Complete works of peter.., p.75
Complete Works of Peter Cheyney. Illustrated, page 75
"Well, I reckon that I know why she did this. She did it because she was expectin' Berenice Lee Sam, an' she didn't want me around while Berenice was there. When she sees me go she feels pretty good. I'll tell you why. She knows she is goin' to have a show-down with Berenice an' if Berenice cuts up rough or gets funny all Marella has gotta do is to tell her that she has already been in touch with the Federal authorities an' that if she has any nonsense she will make plenty trouble for all concerned. Not only can she say this but she can also support it by producing the telegram from the Director sayin' that an operative will be arrivin' between four an' five o'clock.
"So it rather looks by this as if Marella is a little bit frightened of what Berenice might do. She was feelin' a bit scared then, see, but she reckoned she'd got herself protected all right.
"Then Berenice arrives. Marella takes her up to the bedroom, an' on the way up she flips the receiver off the telephone, an' she does this just in case I'm goin' to ring through. In other words she don't want Berenice to find out that I have already been an' left. She wants Berenice to think that I am goin' to arrive at any moment.
"Now, what is the show-down between these two women? Well you know that as well as I do. The show-down is this: Marella has discovered that you an' Berenice Lee Sam are sweeties, that you've been playin' along together for months."
He sits up an' flushes.
"That's a damn' lie," he says, "just an ordinary damn lie. You're making that up, Caution."
"Like hell I am, Thorensen," I tell him, "I'm makin' it up so much that I've gotta letter written by Marella to you, with the handwritin' identified by your chief clerk in San Francisco, accusin' you of bein' Berenice Lee Sam's lover, an' tellin' you that she was goin' to make plenty trouble an' she didn't mean divorce neither. Well, if she don't mean divorce what does she mean? It means she's got somethin' on you two guys, an' she's goin' to blow it, don't it?
"An' that's just why she wanted to see Berenice Lee Sam. O.K. Well, these two women get talkin' an' I reckon this interview gets a bit stormy. Berenice loses her temper an' her head. She forgets about the fact that a 'G' man is supposed to be arrivin' at the place some time. She pulls that little .22 gun she's got an' she gives it to Marella.
"Now maybe she got Marella out inta the car on some excuse or other before she shot her, an' was able to drive off an' down to the docks an' push Marella in herself. Or maybe she left Marella there an' somebody else come along later an' moved the body. I don't know about that an' I'm not particularly interested in it anyway.
"But there is one thing I am durn certain of, Thorensen, an' that is before she went home an' we know what time she got home because old Lee Sam, who had been worryin' about her, rang through to the Precinct to say that she was all right she went to see you. She went to see you to tell you what had happened, to ask your advice, to wise you up about things. That would be the only logical sorta thing for her to do an' that is what she did.
"O.K. big boy, well you're goin' to talk an' you're goin' to talk plenty. I'm durn tired of stickin' around on this goddam case talkin' to one an' all an' just gettin' nowhere. The D.A. in San Francisco wants a pinch an' I'm goin' to give him one an' pronto.
"If you like to come across an' talk maybe you can still keep your nose clean on this job, but if you don't I'm goin' to stick a pair of bracelets on you, Sweetheart, an' I'm goin' to take you back to-night to San Francisco on an accessory to murder rap, an' I shall also probably give you one big smack on the kisser as well justa show there's no ill-feelin', an' how do you like that?"
He sits there lookin' like somebody had just pulled him outa a snow drift. He is tremblin' so much that he would make a shimmy dancer look like she was standin' still. I reckon I have got this guy where I want him.
"Listen, Thorensen," I tell him. "There ain't any real reason for you to be scared unless you start tryin' to hold out on me, in which case I will see you get plenty.
"Now the police have checked on your alibi for the day before yesterday, an' they are satisfied that you was around in San Francisco all day; that you didn't go out to Burlingame. O.K. Then if we can prove that Marella was killed out in Burlingame that lets you out, don't it?
"You admit that Berenice came an' saw you. Now here's where you gotta think hard. You gotta tell me everything that happened at that interview an' I don't want anything missed out, neither. Bein' a lawyer you will know that it is the little things that count. So get busy, you big jelly."
He gets up an' walks over to the drinks table an' pours himself out a stiff one. I see that his fingers are tremblin' more than ever. I reckon that this guy is well on the way to bein' a really bad case of too much hooch.
"I'll tell you what I know," he says. "There isn't any reason why I should hide anything." He sits down again. "First of all," he said, "it's a lot of bunk for anybody to suggest that there was anything goin' on between Berenice Lee Sam and me. The idea is just rubbish. First of all if you take a look at me you'll see that I'm not the sort of person that Berenice would fall for. That girl's got everything. She's got looks, figure, personality and her old man's worth a million if he's worth a cent, so what the hell has she got to fall for me for. Anybody who knows that girl will tell you that she's as cold as ice. She's never looked twice at any man in her life, she just hasn't any use for men."
I nod. But I am doin' a quiet grin to myself. I was just thinkin' about Berenice bein' as cold as ice!
He goes on talkin'.
