James Chase - Figure It Out for Yourself

I faced him.

He was about four yards away from me, and sweating like a pig. The uphill climb in this heat didn’t agree with him.

He waved me to a rock while he picked one for himself, sat down stiffly, glad of the rest.

‘Have a butt, pally,’ he went on taking out a pack of Lucky Strike. He took one and tossed the pack to me. ‘What’s it like—in that mine?’ he asked, lighting his cigarette and blowing a stream of smoke down his short thick nose.

‘Not the kind of place you’d pick for a vacation,’ I said, lighting a cigarette and tossing the pack back to him. ‘It’s full of man-eating rats.’

His small eyes bugged out

‘Rats? I heard there were rats, but I didn’t believe it.’ He squinted down at his cigarette. ‘See any reefers while you were in there?’

‘About a couple of million of them. I didn’t stop to count them, but that’s a conservative guess.’

He grinned, showing small, broken teeth.

‘Jeepers! As many as that, huh? I told her that’s where he kept the stuff, but she wouldn’t have it. How are they packed?’

‘In boxes. Who is she?’

He scowled at me.

‘I’m the guy who asks the questions, pally. You answer them.’

I had a sudden idea.

‘What’s your racket?’ I asked. ‘Hi-jacking Barratt?’

‘You guessed it, pally. We’re taking that stock of reefers. We have our own little organization now.’ He stood up. ‘Okay, let’s go. Straight up the hill, and keep right. Get going.’

We went on up the hill. It was almost too dark now to see where I was going, but Joe seemed to have eyes like a cat, He kept jerking out directions, warning me away from rocks and shrubs, as if he could see as easily now as in the sunlight.

Suddenly he said, ‘Hold it.’

I stopped and waited.

He gave a shrill whistle. A moment later a light flashed on a few yards in front of us, and I could see, carefully hidden behind a screen of trees and bushes, a cleverly concealed log cabin, built into the side of the hill.

‘Neat, huh?’ Joe said. ‘We built it ourselves. You’d have to walk right on it before you knew it was there, and by that time you’d be as full of lead as a church roof. Go ahead. Walk right in.’

I went ahead.

The door stood open and I walked into a large, roughly furnished room. Standing before a log fire, her hands behind her back, a cigarette in her full red lips was Mary Jerome.

A white moth fluttered around the storm lantern hanging from a beam in the centre of the room, and cast an enormous shadow on the floor. It zoomed away from the light, fluttered rather helplessly round the room, and, as it passed Joe, he reached out, slapped it to the floor and put his foot on it

I didn’t pay any attention to what he was doing. I was looking at Mary Jerome; the last person I expected to find in this cabin.

She was wearing a red-and-yellow cowboy shirt, a pair of canary-coloured corduroy slacks, and her dark hair was hidden under a red silk bandana. She was paler and more fine-drawn since last I saw her, but she was still lovely to look at.

‘Hello,’ I said. ‘You may not believe it, but I’ve been hunting all over for you.’

‘Pipe down, pally,’ Joe said. ‘No one asked you for a speech. Sit over there and keep quiet.’

He poked the gun into my spine, pushed me over to an armchair facing the fire.

I sat down.

‘Where did you find him?’ Mary Jerome asked.

Joe grinned at her, obviously very pleased with himself.

‘He was in the mine. We spotted him coming out of the upper tunnel. He bolted into the desert, but we caught up with him.’

‘Was he alone?’

‘Why, sure.’

‘Then why did he run into the desert?’

Joe frowned at her, ran his fingers through his short, crinkly hair.

‘What do you mean?’

‘If he wanted to get away, he would have run towards the Highway, wouldn’t he?’ she asked patiently.

Joe’s face lost its animated expression. He turned to snarl at me.

‘What’s cooking, fella? Weren’t you alone?’

‘Why, no. I had a girl with me,’ I told him. ‘She’s gone for the Law.’

Mary lifted her shoulders in a resigned shrug.

‘I give up, Joe,’ she said in disgust. ‘You make a mess of everything you handle.’

