terror comes creep

One

“i thtnk he's already murdered my brother,” she said in a low-pitched voice. “Now he’s planning to murder my sister. You have to stop it, Mr. Boyd!”

I looked around the comfortable, air-conditioned, dimly lit bar. The Madison Avenue buccaneer at the next table was complaining bitterly that nothing came higher on his expense account than free love. I figured if I could hear him right, I must have heard her right.

She hadn’t wanted to come to my office, she’d told me over the phone, so could we meet in a bar. From the tense, watchful expression on her face, she wasn’t enjoying either the atmosphere or her drink.

“Something in back of me bother you?” I asked.

“I know he has me followed the whole time,” she said. “I can feel it.”

Her legs were beautiful, and crossed casually to show the dimpled knees, but no more. She was tall and slender, with dark hair and eyes. Her face was beautiful, elegant and arrogant. Any guy in his right mind could follow her around all day. Given a ten degree drop in the outside temperature, I’d do the same myself.

“I bet you had a college education,” I said.

“A brilliant deduction!” Her voice was cold. “What’s that got to do with—”

“Radcliffe, or Bryn Mawr?” I interrupted.

“Radcliffe, but—”

“And 1 bet you wear plain white underwear and think all men are beasts, really,” I pushed my hunch.

Her lips tightened. “Don’t make me a target for your

sexual frustrations, Mr. Boyd,” she said. “If you’re not interested in working for me—”

“I’m interested,” I said truthfully. “If it pays enough.” “That’s what I heard,” her smile was a half sneer. “See Danny Boyd if your problem is delicate, and worth a lot of money to have fixed.”

“From what you said about your brother and sister, you've got a problem all right,” I agreed. “It doesn’t sound delicate—it sounds more like dynamite.”

‘Then you’re interested?”

“Maybe,” I said cautiously. ‘Tell me some more first. Like am I right about the white underwear?”

The look on her face said I was something that had just crawled out from under a rock which hadn’t been moved in the last ten years.

“My name is Martha Hazelton,” she said crisply. “My sister’s name is Clemmie, my brother’s name is Philip. He’s been missing for the last three days.”

“Have you told the police?”

“I’m the only person who thinks he’s missing,” she said evenly. “They wouldn’t listen to me.”

1 lit a cigarette and wondered briefly if she was crazy. But the diamond pin in the miniature straw boater on top of her immaculate hair-do looked real; the kidskin jacket and fine wool skirt were definitely Fifth Avenue and exclusive. If she was crazy, she was also crazy rich, and that’s my kind of client.

4*Who is the guy you figure has murdered your brother already, and is all set to knock off your sister?” I asked carefully.

“My father, of course.” She sounded mildly surprised. “I thought I’d told you that before.”

I finished my gin and tonic and crooked a finger at a slow-moving waiter.

“No,” I said. “You didn’t tell me it was your father. Does he have a motive—or maybe he’s shopping around for a new kick?”

Her rye on the rocks was untouched, so I told the waiter to bring me a new gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, not lime. Lime is strictly from the birds—check with any sea gull.

Martha Hazelton leaned forward slightly in her chair. ‘Tm deadly serious about this, Mr. Boyd,” she said. “He has an excellent motive—money!”

“It’s the nicest word in my vocabulary,” I agreed. “Go on.”

“When my mother died, her estate was worth two million dollars after taxes,” she said forcefully. “The money was put into a trust—to be administered by my father for ten years, then equally divided among her three children. The ten-year period is up in two months* time.”

“You figure your old man doesn’t want any of you to collect?”

“I wonder just how much there is left to collect, Mr. Boyd,” she said dryly.

“So he’s killing you off one at a time to stop you from ever finding out?” I asked in a wondering voice. “He’d be real crazy to figure he could get away with a deal like that.”

The new gin and tonic arrived and Boyd was safe from malaria for another ten minutes.

“Crazy or not, that’s what he’s doing,” she said in a decisive voice. “Are you still interested, Mr. Boyd?”

“Why don’t you call me Danny?” I suggested.

“Because it’s a name for a bellhop,” she said coolly. “I have no wish to know you socially, Mr. Boyd, just professionally.”

“This private detective label is just a gag,” I said. “My true profession is rapist, and I figure white underwear is real nervous.”

Her lips tightened again. “Will you please stop fooling around? I don’t have much time—we’re probably being watched even now. Will you take the job?”

“What is the job—exactly?”

“I want you to rescue Clemmie—get my sister off my

7

father’s farm before she disappears, like Philip has. It’s worth two thousand dollars, Mr. Boyd. Take her away from that farm and hide her where she’ll be safe, until after the facts about Mother's estate have been revealed.” “Where would I hide her?”

“That’s up to you,” she said irritably. “Anywhere—so long as it’s safe. I’ll pay all expenses, naturally. I’m offering two thousand dollars simply to have Clemmie rescued from that farm. It wouldn’t take more than a few hours, Mr. Boyd. It’s a generous remuneration, surely?”

“I guess so,” I said. “I’ll take it.”

She sipped her rye on the rocks cautiously, with a faint expression of distaste on her face.

“I’m glad that’s finally settled,” she said. “Is there anything more you need to know?”

“The name of the farm, and where I contact you after I’ve snatched your sister?”

“The farm’s called ‘High Tor’ and it’s twenty miles south of Providence. You’d better not try to contact me —I’ll call your office.”

“O.K.,” I shrugged. “1*11 go to Rhode Island first thing in the morning.”

“Why not today—now?” she asked impatiently.

“It’s afternoon already,” I said. “It’s hot and the wrong kind of weather for the fall, tomorrow may be cooler.” She looked at me for a long, brooding moment. “I wonder if I’m doing the right thing?” she said slowly.

“If you don’t know now,” I said, “call Radcliffe and ask for your money back.”

I stayed in the bar for another half-hour after Martha Hazelton had left, wondering if she was a refugee from Nutsville, the way she sounded. But then all my clients are a little nuts—why else would they come to me in the first place?

It was around five when I got back to my office. In the three months since I quit the Kruger Detective Agency and founded Boyd Enterprises, I’ve picked up a few

8

things along the way, like an office with blondwood furniture and white leather chairs, some clients and some money. The latest addition is a secretary who sits behind a desk in the closet I optimistically call the reception area.

Her name is Fran Jordan, and she’s a redhead with gray-green eyes that have a pensive look in them, mostly. She also has a will of her own and a figure which makes her fully entitled to it

“Hi, Fran,” I said. “Any calls?”

“No calls—one caller,” she said dryly. “He’s waiting inside your office.”

“What does he want?”

“He didn’t say. His name is Houston, he told me.” She lifted her eyebrows fractionally. “But he’s not my idea of Texas.”

“Maybe he’s got a wildcat oil well he wants to sell cheap?” I said hopefully. “I’ll go talk with him. You doing anything tonight, perchance, peradventure?”

“Danny,” she said gently. “We agreed when I took this job that you’d lead your life and I’d lead mine. Tonight I’m leading mine—I have a project.”

“Yeah?” I said sourly. “I bet it leads straight in through the front door of Cartier’s.”

“He’s from the Midwest, looking for an investment program,” she said complacently. “I’m givng him points that haven’t even shown up yet on a Wall Street index.” “So I’ll go talk to the wildcat oilman,” I said gloomily, and walked through into my office.

He sat in one of the white leather armchairs, waiting for me. The mid-century man of average height and weight, constructed from data supplied by an electronic computor; the expensive, dark suit carefully tailored so he would never, never stand out in a crowd.

A guy maybe forty, maybe not, with a polite, intelligent face and a polite, intelligent smile on his lips. Behind the neat, half-framed glasses, were the eyes of a dead slug.

“Mr. Boyd?’* he said in a colorless voice. “You appear to be a success—or haven’t you paid for the furnishings

yet?”

“Been waiting long?*' I asked him.

“Thirty-five minutes.'*

“Maybe I should charge you rent?** I said thoughtfully.

He crossed his legs carefully. “My name is Houston, I’m an attorney.'*

“We all have to make a living,** I sympathized. “I figured you for a process server.**

“I represent Galbraith Hazelton,” he said calmly. “You’ve heard of him, naturally.**

“You don’t mean the Galbraith Hazelton, the female impersonator?” I asked.

“Why don’t we cut the comedy and get right down to business, Boyd?” he asked briskly. “It would be best for both of us—you agree?**

“If your business is my business.’*

“You talked with Martha Hazelton earlier this afternoon in a bar on East 49th. You must have met her by appointment and you talked for some thirty minutes before she left. That’s correct, isn’t it?” His eyes looked smugly at me.

“It’s your story,” I told him.

Houston smiled vaguely. “You drank two gin and tonics while she was with you—I have all the details written down, but there’s no point in quoting any more. I presume she hired you professionally to perform some service for her?”

“You make it sound cute,” I said, “like I was a call-boy or something.”

“I have to warn you,” he said, with a slight edge creeping into his voice, “that Martha Hazelton is not herself.”

“You mean it was old Galbraith the whole time?” I asked with reluctant admiration. “He sure fooled me— the way he filled that skirt—Man! Like it was for real.” 10

The skin around his mouth tightened, slowly turning a dirty gray color.

“You have a poor sense of humor, Boyd," he said. “I mean—and you know it—that Miss Hazelton is sick. A sickness of the mind. She suffers from delusions, imagines things.”

“Like you, maybe?” I suggested. “You look a product of a warped imagination, Mr. Houston. Something out of a nightmare—but an organized nightmare, naturally.*' He took a deep breath. “All right!” he nearly snarled. “Why don’t we stop insulting one another for a moment and get down to facts. Anything Martha said to you would be part of her own fantasies and you’d be well advised not to go any further with them!”

“Her money's real,” I said pointedly.

“Ah, yes—her money!” He relaxed visibly, now I was talking the language he’d majored in.

“Money,” he repeated comfortably. “Mr. Hazelton feels it is only fair you should be compensated for the time you’ve wasted on his daughter. Will fifty dollars cover it?” “In a pig's hindquarters,” I said politely.

Houston looked at me stonily for five seconds, the little contacts inside his computor head clicking softly.

“You put a high value on your time, Boyd,” he said finally. “What do you consider a reasonable amount?” “Two thousand dollars,” I told him.

“Ridiculous!”

“So I’m still working for Martha Hazelton.”

He stroked the tip of his nose gently with one finger, while he thought it over. Then he stood up, rubbing his hands together briskly; he’d come to a final decision.

“I won’t argue,” he said. “A thousand dollars—take it or leave it.”

“Ill leave it.”

“Youll regret it,” he snapped. “You're building yourself all kinds of trouble!”

“Legal trouble?”

‘To say the least.”

“Maybe I should get me a good attorney?” T wondered out loud. “You know where I can find one?”

MOST TIMES I FEEL LTKE A DAY IN THE COUNTRY, I TAKE a walk through Central Park. Now there’s a piece of country that knows its place. If the going gets tough you can always stop off at the Tavern on the Green for a martini—or pick up a cab.

The trouble with New England is it has so much country, it gets kind of overpowering. Not that it didn’t look O.K. with another day of sunshine showing up the scarlet leaves of the red maples, and the golden color of the birch trees. There was just too much of it and all of it real primitive, like a cold water flat or the female Tarzan in one of the Village floor shows who does that Seminole Indian love dance. They say the Seminoles are a vanishing race, and if that’s the way they make love, it figures.

It was just past noon when I found the Hazelton’s farm—a large sign beside the gates read “High Tor,” so there was no mistaking it. The gates were open so I drove in along the tracks toward the farmhouse set a couple of hundred yards back from the road.

By the time I stopped the car out front of the farmhouse, there was a guy waiting for me. A heavily built character, around medium height, with wide sloping shoulders and bare arms that just rippled with muscle. He wore a black shirt, open at the throat with the sleeves rolled high on his hairy arms. The tan polished cottons were belted tight around his small waist, the cuffs tucked into high polished boots.

I lit a cigarette and waited while he walked leisurely over to the car. His thick black hair was combed care-

fully straight back across his head, and there was around the same amount of expression on his face you’d see on a wooden Indian. Sometime, somebody had flattened his nose, and there w'cre tiny white scars above his eyebrows.

He leaned his elbows on the open window edge and looked down at me. Close-up there was no improvement —it was a face and that was all you could say for it.

“You selling something?” he asked in a curiously high-pitched voice.

“Just visiting,” I told him.

“You sure you got the right place, buddy?”

“You make friends real quick,” I said, like I was impressed. “I’ve got the right place.”

“Uh-uh!” He shook his head slowly. “You got the wrong place, buddy. Nobody visits here.”

“I’m the dawn of a new era,” I said. “I’m visiting with Clemmie Hazelton.”

“She don’t see any visitors, buddy,” he said. “Too bad.” “She’ll see me,” I told him. “Why don’t you be a real buddy, buddy, and go find out?”

He sighed noiselessly. “She don’t see anybody—that’s orders—so be a good Joe and drive on out, huh? That way we keep it nice and friendly.”

“Maybe if she’s not seeing anybody, she’s still hearing them?” I suggested.

I pushed down on the horn, and it made a raucous sound for a few seconds, until his fingers clamped around my wrist, pulling my hand away.

“You shouldn’t have done that, buddy,” he said sorrowfully, “now I got to get tough.”

His fingers were still tight around my left wrist, and his head was just inside the windowframe of the car. I let him keep hold of the wrist, lunged at his face with my right hand and got a firm grip on his nose between my first and second fingers. I moved my arm up and down quickly, so the top of his head slammed against the top of the windowframe, and then his chin slapped against the bottom. It was strictly a boing-boing, comic-strip 13 caper, but it didn’t do him any good at all. After five or six times I let go of his nose and he faded out of sight.

I got out of the car and there he was. Down on his hands and knees, looking like the guy on the railroad track ten seconds after the Twentieth Century went through. He was dazed but recovering fast, so I lifted ray foot and tapped him sharply with the toe of my shoe just above the right ear. I stepped over him carefully on my way toward the front porch because it’s a hard world and who likes to step on a buddy.

The front door opened while I was still a couple of yards away, and a girl came out on the porch. She was young, not yet twenty; dark, with a vibrant curiosity showing in her eyes. She didn’t look the sister type and I was glad about that—I need a sister the way the guy out cold on the grass needed a buddy.

“I heard the horn,” she said breathlessly. “Is there anything wrong?”

“Not a thing,” I assured her. “You’re Clemmie Hazel-ton?”

“That’s right,” she nodded eagerly. “Were you looking for me?”

“I’m Danny Boyd,” I said. “A friend of Martha’s. She said to look you up.”

“I’m glad you did,” she smiled warmly. “Any male friend of my sister’s is a friend of mine I”

“My pleasure,” I said politely.

“Didn’t Pete come out when you tooted?” she asked.

“Pete?” I asked blandly.

“He’s most of the help around here,” she said. “I guess he must have been busy some place else.” Her smile deepened as she looked me over carefully. “Won’t you come in?”

“Thanks,” I said. “Martha gave me a message for you.”

I followed her into the house, into the large, wide-beamed living room that was furnished a litde too selfconsciously in Early Colonial.

“Sit down, won’t you?” she said. “Can I fix you a drink or something?”

“Not right now,” I told her.

She didn’t have her older sister’s elegance—or arrogance. But she had the beauty all right, not matured yet but coming along fast as the full curves under the tight dress proved. It began to look like an interesting assignment.

“Is there any more hired help on the farm beside Pete?” I asked.

‘There’s only Sylvia, but she’s out on the farm someplace—I haven’t seen her the last couple of hours—I can’t think what’s happened to Pete.”

“O.K.,” I said. “I’ll give it to you straight, Clemmie. I’m a private detective.”

“How thrilling!” Her eyes shone with genuine excitement. “Is it something Martha’s done?”

“Not exactly,” I said. “Your sister hired me to rescue you.”

She looked at me like I was something that fell out when you took the back off the television receiver.

“I beg your pardon?” she said carefully.

Right then I got that feeling, but I was in there, so I might just as well keep on pitching.

“Martha says if you don’t get away from here,” I said slowly, “you’ll be a statistic in the Missing Persons Bureau the way your brother is right now.”

“Philip?” She looked at me blankly. “Is he missing?” “That’s the way Martha tells it,” I said, but it didn’t sound very convincing, not even to me. “You want to get your hat, pack a bag?”

“This is a joke, isn’t it, Mr. Boyd?” She smiled doubtfully.

“It’s on me if it is,” I said. “Aren’t you being kept a prisoner here?”

‘That’s crazy!” she said flatly. “Of course I’m not— whatever gave you that idea?”

“You don’t want me to rescue you?”

“Of course not!”

The front door opened and I heard the sound of heavy feet thumping across the hallway, then Pete the muscleman came into the room, moving fast, heading toward me with a determined look on his face.

‘Til take care of you,’* he said venomously. “You lousy—”

“Pete!” Clemmie said sharply. “What’s got into you?”

It threw him off his stride, making us buddies again. Two Galahads riding in on white horses, with the damsel in distress telling us to go peddle our lances some place else. I knew exactly how he felt.

“But, Miss Hazelton!” He nearly choked with emotion. “This guy just busted in here and—”

“Mr. Boyd is a friend of my sister’s, and he’s just visiting,” she said. “It’s very rude of you to come into the house like this. I’m surprised at you, Pete! Please leave us.”

His face turned an ugly mottled color as he glared at her for a long, speechless moment.

“Pete!” she said crisply.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I heard you.” Then he shuffled out of the room, the veins standing out on the back of his neck in fury.

Clemmie’s face was flushed faintly when she looked at me, after Pete had gone.

“I’m sorry about that, Mr. Boyd. He gets excited sometimes for no good reason. He thinks it’s his job to protect me—against what I don’t know!” She bit her full lower lip for a moment. “You were serious, weren’t you, about Martha hiring you to rescue me from here?”

“So was she,” I agreed.

The color deepened on her face. “Poor Martha! Sometimes she—well—she imagines things. I’m terribly sorry you’ve been put to all this trouble, Mr. Boyd. I’ll mention it to my father—I’m sure he’ll cover your expenses for your wasted journey at least.”

I got out of the Early Colonial chair, feeling like an Early Colonial hick.

“It was no trouble,” I said. “I guess I might as well go right back to New York now. That story about Philip having disappeared, that was Martha’s imagination too, huh?”

“I haven’t seen him for the last two or three days,” she said mildly. “But he and Father only come up here on week-ends. I expect you’ll find him in our Beekman Place apartment when you get back, if you’re looking for him.” “I’ll tell Martha hello for you,” I said. “Along with a couple of other things I’ve got in mind.”

“I’m truly sorry, Mr. Boyd,” she said. “Don’t be hard on her, it’s ... not her fault.”

“Sure,” I said vaguely, then walked past her into the hallway and out the front door.

Pete had disappeared, so the only thing left to do was get back into the car and drive toward Manhattan. That was how I had it figured, but by the time I reached the car, something happened to change my mind.

The something was blonde, wearing a battered straw hat; a white cotton shirt with the top three buttons undone, and a pair of skintight citrus green pants. She walked with that wiggle which proves women smarter than men—they still know what a tail is for.

I leaned one elbow on the left front fender of the car and watched as she came toward me. She didn’t hurry because she knew she didn’t have to, nobody was going to get bored watching her walk.

Her eyes were the blue of Central Park lake in summer, and her skin was almost as bronze as the Seagram Building. She had high cheekbones, a tiptilted nose, and lips that looked lonely. Her high, full breasts made two sharp triangular outlines against the thin cotton shirt, proving that guy Isosceles knew what he was talking about.

“Hello,” she said in a softly pitched, slightly husky voice. “Are you looking for somebody—or did you find them already?”

“I found them already,” I told her. “I didn’t figure I was still looking for somebody until you came along.” 17

“I guess you must be a traveling salesman?” She fluttered her eyelashes extravagantly. “My Pa done told me about guys like you!”

“If you’re the farmer’s daughter, I’ll go plough a field some place,” I said.

Her lips parted in a smile, showing even white teeth. “Pete told me about you,” she said huskily. “That’s why I had to come see for myself—Pete is supposed to be the tough guy around these parts.”

“Are you part of the hired help, too?” I asked.

“I’m Sylvia West,” she said. “I’m a kind of housekeeper-companion. During the week I see Clemmie doesn’t get too lonely up here by herself.”

“What’s to stop her going back to Beekman Place if she gets lonely?”

“Nothing at all,” she said evenly. “But she won’t feel lonely with good-looking guys like you visiting with her. And you can stop turning your head side-on to me all the time—I caught the profile and I think it’s really something.”

“The right profile is fractionally better than the left,” I admitted truthfully. “But they’re both pretty good!”

“I love a modest man,” she sighed gently. “So now I know you have a terrific profile and nice big muscles. Is there anything else I should know about you while we’re on the subject?”

“Danny Boyd’s the name,” I said. “I was about to head back to New York, but I just changed my mind.”

“You have a good reason?”

“You,” I said. “What better reason?”

Her lips quirked upward at the corners. “I can’t argue with that, can I? How long do you figure on staying?” “Depends entirely on you,” I told her. “A housekeeper I don’t need, but a sympathetic companion—that’s something else again.”

“I don’t mind at all how long you stay,” she said, “but it depends an awful lot on Pete. I don’t think he likes you very much.”

“Don’t give me remorse!” I pleaded. “And if it depends on Pete, there’s nothing to worry about. I can handle him.”

“I think maybe you can,” she said softly. “Should we go back inside the house and tell Clemmie you’ve changcd your mind about leaving?”

“Plenty of time for that,” I said. “Why don’t you show me around a little? I’ve never got a close-up look at a farm before. How about showing me a steak on the hoof?” “This isn’t Texas, partner,” she said lightly. “But I can show you some bread on the stalk, or bacon on the trotter.” “This is something new for me,” I told her in a wondering voice. “A back to nature kick—life in the raw outside of nudism—and all that jazz. It kind of spoils things like you wearing clothes. The way I had it figured, there’d be a flute playing somewhere in the background while you gamboled naked through the woods.”

“We don’t have any woods,” she said. “And I never gamble—no girl in her right mind would bet on a profile like yours.”

“Martha Hazelton did,” I said. “You figure she’s in her right mind?”

“Should we see the barn first?” she asked. “Or would you prefer the pigs?”

“I’m easy,” I told her. “You feel like a romp in the hay first, it’s O.K. with me. A little exercise before lunch never hurt anyone yet.”

“If it’s fertility rites you’re after, it’s the wrong time of the year,” she said calmly. “Come back in the spring, I won’t be here then.”

We had a quick look at a cornfield; we saw the lake with a couple of out-of-town ducks swimming on it, and we saw the barn, complete with its hayloft, tractor and mechanical cultivator. We saw the chickens and the cows and I got my shoes plastered with mud all over.

Finally we got around to the pigpens. I stopped to light a cigarette and looked at a mother pig with nine baby

19

piglets. It was a depressing sight, so I concentrated on Sylvia West instead.

“How long have you been a housekeeper-companion-farmer?” I asked her.

‘Two months,” she said. “Why?”

“You don’t seem the type, you’re more the penthouse than pigpen style of girl. I don’t believe you belong this close to the rich soil, even if that outfit you’re wearing is kind of cute.”

“If it comes to that, you don’t belong anywhere in New England, Danny Boyd,” she said. “What are you doing so far out of Times Square?”

“Martha asked me to say hello to her sister,” I said. “You know Martha?”

