Complete works of peter.., p.61
Complete Works of Peter Cheyney. Illustrated, page 61
"Granworth Aymes had gotta great idea. He was supposed to be a gambler playin' the stock market. Well he did sometimes. When things was good O.K., an' when they wasn't, well he figured that he could keep goin' by counterfeitin'. This Hacienda Altmira the place that he built an' mortgaged over to Periera was the place where the phoney stuff was made an' was it a good scheme? He started off by gettin' Periera to make phoney money because it was easy to get it inta circulation up in the card room. People who have drunk plenty ain't liable to examine the bills they won or got in change, an' most of the guys who used to play at the Hacienda Altmira was birds of passage. If somebody come along who was livin' in Palm Springs I reckon they'd lay off handin' him any phoney dough. It was when they got a mug that they issued him out this fake money.
"You remember, Metts, you told me the first night I was here that you found some guy who'd been banged over the head out on the desert not far from the Hacienda? Remember you told me that you thought that this guy had got his up in the card room. Well, I guess you was right. I figure this was one of the few guys who'd been given some phoney dough an' made a song an' dance about it. So they croaked him. Altogether this idea of usin' the Hacienda as a place for workin off this counterfeit on people was swell. They got away with it easy.
"It wasn't until afterwards that they started to make phoney stock an' bond certificates an' I'll tell you why they done this later on.
"This mob was well organized. Aymes was the head of it an' Langdon Burdell, the butler at the apartment, Fernandez the chauffeur an Marie Dubuinet the maid, was all in it. Periera was responsible for runnin' the Hacienda an' makin' the phoney stuff. I reckon they been gettin' away with this game for a helluva time.
"O.K. Well now I'm goin' to tell you why they started makin' phoney stock an' bond certificates an' transfers, an' I'm goin' to tell you why they made that two hundred thousand dollars worth of registered U.S. Federal bonds, the stuff that was planted on Henrietta here. It's a swell story an' the dame responsible for it is sittin' right here with us now."
I grin over at Paulette. She looks back at me an' gives me a horse laugh. She is still fightin' fit an' don't give a damn for anything.
"I gotta apologize to you too, Paulette," I tell her. "I gotta apologize to you for bringin' you back here on a charge of killin' Granworth Aymes. You didn't kill him, but just at the time it looked like the easiest thing for me to do. Right now you are just bein' held on a charge of accessory to counterfeitin,' but I don't want you to get too pleased with yourself. Just wait nice an' patient till I get finished, an' then you can laugh as much as you like.
"All right, well about a year ago Granworth meets Paulette an' he falls for her an' she falls for him. I guess that he was a weak, silly sorta cuss an' the kinda guy who would fall for a swell dame with a strong personality like this Paulette. These two play around together an' Paulette gets to know about the money counterfeitin' business an' she thinks the idea is swell.
"An' then she gets a helluva idea. You gotta realize that she has gotta husband an' this husband is in a pretty bad way. He has got consumption bad an' he can't get around much. He don't get inta New York an' he don't suspect what is goin' on between his wife an' Granworth.
"But it looks as if he hasn't got very long to live, an' Paulette don't wanta wait until he's dead to get her hooks on the money he has got. So she has a helluva idea. She gets the very swell idea of gettin' Rudy Benito to do his investin' through Granworth Aymes, an' she suggests to Granworth that it would be one swell idea if all the stocks an' bonds that he is supposed to buy for Rudy could be made out here at the Hacienda. In other words she an' Granworth stick to the money an' issue Rudy counterfeit stocks an' bonds.
"Rudy ain't goin' to get wise because Paulette is bein' the lovin' wife who is lookin' after his business affairs got me? She will be the person who handles the certificates an' share documents an' Rudy is too sick to examine the stuff through a magnifyin' glass an' anyhow he trusts his wife.
"All of which goes to show you just how lousy a dame can be if she wants to be. I bet most women whose husbands were sick an' dyin' woulda been glad to have stuck around an' given him a hand. But Paulette ain't like this. This lady is the real tough guy an' is she tough?
"So the game works well an' they get away with it. In a few months they have cleaned Rudy out, an' all he has got is a bunch of phoney certificates.
