Джеймс Чейз - You're Dead Without Money

‘You’ve got them?’ he said hoarsely. ‘What the hell are you saying?’

‘Cindy got them.’

Vin sat abruptly on a chair.

‘You mean when she saw Larrimore, she got at the stamps?’

‘That’s right.’

Vin began to sweat.

‘When Larrimore misses them we’ll have a load of fuzz here!’

Elliot shook his head.

‘For some reason I don’t understand, Larrimore was warned two months ago that he would be prosecuted if he had the stamps and kept them. He can’t complain to the police now unless he wants to risk a prosecution by the C.I.A.’

‘The... who?’

‘The C.I.A.’

Vin gaped at him.

‘You mean the Government jerks who spy and play general hell?’

Elliot nodded.

‘But what have they to do with the stamps?’

‘I’m trying to figure that one out itself.’

Vin’s mind was in a whirl.

‘Where are the stamps?’

‘In a safe deposit box. I’ll see Kendrick tomorrow. Maybe I can squeeze more money out of him. Forget Judy. If we are lucky we could get another fifty thousand out of Kendrick. As you didn’t get the stamps, your share goes down to fifty thousand and as Cindy got them, her share goes up to a hundred.’

Vin drew in a snorting breath. He saw now that he would have to put his final card on the table. He hesitated for a long moment, but if Elliot sold the stamps for a mere two hundred and fifty, Vin knew he would have nightmares for the rest of his days.

‘Do you know how much these goddamn stamps are worth?’ he demanded, sitting forward and glaring at Elliot.

‘Do you?’

‘Yes. That bitch told me. Larrimore was offered a million for them and you are talking of selling them for two hundred and fifty!’

For a moment Elliot stared at Vin, then he shook his head.

‘She was conning you. No stamps are worth that kind of money.’

‘That letter I told you she had seen. She didn’t know I was interested in the stamps when she told me,’ Vin said feverishly. ‘That’s what they’re worth! A million! That’s why she won’t play. She wants all that money for herself!’

Elliot felt a prickle run up his spine. Could it be possible? he asked himself. If he could lay his hands on that amount of money he could clear his debts and make a new start. A million!

‘I can’t believe it!’

‘I’m telling you,’ Vin said violently, ‘and I’ll tell you something else... this bitch told me she’d give the cops a description of me if she found the stamps missing. You hear? As soon as her goddamn father tells her Cindy has taken the stamps, we’ll have the fuzz in our laps!’

Elliot waved this away.

‘She’ll never know they are missing,’ he said. ‘If Larrimore can’t tell the police they have gone, is it likely he would tell her who he dislikes?’

Vin hadn’t thought of this. He relaxed a little.

‘You can forget her,’ Elliot went on. ‘There must be some other way to find out who this buyer is without getting involved with her. Kendrick knows. Larrimore knows. Neither of them would tell us. Who else would know?’

Vin shuffled uneasily.

‘Search me and I’ll tell you something else... I was followed last night and tonight. I didn’t spot them but Judy did.’

Elliot stiffened.

‘If she did... why didn’t you?’

‘I had things on my mind,’ Vin said sullenly. ‘I forgot to check.’

‘Could she have been conning you?’

Vin’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t thought of that. By spinning a yarn that they were being watched she had saved her goddamn neck. Yes... she could have been smart enough to have conned him.

‘Maybe... I don’t know. Someone followed Joey and Cindy.’

Elliot got to his feet.

‘This bothers me. Let’s check and find out’ He left his room and went into the living room. Vin, scowling, joined him.

‘Joey... I want to talk to you,’ Elliot said.

Reluctantly, Joey turned off the TV set and regarded Elliot inquiringly.

‘Vin thinks he was followed tonight. I want to be sure. He’s going to take a walk down town. Give him a start, then go after him. See if you can spot the tailer.’ He turned to Vin. ‘Go to the end of the road and keep along Beechwood Drive until you come to the drug store. Buy some cigarettes and then come back... take your time.’