“Of course,” she nodded. “She’s been up here a few times with her father. She was here over the week end.” “Has Philip been around lately?”

“He was here at the same time.”

‘They all went back to town together?”

“Martha and Mr. Hazelton went back together on Monday morning,” she said easily. “I’m not sure, but I think Philip left late on Sunday night. He wasn’t around the next morning anyway—why do you ask?”

“He’s dropped out of sight the last couple of days,” I said carefully. “I just wondered.”

There was a revolting series of grunts from somewhere much too close for comfort. I looked into the pen next door to momma pig, and saw the solitary pig inside. It looked kind of outsize as it rooted around savagely, thrusting its snout deep into the black mud.

“Why is that one by itself?” I asked Sylvia. “All ready for market maybe—and that pen’s the death cell, huh?” “It’s a boar,” she said. “An old, bad-tempered boar, that’s why he’s on his own. You wouldn’t want to get inside the pen—those tusks can hurt!”

“I’ll take your word for it,” I assured her.

“He’s called Sweet William,” she grinned, “and he’s a living lie. But the girl pigs think he’s really something!”

20

“The way he digs dirt with that king-sized nose, he looks like a syndicated columnist,” I said distastefully. “He’s got that look of morose belligerence on his face which reminds me of Pete.'*

“Don’t be so hard on Pete,” she said. “He was only doing his job.”

“To keep visitors out?” I asked. “What’s so special about this place you need a strong-arm to stop anybody taking a close look at it?”

She sighed gently: “Talk about morose belligerence! Mr. Hazelton has a phobia about privacy, that’s all. So he hired Pete to make sure he and his family get the privacy he wants. It’s that simple.”

“It’s that simple, I don’t believe it,” I said. “Pete is a professional.”

“Do you want to see some more of the farm, or will we go back to the house now?” she asked patiently. “It’s close to lunch time, and I could use a drink. How about you?” “You read my mind,” I said.

Sylvia walked away from me toward the house, and I started to follow, but then I heard Sweet William’s obscene noises building up to an alarming crescendo. I figured maybe he’d just struck gold, and against my better judgment I looked to see what the hell he was getting so excited about.

The boar was rooting vigorously in one comer of the pen—churning mud like a mechanical shovel. Already he’d dug a long groove around six inches deep, and was deepening it still further, grunting enthusiastically as he worked.

I watched with a kind of macabre fascination, until I saw why he was so excited. For a moment I didn’t believe it; then I leaned forward over the edge of the pen to take a closer look—and had to believe it.

Sweet William had uncovered the thumb and index finger of a human hand. While I watched, he looked up at me for a second, with satisfaction showing in his dull, brutish eyes. His jaws moved slowly in a peaceful rhythm,

21

then he gave a satisfied grunt. I looked back at the deep groove he’d made in the black mud and swallowed hard. The top joint of the index finger was missing.

I figured if Philip Hazelton had left the farmhouse late on Sunday night he hadn’t gone very far.

CLEMMIE HAZELTON'S EYES SPARKLED AS SHE LOOKED AT

me when I walked into the living room.

“I’m glad you changed your mind and decided to stay awhile, Mr. Boyd,” she said. “It’s nice to have someone visiting.”

“Can I fix you a drink?” Sylvia West asked. “We have Scotch, rye, vodka—”

“Scotch on the rocks will do fine,” I said.

I lit a cigarette which tasted like the aftermath of Doomsday. Sylvia was busy making the drinks and Clem-mie sat watching me, her hands clasped around her knees.

“Lunch is going to be a little scrappy,” she said anxiously. “You don’t mind taking potluck, do you, Mr. Boyd?”

“Sounds fine,” I said.

“I know we’ve got a freshly cured ham,” she said brightly. “Home-grown, and everything.”

My stomach lurched suddenly. “Don’t worry about me,” I mumbled. “I’m not hungry.”

Sylvia distributed the drinks and I swallowed the Scotch gratefully. I closed my mind to the thought of food—any food, and concentrated on the whisky.

“Clemmie was telling me you’re a private detective, Danny,” Sylvia said. “I guess that accounts for your suspicious mind?”

“It must be terribly exciting!” Clemmie looked at me with wide eyes. “Is it very dangerous?”

“Not as long as you stay out of the pigpens,” I grinned at her glassily.

“Pigpens?” It obviously didn’t register with Clemmie. “He’s had a close look at Sweet William,” Sylvia gurgled with laughter. “Danny is strictly a nature boy from the asphalt jungle.”

I thought about a second drink and decided against it —business before pleasure, as the actress said to the producer when he wanted her to read a script before she relaxed on his couch.

“I figure we’ll miss lunch,” I said to Clemmie. “We can eat somewhere on the road.”

“I beg your pardon?” she said blankly.

“We’re leaving,” I told her. “I just decided your big sister isn’t crazy after all. You’ve got ten minutes to pack your things.”

“You’re joking?”

“Not me,” I said wearily. “I’m no private eye from television with a couple of scriptwriters in my pants pocket I have to make up the dialogue as I go along—so no jokes.”

“Are you seriously suggesting that Clemmie leave with you, Danny?” Sylvia asked curtly.

“I like the way everybody catches on so quick around here,” I said. “Yeah, I’m serious. We’re leaving.”

Clemmie jumped up onto her feet, her eyes dancing with excitement.

“It sounds wonderfully mysterious!” she said. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere you can hide out for a while,” I said. “Some place you’ll be safe.”

“Are you out of your mind, Clemmie!” Sylvia said harshly.

“Maybe!” Clemmie looked at her happily. “I just know I’m not going to miss out on the chance. This is the first really exciting thing that ever happened to me!” She looked back at me quickly. “I’ll go pack a bag, Danny, and I won’t be more than ten minutes, promise!”

“Fine,” I told her.

She ran quickly out of the room, and I picked up my glass and thought maybe I'd have that second drink after all.

“You can’t mean this?” Sylvia said. “It’s kidnapping! I’ll call the police, I’ll—”

“Why don’t you do something useful, like make me a drink?” I suggested, and tossed the glass at her.

She caught it awkwardly, then walked over to the bar and began to fix the drink.

“You must be mad!” she said tensely.

“Crazy like a fox,” I said.

She brought the new drink across to me and I took the glass out of her hand. There was a worried look on her face as she stood in front of me, biting her lower lip gently.

“Listen,” she said finally in a low voice. “Fm not really a housekeeper or a companion, I’m a nurse.”

“I bet that made all the difference to the pigs,” I said thoughtfully. “Knowing that, they can sleep nights.”

“Mr. Hazelton hired me to look after Clemmie!” she said in a harsh whisper. “She doesn’t know, of course. But he’s worried about her mental health. He hired me to watch her, look after her. She’s easily excited—you can see that for yourself. If you take her away with you, there’s no telling what could happen!”

“No telling what can happen if she stays here, either,” I said.

“How can I make you understand the importance of this!” she said desperately. “There’s a history of insanity in the family—that’s why Mr. Hazelton’s so worried about her!”

“There’s also a history of administering estates in the family,” I said. “I’m looking forward to meeting this Hazelton creep—he must be a real nice guy. Martha hires me, so he sends his lawyer around to tell me she’s 24

got fungus in the attic. He hires you and says the same thing about his other daughter. I wonder if a head-shrinker’s had a look at him lately?”

It didn't mean a thing to Sylvia West—she wasn't even listening.

“I can’t let you do this, Danny!” she said in a tight voice. “I’ll stop you leaving with her.”

“So you want a fight?” I said resignedly. “O.K.—I’ll let you throw the first punch.”

She stared at me for a moment longer, then turned suddenly and ran out of the room. I heard her footsteps race down the hallway and the front door slam shut behind her. Then I heard her calling frantically, “Pete! Pete!”

I finished the new drink slowly and thought the hell with Sylvia West and the hell with Pete—she could go find him, he was no special problem.

Clemmie Hazelton came back into the room a few minutes later, carrying an expensive-looking grip in natural hide.

“I’m all packed, Danny,” she said. “Where’s Sylvia?” “She just remembered she had to see a guy about another guy,” I told her. “I think we’ll go.”

We walked out of the house and there were the two of them waiting for us. Pete stood a few feet in front of the car, his arms folding their muscles across his chest, looking like something out of an old De Mille epic, with the sun hitting him full in the face. Sylvia stood to one side, watching anxiously, her whole body tensed.

“Is there something wrong?” Clemmie whispered nervously.

“Nothing I can’t take care of,” I told her. “They don’t think you should go with me, that’s all. Let me handle it. Don’t worry about what happens, just go sit in the car and wait for me, huh?”

“Sure, Danny,” she nodded quickly. “Whatever you say.”

We kept on walking until we got close to the muscleman.

“You’re not leaving, buddy,” he said coldly. “Not with MLss Hazelton, anyway!”

“Pete!” Clemmie said in a shrill voice. “You don’t know what you’re doing—I’m leaving of my own free will with Mr. Boyd and—”

“Sorry,” he said flatly. “Miss West don’t think it’s right, and neither do I. You go on back to the house, Miss, and I’ll take care of this guy.”

“Move over, Pete,” I told him. “Before you finish up a heap of pigfood.”

“Not this time, buddy,” he said with an ugly grin on his face. “This time I’m ready for you.”

He started to walk toward me slowly, his arms held out in front of him—anybody who didn’t believe in evolution needed just one look at Pete right then to be convinced. I remembered those tiny white scars across his eyebrows as I watched his hands change into fists and saw him come up on his toes as he swayed toward me like a ballet dancer. He was an ex-pro all right, and my guess was he knew all the dirty tricks along with the rules laid down by the Marquess of Queensberry.

So I had a choice. I could raise my own fists and try to prove I was a better fist-fighter than he was—and I wasn’t for sure. I could let him slam at me a couple of times and wait, hoping to get close enough to him to give him a judo chop or a stiff-fingered jab where he’d remember it for the next few days. Or I could be a lousy sport and not get hurt at all.

I reached inside my coat and pulled the .38 out of the shoulder holster, eased off the safety, and pointed the gun at his stomach.

“Relax, buddy,” I said. “Or I’ll blow a hole through your guts.”

He didn’t relax, he stood very still for a moment, looking at the gun. Then he lifted his head slighdy and looked 26

at me, and it wasn't hard to keep up with his mental calculations.

“You’re kidding!” he said finally. “You wouldn’t dare use that rod, buddy!”

“If I wouldn’t use it, I wouldn’t cany it,” I said easily. “But you go right ahead, buddy, if you want to find out the hard way.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” he repeated, but he didn’t sound quite so sure the second time.

“Get in the car, Clemmie,” I said, without looking at her.

I took a couple of steps toward Pete and he stayed right where he was.

“You shoot me, it’d be murder!” he said thickly. “In front of two witnesses, buddy! You wouldn’t stand a chance!”

“I don’t need to kill you, Pete,” I said conversationally. “Smash a kneecap maybe, shatter a wrist.”

He was a one idea at a time man, and this was a new idea so he had to think about it. While he was thinking about it, I took another step and that brought me up real close to him.

“How about this for another idea, Pete?” I said. Then I slammed the gunbarrel hard into his stomach, into the softness just below the rib cage, and the air came out of his lungs faster than a dame who’s just realized it didn’t say ladies on the door after all.

He started to bend in the middle and I lifted the gun high, out of his way, then laid the barrel across the side of his head just above the ear. It made a kind of thunk-ing noise when it hit, and I would’ve felt sorry for Pete right then, except I never could feel sorry for a guy like Pete. I stepped back as he hit the ground with his face, and stayed there limp.

I saw Clemmie’s white face staring at me from inside the car and grinned encouragingly at her. Then I walked across to where Sylvia stood with a white face.

“He’ll be O.K.,” I told her. “A sore head for a couple of days, that’s all.”

“That was the most brutal thing I’ve ever seen!” she said in a low voice. “You’re nothing but an animal!” “I’m taking Clemmie' somewhere where she’ll be safe until after Tier mothers estate is cleaned up,” I said. “You can tell Old Man Hazelton that, and tell him she’ll be where he can’t find her.”

“You won’t get far!” she said icily. “I’ll call the police right away—now.”

“Sure,” I said. “And while you’re talking to them you might mention that new feed you’re giving Sweet William —now there’s something that is real nervous!”

“What are you talking about?” she said blankly.

“You mean you don’t know?” I shook my head dubiously. “Well—if you really don’t know—there’s one easy way to find out. Why don’t you go take a look?”

I turned around and walked back to the car. As I slid in behind the steering wheel, Clemmie looked at me with her eyes glittering.

“That was the most exciting moment of my life!” she said in a shaking voice. “Did you kill him, Danny? Did you? Is he dead!”

“Just knocked out,” I said. “Take it easy, will you?” I started the car rolling down the tracks toward the gates, and fumbled for a cigarette.

“I was worried,” she said breathlessly. “Pete’s awful strong and everything. But when I saw you had a gun I knew it was going to be all right.”

“I’m real glad you had faith,” I told her thankfully. “It made all the difference.”

I swung the car out onto the road with its nose pointing toward Manhattan and trod down hard on the gas pedal.

“Would you have shot him if you had to, Danny?” she asked in a muffled voice.

“I guess so,” I said absently.

“I knew you would!” Clemmie sounded almost ecstatic. “I knew you would—I kept saying it over and over to myself all the time—‘Danny will shoot him, Danny will kill him!’ I wish you had!”

“You what?”

“I wish you had killed him, Danny.” There was an urgent, demanding note in her voice. “I’ve never seen a man killed before.”

“You figure it’s something every growing girl should see?”

“It would have been like growing up all at once,” she said wistfully. “Like the moment of truth at the bull-, fights, but this would have been so much better, Danny,

' don’t you see? This would have been a man who was killed, not just an animal!”

She started to cry suddenly, starting out in a soft whimper and finishing with loud, dry sobs. Her fist pounded my shoulder in an unsteady rhythm as I drove.

“You should have killed him, Danny,” she wailed. “I | wanted so much for you to kill him!”

Thirty minutes later I stopped at a roadside diner and we went in for lunch. Since the hysterics, Clemmie had been quiet, almost sullen, but she brightened up at the thought of food. I ordered steak sandwiches and coffee, and tried hard to ignore the smell of crisping bacon that sneaked up on my nose.

“This is terribly exciting, Danny,” Clemmie whispered loudly in my ear. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Hell!” I said. “People eat in diners all the time.”

“I mean I’ve never been kidnapped before, you idiot!”

Her whisper had got louder still and it seemed to bounce off the walls. A truck jockey, the other side of her, turned his head slowly and scowled at me. He must have been over two hundred pounds and it looked all muscle. I figured if he ever got a breakdown, he just lifted his truck in j one hand and carried it home.

“You don’t have to whisper,” I told Clemmie. “We’re going back to New York, for now anyway, to my apartment.”

“Your apartment!” she squealed excitedly. “Are you

29

going to keep me there all the time, Danny, with the door locked and everything? Maybe take all my clothes away even, so I can’t escape?**

The truck jockey’s eyes bulged suddenly and then his head moved quickly until his face was just six inches away from mine.

“Listen, Mac!” he said explosively. “I got a good mind to bust—”

“Relax,” I told him hastily. “She’s my sister—and she’s just kidding.”

He thought it over for a couple of seconds, then looked at Clemmie. “That right, lady?’*

“Why, no!” She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “That isn’t right at all—he’s just a friend of my brother’s. You see, my brother owes him a couple of hundred dollars and he couldn’t pay it back. So Danny here,” she smiled sweetly at me, “suggested that if I went to New York with him for a week and stayed at his apartment, he’d forget about the money my brother owes him.”

The truck jockey was breathing heavily through his nose by the time she’d finished. He put his right hand on my shoulder and five steel talons dug cruelly into my flesh.

“So that’s how it is, Mac?” he said softly. “You trade a sweet little kid like this for a lousy coupla hundred bucks! So I’m giving you a new face to go along with the deal!”

The talons let go my shoulder suddenly and rearranged themselves into a bunched fist the size of Sweet William’s snout.

“Get your gun, Danny!” Clemmie hissed in a choked voice. “Quick! Get your gun and kill him, Danny—he’ll kill you if you don’t!”

The fist remained poised in the air for a second, then it quivered a little.

Clemmie stood there, her eyes closed tight, her whole body shaking with excitement.

“Kill him, Danny,” she repeated stiffly through

30

clenched teeth. “Shoot him in the stomach—he asked for it!”

The truck jockey dropped his arm back to his side | and took another look at her. A trickle of sweat ran [ down one side of his face and he wiped it away with I the back of his hand absently. Then he looked at me i again.

“Whatsa matter with this dame?” he asked hoarsely. “She lost her marbles or something?”

I loosened my coat so he could see the butt of the .38 protruding from the leather holster, then widened my | eyes so the whites showed.

“There’s nothing with the dame, Mac,” I said in a I grating voice. “Just figure you made yourself a lucky ! break and you’ve still got your marbles!”

The trickle of sweat down the side of his face rapidly changed into a steady stream. He backed off a pace 1 quickly, with his coordination not functioning a hundred ; per cent, so he bumped another guy on the way.

“I guess a guy can make a mistake,” he said in a jerky | voice. “Sorry.” Then he walked rapidly toward the door.

Gemmie giggled suddenly. “I didn’t really think you’d shoot him, Danny, I was just hoping!”

“I should drape you over that counter and tan the hide off you,” I said sourly.

An interested gleam came into her eyes. “You horrible j man!” she said warmly. “I bet you know I just might I enjoy it.”

What was the use—I quit. The steak sandwiches arrived and she attacked hers with a startling primitive ferocity.

“I have to make a phone call,” I told her. “Just try and behave until I get back—don’t go assaulting any of I these truck jockeys, huh? They’re all married men and they love their wives!”

“Your sandwich will get cold,” she said indistinctly through a mouthful of steak. “No, don’t worry, it won’t. rU eat it.”

“Wear it in good health,” I grunted.

I got inside the phone booth and pulled the door shut behind me, then checked the directory. I called the State Police headquarters and said I wanted to report a murder. I gave them the name and location of the farm; the exact location of the pigpen and a description of Sweet William; I told them the farm was owned by Galbraith Hazelton and I suspected the body was that of his son, Philip Hazelton.

The guy on the other end of the line was most interested in the whole deal. 1 answered one question before I hung up on him.

“And what is your name, sir?” he asked politely.

“Houston,” I told him. “I am Mr. Galbraith Hazelton’s attorney.”

It’s a hard world here below and most of the time you’re too busy kicking the next guy’s teeth in before he does the same to you, but once in a while comes along the chance to do something nice for the next guy. I stepped out of the booth, feeling I’d done my good deed for the day, and if it got Houston into any real trouble, I’d be happy to recommend a good attorney.

By the time I got back to the counter, Clemmie was finishing the last mouthful of my steak sandwich. I got that smell of frying bacon again and right away lost my appetite and settled for a cup of coffee.

WE CAME INTO NEW YORK AROUND FIVE-THIRTY THAT evening. I parked the car on the block where I live on Central Park West, then carried Clemmie’s grip for her into the building.

When we got inside the apartment, she walked over to the window and looked down into my back yard, or Central Park, as other people call it.

“You have a beautiful view, Danny,” she said. “I’m going to like it here.”

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll fix us a drink.”

The phone rang when I was halfway to the kitchen. I answered it, and a cool, remote voice said, “So my wandering boy finally came home. I’m still sitting in the office like a good secretary should—is there anything I should do before I start out on my Midwestern investments project?”

“Not a thing, Fran,” I said. “Any calls—or callers?” “I was getting around to that,” she said. “Don’t jump me—not in the office, anyway. Callers—there was that Houston man this morning. He seemed almost annoyed that you were out and I didn’t know when you’d be back. . . . Then early this afternoon, just after lunch, there was a Mr. Carl Tolvar to see you. He’ll be back probably tomorrow, he said.”

“Tolver?” I repeated. “I never heard of him.”

“He said the two of you were in the same racket,” Fran added in a bored voice. “From the way he looks it must be white slavery. If you’re thinking of selling me off to an Eastern potentate, Danny Boyd, I warn you now, you’ll only get a ten per cent commission on the deal, and that’s my last offer.”

“How about phone calls?” I said.

“I was getting around to that, too,” she said patiently. “This is where it gets real exciting, so hold onto your insides. A bitchy-sounding dame called about three times during the last hour. She wouldn’t give her name, but the last time she called, she said she’d see you in the same bar where you met yesterday, and she’d wait there until six-thirty. That make any sense?”

“Sure,” I said.

“I’m glad for you, Danny,” she said gently. “I hope it gets to be an exciting evening—but from the sound of her 33

voice I think you should take a horsewhip along with you. I’ve met her type before.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, Fran,” I said. “See you in the morning.”

“Depending on how my investments pan out tonight, slaver,” she said. “Give the anonymous dame a nice, savage nip from me.”

I hung up and went out into the kitchen and made a couple of drinks, then took them back with me to the living room again. Clemmie sipped her drink appreciatively, and stopped looking at the view and looked at me instead.

“I feel so wonderfully immoral, Danny,” she said happily. “Are you going to make violent love to me now or wait till it gets dark?”

“I have to go out for a while,” I said quickly, “but I should be back in an hour.”

“Would you like me to get dinner ready while you’re gone?” she asked earnestly. “Or just slip into a negligee and wait?”

“Dinner sounds like a wonderful idea,” I said. “There should be some food in the icebox. Why don’t you do that?”

“You think you might bring back some champagne with you, Danny?” she asked wistfully.

“I’ll make a note of it,” I promised her. “Just one thing—don’t answer the phone if it should ring. If I want to call you, I’ll let the phone ring three times, then hang up and dial again right away.”

“I haven’t had so much excitement since that time at school when one of the gardeners chased me around a hedge.”

“Did he catch you?”

“No,” she sighed gently. “It wasn’t my fault—I’d slowed down a lot, but the French teacher’s wife came around the wrong comer at the right time and he caught her instead. Neither of them were ever quite the same afterwards.” “They fired the gardener?”

She shook her head. “He quit to go and work full time at the French teacher’s house."

I came into the bar at quarter after six, and it took me a while to spot Martha Hazelton in the crowd. Then finally I saw her at a table tucked away in one corner and went over.

She wore a cocktail dress, black and white silk, with a 1 widely-scooped oval neckline. There was a blue fox stole with golden glints in it, draped carelessly across her I shoulders. I sat down beside her, relaxing in the uphol-| stered comfort of the bar, and signaled a waiter.

“I was just about to give up hope that you’d get here,” j she said. “I called your secretary—if that’s who she is I —three times, but she couldn’t—or wouldn’t—tell me i anything.”

“She didn’t know where I was or when I’d be back,” I i said. “You wanted this to be a very confidential as-i signment, didn’t you?”

“Of course!” she said coldly.

The waiter hovered impatiently and I ordered a gin and tonic—there was another untouched rye on the rocks in front of Martha Hazelton.

“Well?” she said impatiently after the waiter had gone.

“Clemmie’s in my apartment right now,” I said.

She took a deep breath. “I’m so glad. But will she be | safe there?”

“I don’t see why not,” I said. “I wanted to see you i first before I took her any place else. You have any ideas about a hideaway?”

“I don’t care where you take her, so long as she’s safe!” she said. “I thought I made that clear the first time?”

