James Chase - A Can of Worms

There was nothing else about her I could say truthfully. She turned the colour of a cooked beetroot and simpered.

I left, knowing that I had made her day.

The Parnell Agency had many informers on the payroll. It cost the Colonel a bomb, but then he was loaded with the green, and to have ears to the ground was essential to the successful running of his business.

I contacted Amelia Bronson who was Mark Highbee’s second secretary.

Amelia Bronson was a fat, middle aged harridan, with a face like a discarded boot, but with a brain that would make a razor blade seem blunt. She had been on the Agency’s gift-roll for some time. She got a turkey and two bottles of Scotch each Christmas, and a hamper of food on her birthday. So far, the Agency hadn’t asked for a quid pro quo.

I took her to an Italian restaurant where she demolished an enormous plate of spaghetti, four vast pieces of Osso Bucco, plus cheese, plus a banana split. Coffee and brandy left her placid and ready to talk.

Mark Highbee was Russ Hamel’s attorney. He would be handling Hamel’s affairs. Amelia would be doing the paper work. So I asked questions, and Amelia, bloated with food, answered them.

I slid her a hundred dollar bill when we parted. I hated to do this, but Amelia liked money as much as she liked food.

I then drove to Solly Finklestein’s office. I had a little trouble getting to see him. S.F. (as he was known in the city) was absorbed in making money. He was the biggest loan shark on the Pacific Coast. Here again, he got a hamper of luxury food every Christmas from the Agency, and when we needed information about who was borrowing, who was in the squeeze, S.F. parted with the necessary.

I talked to him about raising a loan for a million. He said there was nothing difficult about that. It was some cheapie who wanted to raise a hundred thousand that caused trouble. But for a million, his rates were 25 %, and the collateral wasn’t all that important. He grinned his shark’s grin.

“We collect on bad payers, Bart.”

I knew what that meant. Some thug would arrive with a length of lead piping. You paid or else.

By this time, I had all the necessary ammunition. Feeling confident, I drove down to the waterfront. I sat in the Maser and surveyed the scene. Tourists jostled, the vendors shouted big discounts, fishing boats were unloading.

I thought of Diaz.

A dangerous snake, but I felt confident I had him in such a squeeze, he wouldn’t strike back.

I fingered the gun in the holster under my jacket. Then bracing myself, I got out of the car and walked to the Alameda bar.

The fat Mexican barkeep gave me an oily grin as I walked up to the crowded bar. The riff-raff and the fishermen stared at me, then returned to their drinks.

“Diaz,” I said to the barkeep.

He nodded, went down the bar to the telephone and as he began to talk, I walked along the bar and through to Diaz’s office. I pushed open the door and paused. Diaz was behind his desk, a cigar clamped between his teeth. He was putting down the telephone receiver as I walked in.

“Hi!” I said. “Remember me?”

I shoved an upright chair close to his desk and strided it, giving him my friendly smile.

“I thought I told you to stay clear of me,” he said softly. His voice was like the hissing of a snake.

“Times change,” I said. “Yesterday isn’t today.”

He tapped ash off his cigar onto the floor. His snake-like face was expressionless.

“What do you want?”

“You have yourself a new partner,” I said. “Me.”

“I warned you, you sonofabitch. So okay, this is where you get yours,” Diaz snarled, and a gun jumped into his hand.

I continued to smile at him.

“You have enough intelligence not to shoot me in your office,” I said. “You have enough intelligence not to shoot me anywhere. You have a new partner. There’s nothing you can do about it unless, of course, you want to lose more than twenty million dollars, and that I can’t believe.”

His eyes wavered and he lowered the gun.

“Listen, you blackmailing creep...” he began, then stopped.

A cheap bluffer, I told myself. This was going to be easy.

“Let me spell it out,” I said. “It’s nothing you don t know, but I want you to know I know. I guess Pofferi dreamed up the idea. I don’t imagine you did. You climbed on the gravy train as I am doing. As I see it, when Pofferi found out that Hamel, worth millions, had fallen for his wife, he saw his chance of cashing in. Nancy was on the run from the Italian cops with two murders tucked up her jersey. When Hamel offered marriage, Pofferi saw that Nancy could get out of Italy and she would inherit Hamel’s loot if and when he died. So Nancy married Hamel and Pofferi managed to get here. He hid up on an island. Nancy took care of him. Then I arrived on the scene, and, in a panic, Pofferi, through Josh Jones, came to you. You made a deal with him in return for protection. When I put the squeeze to Nancy, she alerted you. You, acting as her agent, decided to pay me off. You did a great job. You had me fooled. That psychological gimmick of yours to produce fifty grand in cash bought me off. It bought me off until I found out just how big the take was, and that Pofferi, aided by Nancy, had murdered Hamel, faking suicide.” I took from my wallet the statement I had written and dropped it in front of him. I added Selby’s receipt. “Take a look,” I went on. “It’s all in print.”

I saw sweat begin to trickle down his face as he read the statement and examined the receipt.

“So, go ahead and shoot me,” I said, smiling at him. “If you do, away goes all that lovely green and you and your buddies go behind bars for life. But don’t let that stop you... go ahead and shoot.”

He put down the gun, then stared at me, his snake-like eyes glazed.

“I’m not being greedy,” I said. “All I want is one million dollars, and I want it right now. I could squeeze you for a lot more, but a million will be fine. You and your buddies will still have lots of millions left. I can’t be fairer than that, can I?”

He just sat there, staring at me.

“I have information for you,” I went on, enjoying myself. “First, it will take three months to wind up Hamel’s estate. The good news is Nancy inherits the lot. Could be around twenty millions. There will be a big yearly income from the copyrights, and this could go on for some years. The payoff is nice, huh?”

Still he sat there saying nothing.

“I want an immediate million.” I leaned forward, and gave him my friendly smile. “That is no problem. I have talked with Solly Finklestein. On your signature, he will loan you a million at twenty-five percent. He will want your joint as collateral: just good will, you understand. If, of course, you don’t repay, he will send his boys around but with all those millions coming, that’s no problem for you. Are you following me?”

He began to look like a snake cornered by a mongoose.

“All you have to do is to sign this paper Solly has drawn up, and we are in business.” I took from my wallet the contract S.F. had dictated and put it before Diaz.

“I’m not signing anything,” he mumbled, but he leaned forward and read the contract. “I’m not signing this!” he squealed. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

“You would be crazy not to sign it, partner,” I said. “If you don’t: bye-bye millions. Twenty years behind bars. It’s up to you.”

He sat there, sweat oozing out of his face, as he stared at the contract. Solly Finklestein was well known and what was more important, his methods of collecting bad debts were better known. Diaz knew if he signed, then couldn’t pay, he would be crippled for the rest of his days.