a tightness in my throat that made breathing difficult.
“That’s fine,” he went on, came farther into the room and closed the door with his heel.
“Well, you two certainly know how to pass the time.’* He moved to the centre of the room.
The gun pointed to a spot just between us. “Played it pretty rough, didn’t you?” he said.
“Didn’t it occur to either of you I’d come back last night to see what you were up to? Imagine
my surprise when I found one of the cabins empty.” He looked at me, his eyes glittering.
“What have you done with Wertham?”
Neither of us said anything.
“Is he dead?” He hooked a chair towards him and sat down.
“Did you kill him?”
“Are you crazy?” Della said. Her voice sounded as if she were speaking through locked
teeth. “He’s on his way to Paris.”
“On his way to hell, you mean,” Reisner said. “Did you really think you could get away
with this wet idea? The moment I saw you I knew something was phoney. Paul wouldn’t let
you travel with Ricca or anyone else all the way from Los Angeles to Lincoln Beach without
someone to keep an eye on you. You’ve quite a reputation for taking a tumble in the hay
whenever there’s an opportunity, and Paul knows that as well as I do.”
“How dare you talk to me like that!” Della said furiously.
“There were three of you in the car: you, Wertham and Farrar. One of you died,” Reisner
went on, crossing his legs. “This guy isn’t Ricca, so that makes him Farrar. It makes the dead
man Wertham. The set-up’s gone sour. You may as well admit it.”
“Wait, Nick,” Della said, leaning forward, her clenched fists pressed tight between her
knees. “You, I and Johnny can do a deal. No one but we three know Paul’s dead. Cut us in on
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half shares and we’ll work our passage. You can do with help now Paul is dead. You know
I’ve picked up a lot of his ideas. I could be useful to you, Nick.”
Reisner seemed surprised. He glanced at me.
“Where does he come in? Why should I cut him in on anything?”
“Take a look at him,” Della said. “Don’t you think he’d scare Ricca? He’s a gunman as
well as a fighter. You’d need someone like him around once the news leaked out.”
I sat still, listening, as surprised as Reisner seemed to be.
“And suppose I didn’t want to share?” Reisner asked quietly. “What then?”
Della licked her lips. Her face was still white, but she had steadied herself. She was
gambling with her last buck. You could tell that by looking at her. She was playing a king,
and only an ace could beat it, and she wasn’t sure if Reisner held the ace.
“Then we talk, Nick. We tell Hame, Ricca, Itta and Zoe, and let them move in. I don’t think
you’re big enough to handle them all.”
Reisner smiled.
“So he really is dead. Well, well, that’s the best news I’ve heard in thirty-eight years. Paul
dead, huh? And a damn good riddance. It’s something I’ve been praying for.”
Della’s hand closed on a yellow and red cushion lying at her side. She gripped it, a fixed
smile on her white face.
“When we hit that car, he was thrown out,” she said. “He broke his neck.”
“That’s your story,” Reisner returned, still smiling, “but suppose you two killed him? Has it
crossed your minds I could slap a murder rap on you both and make it stick? Hame would
frame you two for a grand. He’s a little short of money.”
I felt suddenly cold.
“That still wouldn’t stop the news leaking out,” Della said, but her face stiffened.
“That’s right,” Reisner said, “but maybe it can’t be helped. Now look, this is the way I see
