Just Another Sucker Read online

  ‘Miss Malroux disappears — where is she disappearing to?’

  ‘Call me Odette,’ the girl said, and she pushed her chest out at me. ‘All my friends do…’

  Ignoring her, Rhea said, ‘There is a quiet, small hotel at Carmel. She can go there. It will only be for three or four days.’

  ‘How will she get there?’

  Rhea moved impatiently.

  ‘She has a car.’

  ‘It’s a honey,’ Odette told me. ‘A T.R.3. It goes like the wind…’

  ‘You can’t drive a car like that without being recognised,’ I said. ‘You must be a familiar figure to people living here.’

  She looked a little startled as she said, ‘I suppose I am.’

  I looked across at Rhea.

  ‘Your idea, of course, is that only you, your stepdaughter and your husband are to know about this kidnapping?’

  She frowned at me.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Is it all that simple for you to disappear?’ I said to Odette. ‘Haven’t you any friends? How about the servants?’

  She lifted her slim shoulders.

  ‘I’m always going away.’

  I looked at Rhea.

  ‘If I were in your husband’s place and someone telephoned me that my daughter had been kidnapped and to get her back I had to pay out five hundred thousand dollars, I wouldn’t be in too great a hurry to pay up. The way you plan it, there is no atmosphere. If I were your husband I might even think it was a hoax.’ I stubbed out my cigarette, then went on, ‘And I would call the police.’

  ‘A lot depends on how convincing you are when you telephone him,’ Rhea said. ‘That’s what I’m paying you for.’

  ‘I’ll be convincing,’ I said, ‘but suppose he does call in the police? What are you going to do? Tell him it’s a joke? Admit you two were just having a bit of fun or will you say nothing and hope I’ll get the money and the police won’t find out the truth?’

  ‘I keep telling you…’ she began angrily.

  ‘I know what you tell me,’ I said, ‘but I don’t have to believe you. If the police come into this, will you call it off or will you still go ahead?’

  ‘We go ahead,’ Odette said. ‘We must have the money!’

  There was a sudden hard note in her voice that made me look sharply at her. Her face had a bleak expression and she wasn’t looking at me, she was staring at Rhea.

  ‘Yes,’ Rhea said, ‘we must have the money, but for the hundredth time the police won’t come into it!’

  ‘It will be a lot safer to assume they will,’ I said. ‘Okay, it is possible your husband will hand over the ransom, but when he gets his daughter back, he is practically certain to tell the police and they will investigate. A man who has made as much money as your husband isn’t a fool. How do you know he won’t arrange to have the money marked? What use would it be to you if you didn’t dare spend it?’

  ‘I’ll see he doesn’t do that,’ Rhea said. ‘That is something we don’t have to worry about.’

  ‘Is it? I’d like to share your confidence.’

  ‘My husband is very ill,’ Rhea said, her voice hard and bleak. ‘He does what I tell him to.’

  I felt a chill crawl up my spine as I looked from her to Odette. Both of them were staring at me. The girl had lost her ‘little-girl’ pose. She seemed suddenly as hard and as ruthless as the older woman.

  ‘I’m going to assume your husband will contact the police,’ I said. ‘If you don’t like the way I’ve planned this thing, say so and I’ll quit.’

  Rhea’s hands were fists in her lap. Odette was nibbling at her thumbnail: her eyes intent.

  I spoke directly to her.

  ‘Today is Tuesday. We can be ready by Saturday. I want you to arrange to go to a movie with a girl friend on Saturday evening. Can you fix that?’

  I could see the surprise in her eyes as she nodded.

  ‘I want you to have dinner at home and I want you to tell your father where you are going. I want you to wear something distinctive so you will be noticed and recognised when you go out. You will arrange to meet your friend at eight o’clock, but you won’t meet her. You will drive to the Pirates’ Cabin. It’s a small bar and restaurant about a couple of miles from here. Maybe you know it?’

  Again she nodded.

  ‘You will drive into the parking lot and you’ll go into the bar for a drink. At that time the place will be crowded. I don’t imagine you’re likely to run into any of your friends there. What do you think?’

