I opened the doors and drove the truck in. As I did so I
saw one of the policemen outside the soiling-office turn
abruptly and walk inside.
As I shut the garage doors, Ann appeared in the office
doorway.
“Harry, come upstairs!”
The urgency in her voice startled me. I shot the last of
the bolts and walked quickly down the length of the garage.
She had already gone up the stairs and I followed her.
I found her in the sitting-room. She had been crying, and
one look at her white, frightened face brought me to a
standstill.
“What’s the matter?”
“Have you heard about Bill?”
“Bill? I reached forward and caught hold of the back of a
chair to steady myself. The muscles in my legs began to
flutter. “What do you mean?”
“They killed him, Harry.”
For a moment I thought I was going to be sick.
“They couldn’t have! He wasn’t there! What are you
trying to do to me?”
“He got back in time to go with the van. He’s dead,
Harry.”
I moved slowly and stiffly around the chair and sat down.
“How do you know? I don’t believe it! There’s a mistake,
Ann. He can’t be dead!”
“The police told me.”
My heart seemed to stop and then race madly.
“The police? Ann! The police haven’t been here, have
they?”
“Oh yes,” she said in a flat, tired voice. “They came just
after you left. They wanted to see you. They wanted to ask
you about Bill.”
“But Bill couldn’t have got back in time! I saw him on to
the train. There’s been a mistake . . .”
“Oh, Harry! Do you think I’d say it was Bill unless it was
Bill? He’s dead! They killed him!”
I stared at her.
The room suddenly spun before my eyes, went dark and
I had a horrible feeling I was going to faint I got hold of myself, pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes.
“Did you have anything to do with this robbery, Harry?
You’ve got to tell me! I must know!”
Bill dead! If I had only told him what I had suspected he
would be alive now. Ann was still speaking, but I didn’t hear what she was saying. There was a dead feeling inside my
head. They had killed Bill! In spite of all my precautions, all my planning, Bill was dead.
“Harry!”
I started, shook my head and stood up.
“Leave me alone, Ann. I’ve got to think. Don’t talk to me
for a moment.”
“But I’ve got to talk to you!” she cried. “Don’t you
understand the police have been here? They’ve been asking
questions. I trusted you, Harry. I told them the truth, believing you were telling me the truth. Now, I’m not sure any more.
Don’t you understand? I may have said something to give you
away. You’ve got to listen!”
“What have you told them?” I went up to her and caught
hold of her arms, peering into her white face. “What have you
told them?”
“They wanted to know about Bill; about the telephone
call from the doctor. They asked if you had ever been to the sorting-office.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I said you went over there last night to give Harris a cup
of tea.”
I let go of her and stepped back.
“Harry! Didn’t you give him a cup of tea? You went over
there—I saw you!”
“No, I didn’t give him the tea. I didn’t see him.”
“But you said you did give it to him!”
“Did I? I don’t remember what I said. I didn’t give him any
tea. I looked for him, but I didn’t see him so I came back.”
I wasn’t thinking of what I was saying. All I could think of
was that Bill was dead, and it was my fault that he had died.
If I had warned him at the beginning and hadn’t thought only of myself, he would be alive at this moment
“Harry! You’re lying to me!” Ann tried, beating her fists
together. “Oh, Harry, for God’s sake, tell me the truth. At least tell me the truth. You know I love you: you know I will do anything for you; but I must know the truth.
What were you doing over there last night?”
The first shock was passing. I felt a cold, murderous rage
against Dix growing inside me. If it was the last thing I did I was going to find and kill him.
“Harry!”
I looked at her, and she stepped back, catching her
breath.
“Don’t look like that! What is it? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking it’s time, Ann, I did tell you the truth,” I said
quietly, “I went over to the sorting-office last night to put the alarm bell out of action: the alarm bell on Bill’s van.”
She closed, her eyes. Her hands went to her bre@sts,
and she stood for a long moment, motionless. Then she
opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Why did you do it?”
“Because I hadn’t the guts to refuse to do it, Ann. That’s
why I did it.”
“Dix and the others are responsible for the robbery
then?”
“Yes.”
“And that girl: she is one of them?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, Harry, how could you?”
“I broke my promise to you, Ann. I went to see her when
you were away at your mother’s. Dix blackmailed me. If I didn’t
put the alarm bell out at he was going to show you proof that I had been with that girl: and it wasn’t pretty proof. I hadn’t the guts to face you, so I did it.”
She sat down suddenly, her fists clenched tightly in her
lap.
“I thought I had got Bill out of the way. I wouldn’t have
gone through with it if I had any idea that Bill might run into that mob.”
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