James Chase - Figure It Out for Yourself

‘Is that right, ma’am?’ he said, gaping at Serena. ‘You’re charging Malloy?’

‘Yes,’ she said curtly. ‘Where is Captain Brandon?’

‘He’s off duty tonight,’ Mifflin said, and there was a note of relief in his voice. ‘Get Mrs. Dedrick a chair.’

As she sat down, she let her wrap fall open and both Mifflin and the desk sergeant had a view of the damage. Mifflin sucked in his breath and looked at me in reproachful horror.

‘Did you do that?’ he demanded.

I said I didn’t do that

MacGraw swung his fist at me, but Mifflin, moving much faster than I expected a man of his size to move, shoved MacGraw away, sending him reeling.

‘Cut it out!’ he said sharply. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

MacGraw snarled at me.

‘I want to get this rat downstairs.’

‘Shut up!’ Mifflin said. He turned to Serena. ‘What happened?’

‘I went to talk to him about finding my husband,’ Serena told him, her voice level and hard. ‘I hadn’t been in his place more than five minutes, when he suddenly caught hold of me. There was a struggle. I managed to get to the ‘phone and call for help. Then he tore my dress and scratched me. Fortunately the officer arrived as he was overpowering me.’

Mifflin pushed his hat to the back of his head and mopped his forehead with his handkerchief. He looked stricken.

‘Don’t get worked up,’ I said smoothly. ‘She’s lying. I suggest we go somewhere private. She, you and me. This isn’t anything she’ll want the Press to get hold of.’

‘I want the Press in here!’ Serena said. ‘I intend to ruin him. I want the widest publicity possible. He’s to be charged and imprisoned and forced out of business!’

Paula came in at this moment, carrying a leather-bound box She was breathing quickly, and for the first time in her life she looked disheveled. Her hair was all over the place, the light overcoat she was wearing was wrongly buttoned up, and the legs of her trousers looked like twin concertinas.

‘I couldn’t get Francon,’ she said, trying to get her breath. ‘He wasn’t in. They haven’t charged you yet?’

MacGraw caught hold of her arm.

‘You’ve no right in here. Get out!’

‘Lay off!’ Mifflin said. ‘What do you want?’ he went on to Paula as MacGraw reluctantly released her.

Paula put the box on a nearby table, opened it to reveal the small gramophone on which was a record.

‘You may remember, Mrs. Dedrick,’ I said quietly, ‘that just before we had our interesting conversation I turned down a switch, telling you it was a telephone extension switch. Actually it set a recording machine into motion. When I entertain wealthy women alone and at night, I take care they don’t bring an assault charge against me.’

Serena looked as if she could kill me.

‘He’s lying!’ she said. ‘Charge him! What are you waiting for.’

‘Go ahead and play it,’ I said to Paula.

Paula set the turn-table spinning and lowered the needle on the record.

Everyone was transfixed when my voice came out of the box with a clearness that was almost painful.

When Serena’s voice said: You can name your price, s he started out of her chair and made a dart at the gramophone but Paula blocked her off.

‘Stop it!’ Serena cried. ‘I don’t want to hear any more! Stop it!

I nodded to Paula, who lifted the needle.

‘Better let it run through, Mrs. Dedrick,’ Mifflin said gently. ‘Or are you withdrawing the charge?’

She drew herself up. She made quite a regal figure. For a couple of seconds she stared right at me, her eyes glittering dangerously, then she walked to the door, opened it and went out, leaving the door open.

No one moved or said anything until her footfalls died away down the stone passage.

‘Take the cuffs off,’ Mifflin said shortly.

MacGraw took them off, looking like a tiger who had lost its dinner.

‘Well, you certainly know how to take care of yourself,’ Mifflin said with unconcealed admiration. ‘That was quite a jam you were in.’

‘Yeah,’ I said, massaging my wrists. ‘Let’s go to your office. I want to talk to you.’ I looked over to Paula, who was closing the lid of the gramophone. ‘Nice, quick work. What did I do? Got you out of bed?*

‘You got me out of a bath,’ Paula said. ‘If you’re not going to get into any more trouble, I’d like to go back to it.’

‘Go ahead, and thanks, Paula. You saved me from the tigers,’ and I gave MacGraw a grin.

He walked out of the room, the back of his neck purple.

When Paula had gone, and Mifflin and I were seated in his overheated office, I said, ‘If this case breaks the way I think it could break, there’s going to be an awful stink in the Press, Tim.’

Mifflin groped hopelessly in his pocket for a cigarette, found none and raised eyebrows at me.

‘Gimme a butt. What do you mean—stink?’

I gave him a cigarette, lit one for myself.

The chances are Marshland’s behind the kidnapping: Ded-rick’s a reefer-smuggler, working in with Barratt. He looks after the Paris end of the business. It’s my bet Marshland found out about him and hired someone to get him out of the way. That’s why Mrs. Dedrick wanted to buy me off.’

Mifflin looked startled. ‘Then where the hell’s Dedrick?’

‘That’s what I want to know. I have an idea Barratt could tell us. There’s a new character on the scene who knows as much about it as Barratt: a tall broad-shouldered fella who wears a fawn suit and a white felt hat’

‘We’re looking for him. So it was you who phoned in that tip?’

‘Yeah; I had a job to do, otherwise I would have hung around. Did you get the clue in the refuse bin?’

‘He stayed the night there, huh?’

‘Must have done.’

‘Well, we’re looking for him. What makes you think Marshland’s hooked up with the kidnapping?’

I told him what I had found out at the Beach Hotel.

‘According to Mrs. Dedrick, he’s skipped to Europe, but I don’t believe it.’

‘Maybe I’d better go up there and see if I can talk to him,’ Mifflin said.

‘Look, will you hold back until tomorrow afternoon? Suppose you got evidence that Barrett’s a reefer-smuggler. Think you could make him talk?’

Mifflin smiled grimly.

‘We could try.’

‘Know where I can get some reefers: about a couple of hundred of them?’

‘The Narcotic Squad would have some. Why?’

‘Let’s have them. Barratt’s not the only one who can plant evidence. You’ll get a tip some time tomorrow where you’ll find two hundred reefers in his room. You take him in, and bounce him around. He doesn’t look as if he’d stand a great deal of toughing up. I think he’ll squeal.’

Mifflin’s eyes widened.

‘I can’t do that! If Brandon found out…’

‘Who’s going to tell him?’

He stared at me, scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully, shook his head.

‘I don’t like it, Vic.’

‘Nor do I, but there’s no other way to swing it. Let’s have the stuff.’

‘Well, all right. We’re going to look pretty wet if he doesn’t talk.’

‘That’s up to you. Turn MacGraw loose on him. He’s feeling frustrated he didn’t get his hands on me.’

Mifflin went out of the room. He was away for about twenty minutes. He came back with a small wooden box.

‘I had to tell the Narcotic Chief why I wanted these. He’s been wanting to get his hands on Barratt for months. He welcomes the idea.’ Mifflin looked shocked ‘Some cops just haven’t any ethics.’

I took the box and stood up.

‘Nor have I when I deal with a rat like Barratt.’

‘Watch out, Vic. I didn’t like the look that Dedrick woman gave you.’