  ‘Not a chance,’ she said. ‘It’s not the sort of place my friends would go to.’

  ‘That’s the way I figured it. I want you to be noticed. Upset your drink or do something to attract attention in an accidental way. You will leave after five minutes. Be careful not to get involved with anyone. I’ll have my car in the parking lot. Make sure no one is watching you, then get into my car.

  There will be a change of clothes in the car and a red wig. You’ll put on the clothes and the wig.

  ‘While you are changing, I will take your car and drive it to Lone Bay parking lot. You’ll follow me.

  I’ll leave your car in the parking lot. The chances are it won’t be spotted until we need it again.

  ‘You’ll pick me up and I’ll drive you to the airport. I’ll have a reservation for you to Los Angeles.

  You will go to a hotel where there will be a reservation for you. You will tell the clerk you aren’t well.

  You’ll stay in your room, having all your meals sent up until I tell you to come back. I’ll keep in touch with you by telephone. Do you follow all that?’

  She nodded. She had stopped nibbling at her thumb. She looked intrigued.

  ‘All this is entirely unnecessary,’ Rhea said. ‘If she goes to the hotel at Carmel…’

  ‘Do you want this money or don’t you?’ I broke in.

  ‘Must I repeat every statement I make to you?’ she said angrily. ‘I have said I want it!’

  ‘Then you do it my way or you won’t get it!’

  ‘I think he’s an absolute doll,’ Odette said. ‘I’ll do whatever you say, Harry… I may call you Harry?’

  ‘You can call me what you like so long as you do what I tell you,’ I said, then to Rhea, I went on,

  ‘When I’ve seen Odette off on the plane, I will telephone your husband. He is a millionaire. What chance have I got to get to him?’

  ‘His secretary will answer,’ Rhea said. ‘You tell him you want to talk to my husband about his daughter, his secretary will ask him if he wants to speak to you. I will be there. I’ll see my husband does speak to you.’

  ‘It will be late. I’m hoping Odette’s girl friend will have telephoned, asking where she has got to.’ I looked at Odette. ‘Do you think she will telephone?’

  ‘Of course she will.’

  ‘I want her to. It will create the right atmosphere. You must be missing before I telephone.’

  ‘She’ll call,’ Odette said.

  ‘Okay. I’ll tell your father to have the money ready in two days’ time and to wait for further instructions,’ I said, then looked over at Rhea. ‘You must persuade him not to try any tricks. What you have to be careful about is that he doesn’t tell the bank to take the numbers of the bills or get the Federal Bureau to mark the money. How you do that, I wouldn’t know, but if you don’t fix it, you won’t be able to spend the money — nor shall I.’

  ‘I’ll arrange it,’ Rhea said curtly.

  ‘I hope you will. Two days after my first telephone call, I’ll call again. Is your husband well enough to deliver the ransom himself?’

  She nodded.

  ‘He wouldn’t trust anyone to do it except himself.’

  I lifted my eyebrows at her.

  ‘Not even you?’

  Odette giggled, putting her hand over her mouth, while Rhea’s eyes narrowed and her face hardened.

  ‘Of course he trusts me!’ she said angrily, ‘but he would consider it dangerous. He wo
uldn’t allow me to go with him.’

  ‘Well, okay.’ I lit another cigarette. ‘I’ll tell him to leave home at two in the morning and drive along East Beach Road. He is to drive the Rolls. There’ll be no traffic on that road at that time. The money is to be in a briefcase. Somewhere along the road he will see a flashing light. As he passes the light he is to drop the case out of the car and drive on. He is not to stop. In the meantime, Odette will have returned.

  She will come here to this cabin and wait for me. I will take my share of the money and give her the rest.

  What you two do with it after doesn’t concern me, but you’ll have to be careful.’

  ‘Oh, no!’ Rhea said sharply. ‘I’m not agreeing to that! You’re not to give her the money! You’re to give it to me!’

  Odette sat up, swinging her legs to the floor. Her pallid face was puckered with spite.

  ‘Why shouldn’t he give it to me?’ she demanded shrilly.

  ‘I wouldn’t trust you with a nickel!’ Rhea said, her eyes glittering. ‘He’s to give it to me!’

