The Toff In Town

“Sure, that stone’s real,” said Merino. “And it’s not so expensive as you might think. Say, Mr. Rollison, do you know the Riviera at this time of the year?”

“Yes.”

“Well, prices are inflated, I guess, but you could have a good vacation on the Riviera for six or seven hundred pounds. That would last you three or four weeks, if you didn’t have bad luck at the tables. That’s what this diamond would cost you—just six or seven hundred pounds !”

“And a trip to the South of France?”

“Why, surely. That goes with it,” said Merino.

Rollison put the diamond back in the case.

“Why have you come here in person, Merino?” he asked.

“You don’t need to ask that,” Merino said slowly. “You’ve been to my flat, you know what I look like, you know Pauline —you’ve even met Blane twice. That means there isn’t any way of hiding myself from you, Mr. Rollison, and I always prefer to come right out into the open if I can’t stay out of sight I haven’t any quarrel with you, and I’d like you to have that vacation. Your man looks as if he could do with a holiday, too,” he added, and Rollison smiled faintly; no doubt that Jolly was listening at the door. “You wouldn’t take my advice last night, Mr. Rollison. Now you’ve another chance and you stand to gain something.”

“What will the Aliens gain?” asked Rollison.

“They’re outside this arrangement,” said Merino, with a slight hardening of his voice. “I don’t want to be misunderstood, Mr. Rollison, the Aliens are no concern of yours. I’m no concern of yours. Blane—well, I shall have to restrain Blane, he would like to have a crack back at you, but I won’t allow it—provided you take this vacation.”

Rollison leaned forward, placing his elbows just inside the noose of the rope.

There are other kinds of holidays,” he said conversationally. “Blane could tell you about that, I think. The kind I mean sometimes lasts for years. They cost nothing, except the loss of a little freedom.”

“That wouldn’t suit me,” said Merino.

“I didn’t think it would.” Rollison glanced at the telephone. “My man doesn’t look very tough but he’s stronger than he looks,” he said. “I can telephone Scotland Yard and have a detective here inside a quarer of an hour, and I can tell him just what you’ve offered, why you’ve come, what you’ve done to the Aliens.”

“You could, but you won’t,” said Merino.

“You sound very sure.”

“Of course I’m sure,” said Merino. “Because you’ve been foolish in some ways, Mr. Rollison. I could produce evidence that you’ve broken into my flat. I could produce more evidence that you attacked Blane and nearly killed him. That’s a criminal offence even in this country, I guess. And because you’re known to Scotland Yard, well, I guess it would go even harder with you than it would if you were a stranger to them.”

“Evidence?” said Rollison.

“Oh, sure. Blane’s. Pauline’s. My own. You see, Mr. Rollison, anyone who works for me is prepared to swear anything I tell them to. And nothing is known against Blane or Pauline or me; we wouldn’t be bad witnesses. And what could you do? Produce the Aliens, maybe, to say they recognised Blane? No, sir, they wouldn’t do that. Allen wouldn’t dare, nor would his wife, even if Blane did cut some of her hair off. Maybe the police would believe your story, and maybe you’ve guessed the truth, or part of it, but—I know the law of this country, and I know what’s evidence. Up to now, there isn’t a thing that could be used against Pauline or me.”

“Possibly not,” drawled Rollison. “That’s what I want to put right.”

“But you can’t put it right,” declared Merino. “Because if you refuse to take that little holiday—well, I don’t like resorting to threats, but you wouldn’t be able to produce any kind of evidence, any place. A corpse can’t talk.”

“Now you’re talking a familiar language,” said Rollison.

“Maybe it’s language you understand, but I don’t particularly want to use it. You see, I don’t believe in violence except in certain cases——”

“Such as Bob Allen,” interrupted Rollison.

“I’m not here to discuss Allen,” said Merino. “Now, what about coming into the market for those diamonds? You can guess how much they’re worth. Nearly a hundred thousand pounds, and that’s a lot of money—you wouldn’t have to pay tax on it either, Mr. Rollison. Your holiday wouldn’t take much out of it, you can live in luxury for years. Now you’ve got to admit that’s a mighty generous offer.”

“Yes,” said Rollison, “but I can live in luxury without it.”

Merino sat back. His eyes were curiously light in colour and glinted with what might have been impatience or even the beginning of anger.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “You can’t live at all if you don’t accept, Mr. Rollison. Maybe you think I’m bluffing. Well, just put this question to yourself. “I’ve come here to offer you those diamonds, which are worth a lot of money, and I wouldn’t try to buy you off if the rest weren’t worth a lot more. The stakes are very big. I can afford to make a gift like that and not notice it. But if you don’t accept and you happened to find a way of getting me in bad with the police, I’d lose it all. I am not going to lose it all.”

“Aren’t you?” asked Rollison, softly.

“No, sir! But I guess we’re getting too serious,” declared Merino, flashing a smile. “You’re not going to be fool enough to refuse! Let’s call it a deal, Mr. Rollison.”

“No deal,” said Rollison.

“Now, come!”