I stepped away from the doorway and shed the two guns. I slid them into the drawer of the hallstand that stood just by the front door, then I took off my hat and dropped it on to the hall chair.
I walked into the lounge, picked my way past the various pieces of furniture until I reached her.
From what I could see of her, she was wearing only a dark silk wrap. I could see her bare knee through the opening of the wrap. She reached out her hand.
“Come and sit down, Lew,” she said. “It’s so lovely here, isn’t it? Look at the sea and the patterns of the moonlight.”
I sat down, but I didn’t take her hand. Thrisby’s face still haunted me. It spoilt the mood for intimacy.
She was quick to sense that. “What is it, darling? Is there something wrong?”
“Margot. . . .” I paused, then went on. “You were once in love with Thrisby, weren’t you?”
I felt her stiffen. Her hand dropped to her side.
“Yes,” she said after a long hesitation. “I was once. It was one of those inexplicable things. I think I fell for his vitality and his colossal conceit. It didn’t last long, thank goodness. I’ll never forgive myself for being such a fool.”
“We all do things we regret,” I said, and groping for a cigarette, I lit it. In the light of my lighter I saw she had raised her head from the cushions and was staring at me, her eyes wide.
“Something has happened, hasn’t it? You’ve been out there? Something has happened to Jacques?”
“Yes. He’s dead. Someone shot him.”
She dropped back on to the cushion and covered her face with her hands.
“Dead?” She gave a strangled little moan. “Oh, Lew! I know he treated me shamefully, but there was something about him . . .” She lay still, breathing quickly, while I stared out of the window. The only light coming between us was from the red glow of my cigarette. Then she said, “It was Bridgette, of course.”
“I don’t know who it was.”
She sat up abruptly.
“Of course it was Bridgette! She tried to shoot him this afternoon, didn’t she? If you hadn’t stopped her she would have killed him. You said so. Did you let her have the gun back?” She swung her legs off the window seat. “She went out there and killed him! She’s not going to get away with it this time!”
“What are you going to do then?”
“Tell my father, of course. He’ll get the truth out of her!”
“Suppose he does . . . what then?”
She turned her head. Although I couldn’t see her face in the darkness I knew she was staring at me.
“Why, he’ll throw her out! He’ll divorce her!”
“I thought you wanted to keep the police out of it?” I said quietly.
“The police? Why, of course. The police mustn’t know. Daddy wouldn’t call the police. He would throw her out and then divorce her.”
Through the window I saw the headlights of a car coming fast over the rough beach road and my eyes went to the red lamp on the hood.
“You may not be able to keep them out of it, Margot,” I said, getting to my feet. “They’re here now.”
Chapter 13
I
In the hard light of the moon I saw Lieutenant Rankin, followed by Sergeant Candy, climb out of the police car. The uniformed driver remained at the wheel.
I walked out on to the verandah to meet them as they came towards the verandah steps.
I stood squarely in Rankin’s path so that he had to stop on the second step from the top.
“I want to talk to you,” he said. “We’re coming in.”
“Look behind you, Lieutenant,” I said softly, so Candy couldn’t hear, “then change your mind.”
He turned his head and saw the convertible Cadillac. He looked more to his right and saw the Buick, then he turned and stared at me.
“Should that mean anything?”
“I’ll give you one guess who owns the Caddy,” I said. “You haven’t got your promotion yet, Lieutenant. You walk in there, and it’s a fair bet you won’t get it.”
He took off his hat, stared into it, ran his fingers impatiently through his hair, put on his hat and took three steps back.
“Come on,” he said. “We’ll talk in the car. We’re going out to Thrisby’s place.”
“You go, Lieutenant, I’m busy,” I said. “I’m not all that worked up about Thrisby. I have a Cadillac owner to take care of.”
“Are you coming the easy or the hard way?” he said, a sudden bite in his voice.
Candy moved forward, his hand sliding inside his coat.
“Okay, if you put it like that,” I said, and started down the steps. “What’s on your mind, Lieutenant?”
“Don’t give me that crap,” Rankin said, his voice savage. “You’ve just come from Thrisby’s place, haven’t you?”
“That might be difficult to prove,” I said, and got into the back seat of the police car. Rankin joined me and Candy got in beside the driver.
“Let’s go,” Rankin said.
The car moved off.
I looked back at the bungalow, wondering what Margot was thinking. I didn’t see any sign of her. In a few minutes she would be dressed and away from the bungalow.
I wished now I hadn’t gone up to the White Chateau.
“Give me your gun,” Rankin said abruptly.
“I haven’t got it on me.”
Rankin told the driver to stop. As the car pulled up, he said, “Where is it?”
“In the bungalow.”
“Go back,” Rankin said, an exasperated note in his voice.
The driver reversed the car and drove fast down the road until we reached the bungalow.
“Go with him,” Rankin said to Candy. “I want his gun.”
I got out of the car and, with Candy plodding at my heels, I walked up the steps, pushed open the door, turned on the light and crossed over to the hallstand. I tried to block Candy away from the drawer, but he shoved me aside, opened it and took out my .38.
“This it?” he asked.
“Yes.”
I was looking into the now-empty drawer, feeling a little prickle run up my spine: Bridgette’s gun had vanished!
Candy broke open my gun and looked down the barrel. Then he sniffed at it, grunted and dropped the gun into his pocket.
“Who owns the Caddy out there?”
“You’d better ask the Lieutenant,” I said.
He looked at me, grimaced and shrugged his shoulders.
“Let’s go.”
“What is all this?” I said, wondering if Margot were listening.
“Who do you imagine you’re kidding?” he said, disgust in his voice. “We saw you go into Thrisby’s place and we saw you come out.”
“You did? Then why didn’t you arrest me, Sergeant?”
“We had no orders to arrest you,” Candy said, “but we have now.”
“Whose orders?”
“The Captain’s.”
“Does Holding know?”
Candy shifted his gum around in his face.
