Реймонд Маршалл - The Paw in the Bottle

He jerked his head away irritably.

‘Cut it out,’ he said, took out a comb and tidied his hair.

She looked at him, glanced over at her mother who pursed her lips.

‘Harry’s quitting after this job,’ Mrs. French said. ‘Wants to go to America.’

‘So do I,’ Dana said. ‘We’ll go together, won’t we Harry?’

He gave her a shifty look, smiled.

‘It might be an idea,’ he said, without conviction. ‘But I haven’t made up my mind yet.’

A timid tap sounded on the outer door.

‘That’s her,’ Dana said, her lips tightening. ‘I’ll go.’

She found Julie waiting in the dark passage.

‘Come in,’ Dana said. ‘You’re late, aren’t you?’

‘Am I?’ Julie said curtly, ‘I don’t know.’ Her heart was hammering and her throat was dry, but she had control of herself and apart from a steadily beating vein in her temple she looked calm and at ease.

‘Hello, Jane,’ said a sneering voice behind her, and she flinched, looked quickly over her shoulder.

Theo materialized out of the darkness.

‘Been trailing you all the evening, just in case you changed your mind,’ he said. His bad, stale breath fanned her face, and she shuddered.

‘Come in,’ Dana said sharply. She disliked Theo, and wished her mother didn’t employ him.

She led the way into the inner office. Theo trod on Julie’s heels as he followed her.

‘I bet you’ve been dreaming of me, Jane,’ he said, grinning. ‘Nice little nightmares that made you sweat.’

Harry kicked back his chair and stood up.

‘Shut your trap, you half-grown monkey,’ he said. ‘Who told you to talk?’

Theo eyed him evilly, slouched to a chair and sat down.

‘You’d better tell this bloke to lay off me,’ he said to Mrs. French. ‘I’m getting tired of him.’

‘Hello, Julie,’ Harry said with a nervous smile. ‘Come and sit down near me.’

Julie gave him a look of contempt and turned her back on him.

Theo sniggered.

‘That’s pretty good. Give her a kick in the tail,’ he said.

‘Shut up, both of you,’ Mrs. French snapped. ‘Here, you,’ this to Julie. ‘Sit down. Have you found out how the safe opens?’

Julie faced her.

‘Yes,’ she said.

‘Pity,’ Theo said. ‘I was looking forward to do you, Jane.’

Harry made a move to get up again, but Mrs. French waved impatiently at him.

‘All right, sit down and tell us,’ Mrs. French said.

Julie pulled up a chair away from Harry and sat down.

‘I took notes. You’d better read them,’ she said.

Theo leaned forward.

‘They’d better be all right,’ he said. ‘You try any tricks, Jane, and you’ll be sorry.’

Julie recoiled before his vicious scowl.

Harry hit Theo across his mouth with the back of his hand. Theo and his chair went over backwards. For a second or so he lay sprawled on the floor, stunned. Then he began to swear, his face vicious with rage. His hand went to his hip pocket and he dragged out a small automatic pistol. But Harry was ready for that. He kicked the gun out of Theo’s hand, picked it up and put it on the table.

‘I warned you,’ he said, glaring down at Theo. ‘When I say shut up, I mean shut up. And don’t try to pull a gun on me again, you cheap little gangster.’

Theo got slowly to his feet. There was a look in his eyes that frightened Julie. He touched his nose and mouth with the back of his hand, then slouched over to the settee under the window and stretched out on it. His silence was more chilling than a display of temper.

Mrs. French glanced at him, picked up the gun and put it in her bag.

‘How many times have I to tell you not to carry guns?’ she demanded. Her bright eyes revealed her rage. ‘Are you carrying a gun, Harry?’

‘Not likely,’ Harry said, still glaring at Theo. ‘I’m not a kid like wet-ears over there. I’ve never carried a gun and I never will. I’m not soft in the head.’

Mrs. French grunted.

‘I’ll talk to you later,’ she said to Theo.

Theo pursed his lips but said nothing. He stared up at the ceiling, hate in his eyes.

Julie watched all this with fascinated horror. The sight of the gun had turned her cold.

‘All right,’ Mrs. French said. ‘Let’s get down to business. Where’s this paper of yours?’

Julie produced a sheet of paper covered with her neat writing and put it on the desk.

Mrs. French read it through and Harry stood behind her, reading over her shoulder.

‘Two alarms,’ Harry said, and whistled. ‘They’re not taking any chances. I said I thought it was a photo-electric cell. This is fine; just what we want.’

Mrs. French looked searchingly at Julie.

‘And you’re sure you can open it?’

Julie nodded.

‘How did you find out all this?’

‘Mrs. Wesley gave a demonstration to a friend of hers. I was hiding in the room,’ Julie said.

‘Good for you,’ Harry said and smiled at her, but she looked away. She knew he was trying to be friendly, but she hated him and there was nothing he could do now that would change her feelings towards him.

‘All right,’ Mrs. French said, and laid down the paper. ‘Now we can make a start. Today’s Wednesday. I’ll be ready by the week-end. What are they doing on Saturday? Do you know?’

‘I’m leaving on Saturday,’ Julie said. ‘Mrs. Wesley has given me notice.’

They all looked at her; even Theo raised his head and stared with intent concentration at her.

‘Why?’ Mrs. French demanded.

‘She doesn’t like me,’ Julie said. ‘It wasn’t any particular thing I did.’

‘You’ve got to be there when we do the job,’ Mrs. French said. ‘You’re in this up to the neck. Friday, then.’

‘Why can’t you leave me alone?’ Julie said, thinking it would be wiser to put on a show of reluctance. ‘I’ve told you how the safe opens. I won’t do any more.’

‘You’ll do what I tell you. You can’t get out of it now, so you may as well make the best of it. We’ll take care of you. Harry will tie you up before he leaves. So long as you keep your head they can’t pin anything on you. You’ll get your share. It’ll be worth five hundred to you. When the police question you, tell them three men came to the front door, grabbed you and tied you up. You didn’t get a chance to see what they looked like, except they wore dark overcoats and slouch hats. Make up your own description. You’re no fool, and stick to your story. Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ Julie said sullenly.

‘All right.’ Mrs. French turned her attention to Harry. ‘Your job is to work with Julie, take the furs and put them in the service lift. Theo will be in the basement to receive them. There’s room for a car in the back alley. It’s only a step from the basement to the alley. As soon as you’ve sent the furs down, take the jewellery, tie Julie up and take the staff lift to the ground floor. We can go into the details about the exact time later.’ She shot Julie a hard look. ‘Think the Wesleys will be out on Friday?’

‘I know they will,’ Julie said. ‘I heard them talking. They’re going to dinner and a theatre.’

‘All right,’ Mrs. French said, looked across at Harry. ‘It’s fixed for Friday at eight o’clock.’

Harry nodded.

‘Suits me,’ he said, but there was a lurking uneasiness in his eyes.

‘Any questions?’ Mrs. French asked.

‘I don’t like leaving Julie in the flat when the job’s done,’ Harry said. ‘You know what the police are. They’ll smell it’s an inside job. Think she’ll stand up to them?’

‘If she keeps her head it’ll be all right,’ Mrs. French said shortly. ‘There’s no other way.’