James Chase: You Can Say That Again

I sat back and thought about this while Durant smoked and stared away from me. I had read enough about industrial spies. Once, I had played an industrial spy in a low grade movie. The machinations of the big wheelers to put through a deal had long ceased to surprise me. If this big wheel was being spied on, it seemed to me to be a smart move to hire a standin. It wouldn’t bother me to be spied on, and there was this bait of one thousand dollars a day.

‘But why the kidnapping?’ I asked to gain time.

Durant let out an exasperated sigh.

‘Now you have been told what you are required to do,’ he said impatiently, ‘you must see the utmost secrecy was necessary. No one knows you are here. You don’t know where you are. Should you decline to cooperate, you will again be drugged and returned to your apartment.’

Again I thought, then said, ‘How do I know I will be paid when I have completed the job?’

The wintry smile returned. He took from his wallet a slip of paper. The Ape moved forward, took it from him and handed it to me. It was a credit note on the Chase National Bank for one thousand dollars in my name.

‘Every day you are here and working for me, you will be given a similar credit note,’ Durant said. ‘You don’t have to worry about money.’

I no longer hesitated.

It won’t be dangerous, won’t be breaking the law, won’t be beyond your powers .

So why not?

‘Okay, Mr. Durant,’ I said. ‘You have yourself a deal.’

‘It is understood then, Mr. Stevens,’ he said, his black eyes like the points of an icepick, ‘I am buying your wholehearted cooperation? You will do exactly what you will be told to do?’

Just for a moment I wavered, then made my decision.

‘You have yourself a deal,’ I repeated.

chapter two

I sat in the lounging chair and waited.

I was committed. I had said I would give Durant my wholehearted cooperation. I had a credit note in my wallet for one thousand dollars. According to him, tomorrow, I would be given another credit note for another one thousand dollars.

I was to impersonate some unknown big wheeler dealer while he went off to fix a deal his rivals either wanted to stop or wanted to know about. In return for impersonating him, I would, after thirty days, find in the Chase National Bank thirty thousand dollars to my credit.

When I had said it was a deal, Durant had nodded, got to his feet and moved to the door. He had paused, stared at me with his hard black eyes and said, ‘Wait, Mr. Stevens,’ then he left, followed by the Ape and the door slid shut.

So I lit a cigarette and waited.

I was far from feeling easy. There was something about Durant and the Ape that scared me, but I needed this kind of money. I had been assured there was no danger and I wouldn’t be breaking the law, so it seemed to me, I would need to have my head examined to turn down an offer like this.

I waited uneasily for some thirty minutes, then the door slid back and the little old woman, plus her poodle, came in. The door must have been controlled by an electronic beam for she had taken only a couple of steps forward before the door snapped shut.

She was wearing a fawn, turtle neck cashmere sweater and black slacks: a rope of pearls with a sheen on them that told me they were genuine, completed this chic outfit. She paused and gave me a friendly smile. The poodle made a whining sound and struggled in her arms as if anxious to give me a lick of death.

‘Mr. Stevens,’ she said gently. ‘May I intrude?’

I regarded her sourly, then got to my feet.

‘Well, you’re here, aren’t you?’ I said.

She moved further into the room, still smiling and sat down in the chair recently occupied by Durant.

‘I have come to apologize, Mr. Stevens. I can quite understand how you are feeling. This must be so strange to you.’

Remaining standing, I said, ‘Mr. Durant has explained.’

‘Of course, but I don’t want you to have any bad feelings, Mr. Stevens. Do sit down. I feel I must explain further.’

So I sat down.

‘How nice of you,’ she said, staring at me with her dark blue, hard eyes. ‘Tell me, Mr. Stevens, is your mother alive?’

‘She’s been dead for the past five years,’ I said curtly.

‘Sad. Mr. Stevens, I am quite sure, if she were living, she would have done what I did. The man we are asking you to impersonate is my son.’

I thought of my mother: a kind, homely body without a brain in her head, but with a God fearing conscience.

‘My mother wouldn’t have drugged a man and kidnapped him,’ I said coldly. ‘Let us leave her out of this.’

She played with the poodle’s ear.

‘One never knows with mothers,’ she said, still smiling. ‘In trouble, they can rise to unexpected things.’

This was beginning to bore me. I shrugged and said nothing.

‘I want you to believe, Mr. Stevens, that I do admire your work and your talent,’ she said. ‘It makes me very happy that you have agreed to cooperate. Your help will be more than appreciated.’

‘I’m getting well paid,’ I said woodenly.

‘Yes. I understand that money is important to you.’

‘Isn’t it to most people?’

‘I’m afraid you are still a little hostile, Mr. Stevens. Do please relax. You will be doing a most helpful job and when it is over, you will have quite a lot of money.’

She smiled. ‘I am doing this for my son. Please understand.’

But I couldn’t relax. There was something about this old woman that scared me as Durant scared me, but I made an effort. I forced a smile.

She nodded.

‘That’s better.’ She patted the poodle. ‘I’ve so often thought, when watching your movies, what a nice smile you have, Mr. Stevens.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Well, now, let us get down to business as my son so often says. You have been kind enough to give us your whole hearted cooperation.’ For a brief moment, her smile became fixed, and the steel in the dark blue eyes showed. ‘That is right, isn’t it?’

‘Frankly, I’m getting bored with that phrase,’ I said. ‘I told Mr. Durant, I agreed to his terms. Do we have to go over and over it again?’

She gave a light little laugh.

‘You must forgive an old woman, Mr. Stevens. Old women are inclined to be repetitive. Oh, incidentally, do call me Harriet. Let us be informal. May I call you Jerry?’

‘Of course.’

‘This afternoon, Jerry, we will begin. I have a good make-up man who will transform you as nearly as possible to resemble my son. Please be patient with him. He is a perfectionist and I must admit, a little tiresome. We want to be sure that you will resemble my son so closely no one viewing you from a distance won’t know you are not my son. Is that understood?’

‘That’s okay with me.’

‘Do call me Harriet.’

‘Okay, Harriet.’

She lifted one of the poodle’s ears, rubbed it between her fingers making the dog whine with pleasure.

‘Then there will be other sessions. There will be other things for you to learn, but I am sure you are a quick study. Most actors are.’ She smiled at me.

‘I’ll do my best,’ I said.

‘Of course you will. Nothing difficult, but it is important.’ She paused, then went on, ‘Are you married, Jerry?’

This unexpected question surprised me.

‘Divorced,’ I said curtly.

‘So many people in the film world are divorced. Where is your wife?’

‘Does that matter?’

She shook her head and gave me a playful smile.

‘Please, Jerry, be cooperative. I need your answers to the questions I am going to ask.’

‘She’s in New York. She married again.’

‘You don’t see her?’

‘I haven’t seen her for the past five years.’