“Finding a hideaway isn’t that easy,” I said. “I figure she’d be better in New York where I can keep an eye on her. Maybe my secretary’s apartment.”

“That’s up to you,” she said. “I said I’d pay all the expenses, they’re a minor detail. What happened at the farm?”

I gave her a censored version of what had happened. I didn’t tell her about Sweet William and the corpse under the mud of the pigpen. Somebody else could tell her about that

“Pete is simply a hired thug employed by my father,” she said when I’d finished talking and had a chance to drink some of the gin and tonic. “I knew there was something more to that West woman than the house-keeper-companion story Father put over! Anyway, Clem-mie’s out of their clutches now and I’m relying upon you to see she stays that way, Mr. Boyd!”

She opened her purse and took out a folded check. “This is for two thousand dollars,” she said as she handed it to me. “As we agreed. Let me know when you need more money, Tm willing to pay all expenses, and for your time as well, Mr. Boyd.”

“Fine,” I said and looked at her appreciatively. “I like that dress, it’s real cool. The last time I saw you in that kidskin jacket, I couldn’t tell whether you were flat or what.”

She pursed her lips together tightly. “Please write your obscenities on walls, Mr. Boyd,” she said tightly. “That’s where they belong and I’m sure you’re an expert at it by now. If you have nothing further to report, I’ll leave. I shall be late for dinner as it is.”

I lit a cigarette and looked at her for a moment, wondering how she and Clemmie could ever have come out of the same mold.

“Were you followed here?” I asked her.

“I don’t know for sure,” she said. “I think not—why?” “You were right about feeling you were followed yesterday,” I said. “Your father’s attorney—Houston— called on me in the afternoon. He had a detailed list, right down to the number of drinks I had while we were talking in here.”

“What did he want?” she asked tautly.

“He wanted me to lay off,” I said. “He came up as high

36

as a thousand dollars for me to forget whatever it was you wanted me to do.”

“I’m glad you told me,” she said. “I didn’t know things had gotten quite as bad as this. Thank you for remaining loyal to me, Mr. Boyd.”

“It was your money I was loyal to,” I said. “It added up to exacdy twice the amount Houston was offering. Has Philip turned up yet?”

“I still haven’t seen or heard from him,” she said. “Thank God you got to Clemmie in time!”

I finished my drink and ordered another; Martha Haz-elton’s glass was still untouched.

“You figure something’s happened to Philip,” I said. “You hired me to get Clemmie away to a safe place. What about you—aren’t you worried about your own safety?”

“Yes,” she said after a long pause. “I suppose I am, Mr. Boyd. But I’ve always thought that I was safe in New York—that farm out in Rhode Island is the danger-spot, it’s lonely, so isolated. But now Father knows I’ve got you working for me, and Clemmie is out of his reach, he wouldn’t dare try to murder me, surely?”

‘That’s logic,” I said. “Trouble is, when you’re talking about a murderer, or a potential murderer, you got to remember they don’t always have the same kind of logic you’ve got. Have you got an attorney representing you about this trust your mother left?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Houston represents the whole family. There’s no dispute—you see, Mr. Boyd? There can’t be any dispute until it’s proved that Father has embezzled the money.”

“And you can’t prove he has—you only suspect he has?”

She nodded briefly. “That’s the precise situation. At the moment I have nothing to gain by legal representation —and it would make Father furious.” She shuddered momentarily. “My father is a strong-willed and physically

37

powerful man, Mr. Boyd. It isn’t easy to defy him directly.”

“Sure,” I said. “How about Houston—you think he’s mixed up in the embezzlement?”

“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “It’s possible of course, but it’s my father who has complete control of the trust fund.”

“Well,” I shrugged my shoulders, “there’s nothing else we can do right now, but keep Clemmie out of the way.”

“I think so,” she said crisply. “I’ll keep in touch, Mr. Boyd, call your office every afternoon if that’s satisfactory?”

“That’s fine with me.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Boyd.” She got to her feet gracefully, picked up her purse from the table, and went out the door. Still no chance to check on the white underwear.

I turned the key and pushed open the front door of the apartment, wondering if I was going to find dinner on the table, or Clemmie in a negligee, or maybe both. The bottle of champagne was under my arm and I was prepared to let the rest of the evening take care of itself. Then I walked into the living room and found other plans had been made for me.

Clemmie sat huddled on the couch, biting her thumbnail savagely. She lifted a blotched, tear-stained face as I came into the room, then dissolved into tears. Houston stood in front of the window, his arms folded neatly across his chest, in an attitude of patient waiting. His face was its usual expressionless self as he looked at me.

The third guest would have been standing behind the living room door as I walked in. I realized that too late, when the hard barrel of a gun thrust into my spine.

“Just take it easy, Boyd,” a clipped voice said in my ear, “and nobody gets hurt.”

His free hand slipped down over my shoulder and lifted the .38 from the holster.

•'Better?" the guy said. “Now we can all take it easy. Over on the couch beside the dame, Boyd.*'

I walked across to the couch and sat down beside Clemmie.

“The buzzer went,” she sobbed, “and I thought you must have forgotten your key, so I opened the door. I’m dreadfully sorry, Danny.”

“Don't let it worry you,” I told her. “Here's your champagne.” I put the bottle into her lap.

Then I got my first look at the guy with the gun. Average height, powerful shoulders, a snappy dresser— around my age, maybe a couple of years older. His jet-black hair was cropped short in a semi-crew, and his face was long and narrow with a wolfish look about it. The eyes were nut-brown in color with a reddish pinpoint somewhere in the pupil—violence on a short leash. He held the gun like he could use it.

“This is Mr. Tolvar; Carl Tolvar, Boyd,” Houston said in a dry voice. “He’s by way of being a colleague of yours—he’s also a private detective.”

“It gets more overcrowded every day,” I said.

“You realize kidnapping is a Federal offense?” Houston went on calmly. “Kidnapping is also a capital offense.” “Clemmie came with me of her own free will,” I said. “You don’t need to knock yourself out trying to scare me, Houston. One look at your face is enough.”

“Someone called the State Police early this afternoon,” he went on as though I hadn’t spoken. “Gave them a fantastic story about a corpse being buried in one of the pigpens at the farm—and also gave my name as the informant. You wouldn’t know anything about that, Boyd?”

“Whose corpse was it?” I asked interestedly.

“I don’t need to tell you there was no corpse at all,” he said curtly. “But I had an embarrassing fifteen minutes with the police before I proved to their satisfaction that I had been right here in Manhattan all day, so I couldn’t possibly have made that call other than by long dis-39

stance; and they knew it was a call made in Rhode Island.”

“Who got to the corpse before the cops?” I asked him. “Stop playing the clown, Boyd!” he said irritably. “I find it tiresome to say the least. I’ve discussed the whole thing with Mr. Hazelton and he has, very generously I feel, decided not to charge you. This is your last warning though—if you attempt to see either Martha or Clemmie Hazelton again, you can expect no mercy from their father. You can consider yourself fortunate that Mr. Hazelton is a very forgiving man.”

He came around the couch and helped Clemmie to her feet, then escorted her toward the door. She looked back at me once and tried to smile but didn’t make it.

Houston stopped for a moment at the door and looked at Tolvar.

“I’ll leave you to explain those other points, Mr. Tolvar,” he said. “I don’t have the time right now to go into the detail.”

“Sure,” Tolvar nodded. “I got plenty of time for detail.”

“Excellent!” Houston smiled his approval. “You’ll arrange for a car and a trustworthy driver in the morning to run Miss Hazelton back to the farm?”

“Sure,” Tolvar nodded a second time. “Be around at nine-thirty in the morning.”

I heard the front door close a couple of seconds later, and then Tolvar walked leisurely across to the couch.

“You got a nice place here, Boyd,” he said. “You must be doing all right, huh?”

“A little here, a little there—you know how it is,” I said. “How about a drink?”

“Not right now,” he said. “Never drink when I’m working—kind of obsession with me. And Houston wants me to make a couple of things real clear in your mind before I go.”

“Go on,” I told him. “You’ve got me twitching already.”

“Yeah.” His voice was casual, almost bored. “Well, the first thing is—”

The gun seemed to dance in the air for a split-second, then the barrel whipped down across the left side of my face, the force of the blow knocking me sideways.

“—that he don’t think that corpse gag and you giving the cops his name was funny,” Tolvar went on in the same casual voice. “And the second thing—”

The gun barrel raked across the other side of my face, straightening me up again.

“—he figures he wants you to know he’s not kidding when he says to lay off the Hazelton family. They got problems of their own without you muscling in!”

It felt like a naked blowtorch flame was burning up both sides of my face. I couldn’t see Tolvar too clearly, the image kept blurring in front of my eyes. He seemed to be talking from a long way out so I couldn’t hear the words distinctly any more. But I could still feel the pain.

He worked me over methodically—when he’d finished with my face he started in on my neck and shoulders. I rolled off the couch onto the floor and somewhere around the time he put the first kick into my ribs, I passed out.

By the time I recovered consciousness, Tolvar had left. I worked my way through the monotonous routine of dragging myself off the floor and into the bathroom.

Maybe an hour, later, with the help of some liquid insulation, I checked on the damage. Tolvar had given me a scientific beating which was something, because it hadn’t been messy. Apart from a square inch of skin lifted from one cheekbone, the profile looked as good as it ever was. There were ugly red blotches under the skin but like the last rose of summer, they’d fade.

Bruises were beginning to show up across my shoulders and down the front of my chest; my ribs were sore but I didn’t think any were broken. There was a nagging pain where my left kidney used to be, but I figured no permanent damage had been done.

I poured some cognac into a glass, lit a cigarette, and 41

looked for my gun and didn’t find it. Tolvar hadn’t taken the champagne Clemmie had left on the couch, but it looked like he’d taken my .38. If the private eyes had a trade union, maybe I could’ve persuaded them to drum him out of the ranks, and rip off his buttons at the same time. The way it was, I’d have to wait to see him again before I could even the score.

After another cognac, I started to feel better. What the hell, I told myself, taking a beating now and then is part of your business, Danny-boy. What you’ve got to do now is get out there and show ’em. Find out who moved that corpse out of the pigpen—grab Clemmie Hazelton back and stash her away somewhere safer this time. Take care of Houston and that Tolvar character! So get another gun, boy, and go out there, shooting!

You slob, myself told me, go to bed!

I went.

WHENEVER YOU HAVE A BRIGHT IDEA, DAYLIGHT WILL AL-ways take care of it. Last thing before I went to sleep, I’d figured to be up bright and early the next day, and out to the Hazelton’s place before the car left with Clemmie in it for the Rhode Island farm. I figured I’d play hero, and snatch her right back.

I looked out the window at the day, and right away I could see myself exchanging shots across Beekman Place with Tolvar—with Clemmie screaming blue murder in the car and her old man shouting “Kidnapper!” at the top of his voice. So daylight took care of my project fast. There was another factor—it was ten o’clock when I woke up, which meant Clemmie Hazelton was thirty minutes on the road back to the farm.

The body bruises had turned black during the night,

and my face had swollen a little, but the pain in the kidney had gone. By the time I was dressed and ready to go on my merry way, it was eleven-thirty. It looked like a respectable hour to go visiting Beekman Place. I checked the exact address before I left.

It was just after noon when the door of the Hazelton apartment opened and a guy in a dark suit looked at me like I must be a mistake because he didn’t remember ordering anything like me.

“Yes, sir?” he asked dubiously.

“I want to see Mr. Hazelton,” I told him.

“Does Mr. Hazelton expect you?”

“I should read his mind!” I said irritably. “Tell him I’m here, Boyd’s the name, Danny Boyd.”

He shook his head slowly. “Really, sir, I don’t think Mr. Hazelton will see anyone without an appointment.” “How do you know if you don’t ask him?” I snarled. He started to close the door, so I grabbed the lapels of his coat, hoisted him four inches into the air, and carried him inside the apartment. I put him down gently and closed the front door behind him, then leaned against it.

“Tell him, why don’t you?” I said. “You owe him money you’re afraid to talk to him?”

“I . . He was trembling all over like he’d just seen his first burlesque show.

“Harris!” Someone called from the living room. “What’s going on out there?”

“Sir!” Harris’s voice was an octave higher than normal, “Sir, there’s a Mr. Boyd to see you.”

“Boyd!” He made it sound a dirty word. “What the—” The owner of the voice appeared in the hallway a few seconds later. A tall, well-padded character with not much hair left, and a bristling, gray-tinged mustache.

“Get out of here!” he snarled. “Or I’ll call the police and have you arrested.”

“Why don’t you call Missing Persons first?” I asked him. “Or don’t you want to bother them about your son?”

43

“Philip?” His bushy eyebrows twitched downward. “What about Philip?”

“You are Galbraith Hazelton?” I checked the obvious. “Of course,” he said impatiently. “Answer my question!”

“Nobody’s seen him since Sunday night,” I said. “Last seen feeding the pigs down on your farm.”

He stared at me for what seemed a long while, then turned to the manservant.

“All right, Harris,” he said brusquely. “That’s all for the moment. I’ll ring if I want you.”

“Yes, sir.” Harris glided away noiselessly down the hallway.

“Maybe you’d better come into the living room, Boyd,” Hazelton said. “Try and make some sense out of this.”

I followed him into the living room. A big room with a white marble fireplace, and the furnishings shabby enough to be genuine antiques.

“I don’t have much time,” Hazelton barked suddenly. “I don’t even want to talk to scum like you at all. So make sense out of vour remarks about Philip, then lose yourself, understand?”

I lit a cigarette and flicked the dead match onto the hearth, despoiling the virgin marble.

“O.K. Like I said—nobody’s seen Philip since Sunday night at your farm. So where is he?”

“I imagine that’s his own affair,” Hazelton said coldly. “Just what is it you’re after, Boyd? Houston told me yesterday I was being much too lenient with you, and now I’m inclined to agree with him! First it was Martha, then Clemmie—now you seem to be trying to involve yourself in my son’s affairs.”

“Martha hired me to look after her interests—and those of her sister,” I said. “I’m trying to do just that— I also think something’s happened to Philip. The way you react I can’t figure out whether you just don’t care, or

44

maybe you already know what happened to him because you caused it?”

This time the mustache bristled along with the eyebrows. I waited for him to explode—to see the little coiled springs come pouring out of him when he did rip himself apart.But he made an immense effort, and when he spoke, his voice was almost mild.

“I guess I should try to see things your way for a moment, Boyd,” he said evenly. “Martha hired you to protect herself against me, you say? All right, what did she tell you? That she was the victim of a conspiracy? That I have taken money fraudulently from her mother’s trust fund? That she and Clemmie are in fear of their lives?” “It could be true,” I said. “You haven’t said anything to disprove it yet.”

“A trust fund the size of the one my wife left, with its varied and multiple investments, would take two skilled accountants a month to check thoroughly,” he said. “If you care to provide two accountants, Boyd, I’ll give them access to all the books.”

“What about Clemmie and the farm?” I said. “That bodyguard who says no visitors allowed—and the house-keeper-companion who says she’s a nurse? You keep them up there to make sure the com grows or something?”

“Sit down,” he said abruptly.

So I sat down, and he sat opposite, taking a cigar from the box on the small table beside his chair and lighting it carefully.

“I’m going to be frank with you, Boyd,” he said. “I ask you to respect my confidence.”

“No guarantees,” I told him.

“There is a history of insanity in the family,” he said carefully. “My wife killed herself because of it. It goes back four, five generations. Sometimes it misses a generation—I’ve prayed it would miss my children’s generation.”

“Are you trying to tell me it hasn’t?” I said. “That your children are nuts—all of them?”

Hazelton studied the glowing end of his cigar for a few seconds. “Philip is a perfectly normal boy—and always has been,” he said quietly. “The two girls seemed to be the same through their childhood, adolescence—it’s only recently that they’ve become . . . eccentric.”

“Are they having medical treatment—you’ve got a psychiatrist who can confirm this?” I asked him.

“No,” he shook his head. “Not yet. Don’t you see, if I take them to a psychiatrist, the family history has to be made known. It would be halfway toward condemning an innocent person—halfway toward having them committed! I won’t do that until I’m sure there is no other way.” “So Martha imagines you’ve embezzled money from the trust fund, huh?” I said. “She imagines you keep Clemmie a prisoner on the farm—she imagines she hasn’t seen Philip during the last several days? She didn’t imagine she was being followed when she met me in that bar.” “Harris overheard her calling you the first time,” he said heavily. “He thought I should know. I called Houston and asked him to find out what Martha was up to. Don’t you see, Boyd? She’s developing a persecution complex. She’s imagining people are conspiring against her—even me, her own father!”

“Yeah,” I said bleakly. “How about Clemmie—what kind of complex has she got?”

“It started with Clemmie about three months ago,” he said. “She seemed to alternate between moods of black depression and almost violent ecstasy. One day she’d stay in her room the whole time and refuse to speak to anyone in the house. The next day she’d be laughing and talking the whole time, and you couldn’t get her to stop. That was why I sent her up to the farm. It’s peaceful there, quiet, restful. I put Pete in to keep curious people away, and the nurse—who’s both discreet and highly trained—to watch her. What more could I do?”

“That brings us back to Philip again,” I said. “What's happened to him?”

“I don’t know where he is at the moment,” he said tersely. “As far as I know, he was still at the farm when I left with Martha on Monday morning. He could be anywhere—on his yacht, staying with friends—anything at all. He’s of age and he pleases himself where he goes and what he does. I don’t interfere—in a few months* time I expect him to come into my office and start work —learn the investment business thoroughly, and I know he will—I have his promise. Until then, his life is his own affair.*’

“Whose idea was Tolvar?”

“Tolvar?” he repeated blankly.

“The private eye Houston brought along with him last night when he picked up Clemmie from my apartment.” “That would be Houston’s affair,” he said stiffly. “I’ve been entirely frank with you, Boyd. Now you can see why you must stop interfering—for the sake of both my girls.”

“Where is Martha now?” I asked him.

“I sent her up to the farm with Clemmie this morning. Do I have your word you’ll forget all about them now?” He flicked an inch of ash from his cigar, and I could see the wheels were still churning, so I didn't answer.

“You’ve been put to some trouble, Boyd,” he added, at length. “It’s only fair you should be compensated. I’ll see a check is mailed to you today.”

I got to my feet. “No dice,” I told him. “I think you’re a liar, Hazelton, a lousy liar at that! I’m sticking my nose into this deal until I find out the truth.”

“Boyd!” He spread his hands wide in a pleading gesture. “You don’t know what you’re doing—believe me! Clemmie was bad enough last night after the day’s excitement—but if you keep on causing trouble it could be enough to send both girls over the edge. I’m asking you to forget it—for their sake, not mine!”

“It’s still no dice,” I said. “And I just might take you

up on that offer of checking over the trust fund accounts.” “What is it you want?” he said flatly. “More money? How much is enough?”

“Most times it would be the answer,” I admitted, “and I’d have a nice round figure all ready to quote. But not this time—you don’t have enough money to buy me off, Hazelton, not even in that trust fund.”

I’d nearly reached the door that led into the hall before he spoke again.

“You won’t listen to reason,” he said in a low voice. “You won’t be bought off. . . . I’ll protect my family, Boyd, under any circumstances. This means I shall have to take other steps to deal with you.”

“I figure the steps you’ve taken already will lead straight into the deathhouse in Sing Sing,” I told him. “I’ll dance at your funeral, Hazelton, and so will your daughters!”

The manservant wasn’t anywhere in sight, so I had to open the front door for myself—life can be tough here and there. I got back into the car and drove across town to my office.

Fran Jordan smiled sweetly when I walked into the office.

“Where was my wandering boy this morning?” she said. “And no prize if you guess it was the same place as last night and who was she, not that it’s any of my business.”

“If I told you you were wrong, you wouldn’t believe me,” I grinned at her. “How’s the Midwestern investment project coming along?”

“Slowly,” she said in a serene voice, “but surely. He has a little trouble seeing the obvious. You know, like stocks are only pieces of paper, but a mink is a mink?” “It must be lunchtime,” I said. “Why don’t you have lunch with me and this time I might even pay for it. You know I’ve usually got nothing left after I pay your salary!”

“That’s a charming invitation,” she said. “But I ac-48

cept. By the way—that man, Tolvar, left a package for you this morning. I put it on your desk.”

“I'll take a look, then be right with you.” I said.

The package was gift-wrapped. I opened it up and there was my .38. I put the gun in the top drawer of my desk and then went back to Fran who was still making final adjustments to her face.

We settled on the Chambord for lunch, and when we were comfortably established with a martini. Fran looked at me sideways with those luminous eyes of hers.

“Who is Sylvia, what is she?” she said.

“She’s a girl who looks after pigs,” I told her solemnly. “So now you don’t need to ask why all the swine adore her.”

“My God!” Fran said in a pained voice, and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

‘How did you come to dig Sylvia, anyway?”

“She dug me,” Fran opened her eyes again. “Trying to dig you on a long distance call from Providence.”

“She say what it was all about?”

“More or less. She wants to see you urgently on a matter of vital importance—she’s the original cliche-kid— but she can’t make it to New York. If you can make it to Providence, she’ll be in the Sheraton-Biltmore from eight till eleven tonight.”

“Anything more?”

Fran shrugged her beautiful shoulders delicately. “That’s all. Isn’t it enough? You want the girl to promise to wear her best girdle—over long distance?”

It was two-thirty when we got back to the office. Fran found the number of Tolvar’s office and I told her to call and find out if he was there. She did and he wasn’t. I had her call again, and ask for his secretary this time— say it was Houston’s office calling and was Tolvar expected back from Rhode Island today?

Fran handled it with casual efficiency, then after she’d hung up, looked at me with a spark of curiosity showing in her gray-green eyes.

“He’s not expected back untiJ after the week-end,” she said. “What’s Providence got that it’s so popular so suddenly?”

“It’ll have Danny Boyd by tonight,” I said. “Maybe the word’s got around already that I'm coming?”

“Big deal!” she sighed. “All right—if it’s a secret, I guess I can’t gouge it out of you.”

“We could have a lot of fun while you tried?” I said hopefully.

“Mink before fun,” she said. “Are you going to stay somewhere in Providence, or has Sylvia taken care of that detail already?”

“You could book me a room at the Biltmore,” I said. “I might be gone a few days. While I get some things from the apartment, you’d better cash a check before the bank closes.”

“How much, master?”

“Better make it five hundred,” I said. “I’m crazy for seafood and I’m going to the right place to get it.”

I went over to my apartment and packed a grip. I’d taken the .38 home with me, but decided finally not to take it along. Tolvar was in Providence, and I had respect for him, so I took the .357 Magnum and its harness along with me instead.

When I got back to the office again, Fran had the cash waiting for me.

“You have a room at the Biltmore,” she said, “double, naturally. Is there anything special you want me to do while you’re away?”

“Call me if anything exciting happens,” I said. “Anybody wants to know where I am, you don’t know. That’s about all, I guess.”

“O.K.” she said. “You’d better be on your way if you’re not going to keep Sylvia waiting too long.”

“Sure,” I said. “See you.”

“See you,” she echoed. “And—Danny—take care of that profile, will you? Somebody got a little careless with it last night.”

