The jade rabbit, p.21
The Jade Rabbit, page 21
"Hurry,” he shouted. "Hurry”
"I'm no cowboy,” I said, unfurling the rope. "I'm tying the rope to this bush and then I'll throw the other end to you and you can swing over and climb up." I knew there was no way in hell. I could just pull Raven up. My knees would buckle. My back would snap and my injured left arm couldn't take the weight.
"Open your door slowly,” I said. Raven looked down. There was sweat on his face and his hair was all over the place, no longer slicked back. He started to open the door, but the movement sent the car farther back with a creak of breaking branches and flying leaves.
"Okay,” I said, "just open your window all the way.”
He did. It took me four throws to get the rope in his hands. One of the throws was just bad. Two were shaky-handed misses by Raven. Finally on the fourth attempt he grabbed it tight with both hands.
"Out the window,” I said. "You'll probably hit the wall below me pretty hard. Put your feet out and try to hold on."
He nodded, fear on his face, and eased himself out of the car window. As soon as he started to swing, the Mazda suddenly turned on its back, but still it didn't fall. I don’t like heights, but I looked down and saw that a stunned Jason Raven was still clinging to the rope I had thrown him. His trousers and shirt were torn by the bushes, growing from the side of the hill, and he had lost one shoe.
"Now,” I said, "all you have to do is climb up."
“Can't make it,” he said. "My arms are tired. I feel dizzy."
“Damn,” I said aloud, and moved to the bush where I had tied the end of the rope. "Give me as much help as you can. Use your feet along the sides, bushes, flowers, anything to help take the weight."
He didn't answer. Far away a siren wailed.
"I can't hold on long,” Raven called.
"Okay, okay,” I said, I starting to pull him up by the rope.
He was a big man, not as heavy or as big as me, but big enough, and he wasn't giving me a hell of a lot of help. My knees told me I was an idiot. My back refused to communicate with me. My bandaged arm decided to go nearly numb. All this for a man who wanted to kill me. I pulled with all my strength. The sirens got closer. I was breathing hard and cursing Raven, as I pulled. When I heard him panting and saw his arm reach up, I grabbed it and dragged him over the edge. He sat for an instant, frightened, tired, clothes torn.
He turned his head toward the sound of the approaching sirens. "You helped me because you want me to talk,” he said still panting.
"One reason?"
“Just to save my life,” he said shaking his head.
"Something like that,” I said, looking down at him, trying to hide the tremors in my body.
“I tried to kill you,” he said, looking up at me, confused about who the hell I was and how I thought. "I'm still gonna have to kill you."
“Seems a fair exchange for saving your life,” I said.
We both looked at the red Mazda. It hadn't moved, just nested in the trees facing the sky. Raven got up. Neither of us was in any mood or condition for a fight.
"Now what?” he said.
"We wait for the police,” I said.
He didn't answer. He looked around the narrow road and got to his feet. He staggered toward the brick wall away from the scene of his near death experience.
At this point, I've got to admit, I wasn't thinking all that straight. I was shaky, thirsty, and more than a little angry with Raven, now that he was safe, I stood panting. Raven had calculated well. He leaned against the wall and reached down. I glanced at him and realized that he was reaching for the gun he had thrown up to me. I had been stupid. I hadn't taken the time to pocket the gun or even worry about it. He came up with it about the same time I came out with mine.
The sirens were close now, probably at the bottom of the road. We were a sad pair for a shootout, a tired, battle-scarred private eye with a six gun that might not even work, and a young man with half a shirt and one shoe.
"I'm taking your car,” he said, trying to keep his hand from shaking.
"Nope,” I said, as he moved toward my tilted Jaguar.
He kept his gun on me as he closed the boot and looked inside the car. My keys were in the ignition. Now or never, I thought, and pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened. I looked at Raven. He hadn't heard the click of the hammer coming back but refusing to move forward. I kept the gun aimed at him.