"I didn't even know that she'd come back from Shanghai. I'd heard that she was taking a holiday there from old Lee Sam. The thing I was concentrating on was to get out of San Francisco as soon as I could . . ."
"Justa minute, Thorensen," I tell him. "What was the hurry about your gettin' out of San Francisco?"
He lights himself a cigarette an' looks at the end of it.
"I wanted to get away from Marella," he said. "She was getting me down. I don't think I can exactly explain what I mean but during the last six months she seemed to change. She got hard. Sometimes I saw her looking at me as if she would have liked to kill me.
"I disliked the atmosphere out at the Villa. Although I used to go there only at week-ends there was something about the place I didn't like. I couldn't explain what I felt even to myself but there was something odd.
"I was pretty relieved when I discovered that Marella wasn't going to raise any stringent objections to my shifting over to Los Angeles. She didn't seem to mind very much. She wasn't even particularly interested in the financial arrangements I made for her. The last two or three times that I saw her she seemed quite content with the idea of life by herself.
"At seven o'clock or thereabouts on the day of her death I was in my office sorting out some papers, when Berenice Lee Sam was announced. I was very surprised because she had never been in my office before. I thought for the moment that she had probably brought some message from her father.
"When she was shown into my room she sat down and seemed quite composed. I'm not saying that meant anything because, as you've probably guessed, it would take quite a lot to upset Berenice. She has an amazing coolness of mind and a poise that is seldom experienced in young women.
"She told me a most extraordinary story. She told me that some days before she had received a letter from Marella. The letter was couched in the most urgent language. It said that Marella was in serious trouble, that it was urgently necessary that Berenice returned to San Francisco so as to arrive on the 10th January. It went on to say that it was absolutely necessary, both for the sake of the writer and Berenice herself, that Berenice should be out at the Villa Rosalito about five o'clock on the 10th.
"Berenice went on to say that she had arrived on the China Clipper at four o'clock. She telephoned her father from the airport saying that she was back in San Francisco and that she was going out immediately to see Marella at the Villa Rosalito.
"She took a cab from the airport to Gettlin's Garage at the Burlingame end of Kearney, where she hired a car and drove out to Burlingame. When she arrived at the Villa she rang the doorbell several times over a period of five or six minutes but no one came to answer the door. She was beginning to wonder whether there was anyone at all in the place when the door was opened by Marella.
"Marella, according to Berenice, was not only surprised to see her but positively amazed. She asked Berenice to come in; said that she understood that she was in Shanghai, that she had no idea that she was returning to San Francisco yet awhile.
"Berenice was, naturally, astounded. She told me that she stood there in the hallway looking at Marella in absolute astonishment. Marella was smiling but seemed vaguely perturbed about something, and, as they stood there Marella picked up a telegram that was lying on the hall table and read it through carefully. Then she threw it back on the table and it slipped and fell between the table and the wall. Marella half bent down as if to pick it up and then seemed to change her mind and left it there.
"Berenice stood waiting for Marella to say something. Eventually in a quite casual sort of voice, Marella asked Berenice what she had come out to the Villa for.
"Berenice told her. She said that she had come in response to the letter she had received from Marella, the letter which had said that her presence at this time at the Villa was a necessity. She told me that while she was talking she saw an expression of astonishment cross Marella's face.
"When she had finished Marella laughed and said that they had better go upstairs and talk it over. As she walked past the small telephone table farther down the hall with Berenice following behind Marella took the telephone receiver off the hook, explaining as she did this that she did not want to be disturbed whilst they were talking.
"Berenice told me that they went upstairs into Marella's bedroom the front room upstairs. She says that the dressing-table was disarranged and that there was a silk scarf lying on the floor. Marella took no notice of this, in fact, she actually walked over it without attempting to pick it up and Berenice thought that this was rather strange.
"She went on to say that by this time she was aware of something very odd about Marella; something she could not quite explain. Marella asked her to sit down and then began to question her about the letter she had received in Shanghai. Berenice asked her point blank why having written the letter and asked her to come to the Villa it was necessary for Marella to inquire what she wanted.
"Marella laughed and said that she had just been having a joke and that it had been sweet to watch the surprise on Berenice's face. Then, Berenice said, the expression on Marella's face changed. She became quite serious. She leaned forward in her chair and said:
"'I want you to understand, Berenice, that if there is any trouble; if you try to make any trouble for Aylmar or myself if anyone tries to make any trouble then it will be just as serious for your father as it will be for us. Remember that. If there is any trouble the first person to be involved will be Lee Sam and you wouldn't like that, would you, Berenice?'
"Berenice told me that by this time she was beginning to wonder as to whether Marella had suddenly gone mad. She asked Marella exactly what she meant.
"Marella got up and said that there was no use discussing the situation, that if Berenice knew the truth of the situation well then explanations were unnecessary, and that if she didn't they were not needed. She then repeated the warning about old Lee Sam in the same serious voice, after which she said that she had a great deal to do about the house as she was without a maid, and that as it looked as if there was going to be a fog didn't Berenice think it would be wise to get back to San Francisco before it came down.
