Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Reluctant Model

“And when and where did you give it to him?”

“I met him in front of the apartment house which he designated and which I now know as the apartment house where Maxine lived. He said he had to give a part of the money to Maxine in order to keep the case from coming to a conclusion. He promised me that he’d see that she got out of town without making any statement. Then I could just fail to press the case and the matter would be closed.

“I distrusted Durant. I had a witness with me.”

“Let’s find out exactly what happened,” Mason said. “You met Durant in front of the apartment house?”

“Yes.”

“And you weren’t alone?”

“No.”

“You paid him the money?”

“Not in front of the apartment house, no.”

“Where?”

“In Maxine’s apartment.”

“You went up there?”

“Yes.”

“Who was with you?”

“This— A young lady was with me.”

“And you went up to Maxine’s apartment?”

“Yes. He said he was going to give her money to get out of the state so she wouldn’t be making any more statements and so you couldn’t locate her. I didn’t trust Durant for a minute. I went along to make sure he did what he said he was going to do.”

“You knocked on the door?”

“No, Durant had a key.”

“And what happened?”

“Maxine wasn’t there. He said that he had hoped to catch her there before she went out.”

“What time was this?”

“Quarter to eight.”

“And what did you do?”

“I couldn’t wait there for her to come back. I paid him the money — eleven thousand dollars. I had no other alternative.”

“That’s an odd figure,” Mason said. “Why the eleven thousand?”

“He told me he’d borrowed a thousand dollars and that he’d have to give that money back in order to make things safe for all concerned; that he’d give Maxine money to travel with and then he’d let me dismiss the suit against him with prejudice and he’d see that Maxine said nothing to anyone.”

“So the three of you were in Maxine’s apartment?”

“Yes.”

“And then what happened?”

“He remained there. We left. We went down to our car and drove several blocks and then this young woman who was with me remembered that she had left her purse. It was in the apartment. So she went back up to the apartment.”

“Go on,” Tragg said.

“When she got there she found the door partially open. She went in. Durant was dead. He was lying just as you found him. She was in a panic and opened the door to run and then saw that this nosy neighbor was standing in the hall. As it turns out, this woman was waiting for her boy friend to come up in the elevator, but the young woman in question thought that she had heard something which had aroused her suspicions and was watching the Lindsay apartment and was about to call the police.”

“So what did she do?” Tragg asked.

“She did the only obvious thing she could think of. She’s about the same size and build as Maxine. She dashed to the closet, found a voluminous, distinctive tweed coat, put it on, grabbed the canary and a package of birdseed, which was all tied up by the cage as though Maxine had been expecting someone to come and get the canary, and got out of the apartment, backing out so that she kept her back turned toward the woman in the hall, and hurried down to the stairs.

“Then she joined me.”

Mason took a piece of paper, wrote on it.

Tragg said, “All right, who’s the young woman?”

Olney shook his head. “Tragg,” he said, “I’ll go to prison, or anything else, but I’m not going to bring her into it.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Tragg said. “Don’t you realize this woman is the person who killed Durant? That is, if your story is true.”

“Nonsense!” Olney snapped. “She wouldn’t kill anyone — and she wouldn’t lie to me.”

“Don’t make a fool of yourself,” Tragg said. “This is murder. You can’t be like that.”

“I am like that, and I’m going to be like that,” Olney said.

Mason pushed the pad of paper, on which he had been writing, in front of Olney.

Olney took a look at the paper, then glared at Mason, but before he could say anything Mason said, “Let’s use our heads on this, Tragg. Durant had been doing business with Goring Gilbert. Durant had a bill at a paint store. He paid off that bill using hundred-dollar bills.

“That was shortly after the time Gilbert had received a fee in hundred-dollar bills from Olney’s representative for making that false Feteet.

“Durant told Olney he had borrowed a thousand dollars and he’d have to repay that money. He must have borrowed that thousand from Gilbert.

“Now then, Olney paid Durant eleven thousand dollars. When they found Durant’s body, he had ten thousand dollars on him. What happened to the extra thousand?”

“All right,” Tragg said, “you’re masterminding this. What do you think happened to it?”

“The murderer took it,” Mason said. “The murderer was someone to whom Durant had a moral obligation to pay one thousand dollars. The murderer took the money. He didn’t touch any more. The murderer was Goring Gilbert.”

“How did the murderer get in?” Tragg asked.

“Durant let him in,” Mason said. “Gilbert was looking for Durant. He had reason to believe he’d find him at Maxine’s apartment.

“Durant had put the first bite on Olney. From then on he intended to blackmail him as long as Olney’s domestic affairs were in such a shape that he could.

“Gilbert didn’t like the idea of Durant using the knowledge he had about the false Feteet to blackmail Olney. He just wasn’t going to stand for it.”

“How did Gilbert know about the blackmail?” Tragg asked.

“The same way he knew he’d find Durant in Maxine’s apartment. Olney’s friend arranged with Gilbert to copy the painting. When Durant put the bite on Olney, she phoned Gilbert and accused him of being in on the deal and told him Olney was to pay Durant eleven thousand dollars in front of Maxine’s apartment house at seven-forty-five.

“Gilbert assured her this was all news to him. He knew Durant had seen the Feteet copy, but had no idea Durant was going to blackmail Olney. So Gilbert drove to a place in front of the apartment house where he could see for himself.

“When Olney and his friend left, Gilbert went up to have an accounting with Durant. Durant was such a cheap chiseler he had even swindled Maxine out of her get-away money, telling her to be out of the place by seven, then telling Olney to be there at seven-forty-five.”

Tragg snapped his fingers.

“Get it?” Mason asked.

“I’ve got it,” Tragg said, getting to his feet.

He turned to Olney. “You’re coming with me, Olney,” he said. “I think this may get all straightened out, but until we get a confession you’re a prime witness.”

Olney hesitated a moment, then said, “Very well, I’ll go with you. I’m satisfied it was Goring Gilbert. Durant had known he was copying the painting and had put two and two together, and that’s why he rigged up this whole skin game so that I’d file suit against him.”

“You want to come, Mason?” Tragg asked. “We could use a witness.”

“You’re doing fine,” Mason said. “Go right ahead.”

Mason got up and escorted Tragg to the door. As he did so, Della Street picked up the paper on which Mason had written the name he had shown Olney — Corliss Kenner.

Della Street took Mason’s desk lighter, snapped it into flame and burnt the paper.

Mason returned from the door. “Well,” he said, “that’s that.”

“You think he’ll get a confession out of Gilbert?” Della Street asked.