Undercurrent, p.13
Milo March #13, page 13
A moment later, I lifted the false bottom out. In one corner there was a small, flat automatic. The rest of the secret compartment was filled with American money, ranging from fives to one thousand dollar bills.
Nine
There was no time to count it. Most of the bills were still packaged, and it looked to me as if there were two or three hundred thousand dollars in the bag. It could be counted later. Now there was a more urgent problem. So I sat on the floor in front of all that money, sipping my drink and trying to think of an answer.
Finally, I pushed the bag back into the closet. I went downstairs to the cluster of shops. I bought a very attractive briefcase with a good lock. I stopped in another store and bought a large gift box and some fancy wrapping paper. In a third store I bought a large knife. It was meant as a souvenir, but the blade was sharp. And I picked up some sealing wax. Then I went back to my room.
I packed the money and the gun in the briefcase. I locked it, then put sealing wax over the lock. After that, I sat on the floor again and used the knife to cut the pigskin bag carefully into strips of leather. These I packed into the gift box, and then I wrapped it in the fancy paper and tied a ribbon around it. I was ready.
I picked up the phone and called Fred Bruce.
“Milo,” I said when he answered. “I’m coming right down. What’s your room number?”
He told me and I hung up. I picked up the package and the briefcase and left the room. The floor maid was in the hallway.
“You can clean my room now,” I told her.
“Obrigado, Senhor,” she said.
Fred Bruce was on the floor below me. I took the stairs instead of the elevator. A moment later I was knocking on his door. He opened it almost immediately, and I stepped inside.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you later. Right now I want you to do something—at once.”
“Okay. What?”
“Get your tie and coat on. I’ll tell you while you’re doing that.”
He obeyed without a word. “I have a taxi waiting downstairs,” I said. “I’m going to leave this package and briefcase with you and go down to dismiss him. I want you to come down right after me, with both of these, and take the first taxi on the line. I want my driver to get a look at you, and you can make a note of his taxi. Have your driver take you to the corner of Avenida Marechal Floriano and Uruguaiana. Make sure you’re not followed. I don’t think you will be, but the connection between us may show up at any time. If you are followed, don’t go through with the rest of this. You got the place to go to?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Dismiss your taxi when you get there. My driver should be there at about the same time. If he isn’t, wait for him. Get into his cab and he’ll drive off with you. Then he’ll drop you where you can get a cab back here. Leave the package and briefcase with him.”
“Got it,” he said. “I gather there’s a rush on this?”
“You’re damn right there is,” I said. I left his room and again took to the stairs. I came out in the lobby and went outside. There were four taxis lined up waiting for fares from the hotel. Alcino was back of them in the regular parking zone. One of the police cars was just two cars behind him. As I approached his taxi, I took some money from my pocket. I leaned in at the window.
“I’m giving you your four dollars now,” I said, “so it’ll look as if I’m paying you off. In a minute a man will come out of the hotel carrying a briefcase and a gift package and take the first taxi in line. His name is Senhor Bruce. You leave as if I’ve dismissed you. Make sure you’re not followed. Go to Avenida Marechal Floriano and Uruguaiana. If he isn’t followed, Senhor Bruce will be standing there. Pick him up and drive him a few blocks, again making sure that you’re not followed. When you’re certain, drop him where he can get another taxi.”
“Is that the man?” he asked.
I took a quick glance and saw it was Fred. He was waiting as the first taxi pulled up in response to the doorman’s wave.
“That’s him. When he gets out of your taxi, he will leave the package and the briefcase behind. Get rid of the package, preferably someplace where it won’t be found soon. Then I want you to take the briefcase home and keep it for me. But make sure that nobody’s following you, or it could be dangerous. Come back here when you’re through.”
“All right, Senhor,” he said with a broad smile.
I went back toward the hotel. I heard Alcino pulling out, but I didn’t look around. At the entrance, I stopped and exchanged a few words with the doorman about the weather. At the same time, I looked down the street. Both police cars were still parked.
I walked inside and entered the bar, picking a stool where I could see out into the lobby. I ordered a martini and took a deep breath; for the first time that day, I began to relax. I sipped the martini. A moment later, I saw the driver of the first police car scurry through the lobby. He was probably going to make a phone call.
I ordered another martini and suddenly realized that I was hungry. I told the bartender to send the drink to a table for me, and I went in and ordered lunch.
I was eating it when Fred Bruce looked in. He came over and sat down.
“Everything go all right?” I asked.
“Just as it was planned,” he said. “What’s it all about?”
“I’m not going to give you any details right now. The less you know the better. But those were two things that Lieutenant Alvares wants very badly. They’ve been in my room all night, and I wasn’t sure the good Lieutenant wasn’t going to drop in any minute.”
“What happened to your gun?” he asked.
“The Lieutenant has it. He wants to see if I killed a man last night.”
“Did you?”
I laughed. “No. But a man was killed.”
“Who?”
“Joseph Sforza.”
He whistled softly. “Who did it? Jackson?”
