Complete works of peter.., p.35
Complete Works of Peter Cheyney. Illustrated, page 35
Another thing, what Rudy says about it being easy to snatch the gold in England is right. If anybody wanted to do a stick-up job England is the place to do it, because nobody ever thinks that anybody is goin' to stick anybody else up in that man's country. I don't mean that the English cops are saps because believe me those babies know their stuff, but crooks ain't fools enough to do stick-up jobs in England because although they might pull 'em off they can't get away when they've done the job, the country's too small and the police check-up on the ports, roads, an' airports is too hot.
But combined with the scheme for stickin' up the gold train, closin' the line so that nobody ain't goin' to know what's happenin' before it's all over, gettin' the gold across country in lorries an' then meetin' it with a boat an' serammin' off with it, is such a darned bit of horse cheek that it looks as if it would come off easy.
The English cops ain't goin' to know the gold's gone. They're goin' to think that some English mob have pinched it an' are stickin' around with it, an' a long time is goin' to elapse before somebody finds out that the stuff's been carried abroad.
An' it looks as if this job's been pretty well organised, an' in this respect anyhow I gotta hand it to Rudy because I didn't know he'd got the brains to organise a thing like that, although I do know that mobs have been workin' together in Europe for a long time an' that crooks are learnin' to be international just as easy as coppers, an' because coppers have to organise against what the crooks do, they got to wait till the crooks do it first, which makes the mobs one jump ahead of the coppers all the time, although they usually lose in the long run.
The only thing that's goin' to worry 'em is when Harberry Chayse finds that somebody's pinched his boat in order to pull a gold snatch. Directly he gets good an' busy an' finds out what has been done this guy is goin' to the cops an' the cops are goin' to get wise. They're goin' to smell a rat an' try to find out what's happened to the Atlantic Witch, an' it won't be very long before some bright guy puts two an' two together an' guesses what's been goin' on.
Even this way the Saltierra mob have got a lot of time to make their getaway. They got a fast boat, an' the world before 'em, an' I reckon that there's plenty places they can make an' land the stuff at before somebody starts gettin' the Navy to work.
Altogether it looks to me like a darn good lay-out. I gotta hand it to these crooks. They are pretty good this time, an' it looks as if I'm goin' to hand in my dinner pail this journey.
There's only one thing in my mind. I can't expect any help from nobody. The Feds don't know where I am an' I'm all washed up, but maybe somehow there's just a chance that I can pull a fast one, an' if I have to hand in my pay-sheet an' shuffle off to wherever it is "G" men go to when they're bumped, then I reckon that I'm goin' to try an' take this Saltierra crook with me, and that goes for Carlotta too, because of all the lousy crooks I ever met, an' I've met a few, I reckon I got it in for these two more than anybody I ever contacted.
Well... this is where I play along. I look at Rudy, an' I screw up my face as if I was sufferin' great pain.
"I give up," I tell him. "I'm all washed up an' I know it. What's the good of my arguin' with you. You got the low-down on me Saltierra, an' I know it.
"What's your proposition? I'm playing ball."
X. PAUSE FOR EFFECT
"OKEY DOKE," he says. "Well, there it is."
He gets up an' he opens the porthole behind me. Then he motions with his head for me to look out. Outside I can see the Atlantic just a big sweep of sea stretchin' for miles. It don't look so hot to me neither. It is cold and gray an' sorta clammy.
"I had a swell idea about you this mornin'," he said. "One of the sailor guys on this boat tells me they used to work a big idea on cusses they didn't like in the old days. When a guy got fresh they tied a rope under his armpits, made the other end fast to the stern rail an' chucked him overboard. This guy got dragged through the sea considerable an' every time he was about to fade out through cold or exhaustion or something they pulled him up an' gave him some hot liquor, sorta made a fuss of him just till he felt good again, then they chucked him overboard some more. This guy eventually got tired of this business an' sorta died; but it took plenty time an' it wasn't so hot while he was doin' it. How d'ya like that?"