Six

I CHECKED INTO THE BILTMORE * JUST AFTER EIGHT-thirty that night. After I’d registered, I followed the bellhop toting my bag up to my room. It took maybe twenty minutes for a fast shower and a change into a fresh suit. If I kept Sylvia West waiting a while longer, I didn’t mind. Maybe it was the Boyd profile that had prompted her call, and maybe it was a guy named Tolvar. I didn’t figure on taking any chances until I found out for sure, so I strapped on the harness under my coat, and checked the Magnum before I slid it into the holster.

A lot of guys figure it’s not worth lugging a Magnum around with you, because if you don’t lean to one side, you start to give at the knees. My theory is it’s worth the weight because a Magnum will stop an elephant and who knows what the hell you might meet out in the wilds of Rhode Island.

It was just after nine when I got down to the hotel lobby again. I lit a cigarette, then started wandering, looking for Sylvia West. She must have been wandering around looking for me—I turned a comer and there she was. I felt my eyes bulge as I looked at her.

She wore a gold lame sheath, a couple of shades lighter than her suntan. Two minute straps across her magnificent shoulders stopped it from falling to the floor. It had a square neckline cut low enough to reveal the beginning of the division between her full breasts, and the slender, matching belt was drawn tight around her waist, emphasizing its smallness. On her feet were golden-colored kidskin pumps.

Her blue eyes brightened as she saw me, and for a moment there, her lips didn’t look lonely any more.

“Danny!” she said thankfully.

“Wow!” I said limply.

She smiled. “Do 1 take that as a compliment?”

“And a tribute,” I told her. “So it was you all the

time?”

“What do you mean?”

“The dame who’s been haunting my dreams. I’ve been losing weight, fading away into a gaunt shadow. But from here on out, things will be different.”

“How different?”

“I’ll stay awake and have my dreams at the same time,” I said. “That way I don’t waste any time sleeping, I’ll be able to eat twice as much and put all the weight back that I lost—and talking of eating let’s go some place and do that, otherwise I’ll be making love to you right here in the lobby, and the management won’t care for it.”

“Just wait till I get my breath back!” she laughed. “Where do you want to eat?”

“Somewhere the seafood is caught right in front of your table,” I said. “I want fish, lobster, clams . .

“What you want is a Rhode Island Shore Dinner,” Sylvia corrected me. “We’ll go to Cristy’s at Newport if you don’t mind the drive—it isn’t that far away.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. “We can clear up a couple of points on the way, like are you wearing anything under that sheath and if you are I don’t believe it and if you prove it I should be disappointed but I won’t be because of the compensations involved. It so happens I booked a double room right here in the hotel—why don’t we just go on up to my room and have them send Cristy’s over here with enough seafood to last a week and then—” “Danny!” Her face was flushed a delicate shade of red over the bronze. “People can hear you!”

“The hell with them,” I said. “They don’t get any of our seafood!”

We got out to my car and I drove to Newport, which wasn’t far, like she’d said. Cristy’s was well worth the drive and the seafood was strictly out of this world. By

52

the time we got to coffee and a cigarette, I was at peace with the world—well, maybe you could strike the name Tolvar off the list, otherwise it was true.

“Danny,” Sylvia leaned across the table toward me earnestly and I made a quick check with a downward glance.

“No bra, anyway,” I said thoughtfully. “I can’t wait till you prove the rest of it to me.”

“Be serious for a moment!” She started to blush again. “Hell!” I was genuinely shocked. “You figure I’d joke about that?”

“Please!”

“O.K.,” I shrugged my shoulders. “So I’ll be serious.” “It was good of you to come all the way up here again,” she said. “I didn’t really think you would. I kept hoping, but it didn’t make any sense for you to come just because I called and said it was urgent.”

“I figured it could make sense,” I said. “When I saw that gold sheath there, I knew right away it made a hell of a lot of sense. Sylvia, honey-chile, I—”

The tiptilted nose lifted a couple of inches, and there was a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

“Danny Boyd,” she said in a gritty tone, “you promised to be serious for a moment!”

“I’m a serious Boyd,” I assured her. “An albatross, no less.”

She winced, then lit herself another cigarette to help her recovery. “Since you left with Clemmie yesterday afternoon,” she said in a low voice, “so much has happened that I’m confused—and just a little scared, Danny. Yesterday I thought you must be crazy, but now I’m wondering if you’re the only one who’s sane.”

“What happened?”

“You remember, just when you were leaving, you told me to take a look at Sweet William’s pen?”

“Did you?”

She shook her head. “I was going to, but Pete stopped me. He said he’d take care of it and for me to go into

53

the house. I guess I was jumpy after what had happened, so I did. He came back after a while and said it must have been your idea of a joke or something—there was nothing at all in the pigpen except the boar.**

Her face had an intent, half-frightened look as she went on with her story.

“Pete said he’d have to tell Mr. Hazelton what had happened to Clemmie and called him. Then he said I’d better stay in the house because there was no telling what a maniac like you would do next, and maybe you might decide to come back. He went outside again and I did as he’d said—I stayed inside the house. I was worried sick about Clemmie and what was happening to her.

“About an hour later I heard a car drive in, so I looked out the window, thinking maybe Pete had been right and you’d come back. But it was the police—State troopers. I saw Pete talking to them, and then they all walked off toward the pigpens. They were gone maybe fifteen minutes, then they came back to the house.

“There was a Sergeant Dixon in charge and he seemed awful mad about something. He used the phone but I didn’t catch everything he said, only a word here and there. ‘Hoax’—‘Have New York check on Houston’ —that was about all. He asked me who I was and did I know a man named Houston. I said I was employed by Mr. Hazelton and I’d never met Mr. Houston, but I knew he was Mr. Hazelton’s attorney. Then the police left.

“I asked Pete what it was all about, and he said it must have been some crazy practical joke of yours—you must have called the troopers and told them your name was Houston and they should look at the pigpens. It still didn’t make any sense to me.

“Then, this morning—just after lunch it would’ve been, I guess, they brought Clemmie back, and Martha with her.”

“Who’re they?”

“Mr. Houston and another man called Tolvar. They’re staying at the farm for an indefinite period as far as I

54

can make out. Tolvar frightens me somehow—do you know him at all?”

“We met for the first time last night,” I said. “He’s the athletic type—used me for kicks.”

“I can’t say I go much for Mr. Houston, either,” she went on. “He’s nothing but a fish—I’ll bet there’s not one drop of warm blood in his veins! But what really worries me is the girls, Danny. Now both of them are being kept prisoners on the farm, and the others aren’t making any secret about it. If one of the girls wants to go for a walk around the farm even, then either Tolvar or Pete goes with them. They watch the girls all the time.”

“How’s Clemmie?” I asked.

“Still on a downswing,” Sylvia said soberly. “She’s been that way since they arrived, and it’s getting worse the whole time. I told Mr. Houston I thought maybe she should see a doctor, but he said I was overanxious. Before I left this evening I put her to bed under sedation.” “And Martha?”

“I don’t know her very well,” she said. “She doesn't seem any different to me. Aloof, unfriendly, arrogant— she lives in a world of her own the whole time. She was the one who went out walking the whole afternoon— with Pete right alongside her of course.”

“I see you got your troubles, honey-chile,” I said. “Which one was so urgent you wanted me up here?” “Danny,” she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I want you to prove to me I’m not crazy!”

“We can try the Boyd High I.Q. Rating Test,” I suggested. “You only need answer ‘Yes’ to one question and you have a hundred per cent pass which gives you a very superior I.Q. and the opportunity to experience something unique.”

“I’m not fooling, Danny,” she said tensely. “I want you to take a look at something—out at the farm.” “Such as?”

“A pigpen,” she said simply.

It looked like a sudden end to a beautiful evening. I lit another cigarette and thought regretfully of that double booking at the Biltmore going to waste.

“A pigpen, I’ve seen already,” I told her.

“This means a lot to me, Danny. Will you take a look at it—please!”

••Why Is it so important?”

“I don’t want to tell you—not until you’ve seen it That way you’ll be unbiased. It wouldn’t take long and it means so much to me, Danny!”

“What with Tolvar, Houston and Pete guarding the girls so close, it’s a wonder they let you out tonight,” I said lightly.

“I’m allowed one day and two evenings free a week,” she said. “I had a feeling they were glad to get me out of their hair for a while tonight.”

“How did you get from the farm into Providence— drive yourself?”

“There’s a beat-up station wagon that belongs to the farm—I drove that.”

“The only trouble with me taking a look at the pigpen is that one of the boys might object,” I said.

“They don’t have to know anything about it—if we leave the station wagon on the road and walk in—we don’t even have to go near the house,” she said.

“I guess not.”

“Will you do it?”

“I always was a sucker for a pretty face!” I told her. She smiled demurely. “Why, Danny—you haven’t looked at my face once during the whole evening!”

It was ten after midnight when we reached the farm. I’d driven Sylvia back from Newport into Providence, and she’d picked up the station wagon from outside the hotel. Then I’d followed her out to the farm in my own car. She stopped the station wagon a couple of hundred yards down the road from the farm gates while I made

56

a U-turn and left my car facing toward Providence, and well off the road.

The air was crisp, and the moonlight much too bright. I could feel my spine prickling gently as I walked back across the road to where Sylvia waited for me. It could be a trap—Tolvar could have set up the whole thing with the blonde nurse as bait—and if they had, I was walking right into it There was still plenty of spare burial space inside the pigpens. I remembered dismally.

We walked in through the gates and down the edge of the tracks toward the house. Lights showed in a couple of rooms which didn’t make me feel any better. When we were fifty yards from the house, Sylvia started to make a wide circle around it toward the pigpens which were some distance away from the back of the place.

Finally we reached the pens and Sylvia stood very close beside me, then shivered suddenly.

“O.K.,” I said. “What now?”

“Take a look at Sweet William,” she said softly.

I walked across to the pen and looked in. The moonlight was nearly as bright as day—in the center of the pen was a huge sow sleeping peacefully with her litter tucked in comfortably around her edges.

There was a slight rustle of Sylvia’s dress as she moved up close beside me again.

“He’s not here,” I said. “What gives?”

“Yes, he’s here,” she said in a tight voice. “Two pens further along.”

I checked and she was right—two pens further along and there he was. Once seen, Sweet William could never be forgotten.

“You see?” Sylvia said in a small voice. “You didn’t remember the right pen.”

“When you showed me around this morning, he was in that other pen,” I said. “I’m sure of it!”

“I’m glad you said that, Danny.” Something like relief sounded in her voice. “When I took a look this after-

57

noon, I thought I was losing my memory, so I had to be sure I wasn’t.”

“Yeah,” I said absently.

“Danny,” she said softly. “Why?”

“That Pete,” I said admiringly. “He can think on his feet all right.”

“What do you mean?”

“The last thing I said before I took off with Clemmie the other morning was for you to take a look at Sweet William’s pen,” I said. “Remember?”

“Of course I remember—but you never told me what I was looking for. What was in the pen?” she asked breathlessly.

“Someone had buried a body in dirt,” I said soberly. “My guess is it belonged to Philip Hazelton.”

Sylvia drew in her breath sharply and made a whimpering noise.

“Pete must have known the body was there,” I went on. “He knew he could stall you from looking at the pen and seeing it, but he couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t tell the police—as I did. So he had to do something fast. And the easiest thing to do would be shift Sweet William into a new pen—so if anybody came to take a look, they wouldn’t find anything.”

“Danny,” she said in a trembling voice. “That means it’s still there—the body—in the pen where the sow and her new litter are right now?”

“It figures,” I agreed. “Pete would’ve covered it up again, but he wouldn’t know how much time he had, so my guess is he wouldn’t have tried to move the body.” “Danny!” She clutched hold of my arm tightly. “I think I’m going to faint.”

I heard a faint noise and turned around. A shaft of light showed momentarily from the back of the house, then was cut off again.

“Someone just left the house,” I said. “We’d better get out of here.”

“Can you see anyone?” she whispered nervously.

“No.” I strained my eyes.

“How do you know they’re coming this way?” she asked.

“How do I know they’re not?” I said tersely. “We need to get somewhere out of this damned moonlight fast.”

“I know,” she said quickly. “The barn.”

She started to run, and I followed her. It was maybe a hundred yards from the pigpens to the bam and I hadn’t run so fast since that time in Las Vegas when a redhead turned up for a date with a preacher in tow.

We made the bam and went inside. I pushed the door almost shut and then listened carefully. I could hear Sylvia’s quick breathing behind me, and the loud protest of my own outraged lungs, but that was about all.

“Maybe he’s gone back into the house?” Sylvia whispered a minute later.

“Maybe,” I grunted. “But we’ll stay here awhile and make sure.”

Another couple of minutes dragged by, and Sylvia’s teeth chattered slightly.

“I’m cold!” she whispered. “Can’t we leave now?”

“In a little while,” I said, and then I heard a chinking noise as someone’s shoe hit a stone. I pushed the door open another inch and squinted at the brightness outside. There was the silhouette of a man about fifty yards away, walking directly toward the bam.

“He’s heading straight this way,” I said. “Move over to one side out of the way, Sylvia, huh?”

“What are you going to do?” she whispered.

“I’ll take him as he comes through the door,” I said.

“Why don’t we just hide?” she said.

“Where? He’s coming straight in here!”

“What about the hayloft—he won’t go up there.”

“All right,” I said. “If I slug him, the other two will come looking for him when he doesn’t show up at the house, and it’s a long way back to the road.”

I followed Sylvia across the floor of the bam, and then 59

up the ladder which led to the hayloft. We lay face down in the hay and watched the door. I eased the Magnum out of the harness, holding it ready in my right hand, just for insurance.

The door creaked as it swung open, and a moment later the beam of a flashlight hit the floor. He came in slowly, playing the flashlight all around, into the corners, over the tractor and harvester. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought it was Pete. Sylvia’s fingers dug deeper into my arm with every passing second. For maybe three minutes, he kept the flashlight swinging, then he must have been satisfied and went out, pulling the door shut behind him.

We listened until we couldn’t hear his footsteps any longer, then Sylvia sighed deeply.

*T thought any moment I’d sneeze or something!” she said. “Any more of this and I’ll be needing a nurse!”

“We’ll give him ten minutes before we move out of here,” I said. “He must have been looking for something —or someone—pretty hard. He made damn sure there was nothing in the bam that shouldn’t be here.”

“Maybe he was just making a routine check?” she asked. “If they’re worried about anyone else prowling around and finding the body, they could check up regularly through the night, couldn’t they?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I hope you’re right, and they didn’t spot us from the house while we were over at the pigpens.”

“Maybe we should stay here for a good while and make sure?” she said softly.

“O.K. with me,” I said. “I’ve got no place to go in a hurry.”

My eyes had got used to the darkness inside the bam, and the filtered moonlight through the one window was bright enough to show up most of the detail. I rolled over onto one side and was going to light a cigarette when I remembered the hay and went cold on the idea.

“Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s beautifully warm in the hay up here,” she said softly.

“Sure is.”

“You were pretty terrific to come all the way up here just because I asked you,” she went on. “And then take a chance like this to look at the pens when I asked you another favor!”

“I’m one of the original knights of the Roundtable,” I told her modestly. “A damsel in distress is our bread and butter—you know we were the first guys to demonstrate chivalry?”

“How come?” she asked interestedly.

“Whenever we accepted the conventional offer of thanks from the rescued damsel, we’d take off our armor first,” I told her. “You’d be surprised what a difference it made to the whole art of love!”

She laughed softly. “Is that a hint, Danny? About the . conventional offer of thanks from the rescued damsel, I mean?”

“It’s a question of honor,” I said. “Some girls prefer to fight for a while before they surrender—something like a boxer warming up before he gets into the ring.” She came up onto her knees and then to her feet, and brushed the small pieces of straw away that clung to her dress.

“I guess the least I can do is prove a point for you, Danny,” she said. “Just to show my gratitude.”

Where she stood, a shaft of moonlight slanted directly across her body from her shoulders to her knees, leaving her head and feet in shadow. I wondered if she knew and figured for sure she did.

My mouth went suddenly dry as I watched her peel off the gold lam£ and drop it gently onto the hay. Underneath she wore only a pair of white panties, sleek against her skin, and stockings held by fancy black lace garters. The high, full breasts looked like white marble under the moonlight.

Then she dropped quickly to her knees beside me and lifted the Magnum out of my hand and tossed it onto her dress.

“You always take of! the armor first, Danny!” she

said.

Her right hand gripped my shoulder, pushing me onto my back, and then she fell on top of me, her lips pressing hard against mine. I put my hands on her shoulders for a moment, pulling her even closer, then let them slide gently down her back to the waistband of the panties. She shivered violendy and the tip of her tongue began a questing search between my lips. I let my hands continue on their way, sliding the soft silk down over her hips.

From somewhere out in the night, a bird called suddenly in a harsh note of triumph.

Seven

I CHECKED MY WATCH WHICH SAID IT WAS FIVE AFTER two. The moonlight still flooded the landscape, the air was just a little crisper. Sylvia stood beside the station wagon, the gold lame glowing softly along with her. She wasn’t shivering any more.

“Danny, lover,” she said. “I don’t want to go back inside that house—not now I know about that pigpen and—”

“You have to go back, honey-chile,” I said patiently. “For the girls’ sake anyway. If you don’t come back, Tolvar and the others will get worried—they might panic and do something to the girls. You have to show up there.”

“What are you going to do about the body?” she said. “You can’t just leave it there!”

“I called the gendarmes once and they figure it as a

62

lousy practical joke,” I said. 44If I try to tell them a second time there’s a body in that pen, they’ll most likely have me committed!”

“You have to do something!”

“Check,” I said. “I’m working on it. You just try and act as if nothing’s happened. I’ll come back through the day and maybe have a concrete idea of how to handle it. Just don’t worry, honey-chile.”

“O.K., Danny,” she smiled up at me. “Whatever you say. I don’t mind being kissed by a knight with his armor on!”

I kissed her goodbye over a brief five-minute period, then walked across the road and got into my car. I lit a cigarette and waited until the station wagon moved off along the road and turned in along the tracks to the farmhouse.

Another half-hour and I’d be back at the hotel comfortably in bed, I figured, and it was a welcome prospect —I reached out to turn on the ignition and at the same moment the cold rim of a gun muzzle bored into the back of my neck.

“You got a right to relax, you been a busy Boyd!” a clipped voice said close to my ear. “Just don’t move, huh? I got a nervous finger.”

“I’ve got a nervous body,” I said. “You should worry about a finger!”

“It’s you got to worry about the finger,” Tolvar said amiably. His free hand lifted the Magnum out of the harness in a routine which was getting to be monotonous. “Cheez!” he said. “How many guns you got?”

“Not enough—if I keep losing them to you the way I am lately,” I said. “How long have you been in the back of the car?”

“Thirty minutes, maybe more,” he said. “I was getting kind of cramped on the floor back there. You must have made a score with nursie, huh, you were away so long?” “She’s just a nice kid,” I said easily.

“Hot-blooded underneath the cool freeze she gives

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you,” he said enthusiastically. “I go for a dame like that —more kicks that way. Maybe i’ll give her a run after you’re out of circulation.”

That was a conjecture, like they say in television courtrooms, and I let it ride—either way there was nothing in it for me.

“You’re the kind of guy who don’t learn, Boyd,” he ' said after a few seconds’ silence. “Last time we met, I told you to lay off the Hazelton family, but you didn’t take the hint. Now it’s got so you’re embarrassing people.”

“Look,” I said wearily, “like it’s late, like I’m tired, like I know you’re a real tough Joe—so save the tough dialogue for impressing the clients, huh? What happens now—you slug me again?”

“You’re going out of circulation, Boyd,” he said easily —and I thought that maybe his worst character trait was that you couldn’t annoy him—not with words anyway.

“You’re back on that old hat dialogue again,” I said. “I’m going out of circulation—what the hell does that mean? You figure I’m a newspaper—or a pint of blood?” “Like when you got to go, you got to,” he said amiably. “It’s the end of the line—you wind up in the obituary notices that nobody even reads.”

“You didn’t call it the big sleep, anyway,” I said. “1 guess that’s something.”

“Be my guest,” he said. “You can start the motor now, Boyd—we’ll get it finished with, huh?”

“That private eye’s license you’ve got,” I said, “it maybe allows you to get away with killing somebody in self-defense if you got a minimum of six eye-witnesses to swear it was self-defense; but nobody gets away with murder.”

“Start the motor!” He jabbed the gun muzzle hard into my neck as a persuader. “You want me to bust out

crying?”

“I’ll put it another way,” I said patiently. “No hard,

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two-syllable words that you won’t understand. We both make the same kind of living out of the same racket. I never had a client yet who could pay the kind of money I'd want to commit murder—and neither have you. So why all the build-up? You want to scare me—O.K., I’m scared. Now what?”

“You start the motor and drive—or I slug you and drive myself,” he said. “Which way will you have it?” I started the motor and drove the car out onto the road again, heading back toward Providence.

“That’s better,” Tolvar said. “Just keep on driving and we’ll get along fine.”

“I’d like that,” I said earnestly. “Us beatniks warn nothing better than to communicate—a free exchange of souls. Man! That’s when id digs id and ego digs ego!” “I figure I will slug you and drive myself,” Tolvar said seriously. “Listening to that kind of jive sours my stomach!”

“Just trying to find a common meeting-ground,” I said. “If I light a cigarette will it make you nervous?”

“Nothing makes me nervous,” he said. “It’s only that finger of mine gets a nervous twitch now and then. If you’re real careful with the smoke, I guess the finger won’t worry.”

I got the pack out of my coat pocket slowly, and slid a cigarette into my mouth, and lit it from the lighter on the dash.

“Where are we going?” I asked. “Or is that a secret between you and the wheels?”

“We’ll keep it for a surprise,” he said. He pulled a sudden switch in the conversation. “Where were you and nursie all that time out back of the farmhouse?” “In the barn,” I said.

“Pete checked the bam,” he grunted. “Try again.” “He checked the bam all right,” I said. “But not the hayloft.”

“Yeah?” he chuckled throatily. “I bet you had yourself a time up there—you sure didn’t hurry.”

“Us beats were just communicating/’ I said.

“You got a new word for it—I got to remember that!” he said. “ ‘Doll, why don’t we communicate?* Sounds kind of refined, don’t it? Even the broads go for refinement. How did you come to latch onto the West dame tonight?”

“Lucky break,” I said, “or I figured it was until you popped up from the back seat. I registered at the hotel, walked down into the lobby looking for a drink—and there she was, looking for a drink. It kind of developed from there.”

“You need to do better,” he said dryly. “Try again.” “It’s a fact,” I said. “You think she’d have walked back into the house tonight if she had any idea what’s going on? Or maybe she does, huh? She’s in it with the rest of you and she was put up as bait for me tonight?” We came into an outer speed zone and I eased my foot off the gas pedal.

“What now?” I asked him. “This is Providence.” “Yeah,” he sounded surprised. “So it is—O.K., turn round and head back.”

“You’re serious?”

“Sure—I like to drive at night—I got insomnia!”

I slowed the car, made a U-tum and headed back the way we’d come. Tolvar’s gun was still firm against the back of my neck. I drove for maybe ten minutes in silence, trying to figure the point of the ride, and giving up.

“How much do you know about this caper?” I asked him when we were maybe three minutes away from the farm.

“More than you, pal,” he said.

“You know somebody’s been killed already?” I said. “You know what you’re mixed up in—the body’s buried in one of the pigpens right now!”

“Wrong, pal,” he said easily. “Not now—it used to be, but while we’ve been riding, that cadaver’s been shifted.”

