Реймонд Маршалл - Lady — Here’s Your Wreath

‘What is it, Nick?’

I opened and shut my mouth, but no sound came. I just stood looking at him.

He put his hand on my arm. His face had gone very grim. ‘Mardi? Somethin’ happened to Mardi?’

I took a deep breath. It was worse than I thought. It made it much more real to have to say it. I had to put out a big effort to get control of myself. I could feel the muscles in my stomach fluttering. ‘They’ve killed her, Mo.’ Well, it was out now.

Ackie didn’t believe it. He pushed me into the sitting-room. ‘They wouldn’t do that,’ he said. ‘Get a grip on yourself, Nick. Come on an’ have a drink. They wouldn’t kill a kid like that.’

I grabbed him by the arm and swung him round. ‘I tell you they’ve killed her, the swine. She’s up there on the bed. Look... they killed her here. Look at the blood. Do you see that? That’s hers. That’s from her body. They killed her down here. They came on her when she was alone and the yellow curs killed her against the wall.’

Ackie took a look at the bloodstains. Then he shook his head. ‘Take it easy,’ he said, ‘take it easy.’

I seized his coat-front in my fist and shook him. ‘Don’t say that to me!’ I shouted at him. ‘I tell you she’s up there...’

He hit me across the face with the flat of his hand very hard. I guess I wanted that. It shook me up and it hurt a lot, but it fixed me. I blinked at him and took my hand away. ‘I’m sorry, Mo,’ I said, stepping away from him. ‘I guess I was excited.’

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Suppose we go up?’

With Ackie, I felt I could do it. We went upstairs quickly. I turned on the light in the bedroom and walked over to the bed.

I heard Ackie say: ‘Good God!’

I pulled the sheet down with a steady hand. The floor seemed to rise up under me and I felt Ackie grab at my arm. We both stood staring.

Even in death Blondie looked hard and suspicious. Her glazed eyes were fixed in a terrified stare and the vivid paint on her mouth glistened in the electric light. A small bullet-hole just above her left breast told me how she had died.

Ackie said: ‘No... don’t say anythin’. Let me think.’

I walked away from the bed. My brain was stiff.

Ackie put his hand on Blondie’s arm, then took her wrist and raised it. I just stood there and watched him. ‘She ain’t been dead long,’ he said. He covered her with the sheet and came away from the bed.

He said: ‘We’ll look in the other rooms.’

I stayed right there and let him do it. He came back after a while and shook his head. ‘There’s no one anywhere.’

I sat down.

‘You see, they didn’t kill her... they’ve only taken her away,’ Ackie said.

He went out of the room again.

I repeated after him: ‘They’ve only taken her away.’ I guess I felt as bad as when I thought she was dead.

Ackie came back again with the Scotch and two glasses. He put the glasses down on the table and poured the whisky out carefully. Then he came over and put one of the glasses in my hand.

‘If you want to get Mardi back you gotta snap out of it,’ he said.

He was right.

‘This is a frame-up, Nick,’ he went on, ‘the old gag again. The same stunt as they pulled on Vessi. Blondie knew too much so they knocked her off and planted her on you. The next thing you’ll know is that the cops will roll up and make a pinch. They’ll get away with it just like they got away with it the first time.’

He was right again.

I finished up my Scotch and got to my feet. My own danger didn’t worry me, but if I were behind bars there was no one to find Mardi. I had to get this angle right first.

‘You better keep out of this, Mo,’ I said. ‘I can’t drag you into it.’

Ackie filled up his glass again. ‘Forget it.’

‘No... I mean that.’

‘I’m in with you from now on. We’re going to bust this thing wide open. We’re going to get Mardi back and we’re going to get Spencer on trial. We’re going to find out what’s at the bottom of the Mackenzie Fabrics, and when we’ve done all that we’re going to write the grandest news story, and we’re going to get someone to print it.’

I said: ‘Do you mean that?’

‘Yeah, I’m in on it, and you can’t keep me out.’

I was glad to have Ackie with me. He was an all-right guy and a tough egg to have around when trouble starts.

‘We gotta get this dame outta here first. We gotta do that quick. That’ll spoil any frame-up they’re hoping to slap on you.’

‘How the hell are we going to do that?’

Ackie scratched his head. We’ll take her out in my car and drop her somewhere.’

‘It would be better to take her round to her own apartment and leave her there. In her profession she might’ve been knocked off by anyone.’

Ackie nodded. ‘We’ll do that.’

We had a couple of drinks, but they didn’t do much good. Ackie got her hat and put it on her head. He pulled it down hard, so that it hid the glassy look in her eyes. He stood looking down at her. ‘I guess she looks okay now,’ he said, scratching his head.

‘I’ll be glad when we’ve got her out of here.’

Ackie nodded. ‘I guess we’ll get goin’ right away. I bet you evens she stiffens on us before we get her there.’

‘I’ve had enough grief for one night. I ain’t taking bets with you.’

‘Well, let’s go.’

We sat Blondie up and adjusted the short fox-fur cape over her shoulders that we had found in the room. It hid the bloodstains all right.

Ackie said quickly: ‘You’ll have to carry her... she’s too heavy for me.’

I put my arm round her waist and the other arm under her knees and lifted her off the bed. Make no mistake about it, that dame was heavy.

Ackie said: ‘Don’t be standoffish, madam, put your arm round his neck.’

I said: ‘If you don’t cut that line right out, I ain’t goin’.’

Ackie rubbed his hand over his face. ‘Jeeze, if I don’t make a joke of it, I’ll go nuts.’

‘Well, go nuts, but cut that line out.’

Going downstairs I near dropped her. My teeth began to rattle in my head.

Ackie was coming down behind me. He had brought the bottle of Scotch, and every step down he took a quick drag at the bottle. He was getting cock-eyed as hell. I put Blondie down on a chair and took the bottle away from him. ‘Listen, you punk,’ I said evenly, ‘you’re supposed to be helpin’ me. Will you get a grip on yourself an’ help?’

‘Sure,’ he said, ‘sure... you don’t have to worry.’

Blondie suddenly stretched out her legs and began to slide off the chair. We both stood staring at her, unable to move. Ackie said, in a quavering voice: ‘I don’t think I’m goin’ to stand a lot of this.’

Blondie sat down on the floor with a little bump and then flopped on her side. Her hat came off and one of her shoes.

Ackie sat on the stairs and hid his face. ‘I think I’ll commit suicide,’ he said.

When I straightened her out I found her muscles were hardening. ‘Quick, Mo,’ I said, ‘she’s gettin’ stiff.’

Ackie got up and gave me her hat. ‘Maybe she’ll be easier to handle that way,’ he said hopefully.

I crammed the hat on her head again. ‘Get hold of her knees... we’ll never get her into the car.’

We carried her out into the dark night. I could only hear Ackie’s heavy breathing and the sound of our feet crunching on the gravel. Overhead, the sky looked stormy. Big clouds raced across the face of the moon.

The car was a big six-seater, but it took us all our time getting her in. We got her fixed at last in the corner of the seat. In the dim light of the roof-lamp she looked good. No one would have known that she was dead.