"Okey doke. Everything is goin' hunky dory when something happens. One day a day when I figure that Paulette is away at New York Rudy gets in a specialist an' gets himself examined again. The specialist tells Rudy that he's pretty bad, but that he will last longer if he gets down to a good dry climate like Arizona or Mexico. Rudy figures to do this an' thinks that he'll take a look at his finances an' things, an' see how he is goin'. So he probably goes an' gets some of the stocks an' bonds that are in Paulette's safe an' maybe he gets around to some local broker just to see what the stuff is worth an' to see how quickly he can realise on it. Can you imagine what a helluva shock this Rudy Benito gets when he finds out that the whole damn lot is phoney, that it is not worth the paper it's printed on?
"Can you imagine how the poor guy felt? When Paulette gets back he lets her have it. He asks her what the hell has been goin' on.
"So what does she say? She can't tell him that she has been in on this job from the first. She has to make out that Granworth has done 'em both in the eye. She tells Rudy that he needn't worry because Granworth has just made a bundle of dough on the stock market which is a fact an' that they will make him cough it up or else they will go to the police.
"But is she annoyed with Rudy? You bet in her heart she hates him like hell. She didn't like him in the first place because he was dyin'. She didn't like him in the second place because she had been twicin' him, an' sometimes if she ever thought about herself she must have figured that she was pretty lousy. But when this poor sick guy gets enough intelligence to know that he is bein' done left, right an' center, then I reckon she does get burned up. After this she hates this guy like hell.
"Directly she gets the chance she gets on the telephone to Granworth an' tells him that Rudy is wise to the swindle an' that they will have to keep this guy quiet by payin' him back the dough.
"Granworth says O.K. but believe me he ain't so pleased an' I'll tell you why. He has just made two hundred grand legitimately on the stock market. He figures that he is goin' to give up this counterfeitin' business an' go straight. Also he is beginnin' to get tired of Paulette. He has gone so far as to make over the two hundred grand to his wife Henrietta an' he has also taken out a big insurance. He don't feel so pleased at the idea of partin' with the dough back to Rudy, but he tells Paulette O.K. he will pay up an' that the great thing to do is to keep this Rudy Benito quiet.
"But Rudy is beginnin' to get suspicious. He figures that Paulette musta known something about what was goin' on. He makes some inquiries an' he finds out that Paulette has been gettin' around with Granworth Aymes that their names have been coupled together.
"The poor guy don't know what to do. He knows that Granworth is a crook an' he is beginnin' to suspect his own wife, so he gets down an' he writes an unsigned letter to Henrietta. He tells her that her husband is playin' around with some woman, but he don't say who. He writes this letter so that Henrietta will get after Granworth an' bust up the business between him an' Paulette.
"Now we are comin' close to the time when the works start shootin' properly. Henrietta writes some letters to Granworth from Hartford, Connecticut, where she is stayin,' accusin' him of gettin' around with a woman, an' this puts Granworth in a jam. He has got to get his hooks on the two hundred thousand registered Federal bonds that are in the safe deposit in Henrietta's name so as to give 'em to Rudy to keep him quiet, an' he has gotta do this without Henrietta knowin' anythin' about it. So what does he do? He gets goin' directly he gets the first letter from Henrietta. He gets Periera to manufacture counterfeit Federal bonds an' he sticks 'em in the safe deposit in the place of the real ones. This way he figures he is safe. The phoney bonds will keep Henrietta quiet an' he can hand the real ones over to Rudy an' keep him quiet. Paulette has told him that Rudy ain't goin' to last long an' he figures that when he dies he can get the real bonds back again.
"He tells Paulette about all this an' she thinks that it is a swell idea an' that if they play it carefully they can get away with it. But they don't figure on one thing. They forget Rudy Benito. This guy is suspicious an' not only is he suspectin' Granworth but now he is also suspectin' Paulette.
"So now we come to the big day. We come to the 12th January the day that Granworth Aymes goes over the edge of Cotton's Wharf. Now I reckon that this day is a pretty interestin' sorta day. In fact I will go as far as to say that durin' a long experience of crooks an' murderers an' what have you I ain't ever heard of a day that was just like this 12th of January.