“I hope they’re paying you enough to compensate for fifteen to twenty years in Sing Sing,” I said.

“They’re paying enough,” his voice got enthusiastic. “This is the one big caper I’ve been looking for the last ten years, Boyd, and there’s no chance of it going wrong.”

“A lot of guys have said that.”

“Ten lousy years,” he said. “A private eye with a rathole for an office and clients who were right at home the moment they walked in the door! A good week I pick up maybe a couple of hundred bucks, a bad week I don’t make the rent. More bad weeks than good, and a guy’s getting older all the time. Then—out of nowhere—Blooey! The big caper—bingo, and it’s all over. I quit with enough money to live the way I always wanted. That’s the deal, Boyd, and you tell me there’s six more cadavers I don’t know about and it makes no difference.”

“You sure had a hard life,” I said. “It’s a shame you lived so long already!”

“Turn in through the gates,” he said coldly. “Halfway down the tracks, cut the motor and let her roll until I tell you stop—and cut the headlights at the same time.” I did as I was told. Halfway down the tracks, I cut the motor and the lights. The car rolled for another fifty yards before Tolvar said to stop.

“O.K.,” he said once we stopped. “Lie down on the seat!”

“What the heU—”

“You want to do it the hard way again?”

So I lay down on the front seat. Maybe a minute later, I heard the trunk being opened, then there were a couple of thuds and the clunk as the lid was snapped shut again. None of the car doors had been opened so Tolvar was still inside the car—and someone else had opened the trunk.

“You can straighten up now,” Tolvar said. “Turn the car around facing the gates, but no lights.” The gun

67

pressed against the back of my neck again. “Move it, Boyd, I’m losing sleep!”

I did as I was told—started the motor and swung the car in a tight U-turn, then stopped facing the gates. The rear door slammed and a split-second later, Tolvar stood beside the driving window, the gun pointed at my face.

“Thanks for the ride, pal,” he said. “It sure cured my insomnia.”

“So what do I do now—sing you a lullaby?” I asked. “You do whatever you want, pal,” he said genially. “Drive to New York—California for all I give a damn.” “I just drive away,” I repeated. “All that jazz about when you got to go?”

“Strictly for laughs,” he said. “Like that gag of yours about a body being buried here. You got a great imagination, Boyd, you should’ve been a pimp!”

‘Thanks,” I said.

“Well—beat it!” he said impatiendy. “You figure I want to stay here all night?”

“I’m going,” I said. “I just want to light a cigarette first.”

“Can’t you drive one-handed any more?”

“Five seconds,” I said patiently.

I took the pack out of my pocket slowly, the cigarette out of the pack even more slowly. Tolvar was irritating me if he figured I was so dumb I couldn’t see what was coming.

They’d waited until Sylvia had got inside the house and Tolvar had taken me joy-riding. Then they dug the body out of the pigpen, and when we came back, one of them put it into the trunk of the car. So now as I drove away, Tolvar would shoot carefully and kill me. He’d rather let me drive away first because there was less to go wrong. Then they’d call the cops and say they heard a prowler, came out and saw me driving away—shot and accidently killed me.

It would all be there for the cops—the freshly dug pigpen, the body in the trunk. I’d be the guy who came

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back to get rid of the evidence. Tolvar letting me drive away was guaranteeing his bet. If he killed me first, then put me in the car, there might be just one little thing about it the cops figured didn’t look right—this way he couldn’t miss.

I struck a match to the tip of the cigarette and inhaled deeply.

“Get going before I change my mind and take off some more of that pretty face of yours!” Tolvar said savagely.

I tossed the dead match out the window and started the motor.

“So long, slob!” Tolvar said contemptuously.

I selected reverse and stamped on the gas pedal, and as the car shot backward suddenly flicked the headlights onto full beam. The car rocketed back about fifty feet before I braked and put it into drive.

Tolvar was spotlighted in the glare of the headlights. I’d gotten him flatfooted and he was just recovering, swinging around to face the car. I trod on the gas pedal again and the car leaped forward, cutting down the distance between us fast. He threw one arm up to shield his eyes from the glare, while the gun in his other hand swung upward in a quick arc.

I kept my foot hard on the gas pedal, knowing I wasn’t going to make it before he got in one shot, at least. For an eternity spread over one full second, I was wondering if I’d see the windshield glass shatter before the slug smacked into my face.

He never did fire that shot—I wondered afterward if he figured me for such a slob, he thought I was only worried about getting past him along the tracks to the road.

The moment before impact I heard a thin scream, then there was the slight thump and a dark shape hurtled sideways and up into the air. I stamped on the brakes, freed them and swung the car in a tight circle, then braked again so the car came to a squealing halt, facing

69

the farmhouse. I left the motor running in neutral and the headlights on.

There was a still, shapeless heap on the ground about forty feet away, and I thought I saw something move quickly just outside the effective range of the headlights.

I jumped out of the car and ran toward him.

Tolvar, close-up, looked like a rag doll ready for the trashcan. His neck had snapped in a messy kind of way, among a lot of other damage; but I didn’t have time to detail it. All 1 wanted from him was my gun. His own gun could be anywhere on the farm depending on its velocity when it left his hand at the moment of impact.

I dragged open his coat and ran my hands frantically over his torso without finding the gun. You can’t tuck a Magnum down your sock—he just didn’t have it on him.

I heard the hammering sound as somebody fired and the slug smacked into the earth about six inches from Tolvar’s head. With one bound, Boyd was on his way, zigzagging back toward the car. I heard two more shots fired before I made the car, and one of the slugs went past my head so close, my brains could’ve reached out and shook hands with it.

Selector to drive, headlights off and hope to hell the sudden absence of brilliant light throws his eyeballs out for a few seconds, another tight turn—and I sat hunched over the wheel, my naked spine quivering in anticipation until I reached the gates and made a squealing turn onto the road in the direction of Providence again.

It was some time later when I nearly didn’t make a sharp lefthand curve that I looked at the speedometer and saw it was steady on 80 m.p.h. I drove the rest of the way into Providence at a steady 35 after that.

My watch said five of four when I parked by the hotel, and I felt if ever a guy deserved his sleep right , then, it was me. Getting out of the car, I glanced casually ] at the back seat, and there was the Magnum on the seat looking right back at me.

It figured—when Tolvar had told me to drive off, he’d

been sure I wasn’t going very far before he kiUed me. So he could leave the Magnum inside the car and pick it up afterwards. I grabbed the gun and slid it into the harness. If I’d thought about it before—the gun being left in the car when Tolvar got out—it could have saved a hell of a lot of violent exercise.

Ten more minutes and I was in my hotel room, in bed —and fast asleep. Sure, I know, but that’s what violent exercise can do to any guy—putrify his reasoning capabilities.

I WOKE UP AROUND ELEVEN, LIFTED THE PHONE AND told room service to send up some coffee and two raw eggs; then I called room service beverages and said to send up a double Scotch.

By the time they’d delivered, I was out of bed with a robe draped around my aching muscles. I slid the eggs into the Scotch, closed my eyes and drank the lot down in one gulp. My stomach would’ve yelled “Uncle!” but it had nothing left over for yelling.

I drank some of the coffee quickly and lit a cigarette just as a loud knock sounded on the door. Maybe room service gave a bonus to raw egg and whisky drinkers? I opened the door to find out I was wrong—two tall, hefty characters stood there with cop written all over them.

“Mr. Boyd?” the nearest guy said.

“Sure,” I nodded. “Something wrong?”

“Police,” he said. “You mind if we come in?”

“Help yourself,” I said politely.

They sat down heavily and looked at me while I poured myself another cup of coffee.

“I’m Sergeant Tighe,” the blond one said. “And this is Detective Karnak.”

“You already know me, obviously,” 1 said. “What’s it all about?”

Tighe thumbed through his notebook, quoted my license plates number, and I agreed they did belong to my car.

“Would you account for your movements last night, Mr. Boyd?” he asked in a bored, remote voice.

“I guess so,” I said. “But—” Then I didn’t need to ask him why. It belted me over the head with more force than even Tolvar could have used. Like I said—violent exercise can make a moron out of a guy like me, even!

There was just one thing I’d forgotten last night when I drove away from the farm—that body was still in the trunk!

“You registered at the desk around eight-thirty last night,” Tighe said patiently. “Maybe you’d like to take it from there?”

“I went out to Newport for dinner,” I said. “To the seafood place—Cristy’s. Then I came back into Providence afterward, drove my girl friend home, came back to the hotel. I guess that’s about it.”

“What time did you get back?”

The night clerk had seen me—I’d had to pick up my room key. “Around 4:00 a.m.” I said.

“What time did you leave Newport?”

“Around ten-thirty, I’d say.”

“Five and a half hours driving?” He raised his eyebrows a fraction. “Where does your girl friend live— north of Boston some place?”

I tried a grin. “We were a long time saying good night.”

“Where does she live exactiy?” There was no answering grin.

“On a farm about twenty miles out.” I gave him the name and location.

“What time did you leave her to return to Providence?” 72

“Just after three.”

“It took an hour to drive twenty miles?”

“I was in no hurry.”

“Before—or after it happened?”

“What happened?”

Tighe’s face was stony. “You’re way out of luck, Boyd—there was a witness.”

“To what?”

“You’d better get dressed,” he said. “Come with us. You killed him but I guess you know that already?”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “Push it all you want,” he sighed gently. “Hit-and-run. There was a witness saw it happen, got your number and everything.”

“Are you out of your mind?” I said coldly. “How could a four-day old corpse that’s just been dug up out of the ground be a victim of a hit-and-run?”

Tighe blinked slowly then looked at Karnak who blinked slowly back at him.

“I knew he’d been murdered,” I said. “I called the State troopers and told them where to find the body, but the people who killed him got smart and put Sweet William into another pen.”

“Pen?” Tighe repeated in a hollow voice.

“Pigpen,” I explained.

Tighe looked at Karnak and they went through their blinking routine again.

“This Sweet William character,” Karnak said slowly. “That’s his alias, huh? What’s his real name?”

“That is his real name!” I said. “He’s a boar.”

“I know a lot of guys give me a pain in the neck, too,” Tighe said seriously. “But they still got a surname.” “Cheez!” I muttered. “I’m talking about a pig—bacon on the hoof—a grunting type thing, you know, like ham?” Karnak shrugged his shoulders and retired from the fight.

“Strain,” Tighe said. “Nervous tension builds up and up—and something’s gotta give.”

“O.K.,” I tried again wearily. “Let’s start at the begin ning—right?”

“Right,” he said warily.

“The corpse was a guy called Philip Hazelton and yoi found it in the trunk of my car—right?” I said.

Tighe shook his head slowly. “The corpse belonged t< a guy called Carl Tolvar, a New York private eye, anc we found it on the road about half a mile up from you girl friend’s farm.”

I just stood there, staring at him blankly. If there wa: anything I could say to him, I couldn’t figure out what i was right then.

“You’d better get dressed,” he said. “Make it fas as you can, Boyd, I almost can’t wait to get down to you car again and take a look inside the trunk!”

I had a nasty feeling this just wasn’t going to be mj day.

Tighe and Karaak had gone out on a routine hit-and run assignment and come back with a first-degree homi cide, so then everybody got into the act.

By three that afternoon I’d lost interest—all I wantec was to give my throat a two-months’ vacation. I’d talkec and talked and talked. I figured that when I started, thej thought I was trying to be cute, and by the time I’c finished they were convinced I was candidate for the funny-farm—and maybe they were right. I wasn’t toe sure myself any more.

A Lieutenant called Greer had taken over where Tighe and Kamak left off. He looked like a real good Joe, i pal in need; like Pete would say, a buddy. Then you took another look and saw the cold fire in his eyes and jus? how tight the mask of good fellowship was drawn across his face.

At three in the afternoon, Greer quit asking questions and left, taking Tighe with him. Kamak took over the questions for another hour, but he didn’t come up witt any originals so he finally lost interest. He sent out foi 74

; coffee and let me buy a couple of packs of cigarettes— when the cop gave me the change I almost handed him a dime without thinKing.

By six in the evening, Lieutenant Greer was back,

| alone. Karnak went out happily, leaving me alone with I the Lieutenant. Greer sat opposite me and tilted his hat | onto the back of his head wearily.

[ “All right,” he said. “1*11 give you what I’ve got so far, and you try and think up some more answers, Boyd.”

“A breeze!” I said bitterly. “What are you trying to pull—death by exhaustion, or something?*'

“The body in the trunk of your car did belong to Philip Hazelton,** he said. “We got an identification from the lawyer, Houston, and the father flew in around noon. The doctors say he was stabbed through the left lung, and the corpse had been buried for some time after death. So you were telling the truth about that anyway.** “I’m glad to hear it,” I told him.

“Hazelton was murdered sometime between last Sunday midnight and early Monday afternoon,” he went on, “as near as the doctors can figure it.”

“I was in New York,” I said.

“Can you prove it?”

“Sunday night I played a little poker,” I remembered. “The game broke up kind of late, between three and four. I went back to my apartment to sleep. I got into my office just after nine on Monday morning. My secretary can verify that—there weren’t any visitors that morning but I had three or four phone calls—she’d have them listed, so you could check that also.”

“You want to give me the names and addresses of the poker players?”

“Sure.” I listed them for him.

“I’ll see it gets checked out,” he said. “If it does, it sounds like you’re off the hook for the homicide at least. You couldn’t drive up here, murder Hazelton, and drive back inside five hours.”

“I’m glad you appreciate that, Lieutenant,” I said sincerely.

“You got a long way to go yet, boy!” he grunted. “The blood and cloth fiber fragments on your front bumper belong to Tolvar all right.”

“What else have you got?”

“The eye-witness, Peter Rinkman.”

“That’s Pete, the strong-arm?”

“The handyman,” Greer said patiently. “He was walking back to the farm along the roadside around 3:30 a.m. when he saw a car coming toward him stop a couple of hundred yards away, and a guy got out and lifted the hood, obviously trying to fix some kind of motor trouble. Then he saw another car coming down the road at high speed. The first guy got out in the center of the road, waving his arms for the second car to stop, but it didn’t. Didn’t even slow down, he said, but the driver must’ve seen Tolvar out there in the center of the road. He heard the sound of the impact and saw Tolvar tossed into air; he managed to get the license number of the car as it went past him.”

“A bright boy, that Pete!” I said. “He estimate the speed of the second car?”

“Over seventy,” Greer said coldly.

“The first car stops two hundred yards away from him,” I repeated. “He sees the guy climb out, lift the hood, start fooling around with the works. He sees the second car coming—the guy run out into the center of the road and wave his arms—and then get hit. From the time the first car stopped until the time of impact would have been how long, Lieutenant?”

Greer shrugged. “Fifteen seconds maybe.”

“And Pete’s walking toward the car, getting closer all the time,” I said. “After the impact, he’s got time to watch Tolvar tossed into the air before he picks up the license number of the second car. He must have narrowed the distance by twenty-five yards anyway. The second car’s doing seventy, he figures—that would mean 76 somewhere about four seconds elapsed from the time Tolvar was hit until the time the second car would have passed Pete.”

“You can’t put a stopwatch on human reactions,” Greer grunted. “A split-second glance could be enough for him to memorize the license plate.”

“O.K.,” I said sourly. “What else?”

“Sylvia West checks your story of dinner at Newport, then back through Providence to the farm. She says you left her just after 2:00 a.m.”

“Sure,” I said. “And found Tolvar waiting in the back seat of my car for me. I told you that.”

He nodded coolly. “So you did—you also told me how she wanted you to check on the pigpens because the boar had been moved and that was why the troopers never found the body when they looked for it.”

“Check,” I said.

“Miss West doesn’t remember anything about that,” he said softly. “She blushingly remembers being in the hayloft with you, but the pigpens—no!

“Neither of the Hazelton girls think they’re being kept on the farm against their will. According to them, their father, Houston, their attorney, and Rinkman, the handyman, you’ve been annoying them consistently over the last few days. So much so, that Houston hired a private detective to protect the Hazelton family against your intrusions. The private detective was Tolvar, of course.”

I was too beat to argue any more. “O.K.,” I said. “I dreamed up the whole thing—that Martha Hazelton hired me in the first place—I even dreamed up that two thousand dollar check I banked yesterday. Ah, what’s the use!”

“We’re holding you on the hit-and-run, for the time being,” he said. “The homicide can wait until we see how your alibi checks out. Do you want to call a lawyer?” “Not now,” I said. “It’s too late to reach my secretary at the office and—I just don’t have the energy. How about the morning?”

“Sure,” he said. “Right now you’ve got nothing but time to play with—so what’s your hurry?”

I spent the night in a cell. The bunk was hard but I slept too soundly to worry. In the morning I got a shave before breakfast. It would have been nice to get a toothbrush, shower, and a clean shirt, but I figured I had to get used to a drastically altered standard of living.

Around eight-thirty, Lieutenant Greer appeared in front of the cell. He gestured impatiently at the key-keeper to unlock the door and then beckoned me to step out.

“I want you to come with me, Boyd,” he said, and headed down the corridor at a galloping pace.

“What’s the deal?” I asked when I caught up with him. “Did the revolution happen last night and they made an amnesty for all the guys in jail this morning?”

“Save it till we get into the car,” he said tersely.

We walked out into the beautiful free air and slid into the back seat of a prowl car. Tighe was sitting in front, with Kamak driving. As soon as we were in, the car pulled away from the curb at a fast clip.

I lit a cigarette and looked at the Lieutenant. “So now can you tell me?” I asked him.

“You see that lake at the back of the Hazel tons’ farmhouse?” he asked abruptly.

“Sure,” I said. “Sylvia showed it to me the first time I was there—part of a general tour around the place. Why?”

“Houston called in ten minutes ago,” he said. “They just found Clemmie Hazelton floating in the lake—face down.”

Nine

KARNAK PARKED THE CAR OUT FRONT OF THE FARM-

house and the four of us climbed out. Houston came walking quickly out of the house to meet us.

“Lieutenant,” he said. A flicker of interest showed in his dead eyes for a moment as he looked at me. “Where’s the body?” Greer asked him.

“At the side of the lake,” Houston said. “Pete found her and brought her in. He knew she was dead then, so he thought he’d better not bring her body into the house. He’s still down there, making sure no one touches her.” “Good,” Greer said. “Where are the others?”

“In the house,” Houston said. “They’ve taken it pretty badly as you can imagine. Coming straight on top of Philip’s body being found yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Greer nodded. “Maybe you’d better stay with them until we can move the body.”

“Whatever you say, Lieutenant,” Houston agreed quietly and walked back slowly into the house.

Two more cars pulled up behind us, and the area was suddenly swarming with cops. The medical examiner walked over, swinging his bag briskly.

“We’ve got a sudden homicide boom, Lieutenant?” he said cheerfully. “Old Judge Lindsay offering a discount on murder for a limited season?”

Greer just looked at him and the examiner paled slightly, “So I wisecrack because I’m nervous!” he said defensively. “I still get sick in the stomach every time I see a corpse.”

“Go get sick again,” Greer said bleakly. “It’s down by the lake.”

I tagged along in the middle of the bunch, but by the time we got near the lake, the bunch had thinned out

into a straggling line of walking men. Greer strode alongside me, his hands thrust into his pockets, his face remote.

The last fifty yards down to the lake was through a mess of swampland underfoot and overgrown rushes with slimy stems that left a green smear on the cuffs and legs of my pants.

There were two guys waiting beside the body, not one. Pete had been joined by Galbraith Hazelton. The two of them stood motionless, not looking at the white bundle that lay at their feet.

I lagged behind Greer a couple of paces as we came up to them, figuring it was strictly the Lieutenant’s party and I was only along for the ride. Clemmie Hazelton lay on her back, on top of a dirty slicker I guessed belonged to Pete.

Her eyes were wide open, staring at the sky in mute surprise. The white cotton nightgown clung like a shroud to the firmly molded curves of her body, somehow making her look even younger than she was.

I looked up again, directly into the blazing eyes of Galbraith Hazelton.

“Boyd!” he said thickly. “What are you doing here— you murderer! It’s your fault that she’s dead. I told you —I warned you—if the balance of her mind was any further upset, anything could happen!”

“Mr. Hazelton,” Greer said curtly, “I—”

Hazelton’s face was crimson with hate, the mustache brisding furiously, as he took a step toward me.

“She took her own life!” he snarled. “Sometime during the night she crept out of the house and down here to the lake. She must have just walked straight into the water and—”

His face puckered childishly and he started to cry, hesitantly, like a kid who’s been beaten and doesn’t know why.

“She was alone,” he said in a harsh whisper. “Don’t you see that? How she must have felt? Alone—cut off 80

from every other human being on this earth—so alone that she couldn’t face up to it any more. Rather than face it, she took her own life.” His voice built up to a crescendo again. “You drove her to it, Boyd! The truth is you murdered her just as surely as if you’d shot a bullet into her heart.” He took another step toward me and swung wildly, screaming “Murderer!” over and over until Greer gestured briefly, and Karnak stepped forward and grabbed Hazelton’s arms, pinning them to his sides.

“Take him up to the house,” Greer said thinly, and Karnak led the old man gently away.

The medical examiner knelt down beside Clemmie’s body and opened up his bag.

“You found her?” Greer asked Pete.

“That’s right, Lieutenant,” Pete nodded vigorously. “Seven o’clock this morning. Miss West told me she wasn’t in her room and she couldn’t find Miss Clemmie anywhere inside the house at all. So I said I’d look around outside. By the time I got down here to the lake it was around seven-thirty. Then I saw her, floating face down out there in the center. I went in after her and brought her back to the edge. Then I saw she was dead and there wasn’t nothing I could do for her, so I went back to the house and told Mr. Houston—he said for me to come back here and wait, and that’s what I did.”

“That’s your slicker she’s lying on?” Greer queried. “Sure,” Pete nodded. “I took it off before I went in to get her, and when I brought her out I put her on it because 1 figured it wouldn’t be nice to let her get dirtied up by those rushes.”

The young doctor straightened up, his face pallid.

“Not much I can do until we get her downtown. Lieutenant,” he said hoarsely. “Death by drowning I’d say now. She was in the water a few hours.”

“Yeah,” Greer nodded. “You want to move her, that’s O.K. with me. Let the boys get their pictures and she’s all yours.”

“O.K.,” the doctor croaked, his face turning green at the thought.

“We’ll go back to the house,” the Lieutenant said. “There’s nothing more we can do here.”

“Lieutenant,” I said. “Her nightgown—it’s white.”

“I can see that,” he said.

“No stains,” I said.

“She was in the water a few hours,” the examiner said. He grunted, but there was a question in his tone.

“Those stains don’t wash out,” I told him. ‘Try it yourself and see, when you get home.” I pointed at the green smears across the cuffs of his pants.

He looked down at them for a moment, then dropped to his knees beside the body, studying the nightgown closely without touching it

“The heartbreaking picture of loneliness her old man painted,” I said slowly. “During the night she crept out of the house and down to the lake—then walked straight into the water.”

Greer straightened up, looking around keenly.

“You can’t get nearer than fifty yards to the lake without having to go through the rushes,” he said. “But she didn’t go through the rushes and she got right into the lake.”

“So she flew?”

He nodded. “So she was carried—and that makes it murder!”

“It was what they call the hard sell,” I said.