"By this time Berenice had come to the conclusion that it was quite useless to continue the discussion. So she said good-bye, left the house, got into her car, drove in to San Francisco and came straight to my office. She asked me if I could give her some explanation of Marella's extraordinary behaviour.
"I told her that I certainly could not. I said that I would telephone Marella immediately and ask what the devil all this nonsense was about. I told my secretary to put a call through to the Villa at once. We waited, and after ten minutes the girl said that she had called the Villa half a dozen times but that there was no reply. Berenice then pointed out that the telephone receiver was probably still off the hook at the Villa, and that was the reason that Marella was not answering.
"All the time that this was going on I felt that Berenice was eyeing me with a certain suspicion. I should point out to you that far from being fond of me Berenice has always treated me with a certain cool disdain. I rather felt that she regarded me as an inferior being, and I know that on one or two occasions she had tried to persuade her father to give his legal business into other hands.
"Now she asked me point blank whether I and her father or either of us had been doing anything that might entitle Marella to speak in the way she had. She asked me how Lee Sam could be involved in any sort of trouble by anyone. She said that she advised me to speak the truth otherwise she would go immediately to her father and insist that he investigated all this mysterious business.
"I thought the matter over for a few minutes and then made up my mind what I would tell her. I said that I did not know how Marella had become possessed of the information but that there was one thing which might cause a little trouble if it came to light."
He stops talkin' an' gulps down his drink. He looks over at the table as if he thinks he will have another one. Then he changes his mind an' goes on:
"Look, Caution," he says. "I'm going to blow the works. I'm going to tell you the truth an' maybe if it helps you any you'll make it as easy for me as you can. Here's the story:
"A couple of years ago Rudy Spigla who, as you know, is Rocca's head manager for the trucking business which handles the Lee Sam silks came to me and told me that there was some easy money to be made by running contraband silk through the Customs. He said that by using the Rocca trucks for the contraband we could make a considerable sum of money and that there was no possible chance of a slip-up.
"I asked him why it was necessary for me to come into the business and why he hadn't done it on his own. He replied that he wanted me in so that if the silk running were ever discovered I should be able to fix things so far as Lee Sam and Rocca were concerned. Spigla was especially concerned over Rocca because he was the one who would raise hell at being double-crossed because he was being very careful to play straight in San Francisco. If I were in on the job Spigla said it would be easy in case of a show-down for me to discover that someone else was responsible for the silk-running, and as old Lee Sam would be the one to be fined, the amount of danger was practically nil.
"The scheme seemed a watertight one. There certainly was no danger in it for me because I knew that if the matter came to light and Rocca discovered that Spigla had been doing it behind his back he would square accounts very quickly with a blackjack or a bullet, but that would be a matter between Rocca and Spigla I should be all right in any event.
"I was pressed for money at the time and I agreed to go in the job with Spigla. We've done damn well out of it too.
"Thinking this over I came to the conclusion that it would be the best thing for me to tell Berenice that old Lee Sam and I had been running silk. I knew that even if the old man denied this Berenice probably wouldn't believe him. I also knew that she would keep the business to herself and cover up in order to keep her old father's name out of it.
"So I told her just that. I said that Lee Sam and I had been running silk through the Customs and that the only possible thing I could think of was that Marella had got wind of it in some way or another."
"That was a pretty swell thing to do, wasn't it?" I ask him. "You're a pretty lousy sorta heel, ain't you, Thorensen? But you're clever enough. You know that by sayin' that the old man was in on the job Berenice would keep her mouth well shut. O.K., go on."
"Berenice seemed very surprised," he says. "She said she couldn't understand why her father should be concerned in petty contraband running when he was worth so much money.
"This was a point," Thorensen went on, "that I got over very easily by saying that she knew as well as I did how every Chinaman loved a gamble and that it was probably that angle and not the money that had made the old man like the idea.
"I got this over. She believed it."
He gets up an' goes over an' gives himself another drink.
"By now it was about twenty minutes to eight," he said. "Berenice got up and said good-bye in a cold way and walked out of the office.
"I thought I'd handled the situation pretty well. I thought it more than probable that as I was leaving San Francisco, and as she thought her old father was in on the job she would probably say nothing about the silk running. Anyhow I decided that I had nothing to worry about."
"Well, you was wrong, wasn't you?" I tell him. "Maybe Berenice is more of a fly baby than you think. Maybe you'd be surprised to know that she didn't even believe your story."
He looks surprised. "I don't get you," he says. I grin. "Look, mug," I tell him. "Maybe you'd be sorta surprised to hear that when Berenice an' her old man went down to the Precinct for a little questionin' Berenice got her old pa to make a statement about havin' been runnin' silk."
His eyes open.
"I don't get that," he said. "Why old Lee Sam had nothing to do with it. He knew nothing about it!"
"Right," I tell him. "An' that bein' so why does Berenice get him to confess to a business that he had nothin' to do with an' that he didn't know anything about. Well, here's the answer to that one. Berenice didn't believe your story. She believed that you were coverin' up for somethin' worse; but she knows that you'll stick to that story if there is a showdown, an' so she gets her old man to admit that he's been in on the business simply so that there shan't be a further investigation that might bring somethin' worse to light. Got me?"
