and as Netta wasn’t supposed to be in this blackmailing racket, Mrs.
Brambee was detailed to collect the money each week.
“Well, that was the set-up until Selma Jacobi discovered that
Bradley killed her husband. Cole told her this because he wanted to
get even for not receiving a cut from the money Corridan was getting
from Bradley. But Cole didn’t tell Selma that Corridan was hooked up
with Bradley. He was scared of Corridan. Selma went to Corridan,
knowing he was in charge of the Jacobi investigation, and told him
what Cole had told her. Imagine Corridan’s feelings. If he took action,
he’d dry up his own source of income, and Bradley would squeal on
him. If he didn’t, then Selma would go to a higher authority at the
Yard, and he’d get caught that way. His only way out was to get rid of
Selma. He took her along to Netta’s flat, drugged her, and between
the two of them they set the stage for suicide.”
By this time we had reached the coffee stage of the meal.
“For the love of Mike let’s have some whisky with this,” Bix
implored. “Listening to you gives me a thirst.”
I ordered whiskies, and a brandy for Crystal.
“Before Selma was murdered,” I went on, after the drinks had
arrived, “Bradley had\ found out that Netta and Corridan were lovers.
Bradley told Netta he had given orders to Frankie to lay for her and
splash her with vitriol. Whether this was Bradley’s idea of getting
even, or whether Frankie was really going to do it, I don’t know. Netta
swears he would have done it, and knowing Frankie I think it’s likely.
Anyway, Netta was terrified and she decided it’d be safer to drop out
of sight. Selma’s body offered the opportunity. Corridan agreed to
help, and they dyed Selma’s hair the same shade as Netta’s, bribed
Cole to identify her as Netta, passed the news on to Bradley that
Netta had killed herself. Do you follow all that up to now?” I asked,
looking around.
“Keep going,” Bix sighed. “My brain’s numbed, but the sound of
your voice has a soothing effect on it.”
“Now I turn up,” I continued. “Bradley was going to the mortuary
to identify the body, so was I. Corridan had to work fast. He arranged
for one of his men to move the body from the mortuary to the
cottage at Lakeham. This was for my benefit as I had found the
envelope addressed to Anne Scott, and had jumped to the conclusion
that Anne was Netta’s sister. I was allowed a glimpse of the body,
then it was taken to the Horsham mortuary and destroyed by fire
before Bradley could see it. Got all that?”
“Complicated, but smart,” Ullman said, nodding his head. “Then
what?”
Bix groaned. “You’re a whale for punishment,” he said, sneaking
my whisky and drinking it before I could stop him. “Me—I’ve had
about enough.”
“The next bit’s interesting,” I promised. “It shows how clever I
am.”
“We’d better stay for that,” Bix said to Crystal, “otherwise he’ll
stick us for the check.”
“Bradley had given Netta five thousand pounds’ worth of bonds as
a wedding present,” I went on. “He was anxious to get the money
back. Frankie had been into the flat and had hunted for the bonds but
had failed to find them. I found them, and suspecting that I had them,
Frankie attacked me, but I beat him off.”
“You can imagine how pleased Corridan was when I presented
him not only with the bonds but also with the Luger,” I continued. “He
cooked up a yarn about the bonds being forgeries, and that the Luger
belonged to a guy called Peter Utterly. Fred checked all this, found
there was no such person as Utterly, and more important still that
there was no such person as Anne Scott, although Corridan had told
me her record was in Somerset House.”
“I have two profound observations to make at this point,” Harry
Bix broke in. “The first is that Corridan seems to have made a
complete monkey out of you, and the second is that Fred seems to
have done all the dirty work.”
I nodded, grinned. “Correct,” I said. “Applause for Mr. Ul man.”
Crystal was so carried away that she kissed Ullman, who blinked
at her, wiped off the lipstick, said, “Well, that’s quite an experience.
Perhaps I’ve been missing things. The only woman who ever kissed
me was my mother.”
“You ought to be sorry for her,” Crystal said. “But I do like the
taste of your shaving-cream.”
“Shut up, you two,” Bix said, scowling.
“To continue,” I said firmly. “The real give-away as far as Corridan
was concerned was the murder of Madge Kennitt. I saw him after I
had left Madge’s flat to get her a bottle of whisky. I spotted Corridan
outside the house, then when I returned I found Madge dead. She had
written Jacobi’s name in the dust, hoping it would give me a clue,
which, of course, it did. Corridan arrived with his dicks, spotted the
writing and blotted it out, hoping I hadn’t seen it.”
“But you had,” Bix said. “Let’s have some more whisky. The
excitement is making me feel faint.”
“I’d seen it all right,” I went on, ignoring him, “and Fred put me on
to the facts of the Jacobi case. Merryweather, the private dick I had
hired, told Corridan that a black and yellow Bentley car had been seen
at the cottage. I’ve traced the car to Corridan. He realized that he’d
have to get rid of it, and sold it to a guy called Peter French. I
happened to call on French and see the car, and Corridan found out
that I’d seen it. He got Netta to try to persuade me that French was
the killer of Madge Kennitt and I nearly fell for it.
“Well, the pace was getting too hot for Corridan. He decided to
get the loot out of the country. I could help there, and Netta was the
obvious choice to carry the stuff. Corridan had a showdown with
Bradley, told him Netta was alive, and she was to take the loot to
America. Bradley didn’t like the idea, but Corridan had too much on
him to raise objections. The loot was handed over to Netta, and she
began to work on me. I played into their hands by taking Bradley’s
rings, and then getting myself hooked up with Littlejohns’ murder.
Cole helped by pretending to blackmail me, and I played it to look as if
