Charlie turned to the tall goon.
“Check the car.”
Hamilton was trying to repair his face with a handkerchief, but it would take more than a few dabs with a piece of linen to correct the damage I’d caused. The goon came back and whispered to Charlie, who nodded.
“Why’d you kill the girl, Hamilton?” he asked.
“I’m afraid I got excited. I wasn’t thinking straight. There she was, running away. All I could think was, I have to stop her. Next thing I knew, she was dead.”
“Dirty liar,” I spat.
“Shut up, Preston. I don’t think you’re quite right, Hamilton. I have an idea you were thinking very straight indeed. With these two dead, we have a nice tidy end. Nothing loose, isn’t that the way you figured it?”
Hamilton looked at him strangely.
“Alive or dead,” he shrugged. “What’s the difference? We’ve got them now. It’s all over.”
Charlie laughed, a low unpleasant sound.
“Oh no, it’s not over yet. And it does make a difference whether they’re alive or dead. Because dead people don’t tell tales. And these two could have told plenty.”
I looked at Charlie, wondering what was on his mind. He had both hands plunged in his pockets, and his face was grim.
“I’ve been filling in the time looking through Jake’s books,” he continued. “And I don’t think this Brookman character owed him any money at all. Jake trusted you with checking the books, you with all that fine education. Jake never figured you for a four-flusher. If you said Brookman was in the red, that was good enough for Jake. But when it got too hot, when you’d put eight grand in your pocket, somebody had to get blamed. And Brookman got elected.”
Hamilton’s face was rigid.
“That’s crazy talk,” he protested, “You can’t prove any of that.”
“I don’t have to prove anything,” Charlie reminded. “I’m not a district attorney. I’m just a guy who knows what he knows. And I don’t operate in no courtroom. That’s why you knocked these people off, just to keep everything tidy. And you nearly killed Jake, too. It’s curtains for you, Hamilton.”
“No, no wait a minute,” he said anxiously. “I couldn’t have shot Jake. Preston will tell you. I was inside the club at the time. Tell him Preston, for God’s sake.”
I nodded grimly.
“Sure, you were inside. What does that prove, except you didn’t pull the trigger yourself?”
“Right,” growled Charlie. “There’s plenty guys all over this town, any town, who hire out for that kinda work. So what’s the story?”
“Listen, now please listen Charlie, you’re all excited,” begged Hamilton. “If you’ll just take it easy, give me a chance, I can explain.”
“Go ahead,” invited Martello. “Start by explaining what these two——” he indicated the two bodies—“What they did with the money. Where is it, that eight grand they got from Brookman?”
“I don’t know, but give it a couple of days, maybe we can find out. You have five of it right there.”
“No we don’t,” I contradicted. “That’s black money. I don’t need more than one telephone call to find out where that came from. It’s my guess it’s all from one man, one payment.”
Hamilton’s face began to work.
“But you can’t judge me on this kind of stuff,” he bluffed. “You have to give me a chance, some kind of chance.”
“Sure. I’m a reasonable man. You tried to murder my own brother, you knocked off them two, probably others. But I’m going to give you a chance.”
Martello produced a heavy automatic from his pocket.
“Now, you start running,” he said softly. “And I’m gonna count clear up to three before I start blasting.”
“No, Charlie,” screamed Hamilton. “Preston, you can’t let him do this.”
“It’s better than the break you gave Brookman,” I told him flatly.
He was sweating with fear, and there was the knowledge of death in his eyes.
“He was just a bum,” he screamed. “Nobody at all. Why——” His voice tailed away as he realized what he had blurted out.
“One,” intoned Charlie.
“Oh God.” Hamilton sank to his knees. “Look Charlie, try to understand the way it was——”
“Two.”
“Jake’s alive,” he pleaded, “He’s going to be all right. Just give me a break.”
“Three.”
Charlie’s hand tightened on the trigger. I struck downwards hard at his hand and the bullet plunged into the sand a foot in front of the screaming Hamilton.
“What the——?” shouted Charlie, nursing his wrist.
The two goons moved towards me.
“No Charlie, listen.” I picked up the gun. “This is not the way. We have this guy cold. Let the law do it. Use your head.” Hamilton was stretched out on the beach, weeping uncontrollably. Charlie glowered at me.
“You done all right so far Preston. But this is my business.”
“Sure,” I reasoned. “But think man, think. You’ll make yourself a murderer, and in front of all these witnesses. Even if nobody talks now, how will you like it knowing all these people are walking around loose, and any one of them could put the finger on you any time he likes? The law will deal with Hamilton, that’s what it’s for.”
His breathing became more even, and he stared at me a full minute before speaking.
“You got a cool head there, Preston. And you talk sense. What good would it be to Jake if I got myself the death chamber over this kind of trash.”
He stepped forward and swung a vicious foot at Hamilton’s head. The whimpering stopped. Charlie chuckled.
“You know, this is the first time I ever waited around for the law to show.”
There were lights on in front of the house, and my ring was soon answered. Eve Prince wore a long red housecoat with gold edging, and she looked good enough to eat.
“Why Mr. Preston,” she greeted with a smile. “It’s a little late for calling isn’t it?”
“This won’t take long,” I assured her. “May I come in?”
“Well——” she hesitated, “Well, just for a little while.”
She closed the door behind me, and stood close.
“I hoped I’d see you again, but I didn’t think it would be quite so soon.”
I put
