“Usually I like to be paid for my trouble. This time is an exception.”
“You want to know why I want to buy Selby Farm ?”
“We could work well together,” approved Rollison.
“But I guess we’re not going to,” the Texan responded, “because you aren’t going to be satisfied with my reasons, Mr. Rollison. I work for a man in New York. He hired me last week to come over here and buy Selby Farm. He knew there might be competition, or he wouldn’t have hired me. He didn’t tell me more than that. I was paid five thousand dollars in advance, and all my expenses, including first class on the United States one way and the Queen Elizabeth the other, so I didn’t argue. Sure, I expected trouble, and I’ve got it.”
“His name?” asked Rollison.
Slowly, the Texan shook his head.
“I just can’t tell you his name, because that was a condition of the contract. You wouldn’t want me to break a contract, even a verbal one, would you? I can ask his permission to give you his name, but I don’t know that he will agree. So I can’t pay a fortune in the way of fees for your help. I hate to see any of that five grand disappear, but I’d rather not be held on a murder rap.”
He could be telling the truth.
He could be telling a taller story than any that had ever come out of Texas.
Before Rollison spoke, while they stood there within hand’s reach of the murdered man, and with tension between them, there was an exclamation from Gillian, and suddenly she came hurrying. When she reached the doorway, she looked as scared as if she had seen another corpse.
“A police car has just stopped outside,” she said.
8
TOFF ALONE
If she had known the American all her life and been passionately in love with him, she couldn’t be more terrified for him than she did now. And for the first time Tex Brandt was uneasy; it would not be true to say that his confidence was shattered, but he lost a little of it, and his look at Rollison was almost appealing.
“Back home, I’d know how to handle this situation, he declared “How would you handle it here, Mr. Rollison?
“I believe the expression is ‘take a powder’,” Rollison said
“Don’t stand there talking!” Gillian almost shouted, for car doors were slamming outside, and even m this room they could hear the hurrying footsteps of several men. The Texan’s eyes lit up.
“Do I go on my own?”
“Yes I’ll look after Gillian.” As if by sleight of hand, Rollison took a card from his pocket, and slipped it into the lean browned hand. “That’s my London address. Go straight there and when you see my man, tell him 1 asked you to wait. FU try to telephone to warn him.”
“Mr Rollison, one day I’ll find a way of paying you back” the American said fervently. He took Gillian’s arm and squeezed, and then turned and turned out of the room.
“But he’ll run straight into the arms of the police,” Gillian said, hopelessly.
The police were now inside the house, walking and talking noisily. , , .
“If he does, he’s no shamus, and it won’t matter what happens to him,” Rollison said. “Now you’ve got to be more feminine than you’ve ever been, Gillian. We came here because Charlie told us where to come. We shall tell the police everything, except that we leave Tex out of the reckoning—I tackled Charlie, I tied him up, I frightened him into talking. Be slightly hysterical. You are terrified because of Alan, you can’t think where he is, you must find him. Swoon a bit, if needs be. And don’t take any notice of what I say.”
Men were running up the stairs.
“Yes,” Gillian said. “I mean, no.”
“Good girl! Now walk out. You’re pale enough to have seen a ghost. When they start to ask you questions, just look blank. Don’t talk until you have to.”
Men were on the landing.
“All right,” said Gillian, and she could not have been more pale, but she hurried out. Rollison stood looking out of the window of this back room, and was not surprised to see the Texan climbing over a wall a couple of hundred yards away; the sun was bright on his hair.
The police saw Gillian, barked questions, and were soon taken aback. Then two of them came hurrying, and Rollison met them in the doorway. He did not look pale, but was very thoughtful. They started to speak, and then saw the body on the bed. One of the men, stocky and very broad, moved swiftly to it, then pulled up short. The other stood in the doorway, as if he thought that Rollison might want to escape.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Looking for a missing man, and that isn’t the one,” said Rollison, and smiled grimly. “You chaps will make the Yard green with envy if you go on like this, he can’t have been dead more than half-an-hour.”
The man by the bed turned round.
“That’s about right. How long have you been here?”
“A quarter of an hour.”
“He might have been dead for fourteen minutes,” the man said aggressively. He looked so massive that he was hardly believable, and had a very strong face. The other, in the doorway, was taller and thinner. Outside, someone was questioning Gillian but obviously hadn’t got a word out of her.
