anyway.’
Paula didn’t approve of the idea, but then she never ap-proved of anything that wasn’t strictly dealt off the top of the deck.
‘What do you plan to do—wait until he’s out?’ she asked.
‘That’s the idea. It’ll cost money, but then I’m getting hardened to spending money. I’ll bribe Maxie to give me the passkey.’
‘Be careful, Vic.’
I grinned at her.
‘You’re always telling me to be careful. What’s the matter with you these days? You didn’t talk like that two years ago.’
She gave me a quick, worried smile.
‘I suppose I know you better. I wish you’d stick to our usual business, Vic, and cut out these dangerous jobs.’
‘I’m not doing this for fun. If Perelli hadn’t saved my skin, nothing would persuade me to stick my oar in this. He’s not much of a guy to take risks for but he took a risk for me. Barratt might easily have knifed me. I guess I have to go on until I square the score.’
It was half past one when I parked outside the apartment house in Jefferson Avenue.
Maxie was lolling against the counter of the reception desk as I walked across the lobby. There was no girl at the switchboard. The telephone harness was on the counter where he could reach it
‘Want some money?’ I said briskly. ‘I have some for you if you’re going to be co-operative.*
He eyed me suspiciously.
I never refuse money. What do you want?’
‘Your pass-key.’
If I had let off a shotgun he wouldn’t have been more startled.
‘My-what?’
‘Pass-key, and make it snappy. It’s worth fifty dollars, cash on the nail.’
The small eyes blinked.
‘Fifty bucks?’ he said wistfully.
I spread five tens on the counter. If this spending jag kept up, I’d be ruined in a few more days.
He eyed the notes, licked his lips, scratched the side of his nose.
‘I could get slung out,’ he said, lowering his voice. ‘I can’t do it.’
I laid two more fives on the counter, bent over them and breathed on them gently.
‘That’s the limit,’ I said, and smiled at him. ‘Your pass-key for ten minutes.’
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘Barratt’s room. Is he out?’
The small eyes grew round.
‘Yeah; he went out about an hour ago.’
‘What are you worrying about, then? It’s not as if he’s a friend of yours.’
‘I’d lose my job,’ he said thickly. ‘Sixty bucks wouldn’t keep me off the bread line for more than a week. It ain’t worth it.’
‘Well, all right, if that’s how you feel about it’ I pushed the bills into a neat pile, folded them and put them in my hip pocket. I wouldn’t want you to have a sleepless night.’
‘Now, wait a minute,’ he said, tilting his bowler hat to the back of his head and wiping a shiny forehead with his sleeve. ‘I ain’t fussy how I sleep. Make it another ten, and it’s yours.’
‘Sixty’s my top. Take it or leave it’
He struggled with his conscience, groaned, nodded his head.
‘The key’s hanging by the switchboard. Gimme the dough.’
I slid him the sixty and he hurriedly stuffed the notes into his pocket.
‘Sure Barrett’s out?’ I asked.
‘Yeah; I saw him go. No one’s up there.’ He looked furtively around the lobby. ‘I’m going to draw myself a can of beer. Make it snappy, and for Gawd’s sake don’t let anyone see you go in.’
I gave him a second or so to get out of sight, then leaned over the counter and unhooked the key from behind the switch-board.
The elevator took me up to the fourth floor. I walked along the corridor to apartment 4B15. In the apartment opposite someone was playing the radio. Somewhere down the passage a woman laughed shrilly. I pressed my ear to the door panel of 4B15, but heard nothing. I rapped, listened, waited, but nothing happened. I looked to right and left. No one was watching me. Silently I slipped the pass-key into the lock, turned it gently and pushed open the door.
The man in the fawn suit was sitting in an armchair facing me. He held a .45 in his lap, the barrel pointing at my chest. He gave me a thin, cold smile.
‘Come in,’ he said. ‘I thought it might be you.’
The moment I heard that deep baritone voice I knew who he was, and couldn’t understand why I hadn’t known it before.
‘Hello, Dedrick,’ I said, stepped inside the room and closed the door.
II
‘Don’t make any sudden moves, Malloy,’ the man in the fawn suit said and lifted the gun. ‘No one on this floor would bother about the sound of a gun, and I’m in the mood to make a mess of you. Sit down.’ He waved his other hand to an armchair, facing his on the other side of the fireplace.
He couldn’t have missed me at that range, and I had an idea he wasn’t bluffing so I sat down.
‘You’re quite a puncher,’ he went on, and his hand touched the back of his neck tenderly. I’ll have a stiff neck for weeks, damn you!’ His hard, black eyes roamed over my face. ‘Bit of luck, you walking in like this. We’d made up our mind to get rid of you as soon as we could. You’re getting a nuisance.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said. ‘The trouble is I’m full of theories and have no proof. Does Serena know you’re here?’
He shook his head and grinned
‘No; she hasn’t an idea. Make yourself at home. There’re cigarettes by your elbow. We have a little time to kill before anything can happen. Barratt’ll want to talk to you. Don’t try anything funny unless you’re tired of life, will you?’
I lit a cigarette while he watched me, his finger curled round the trigger of the .45, its barrel continuing to point at my face.
‘Be careful with that gun,’ I said. It looks very dangerous from this end.’
He laughed.
‘You don’t have to worry. It’ll only go off if you don’t behave yourself.’ He stubbed out the cigarette he was smoking, reached for another and lit it I sat still while he did so. The expression in the hard black eyes told me he would shoot if he had to.
‘If I’d known you were going to be so damned interfering, I wouldn’t have called you in the first place,’ he went on. ‘I thought it was smart at the time. I acted that little scene well on the phone, didn’t I? And the untouched whisky, and the burning cigarette were nice touches, too.’
‘Yeah, very pretty,’ I said. ‘But did you have to shoot Souki?’
‘Oh, yes.’ He frowned, as if he didn’t like being reminded of Souki. ‘He asked for trouble, and he got it’
‘And was it you who framed Perelli?’ I asked.
‘That was Barrett’s effort. It has a way of settling debts. Perelli had it coming to him, anyway. It was a bright idea. At one time the heat was getting top fierce, but now they have Perelli in a cell, everything is fine and dandy.’
‘Don’t be too sure. The police are looking for you for the Gracie Lehmann killing.’