"It is a day that all you guys are goin' to remember all your lives, an' personally speakin' I guess I am goin' to remember it too.
"Now get the set-up. This 12th of January is the day that Paulette has told Rudy that she is goin' inta New York to make the wicked Granworth pay up the two hundred thousand grand that he has swindled Rudy an' her out of. Rudy listens to all this stuff with his tongue in his cheek. He is gettin' pretty wise to Paulette an' he figures that when she goes to see Granworth he is goin' to string along too, but he don't tell her.
"O.K. Well Granworth ain't feelin' so pleased with the 12th of January either. He knows that he has gotta hand over the two hundred thousand in bonds to Paulette an' he has also received the third note from Henrietta who has come back to New York an' in this note she tells him that she is goin' to see him an' have a show-down about this woman he is gettin' around with."
I look around at 'em. Metts is sittin' holdin' his pipe in his hand, lookin' at me as if he was hypnotised. Henrietta is starin' straight in front of her. Poor kid I guess she ain't feelin' so good at hearin' all this stuff about Granworth. Across on the other side of the room Paulette is lyin' back on her chair keepin' her eyes on me. There is a sorta half-smile playin' around her mouth. She sits there, quite still, not movin' a muscle, just like she was petrified.
"O.K.," I go on. "So here we are on the afternoon of the 12th of January. Paulette comes to New York for the express purpose of seein' Granworth Aymes an' gettin' the two hundred grand in Federal bonds from him, an' after her, keepin' well under cover, comes the poor sick guy, Rudy Benito, coughin' his way along, with his guts fulla hatred for his wife who has sold him out for the man who has helped her to do it.
"Rudy has got his own scheme. I figure that in the afternoon he takes himself a room at some little quiet hotel and rests himself. He is preparin' for the big act he is goin' to put on with Granworth. Just for the minute I'm goin' to leave him there.
"In the afternoon Paulette goes along an' sees Granworth in his office. Maybe Langdon Burdell is there an' maybe he ain't, but anyhow Paulette spills the beans to Granworth. She tells him that the only way of keepin' Rudy quiet is to pay back the dough. She don't know that Rudy suspects her an' she tells Granworth that the guy is goin' to die soon anyway an' that then they can join up again.
"Granworth says O.K. He gives her the two hundred grand in Federal bonds an' he tells her about the fast one he has pulled on his wife, Henrietta. He tells her how he has got Periera out here at the Hacienda to fake up counterfeit Federal bonds to replace the real ones that he has just handed over to Paulette. I reckon that they think that this is one helluva joke. Maybe they sit there an' laugh their heads off.
"Well, after they have enjoyed this big joke, Granworth tells Paulette his big news. He tells her that his wife Henrietta is in New York an' that he has just received a note from her to the effect that she is goin' to see him that evenin' an' have a show-down about this woman he is supposed to be runnin' around with. Paulette is interested like hell. You bet she is. She is rather enjoyin' the joke. She asks Granworth what he thinks Henrietta will do. He tells her that he figures that Henrietta will say that unless he gives up this dame he is gettin' around with she will divorce him. He says that she will be all the more inclined to take one helluva strong line because she thinks that she has got the two hundred grand in Federal bonds that was in the safe deposit. She don't know that they have been switched an' that they are fake.
"Then Granworth an' Paulette have another helluva big laugh.
"Paulette says O.K. but she is mighty curious to know about this interview that is comin' along with Henrietta an' she would like to stick around an' hear what happens an' Granworth says O.K., that when he is through with Henrietta he will come back to his office an' if she will be waitin' there for him about eight-thirty he will tell her the works an' they can have another big laugh.
"Paulette says O.K. an' she goes back to her hotel an' probably gives herself a facial an' a big drink. She thinks that she is doin' swell.
"All this time the poor sap Rudy is restin' up at his hotel, tryin' to get himself up enough strength to have the big show-down with Granworth. But maybe he can't make it. Maybe he don't feel so good, so he just sticks around waitin' an' waitin' until he feels good enough to make it, an' if you people have ever known a guy who's got consumption real bad you'll know what I mean an' you'll feel for Rudy.
"An' Granworth just sits around in his office waitin' for Henrietta to telephone.