“But he was dead when I arrived,” asserted Rollison earnestly, and flicked his fingers. A card appeared in it, identical with the one which he had given to the Texan. He did not hold it out so that his address showed, but the reverse side; and on this was a little pencilled sketch, of a top hat, a monocle, a cigarette in a holder, and a bow tie; in fact it was like a man without a face.
As the massive man looked at it, his aggression and suspicion seemed to fade, and his mouth actually opened in his astonishment.
“Are you Rollison?”
The man in the doorway exclaimed: “I wondered where I’d seen you before, sir.”
It was an excellent thing, thought the Toff, to have a reputation which could work such a miracle as that.
He told the story in a downstairs room, with Gillian leaning back in an armchair, her eyes closed, and a police-man watching over her somewhat anxiously; she was the kind of woman about whom all good men were anxious. The story was generally true, except that the Texan was left out of all the reckoning. By the time it was over, the massive man, Detective Inspector Bishop of the Brighton Criminal Investigation Department, was apparently satisfied. His men were upstairs, taking photographs and measurements and going all over the room and the house for finger-prints, and they would find the Texan’s; that was something to worry about later.
“How did you get here so fast?” Rollison asked. “Did you get a squeak?”
“A man telephoned and said there was a body here,” answered Bishop. “How right he was! Did anyone know you were on the way?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me.”
“It looks as if you’d be framed.”
“I couldn’t have put it more neatly myself,” said Rollison, fervently. “The timing was pretty good, and you’re very good to take me on trust. I’m worried about Miss Selby, and I’m also worried about her brother. Think you’ve got enough cause to put a call out for him ?”
“Ample. Can you give us a description?”
“I can,” said Gillian, opening her eyes unexpectedly. “He’s six feet tall, has crinkly fair hair parted on the right, a snub nose, blue eyes, a short upper lip, which makes it look as if he’s always going to break into a smile. He’s very thin, he only weighs nine stone thirteen pounds, and he’s got a big red birthmark under his right knee.”
Bishop almost burst out laughing.
“Perfect! Do you know what clothes he was wear-ing?”
“An old brown sports jacket with dark leather edges at the cuffs and patches at the elbow,” Gillian answered, “and a pair of new worsted flannel trousers, brown brogue shoes, rather old, and pink socks.”
“Pink socks?”
“Pink socks.”
“I suppose you know. How soon can we get a photograph?” asked Bishop.
“Well, the best one he’s ever had was taken when he was walking along the prom at Brighton last year, by the Echo. He had his picture in the newspaper the same night, I expect they’ll have a copy of the photo.”
“If we can’t get one from the Echo, we’ll get one from you,” Bishop said. “Can we leave Miss Selby to you, Mr. Rollison?”
“Yes, gladly.”
“Where can we get in touch with you ?”
“I’ll be at Selby Cottage, or else let you know where I’m off to,” Rollison promised.
“Thanks very much,” said Bishop, as if that were indeed of favour. “Is there anything we can do for you ?”
“You can tell me where to get a meal,” said Gillian, almost plaintively. “I’ve a splitting headache, and I’m sure it’s partly because I’m famished. I know I probably shouldn’t think of food just now, but I can’t help it.” She stood up, and it was obvious from her glittering eyes that her head ached very badly indeed. “You will find my brother, won’t you?”
“Just as soon as we can,” promised Bishop. “And we’ll be along to try to find out what this sudden interest in the farm is about. There’s this man, whom you say is named Lodwin, and the other would-be buyer you know as Charlie.”
“That’s right,” Rollison said, firmly.
“If two people want that farm, and one’s prepared to do murder,” Bishop began, and then broke into a broad smile. “But you won’t need me to add up two and two to make four! Thank you for your help. Morgan!” he called a detective officer. “Take Mr. Rollison and Miss Selby to the Ocean Cafe, they’ll get a good meal there. Then see them home.”
What he meant, Rollison knew, was : “Then follow them home.”
Detective Inspector Bishop might be affable and even obliging, but he didn’t intend to let Rollison out of sight until he had checked on his story.
“Feel better?” Rollison asked Gillian, an hour later. They were sitting in the front of his car, and he was
Starting the engine. The policeman, Morgan, was near them in another car: he was going to follow them, he had explained simply, so as to make sure that they ran into no more trouble.
“I’m much better,” Gillian answered, “but I feel almost like a ghoul, eating like that when Alan’s missing.”
