Джеймс Чейз - You’re Lonely When You’re Dead

If there’s one thing that makes me madder than another it’s the louse who hits women.

I pulled up outside the gates of the Santa Rosa Estate, and tapped my horn button. It was now a little after one o’clock in the morning, and I wasn’t sure whether there’d be a guard on duty at that hour. There was, and he wasn’t Comrade Mills. The guardhouse door opened and a tall, thickset man in a peaked cap and knee boots, opened one of the gates and came out.

‘Is Mr. Cerf back yet?’ I asked as he threw the beam of a powerful flashlight on me.

‘Well, he’s back, but I don’t know if he’s seeing anyone. It’s kind of late, mister. Who are you?’

I told him.

‘Stick around,’ he said. ‘I’ll find out,’ and he went back into the guard house.

I got out of the car and fidgeted around like an expectant father waiting for news. Since leaving L’Etoile I had taken Miss Bolus to her two-room apartment on Jefferson Avenue, and had driven right over to the Santa Rosa Estate in the hope that Anita Cerf had come home, or at next best Cerf would know where she was.

The guard returned.

‘Yeah, he’s in and will see you,’ he said. ‘I’ll open the gates and you can drive up.’

I drove up.

The house was in darkness, but the regal looking butler was waiting on the doorstep as I ran up the steps. He took my hat without a word. His back was stiff with disapproval. Maybe he didn’t like me keeping him out of bed, or maybe he just didn’t like me.

We tramped through the big hall, along the passage lined on either side with suits of armour, into the elevator that took us up to the second floor, along another mile of corridor to Cerf’s study.

The butler opened the study door and said in a low, dismal voice, ‘Mr. Malloy, sir,’ ushered me in and shut the door behind me.

Cerf was sitting in a big armchair, a cigar between his fingers, a book open on his knee. As I crossed the room towards him, he closed the book and placed it on the table beside him.

‘Well? What do you want?’ he demanded, as aggressive as a pneumatic drill.

‘I want Mrs. Cerf, and I want her quick,’ I snapped back, matching his tone.

He stiffened and the mauve in his face deepened.

‘We’re not going over that again. I told that girl what would happen if you tried to drag Mrs. Cerf into this. If that’s all you want you can get out!’

I said, ‘That was this morning. A lot of things have happened since then. I’ve dug up something that connects your wife with the murder. It’s just a matter of time before the police get on to it too.’

‘What have you dug up?’

‘It’s a long story. Where’s Mrs. Cerf?’

‘She’s out of town. I’m keeping her out of this, Malloy. You can forget Mrs. Cerf. You’ll have no opportunity to talk to her. I’ll see to that.’

‘I’ve already talked to her.’

The cigar slipped out of his fingers and dropped to the floor. Muttering under his breath he bent to pick it up and remained bent, his face hidden for much longer than it takes to pick up a cigar. When he finally straightened, his nice mauve sun-tanned complexion was a shade paler, and there was a worried look in his eyes.

‘You’ve... what?’

“That’s right,’ I said, pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘You told Miss Bensinger this morning you were sending Mrs. Cerf out of town. The truth was, Mr. Cerf, you didn’t see your wife after she had gone out last night, and I don’t think you have an idea where she spent the night. You think she’s connected with Dana Lewis’s death. You may even think she shot Dana, and you’re trying to cover her up. It won’t work. And I’ll tell you why. Mrs. Cerf came to see me last night a little after ten o’clock. She wanted to know why she was being watched. I didn’t tell her. She offered a bribe, but I referred her to you. She left my place and contacted Dana Lewis. The two of diem went to Dana’s apartment. They arrived there about eleven-thirty. They were seen together. About twenty minutes later, Mrs. Cerf left. She took a taxi to East Beach. Nearly an hour later Dana had a phone call, and she left her apartment. She was later discovered by a guy named Owen Leadbetter, shot to death in some shrubs out at East Beach. One of my operators went to her apartment to make certain there was nothing in the apartment that would connect you with her murder. He found Mrs. Cerf’s necklace under Dana’s mattress.’

He had been listening to all this in motionless silence. His face had been as expressionless as the wall behind his head, but the reference to the diamond necklace was a little too much for him. The muscles in his face went suddenly slack and he nearly dropped his cigar again.

‘That’s a lie,’ he said, and sounded as if he were speaking through clenched teeth.

‘I have the necklace, Mr. Cerf. The situation is tricky because we had no business to take it from the apartment. But I’m trying to keep you clear of police inquiries. I have accepted you as a client, and I’ll maintain our guarantee of secrecy as long as I can, but how long that will be depends on how fast I can find Mrs. Cerf.’

He sat staring at me, his fists clenched and an ugly glitter in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.

‘To make matters worse there’s another murder,’ I went on. ‘Leadbetter, who was responsible for finding Dana’s body, was shot this afternoon. He either saw the murder committed or else the murderer. I think he was trying to blackmail the murderer and the murderer silenced him. Anyway he was shot this afternoon.’

Cerf made a sudden furious gesture with his hand, spilling ash over his trousers.

‘I must have been crazy to have employed you!’ he exploded, his face turning a deep purple. ‘I won’t be dragged into this! Do you understand? I’ll sue you! Just because this blasted woman gets shot...’

‘Dana Lewis was shot because you employed her to watch your wife,’ I broke in curtly. ‘And you know it! If it wasn’t for your wife, the girl would be alive now. It’s your responsibility as much as mine.’

He glared at me, muttering something under his breath, and drummed on the arm of his chair with angry fingers.

‘I don’t intend to accept the responsibility,’ he said.

‘If I decide to tell the police all I know, you’ll have to accept it.’

He touched his lips with the tip of his tongue, scowled down at his immaculate shoes and said in a more subdued voice, ‘Now look, Malloy, you’ve got to keep me out of this. I have my daughter to think of.’

‘Let’s think of Mrs. Cerf. Where is she?’

‘You said just now you have talked to her,’ Cerf said, looking up sharply. ‘Why ask me?’

‘Our talk was interrupted. I traced her to L’Etoile night club. She was hiding there. Has she come here?’

He shook his head.

‘Have you heard from her?’

‘No.’

‘Have you any idea where she could have gone?’

‘No.’

He was beginning to calm down now and the worried expression had come back.

He said, ‘She was at this night club all last night?’

‘Yes. Her story to Bannister — he owns the place — was that some man was pestering her and she wanted to keep out of his way. She offered her necklace to Bannister in return for protection, but Bannister didn’t get the necklace so he threw her out.’

‘This is fantastic,’ he muttered, getting to his feet. ‘Who’s the man who is pestering her?’

‘That’s something I have to find out. Maybe the guy who’s blackmailing her.’

He began to pace up and down, paused suddenly and looked at me.

‘You don’t think she shot this girl?’

I gave him a sour smile.

‘I don’t. Both Dana and Leadbetter were shot with a .45. Leadbetter was shot at about twenty yards range. I doubt whether any woman could hit a haystack at that range with a .45, let alone a target as small as a man’s head. But I’m not saying the police wouldn’t try to make a case against her. The way she’s behaving makes her suspect number one.’