‘For crying out aloud!’ Joe said, his face turning red, ‘How was I to know?’

‘Never mind; but you better do something about it.’

‘Yeah.’ He pulled a face, glared at me. ‘Jeepers! It means walking back to that damned mine again. Can you look after this fella?’

She nodded.

‘I’ll take care of him. You’d better hurry, Joe.’

‘Want my gun?’

She took the heavy .45 and balanced it in her hand.

‘Get going, Joe.’

He looked over at me.

‘Don’t kid yourself she can’t use that rod. She can.’

He went out of the cabin.

I listened to him crashing through the bushes on his way down the hillside. It would take him the best part of half an hour to reach the mine.

By that time Mifflin would have arrived.

Mary Jerome moved away from the fire and sat in an arm- chair facing me, but on the far side of the room. She dropped the gun into her lap and leaned back, resting her head against the padded back of the chair.

I considered the possibility of diving across the room, but decided there would be nothing in it for me except a slug through the head.

‘It seems a long time since we met,’ I said. ‘Was it you who told Paula I was in the mine?’

‘Yes. Don’t ask me why. I guess I’m going soft.’ Her voice sounded weary.

‘Who’s this guy, Joe? A pal of yours?’

‘Not exactiy.’ She raised her head and stared at me. ‘You’re bursting to ask questions, aren’t you? Well, go ahead and ask them. I’m through with being smart. I’m pulling out of here. I thought I could handle Joe, but I can’t.’

‘Let’s pull out together.’

She shook her head.

‘Nothing like that. Joe wouldn’t like it, and I can’t afford to get on his wrong side. We’ll wait a while. If he doesn’t come back, you can go.’

‘But suppose he does come back?’ I said and moved cautiously to the edge of my chair. ‘What’ll happen to me?’

She shrugged.

‘He won’t harm you. Joe’s not like that. He’ll keep you here until he’s ready to pull out himself. You don’t have to worry.’ She lifted the gun and pointed it at me. ‘Sit back and relax. You’re staying here until Joe gets back.’

That didn’t worry me a great deal, as I felt pretty certain Joe wouldn’t come back.

‘Just where do you fit in this set-up?’

She give a bitter little smile.

‘Can’t you guess? I’m Lee’s wife.’

I sat forward again and stared at her.

‘Dedrick’s wife?’

‘That’s what I said.’

‘But he’s married to Serena Marshland.’

‘He married me first.’ She reached for a box of cigarettes, lit one and frowned into the fire. ‘Lee can take a little thing like bigamy in his stride.’

‘You mean Serena’s marriage was a fake?’

‘Yes. Of course, she didn’t know at the time. She knows now,’ and again she smiled bitterly.

‘Did you tell her?’

‘I told her father.’

‘Was that why he went to see you at the Beach Hotel?’

She raised her eyebrows at me.

‘You found that out? Yes, that’s when I told him. I had to have money. I was cleaned right out. He gave me a thousand dollars to keep out of sight.’

‘Now don’t rush this. Suppose you begin at the beginning. When did you marry Dedrick?’

‘Oh, about four years ago, I forget the exact date. It isn’t anything I cherish. Being married to Lee isn’t a romantic dream. I met him in Paris, and fell for him. He’s the kind of heel most women would fall for. I don’t know why he married me, but he did. He always had plenty of money, and never seemed to do any work. I guess his money attracted me. Well, I got what I deserved.’ She flicked the cigarette into the fire, and reached for another. ‘I found out he was smuggling dope into Paris. Joe worked with him. He persuaded me to help him too.’ She smiled at me. ‘You don’t know how persuasive he can be. Then he met the Marshland woman. I hadn’t an idea what was cooking. He was often away for weeks at a time, and I thought he was handling a consignment. Then without warning, he disappeared. Joe and I were left holding the baby. Joe tried to carry on, but he just hadn’t what it takes. The police nearly caught us. We managed to get out of France, and came here. That was when I found out he had married Serena Marshland. I went to Barratt. You know about Barratt?’