"In the late afternoon she gets on the wire. She tells Granworth that she has just gotta see him an' she asks him where. He says at some little down town cafe an' when the time comes Henrietta goes along, an' he drives up in his car an' they have a big talk.
"Granworth has had a coupla drinks an' is fairly high an' fulla courage. He tells Henrietta he don't give a damn for her an' that she can do what she likes. When she says that she will divorce him if he don't give up this other dame, he says O.K. an' if she does he won't pay her any alimony, that he will leave the country first. Then she says she don't give a hoot about the alimony because she has got the Federal bonds an' then he just laughs like hell, because he is thinkin' what a funny story he will have to tell Paulette when he goes back to the office an' meets up with her again."
I stop talkin' because there is a knock at the door. Metts gets up an' goes across. He talks to the cop at the door an' then he comes back across the room to me. He has got two telegrams in his hands an' he gives 'em to me. I bust 'em open an' read 'em. One is from the "G" office in New York an' the other is from a Captain of Mexican Police Rurales in the Zoni district to Mexican Police Headquarters at Mexicali, who have forwarded it on to me from there.
They both look pretty good to me.
I put 'em down on the desk in front of me an' I go on.
"Henrietta can't say anything else," I tell 'em. "He is drunk an' she knows it. She gets up an' she leaves, an' she goes back to the depot an' takes the first train back to Hartford, Connecticut. We know she does this because two guys in the railway service, a ticket clerk an' a train attendant, have identified her picture as bein' on the train that left at twenty minutes to nine.
"O.K. Well, returnin' to Granworth. He goes back to his car an' he starts it up an' he drives back to his office. By now it is about eight-thirty an' he is lookin' forward to havin' a big laugh with Paulette about his talk with Henrietta an' maybe he is figuring on takin' her some place to dinner.
"Right. Granworth goes up to his office an' there he finds two people waitin' for him. He finds Langdon Burdell an' Paulette. When he goes in the door of the outer office he is so high that he forgets to close it behind him. If he had I mighta not been tellin' this story.
"Anyhow he goes inta the inner office an' he gives himself another drink an' he starts laughin' his head off. Then he starts tellin' Paulette and Burdell about his interview with Henrietta. He tells these two that the poor sap Henrietta thinks that she has got two hundred grand in Federal bonds an' that the poor mutt is threatenin' him with divorce thinkin' that she has got plenty money an' that all the time all she has got is a bunch of counterfeit paper.
"They all start laughin' like hell. They all think that it is one helluva joke an' just when they are screamin' their heads off the door opens an' in walks Rudy Benito, and I reckon this guy has been standin' in the outer office an' has heard them tellin' the whole bag of tricks.
"Rudy starts in. He tells 'em all about it. He tells Granworth what a cheap four-flushin' devil he is an' then he turns around to Paulette an' tells her what he thinks about her. He tells her just what he thinks about a lousy daughter of hell who would help to swindle her dyin' husband an' who could sit down an' laugh about it.
"He stands there pointin' his finger at 'em. An' then he tells 'em something else.
"He says that the fact that Granworth is prepared to return the money don't matter a damn to him. He says that he is goin' to the police. He says that he is goin' to bust the whole works an' hold 'em both up for all the world to see what lousy scum they are. He says that if it's the last thing he ever does he's goin' to put 'em behind the bars.
"An' then what! Well, I'll tell you. Paulette here is pretty burned up. She is furious at bein' caught out like this. Right by where she is sittin' on the edge of Granworth Aymes' desk is a big paper weight the figure of a boxer, the same one that's there now. She gets up an' she grabs it. She smashes it down on Rudy's skull an' she kills him. He lies there dyin,' a poor sick guy that never had a chance, an' there, sittin' in that chair lookin' at us, is the lousy dame who did it!"
Paulette cracks. She jumps up. She rushes across to the desk an' she leans across it. Her eyes are blazin' an' she is so worked up she can hardly talk.
"I never did it," she yells. "I tell you I never did it. It's all true but the killing. I didn't do that. Granworth did it. He killed Rudy. I tell you he killed him with the paper weight."
She falls on the floor in front of the desk. She lies there writhin'. I go around an' take a look at her.