  ‘Do you imagine I trust you?’ Odette said, her voice hard and vicious. ‘Once you get your claws into that money…’

  ‘All right, all right, cut it out!’ I broke in. ‘We’re wasting time. Here’s a better way. I’ll draft a letter for Odette to write to her father. It’ll be more convincing that way and will save me a third telephone call. She will tell him how to deliver the ransom. She will say, after he has delivered it, for him to drive on to Lone Bay parking lot where she will be waiting for him. It’s a good half hour’s drive. That’ll give you both time to be here and collect the money. How’s that?’

  ‘But if Daddy finds I’m not at the parking lot, he might go to the police,’ Odette said.

  That was the first sensible thing either of them had volunteered since they had entered the cabin.

  ‘That’s right. Then in the letter, he will be told there is a note waiting for him at Lone Bay, telling him where to find you. I’ll put the note in your car. When he gets it, he’ll be told you have returned home. That fix it?’

  Rhea was staring at me.

  ‘We shall, of course, have to trust you with all that money, Mr. Barber.’

  I grinned at her.

  ‘If that’s going to worry you then you shouldn’t have picked on me. If you have a better idea, now’s the time to trot it out.’

  The two women looked at each other, then Rhea, hesitating for a moment, said, ‘So long as I am here when you hand over the money, I have no better suggestion.’

  ‘That’s another way of saying she trusts you and not me,’ Odette said. ‘Isn’t she a lovely stepmother?’

  ‘She has to trust me,’ I said. ‘Now you tell me something: what happened to you? Why didn’t you meet your friend at the movies? Why did you go to the Pirates’ Cabin? Who kidnapped you?’

  She stared blankly at me.

  ‘I wouldn’t know. Why ask me? It’s your story.’

  ‘Don’t you think you’d better know? Your father will question you. You can bet he will call in the police after he has got you back, and they will question you. Those boys are professionals. If they once suspect you’re lying, they’ll rip into you until they get the truth out of you.’

  She lost a lot of her poise then and she looked uneasily at Rhea.

  ‘But I’m not going to be questioned by the police! Rhea says I’m not!’

  ‘Of course she isn’t!’ Rhea broke in.

  ‘You both seem pretty certain of that,’ I said. ‘I’m not so sure.’

  ‘My husband has a horror of publicity,’ Rhea said. ‘He would rather lose the money than get newspaper reporters worrying him.’

  ‘Sorry, I’m still not convinced. I wouldn’t be earning what you’re going to pay me,’ I said, ‘if I didn’t take the police into consideration. She must have a story ready in case the police move in. I’ll fix it for her.’ To Odette, I went on, ‘Can you come out here tomorrow night so I can coach you? You’ll need a lot of coaching if you want to keep that money.’

  ‘It’s not necessary,’ Rhea said. ‘How many more times do I have to tell you: my husband won’t call in the police!’

  ‘I told you I’d take this job on my own terms. You either do what I say or I’ll quit,’ I said.

  ‘I’ll be here tomorrow night at nine,’ Odette said and smiled at me.

  ‘That’s that then.’ I got to my feet. ‘Just one more thing.’ I was speaking to Rhea. ‘You’re to get her a dress. Get it from a cheap store: something a college girl would wear, and you’ve got to get her a red wig. Be careful how you get it. Don’t get it at a local shop. Maybe it would be better if you went into Dayton for it. It mustn’t be traced back to you. She’s got to disappear completely at the Pirates’ Cabin.

  She’ll be seen there, and she’ll be seen leaving, but after that there must be no trace of her until she returns home.’

  Rhea shrugged.

  ‘If you think this is really necessary, I’ll do it.’

  ‘Bring the dress and the wig with you tomorrow night,’ I said to Odette. ‘By then I’ll have a story ready for you, and the letter.’ I went to the door, opened it and looked out. The beach was deserted. ‘See you tomorrow night.’

  Rhea went first, not looking at me. Odette followed her. As she passed me, she gave me a half smile and fluttered her eyelids at me.

  I watched them walk away into the darkness, then I went into the bedroom and turned off the tape recorder.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I

  At a few minutes after nine o’clock the next evening, Odette came out of the darkness and paused at the foot of the steps to look up at me.