“No one said that he was starving,” Rollison observed. “The one essential thing now is to keep your head and tell the same story every time.”
“I won’t panic,” Gillian assured him. “I’ve worked that out of my system.”
“I really believe you have.” It was easy to admire her matter-of-factness.
“But it could soon come back,” Gillian went on. “For instance, what are we going to do with that man in the box-room? Aren’t the police likely to want to look round the cottage ?”
“If the man’s still there when we get back I shall be surprised,” Rollison said. “That kind of individual doesn’t travel alone. He’ll have been released by now.”
“I don’t know whether to hope you’re right or not,” said Gillian, and so proved again that she could be remarkably dispassionate, even under pressure. “He might have been able to tell us a lot more.”
“I doubt it, Tex the Texan milked him pretty well,” said Rollison. “What is Tex’s other name?”
“William Brand, or Brandt,” answered Gillian, “and there’s an initial in the middle.”
“William Tex Brandt will do,” Rollison said, and drove in silence for fifteen minutes or so, until they were out of Brighton. It was nearly half-past three, and surprisingly warm. The cloudless sky gave the impression that rain could never fall out of it, but the spring flowers were beautiful in the parks and the private gardens, and a gentle wind made them nod. On the open road, Rollison put his foot down harder, and was within a few miles of the spot where he had left M.M.M. when Gillian burst out:
“But Where’s Monty?”
“He had a bit of bother with the straps of his leg, and had to rest,” Rollison told her, and not for the first time wondered how Montagu Montmorency Mome was getting on. “He’ll probably be waiting for us when we get to the cottage.” He drove again in silence for a few minutes, glancing now and again at the girl: she had a quite remarkable profile, and didn’t really seem quite true. He had never noticed before how her lashes swept round, so that they nearly touched her cheek.
“Gillian,” he said abruptly.
“Yes?”
“Have you the slightest idea why this sudden interest is being shown in the farm ?”
He stared at the road ahead, while she turned to look at him; when she spoke, it was very firmly indeed.
“I have no idea at all, and I’m sure Alan hasn’t. It’s a complete mystery. I would like you to believe that, and to stop doubting me.”
“Okay, honey,” said Rollison, and sparked an exclamation from her. Then Gillian asked :
“Do you think Tex will get to your flat safely?”
“I can’t think why not,” said Rollison. “That’s if he wants to.”
“Of course he wants to, don’t be ridiculous. By the way,” added Gillian, and Rollison saw that she was looking at him very intently indeed, “what is a shamus ?”
“Slang for a private dick or private detective,” Rollison told her promptly. “You heard as much as I did, Gillian. We want to find out who Tex’s employer is, and Charlie’s employer, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we want to find who was employing Lodwin, too.”
“If they’d kill one person, they’d kill another, wouldn’t they?” Gillian said, speculatively.
“We’ll find Alan, and we’ll find him alive,” Rollison assured her quietly.
They did not speak again until they were at the cottage; the first noticeable thing was that the black Humber, which Charlie had come in, was gone.
“So he did get away,” Gillian said, as if not sure whether to be pleased or sorry.
The front door was open, and it seemed obvious that no one had been there since they had left it. Rollison left the car in a position to leave again in a hurry if there were any need, and then went upstairs to see the man named Charlie. He had been quite serious when he had said that he expected to find the man gone, and was whistling under his breath when he reached the tiny landing.
Gillian was coming up the narrow stairs.
“It’s the second door on the right,” she said. “I wonder if you’re right.”
The door was ajar, and that suggested to Rollison that Charlie had flown. He pushed it wider and stepped inside, and then discovered that this was one of his bad guesses. Charlie had not driven off in that Humber. Charlie was lying on a little camp bed, as dead as a man could be; he had been stabbed in exactly the same place as Lodwin.
9
THE FARM
“What is it?” Gillian asked, in a strangely calm voice; it was as if she had a premonition, or as if she understood instinctively what made Rollison stop so abruptly. She was just behind him. Outside there was the sound of a car, approaching slowly; that would be the man whom Bishop had sent to follow them.
Rollison turned round. There was no point in trying to conceal anything, no point in trying to soften any blow. This girl had taken tremendous punishment in a few hours, and now his impression was that she had steeled herself to take yet more. He could see beyond the immediate fear, to her fear for her missing Alan. For if men could kill so slickly and cruelly as the killer of Lodwin and Charlie, then there was no telling where they would stop.
