The Soft Centre Page 6

  When Karsh unfolded the coat he got a shock that abruptly stopped his whistling. The front of the coat was heavily encrusted with dried blood. Karsh was too old a hand not to recognise the rust-like stains. He sat for some moments staring at the coat, feeling sweat gathering on his low forehead, then he hurriedly refolded the coat and getting out of the car, he went over to his car and locked the jacket in his boot. He returned to the Lincoln and although he spent twenty minutes going carefully over every inch of the car, he found nothing else. By now it was seven-twenty-five o’clock and getting dark. He returned to his car, lit a cigarette, brooded for about three minutes, then U-turned and drove back to the highway. He reached Miami a little after eight-thirty, having driven fast and carefully, his mind busy.

  He decided to call on the U-Drive Car Hire Service before contacting Hare. From long experience, he knew Hare never thanked him for coming up with only half the information necessary to swing into action.

  The Manager of the U-Drive Hire Service was a willowy blond man with heavy bags under his eyes and a frown of perpetual worry creasing his forehead.

  Karsh gave him his business card and then draped his small frame into a chair.?‘Came across one of your cars.’ he said. ‘Seems abandoned. Licence No. Mean anything to you?’

  The Manager, whose name was Morphy, frowned at him.?‘Abandoned… what do you mean?’?‘Up a dirt road off the North Miami Beach highway,’ Karsh explained. ‘Dumped in a wood clearing… no driver no nothing. I thought you might be glad to know.’

  Morphy reached for his register. He thumbed through the pages, found an entry, read it, frowned some more and then sat back.

  ‘I don’t understand. We hired the car to Miss Ann Lucas for five days. Maybe she was taking a walk in the woods or something.’

  ‘You got a map of the district?’ Karsh asked.

  Morphy produced a map from his desk drawer.

  Karsh examined it, then marked the map with a pen.?‘That’s where the car is. If after five days you don’t get it back… that’s where you’ll find it.’

  Morphy seemed to be getting uneasy.?‘You don’t think she was talking a walk or something?’?‘I wouldn’t know. I get hunches. I got the idea the car’s been dumped. Who is Ann Lucas anyway?’

  Morphy consulted his register.?‘She lives at 237, Coral Avenue. Never seen her before. I checked her driving licence. She paid the usual deposit. I even checked her in the phone book.’

  ‘You remember what she looked like?’

  ‘Sure. A blonde: well dressed. She had on a head scarf and sun goggles: around twenty-five… why?’

  ‘Know her again?’?‘Why, sure.’?‘Without the head scarf and goggles?’ Morphy stared at him uneasily.?‘Well, no… I didn’t see much of her. What’s all this about?’

  Karsh got to his feet.?‘Force of habit, palsy,’ he said. ‘When talking to me, you have to expect questions like that.’ He showed his yellow teeth in what he called a smile. ‘Well, you know where your car is if you want it. So long,’ and he walked back to his car.

  He drove to a drug store and shutting himself in a sweltering telephone booth, he looked up Ann Lucas in the book. He found her number and dialled. While he waited for the Connection, he looked at his strap watch. The time was half- past nine.

  There was a click and then a girl’s voice said, ‘Hello?’?‘Miss Lucas?’?‘That’s right.’?‘You own a driving licence No. 559700. That right?’ ‘I don’t know the number, but I have lost my driving licence. Have you found it?’

  ‘How did you lose it?’?‘Someone stole my bag.’?‘Did you report the loss?’?‘Of course I did. I reported it to the police a couple of days ago. Who is this talking?’?‘Did you hire a U-Drive car a couple of nights ago?’?‘Why, no. Who is this… is it the police?’?‘Could be,’ Karsh said. ‘Could be anyone,’ and he hung up. He left the booth and drove fast to the office.

  Homer Hare was unwrapping a large parcel containing thickly cut beef sandwiches.?‘Just what I was hoping to find,’ Karsh said, Scooping up two of the sandwiches. These he carried with him to a chair opposite Hare’s desk. Hare sighed and looked at Lucille. ‘Tell the boy to bring some more and another carton of coffee.’

  Karsh ate hungrily. When he had wolfed the sandwiches he looked expectantly at the pile before Hare, but Hare covered them with his arm. ‘You wait… these are mine.’ Karsh made a grab for the carton of coffee, but Hare was too quick for him.

