Complete works of peter.., p.250
Complete Works of Peter Cheyney. Illustrated, page 250
He got up. He stood looking down at her.
"That's your story. You stick to it and you'll be all right. There's no one can break it down because there's no one who saw. You've got to have the benefit of the doubt and all the facts leading up to the meeting in your favour. Well... are you going to do it?"
She said: "Very well. I'll do what you say. I'll remember that. It's near enough to the truth anyway... except for the bracelet."
"Don't worry about that," said Callaghan. "Nobody's going to visualize you struggling with Blaize for a worthless bit of goods like that bracelet. Anyhow I hope to find it. I'm going to look for it... Now pull yourself together. Get up and go home. When you get there be careful to give Audrey a miss. She'll probably be hanging about the place waiting to talk to you. Go straight to your room and get that story set in your mind."
Esme got up. She said:
"Very well. I'll do what you say." She smiled suddenly. A quick curious smile. "You're a funny man, aren't you?" she said. "Why are you taking all this trouble anyhow? What does it matter to you?"
Callaghan said roughly: "You mind your own damned business and get out of here. I'll see you when I get back, or to-morrow. Remember you've been a pretty fatuous sort of little idiot up to date. Try and square off the account by behaving yourself and doing what you're told."
She nodded her head. She began to walk unsteadily along the footpath towards Margraud.
Callaghan sat down on the stone and watched until she was out of sight.
After a while he took out his cigarette-case and lit his last cigarette. He smoked it slowly. It lasted twenty minutes. He stubbed the end out on the rock and began to curse fluently. He used some very curious and definite words about Esme.
Then he got up, stretched himself and began to walk back towards Margraud.
XI. — BEDROOM SCENE
CALLAGHAN walked quietly along the corridor until he came to the door of Nikoll's bedroom. He turned the handle quietly and went in. Inside the door he found the light switch, turned it on. He closed the door gently.
Nikolls was lying on his back. He was sleeping soundly. An almost angelic smile wreathed his plump countenance. His mouth was wide open.
Callaghan went over to the bed. He shook Nikolls's shoulder. He said:
"Wake up, Windy. And I wonder if any one has ever told you how awful you look when you're asleep."
Nikolls gave a grunt and awoke. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes, trying to come back to earth.
He said: "Ain't it my luck? Ever since I been down here I been sleepin' bad. To-night I get a good sleep. I get around to dreamin' of a dame with the swellest hips I ever saw in my life an' I have ta get woke up. It ain't human. I wish you coulda waited another five minutes. Things was just gettin' interestin' with that dream dame...."
Callaghan said: "Get up and get dressed as quickly as you can, Windy. Then go round to the garage and see if you can find a rope—a fairly long one."
"O.K.," said Nikolls. "What are we gonna do? Hang somebody?"
"No," said Callaghan. He grinned cynically. "The execution has already taken place," he said.
Nikolls got out of bed. He was wearing pale blue pyjamas with red spots on them. He looked like a gigantic and ponderous insect. He went over to the chest of drawers, found his whisky flask and took a long pull, sighed and began looking for his clothes.
Callaghan sat on the bed. He said:
"Did you find anything interesting at the Yard Arm? What about Ropey?"
Nikolls sat down on a chair and began to pull on his socks.
"Ropey's gone," he said. "Blaize ain't there either. I reckon you was right about those two babies. They both took a quick run-out powder. Blaize had fixed the sale of the Yard Arm an' the cottage to some guy days ago—a guy named Wallers. Not a bad sort of palooka."
He fixed a bright blue sock suspender round a calf that looked like a young tree trunk. Then he looked at Callaghan. He was grinning.
"This is where the story gets interestin'," he went on. "The Wallers guy tells me that Blaize has got out—to-day—an' that he reckons he's goin' abroad if he can get a boat to take him. He tells me that somebody else has been hangin' around tryin' to see Blaize an' that this somebody else come down in a car that was parked just inside the Yard Arm cottage orchard.
