“Sure,” Joe said, taking out a packet of Players. He
dropped them into her lap. “How bad is he, Glorie?”
“Pretty bad. He was blind when I found him.”
Joe looked at her, then looked away.
“With that face and not being able to see, he should be a
big help when we get to Paris, shouldn’t he?”
“I’ve thought of that.”
“Well, he’s your funeral, Glorie. You’re his girl.”
“Am I?” She moved her legs so her skirt rode up a little to
show her knees. “I could be your girl if you felt that way about it, Joe.”
“Ed would love that.”
“He mightn’t have much choice.”
Joe moved restlessly.
“Better not let Louis hear you say that.”
“You haven’t heard the whole story yet.”
Louis came out of the house and walked back to where
the other two sat under the tree.
“He’s practically blind,” he said excitedly. “I had to put
him on the bed.”
“Sit down and shut up,” Joe snapped. “Glorie’s got
something to tell us. What goes on, Glorie?”
“When Ed left you,” she said, speaking rapidly, “he got
as far as the White City, then he went blind. This stuff he’s got on his face worked into his eyes.”
“He’s just told us that,” Louis said impatiently.
“But he didn’t tell you he crashed the car. He drove it up
on the pavement and through a wall.”
Joe and Louis stared at her.
“What happened to the diamonds?” Joe said, clenching
his great fists.
“I should have thought you’d’ve asked that before now,”
Gloria said, lighting her cigarette.
“What happened to the diamonds?” Joe repeated,
leaning forward, his small eyes glittering.
“He left them in the car.”
Joe jumped to his feet
“You’re lying! This is a godd@m double cross! No one
would leave two hundred thousand . . .”
“Don’t be a fool, Joe!” Gloria said sharply. “He was blind.
The car went into a wall. How could he do anything about the
diamonds? There were four mail bags. He didn’t know which
one they were in. Do you think he should have carried four
mail bags on his back?”
“For God’s sake!” Louis said driving his fist into the palm
of his hand “They were our diamonds!”
“No, they weren’t,” Joe said quickly. “We’ve got our
diamonds upstairs, Louis. Those diamonds belonged to Ed
and Gloria.”
Louis stared at him.
“We were going to have seventy-five thousand each,” he
said. “There’s only a hundred thousand worth upstairs.”
“Fifty thousand’s better than nothing,” Joe said.
“Twenty-five thousand,” Gloria said quietly. “We cut it
four ways now, Joe.”
“Who says so?” Joe demanded.
“Ed says so.”
Joe started to say something, then stopped. He looked
uneasily at Louis.
“Go on, Joe, don’t be shy,” Gloria said. “You’re among
friends.”
Joe sat down.
“They’re our diamonds,” he said “We looked after them.
We didn’t lose them. Ed’s got no claim on them.”
“Don’t tell me,” Gloria said, flicking ash on to the grass.
“Tell Ed.”
“You’ll only run into trouble, Joe,” Louis said. “He’s too
fast for you.”
Joe didn’t say anything. He scowled down at his hands,
then he looked over at Gloria.
“What do you think?”
“Suppose Ed agrees to drop out,” Gloria said quietly.
“What happens to me?”
“Do you want to throw in with me, Glorie?”
“What’s going on?” Louis demanded suspiciously. “She’s
Ed’s girl. Have you gone crazy or something, Joe?”
“Shut up!” Joe snarled. “What about it, Glorie?”
She gave him that exciting look that had got me going.
“I said you could have me if you wanted me, Joe.”
He leaned over and grabbed her.
Louis watched them, white-faced and scared.
“If Ed catches you, he’ll kill you.”
“Now now, Joe,” Gloria said. She pulled away from him.
Neither of them took any notice of Louis. “In a little while, but not now. What are we going to do about Ed?”
Joe looked suddenly wary.
“We’ll ditch him. We three will take the money and leave
him here.”
Gloria smiled.
“He may have other ideas. Remember what he said
about Berry?”
“A shot might be heard,” Joe said.
“Something about opening Berry’s veins,” Gloria said.
Joe looked at her, then over at Louis who was staring,
his face now as white as a fresh fall of snow.
“Yes, but it won’t be easy.”
“The two of you could do it, Joe.”
Joe shook his head.
“He’s too damned fast with a gun. He wouldn’t let us get
near him.”
“But he can’t see, Joe. If you rushed him . . .”
“Not as long as he’s got the gun.”
Gloria lifted her shoulders.
“All right; then what are you going to do?”
Joe sat down again. He lit a cigarette, blew a long
stream of smoke down his nostrils, and then looked over at Louis.
“What do you say, Louis?”
Louis wiped his face with his coat sleeve. “I’m not
splitting my share three ways, Joe. If you want Glorie, you split
with her, but I’m not going to.”
“I didn’t ask you to, did I?” Gloria snapped
“No, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t hoping I would,”
Louis returned, scowling at her.
“We’re talking about Ed,” Joe said sharply. “Think we
ought to put him out of the way, Louis?”
“Couldn’t we risk a shot?” Louis said after a long pause.
“No!” Gloria said. “We’ve got to remain here until the
plane comes: we have another five hours. If someone heard
and told the police . . .”
“Yes, she’s right,” Joe said. “You’ve got a knife, haven’t
you, Louis?”
“Do you think I’m cr@zy enough to get that close to him?”
“The two of us. I’ll jump him, then you finish him.”
“Not as long as he has a gun.”
Joe nodded.
“That’s sense,” he said, looking at Gloria. “Get his gun, Glorie, and we’ll do the rest. It’ll be easy for you to get it. Go in there now and give him some love. We’ll fix him if you get the gun.”
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