James Cain - The Postman Always Rings Twice

“All right, now, get this set-up. The Pacific States Accident is on a $10,000 personal accident policy. The Guaranty of California is on a $10,000 new public liability bond, and the Rocky Mountain Fidelity is on an old $10,000 public liability bond. So that’s my first card. He had an insurance company working for him up to $10,000. I had two insurance companies working for me up to $20,000, whenever I wanted to call them in. Do you get it?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Look. Sackett stole your big card off you, didn’t he? Well, I stole the same card off him. You were hurt, weren’t you? You were hurt bad. Well, if Sackett convicts her of murder, and you bring suit against her for injuries sustained as a result of that murder, then a jury will give you whatever you ask for. And those two bonding companies are liable for every cent of their policies to satisfy that judgment.”

“Now I get it.”

“Pretty, Chambers, pretty. I found that card in my mitt, but you didn’t find it, and Sackett didn’t find it, and the Pacific States Accident didn’t find it, because they were so busy playing Sackett’s game for him, and so sure his game would win, that they didn’t even think of it.”

He walked around the room a few times, falling for himself every time he passed a little mirror that was in the corner, and then he went on.

“All right, there it was, but the next thing was how to play it. I had to play it quick, because Sackett had already played his, and that confession was due any minute. It might even come at the arraignment, as soon as she heard you testify against her. I had to move fast. So what did I do? I waited till the Pacific States Accident man had testified, and then got him on record that he really believed a crime had been committed. That was just in case I had a false arrest action against him later on. And then, wham, I pleaded her guilty. That ended the arraignment, and for that night, blocked off Sackett. Then I rushed her in a counsel room, claimed a half hour before she was locked up for the night, and sent you in there with her. Five minutes with you was all she needed. When I got in there she was ready to spill it. Then I sent Kennedy in.”

“The dick that was with me last night?”

“He used to be a dick, but he’s not a dick any more. He’s my gum-shoe man now. She thought she was talking to a dick, but she was really talking to a dummy. But it did the work. After she got it off her chest, she kept quiet till today, and that was long enough. The next thing was you. What you would do was blow. There was no charge against you, so you weren’t under arrest any more, even if you thought you were. Soon as you tumbled to that, I knew no tape, or sore back, or hospital orderly, or anything else would hold you, so after he got done with her I sent Kennedy over to keep an eye on you. The next thing was the little midnight conference between the Pacific States Accident, the Guaranty of California, and the Rocky Mountain Fidelity. And when I laid it in front of them, they did business awful quick.”

“What do you mean, they did business?”

“First, I read them the law. I read them the guest clause, Section 141¾, California Vehicle Act. That says if a guest in an automobile gets hurt, he has no right of recovery, provided , that if his injury resulted from intoxication or willful misconduct on the part of the driver, then he can recover. You see, you were a guest, and I had pleaded her guilty to murder and assault. Plenty of willful misconduct there, wasn’t there? And they couldn’t be sure, you know. Maybe she did do it alone. So those two companies on the liability policies, the ones that had their chin hanging out for a wallop from you, they chipped in $5,000 apiece to pay the Pacific States Accident policy, and the Pacific States Accident agreed to pay up and shut up, and the whole thing didn’t take over a half hour.”

He stopped and grinned at himself some more.

“What then?”

“I’m still thinking about it. I can still see Sackett’s face just now when the Pacific States Accident fellow went on the stand today and said his investigation had convinced him that no crime had been committed, and his company was paying the accident claim in full. Chambers, do you know what that feels like? To feint a guy open and then let him have it, right on the chin? There’s no feeling like it in the world.”

“I still don’t get it. What was this guy testifying again for?”

“She was up for sentence. And after a plea of guilty, a court usually wants to hear some testimony to find out what the case is really about. To determine the sentence. And Sackett had started in howling for blood. He wanted the death penalty. Oh, he’s a blood-thirsty lad, Sackett is. That’s why it stimulates me to work against him. He really believes hanging them does some good. You’re playing for stakes when you’re playing against Sackett. So he put his insurance man on the stand again. But instead of it being his son of a bitch, after that little midnight session it was my son of a bitch, only Sackett didn’t know it. He roared plenty when he found it out. But it was too late. If an insurance company didn’t believe she was guilty, a jury would never believe it, would it? There wasn’t a chance in the world of convicting her after that. And that was when I burned Sackett. I got up and made a speech to the court. I took my time about it. I told how my client had protested her innocence from the beginning. I told how I didn’t believe it. I told how I knew there existed what I regarded as overwhelming evidence against her, enough to convict her in any court, and that I believed I was acting in her best interest when I decided to plead her guilty and throw her on the mercy of the court. But, Chambers, do you know how I rolled that but under my tongue? But, in the light of the testimony just given, there was no course open to me but to withdraw the pleas of guilty and allow the cases to proceed. Sackett couldn’t do a thing, because I was still within the limit of eight days for a plea. He knew he was sunk. He consented to a plea for manslaughter, the court examined the other witnesses itself, gave her six months, suspended sentence, and practically apologized even for that. We quashed the assault charge. That was the key to the whole thing, and we almost forgot it.”

There came a rap on the door. Kennedy brought Cora in, put some papers down in front of Katz, and left. “There you are, Chambers. Just sign that, will you? It’s a waiver of damages for any injuries sustained by you. It’s what they get out of it for being so nice.”

I signed.

“You want me to take you home, Cora?”

“I guess so.”

“One minute, one minute, you two. Not so fast. There’s one other little thing. That ten thousand dollars you get for knocking off the Greek.”

She looked at me and I looked at her. He sat there looking at the check. “You see, it wouldn’t be a perfect hand if there hadn’t been some money in it for Katz. I forgot to tell you about that. Well. Oh, well. I won’t be a hog. I generally take it all, but on this, I’ll just make it half. Mrs. Papadakis, you make out your check for $5,000, and I’ll make this over to you and go over to the bank and fix up the deposits. Here. Here’s a blank check.”

She sat down, and picked up the pen, and started to write, and then stopped, like she couldn’t quite figure out what it was all about. All of a sudden, he went over and picked up the blank check and tore it up.

“What the hell. Once in a lifetime, isn’t it? Here. You keep it all. I don’t care about the ten grand. I’ve got ten grand. This is what I want!”

He opened his pocketbook, took out a slip, and showed it to us. It was Sackett’s check for $100. “You think I’m going to cash that? I am like hell. I’m going to frame it. It goes up there, right over my desk.”