“That would be my guess. I think Alvares would like to pin it on him, too, but according to Alvares, he has a hell of a good alibi. Incidentally, I hope you do, too.”
He was startled. “What do you mean by that crack?”
“It won’t be long before Alvares discovers that you and I know each other. He’s been very busy since last night, or he would already have found out that you have called my room and that I have called your room. Alvares is a crook, but he’s no fool. When he does discover that, he’s going to start wondering where you were at eleven o’clock last night.”
“I was still at that nightclub. We didn’t leave there until one o’clock this morning.”
“Fine. Did you have a good time?”
“Great,” he said with enthusiasm. Then he frowned. “But I didn’t come down here for a vacation. When are we going to do some work?”
“We already have,” I told him.
“I haven’t.”
“Sure you have. Last night, for example. Then you have just finished a very important piece of work.”
“What was in that package and briefcase?”
I shook my head. “I’ll tell you sometime but not now.”
“How the hell do you expect me to feel as if I’m doing anything when all I’ve done is sit in a nightclub and act as an errand boy? And I don’t even know what I’m delivering. Also, I don’t like this business of not cooperating with the local police.”
“How long have you been a detective?”
“Three years. Before that I was on a beat.”
“Why do you think Johnny Rockland told you to do as I said?”
“I don’t know.”
“You, my fine detective friend, will eventually have to learn two things. One is that a man isn’t to be trusted just because he wears a badge. The other is that patience is one of the best qualities a detective can have. Now, why don’t you run along to the beach and have a swim? Maybe your girlfriend is there.”
“What are you going to do?”
“As little as possible,” I said cheerfully. “I may even get a little drunk. If there’s any work to be done, I’m going to let it come to me.”
He looked even more puzzled. “What kind of a game are you playing?”
“A winning one, I hope,” I said. “Now, run along.” He went out, shaking his head.
I finished my lunch and had coffee. On my way out, I stopped at the desk. There was a slip that said New York had been trying to call me. There was an operator’s number and a number in New York City. The latter was that of Intercontinental. I called the clerk over and told him to tell all the operators that I would not accept any calls from New York.
I went up to my room. The maid had done a good job. There was no sign of leather on the floor where I had cut up the bag. I checked the whiskey. It was pretty low, so I called room service and told them to send me another bottle of V.O. and some ice.
It soon came. The waiter also brought two glasses, and for a brief second looked surprised when he saw I was alone. I signed the check and tipped him. I took off my coat and shoes, turned on the radio, made myself a drink, and stretched out on the bed.
I had a feeling of excitement that I knew well. I always got it when I thought a case was coming to a head. The death of Sforza had stirred things up somewhat, but the disappearance of Sforza’s bag should do even more. It would give Jackson another push, and it had certainly put a burr in Alvares’s pants. I grinned to myself.
One thing bothered me. I was sure that Jackson had killed Sforza, yet there was the fact that he had an alibi. I knew that Alvares must have checked it thoroughly. But there had to be a flaw in it somewhere.
The phone rang. I picked it up and said hello.
It was Alcino. “Senhor, I am back,” he said. “It went well.”
“Good.”
“The Lieutenant is at the hotel,” he went on. “He was talking to the clerk as I came to the phone.”
“Fine,” I said. “I want you to do something else for me, Alcino.”
“What, Senhor?”
“I want you to find out everything you can about the man who owns that nightclub we went to the other night. The one who won all that money and started the club with it. Anything and everything you can learn.”
“I’ll do it at once, Senhor.”
“Come back here when you’ve finished.” I replaced the phone.
I lit a cigarette and leaned back, sipping my drink. For the moment there was nothing to do but wait.
It wasn’t too long a wait. I was only on my second drink when there was a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I called. I had left it unlocked.
The door opened and Lieutenant Alvares stepped in. “I wasn’t sure I’d find you in, Senhor March,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked. “I don’t believe in working hard unless I have to. Take a chair and have a drink.” He sat down and looked at the bottle.
“Perhaps one,” he said.
I waved to the bottle. “Help yourself, Lieutenant.”
He took the extra glass, dropped in some ice, and poured it half full of whiskey. He lifted the glass and looked at the color. “You were expecting company, Senhor?”
“No. I just like to be prepared if someone drops in.”
He smiled and took a drink. “It is unusual to find a man in his room drinking alone. Celebrating, perhaps?”
I shook my head. “Nothing to celebrate. Since you were so interested in me and my gun this morning, I thought I ought to stay close to the hotel until you had satisfied yourself. I didn’t feel like swimming. I did feel like relaxing and drinking.”
“That reminds me,” he said. He brought my gun from his pocket and held it out. “The bullet didn’t match your gun. Since I was coming over this way, I thought I might bring it to you and save you a trip.”
“That was kind of you,” I said. I examined it to make sure it was still loaded, then slipped it into the holster.
“It is a fine gun.”
“Yes. I think I got a good buy on it.”