"I ain't very partial," I tell him. "So what? Where do we go from there?"
He grins. This Rudy looks like a coupla tigers who don't like each other an' then he gets up.
"I think it's a swell idea," he says, "an' up to the minute that's the idea we got for you, an' you can just stick around an' think about it. Maybe we'll do it to-morrow an' maybe we'll do it the day after, an' maybe we'll start in tonight. In the meantime I'm goin' to move you to a cabin an' sorta look after you fattenin' you up so's we can get a bigger laugh out of a punk copper who thought he'd got all the brains.
He goes out an' in come the two guys, an' they take me along to some cabin an' chuck me in. They handcuff my hands in front of me this time which ain't quite so bad. Then they lock the door an' scram.
I lie there an' do some heavy thinkin'. But it looks to me like I can go on thinkin' all day an' all night, but it's goin' to take a bit more than that an' a whole lotta luck to get me outa this jam. I reckon that I'm goin' to live just so long until Rudy takes an extra shot of liquor an' thinks that he'd like a little cheap amusement, after which he will start doin' this performin' seal act with me over the stern rail, an' havin' regard to the look I had at the sea it won't be so nice neither for me I mean.
Then I get to thinkin' just what chance there is of this gold snatch bein' short circuited, an' it looks to me that they got a good chance of pullin' it off, that is if they got the English end of the job laid out as well as they had the other end. The idea about takin' the gold outa the country after they snatched it is swell, because if they go through with the actual pinch without some copper gettin' wise to them, then everybody will think that this gold is somewhere in England. They will never think that it's been taken off abroad pronto.
But there's one way they can slip up. Supposin' Harberry Chayse finds out that somebody's snatched his boat, well, he's goin' to do something about it, ain't he? He's goin' to the Connecticut State police an it's just possible that they might contact some New York copper who knows about the proposed gold snatch an' links the two things up, but it's a long shot and I don't think there's much chance of it coming off. First of all because there ain't any real reason why anybody should link up the yacht stealin' episode with the gold, an' secondly I reckon that when that gold was stored aboard the Maybury, the U.S. Government patted themselves on the back an' told each other that everything was hunky-dory. They ain't goin' to be worried about the stuff bein' stolen on the high seas that is supposin' they thought that was goin' to be done because that's the marine insurance people's bother, an' anyhow they have got to know that it has been stolen before they do anything about it.
Altogether takin' everything by an' large it looks as if Rudy had gotta good chance of gettin' away with everything including bumping me off, which he is certainly goin' to do because I know too durn much.
Another thing that is worryin' me is why they worried to get this guy San Reima on the boat. If they was just plannin' to get their hooks on me they mighta known that when I got the letter tellin' me about the seance that I would fall for it an' go down. Well if I do this all they gotta do is to grab me when I get aboard an' chuck me in the calaboose an' wait till the boat's at sea an' then give me the works an' throw me overboard. I do not see why they have to have San Reima on the boat an' go through with all this seance business when every durn guy aboard knows just who killed Willie the Goop, an' is in on the gold-snatchin' scheme.
I lie on my back on this berth lookin' at the ceilin' an' wonderin' about this an' that. Maybe you will think that I am a bit screwy to be goin' on this way when any minute these thugs are comin' in to give me the works, but to tell the truth I have been in some very tough spots before durin' the time that I have been workin' for the Federal Government, an' I've been in jams that looked maybe as hopeless as this one does an' still I have managed to break out of 'em somehow. I'm one of them guys who believes that while there's life there's hope, an' I am therefore goin' to amuse myself while I am still livin', in tryin' to get this thing worked out.