Greer grinned faintly. “There you go again, pushing it too far, Boyd. You made your point about the stains—a good point. You don’t have to remind me what the old man said about suicide—I remember.”

He looked at Tighe. “You’d better stay here until things are cleaned up and the body’s moved. Then come up to the house.”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Tighe nodded. “I’ll handle it.”

“I want that nightgown photographed from every 82

angle,” Greer continued. “I want all of it to show up just the way it is now—nice and white and no stains.*’

“I’ll make sure they cover it,” Tighe said.

We walked back slowly toward the farmhouse again— the look on Greer’s face said he still didn’t want to talk, so I kept my mouth shut.

“You’d better come inside with me, Boyd,” he said suddenly when we were close to the front door. “But don’t say anything, you understand? No questions, no answers, no observations, no social gossip. While you’re in there, you’re a Rhode Island clam—one word and I’ll have you back inside that cell so fast you won’t even remember having ever been out!”

“Don’t push it, Lieutenant,” I grinned at him. “You made your point!”

The living room was still Early Colonial but nobody cared any more so it seemed to have lost its self-consciousness. Most of the people in the room looked like something out of a Greek tragedy, ten seconds after Doom struck.

Galbraith Hazelton sat slumped in an armchair, gazing dully at the fireplace. Side by side on the couch sat Martha and Sylvia, their faces blank with shock. Houston stood at one end of the couch, blinking calmly through his half-framed glasses.

Karnak stood beside the door looking like a chunk of masonry someone forgot to remove. Greer was in the center of the room, the cold fire burning steadily in back of his eyes, and the remote, contemptuous look on his face. I stood beside Karnak, and if I’d been anybody but me I would have felt embarrassed. That’s one thing about having a perfect profile—it gives you confidence to overcome the embarrassing social situation.

“Miss West,” Greer said so suddenly that she jumped violently. “You were the one who discovered she was missing?”

“That’s right, Lieutenant,” Sylvia said in a small voice.

“She liked a cup of coffee in bed in the mornings before she got up. I took her coffee in and saw she wasn’t there.”

“What then?”

“Well, I didn’t think much about it—she was probably in the bathroom, I thought. So I put the coffee down on the bedside table and went out again. I guess it would be about twenty minutes later when I looked in again and saw the coffee was still untouched—that was when I started to look for her inside the house.”

“You couldn’t find her, so you told the others,” Greer nodded. “And Rinkman went outside looking for her?” “That’s correct, Lieutenant,” she said in a low voice. He kept up a steady flow of questions with an effortless machine-precision, but the answers didn’t get him any place. The girls had gone to bed around eleven the night before. Houston and Hazelton had retired an hour later. No one had waked up during the night to hear any strange noises, see any strange people and so on.

“Lieutenant!” Galbraith Hazelton said finally, in a hoarse voice. “Why do you keep wasting time with all these stupid questions! We all know Clemmie took her own life—and we all know why!” He glared at me malignantly. “It was Boyd’s murderous interference into something he didn’t understand—his criminal disregard of my warnings and—”

“Mr. Hazelton,” Greer interrupted him coldly. “Your daughter didn’t commit suicide, she was murdered.” “Murdered? That’s impossible—how could she have been murdered!”

The Lieutenant explained about the rushes and the stains they left on any cloth, but Hazelton had stopped listening long before Greer finished.

“There’s one point that’s clear, Mr. Hazelton,” Greer raised his voice enough to penetrate the old man’s concentration. “Boyd spent last night in a cell, so whoever murdered your daughter, it wasn’t him for sure.”

His mouth opened and closed a couple of times sound-84

lessly, then he slumped back suddenly into his chair with his eyes closed.

Sylvia went across to him quickly and checked his pulse.

“He’s all right, I think,” she said after a few seconds. “It was the strain and nervous shock—he fainted. But he’ll be all right.”

“I guess there’s no reason for us to stay any longer,” Greer said. “None of you are to leave this house until I give you permission—is that clear?”

“Now, wait a minute, Lieutenant,” Houston said evenly. “You can’t go around issuing orders like—”

“Nobody!” Greer repeated coldly. “And that includes you, Houston. If you want to find out the hard way, just try and leave.”

He walked toward the door quickly, “I want a man patroling the outside of the house, and another man on the gate,” he said to Karnak. “Twenty-four hours a day.” “I’ll fix it, Lieutenant,” Karnak told him.

“Boyd!” Greer was already halfway out the door. “You’ve got a cell waiting for you—I wouldn’t want it to get lonely!”

Sometime around three in the afternoon, when I was stretched out on the bunk, half-asleep, Greer came into my cell.

I sat up on the bunk and yawned. “Welcome to my humble abode, Lieutenant,” I said politely. “Of course, it’s kind of small right now, but I’m building on the unit principle. Come back in ten years time and I’ll have a whole jail of my own.”

He lit a cigarette and stared at the wall a foot above my head for a few seconds.

“Your alibi checks out,” he said suddenly. “You’re in the clear on the Philip Hazelton killing.”

“That’s one rap less I’ve been framed for,” I said.

“I’ve been thinking,” Greer said slowly. “That Pete— he’s one energetic guy—smart, too.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like he goes walking around three in the morning just in time to be an eye-witness to a hit-and-run death,” he said. “The perfect witness who does everything right. Then he goes looking for Clemmie Hazelton’s body and finds it right there in the center of the lake where nobody thought of looking. I figure he’s too smart to be a handyman.”

“He’s too smart—period,” I said.

He blew a thin stream of smoke toward the ceiling. “I got a check on Tolvar, too. He nearly lost his license five or six times over the last four years, but they couldn’t get enough positive evidence. Shakedowns, intimidation of witnesses, faked divorce, even the good old badger-game. Tolvar was out to make a buck and didn’t care how he made it—if there’d been any money in it, I wouldn’t mind betting he’d have turned honest!” “Any other good news, Lieutenant?” I asked him. He looked at me for what seemed a long time before he answered.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “That story of yours is just crazy enough to be true. I’ve had all the books concerned with that trust account subpoenaed and they’re being worked over right now.”

“Great!” I said. “You keep going like this, Lieutenant, and I’ll maybe end up with only fifteen years in the pen.” Greer dropped the butt of his cigarette on the floor and trod it out with immense deliberation.

“You owe me five bucks,” he said.

“Huh?”

“I put up your bail,” he said shortly.

I stared at him for a moment. “I never knew you had a sense of humor, Lieutenant,” I said finally.

“I don’t! I figured you should get bail and for once they listened to me. I said one dollar, but they figure inflation’s caught up in Providence.”

I got to my feet slowly. “You’re not kidding me?”

86

“You stay here any longer, we’ll start charging you rent,” he said.

“I’m on my way,” I told him happily.

“Not yet,” he said coldly. “Some facts first, Boyd.’* “I’m listening.”

“If you try to leave town, I’ll throw the book at you,” he said fiercely. “I’ve stuck my neck out so far to swing this, that one flick of the fingers will cut it clean in half! You don’t forget that, not for one single second.”

“I promise,” I said. “Private eye’s honor!”

He sucked his teeth derisively. “They’re all lying,” he said, “every one of them out on that farm. Not one of them will tell the truth. Why, do you figure, that is?” “Some can’t afford to, and some are too scared,” I said.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “So we won’t get anywhere asking questions and getting the same old lies back as answers. I figure we need a catalyst—you know what that is?” “Sure,” I said. “It’s halfway between a cat and a kitten.”

“So maybe I am out of my mind to do this,” he muttered. “So you’re the catalyst, Boyd. I figure to drop you right in the middle of them and see what happens.” “Maybe I’ll get my head blown off—or wind up face down in the lake?” I said.

“Think of the legal fees you’ll save,” he grunted. “I got the medical report on Clemmie Hazelton. She died of drowning all right, the lungs were full of water. But there was a small contusion on the back of her head. Looks like she was slugged first, then carried down to the lake and tossed in.” He shrugged his shoulders, shrugging off responsibility for the world and its sins at the same time. “Maybe somebody held her head under the water long enough to make sure?”

“It makes a great cure for insomnia, just to think about it,” I said. “How do I catalyst this deal?”

“That’s your problem,” he said. “I already put up the bail.”

“How about my car?” I asked hopefully.

Greer shook his head. “That stays right here—as evidence. That hit-and-run rap is still waiting for you; the only way you’ll ever beat it is to prove your self-defense story. Don’t think of taking it easy when you get out of here, Boyd, you don’t have the time.”

“I dig,” I said. “You’re a nice guy, Lieutenant, I think; I just wish I had a little more faith, that’s all.”

“I want to clean up a double murder, that’s all,” he said irritably. “Morals are for juries—me, I keep the books neat and up to date.”

“I’ll try to dig up a couple of new entries for you,” I told him. “This playing catalyst is going to be tough enough— but do I have to play cops and catalysts, too?”

“What the hell are you—uh, I get it.” He grunted a couple of times while he thought it over. “I guess not. I’ll have the stake-out on the house lifted right away.” “Don’t forget the guy on the gate,” I prodded.

“Him, too,” Greer said. “You got anything special in mind? No—don’t tell me, I got enough troubles, already!” “O.K.,” I said. “So long, Lieutenant.”

He let me get past him into the corridor, then his right hand clamped painfully onto my elbow.

“I knew it had to be a pipe dream,” I said. “So you’re just a sadist, huh?”

“There’s one little thing you forgot,” he said. “Fix it, and you can get the hell out of here as fast as you like.” “What little thing was that?”

He extended his hand, palm up, under my nose. “Five bucks,” he said coldly. “Remember?”

I RUSHED OUT INTO THE WONDERFUL FREE AIR IN THE

street. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a car 88

rental agency, produced the right credit card, and drove the rest of the way in a convertible.

Back in my hotel room I put a call through to the office and spoke with Fran Jordan. I gave her a quick rundown on what had happened since I got into Providence.

“Sounds like you’ve got troubles, Danny,” she said casually when I’d finished. “Are you going to give the client her money back?”

“Give Martha Hazelton back that two thousand?” I yelped. “Why the hell should I do that?”

“She hired you because she thought her brother had been murdered, and she didn’t want it to happen to her sister,” Fran said mildly. “Well—it happened, didn’t it?” “If I ever earned a fee, I’ve earned this one!” I said coldly. “You realize I’ve still got this hit-and-run rap hanging over my head?”

“Danny,” she said patiendy. “Did you call me from Rhode Island just to have a fight?”

“No!” I shouted. “I want you to get hold of Jimmy Regan and tell him about the hit-and-run. If they do hit me with it, I want him to come up here and start some action.”

“Jimmy Regan,” she repeated. “Who’s he—one of your gangster friends?”

“He’s an attorney,” I said in a strangled voice. “One of the best in New York.”

“I’ll find him,” she said. “Anything else?”

“I guess not. . . . How’s the Midwestern investment project coming along?”

“His wife wondered what was keeping him so long in New York,” she said. “So she arrived last night to take a look—now she’s taken over the investment project as well.”

“Tough,” I sympathized. “Have we got any new clients?”

“No—but the same old one came around again this morning for the office rent. Something I meant to tell 89

you. Danny, you didn’t need that complicated alibi about playing poker with the boys last Sunday night. Any time you need an alibi, just say you spent the night at my apartment. I’ll always back it up."

“Fran,” I said wonderingly, “that’s damned nice of you.”

“It’s nothing,” she said calmly. “I think I should reciprocate in these things. Any time I want to stand up a date I always use the same excuse—I’m spending the night in your apartment. So it’s only fair to give you the same rights, don’t you think?”

I was still gurgling helplessly when she hung up. There was an antidote I remembered finally, and room service could provide it.

Half an hour later I’d finished the “Clean-up-Boyd-Week” effort and felt a lot better in clean clothes, the Magnum’s weight resting coihfortably in its harness under my coat. Room service had provided a bottle of cognac and some ice, and life would have been pleasant if I didn’t keep on remembering a guy called Lieutenant Greer.

Then there was this catalyst jazz—I made another drink and sat down with it to try and think what the hell I was going to do. Fifteen minutes later I had a brilliant and detailed plan of operation. I’d drive out to the farm, knock on the door, walk right in and see what the hell happened. Thinking it over, I couldn’t see much wrong with the plan—there wasn’t much right with it either but I was stuck with it.

There was a gentle knock on the door so I walked across and opened it. Sylvia West stood there, with an uncertain smile on her face.

“Danny,” her voice was hesitant. “The police told me you were free, isn’t that wonderful news!”

“Sure,” I said. “How’s your memory coming along, honey-chile—still getting those blank spots here and there?”

‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Danny,” she said in a low voice. “Please, may I come in?”

She wore a black cashmere sweater over a white sharkskin skirt, and if she didn’t have straw in her hair, the memory was still with me all right.

“Sure,” I said. “I’m glad you remembered my name, anyway.”

When she was sitting in one of the armchairs, I asked her if she drank cognac and she did, so I made her a drink and freshened up my own, then sat down opposite her.

“I know I lied to the police when I told that Lieutenant I didn’t remember anything about us taking a look at the pigpens, Danny,” she said. “Believe me, I'm sorry, but I didn’t dare tell him the truth.”

“Why not?”

“I was too scared.”

“What of—the truth?”

Sylvia shook her head slowly. “Of what might happen if I told the truth.”

“I don’t get it,” I said truthfully.

“You don’t know what it’s been like in that house the f last twenty-four hours,” she said in a tense voice. “It’s a house of fear!”

‘Tune in next week for another gripping installment,” I sneered. “What is this, the big blue eyes and hold me | close I’m scared routine? You must have a better reason why you didn’t tell Greer the truth?”

She shrugged her shoulders listlessly. “All right, Danny, then don’t believe me. I’m sorry I bothered coming here at all.” She got up from the chair and walked toward the door slowly.

“O.K.,” I said. “Relax. I guess I can listen to your story, anyway.”

“Don’t bother!” she said frostily. “I’d hate to bore you with it.”

I caught up with her at the door the moment before 91

she reached for the knob, put my hands on her shoulders, and spun her around to face me.

“You still wear those cute fancy garters?” I asked her solemnly.

She tried not to giggle and didn’t make it. I walked her back to her chair, picked up her empty glass and made her another drink.

“So tell me about the house,” I said when we were , both sitting down again.

Her face looked sober again. “You know why Mr. Hazelton hired me in the first place?”

“Sure—to look after Clemmie.”

“I mean, why he thought she needed a nurse?” “Oh, sure!” I said. “You told me the story yourself, j and so did he. The streak of insanity—comes through his wife’s side of the family—and he was worried about , his daughters.”

“That’s it,” she nodded. “You never knew Clemmie j very well, Danny, there wasn’t time before . . . but didn’t you notice it?”

“Notice what?”

“Her violent alternation of mood—one moment she’d be deliriously happy, bubbling over with all kinds of lighthearted energy, and the next moment she’d be sullen and morose, not saying a word to anyone.”

“Maybe,” I said cautiously. “But not as bad as it sounds the way you put it.”

“I was with her all the time, the last two months,” she said mildly. “And I had to watch her professionally, Danny. My guess, if she’d lived, is she’d have been committed within the next two years. I’ve seen too many of them, not to know the sure signs.”

“So I bow to your professional judgment,” I said. “But if it was Clemmie—what’s scaring you now—her ghost?” “Clemmie never scared me, Danny,” she said softly. “I knew her too well, we were friends, she trusted me. Even if she had gotten suddenly violent, I was sure she’d never try to hurt me.”

I “Then who are you scared of?”

! She bit her lip gently. “I know you’ll laugh when I tell you.”

I “Honey-chile, T never laugh at frightened people— Jike biting the hand that feeds me!”

I “It’s Martha.”

“Martha!”

Sylvia gestured helplessly with her hands. “You didn’t (laugh, you just didn’t believe me and that’s even worse.” “Martha scares you?”

“Not only me,” she said stonily. “The others, too.” “Like Pete?”

“I don’t know about Pete, I’ve never known about Pete—except the way he looks at me sometimes, but Greg is scared of her and—”

“Greg?”

“Sorry, Mr. Houston.”

“I never figured that electronic computor would have a Christian name,” I said, “just a machine number.” “Martha’s a paranoiac,” Sylvia said dully, “an advanced paranoiac with all the cunning and deadly viciousness they sometimes have. They don’t have any normal standards, you understand. If they think the easiest way to get rid of somebody who’s become a nuisance is by murder, then they do just that.”

“Are you trying to say Martha killed Clemmie?” I asked the obvious question.

“I’m sure of it,” she said with quiet conviction, “as sure as I am that she killed Philip Hazelton, too.”

“If anybody’s crazy in this setup, you’re the favorite candidate,” I told her. “Why would she kill them—her own brother and sister?”

“I told you a parnoiac doesn’t think the same way as a normal person—but there’s no point in trying to convince you, Danny, you’ve made your mind up I’m wrong before I even start.”

The trouble when you’re talking to a dame is that she’s a dame. The rise and fall of the luxuriant curves

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beneath the black cashmere, the skirt ridden a couple of inches higher than it should be, exposing the dimple in back of the knee and the deep outward curve of the thigh that was tantalizingly hidden after the first few inches. . . . You listen to what she says, but your real concentration is a couple of places elsewhere.

I made a hell of an effort and looked at her face. “I don’t have my mind made up,” I said. “I’ll listen seriously. 1 know Martha has one hell of an arrogant attitude, but I figured she gets that from her old man. It’s not unique.”

“It’s symptomatic,” she said steadily. “And she does have a reason for killing both of them—a good reason. Mr. Houston told me about the trust fund their mother left. The three of them would have shared equally in it. Now there’s only Martha left, the whole lot will go to her!”

“Go on,” I told her.

“Yesterday morning, when I first discovered Clemmie was missing,” Sylvia said in a low voice, “I went into Martha’s room and told her. She was still in bed, and she looked at me and smiled—I’ve never seen a smile like that in my whole life before. It was terrifying, Danny, the way it kind of crept slowly across her face. She knew already, that was the awful part. She knew what had happened to Clemmie and she was enjoying the knowledge—enjoying the worry on my face because she knew there was a lot worse to come.”

“You sure this thing hasn’t worn down your nerves and you need a vacation?” I asked.

“Danny!” She leaned forward fiercely in her chair. “It’s not just me that feels it—so does Mr. Houston— and Pete. We tried to tell Mr. Hazelton but he won’t listen, that’s why we can’t do anything. She watches the rest of us like a hawk the whole time—I feel if I say one word too many, she would kill me as easily as she killed the others. That’s why I didn’t tell the police about the pigpens—I was frightened to let Martha know that I’d

94 known about the body being buried there, and how she

must have moved Sweet William into another pen and_”

“How could she have moved that lump of bacon before the cops arrived—she was in New York then,** I said.

She stared at me for a long moment, her mouth dropping open.

“I forgot that,” she said slowly. “Then—it must have been Pete who put Sweet William into the other pen!”

“So if it was Pete, where does that leave Martha?” “He must have helped her kill Philip—he’s her accomplice!” she said excitedly. ‘That makes sense, doesn’t it?” “Not much,” I answered.

“Danny!” there was an impatient edge to her voice. “You just reminded me Martha was in New York, so it couldn’t have been her—so who else could it have been but Pete!”

“There’s one other candidate?”

“Who?”

“You.”

Her eyes widened as she jumped up to her feet excitedly and took two steps toward me.

“You don’t seriously think I had anything to do with the murders! You must be out of your mind as well, if you think I’d . . . What reason could I have for killing either of them? What—”

“Take it easy,” I told her. “It’s only another theory.” Sylvia glared wildly at me for a moment, then relaxed her shoulders and smiled slowly. “I’m sorry, Danny. I guess it shows just how shot my nerves are—maybe you’re right about that vacation!”

“What made you come into town this afternoon, anyway?” I asked.

“Lieutenant Greer called Mr. Hazelton and told him you were cleared of any suspicion over Philip’s murder, and you’d been released on bail on the hit-and-run charge. Mr. Hazelton thinks it’s a travesty of justice or something—he told us all about it anyway. Afterwards, Mr. Houston talked to me alone and it was his idea I

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should come and see you.” Her eyes warmed slowly, “Not that 1 didn’t think it a good idea, too,” she added’ softly.

“Why did Houston figure it a good idea?”

“He thought you might listen to me about Martha,”

* Sylvia said frankly. “He didn’t think you’d believe it, although it’s the truth, but at least you’d listen. Then he suggested you should come to the house and stay there for a while—see for yourself. He said, Tell Boyd I’m not asking him to believe it, just to see how things are for himself.’ ”

“It’s kind of nice for Houston to ask me to be his guest,” I said, “but it’s not his house. You know how Old Man Hazelton thinks about me—he’s going to have some- ; thing to say when I stick my profile around his front door.”

“Mr. Houston said you’ve got the perfect excuse— Martha is your client and you could insist you wanted to be close to her—to make sure nothing happens to her the way it has to the others.”

“That’s smart thinking,” I said. “There’s only one snag —from a professional viewpoint, I mean—no client ever paid a private detective for getting them convicted of murder yet!”

“Mr. Houston—”

“I know!” I interrupted her. “Mr. Houston figured that one out, too. He’ll be glad to compensate me if I discover my client’s a murderer after all.”

Sylvia nodded silently, then the warm look in her eyes started to glow. She moved even closer to where I stood, until we touched at a couple of points of vital contact. ^ “Danny?” she said sofdy in a wheedling voice. < “Please do it—for my sake, if nothing else!”

Her arms crept around my neck and she lifted her face invitingly to be kissed, so I kissed her. She kind of melted and flowed all over me—I figured she had a fortune in merchandising a brand-new nursing technique, a kissing

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| therapy which could shortcut a male patient’s hospitalization by an average of three weeks minimum.

We stayed in the clinch for some time, then when she finally relaxed her arms from around my shoulders, I picked her up and carried her across to the bed and dropped her onto it.

“Danny!” she gurgled excitedly. “You are the most direct man I ever met!”

“You’d be surprised where it gets me,” I told her, “and where it doesn’t get me often.”

I sat down on the bed and looked at her for a moment. She cradled her hands behind her head and lay back on the cushion, very relaxed—maybe you could call it an air of expectant confidence?

I took hold of the hem of the sharkskin skirt with my fingers, feeling the expensive smoothness of the material for a moment; then flipped the skirt up to the tops of her thighs, exposing the firm roundness of her legs sheathed in fine nylon.

Around the stocking tops were the same fancy garters she’d worn before, and then the tanned smoothness of her bare thighs and the ruffled lace edges of black panties. I slid both the garters down her legs, one after the other, with great care, and put them into my coat pocket.

“Danny?” Her voice was throaty. “What are you doing?”

“It’s been nice,” I said. “I wanted a souvenir—like something to remember you by?”

She sat bolt upright suddenly. “What are you talking about?”

“We had it all,” I said, “youth, love and laughter. We watched the sun go down and heard the palm trees sigh in the breeze, we were two lovely people, so goodbye, i lover, don’t grieve. ... You know any more song titles, you can fill them in for yourself, huh?”

“Are you kidding, or what?”

“I’m all through being kidded by you, honey-chile,” I

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smiled at her warmly. “But I’ll always remember you as one of the nicest bitches I ever met.”

I got up from the bed and walked across to where I’d left ray cigarettes, and lit one.

“Danny!” She still sat upright on the bed, staring at me with eyes that held a different kind of warmth now.