“I still plan to kill you, Castle." He said,
“So you said.”
With his gun on me, he climbed awkwardly into the driver's seat of my car and turned the key. It started a lot smoother for him than it ever did for me. He eased off the side of the hill, the tires landing on the road with a shock that couldn't have done any good to my suspension.
The sirens were very close now. Raven took careful aim at me.
“I heard it misfire,” he said, with a grin on his grimy face. And then he fired as I dived for the bush I had tied the rope to, the rope that had saved Raven's life. He drove away as I used what little energy I had left to make it back up to the road. Raven was out of sight. My car was out of sight. I was out of breath when the police car pulled up and two uniformed police officers climbed out and came over to me. I was sitting on the road. Both of the policemen were young. “You alright?” one asked. “An ambulance is on its way.”
“Arthur,” the other one said. “Look at this.”
He moved to the edge of the road and pointed to the red Mazda still perched in the treetops. They both turned to me and Arthur said, “How the hell did you get out of that?”
I tried to talk but could only gasp for a few seconds.
"What on earth happened?” Asked the other policeman coming over to me.
“Car, Jaguar XJ6,” I said gasping. “Did you see it when you drove up?”
“Yes,” said Arthur. "I think it was a Jaguar.”
"My car,” I panted. "Stolen by a man named Raven,”
I gave them my license number. Arthur wrote it down. "Call it in,” I said, trying to stand up. Arthur's partner helped me. "The guy in my car killed someone, he tried to kill me. He's a kidnapper and a killer and he's armed.”
"And who are you?” asked Arthur.
“Castle, Jack Castle, private investigator,” I panted.
“Are you armed?" Arthur asked suspiciously as an ambulance pulled up behind me and a pair of medics leaped out.
"And take,” I said, pulling out my pistol. “It doesn't fire.”
Arthur’s partner took the gun, looked at it, and handed it back to me. "Probably worth a few quid at an antique sale,” he said.
"Borrowed it from a friend,” I said, as the medics approached, looked at the Mazda, and looked at me. "Just admiring it for a few days.”
"You're not in very good shape,” one of the medics said. She was short, powerful, with no nonsense black hair, brushed straight and cut short.
"Old wounds,” I said. "I could use a lift.”
"We'll get you to the hospital,” the woman said. “You need the stretcher?"
”I can make it,” I said.
She took my arm and her partner opened the back door of the ambulance. I climbed in. “Lie down,” the woman commanded. Arthur was at the door.
“Somebody will meet you at the hospital,” he said. “I'm going to look forward to reading that report.”
“Call my car in, I said, lying back. “It's stolen by a killer, remember?”
“We’re calling it in now,” he said, closing the door.
It was dark. It was cold. I put my good arm over my eyes and rolled with the bumps and turns in the road. It could have been a better morning, but I was alive. There was something to be said for that. I think I sustained more injuries from the ride to the hospital than I had from my encounter with Raven.
When we got to the hospital emergency room, I refused to be carried out on the stretcher. I creaked out at my own pace while the medic stood back with folded arms waiting for me to fall. I was too angry to fall. Too angry to let the pain do anything but push me forward. “I need a phone,” I said. One of the medics nodded.
I followed him, my back threatening to give out completely. I found a bottled water cooler in the emergency room where a small boy sat with a blood red piece of gauze covering his head. A woman sat next to him reading Hello! Magazine. She glanced at him from time to time to be sure the boy, who was now watching me, didn't pass out. I stopped at the water cooler and took one of Dr. Roberts's magic pain pills. No one tried to stop me. The medics told me to check in at the desk.
Arthur and his partner came through the double doors of the hospital emergency room while I dropped a pound coin into the pay phone. “Castle Jack,” Arthur's partner said.
“Right,” I nodded, dialing.
“You're wanted on a murder charge,” Arthur said.
“I'm aware of that,” I said.
“I’m sure you are,” said his partner.
“Hello, Paula,” I said, as the call went through.
