Fletcher Flora: The Second Fletcher Flora Mystery MEGAPACK™: 20 Classic Mystery & Crime Stories!

The alley was a littered brick lane between brick walls. Behind Rudolph’s barber shop there was an indentation which provided enough space in which to park a pair of cars. Rudolph’s car was there when Gaspar pulled his old one up alongside, and the time at that moment was exactly a quarter to six. Gaspar crawled out and banged on the rear door of the shop. He was promptly admitted by Rudolph, who must have been waiting just on the other side. The barber was still wearing his starched white tunic, uniform of his trade, and it gave him an antiseptic look that was somehow disconcerting to Gaspar, who always felt slightly soiled even when he was still dripping from the shower.

“Ah, here you are,” Rudolph said. “Right on time, I see. Come in, come in.”

Gaspar, entering, found himself in a tiny room which had been devised by the simple expedient of erecting a plywood wall toward the rear of the original, single room. There was a small table with a bundle of laundry on it. On the same table there was a coffee pot on a hot plate, which was on a square of asbestos, and beside the table were two straight chairs. For an instant Gaspar felt trapped and vulnerable, and a wave of panic swept over him. But the panic receded quickly to leave him with no more than a vague feeling of uneasiness.

“Sit down, Mr. Vane,” Rudolph said, indicating one of the straight chairs. “Shall I make coffee?”

“Not for me,” said Gaspar.

“Very well, then.” Seated sidewise to the table in the second chair, Rudolph leaned an elbow upon it and stared at Gaspar. “Shall we come down to business at once?”

“If you’ve got the money, let’s do.”

“Oh, I have the money, I assure you. Indeed, I have twice the amount we agreed on.”

“ Fifty grand ?”

“Quite so.”

“Where is it?”

“Never mind that. It’s available.”

“What’s it for?”

“It’s for you, Mr. Vane, all for you if you care to earn it.”

Gaspar’s feeling of uneasiness was suddenly acute. His fat body felt clammy.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Earn it how?”

“By performing a certain service for me. I’m prepared, in brief, to make you a counter-proposition. Would you care to hear it?”

“It’s no crime to listen.”

“Let me say in the beginning, Mr. Vane, that you have made me sensitive to my position. I have realized all along, I suppose, that I could not indefinitely continue to live securely in my precarious circumstances, however desirable and delightful they might be. If you have found me out, it is certain that others will do so in good time, and although you are reasonable and willing to settle things amicably, it is certain that others will not be. Therefore, I have decided that it would be wise, so to speak, to settle for half a loaf. It is better, to put it brutally, to lose one wife than two. Do you understand me, Mr. Vane?”

Rudolph paused for an answer and examined his pared and polished fingernails, smiling at them with wry resignation, sadly and tenderly. As for Gaspar he felt as if an angry heavyweight had slugged him suddenly in the fat belly. In protest, it emitted a startled rumble.

“I’m not sure,” he said.

“Perhaps I’d better be more explicit. I have decided with deep regret to sacrifice one of the two.”

“Which one?”

“That has been my sad dilemma. Shall it be Angela or Winifred? Believe me, Mr. Vane, I have struggled over the choice with a troubled soul. To begin with, I am approaching that time of life when the passions will cool and simple domestic comforts, such as quiet evenings and home-cooked meals and a tidy house, will assume dominant importance. A point, as you can see, for Winifred. On the other hand, that time, although approaching, has not arrived. Moreover, there is another commanding consideration which must be, I fear, definitive. I have reason to know that I am the principal heir in Angela’s will. You can easily see the enormous complications that would arise if a will involving a large fortune were to be probated at this time. Not only would my bigamy almost certainly be exposed, but I should, inasmuch as Winifred was unfortunately my first and legal wife, lose everything that Angela left me. So, when you come right down to it, I really have no choice at all. Winifred must go.”

“Go where? Go how?”

“Oh, come, Mr. Vane. Please don’t be evasive. I’ve taken the liberty of investigating you discreetly, and you are, if I may say so, a ruthless man. I’m suggesting nothing beyond your capabilities.”

“Let’s put it into words. You want to hire me to kill your second wife?”

“Chronologically, my first wife. That’s my counterproposition.”

“You’re asking me to commit murder.”

“I’m presenting you with the opportunity if you wish to take it. I’m also giving you the chance to earn fifty thousand dollars instead of twenty-five.”

This, of course, was Gaspar’s great temptation, the overwhelming seduction of the affair as it was developing. Nevertheless, he dragged his heels. The disruption in the orderly sequence of routine blackmail was so abrupt and monstrous that it created in his mind an effect of violence. He was confused. He struggled for clarity and coherence. Yet, for all his confusion, he thought he could see certain possibilities of treachery.

“Nothing doing,” he said.

“Is that decisive? Don’t you even feel inclined to discuss it.”

“What’s to discuss?”

“Certainly you can see the benefits to yourself.”

“I can see one thing, all right. I can see that you’re a bigamist, and I’m a blackmailer, to be honest about it. That makes us just about equal. Tit for tat. But if I accepted your proposition, I’d be a murderer. We wouldn’t be equal any longer, and I’d have a lot more to lose than you.”

“Nonsense. You’re forgetting that I’d be guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, which is handled rather harshly under the law. No, Mr. Vane. We would be compelled to keep each other’s secret, and that’s all there is to it.”

“That’s not the point. The point is, you’d have me in a tighter bind than I’d have you, and you could refuse to pay me a dime for anything. If you were to do that, I wouldn’t dare do a thing about it.”

“I am an honorable man, Mr. Vane. My word is my bond.”

“In that case, hand over the fifty grand in advance.”

“I said, Mr. Vane, that my word is my bond. I didn’t say that yours is yours. However, I’m prepared to pay you an advance of ten thousand dollars upon your acceptance of my proposition, just to show my good faith, and I assure you that the balance will be paid promptly upon the completion of your duties.”

Gaspar, oddly enough, believed him. The cool little devil was just weird enough to have a kooky code of honor that would bind him to his word in the terms of his devilment.

“Wait a minute,” Gaspar said suddenly. “If you’ve got fifty grand to throw around, why can’t I just raise the ante of the game as it is?”

“You could try, Mr. Vane, but you would fail. I am a reasonable man, and I’m willing to pay a reasonable price for silence or service, but I will not be victimized. I’ll face my ruin first.”

Again, Gaspar was convinced. The idea, he decided, was not worth pursuing. As to Rudolph’s proposition, the suspicion of trickery was nearly allayed, but the fear of apprehension still remained.

“Well,” he said heavily, “I’m not saying I’ll do it, mind you, but I don’t see anything against listening a little longer. What makes you think we could get away with it?”

“There’s nothing in that to deter us. The exercise of reasonable caution should suffice. As you know, I leave home every Friday evening and don’t return until Sunday evening. Winifred is alone all that time. She is, moreover, a creature of habit, and her actions can be accurately predicted. She has told me that she invariably attends a movie Saturday night. She returns home immediately afterward and consoles herself with several strong highballs. It is poor Winifred’s one minor vice, but since it is rigidly controlled and is allowed to function only that one night of the week, it can perhaps be excused. In any event, she goes to bed somewhat under the influence and can be expected to sleep heavily. Anytime after midnight, I should say, would be safe for you to enter. I shall provide you with a backdoor key. A heavy blow on the head, deliberately planted evidence of burglary, and the thing is done. Poor Winifred has clearly surprised a burglar, who has killed her in his alarm. You simply walk out of the house and away, and in the meanwhile I am in another city, which can easily be established. Upon my return, we complete the terms of our agreement.”