Wallers had told this bozo that he reckoned that Blaize was gone but that he didn't sorta think he'd been gone long because Blaize's stuff had only been taken outa the cottage a few hours ago. So the guy with the car says he'll take a look around."
Nikolls got to his feet and took another pull at the flask.
He said: "I thought I'd take a look in at the cottage orchard just to make certain, an' sure enough this guy's car was still there. He'd parked it under the trees—a big tourin' car—switched the lights off an' taken the ignition key away. There was a leather pocket in the side of the door on the drivin' side an' I took a look inside. I found a drivin' licence an' did I laugh or did I. The drivin' licence was in the name of Gabriel Ventura. Does that add up to anythin'?"
Callaghan nodded. He said:
"It's working out. Having got Ropey out of the way, Gabby just had to make sure that Blaize was gone. He had to make sure that he was gone, or if he wasn't Gabby was going to try and do a deal with him. I bet he was disappointed when he found that Blaize had only left an hour or so before."
He lit a cigarette.
"Did Blaize leave any message with Wallers before he left?" he asked. "Any instructions about forwarding mail?"
Nikolls shook his head.
"Nope," he said. "The only thing he said was that he was goin' an' that he might look back to see if anythin' came for him by the late post. Well, he didn't go back, an' I'd like to know why."
Callaghan blew two or three smoke-rings. He said:
"Blaize has been having a busy day. He went out to-night—after he'd left the Yard Arm—to meet Esme. They had the devil of a rough house. Blaize fell over the edge of a cleft between here and Gara. That's why he didn't go back to collect that mail. He's probably lying down at the bottom somewhere. We'd better take a look at him."
"I see," said Nikolls. "Me... I don't want to beef or anythin' but I do think it's a bit tough to come out of a dream like I was havin' an' then haveta go an' look at what's left of fellas who have fell over cliffs. Life's a scream, ain't it?"
He struggled into his trousers.
Callaghan went on: "You get that rope and go out the back way over the far lawn and through the west gate. It's a fine night and you can see easily. Take the path that runs along the cliff edge towards Gara. When you get to the cleft you'll have to go uphill and work round it. Don't try and find Blaize until I get there."
"Oke!" said Nikolls. "What do I amuse myself doin' until you do get there?"
"When you're on the Gara side of the cleft," said Callaghan, "you start a search for a bracelet. I don't know what sort of a bracelet it is, but I should think you could find it if you look hard enough. It will be fairly near the edge of the cleft on the side farthest from the sea. Concentrate on that job, Windy. I want that bracelet."
"If it's findable I'll find it," said Nikolls. "An' supposin' I've found it. What do I do then?"
"Just take a rest and smoke until I get along there," said Callaghan. "Then we'll go into this business of discovering what's left of Blaize."
"That suits me," said Nikolls.
He began to put on his waistcoat. He said ruminatively:
"It's funny Blaize fallin' over the cliff like that... hey? Would that be convenient or inconvenient?"
Callaghan said: "It might be convenient."
"Yeah," said Nikolls. "It ain't often that somethin' happens at a time you want it to, is it?" He lit a cigarette. "It would be a yell if Esme had pushed that mug over, wouldn't it? An' I wouldn't put it above her."
"I wouldn't worry about it," said Callaghan easily. "We don't have to worry about how things happen. The fact that they happen is good enough. Besides we're working for the Vendayne family—not Blaize."
"I got that," said Nikolls. He grinned amiably at Callaghan. "I hope the Vendayne family appreciates the fact. Maybe those mugs don't know how lucky they are."
He went out quietly.
Callaghan walked down the corridor past Clarissa's door, past the next door—which was Audrey's—and stood listening outside the third door.
He could hear Esme crying quietly. Callaghan tapped gently on the door, pushed it open and went in.
She was lying face downwards on the bed. Her shoulders were shaking. She did not move when Callaghan closed the door.
He went over to the bedside and stood looking down at her. His expression was almost contented. He said:
"Cut it out, Esme, and quieten down. I want to talk to you. And what are you crying for? Don't tell me that your heart's broken because you've lost your lord and master. If it's not that, it's self-pity."