‘What’s the matter with taking the car?’ asked Vin who hated walking.

‘Do what I say!’ Elliot snapped.

Shrugging, Vin left the bungalow and after giving him a three-minute start, Joey went after him.

‘What is it, Don?’ Cindy asked anxiously. ‘Do you really think someone’s following us?’

‘If there is someone, Joey should spot him.’ Elliot turned to the door. ‘Go to bed. I’ve got thinking to do.’

‘I’ll wait for dad to get back.’

‘Cindy!’ The snap in Elliot’s voice startled her. ‘Go to bed and stay in your room no matter what you hear. Do you understand?’

‘What’s going to happen?’

‘For God’s sake, don’t be a nuisance! Go to bed!’

With a hurt expression on her face, Cindy left the room. Elliot grimaced, then sat down and waited for Vin and Joey to return.

Half an hour later, Vin came in.

‘Anything?’

‘Not a damn thing! No one followed me,’ Vin said sourly. ‘A waste of time.’

‘Let’s wait for Joey.’

Twenty minutes later Joey came in and quietly shut the door.

‘He was followed and so was I,’ he said. ‘One of them is in the back garden right now.’

‘Did you see him?’ Elliot asked, getting to his feet.

‘Yes... he’s behind the big shrub at the end of the garden. There’s no place else for him to hide. The other one is in a car at the end of the road.’

‘Okay, Joey... you’ve done a swell job. Now, go to bed.’

‘Cindy in bed?’

‘Yes.’

Joey looked at Vin, hesitated, then moved to the door.

‘Well, then... good night.’

When he had gone, Elliot said softly, ‘Let’s go get him. Maybe we can persuade him to tell us who he is working for.’

Vin’s face lit up with a wolfish grin.

‘If it’s to be told, he’ll tell. How do we take him?’

‘Let’s look.’

The two men went into the dark kitchen and Elliot closed the door. They went to the window and looked out on to the back garden. Although there was a big moon the tall trees surrounding the garden made it dark, but they could make out the outline of the big flowering shrub at the bottom of the garden.

‘I’ll crawl down there and flush him out,’ Elliot said. ‘When you hear me call, come fast.’

Vin nodded. This was the kind of action he liked. He was impressed by the way Elliot slid out through the back door and disappeared into the darkness. He waited, then hearing a sudden commotion, he charged down the lawn and blundered on Elliot, kneeling over a limp body.

‘Okay,’ Elliot said, standing up. ‘I’ve fixed him. He was half-asleep. He’ll be out for ten minutes or so. Help me carry him in.’

Together, they carried the unconscious man into the kitchen, down a short passage and into the living room.

‘Lock the door,’ Elliot said as they dumped the man on the settee.

Vin locked the door and joined Elliot to look down at the man on the settee. He wasn’t much to look at: below average height, small boned, sandy haired, round, boyish face and at a guess, Elliot thought he couldn’t be more than twenty years of age.

‘Not much of a punk, is he?’ Vin said. ‘What did you do... knock him on the nut?’

‘Chop at the back of his neck,’ Elliot said. ‘Hell be all right in a few minutes.’

The name of the man lying on the settee was Jim Folls. He had joined Lessing’s investigators as a learner two months ago. With all Lessing’s top investigators concentrating on Larrimore’s house, Nisson had thought it safe to leave Folls to keep an eye on Elliot’s bungalow. He had told him to do nothing but sit behind the shrub and leave it to Ross, parked in a car at the end of the road, to take care of anything that might happen. Folls’ job was to alert Ross by his transceiver if anyone left the bungalow. But Folls had taken a correspondence course in detective work and was keen. When he saw Vin leave the bungalow he not only alerted Ross, but followed Vin just in case Ross made a box up of it He hadn’t any opinion of Ross’s talents. By doing so he had given himself away to Joey who spotted him sneaking after Vin.