  ‘Mine too,’ Hare said shoving Karsh’s hand away. ‘What a hog!’ Karsh said bitterly. ‘While I’m earning the money, you just sit here and stuff your cave.’

  Lucille came in with more sandwiches and a carton of coffee. As soon as Karsh started eating again, he said, his mouth full, ‘Is this Burnett really a nut?’

  ‘No doubt about it,’ Hare said, his mouth equally full. ‘He got into a car smash a couple of years ago and he’s been a scrambled brain ever since.’

  Karsh poured coffee, finished his sandwich, then recited the events of the afternoon and evening.

  Long before he had finished, Hare had stopped eating and was listening intently, his little eyes glazed with concentration.

  ‘Looks for sure this nut killed the woman,’ Karsh said. ‘His lighter was on the bed and his jacket covered with blood. This is going to make Terrell look as high as an ant.’

  ‘The car puzzles me,’ Hare said, lifting the last of the sandwiches from the wrapping. ‘Who was the woman who hired the car? You don’t think it was Ann Lucas?’

  ‘No, but we can check. I think some woman stole her bag and used her licence to hire this car? ‘Why? How did Burnett’s coat get into the car? You know with what we’ve got, we could put the bite on Joan Parnell for a lot more than a thousand bucks.’

  ‘We’re wasting time,’ Lucille broke in. ‘Terrell won’t like this delay. Sam should have gone straight to headquarters, reported finding the car, the lighter and the jacket.’

  ‘I was going to do just that,’ Karsh said irritably, ‘but Big-Brain here said not.’ He looked at Hare. ‘You want to go to headquarters in person, is that the idea?’

  Hare licked his great, thick fingers, peered into the wrapping to make sure he hadn’t left anything he could eat, then regretfully screwed up the paper and dropped it into his trash basket. He then lit a cigar and blew smoke up to the ceiling.

  ‘No, that’s not the idea, Sammy,’ he said. ‘I’ve been giving this affair considerable thought. Handled properly it could be very, very profitable.’

  ‘I heard you the first time,’ Karsh said, staring at him. ‘So we up the price to the Parnell woman: what would she stand for?’

  ‘We don’t do that,’ Hare said. Absently, he reached for Karsh’s last sandwich, but Karsh was too quick for him. ‘I didn’t think you wanted it,’ Hare said in a hurt voice.

  ‘I do… keep talking.’

  Hare sighed and folded his hands over his enormous stomach.?‘Tomorrow morning, Lucille will take the five-hundred dollars the Parnell woman paid us and she’ll call on her. She’ll tell her we can’t take the assignment. She’ll explain that I have talked to Terrell and he is against a private agency moving in on a murder case. Lucille will then give her back the money and duck out.’

  Karsh stared at Hare as if he thought he had gone out of his mind.?‘He’s been eating too much,’ he said to his wife. ‘His brains are clogged with food.’ Lucille said, ‘From where then do we make our very interesting profit?’

  Hare smiled at her.?‘From Valerie Burnett… who else?’

  Karsh sat bolt upright in his chair. His ferrety face became tense.?‘Now, wait a minute…’

  Hare stopped him by raising his big doughy hand. ‘This is the chance of a lifetime, Sammy. The Burnerts have money, and Travers is worth millions. Do you imagine he would want his son-in-law to stand trial for murder? Do you imagine Travers would allow his son-in-law to spend the rest of his days in a Criminal Asylum?’

  Karsh shifted uneasily.?‘While we are asking questi
ons,’ he said, ‘have you ever heard of a little word called

  “blackmail”? Have you any idea what kind of rap blackmail draws?’

  ‘Have you ever heard of half a million dollars?’ Hare said, hunching his massive shoulders and staring at Karsh. ‘Travers will jump at the chance of buying the lighter and the jacket for half a million. You see… I’ll handle it. You leave this to me.’

  ‘Not me.’ Karsh got to his feet. ‘Oh no. I’m getting along pretty well as I am. I’m not going to be locked up in a cell for fourteen years just to please you.’

  ‘You won’t be pleasing me,’ Hare said quietly. ‘You will be on the receiving end of half a million dollars.’