“Jack,” she said, “I've been trying to reach you. Julie's been trying to reach you. Roberts got a ransom call, amount and place, but he won't tell us without talking to you.” I looked over at Arthur and his partner.
“I'm putting an officer,”
“Barnes,” said Arthur's partner,
“Barnes on the phone. Raven tried to kill me, he took my car. These police officers have called it in. I'm in the hospital emergency room with a few more knocks and pains, tokens of gratitude from Raven for saving his life. I'll tell you all about it when I see you.”
“You had better come and see me now,” said Paula.
I handed the phone to Barnes who identified himself and listened, saying nothing. Finally, he hung up and turned to me. “You want a doctor to look at you?” He asked.
“No,” I said.
“Suit yourself,” said Arthur with a shrug. “We are to take you to Detective Sergeant Davies now?” “That's just where I want to go,” I said, welcoming the first effects of the painkiller. I wasn't feeling good, just capable of functioning. “One more call.”
“I already said, OK,” Barnes said. “Make it a quick one.”
I called Julie, left a message on her machine, and followed Arthur and Barnes as we went back to their car. I sat in the back of their car, as they sat silently. Barnes was driving. I looked out the window, thinking about Hayley, wanting to feel Raven's neck in my hands, dreading the dread of private investigators, especially those with my record. I spent most of my money on car insurance. I was listed by insurance companies as super high risk, and only one or two fly-by nights would accept me after I agreed to a fifteen hundred pound deductible. I wondered if Raven had done any more damage to my car out of spite. I wondered if I should just advise Roberts to pay the money in the hope that Raven would let her go, but I knew that Raven was holding her for more than the ransom from her uncle. He was holding her because she knew, had heard, who had killed Hall with the gun planted on my houseboat.
Raven might try to get the money from Roberts and pick up another payday from the killer, who, since he or she was a collector and probably had big money, would pay to have Hayley show up dead. I didn't feel like talking either. Barnes and Arthur parked behind the police station and led me to Paula's desk. She was on the phone. She nodded at the two uniformed police officers that they could leave now. I thanked them. They didn't quite feel like shaking hands.
As they left, I sat in the chair opposite Paula. People bustled behind us. A woman's voice behind us screamed, “I can't stand it anymore.”
“Lesley Steele,” Paula explained. “Office manager, the photocopying machine is a broken again. Jack, you look terrible, what on earth happened to you?”
I told her my story. She took notes and told me that Roberts had called about his nieces kidnapping. She had advised my client that a wiretap be set up on his phones. Roberts had agreed. Julie showed up and said, “Jack, you look terrible.”
“Thank you,” Julie, I said.
“What are you doing here?”
“Giving a statement about my stolen car and the fact that Jason Raven tried to kill me twice, once before I saved his life and once after.”
Paula's phone rang, she picked it up.
“The hearing for your murder charge is in three days.” Julie said softly, leaning toward me. “I think we've got a good chance. It's all circumstantial. I think the Crown Prosecutor will not want to take it to court, unless...”
“Unless?” I asked.
“Unless they come up with more evidence against you.”
Paula hung up. “Good news,” she said, folding her arms. Lesley screamed past behind my back. “We’ve found your car,” Paula said. “Ran a check when the investigating officers called it in. It was badly parked, in front of both a flower shop and on top of a motorbike. Someone called the police to report a hit and run. We had the car towed as soon the complaint came in from the flower shop. The computer made the match. Who says the Metropolitan Police aren't efficient?”
“My car is in the police impound?” I asked.
“Afraid so, Jack,” Paula said.
“Can you get it out for me? Is it damaged?”
“That’s between you and the towing people,” she said, holding up her hands. “I do my best to avoid upsetting them.”
“Great,” I said. “So I have to pay 100 quid to get my stolen car back. My car whose bumper was smashed by a thief, a murderer, a kidnapper and”
“192 quid,” Paula said. “Be sure to bring your registration book and some ID.”