I would like very much to know just what it was that Hangover found out that sent him sky-rocketin' off some place without even tellin' me or givin' me a hint even if it was all wrong as to what he was at. I can understand him sendin' me the letter tellin' me about the seance because it looks to me that what has happened is just this:
In the first place Hangover goes along to see Harberry Chayse an' starts talkin' about Willie's bump off. The old man then tells Hangover about this guy San Reima, an' says that if the police don't do somethin' he is goin' to have this seance an' try to find out that way. Hangover probably talks him into sayin' that he will get ahead with this seance business right away an' then dashes off an' writes an' tells me what is goin' to be done. But maybe, soon after Hangover leaves the old man, Mirabelle arrives an' Harberry Chayse tells her the big idea. She probably tells him that it's a lotta punk an' that supposin' this San Reima does put his finger on the murderer well then what? It's one thing gettin' some prophet to tell you who's bumped somebody an' another thing provin' a charge of murder against the guy that the prophet picks.
Mirabelle probably tells him all this an' maybe either Harberry Chayse believes her an' changes his mind, or else he gets fed up with her planning the scheme an' just tells her that he won't do it or he will put it off so as to keep her quiet, or an' this looks more likely to me so as to stop her from askin' to be down there on the boat when it happens, because it looks as if by what I have heard that she an' the old man ain't so friendly as they have been, although what the reason is I do not know.
Alright, well, supposin' that Harberry has planned to go through with the thing, an' it looks as if he had even if the letter that was written to me was phoney an' he never wrote it then where is he? San Reima got down on the boat alright. Why didn't Harberry Chayse?
But then again I don't know that Harberry Chayse ain't on this boat. He might be or maybe they have given him the works on his way down an' he is bumped off an' nobody knows it. It stands to reason that if these guys have gone to the trouble of ironin' out the son they ain't goin' to be too particular about givin' the old man his.
If I am right here there ain't a dog's chance for anybody, because the only person who can start something is Harberry Chayse if he is alive, an' before he does it he has gotta find out that his boat has been snatched, an' he has gotta go to somebody with sufficient horse-sense to tie up the boat snatch with the gold snatch, an' as there ain't nobody except the Feds who know about the gold business, then even that chance looks pretty slim to me.
I lie there thinkin' an' thinkin', but I can't make any sense outa this thing, an' I go on doin' it for five more days an' still it don't make sense.
They treat me pretty good an' they bring me three good meals a day an' some cigarettes, although I gotta admit that every time the door opens I think it is Rudy comin' to tell me that I am to get set for the performin' seal act.
I can't find out a thing, an' the steward or maybe I should say the thug in the white jacket who brings in my meals don't say a word when I speak to him. He just grins like he was nuts.
It is somewhere in the evenin' of the fifth day, an' I have just finished eatin', which is a difficult business if you have a pair of steel cuffs on, when the door opens and Rudy busts in. He has been drinkin' considerable an' looks very pleased with everything.
"Well, you big 'G' man, how you makin' out?" he says. "You gotta admit I've given you a very nice little run. How're you feelin' about doin' that stern rail act. It's a nice cold evenin' an' I'd like to hear you howlin'."
"Can it, Saltierra," I tell him. "If you wanta get busy, get busy but don't talk so much you give me a pain in the ear."
"Yeah," he says, "so you're still tough, huh?"
He sits himself down on the opposite berth, an' lights a big cigar.
"Say, you punk," he cracks. "I'm goin' to make a proposition to you, an' if you're a wise guy you'll say yes an' like it. Or maybe you'd like the idea of goin' over the stern here an' now."
"I don't like it," I tell him. "So what's the proposition? I'm listenin'."
"Well," he says, "it's this way. I reckon that sooner or later somebody's goin' to discover about this boat bein' gone, ain't they, an' then they're goin' to ask themselves a lotta questions about it.
"Well I reckon that they won't find out about this boat until we done the job in England, got the gold aboard an' got away, after which time maybe some wise guy will be wonderin' where this Atlantic Witch is, an' maybe there will be requests to shippin' to keep an eye open for her. Fishery protection boats an' Revenue cutters will be on the look-out for this ship, an' I got an idea to do something about it.
"Now Carlotta wises me up that some of you Federal dicks are trained in wireless. Does that go for you?"
I nod.
"Yeah," I tell him, "I know wireless, so what?"