She moved her face away from the pillow and looked at him sideways. Her eyes were red-rimmed. Callaghan thought she looked rather ugly.
She turned over on her back and swung her legs off the bed. She sat on the side of the bed looking at Callaghan. She said in a dull voice:
"Did you find the bracelet?"
"I haven't looked for it yet," said Callaghan. "I'm going back there presently. Nikolls is on his way now. Also I want to have a look at Blaize. But the bracelet doesn't particularly matter at the moment."
"I see," said Esme. "What does matter?"
Callaghan said: "The story I told you to get into your head is the main thing. Have you done that?"
"Yes," said Esme. "I've got that in my head all right."
She got up and walked over to the dressing-table. She switched on a light and began to do her face. The process seemed to interest her. After a moment she drew up a chair and sat down before the mirror, using a lipstick with steady fingers.
Callaghan walked over to the corner of the room and picked up a chair. He carried it to the side of the dressing-table and sat down. He said:
"I suppose after you married Blaize in Malmesbury you realised that you'd made a fool of yourself. I suppose when you discovered just what sort of person he was you wanted to get rid of him."
"How did you know that?" said Esme.
She looked at him closely. Callaghan saw antagonism in her eyes.
"I knew you'd been to the Cape," he said. "I happen to remember Malmesbury. I wondered why Blaize's cottage should be called Malmesbury. I suppose you'd call it a good guess on my part, but then you see I know quite a lot about you."
"How nice for you," said Esme. Her voice was very nearly insolent. "And just what do you know."
Callaghan said coolly: "When a girl in your position is damned fool enough and cheap enough to go chasing a young fisherman and has to be sent off while the scandal blows over she's not likely to develop intelligence quickly. I should imagine that one man is very like another so far as you're concerned. You were just unlucky to pick on Blaize. He was too good for you. For once, instead of being the boss, you had to do what you were told—and like it."
She nodded.
"I'm not very lucky about men," she said. "I certainly wasn't very lucky about him. He thought I had more money than I had. He wasn't very pleased with that."
Callaghan went on: "He followed you over here and took the Yard Arm. I suppose he wanted to be in the neighborhood. I imagine he's had most of your money."
She finished with the lipstick. She put it into a drawer and shut the drawer with a click.
"He's had all the money I had—and could get," she said. "I was trying to buy him off. He said he'd let me divorce him quietly if..."
"If you could find enough money," said Callaghan. "And you couldn't. So then the idea of his taking the Vendayne jewels suggested itself to someone. Was that your idea or his?"
Esme looked at him. She was smiling faintly.
"That was my idea," she said. "And in point of fact it wasn't quite so selfish as it might appear on the face of it. I thought it might be a very good thing for my father if the jewellery were stolen. I imagined he'd have the insurance money—or some of it. I knew he wanted money."
Callaghan grinned.
"Killing two birds with one stone," he said. "The Major would have a fit if he had heard you say that."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"I had no reason to believe he would ever know about it," she murmured.
Callaghan lit a cigarette. He drew in a mouthful of smoke. He was watching her carefully.
"Before the idea of Blaize stealing the jewels suggested itself to you," he said, "you had been giving him such money as you had. I should think that wasn't very much. I imagine you tried to raise more... didn't you?"
"Yes," she said. "I tried everything I knew. But it wasn't any use. I couldn't get any."
Callaghan grinned.
"Not even from Lancelot?" he queried.
She looked at him sharply.
"How did you know I'd asked Lancelot?" she demanded.
"Just a guess," said Callaghan. "By the way, when you asked Lancelot if he could lend you some money to give to Blaize, you didn't by any chance tell him what the position was between you and Blaize? You didn't tell him that you were married to Blaize?"
Esme nodded.
"Yes, I did," she said. "I had to tell him something. He swore he'd never tell any one. He said he'd do anything he could to raise some money for me. He tried, but he couldn't manage it."
Callaghan said nothing for a moment. Then he began to grin happily.
