Джеймс Чейз - Not Safe to Be Free [= The Case of the Strangled Starlet]

He remembered what Sophia had said about Jay being queer. He also thought of Harriette and how she had crept towards him, knife in hand, with that animal-like, insane expression on her face. Surely the boy hadn’t done this thing! But if he had! Delaney’s mind shied away from the consequences of such a thing. And the premier of the picture he had sunk so much money in was on to-night!

Leroy came out of Jay’s bedroom.

Devereaux looked anxiously at him and Leroy gave him a cheerful nod and a grin.

“No doubt about it, Inspector,” he said briskly. “The room is full of the print we’ve found.”

Delaney got to his feet.

“What print?”

“If you will give me a few seconds, monsieur, I’ll explain everything to you,” Devereaux said gently, then, turning to Guidet, he went on in an undertone: “Get him as quickly as you can. He may have bolted. Put as many men on the job as you want, but get him!”

Guidet nodded and he and Leroy left the suite.

Devereaux sat down in the lounging chair.

“I’m afraid this is going to be a great shock to you, monsieur,” he said quietly. “Your son is now wanted for two murders.”

“Two murders?”

Delaney’s face went white and he sat down abruptly.

“Yes,” and, speaking rapidly, Devereaux gave him the facts of the case.

The unexpected telephone call that had sent Ginette’s father off hurriedly to St. Tropez had left Ginette on her own to handle the care trade.

As the café offered a vantage point to watch the Beau Rivage hotel, a number of people, curious to see why there was so much police activity going on in the hotel, had crowded into the café and Ginette was kept busy attending to their needs while they sat at the tables gaping at the lighted entrance across the way.

It wasn’t until half-past one that the spectators decided there was nothing further to see and began to drift away to their homes and Ginette was able to shut the café.

This was the first time she had been left entirely alone in the café, but it didn’t worry her. After locking the café door and pulling down the blind, she turned off the lights in the bar room and then going into the kitchen, she set about the business of washing up the fifty or so glasses and the dozen or so coffee cups before going to bed.

While she worked she thought of Jay. She was disappointed that she hadn’t been able to see him this night, but she was pleased he had suggested coming to see her in the morning.

She liked him, she told herself. She knew he liked her. It was an instinctive feeling and she was sure she wasn’t mistaken.

Perhaps the word “like” was too mild a word to express her feelings, she thought, as she slid coffee cups into the sink. Could she be falling in love with him?

It was while she was drying the cups and putting them in neat rows on the shelf, her mind still occupied with her thoughts of Jay, that she became aware that someone was gently tapping on the street door.

She paused to listen, surprised and a little uneasy. The knocking continued.

She hesitated, then she turned off the light and moved silently into the dark bar room.

The faint light from the moon reflecting into the room gave her enough light to find her way to the street door.

Against the blind that covered the glass door, she could see the shadowy outline of a man and she stopped, wondering who it could be, her uneasiness growing.

Knuckles continued to knock against the glass, then a voice said very softly: “Ginette? Are you there? It’s Jay.”

She went immediately to the door and pulled aside the blind.

They looked at each other through the glass panel. The moonlight fell fully on her, while he was in the shadow and she smiled at him as she turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

“Why, hello,” she said. “What are you doing here at this time?”

He stood motionless, looking at her. She couldn’t see him clearly, but she did see he had taken off his dark glasses and over his shoulder he carried what looked like a canvas sack.

“I’ve come to stay,” he said. “You said there was a room for me.”

She hesitated, then, as he moved forward, she gave ground and he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. She heard him fumble with the key and turn it.

“I... I don’t think you can stay here to-night,” she said a little breathlessly. “You see I’m alone here. Father had to go to St. Tropez.”

“Yes, you told me. I’m sorry,” he said, dropping the sack on the floor. “But you can’t turn me away. I have nowhere else to go.”

She found it exciting and disturbing to be in the semi-darkness so close to him. She could feel the heat of his body as he stood by her.

“Wait a moment,” she said. “I’ll put on a light.”

“No, don’t do that.” His voice sharpened and surprised her. “Wasn’t there a light just now at the back?”

“Yes, I was clearing up. When I heard your knock I was startled. I put the light out.”

“Clearing up? Let me help you.” He walked past her into the kitchen and turned on the light. “You have all this to do?” he asked as she came to the door and he waved his hand at the trays of glasses on the table. “Don’t you have any help?”

She laughed.

“I’m used to it. It won’t take very long.”

She moved into the kitchen and over to the sink.

“Have you really nowhere to sleep?”

“No. I’ve left my hotel. You said you had a room for me, so naturally I came here.”

She began to slide the glasses into the sink.

“Well, I suppose you could have a room, but I don’t think my father will approve.” She smiled at him. “Will you want it for long?”

“Two days. When is he coming back?”

“I don’t know. His brother is very ill. He may be away for a week.”

“Then it doesn’t matter if he approves or not, for he won’t know, will he?”

He picked up a cloth and began to dry the glasses as she rinsed them.

“I don’t like doing anything that I know he would disapprove of,” she said, wanting him to stay, but making excuses to her conscience.

He watched her, his heart beating rapidly, thinking how beautiful she was and loving her.

“Then I’ll go. As soon as I have finished helping you, I’ll go and I’ll sleep on the harbour somewhere.”

She laughed.

“I’m sure you don’t intend to do any such thing. You are trying to work your way into my heart.”

“Would that be very difficult?”

She paused, her hands in the water and looked over her shoulder at him.

“I don’t think it would.”

He put down the glass he was drying and let the cloth drop out of his hand, then he moved towards her. She smiled as she faced him.

“You’re like no other girl I have ever known. Up to now, girls have never meant anything to me but you... ”

She put her hands on his chest, pushing him back.

“I don’t think we should be doing this, Jay.”

“You are only saying that because it is the conventional thing to say. You don’t really mean it, do you?”

She hesitated, then shook his head.

“No, you’re quite right. I don’t mean it at all.”

She dropped her hands and let him draw her against him and she leaned against him, her heart beating violently.

Jay thought, this is something I have never experienced before. Why have I been so utterly stupid? Why have I put my future in jeopardy? I could have found everything I have been searching for in this girl.

His kiss was clumsy, but Ginette reacted to it in a way that set his blood on fire. They clung to each other, their bodies hard against each other’s, her fingers moving gently up the back of his neck and through his hair.