"Just this," he says. "If you want to keep some life in your lousy carcass for a coupla days more well, you can do it, an' here's how. I reckon the day after tomorrow will see this job done an' the gold aboard. Alright, directly we got it we're goin' to stand away from the shore an' run some place never mind where. Well, here's where you come in. You gotta code number haven't you your Federal code number. Alright, when we get away with the gold you're goin' to listen in for any wireless that's flyin' about an' let me know what the messages are, an' when you done that you're goin' to send out a radio an' give your code number an' say that you're a prisoner aboard this boat an' that you've bust into the wireless room an' that everybody's so drunk they can't even stand up an' that you heard that we're goin' to make a run for it to Mizantla in Vera Cruz, after which you'll sign off good an' quick.
"It's a cinch that some boat is goin' to pick up an' relay this message, an' in a day or so they will be chasin' after this boat with the idea that she's goin' to the Gulf of Mexico which will lead 'em nicely up the garden."
"An' allow you to make a getaway somewhere else," I say. "Well, I'm fond of livin' an' I'm glad Carlotta got the idea. It's O.K. by me because there ain't anything else I can do. But," I go on, "what happens to me after I done this wireless act?"
"I'm goin' to shoot you like the lousy copper you are," he says, "an' chuck you overboard. But anyway, that'll be quick, or maybe," he says with a yawn, "you'd rather try the flyin' dive act over the stern rail with a rope round your waist."
"No thank you, Rudy," I say. "I never did like water. I'll take the bullet if you don't mind, an' see you shoot straight, else I'll get annoyed with you."
"You're a wise guy," he says. "O.K. Well, that's fixed."
"Just a minute, Rudy," I say. "I've been thinking. I'm a naturally curious cuss an' I was interested in hearin' the story of how you planned this snatch. It looks pretty good to me, but there is one thing that I ain't on to. How did Willie the Goop come in this thing, an' what did you bump him for?"
He grins.
"So you'd like to know," he says. "Well, I reckon he knew too much. Willie the Goop wasn't such a fool as a lotta people like to make out. That was one thing, an' the other thing was he was a bit too stuck on Carlotta for my liking, an' Carlotta's my property, at least she's goin' to be directly I can get her to listen to reason.
"Willie the Goop!" He laughs. "You know," he says, "I'm goin' to tell you something. If I hadn't found out what that guy was up to, you still might have got away with something. Somebody must have opened their mouth," says Rudy, "because it looks like this Willie the Goop was gettin' all burned up about something an' wanted to start talkin'.
"It looks as if he was goin' to shoot his mouth about something, but the mug was silly enough to write a letter to Carlotta to tell her he wanted to talk with her. When I saw that," he goes on, "it looked to me as if the thing to do was to take Willie the Goop outa the way nice an' quiet so that whether he knew something or whether he didn't he'd be safe."
I put on a look of surprise.
"Why, wasn't he in on this job with you, Rudy?" I say. "I thought maybe seein' that he was hard up he was playin' in with you."
He gives a big horse laugh.
"Don't be a mug," he says. "What would we want with a punk like him. He was just hangin' around after Carlotta, that's all."
I do some quick thinkin'.
"Well, ain't life funny?" I say. "So it looks as if he might have come across to Myras Duncan if you hadn't shot him, then we'd have got the lot of you."
He nods.
"Maybe you're right, copper. You'd have had a good chance to anyway. It was just lucky I found him out."
"It was a near thing, Rudy," I say. "Tell me something. When did you make up your mind to bump him, because if he'd had a coupla hours more, the fat would have been in the fire as far as you're concerned."
He grins again.
"You're right, Caution," he says. "It was a pretty near thing. I found out what he was doin' early in the evenin' about seven o'clock an' I made up my mind that he wasn't goin' to talk to nobody, an' he'd got to get his that night, an' I gave it to him.
"If I hadn't," he says, lookin' very pleased with himself, "it might have been the other way round. I might have had those handcuffs on right now instead of you."
I don't say a word. He sticks around for a few more minutes gloatin' over me an' tellin' me what a big guy he is an' then he scrams out of it.
