Brett Halliday - Caught Dead

“Now can I ask Paula what was really inside those cartons of cigarettes?”

“I wasn’t careful enough,” she said. “Or I was careful in the wrong way.” She broke off to ask Serrano, “Can I say as a positive fact that when I gave my aunt the cartons they were exactly as specified? Tear gas. Smoke. A timing mechanism. A few cigarettes.”

The discussion became general, and Paula continued. “Yes, Mr. Shayne. There were several involved in the manufacture, the putting in packages. We have a small workshop. People are all the time coming and going-if one person made a change, and put in a bomb, the others would know. I gave them to Lenore to give to the wife. When she gave them back I gave them to Tim, who gave them to Larry Howe. At some point in this process the substitution was made. And that is all I can tell you.”

“Who do you think did it?”

“Perhaps Aunt Lenore,” Paula said quietly. “To have a relationship with such a man, I think she must be-how should I say it-a greedy person. I know she was once very poor. But there are other ways than to take money from someone so totally evil. Of course she claimed she was fond of him. But is it likely? Alvares?”

“And you think she killed him because of the money?”

“I don’t know. It sounds logical. To have it all.”

“She says you used to stay with her when you went to school in Miami. Did you ever see any gold bars lying around? Gold bars-that’s a figure of speech. A guy named Felix Frost tells me Alvares shut down his bank accounts a year and a half ago. We don’t know what he did with the cash.”

“Frost,” Serrano said with distaste.

“I wasn’t crazy about him myself,” Shayne said. “But he’s supposed to know what he’s talking about, and when he says the bank accounts were closed, I think that means they were really closed. He’s the one who suggested gold. Whatever it is, it’s illegal, not part of a formal estate, and so it’s more or less up for grabs. And the reason I went to all this trouble was to find out if you’d be interested in taking a shot at it.”

He swallowed the last bite of frankfurter and peeled another. After a moment’s silence several voices spoke at once.

Shayne stopped them. “Here’s the deal. However careful you are, you have to take a certain amount of chances to rob a bank. This could generate a lot more loot, with less risk. You must have ways to get in and out of the country without going through immigration, and that’s what I’m buying. I don’t have much to offer in return except a dim theory and a few guesses. But four people have died, and somebody killed them. Somebody switched those cartons, somebody knifed Lenore and shot Rubino. I think I know how I can break it open, if I can get you people to help. Is there anything to drink here?”

One of the young men quietly left the room.

Shayne continued. “At least two people knew what Alvares did with his money-Alvares himself and Lenore Dante. He’s dead and she’s pinned down and can’t get back to the United States without help. So there doesn’t seem to be any rush. But if everybody involved in this can be given the idea that I know where the money is and I’m on my way-”

“And do you know where it is?” Serrano said.

Shayne exploded. “I thought I’d made it clear that I’m working blind. I don’t even know for sure that there is any money.”

An unmarked bottle was brought in, containing a colorless, slightly oily liquid. Glasses were filled and handed around. Shayne raised his drink and knocked it back. It didn’t go off until it was all the way down, and then the explosion was considerable.

“It is called pisca,” Serrano said.

“Very smooth. All right. It’s a simple idea but I’ll explain it again. I can’t operate down here. Usually I don’t mind sticking my head up over the edge of the foxhole to see who takes a shot at me. But here I wouldn’t learn anything and I might not live through it.”

“You’ve done all right so far,” Paula remarked.

“I’ve asked some questions, and I’ve been given some conflicting answers. I keep looking over my shoulder to see who’s behind me. I wanted to see what you look like and how you handle yourselves. And to arrange something simple like that, I had to set up a complicated dodge with a two-way mirror, and I came damn close to getting five people killed in a head-on collision. Before I make any more of these great moves I want to be back where I speak the language. Palm Beach keeps being mentioned. It isn’t as good as Miami, but it’s good enough. The police chief there is a friend of mine. I keep coming across jewelry in Miami that’s been stolen in Palm Beach, and it goes back to the owners through the Palm Beach cops. So they owe me a favor. I know where to buy information and which streets run one-way.”

“You wish to transfer the entire matter to Palm Beach from Caracas,” Paula said, “like changing to a new scene in a film?”

“You make it sound complicated. All I have to do is persuade a few key people that the money is definitely in Palm Beach, and I know where it is, and I’m going after it with the help of my friends in the MIR, who’ve been cut in for a piece.”

“Then whoever tries to get to the money first-” Serrano said slowly.

“We bushwhack. We relieve them of the money and find out something. There are ways of doing it if you’re willing to think about it.”

Serrano looked at him carefully. “I’m willing to think about it. What means of transportation?”

“I have a plane at Maiquetia if you can get me aboard.”

“With some of our people, of course. To watch you when you count the money.”

“As many as you like. Paula ought to be one of them. I may need her to help identify faces.”

“But there are other parts to this idea. How will you make certain that the necessary ones are informed?”

“I want you to plant it with a pigeon, so it doesn’t come directly from me.”

“A pigeon?”

“You must have a word for it in Spanish. Somebody who reports directly to Mejia. Nobody in this room, I hope, but there must be somebody else here in the barrio. Let him overhear a couple of your guys talking. Michael Shayne, Alvares’ loot, Palm Beach, in a hurry. That ought to be enough.”

Serrano frowned. “You think Luis Mejia is connected with this?”

“I don’t know about connected. But after you talk to enough cops you begin to recognize the signals. He knows more about it than he told me, which wouldn’t be hard because he didn’t tell me anything much. Why should he? But in Florida he’ll be on the other side of the table. There won’t be any problem with Lenore. There was nothing phony about those stab wounds. The guy was really trying to kill her; he just didn’t know how. Then there’s the widow.”

Serrano and the girl exchanged a glance. Serrano said, “We have a connection to one of the people in the house, a maid.”

“What kind of connection?” Shayne said quickly. “Can you phone her?”

“No. But we can be in touch within one hour.”

“Can you find out if Frost was out there today?”

Serrano considered. “Is it important?”

“I think so. Frost’s people have a tap on Mejia’s line. Anything involving me will be passed on to Frost right away. And if he passes it on to the Senora, we’ve closed another circuit. The money’s very much on her mind. It wouldn’t surprise me if she changed out of her black dress and caught the first plane.”

Serrano said deliberately, “I think perhaps you’re trying to trick us. You want this money for yourself.”

“Do I?”

Serrano asked the girl’s opinion, and the discussion ran around the room. Shayne had another drink of the explosive liquor and waited.