He finished his drink and put the glass down. “I have recently discovered an interesting thing, Senhor. The records downstairs show that you received a phone call from outside the hotel last night five or ten minutes after Senhor Sforza was shot.”
“Oh, did I? I don’t suppose that I connected the two things because I didn’t know about Sforza until you told me this morning.”
“Of course. Who was it that called you, Senhor?”
“You know, I’m not sure,” I said with a smile. “Some acquaintance, I think, who wanted me to join him in a club. I’m afraid that I had already had too much to drink.”
“And, of course, you had more charming company here. I regret it, Senhor, but I would like to look around your room.”
“I suppose,” I said, “that you have all the necessary papers and that sort of thing, or are they necessary in your country?”
“They are not usually necessary, but since you are a citizen of a friendly country, I took the precaution of getting a search warrant. We would not want to cause an international incident.”
“I should say not,” I agreed.
“You would like to see the document?”
“If I may.”
He took a paper and handed it to me. I scanned it quickly. “Go right ahead, Lieutenant. You won’t mind if I don’t get up?”
“Not at all. I would not like to inconvenience you.” He went to work while I watched. As I had guessed, he was thorough—and neat. He put everything back the way he found it. Finally, he returned to the chair, a bleak smile on his face. He motioned toward the bottle. “May I?”
“By all means,” I said. I waited while he poured a drink, then I poured one for myself. “Satisfied, Lieutenant?”
“Of one thing,” he said. “Your cleverness. I have the feeling that you are constantly one step ahead of me. I do not like this.”
“How can I be one step ahead of you when we’re not going in the same direction? I wanted to talk all three of them into voluntarily returning to the United States. You only want to find … what they’re doing, and make sure they do not break any of your laws.”
His smile grew broader at my pause in the middle of the sentence. “You and I understand each other, Senhor March,” he murmured. “I checked your suggestions about the missing luggage, and I’m afraid that there is no evidence to support any of them. The best possibility still seems to be that someone removed the luggage from the room. It must have been someone who knew what the luggage contained and knew that Senhor Sforza was either dead or soon would be.”
“Well, you know where I was during the time period.”
“Yes,” he said gloomily.
“By the way, what was in the luggage?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I do not know, but it must have been valuable. Have you received your New York call yet, Senhor March?”
“No. I have told the operators I will not accept it.”
“But why?”
“I don’t feel like trying to explain why I haven’t accomplished my mission yet.”
“I see. The records show also that there have been calls between you and a Senhor Bruce on the next floor. Is he by any chance a fellow worker of yours?”
“No. Merely an acquaintance from New York, here on his vacation.”
“Is he in business back in New York?”
“No. He is in civil service―that is, he has some sort of job with the city.”
“A friend of yours,” he said musingly. He was watching me closely. “A friend might agree to keep something in his room for a day or two. Perhaps I should look through his room.”
“Go ahead,” I said. “I think you’ll find him down on the beach.”
“I think I may,” he said. “Thank you, Senhor.”
“It was nothing,” I said.
“I will see you again, Senhor,” he said as he went out. I got up and locked the door. It was still no more than the middle of the afternoon. I turned the radio down and went to sleep.
I was awakened by the phone. As I fumbled for the receiver, I looked at my watch. It was a few minutes past four. I lifted the receiver and said hello.
“I am back, Senhor,” Alcino said.
“Stay where you are,” I said. “I’ll be right down.” I put on my shoes and jacket and tightened my tie. I took a quick look from the balcony. The two police cars were still in front. I went downstairs. Alcino was standing by the house phones. I brushed past him. “Wait,” I said.
I went to the back entrance and looked out. There was a car parked there with a man sitting in it. I decided he was probably a policeman, too.
Back by the house phones, I stopped in front of Alcino. “I think there is also a policeman at the back, and I want to get out of here without being followed. What is the next hotel along the beach in that direction?” I nodded in the direction away from the Copacabana Hill.
“There is a small hotel called the Imperial. It is not far, perhaps two blocks.”
“Do they have a bar?”
“A small one.”
“I can think of only one way out of here without being seen—along the beach. Are there many taxis out front?”
“There were none when I came in.”
“Good. Go out and take the first fare the doorman has for you. It’ll probably be a short trip this time of day. And it’ll throw the watching policeman off. I’ll get to the Imperial some way and wait for you in the bar. As soon as you can get there, tell the doorman to notify me.”
“All right, Senhor.” He turned and went out.
I didn’t think anyone was watching inside the hotel, but I went back upstairs just to play safe. While I was there, I went in and turned on my light beside the bed, so that if I didn’t get back before dark, they would think I was still in my room. I went out and took the bathers’ elevator down to the basement, then walked to the beach. I passed several bathers who looked at me curiously, but that was all.
The beach was crowded, and I was the only person in street clothes. I walked along at the back of the beach, keeping a watch for Fred Bruce. He was going to be my excuse for being there if anyone was watching. Finally, I saw him lying under a huge umbrella with the same girl I’d seen him with the night before. He looked up and I motioned with my head for him to join me. He said something to the girl and came over.