"That suits me very well," he said. He got up. "Just stick to the story I told you, Esme," he said. "Maybe you won't ever have to tell it. But there's just a chance that a Detective-Inspector Walperton, who's in charge of the burglary, might want to ask some questions. I don't think he will but he might."
He walked to the door.
"If I were you I'd go to bed and get a really good sleep," he said.
She looked at him over her shoulder.
"You're very funny, aren't you?" she murmured. "As if I could sleep to-night."
Callaghan smiled at her.
"Why not?" he asked. "You don't mean to tell me that a little thing like a dead husband is going to keep you awake!"
He closed the door gently behind him.
It was two o'clock when Callaghan reached the cleft. He worked up the hill and round the end of the cleft. He found Nikolls seated behind a grassy mound, smoking a cigarette.
Callaghan said: "How about the bracelet?"
"Search me," replied Nikolls. "I've been over every bit of the ground with a tooth-comb—as the old lady said—but if there's a bracelet around here it's hidin'."
"All right," said Callaghan. "Relax. When you've finished that cigarette you can start looking some more. That bracelet has to be round here."
"Supposin' it is," said Nikolls. "It's no good—is it? It won't do any mug who finds it any good."
Callaghan grinned.
"I wouldn't want Walperton to find it," he said. "Esme was running away from Blaize with that bracelet in her hand when he fell over the edge—that's our story anyhow."
"I see," said Nikolls. "An' you won't need that rope. If you start climbin' down the cleft from the hill end it's easy. It's only the part around here that's steep. An' if Blaize was runnin' after Esme he'd have to be runnin' round the cleft edge up the hill, an' so he'd have to fall an' bounce a bit an' he'll be at the bottom at that end. That's logic, ain't it?"
"It's reasonable," said Callaghan.
He began to walk up the rising ground towards the end of the cleft.
The moon was full. On the hillside it was almost as light as day. Callaghan, after a long look over the cleft edge, began to climb down the incline of rocks and earth that led down to the beach below. As he progressed the way grew less steep, and after a while the climb became almost easy. Callaghan began to think about Esme. He began to wonder.
At last he arrived at the bottom. The walls of the cleft rising on each side of the thirty-foot space in which Callaghan stood, cast black shadows over the sandy rock-strewn ground. Callaghan looked about him in the half-darkness. There was no sign of Blaize.
After a moment Callaghan stopped looking. He lit a cigarette and began to walk towards the sea. As he walked the cleft widened and visibility became more easy.
Twenty feet or so from the end of the cleft, on the Gara side, Callaghan found Blaize. He was lying across a rock that was half-submerged in the sand. His face, white and distorted, with eyes wide open, showed plainly against the dark background of the shadows. His body, twisted peculiarly, told of a broken back.
Callaghan knelt down. He opened the dead man's coat and began to search through the pockets. He found nothing until he put his fingers into the inside jacket pocket.
He smiled and withdrew his hand. In it was the bracelet.
Callaghan, walking carefully over the rocky edges at the cleft-side, so as to leave no unnecessary foot-marks, made his way to the top of the beach. He looked at the bracelet in the moonlight. It consisted of twenty peculiarly cut rubies, mounted in antique gold settings, joined by tiny diamond clasps. He realised, after a moment's examination, that the diamonds—which were of the "splinter" type and of little intrinsic value—were real, that the rubies were merely excellent imitations.
He stood, looking at the sea, twisting the bracelet in his fingers, thinking. Then he threw away his cigarette, returned to the spot where Blaize lay and replaced the bracelet in the breast pocket of the dead man's jacket. Then he walked back to the end of the cleft and began to climb up the incline.
He climbed carefully, looking about him. Halfway up, on the Gara side of the cleft, separated from the incline which Callaghan was climbing by some fifty feet, and situated about fifteen feet from the top of the cleft, was a ledge. Callaghan noted its position carefully. He resumed his climb.
Arrived at the top, he found Nikolls gloomily considering a pair of gulls.
"I've been over the ground again, Slim," he said, "an' I'm tellin' you there ain't any bracelet around here. Either that or I'm losin' my eyesight."