“I’ll write you a testimonial, if that’s what you want, honey-chile,” I said easily. “ ‘I never knew how good it could be till Sylvia’—that kind of jazz?”

“What’s got into you?” she asked slowly.

“You played me for a sucker once,” I said. “That brought me enough grief—now you got me real nervous.” “You’re still not making any sense!” she said harshly. “If you want it all wrapped in a neat plastic bag, well all right,” I said patiently. “I figure it was you who moved Sweet William to fool the cops. I figure you’re working with and for Old Man Hazelton in this and always have been.”

“You must be mad, too, if you think I’m—”

“You already gave me your theories, honey-chile,” I said, “now you can hear mine.”

“I’m not going to—” She swung her legs off the bed and stood up, smoothing down her skirt with both hands, then started quickly toward the door.

1 caught her wrist and held it tight enough to stop her getting any further.

“Stay with it,” I said. “I’m just getting warmed up. You and the old man had one hell of a problem—Philip’s body. You’d fooled the cops once, but supposing I tried them again, you couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t dig up every pen the second time.

“So you called me for help, and then used every delightful curve you have to persuade me to come out to the farm. You gave me the ultimate proof you were on the level by showing me the pens and letting me figure out how the cops had missed finding the body. Then the interlude in the bam—was that stricdy for kicks? The big deal about not wanting to go back to the house, but

98

letting me talk you into it for the girls’ sake—then you’d done your part. Tolvar could take over, have me drive around while you and the old man dug up the body and had it ready and waiting for when we got back.”

“You’re crazy!” she spat at me. “Let me go!”

“In one moment,” I said. “It went wrong—I got away and Tolver was dead, but somebody did some brilliant thinking and came up with the hit-and-run idea. And that | worked even better than you’d expected, because I was dumb enough to forget I was carrying Philip’s body in the trunk of my car.”

I let go of her wrist suddenly. “So go back to the old man and tell him sure I’ll be out at the house later, and to stay. I’m coming to protect my client, like he suggested!”

“I told you it was Mr. Houston’s idea!” she said 1 stormily.

“That’s right, you did. But I still think it was the old 1 man’s. Tell him I’m coming out.”

She massaged her wrist. “You hurt me. You’re the , most stupid, dirty animal I ever—”

I opened the door, pushed firmly with one hand against her back, and propelled her outside into the corridor.

Her face was white with fury. She stood for a moment,

I the cashmere sweater about to come apart at the very I fibers, then she looked down at her legs—and the stockings which sagged forlornly around her ankles.

“You can—” She nearly choked with fury and had to swallow a couple of times to get her voice back. “You can at least give me back my garters!” she said in a metallic voice.

“Honey-chile,” I shook my head, “I told you I wanted a souvenir.”

“But how will I keep my stockings up?” she wailed desperately.

“Try walking on your hands, why don’t you?” I said, then shut the door gently in her face.

If this was being a catalyst, I was beginning to like it.

Eleven

I HAD DINNER BEFORE I LEFT THE HOTEL. FOR ALL I KNEW

it was going to be a long night and who needs hunger? It was just after eight when I got going in the rented convertible. Another nice, crisp, moonlight night, and once I’d left the city limits, there were just the soft silhouettes of trees on either side of the road, caught in the headlights’ glare. Made me feel kind of nervous; I’ve got the native New Yorker’s fear of open spaces. I just don’t trust all that nothing, not until it’s filled with tall buildings, anyway.

I turned off the road through the open gates, past the board which still said “High Tor,” then down the tracks to the farmhouse. For a moment, after I’d turned off the motor, I just sat in the car, lit a cigarette, and looked at the house. Lights showed from the windows, it didn’t look any different now than it had before. But something was different about it.

You could feel it and it couldn’t be put into words. A sensation, something that touched your face like a spider’s web, and then was gone. Something that spiked your nerve ends and made them jump suddenly and painfully. A silent, creeping thing that crept closer all the time, waiting to pounce. What was it Sylvia had said about a house of fear?

I got out of the car fast because I knew if I sat there much longer thinking that way, I’d turn the car around and drive straight back into Providence—and that hit-and-run rap Greer had waiting for me.

The front door opened almost as soon as I knocked, and Galbraith Hazelton stood there, glaring at me. He looked a lot older, even since the morning when I’d last

seen him. His eyes were sunken in his cheeks, and the mustache didn't bristle any more.

“What do you want, Boyd?” he asked in a Lifeless voice.

“To see Martha,” I said. “She’s still my client.”

“You can’t see her,” he said. “Haven’t you caused enough tragedy to my family?”

“She’s still my client,” I said. “I’m going to see her, I | don’t think you can stop me, Hazelton.”

Hazelton was pulled back from the door suddenly, and Pete Rinkman, the handyman with muscles, took his place.

“Maybe Mr. Hazelton can’t stop you, buddy,” he said softly. “But I can!”

The only difference in his appearance, compared to the first time I saw him, was that now a red, instead of i black, shirt was tucked into the polished cottons. His l boots still had the same high gloss.

“Hi, Pete,” I said. “Seen any more hit-and-run accidents lately?”

“Nobody wants you here, buddy,” he said. “So why not go now before you get hurt?”

“We went through this routine once before, I remem-i ber,” I said.

His face darkened a fraction. “This time, I’m watching you!”

I slid the Magnum out of its harness, weighed it in the palm of my hand for a moment, then looked at him again.

“The gun don’t scare me!” he said flatly.

“It should,” I told him. “I’ll use it if I have to, buddy.”

“Pete!” a voice called sharply from somewhere in the hall behind him. “Who is it?”

The next moment Martha Hazelton’s face appeared over Pete’s shoulder.

“Mr. Boyd!” She looked almost pleased to see me. “Do come in.”

“Excuse me, buddy,” I said politely to Pete, put the gun away, then stepped past him into the hallway.

I saw Galbraith Hazelton just disappearing into the living room—he must have quit trying when his daughter got into the act as well.

“I’m very glad you came, Mr. Boyd,” Martha said in a low voice. “Very glad.”

She looked just as immaculate as ever, in a white silk shirt with a pointed tab collar, and tailored peon pants. Her dark eyes smiled at me as she shook hands.

“My father told us the good news about your release,” she said. “Not that he thought it was good news, but I think you already know how he feels about you?”

“He drops a hint here and there,” I admitted, “like a thermal bomb.”

“What brings you here, Mr. Boyd?”

“You,” I said. “You’re my client, and I figure after what happened this morning, you need some protection.” “I think you’re right,” she said tautly. “Thank you for coming.”

Pete brushed past us on his way somewhere to the back of the house, his face an expressionless mask.

“Well,” Martha Hazelton injected a false note of brightness into her voice. “Shall we go into the living room?” “Maybe we could play happy families?” I suggested. Inside the living room, Hazelton was sitting in an armchair lighting a cigar. He gave me a blank, hostile look, then concentrated on the cigar again.

“You’ve met Father already I think?” Martha said in a dry voice. “Do you know Mr. Houston?”

Houston was at a card table playing gin rummy with Sylvia. He looked up and almost smiled—but his corpse’s eyes behind their half-frames showed no emotion at all. “Glad to see you, Boyd,” he said.

“And I think you know Miss West,” Martha concluded the unnecessary introductions, “our—er—housekeeper?” “We’ve met before,” I said. “I’ve always thought Miss 102

West was a highly efficient girl—no one needs to tell her to pull her stockings up, I’m sure!”

Sylvia shot me a glance of pure hatred, then looked down at her cards quickly.

“You can see we’re just one happy family here, Mr. Boyd,” Martha said caustically. “Can I make you a drink?”

“Gin and tonic,” I said, “thanks.”

She walked over to the small bar in one comer of the room, and told me to sit down while she made the drinks. I sat in one of the uncomfortable Early Colonial chairs facing the card table, with Hazelton on the other side of me.

Martha brought the drinks over and sat down in the chair next to mine.

“Do you know what progress the police are making with the case?” she asked.

“Lieutenant Greer says they’ve nearly got it all wrapped up,” I said. “But he didn’t give me any details.”

Houston stopped shuffling a deck of cards and looked across at me. “That’s very interesting news, Boyd,” he said. “You have no idea who they suspect?”

“Greer didn’t confide in me,” I said. “So your guess is as good as mine. . . . What is your guess?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, it all seems completely unreal to me even now. Whoever the murderer is, there’s no doubt we’re dealing with an immensely clever personality—a brilliant brain.” His eyes never left Martha’s face as he talked on in a slow, deliberate voice. “The way the murders were carried out showed a natural genius for strategy and planning, one almost can't help admiring it.”

“Admiring it!” Hazelton said in a choked voice. “Are you mad, Houston? You’re talking about a cold-blooded killer who murdered my boy and my youngest girl!”

“Do you have a special guess about the murderer’s identity, Mr. Hazelton?” 1 asked him.

“No,” he said angrily. “But I’m damned sure you had something to do with it!”

“Martha hired me,” I said. “Does that mean you think she’s the murderer?”

“No!” he almost screamed. “You’re twisting my words^ making out I’m meaning something I don’t mean!” “You’re quite sure, Father?” Martha said tightly. “I mean, there’s only me left now, isn’t there? If I were found guilty and electrocuted, there would be none of us left. So you wouldn’t have to worry about Mother’s trust fund, would you? No survivors among the children, and the money goes to you, as the sole surviving member of the family, as I remember?”

Hazelton stared at her dully. “What are you trying to say?” he whispered.

“If the trust fund’s just a little short,” she said icily, “say—half a million or so? Wouldn’t it be convenient if there was no one left to inherit but you?”

He sat forward with his shoulders hunched, his hands clutching the arms of the chair.

“You think I’d do that?” he said in a shaking voice. “I’d kill my children—for money!”

“You love yourself more than anyone else on earth,” she said flatly. “You always have—the fine image of yourself you carry around in your mind—Galbraith Hazelton, Wall Street big shot—financial tycoon. The man in the homburg hat with the military mustache and fine upright bearing! You’d do anything to stop that picture being splashed across the front pages with ‘Swindler’ written underneath!”

Hazelton looked numbly at the cigar between his shaking fingers for a moment, then threw it into the fireplace.

“I am worth, conservatively, something more than a million dollars at this moment,” he said bleakly. “I’m no Wall Street tycoon, I’m not even considered to be a big shot there. A middling-small shot if you like. But I don’t run a stock-broking business because I need the money 1”

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“That’s a pretty speech, Father,” Martha said coldly. “Why don’t you practice it for Lieutenant Greer?”

“As far as your mother’s trust fund is concerned,” he went on in the same bleak tone, “I have nothing to do with it. I never have—I speculate with my own money— gamble with it even. But your mother’s money was different. I always felt 1 didn’t have the right to risk iL It was a temptation at first I admit, but I got rid of the temptation by having someone else administer it. My instructions were the capital was to be invested in blue-chip stocks and there was to be no speculation of any kind. Once a year I look over the books, that’s all.”

“You don’t expect me to believe that?” Martha said contemptuously.

“I’m not sure right now whether I expect you to believe anything,” he said quietly. “But you can easily check if you wish—ask the man who’s administered the fund from six months after your mother’s death right up until the present.”

“Don’t tell me his name is Smith and by some coincidence he’s away in Europe at present?” Martha jeered.

“His name is Houston, and he’s right here in this room,” Hazelton said flatly. “Actually it was his senior partner, Abrams, who handled the estate for the first four years, up until his death. But Houston has managed it ever since.”

“Houston?” Martha repeated slowly. Her dark eyes grew enormous. “But I thought—”

“Tell her, man!” Hazelton said fiercely. “Is it true, or not?”

Houston studied the fingernails of his right hand for a moment.

“Oh, yes,” he said politely. “It’s perfectly true.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before!” Martha shouted at him suddenly.

“You never asked,” he said mildly.

“You should have told me!” she screamed. “You let

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me think all the time it was Father who was—” She stopped suddenly.

“Go on, Martha,” Houston said conversationally. ^ “Who was what?”

“Nothing!” she said sullenly.

“Embezzling money from the trust?” He finished the sentence for her. “I don’t have the capital your father has, naturally, but my income over the last five years has been in the six-figure bracket. I also don’t need money, but if you would like the fund’s books audited I shall be only too pleased to make the arrangements.” Martha began to cry suddenly, burying her face in her hands and making a small, wailing noise like a young i child.

Houston looked across at Galbraith, his face white and strained.

“How much more do you have to see?” he asked tensely. “Will you believe it now? You’ve deliberately blinded yourself to it for far too long already! I’ve told you—Miss West, a professional nurse, has told you— when are you going to take her to a psychiatrist and find out the truth!”

“Truth?” Martha asked in a cracked voice. She lifted her head slowly and looked at him with a tear-stained face. “What truth?”

His face was ugly. “That you’re insane, Martha,” he said softly. “A paranoiac, a homicidal paranoiac who should be locked in a padded cell before you kill again!” “Houston!” Galbraith said hoarsely. “You can’t—” “Insane!” Martha hissed. “So that’s what you’re trying to do to me?” She came out of the chair slowly and stood in a half-crouched position, staring at him fixedly, i “What a fool I’ve been,” she said bitterly. “I thought it was my own father—and all the time it was you! I didn’t realize just how clever you are, Greg. It’s you who’s stolen money from the fund and can’t afford to have anyone survive to claim their inheritance!” “Martha,” he said calmly. “It’s no use—”

“It’s you who planned it all,” she went on in that hissing voice. “You killed Philip and then Clemmie— j and now you want to convince Father and the others ! that I’m insane—a madwoman and a murderess! Well, you won’t do it, you hear! 1 won’t let you do it!” She screamed the last words at him and took another step closer to the card table.

“And dear, charming Miss West,” she bared her teeth at Sylvia in a ghastly parody of a smile, “our housekeeper who isn’t a housekeeper but a professional nurse. She’s part of your plot, Greg? To back up your lies and make sure no one believes the truth when I tell it?” “Sit down, Martha!” Houston said sharply. “Try and control yourself!”

“Of course!” she said slowly. “There had to be someone else, too. Somebody to keep the strangers out— people like Mr. Boyd who might get curious and had to be stopped. Someone like Pete Rinkman, Greg?”

“You’re wildly wrong,” he said. “Stop building a nightmare that doesn’t exist, Martha! You’re in bad enough trouble already with the one that does exist!”

“Pete,” she repeated the name slowly. “He’s the one! You’re too smart for me, Mr. Houston!” She looked at Sylvia and sneered openly, “You and your lady-friend nurse! But Pete isn’t very smart, I can get the truth out of him. He’s the one I can handle. . . . Yes, he’s the one.” Her voice dropped to a murmur as if she was talking more to herself than anyone else.

“Pete!” She nodded vigorously. “I must talk to him now, right away, before it’s too late.” She walked quickly to the door and then out into the hallway.

“Pete!” Her voice grew fainter as she went into the back rooms of the house somewhere. “Pete! Where are you, Pete!” A door slammed and then there was silence.

“Someone should stop her,” Houston said uneasily. “Before she harms herself.”

“Sylvia,” I said. “I owe you an apology. You were telling me the truth when you said Houston suggested 107

you should come and ask me to come here tonight?” “Don’t bother to apologize,” she said coldly. “Just drop dead!”

Houston shrugged his shoulders irritably, then looked at Hazelton.

“Now you know beyond any doubt,” he said evenly. “It’s too late to save Philip and Clemmie, but at least you can try and save Martha from herself. Will you call the police, or will I?”

“I wouldn’t be too quick about calling Greer,” I said to him casually. “It wouldn’t hurt to check a couple of points first.”

“You aren’t concerned in this, Boyd!” he said shortly. “So keep your mouth shut!”

“Martha’s still my client, and that gives me an interest,” I said. “And watch your manners, Houston, or I’ll knock your teeth out!”

“I wouldn’t have believed it,” Hazelton said in a trembling voice. “But her outburst just now—the hysterics—it was awful. It—”

“You think that proves she’s blown her stack?” I said to him. “I figure it was a normal reaction.”

“Normal?” Hazelton said blankly, looking at me for the first time.

“You have to remember she thought it was you conspiring against all three of them,” I said. “That was why she hired me—she’d convinced herself somehow that you had stolen money from the trust fund and were actively planning to kill all three of them.”

“Doesn’t that sound insane?” Houston demanded. “You have to remember also,” I said to Hazelton, ignoring the attorney’s question, “when she came to me, Philip was already missing and Clemmie was up here with Miss West watching her the whole time, and Pete Rinkman acting like a guard to keep people out. It looked to Martha that her sister was being kept a prisoner here—she didn’t know you were worried about Clemmie’s mental balance.”

“Perhaps not,” Hazelton said dully.

“Get her to a psychiatrist!** Houston said loudly. “You’ll have proof soon enough about the state of Martha’s mind!’*

“You keep saying that,” I snarled at him. “You keep saying Martha’s insane—and Sylvia West keeps on saying she’s insane and Clemmie was on her way to becoming insane. Any moment now, Pete Rinkman’s going to come rushing in here and say the same thing.”

I looked at Hazelton. “But nobody else has said that. You were only frightened that one or both of your daughters might have inherited the family history of insanity. But up to this moment you never believed that either of them were actually insane, did you?”

“No,” Hazelton stiffened in his chair. “No, I didn’t.” “I haven’t known either of them for long,” I said. “But I never thought for a moment that Clemmie was insane or showing any signs of abnormality. And I don’t think for one moment that Martha is insane now. How did you come to hire Miss West?”

“Why—Houston said if I was worried about the girls, why didn’t I hire a professional nurse to keep an eye on them. He said the girls didn’t need to know. The nurse could pretend to be a housekeeper at the farmhouse.”

“Then he produced Miss West as the right candidate for the job?”

“Yes, yes, he did!” His eyes were suddenly alert again.

“And after Miss West had been on the job a little while she gave you a bad report on Clemmie, maybe? Suggested it would be better if Clemmie stayed on the farm full-time for a while so she could keep her under close observation?”

“Yes!” he said sharply.

“How about Pete Rinkman? Whose idea was it to employ a handyman who was really a bodyguard—to keep people out?”

Galbraith Hazelton stood up slowly, his mustache bristling, his back ramrod-stiff.

“Do you have any further points to make, Boyd?” he asked in a deceptively mild voice. His eyes glittered as he watched Houston the whole time.

“Gilding the lily,” I said. “When you knew I’d taken Clemmie away from here—it would be Houston who produced the private detective, Tolvar, to bring her back? Houston who said, once you’d got her back, wouldn’t it be best if you all went up to the farmhouse for a time where you’d be safe, and take Tolvar along for extra protection?”

Hazelton walked slowly toward the card table, his eyes still fixed on Houston’s chalk-white face.

“I think, Greg,” he said in a low voice, “I’m going to kill you!”

“Don’t waste your time, Mr. Hazelton,” I told him. ‘The law will take care of that!”

“Have you all gone mad?” Houston said desperately. “What motive could I have for trying to prove them insane—for killing Philip and Clemmie!”

“The answer to that is in the trust fund, I guess,” I told him. “If the money’s all there, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I’ve said the money’s all there!” he said tautly. “I already told you that—over and over! Didn’t you hear me? If you want the books checked over I’m perfectly prepared to—”

“I don’t think you need bother, Houston,” I told him. “Lieutenant Greer’s taken care of that already.”

“Anyone you nominate, can take a look at—” He turned his head slowly and stared at me. “What did you say?”

“Lieutenant Greer’s had the New York police subpoena the trust fund’s accounts,” I repeated. “They’re being checked over right now.”

For the first time there was some expression in his dead eyes. They looked sick. He picked up the deck of

110

cards from the table and began to riffle them aimlessly in his hands.

“Oh, my God!” he said softly. “Who’ll believe me now?”

Sylvia West began to cry noiselessly, the tears streaming down her face as she sat and watched Houston.

“Maybe now would be a good time to call Lieutenant Greer,” I said to Hazelton.

“Yes,” he nodded. “I was so wrong about you, Boyd, I don’t know how to apologize. You had more faith in my daughter than I had—your faith couldn’t be shaken the way mine was. That’s a bitter lesson I will never forget.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that too much,” I told him. “When Martha knows the truth, I guess it’ll make you both equal again. You thought for a little while she was a murderer, and she thought the same of you.”

“I hope you’re right,” he said. “I’ll call the Lieutenant right away.”

“I’ll go find Martha,” I said. “The sooner she knows, the better for her.”

I got as far as the door and stopped for a moment to look back at Houston.

“I wouldn’t try running,” I told him. “Greer’s got the whole place surrounded by cops,” I said in a wild exaggeration. “I don’t think you’d get ten yards out the front door!”

Then I realized I was wasting my time. He still sat there staring at nothing, while his hands shuffled and reshuffled the cards in a formless pattern. Mr. Houston wasn’t going any place—he wasn’t going to try and go any place. Mr. Houston was all through.

She was nowhere inside the house. I’d checked every room and there was no sign of her. I went out of the back door and called her a couple of times but she didn’t answer.

The cold moonlight bathed the farm in its brilliance

111

and the crisp air was still. Any sound would carry a long way on a night like this—if she was anywhere on the farm at all, she would have heard me. If she heard me, she’d answer, I reasoned, unless she heard me and couldn’t answer.

I walked quickly away from the house with icy fingers tightening around my insides. Houston had Sylvia West working for him inside the house—and Pete working for him outside the house. It could have been either one of them that moved Sweet William around in the pens to fool the cops; but it was Pete who told Greer about the mythical hit-and-run accident where Tolvar had supposedly been killed. So maybe he’d panicked when Martha had come screaming accusations at him?

There were two obvious places to look at first. One was the bam, and the other was the lake. I didn’t want to think about the lake. In her state of mind when she’d rushed,out of the room blindly, Martha could have done anything, including drown herself in the same lake where her sister had been drowned. I preferred Pete, out of the two possibilities.

I got to the bam, then slowed down to a sudden stop. If he did have Martha inside, she might still be unharmed. But if I went charging in like a mad dog, he could panic and maybe kill her before I got to him.

So I moved quietly up to the door of the bam and saw it was open about a foot—enough for me to squeeze through without opening it any further. The Magnum’s weight in my right hand was reassuring as I edged my way inside the bam slowly, making no noise.

Inside, I stood still for maybe fifteen seconds, until my eyes adjusted to the dimness and I could see properly. I remembered from the time before that there had been plenty of light after a while. Slowly, the various planes and surfaces came into focus—the tractor, the mechanical harvester, the vertical white ladder that led up into the hayloft.

A couple of minutes later, I was sure there was no one

112

else inside the bam, and that left the lake. I turned toward the door and then froze in my tracks. Someone had laughed. A low, gurgling, sensual sound, so obscene that my ears refused to believe it for a moment.

It had drifted down from somewhere above me_the

only place possible—the hayloft. I catfooted over to the ladder and climbed it cautiously, one rung at a time, holding my breath.

I reached the top and lifted my head over the level of the platform, and they were so close I could have reached out a hand and touched them.

Pete was crouched on his hands and knees, his back toward me. The shaft of moonlight that Sylvia had used so effectively spilled a cone of light onto the straw, and in the center of the cone was Martha Hazelton.

She lay on her back, one arm flung across her face, and she was whimpering softly. The silk shirt had been ripped open down the front, exposing her smallish, high-peaked breasts that looked both virginal and defenseless.