  There was a big moon and I could see her clearly.

  She was wearing a simple, full skirted white frock. She carried a suitcase. She looked very attractive as she stood there, looking up at me.

  ‘Hello, Harry,’ she said. ‘Well, here I am.’

  I went down the steps and took the suitcase from her. I was a little disturbed that she was alone.

  ‘We’ll go inside,’ I said. ‘Isn’t Mrs. Malroux coming?’

  The girl gave me a sidelong glance and she smiled.

  ‘Was she invited? Anyway, she isn’t coming.’

  Together, we went into the cabin. I shut the door, then turned on the light. I had a new tape on the recorder. As I turned on the light, the recorder in the bedroom began to record.

  I had had a busy day, working out the details I wanted the girl to learn. I had the letter drafted for her.

  I had played back the tape and had satisfied myself that the recording couldn’t have been better. I had made a parcel of it and had lodged it in my bank.

  I was now pretty confident, and the itch to lay my hands on that fifty thousand dollars was really something. I was certain I couldn’t be prosecuted if anything went wrong unless both the girl and Rhea were prosecuted too, and I couldn’t imagine Malroux prosecuting his wife and daughter, so that had to let me out if we ran into trouble.

  ‘Let’s go,’ I said, sitting down. ‘There’s a lot to do and we haven’t much time.’

  I watched her walk over to the settee and sit down. Her movements were provocative, and I found myself watching her a little too intently. She drew up her legs under her, adjusted her skirts and then looked inquiringly at me. That look made me uneasy. This girl knew her way around. She knew too she was making an impression on me.

  ‘I think Rhea was very clever to trap you into helping us,’ she said. ‘But you could be even more clever than she is.’

  I stiffened.

  ‘She didn’t trap me into anything — what do you mean?’

  ‘Oh, but she did. She had been watching you for days, knocking back whisky in that bar. She had picked on you to help us as soon as she had read you had come out of jail. It was her idea to plant her handbag in the telephone booth. She was sure you would take her money. I said you wouldn’t. We bet on it. I lost ten dollars.’

 
I sat there staring at her, feeling the blood burning my face.

  ‘I was drunk,’ I said.

  She shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘I’m sure you were. I’m just telling you this so you can be on your guard. Rhea is a snake: don’t trust her further than you can throw her.’

  ‘Just why do you want all this money?’

  She wrinkled her nose at me.

  ‘That’s not your business. Now tell me, what am I to do? Have you got a story ready for me?’

  I stared at her for a long moment, trying to collect my thoughts. This news that Rhea had planted her bag shook me. I told myself I would have to watch her.

  I said, ‘Have you fixed the date for Saturday?’

  ‘Yes. My friend, Mauvis Sheen, and I are going to a movie at the Capital. I’ve arranged to meet her outside at nine.’

  ‘Have you a boy friend you go around with from time to time? I don’t mean a regular one. I mean someone you see only now and then?’

  She looked puzzled.

  ‘Well, yes. There are a number of them.’

  ‘One will do — give me a name.’

  ‘Well, there’s Jerry Williams.’

  ‘Does he ever telephone you at home?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Who answers the telephone when anyone calls?’

  ‘Sabin — he’s the butler.’

  ‘Would he know Williams’s voice?’

  ‘I don’t think so. Jerry hasn’t called me now for a couple of months.’

  ‘What I’m getting at is this: you will tell your father you are going to the movies with your girl friend.

  After dinner, around eighty-forty-five, I’ll telephone and ask for you. I’ll tell your butler it is Jerry Williams calling. I’m doing this entirely to take care of the police in case they come into it. Speaking as Williams, I will tell you that I have met your girl friend and we, with some other kids, are going to have a night out at the Pirates’ Cabin. We want you to join us. You’ll be surprised, but you’ll agree, but you won’t tell anyone where you are going because you will know your father will disapprove of you going to such a joint. You’ll arrive there, you won’t find your friends, and you’ll leave. As you are crossing the dark car park, a rug will be thrown over your head and you will be bundled into a car. Do you follow all this?’