There was a long pause, then she said, ‘Well, don’t sit there, staring at me like a zombie. What are we going to do?’
‘That’s up to you,’ I said. ‘If you can persuade your husband not to tell the police, we can still go ahead, but I warn you when Odette gets back, the police are certain to question her about the car.’
‘I must have the money!’
‘If your husband doesn’t talk to the police, I’ll get it for you.’
‘He won’t. After you telephoned, he said he wasn’t calling in the police. I didn’t even have to persuade him. He is prepared to pay so long as he gets Odette back.’
‘Well, if you’re sure he won’t talk, then we can still go ahead.’
‘I’m sure.’
I looked at my wrist watch. The time was just eleven-thirty.
‘I’ll find out what’s happening,’ I said and reached for the telephone. I called Renick. When I got him, I asked, ‘Anything breaking? Do you want me?’
‘Nothing yet.’ He sounded irritable. ‘We haven’t found her car. Malroux collected the money ten minutes ago. The Federal Agents are standing by. Give me a call around three o’clock. We may have the car by then.’
I said I would do that and hung up.
Rhea stared at me. She was very tense.
‘They haven’t found the car yet. With any luck they won’t find it,’ I said. ‘The next move is to get Odette’s letter to your husband.’ I took the letter from my pocket book. I had put the envelope in a plastic slip-case to guard against my fingerprints getting on the envelope. ‘How do you get your mail?’
‘There is a box at the gate.’
‘When you go back, put this in the box. Make sure no one sees you do it. In this letter are the delivery instructions for tomorrow.’ As she took the letter, I went on, ‘Be careful how you handle it. You don’t want your prints on the envelope. Use gloves when you take it out of the slip-case.’
She put the letter in her bag.
‘So you’re going ahead with this?’ she said.
‘That’s what you are paying me for, isn’t it? I think we can get away with it. At least, now I’m working for the other side, I’ll know the moves. If it looks bad, I’ll let you know. The set-up now is this: I’ll call Odette and tell her to come back tomorrow night on the eleven o’clock plane. She’ll be here around one o’clock. She’ll wait here. Your husband is to drive along East Beach Road until he sees a flashing light. He will drop the briefcase as he passes the light. I should have the money by two-thirty.
He will drive on to Lone Bay, expecting to find Odette. You will come here, and I’ll join you two at two-forty- five. We will split up the money. Your husband, not finding Odette, will come home. You and Odette will be there, waiting for him. Your story will be that after he had gone, Odette just walked in.
I’ve coached her in her story and she should be able to convince him. That’s the set-up.’
She thought for a long moment, then she nodded.
‘All right… then tomorrow night at two-forty-five here.’
‘Watch out for O’Reilly,’ I said. ‘Make sure he doesn’t see you leave. This guy is a police spy. From now on, anything he spots, to do with this set-up, will go back to the D.A.: so watch out.’
She got to her feet.
‘I understand.’
‘Fine. Now I want some money,’ I said. ‘I have to pay the rent of this cabin. Fifty will cover it.’
She gave me the money.
‘Then tomorrow night…’
‘That’s it.’ There was something about her manner that made me uneasy. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was there. ‘You watch out for O’Reilly.’
She looked at me.
‘You’re sure you can handle this?’
‘I wouldn’t touch it if I wasn’t sure.’
‘I must have this money,’ she said. ‘I expect you to get it for me – I’m paying you enough.’
She moved to the door, opened it, put up her umbrella and walked down the steps into the rain.
I watched her move across the sodden sand to the car park.
When she had driven away, I walked under the shelter of the coverway that connected all the cabins to Bill Holden’s office. I paid him the rent of the cabin.
‘Is the work going okay, Mr. Barber?’ he asked as he gave me the receipt.
For a second or so, I stared at him, not knowing what he meant, then I remembered and gave him a fatuous grin.
‘It’s going fine,’ I said. ‘I’ll need the cabin for one more night. Okay with you?’
‘Anything you say, Mr. Barber.’ He looked gloomily out of his office window. ‘I’ve never known such weather. It’s ruining me. Look at it!’
