Джеймс Чейз - There’s Always A Price Tag

‘Not yet, but I have still a lot of papers to go through,’ I said. I looked across at Marian, met her surprised eyes and frowned at her. I did this quickly, and then looked back at Burnett. He didn’t seem to have noticed my signal. ‘If I find anything I’ll let you know at once.’

‘Has he any relations?’ Maddux asked.

‘No, nor has Mrs. Dester.’

Maddux scratched the side of his jaw.

‘I’d like to know who would benefit if my company had to pay the claim.’ He showed his white teeth in a grim smile. ‘I may say this: we won’t pay out unless we are absolutely convinced there has been no attempt at fraud. All the same, I’d like to know who we have to deal with.’

‘If Nash finds the will, I’ll let you know,’ Burnett said.

‘Okay. Well, now I’ve got to get back to San Francisco. I’ll be down again.’ He turned to Madvig. ‘Until Dester is found, alive or dead, I want someone in this house. I can either send one of my own investigators or you can use one of your men. I want this house watched day and night until Dester is found. Will you fix it or shall I?’

That was nearly the finisher as far as I was concerned. How was I to move Dester’s body if there was a policeman guarding the house?’

‘Surely that’s not necessary,’ Madvig said, frowning. ‘You said just now you were convinced Dester is dead.’

‘I want to make certain his ghost doesn’t walk,’ Maddux said with a hard little grin.

‘Sergeant Lewis can stay,’ Bromwich said.

Madvig shrugged his shoulders.

‘Yes. He’s right here now. There’s no point in using one of your men.’

‘That’s fine,’ Maddux said and knocked out his pipe. ‘If you find either Dester or his will, let me know at once.’ He turned to me. ‘What’s your position here, Mr. Nash?’

‘I’ve been paid to the end of the month,’ I said. ‘I’m at Mr. Burnett’s disposal until then.’

‘I don’t want to stay,’ Marian broke in.

Maddux looked at her, then at Burnett, who said, ‘Couldn’t you stay on for a few days, Miss Temple? We shall need you at the inquest. The house will have to be looked after. Naturally I’ll see you get paid. I would be glad if you would stay.’

Marian hesitated. ‘Very well, I’ll stay until the end of the week, but not after.’

‘Thank you. We shall probably have news of Dester by then.’

Maddux, Madvig and Bromwich had gone out into the hall. I could hear Madvig talking to Lewis.

Burnett went on, ‘Well, as I’m here, I may as well look at Mr. Dester’s papers. I haven’t much time. Have you got them ready for me?’

‘I was going to parcel them up and send them down to you,’ I said. ‘At the moment they are in rather a mess. If you could give me until tomorrow morning I’ll have them all ready for you.’

He hesitated, then nodded. ‘Do that. I can get one of my clerks to go through them.’

Nodding to Marian and then to me, he went out and joined the other three as they stood by the police car talking.

Marian came up to me. ‘Glyn, why didn’t you?’

I whipped my hand over her mouth, cutting her words off.

‘Lewis is out there,’ I breathed. ‘Don’t say anything.’ Then raising my voice, I went on, ‘Let’s get back to the study. We have a lot of work to get through.’

Pale, her eyes alarmed, Marian let me lead her into the hall.

Lewis was prowling around at the foot of the stairs, his hands in his trousers pockets, his thin, hard face scowling.

We went past him without saying anything, down the passage and into Dester’s study. I shut the door and locked it.

‘Glyn! What is happening? Why didn’t you tell them we had found the will?’

‘I wanted to look at it first,’ I said, moving away from the door and over to the desk. ‘I had to look at it first.’

‘But why? You can’t do that. It’s addressed to Mr. Burnett.’

I pushed aside the heap of bills and found the long envelope. Then I sat down, holding it in my hand.

‘I can put it in another envelope. Burnett’s not to know it’s sealed. I’ve got to look at it first.’

She came and stood opposite me, her hands resting on the desk, her eyes scared.

‘But why, Glyn? Is there something wrong?’

‘Not yet. You heard what Maddux said about the other man? If I’m named in this will, he may jump to the conclusion that I am the other man.’

She stared at me, her eyes opening wide.

‘I could be in trouble, Marian, if I don’t handle this setup carefully. You may as well know the truth. For a very short time, Helen and I were lovers.’

Marian turned away and, crossing the room, she sat down. ‘I guessed that, Glyn.’

‘Yes. Maddux may guess it too. If Dester is found dead he may think I killed him if I’m named in this will.’

‘Of course he won’t, Glyn! How can you say such a thing?’

‘Oh, yes, he will. It’s a formula the police work to: husband who is insured for a lot of money suddenly dies. The wife has a lover. The wife dies. The lover is found to come into money left by the husband. Q.E.D. The lover has killed the husband and probably the wife. It has happened and will go on happening. All they want now is to find a motive.’

‘But the police don’t work like that, Glyn. They work on clues,’ she began, then stopped as I took out my penknife and slit open the envelope.

‘They haven’t any clues,’ I said as I pulled a single sheet of paper out of the envelope, ‘and I’m going to take good care they don’t have a motive to pin on me.’

I read the short document. As I read the wording I felt myself turn first hot, then cold. I went so cold it was as if I was standing in the way of a raging arctic wind.

It was a straightforward, simple testament. It said that as I had saved his life, I was to receive any money left over from the estate after the creditors had been paid. In the event of Helen’s death, and if the National Fidelity paid the insurance money into the estate, the whole amount should come to me.

Marian said sharply, ‘Glyn! What is it?’

I tossed the will across to her.

‘Read it,’ I said, my voice shaking. ‘The crazy, drunken fool has left me everything!’

The laugh was on me.

If I hadn’t been such a smart alec and if I hadn’t tried to horn in on the insurance money, it seemed now that I would have had a chance of getting the money anyway. I was sure Helen would have come unstuck against Maddux. If I had kept to the side lines and not interfered and let her get rid of Dester on her own, she would probably have landed herself in the death cell, and the money would have automatically come to me. But I had to be smart. I had manoeuvred myself into a position now where I dared not show Burnett this will. It would put me right under the spot-light. They would not only hang Helen’s death on me, but they would go flat out to hang Dester’s death on me too. In the state I was in, I knew I would never face up to police examination.

I did my best to explain to Marian that I didn’t want the money, and so long as there was a mystery attached to Dester’s death, it would be asking for trouble to let anyone see the will.

‘I’ll keep it for the time being,’ I said. ‘If Dester turns up, I’ll give it back to him and ask him to destroy it. I don’t want the money. If he isn’t alive, then I’ll destroy it myself. I’ve got to keep out of this, kid. You can see that, can’t you?’

‘But surely, Glyn, if Mr. Dester wanted you to have the money.’ She stopped abruptly and looked at me. ‘You didn’t have anything to do with his disappearance?’

‘You see,’ I said, ‘the idea suddenly drops into your mind that I might have. Can you imagine how Maddux would react?’