I sat back.
“Let's go, Jack," Julie said, helping me up.
“Jack try to talk Roberts into cooperating with us,” said Paula. “I've got the feeling that if he pays, he's not getting her back alive. And I've got a feeling he wants to pay in spite of what we tell him to do.”
“I have the same feeling,” I said. “I'll talk to him.”
“Then get to bed,” she said. Paula's phone rang again. I waved her thanks for finding my car.
Julie drove me to the police car impound, told me her strategy and she suggested that after I got my car and I go straight home. I said I'd consider it. She waited while I went inside to retrieve my towed car and spent a half hour proving that the damaged XJ6 was mine. It cost me one hundred and ninety two pounds to get the car out, the keys were still in the ignition.
I got behind the wheel and started her up. The Jaguar moved, but there was something wrong with the gear stick, and the right rear wheel arch was rubbing against my tire, probably shredding it with each turn. I got out and went back to Julie's car and she told me to keep her informed. I promised I would and gave her a kiss through her open window. I had to lean down to kiss her. It didn't help my back.
I drove slowly back to Chiswick Quay, parking next to The Wizard’s Purrfect Grooming van. I wasn't surprised to find The Wizard inside eating a sandwich and using my phone. He nodded up at me and went back to his call. “No doubt,” he said, taking a bite of sandwich that looked like ham on white bread with mustard, all from my refrigerator. I had no idea how old the ham was, but The Wizard led a charmed life.
“Off the phone, Gary,” I said. He put his hand over the mouthpiece and said,
“Almost done, Jack.” Then he went back to his call and said, “Right, check for the equipment. You can verify it with my bank. I'll be there in the morning. Nice doing business with you.”
The Wizard put the phone receiver down and smiled at me, a smile I had seen before and that usually meant he was up to no good. “I've got it sorted, Jack.” He said, slyly.
“That's nice, Gary.” I said, “I don't want my name involved and I don't want the details.”
I motioned for him to get up, which he did. I went around my desk and reached into my pocket. Amazingly, the cheap dragon figurine that David Hurst had given me was unscathed. I put it on my desk, sat down, and I picked up the phone.
“Got a front for the cat business who also wants to get in on the video deal, the cat videos,” he said. “He's even putting up the money to make a video demo. With the demo, we go to the clients I've picked up and get some big time investment. Just talk to one of those clients. The Wizard knows how to get back up again, you can't put me down for long.”
“Great,” I said, checking on Roberts's phone number. I got through to Nurse Carter. She put me through to Roberts.
“Castle, where are you? They want half a million pounds in cash. I can't get that in less than three days.” “I'll be right over,” I said.
“The police say they want to set up some kind of trap,” he said. I'm not going to be responsible for what these madmen might do to Hayley.”
“I'm on my way,” I said, hanging up.
“Frank Noakes” said The Wizard, finishing his sandwich and smiling. “Your neighbor, I convinced him it was a good deal. And it is.”
“The gun you gave me, Gary,” I said, taking it out and throwing it to him. “It doesn't work. It's an antique.”
“Jack,” he said raising his right hand. ”I swear to God.”
“Don’t be here when I get back,” I said. “I plan to tell Noakes not to trust you. I have to live binocular distance from him and his wife and I don't need any more enemies.”
“He's a big boy Jacky.”
“If he still wants to give you his money after I talk to him, I wish you both luck.”
I moved slowly across around the desk. There was one message on my machine. I pressed the replay button.
“Guy says he'll see you soon, said” The Wizard, “didn't leave his name.”
I recognize the voice. Raven. The Wizard was right. All he said was, “I'll see you soon.”
I called Lenny and asked him if he was able to fix my car. He said with the help of his son he could do it. He said he'd be over before the end of the day. I said I'd leave the keys in the exhaust.
I hung up and looked at The Wizard. “The Jaguar won't run so don't think about taking it,” I said. “And I'm taking the Land Rover.”