Pete gave an animal grunt deep in his throat, then lunged forward, his fingers digging into the waistband of her peon pants, ripping them downward with a savage force. She moaned desperately then raised herself up on one elbow, her eyes staring wildly—and looked straight at me.

For a long moment she just stared, and her dark eyes seemed to get larger and larger.

“Danny?” she sounded as if she wasn’t sure I was real.

“Danny,” she said again in an urgent whisper. “Help me! Please, help me!”

“All right, Pete!” I said slowly. “One wrong move and I’ll put a hole through your spinal column!”

He didn’t even stop to think about it. He lashed out savagely with his right leg in a backward kick, and the heel of the polished boot smashed into my face.

I went backward, losing my balance, losing my hold on the Magnum, off the ladder in a slowly turning arc, then hit the bam floor flat on my back.

There was no air left in my lungs and I figured I’d broken my spine or something. Whatever it was, I couldn’t move and I couldn’t breathe.

I heard Pete’s harsh, ragged voice say, “You double-crossing bitch!” Then the staccato sound like a pistol shot as he hit her, and afterward the thin, wavering scream as she felt the shock and pain.

His boots scraped on the ladder as he came down, making a rasping noise, but for me it was the bell tolling. He thudded onto the floor of the bam, and a second later, his bulk loomed over me.

“What’s the matter, buddy?” he said thickly. “Break your back?” A boot hammered into my ribs. “Too bad!” he jeered. “Now I don’t get the fun of doing it myself.” The boot emphasized the way he felt again.

Maybe it was going to happen anyway, or maybe the boot in the ribs helped along, but suddenly I was breathing again. I sucked in air like next week it was rationed, and moved my arms experimentally. The boot came into my ribs again, but this time I made a grab and caught his ankle. I hung on while he cursed wildly, then tugged sharply, pulling him off balance so he sprawled on top of me. We rolled across the floor and broke apart.

I came up on my knees quickly and then more slowly up on my feet. Pete was already up, standing ready, waiting for me.

“This I like, buddy!” he said sofdy. “We had this coming from the first time!”

He came toward me slowly, a shadowy, menacing bulk that looked larger than life-size. When he got within reach I swung at him with a chopping right toward his head. He ducked under it easily, and the next moment two pulverizing fists hammered into my chest directly over the heart. He danced out of range again, moving iighdy on his feet. I remembered the tiny white scars on his eyebrows and that I’d figured him for an ex-pro the first time I ever saw him.

He moved in again, weaving and bobbing, and I knew 114

he’d kill me if I tried to fight him his way, so the only thing I could do was fight him my way. I took a punch in the mouth which split my lower lip like it was paper, and another one over the heart that nearly stopped it in its tracks, but I got in a high-stepping kick which made a crunching noise when it connected just below his right knee.

The wild howl he gave while he hobbled away from me made the torn lip almost worthwhile. I figured I’d slowed him down a little and went after him. He backed off slowly, circling all the time and I kept after him, trying to crowd him back against the wall. Then his back touched the wall and I got overanxious and careless. A vicious uppercut came out of nowhere, and bright lights exploded inside my head as I went staggering backward onto my knees.

“Danny!”

I got to my feet and stood swaying gently for a moment, while a slim white figure came in and out of focus beside me.

“Danny!” Martha said urgently. “I’ve got your gun. I’ll shoot him, I’ll kill him!”

I made a drunken, sweeping movement with my arm, meaning to brush her aside, and knocking her off her feet instead.

“Don’t bug me now, honey-chile!” I said thickly. “I’m getting to like it.”

My head cleared as I got close to Pete again. He hadn’t moved away from the wall, and he was putting all his weight on one leg. I figured with any luck I might have cracked his kneecap with that kick.

He was cursing me in a steady monotone, using the same words over and over again. I stepped up close to him, within range of his fists, then stepped back again swiftly. The haymaker which would have busted my jaw if it connected, went whistling past six inches short of my face. He’d meant it for the finale and the momentum carried him off balance, so that he lurched toward me.

I jumped forward to meet him, bringing my knee up sharply as I went. It hit him in the pit of the stomach with brutal force and he jackknifed forward across my knee. I brought the side of my hand down in a straight, chopping movement so it hit the side of his head, just behind the ear where the bone and membrane protrude slightly under the tightly-stretched skin. He rolled sideways off my knee onto the floor and lay there.

For a few seconds I couldn’t move. Then I took a deep, shuddering breath and Martha hurtled into my arms.

“Danny!” she sobbed. “I was so scared! All the time up there in the hayloft, he kept telling me what he was going to do to me. Horrible things!” She shuddered. “And afterwards he said he was going to kill me!”

“It’s all right now,” I said breathlessly, and patted her shoulder clumsily. “Everything’s all right. Your father knows the truth—it was Houston. Sylvia West and Pete were working with him—they were all trying so hard to prove you were out of your mind, they tried too hard. By the time we get back to the house, Greer will be there and it’ll be all over.”

“Danny!” She rubbed her face against my chest. “You saved my life. You saved me from Houston, and then from Pete. I’ll never forget you, Danny, never!”

“Just so long as you remember when you write the check,” I grunted. “We’d better get back to the house. You get going, I’ll catch up. I’d better check on Pete first” “All right,” she whispered. “One day I’ll thank you properly!” She moved away from me, then turned and walked slowly toward the door.

I got down painfully on my knees beside Pete Rink-man, and pulled him over on his back. I should have known I was wasting my time—that membrane is highly vulnerable.

Pete Rinkman was dead.

Twelve

FRAN JORDAN CAME INTO MY OFFICE WITH THE AFTER-noon papers in her hand.

“You remember the Hazelton case?” she said.

“Sure,” I nodded. “That’s history now—must be more than three months back.”

“Being as I went on vacation right after you got back,” she said thoughtfully, “I never did get to hear the details.” “Galbraith Hazelton sent us a check for five thousand the next day,” I said. “Six weeks later, the trust fund paid off and Martha Hazelton sent us a check for ten thousand. We were solvent there for a while.”

“Hadn’t Houston been milking that trust fund?” she queried.

“He’d taken close to a quarter of a million,” I agreed. “Sunk it all into a wildcat oil well that didn’t have any oil. He kept throwing money into the well and all it did was just stay at the bottom. But there was still plenty left for Martha, something over a million and a half.” Fran nodded. “I remember reading about the trial in the papers. They convicted him of first-degree homicide, j didn’t they?”

“Check,” I said. “Sylvia West managed to convince the jury she hadn’t known he’d committed the murders, and it was Pete Rinkman who’d shifted the body in the pigpens, and helped Tolvar by digging it up and dumping I it in the trunk of my car.”

“What happened about that hit-and-run rap you were { moaning about to me over the phone at one stdge?”

“Greer kept his bargain—anyway, after finding out the setup, he didn’t have any choice but to believe my story I of how Tolvar got run down. Hearts and flowers all over K Providence—we were buddy-buddies there for a time.” I

glared at her. “And I did not moan at you over the phone!”

“Maybe it was a bad connection?” she said idly.

“Anyway,” I said. “What brought all this on about the Hazelton case?”

She dropped the papers on the desk in front of me. A black banner headline screamed at me, “Houston Dies Tonight!” I read the first few paragraphs which were a restatement of the highlights of the trial. The only new fact was he was going to be electrocuted at midnight.

“I won’t lose any sleep over him,” I said.

“You never lost sleep over anyone who didn’t have long blonde hair and a thirty-eight inch bustline yet!” Fran said scornfully.

“You’ve got red hair,” I looked at her critically. “And under that loose blouse you’re wearing it’s hard to tell, but I’d guess at not more than 7>lVi inches.” I stood up and started to move around the desk toward her. “Tell you what—you slip off your blouse and we’ll make sure, but no deep breaths now!”

Her gray-green eyes were suddenly alert. “No, you don’t!” she said, and shot out of the office at something close to the speed of light.

I sat down at the desk again and lit a cigarette, then looked at the other papers. The headlines were all the same—Houston was the big news tonight.

The phone rang and I answered it.

“Mr. Boyd?” a crisp, feminine voice asked.

“Sure,” I said. “Who’s this?”

“Danny?” the voice thawed. “This is Martha Hazelton.”

“How are you?” I said.

“I wanted to ask you a favor, Danny.” Her voice grew hesitant. “A big favor.”

I’d already done her a couple of big favors, but she’d paid ten grand for the privilege, and I figured she was entided to a third for that kind of money.

“Name it,” I told her.

“You’re a nice person, Danny,” she said simply. “Father’s in the hospital right now.”

“Nothing serious, I hope?” I asked.

“He had a coronary occlusion,” she said. “It doesn’t look very bright. . . . The thing is, it’s the servants’ day off and I’m alone in the house. You know what’s happening at midnight?”

“Houston,” I said.

“I guess it’s weak-minded of me or something,” she said in a half-apologetic voice. “But I’ve been thinking about it all day and getting more and more depressed. I don’t think I can stand being alone when it happens. Would you come over and keep me company tonight until it’s finished?”

“Sure,” I said. “My pleasure. What time will suit you?” “You don’t know how much this means to me, Danny!” she said warmly. “Could you come over around ten?”

“I’ll be there on the dot.”

“Thanks again, Danny,” she said softly. “I’ll look forward to seeing you.”

I left the office around five-thirty, and Fran watched me cautiously as I walked past her desk.

“Relax,” I told her. “The world is crammed full of dames who know the value of the sheer, breathtaking perfection of the Boyd profile. I should grieve over a redhead with a lousy thirty-five-inch bust!”

“Thirty-seven and one quarter,” she said evenly. “I just checked.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “Well,” I admitted, “maybe I should reconsider. You might yet get lucky and have an intimate association with the classic profile of a Greek god. I am not boasting, you understand?” I added quickly. “Merely making a statement of fact.”

“I should grieve over a broken-down private eye with a moth-eaten profile yet!” she said coldly. “Can a profile buy diamonds? Can you trade it for a white chinchilla? It’s not even good for eating!”

If I know nothing else, I know when to quit and it was 119

right there. I kept on going out into the night, back to my apartment. I had a couple of drinks, opened a can of smoked oysters and ate them for dinner, because somehow I didn’t feel hungry. The time seemed to drag for a while, then suddenly it was nine o’clock and time I was on my way.

It was exactly nine-thirty when I parked the car in Beckman Place. Half a minute later, Martha Hazelton opened the front door of the apartment for me.

“Come right on in, Danny!” She smiled brilliantly at me. “You don’t know how good it is to see you again.”

I followed her through into the living room, shedding my topcoat on the way. There was a roaring log fire in the white marble fireplace, and the room was almost uncomfortably warm. I noted that Martha was dressed for the warmth of the room.

She had a white nylon kimono knotted loosely over a pair of matching pajamas. The kimono had black piping around the neck which made two deep lapels and was kind of cute. The pajama pants were skintight from the waist down to her ankles and they were even cuter.

A couch had been pulled across in front of the fire, and beside it a formidable array of bottles was stacked on a small table. Martha was watching me intendy, her eyes dancing.

“Come and sit on the couch, Danny,” she said, “nice and warm in front of the fire. Make us a drink and then we’ll be comfortable.” Her voice thickened slightly as she spoke.

“Sounds like a good idea,” I said. “What are you drinking?”

“Scotch,” she said. “Good dependable Scotch—and no ice, Danny. This is winter . . . the winter of my discontent. That’s a quote!”

I moved over to the table and started to make the drinks.

“Just how much of this good dependable Scotch have you had already?” I asked her.

“Don’t be middle-class!” she said contemptuously. “You think I count my drinks?”

“They count, if you don’t,” I said. “But I guess you’re old enough to know what you’re doing.”

“Twenty-seven,” she said. “Old enough to do what I want—rich enough to do what I want—why don’t I do what I want? Answer me that, Daniel Boyd!”

I sat beside her on the couch with the two drinks held in my hands. She whipped the nearest glass out of my hand in a sudden swoop without spilling one drop of whisky.

“Here’s to us, Mr. Boyd!” She raised her glass in an exaggerated toast. “We’ve got it made! Isn’t that what they say?”

“Who say?”

She wrinkled her nose distastefully. “Now you’re being a bellhop again!”

“And you’re being Miss Richbitch again,” I said.

She giggled suddenly. “I guess you’re right. Drink up, Danny, you only live once!”

“Sure,” I said. “Just take it easy and you’ll live a whole lot longer.”

The glass tilted and she drank the neat Scotch down like she was dying of thirst in the middle of the Sahara. She gazed thoughtfully into the empty glass for a moment, then hurled it into the fire. It smashed against the marble, showering fine splinters over the burning logs.

“My grandfather was a Cossack,” she said, slurring the words together slighdy. “He raped all the women and killed all the men! And he lived to the ripe old age of nineteen. You know the moral of that story, Danny Boyd?”

“You tell me,” I grunted.

“You shouldn’t go around killing men, life’s too short to waste on nonessentials.” She dissolved into helpless laughter.

1 thought what the hell was the use of being sober anyway, and drained my glass in one gulp, then refilled it.

Martha stopped laughing suddenly. “What’s the time?” she asked in a quiet voice.

I looked at my watch: “Five after ten.”

“Night’s young,” she said. “And I don’t have a drink.” “I'll get around to it,” I promised. “Right now Tm try-to catch up/’

Half an hour later, I figured maybe I had caught up. There was a slight pounding in my temples, and the pattern in the rug that lay in front of the fire would twitch suddenly now and then.

“Danny?” Her voice drifted over me lazily from right beside me on the couch.

“You call?” I said vaguely.

“When do I get another drink?” she asked plaintively. “About now,” I said. “I figure I’ve caught up and we’re breaking even.”

I made the drinks and handed her one. She clutched the glass with both hands, lovingly, and lifted it to her lips.

“That’s better,” she said when the glass was empty. “I was just starting to get mad at you.”

“I never thought you’d get mad at me,” I said in a hurt voice. “I’m a real nice guy—I know it.”

“I got awful mad at you the first time we met in that bar,” she said. “Remember when you said you bet I wore white underwear and thought all men were beasts?”

“I said that?” I felt mildly surprised at myself.

“You sure did!” she giggled again. “I got mad at you because you were absolutely right. I always wear plain white underwear—and I certainly did think all men were beasts.”

“Not true,” I said profoundly. “Not all the time anyway.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said. “What’s the time?”

I had trouble focussing for a moment. “Ten after eleven,” I said finally.

“Maybe we should have another drink, Danny.”

We had another drink, and the pounding got fiercer inside my head.

Martha got up on her feet suddenly and threw another glass into the fireplace.

Tm hot,” she said idly. “You hot, Danny?”

“Boiling,” I agreed.

“Should take something off,” she said slowly. “That’s the only answer.”

She undid the kimono belt and slipped the fragile coat from her shoulders, letting it drop to the rug.

“That’s better!” She sighed contentedly and sat down on the couch again.

I leaned my head against the back of the couch and closed my eyes for a moment. Everything started to whirl around, gathering speed as it went, so I opened my eyes again quickly.

Martha’s face was only six inches away from mine, her dark eyes looking intently into my face.

“Danny,” she whispered. “You think I’m attractive?”

“I think you’re close to being beautiful, Martha,” I said honesdy. “You have a lovely, elegant, arrogant face, and a figure to match it.”

“Maybe you mean all that,” she said slowly. “I guess that arrogant bit you mean for sure! But you didn’t really answer my question, Daniel Boyd. Am I desirable? Do you want me when I’m close to you like this?” Her head came closer still until our lips met and I nearly jumped at the savage, demanding passion of her kiss. The pounding in my head started all over, but it wasn’t liquor causing it this time.

She broke away from me a long time later, sobbing for breath, her hands flat against my chest, her nails gouging viciously into my skin.

“Danny!” Her voice was choked.

“Yeah?”

She kept her head averted from me. “You remember what you said once—in a joke—about your true profession?”

“Not right now I don’t remember,” I said huskily.

“You know—like my grandfather?”

The faint scent of her perfume mixed with the liquor fumes inside my head like a clarion call to arms. I caught hold of her shoulders and forced her back on the couch. She lay there, limp, her eyes closed tight.

I grabbed hold of the lapels of her pajama jacket and pulled them apart savagely, so the jacket ripped open all the way down to her waist, baring her high, rounded breasts.

Then she laughed. A low, gurgling, sensual sound which was so obscene that my ears refused to believe it for a split-second. A chord in my memory sounded like the crack of Doom. I reared back away from her, stumbling to my feet, and for a moment I felt the terror come creeping over me again, the cobwebs brushed my face and my nerve ends screamed mutely.

Martha opened her eyes slowly and blinked at me, her lips curving into a slow, languorous smile.

“Why did you stop?” she asked softly. “Just to tease me, Danny?”

“You laughed,” I said hoarsely.

The arrogant contempt showed in her eyes for a moment. “Don’t be so sensitive, darling!” she said coldly. “I always laugh, I can’t help it. It’s part of it, don’t you see?”

“I heard that laugh once before,” I said. “In the barn —it came from the hayloft. I thought it was Pete Rinkman who laughed, I never heard such an obscene sound in my whole life. I climbed the ladder up into the hay-lot sweating that I’d be in time to save you from him. But it wasn’t Pete who laughed—it was you.”

She sat upright on the couch, her eyes like dark bruises against the whiteness of her face.

“Damn you!” I said savagely. “You were enjoying it!”

She stared up at me for a little while longer, then suddenly her face relaxed, and she let herself fall back onto the couch again.

“All right, Danny,” she said with a faint sneer in her voice. “Now you know all my girlish secrets! Sorry I spoiled your Galahad memory!” She looked down at her body complacently. “But now I’m giving you the chance to make up for it!”

“You and Pete,” I said. My throat tightened until it hurt. “You didn’t go out there to accuse him of being mixed up with Houston in the murders. . . . You went out there because it was the psychological moment for you to make an exit. All the groundwork was finished then—once I’d found out Houston controlled the trust fund and not your father, you knew I’d figure it out from there. You even knew it would have to include Pete. Is that why you went into the hayloft with him—because you knew it was your last chance to appreciate his talents?”

She opened her eyes again reluctantly. “All right!” she said irritably. “What does it matter now!”

“You must have known Houston had been milking that fund,” I said. “How did you know?”

“I cultivated his senior clerk!” she flashed the words at me with incredible speed. “He had the same talents Pete had—only in a little more refined way, of course. After one night with me, he’d have cut his head off if I asked him. I got him to check into the fund accounts— I’d heard stories about the oil well losing Houston a fortune. My little clerk couldn’t tell for sure that Greg was milking the trust, but he thought he was. It was almost a sure thing.”

“So you planned it from there?” I said. “With Houston as the ultimate fall guy. Pete appreciated your talents even more than the clerk did—and I guess you promised him a large cut of the trust when you inherited?”

“I promised him much more that,” she said gleefully. “I said I’d marry him!”

“You needed me as an outsider to believe in your innocence—give you an alibi in a sense,” I was almost talking to myself. “What about Tolvar and the idea of 125

killing me with Philip’s body in the trunk of my car?” “That was Tolvar’s own idea,” Martha said lightly. “With an assist from Houston. Houston was in a panic to get rid of the body because of that phone call you made to the police, giving his name. He thought you were trying to frame him for the murder. Pete had to go along with it, because Houston had employed him in the first place, and he couldn’t tell Greg that he was working for me right then, it would have been—inconvenient.”

“Why did you have to kill Philip and Clemmie?” I asked hoarsely.

“I didn’t know how much of the trust money was left after Houston had been at it.” She pouted. “I was sure there wasn’t enough for the three of us.” She looked up and saw the expression on my face. “Well—don’t look at me like that. I had to do something about it!”

“You’re mad!” I whispered. “Stark, raving mad! Sylvia West wasn’t lying about you when she said you were a homicidal paranoiac.”

“Don’t say that!” She jumped up on her feet, facing me in a crouching position. “Don’t you ever say that again!” There was a hissing sound in her throat. She made an effort to smile and her face contorted into an evil imitation of it. “Darling!” The tone of her voice wasn’t right but she was trying hard to make it right. “Don’t make a fuss—if you want some money I’ll give you some. It’s all finished and Houston—”

“Houston!” I jumped. “My God! I’d forgotten all about him.”

I looked frantically at my watch, then ran for the phone.

“What are you going to do?” she asked sharply.

“It’s four minutes to twelve!” I said. “I’ve just got time!”

I grabbed the phone off the hook and dialed the operator.

“Put it down, Danny!” she said thinJy and I heard a sudden clinking noise of glass against glass.

The operator didn’t answer right away. There was a sudden explosive noise of glass shattering. I looked up and saw Martha swaying slightly on her feet and holding a broken bottle by the neck.

“Hang up, Danny!” she hissed. “Hang up or I’ll cut your throat out with this!” She waved the broken bottle menacingly at me, and the jagged edge glittered in the light.

“You keep away from me or I’U kill you, you maniac!” I said thickly.

She made a gobbling sound in her throat. “I told you not to say that!” she snarled and then she came at me with the bottle. She ran with surprising speed across the room toward me, the bottle held out in front of her like a lance.

Ten feet away from me, her bare toes caught in the edge of the rug and she tripped heavily. She screamed once as she fell. The arm holding the broken bottle twisted up under her and I saw the momentary flash as the jagged edge came upward; then her whole body hit the floor, and her soft, unprotected throat was smashed down against the jagged edge. It must have severed the jugular vein instantly on impact. I turned my head away, wanting to be sick, and heard a faint voice saying impatiently, “Operator! Operator!”

I lifted the phone back to my ear and said slowly, “This is a matter of life and death. I must speak to the Chief Warden at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining!”

“Have you a priority code number?” the voice asked efficiently.

I twisted my wrist to see the watch. “No,” I said wildly. “There’s no time to argue with me! It’s exactly four minutes to twelve now, and at midnight it’ll be too—”

“The correct time is three minutes after twelve, sir,” 127

the tinny voice said brightly. “Three minutes after

twelve.”

“You’re sure?”

‘Three minutes and ten seconds after twelve precisely,” she said in a firm voice. “Hold the line, I’ll connect you at once.”

I listened dully to a succession of clicks and then a weary voice rasped in my ear, “Warden’s Office, Sing Sing Penitentiary!”

“Listen,” I said desperately. “This is an emergency, I—”

“Sure!” the guy said in an angry voice. “You newspaper guys are all alike—always got an emergency! Gregory Houston went to the chair at midnight—he was pronounced officially dead at one minute past. He didn’t make any last statement. That’s all we’re allowed to say, brother. O.K.?”

I put the phone back gently on the hook.

There were a couple of things I should do, so I did them without hurrying. I wiped the phone clean of my prints—I threw my glass into the fireplace so it shattered into minute fragments as the others had; then I collected my topcoat from the chair and put it on.

Just before I left, I took one last look at Martha Hazelton. I still felt sore at her—she’d played me for a sucker right down the line and smart guy Boyd had fallen for it all the way. It’s that kind of thing which really hurts—shakes your self-confidence a little.

Out in the street it was just beginning to snow and I remembered there were ten days left to Christmas and I wasn’t going to mail early again this year. I got into the car and lit a cigarette while I waited for the motor to warm up.

I didn’t feel real bad about Houston—he wasn’t the kind of guy you grieve for and send red roses. Martha Hazelton must have died at almost exactly the same time he did. Wherever they were going, 1 hoped for his sake that they didn’t meet on the way!

Content

terror comes creep

7

37

Seven

Nine

96

Eleven

Twelve