  Karsh started for the door, paused, then came slowly back to his chair.?‘You really think you can swing it?’?‘I know I can. Think about it, Sammy. So far the cops haven’t an idea it is Burnett. With the evidence we have got, he hasn’t got a prayer. He’ll be put away in a squirrel house for life. Travers would pay more than half a million dollars to avoid that. You leave it to me, Sammy. You’ve done your share, now I’ll do mine, and we split the take.’

  ‘Don’t I get in on the split?’ Lucille asked, her thin face ugly with greed.

  Karsh glared at her.?‘You’re my wife… remember?’?‘It’ll be split three ways,’ Lucille said, ‘or it doesn’t get split at all.’

  The two men stared at her, then Hare, who knew his daughter, said with a resigned sigh, ‘So it’ll be split three ways.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Lee Hardy slowed his Cadillac when he came in sight of the entrance to the Park Motel. Pulling into a lay-by, he stopped the car.

  ‘Okay, boys, stick around, but keep out of sight,’ he said. ‘I may not need you, but it’s my guess I will.’

  Jacko Smith belched gently as he heaved his gross body out of the car. Moe Lincoln, smelling of a new perfume Jacko had given him, slid out after him.

  ‘Enjoy the moon,’ Hardy said. ‘You don’t do a thing until I give you the nod.’?‘That’s fine with us, dear,’ Jacko said. ‘We’ll be right here if you want us.’

  Leaving them, Hardy drove on towards the motel. The time was five minutes after ten and he found Henekey waiting for him. As Hardy walked into the stuffy little office, Henekey who had seen him park his car, was standing by his desk.

  ‘Come on in, Mr. Hardy,’ Henekey said. ‘Glad you could come.’

  Hardy walked across to the chair opposite Henekey’s desk and sat down.?‘You said urgent personal business,’ he said, his voice harsh. ‘I hope for your sake you haven’t brought me here on a bum steer. What is it?’

  Henekey sat down. His heart was thumping, and there was a film of sweat on his face. ‘Something I thought we should talk over together, Mr. Hardy. Something you wouldn’t want to discuss over an open line.’

  ‘What is it?’ Hardy repeated.?‘Sue Parnell,’ Henekey said. His eyes went past Hardy to the window and then to the door. His hand, now behind him, rested on the butt of his gun.

  ‘She’s nothing to me,’ Hardy said.

  Henekey hesitated, then he forced a smile.?‘Well, that’s fine. Then what she told me must have been all lies. Okay, then I’m very sorry, Mr. Hardy, I’ve given you this trip for nothing. I can go now and talk to Terrell.’

  The two men stared at each other, then Hardy rubbed his hand over his smooth, closely shaven chin.

  ‘You could be talking yourself into trouble,’ he said, a rasp in his voice.?‘Not me,’ Hardy said with more confidence than he felt. ‘I’m old enough to take care of myself. I had the idea Sue Parnell did mean something to you, that’s why I didn’t talk to the cops. I thought we might do a deal. But if she doesn’t mean anything to you, then I still have time to talk to Terrell without getting into trouble.’

  ‘Just what are you getting at?’ Hardy demanded, sitting forward.?‘I’ve known Sue now for more than two years,’ Henekey said. ‘We had a business arrangement. Whenever she had a business date she didn’t want to take to her home she came here. Sure, I could get into trouble… immoral earnings and all that, but I reckon Terrell would forget about that if I told him about you.’

  Hardy drew in a whistling breath.?‘And what would you tell him?’?‘What Sue told me,’ Henekey said. He kept looking to the window and the door. He was scared that any moment Jacko Smith and his boy friend might walk in. He gripped the butt of his gun so tightly his fingers began to ache.

  ‘What did Sue tell you?’ Hardy asked.?‘That she was blackmailing you. Maybe she was lying. I wouldn’t know, but she said she had enough on you to put you away for ten years and she was shaking you down. She came here the night she died and told me she was expecting you. You were paying her five thousand dollars for her to keep her mouth shut. She was scared of you. She asked me to watch her cabin. Unless I was drunk or dreaming, I was under the impression you arrived around one o’clock. You left around one-thirty. As I say, I could have imagined it, but I have this very strong impression.’

  ‘You’re crazy!’ Hardy snarled, his eyes gleaming with suppressed rage. ‘I was nowhere near this dump!’

  Henekey shrugged.?‘Well, there you are, Mr. Hardy, so I was dreaming. So Sue was lying.’ Hardy got to his feet.

