two gulps, then sputtered, and her eyes watered. But the strong potion gave her a lift, and her voice was quiet and resolute as she began her story.
“Like I said, I didn’t know what the little strip of cardboard was when Mace gave it to me to keep for him. He thought he’d draw a short rap, but they hung a five-to-eight on him. Well, I didn’t think much about it-I couldn’t make out what the parts of words and figures meant-until a couple of weeks ago.
“Then a man came to see me in New York. His name was Harry Houseman. He said Mace had sent him. He’d been Mace’s cellmate and was just released after doing his time. He said I was to give him the piece of cardboard- that Mace had said for me to. So I did.”
“For how much?” Shayne asked caustically.
She widened her eyes. “What?”
“How much did you get for it?”
“What makes you think-”
“You’re not the type to pass it over for nothing. You knew it must be valuable. How much did you charge Houseman?”
Color spread over her face. She took another drink of cognac, then said defiantly, “Well, why not? Sure, I knew it must be valuable. I deserved anything I could get out of Mace. God knows he never supported me. Most of the time I had to support him. And he didn’t leave me a dime to live on-”
“Don’t justify yourself to me,” Shayne interrupted impatiently. “How much did Houseman pay you?”
“A thousand dollars. And he haggled about it for two days. The lug. He swore it wasn’t worth that much.”
“One grand?” Shayne whistled. “You evidently didn’t know what it represented.”
“No. That’s what Jim said. Jim Lacy. He came around a couple of days later raving about me practically giving it away. That was the first time I knew-that Lacy knew anything about it. And he hadn’t known until then that Mace had left it with me.”
“Houseman had gone to Lacy to arrange the payoff,” Shayne surmised.
“That’s right. That’s exactly the way it was. Well, Jim said I might as well come down to Miami with him and maybe I could persuade Houseman to give me a bigger split-or we might work on him together-refuse to go in with him unless he agreed to take a smaller cut. Like Jim said, Houseman really didn’t deserve any of it. He’d just horned in and sold me a bill of goods.”
“And Houseman’s in Miami, too?” Shayne asked softly.
“Yes. He’s here.”
“Where?”
“I-why should I tell you everything?” Helen suddenly became defiant. “How do I know you won’t take the whole thing into court?”
“You don’t.”
“Well, then-”
“You’re out anyway,” Shayne argued. “What have you got to lose? You’re on the outside. Lacy’s dead-”
“And you’ve got Lacy’s piece,” she charged. “I heard you admit it to your friend there.”
“Maybe I have. Tell me where I can find Houseman and I’ll see if I can fix a deal with him.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“I tell you, you’re out in the cold. Hell, I covered you in Morgan’s murder. Isn’t that enough?”
“I can’t live on that.”
“You’ll keep on living,” Shayne reminded her. “Which is more than you might have done if I’d turned you over to the law tonight.”
“But that’s already done,” she pointed out. “You can’t change your story now. And it’d be just about as tough on you as on me if you did tell the truth.”
“So,” said Shayne slowly, “I don’t get any credit for that?”
“Credit?” She spoke with a strident note of scorn. “You can have all the credit you want. All I’m interested in is the cash.”
Shayne studied her for a moment. Then he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t need your information. Houseman has already come to me. He had to.”
Helen hesitated, turning the glass around in her fingers. “That advertisement I heard you phone to the paper-was that it?”
Shayne nodded.
“You’re a fool if you sell out for a thousand,” she cried.
“You sold him Mace’s part for that.”
“But that was before I knew what it was worth. Can’t you see that you’ve got Houseman where you want him? He’ll pay ten-maybe fifty times a thousand if you hold out.”
“I’m not in a position to hold out,” Shayne said tonelessly. “He’s got my wife.”
“Your wife? You mean-”
“So he’s got me where he wants me, too,” Shayne explained. “I took a chance by demanding a grand extra-a little something to pay expenses.”
She looked tragically disappointed. “You’re a fool if you don’t collect big. Suppose he has got your wife? She’s no good to him.”
“Except to make me come across.”
“Oh, he’ll bluff with her, of course. But you can bluff right back. All you’ve got to do is make him believe you don’t care what happens to your wife. That won’t be hard for you. You know what they say about you in Miami-that you’d sell your own mother out for enough money.”
Shayne’s gaunt features tightened. “Yes,” he admitted. “I know that’s what they say about me.” He frowned, then asked, “What about the third man in the deal?”
Her hands stopped twisting the handkerchief in her lap. They started again after lying quiet for a moment. “What about him?” she asked with seeming casualness, but Shayne was aware of a note of caution in her voice.
“Is he here-ready to co-operate with us?” Shayne asked.
“I don’t know anything about him.”
“You weren’t going to lie to me,” Shayne reminded her once more.
“I’m not lying. I’ve told you all I know.”
“Who killed Lacy?”
“I don’t know that either. Houseman, I suppose. Or he had it done. He wanted to horn in and take all the profits.” She drained her glass and got up. “I’d better be going.”
Shayne stayed in his chair. “Where?”
“To my apartment.”
“The local law,” Shayne warned her, “will likely have that joint covered by this time. They’re going to ask you a lot of questions if they find you.”
She hesitated. Her lips trembled piteously and her eyes were downcast. “I suppose-you don’t want me to stay here?”
“And have you found here-after I’m supposed to have killed your husband tonight? Some women,” said Shayne wearily, “have the damnedest ideas.”
“I guess it would look-funny.”
“Have you got any money?”
“A little.” She clutched her bag nervously.
“Better go to a hotel under an assumed name. The Tidewater is right down the street. Clean rooms at three bucks a throw. Register as-Ann Adams,” Shayne directed. “And stay in your room. I’ve got enough to do without worrying about you. I’ll get in touch with you as soon as anything breaks.”
She sidled up to him as he sat in his chair. She timidly touched his shoulder. “Don’t forget what I told you about bluffing Houseman. He’ll pay plenty if you make him. And when he does, don’t forget who put you wise.”
Shayne said, “Beat it to the Tidewater. I won’t forget. If you’ve got anything coming after this is all over, you can trust me to see that you get it.”
“I’ll have to trust you. I feel that I can trust you now. You’re the first man I ever felt that way about.”
