anyway in the original plan. His gambling joint at Las Vegas is a perfect cover for me to appear to make money. He’d fix it, but he would guess something was up… that doesn’t matter. If the Federal agents keep track of me… and they might… I could prove through Godwin that I had won a lot of money. As soon as they lost interest in me, I could leave Las Vegas and drop out of sight. Working in this way, I won’t need Kit once she has impersonated Alice. From the start of this thing, I had an idea I would have two murders on my hands. It could be the safest and easiest way out – to get rid of her. It wouldn’t be all that difficult. She takes a bath every night. I have only to go into the bathroom while she is in there and hit her over the head and then drown her. I would fix it I would be working on my car while she was taking her bath. I could slip upstairs without anyone seeing me, kill her and then return to the garage. She would be found by Flo in the morning. They’d think she was drunk, hit her head on the taps and then drowned. With her out of the way, I would have all the money and my freedom.’
He stubbed out his cigarette, frowning. He was rushing this thing, he warned himself. First, he had to get his hands on the money which was now in the vault, only twenty yards from where he was sitting.
He glanced at his strap watch, noticing the fair, thick hairs on his wrist were shiny with sweat. It was now eight minutes past six.
He lifted the telephone receiver and dialled the number of the rooming-house. With the receiver screwed against his ear, he listened to the burr-burr-burr on the line, then abruptly, Kit’s voice came to him.
‘What is it? Who is that?’
From the slurring note in her voice, he knew she was drunk and his eyes gleamed viciously.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked, keeping his voice low, mindful that Alice might hear him.
‘What… what did you say? Who is it?’
His fleshy, sweating hand gripped the telephone receiver more tightly.
‘Are you all right?’ he said, raising his voice slightly.
‘All right? Of course, I’m all right. Why shouldn’t I be?’ She spoke loudly and violently.
‘Keep your voice down,’ he snarled. ‘I’ll be expecting you in an hour. Leave at half past six. Do you understand?’
‘What do you imagine I am…an idiot? You’ve said this over and over again until I’m sick of hearing it. I’ll be there.’
‘Lay off drinking, will you? I don’t want you down here drunk.’
‘You’re lucky to have me any way,’ she shrilled and hung up.