  ‘Now listen, Henekey, I’m warning you. You say one word of this to the police and you’ll get it. I mean that! I was at home when that tart was knocked off and I can prove it. You lay off or you’ll be as good as dead’

  ‘I’m listening, Mr. Hardy,’ Henekey said, ‘but Sue trusted me. She gave me an envelope she stole from your safe. I have it in my bank. Even if the cops can’t pin her murder on you, once they look inside that envelope they could put you away for years.’

  Hardy stood motionless for a long moment, then he sat down.?‘You have the envelope?’?‘Right in my bank, Mr. Hardy, with instructions that if anything happens to me, it goes to the cops.’

  ‘What happened to the five thousand dollars I gave that bitch?’

  Henekey shrugged.?‘I wouldn’t know, Mr. Hardy. Maybe the cops took it you know cops.’?‘Know what I think? I think after I left her, you went into her cabin, murdered her and took the five grand. That’s a theory Terrell would like to explore.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Henekey smiled. ‘He could make it tricky for me, but he could make it much more tricky for you. I’m willing to take the risk, are you?’

  Hardy thought for a moment, rubbing his chin, then he shrugged.?‘Okay, you creep, how much?’

  Henekey took his aching fingers off the butt of his gun. ‘I’m in trouble too, Mr. Hardy. People are crowding me I want to get away. I want to get lost…’

  ‘How much?’ Hardy snarled.?‘Five grand, and I’ll turn the envelope over to you, drop out of sight and you’ll never hear from me again.’

  Hardy took a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. He flicked out a cigarette and set fire to it.

  ‘Okay, it’s a deal,’ he said. ‘Get the envelope and I’ll be back tomorrow morning with five grand.’

  ‘Back alone, Mr. Hardy,’ Henekey said. ‘We’ll meet right here in this office. If anything should happen to me between then and now, my bank have their instructions.’

  ‘You told me. I know when I have to lose money and when I don’t. You’ll get paid, creep, but get out of sight fast. If ever Jacko runs into you after I’ve paid you, I’m not responsible.’

  Henekey took the gun from his hip pocket and laid it on the table.?‘Just for the record, Mr. Hardy, I won’t be responsible for Jacko either.’

  Hardy stared at him, then he got to his feet. ‘Around eleven tomorrow morning,’ he said, ‘but don’t imagine you’re going to put the bite on me again. It’s five grand and no more.’

  ‘All I want is a getaway stake,’ Henekey said and for the first time since Hardy had walked into his office, he began to relax. ‘There’ll be no second bite.’

  Hardy walked out, crossed the lighted car park and got into his car. Strident swing music came from the loud speakers, han
ging in the trees. The fairy lights strung across the cabins flickered with pseudo prettiness. Henekey, breathing heavily, his hand still on his gun, watched Hardy go.

  Hardy pulled into the lay-by where Jacko and Moe were waiting. He got out of the car and joined them on the grass verge.

  ‘It’s a shake-down,’ he said as he flicked his half smoked cigarette into the darkness. ‘He’s got enough on me to get me ten years. It’s up to you two. He says he’s put the evidence in his bank with instructions for it to be handed to the police if anything happens to him. He’s bluffing. I want you two to soften him and get the stuff from him. This is important to me. It’s worth a grand.’

  Moe stretched his elegant long arms and smiled happily.?‘Man. It’s a long time since I’ve worked a jerk over. It’ll be a pleasure, Mr. Hardy.’

  Hardy looked at Jacko who sat in a massive heap of fat on the grass.?‘We’ll fix him, dear,’ Jacko said, ‘but what do we do with the creep after we’ve got what you want?’

  ‘He’s best out of the way, Jacko.’?‘Moe keeps on at me for a new car. I don’t know where he thinks the money is coming from. Could you make it two grand, dear, and we’ll make a very nice job of it for you.’

  ‘Two grand it is,’ Hardy said without hesitation. ‘Watch it… he has a gun.’

  Moe got to his feet. He capered in front of Jacko who watched him admiringly. He turned a couple of hand- springs, then thrust out a lean, brown hand to help Jacko lever himself to his feet.

  ‘Better wait until the joint shuts down,’ Hardy said. ‘You two go ahead and find out where he sleeps. Wait for him there. I’ll stay here. Remember the gun.’ As they began to move off, Hardy said, ‘There’s five grand he took from Sue Parnell. I want that too.’