She went up to him and threw her arms round his neck.
“I love you, Ed. It’ll be all right when we get to Paris,
won’t it?”
He pushed her away.
“Who said you weren’t soft?” he sneered at her. “Let’s
get these stiffs out of sight. Then we’ll celebrate.”
She looked questioningly at him then bent and caught
hold of Louis’s right foot.
“Let’s get him into the barn,” Dix said, catching hold of
the dead man’s other foot. “Come on—heave.”
I watched them drag Louis’s body through the thick
grass, across the drive and into the barn. When they had
disappeared into the barn, I took out my handkerchief and
wiped my face with an unsteady hand.
There was a sick feeling now inside me. The score, after
all, was not settled. My hand groped for Berry’s gun. I pulled it out of my pocket, jacked the shell from the breech and slipped out the clip. I then carefully reloaded the gun. I, too, couldn’t
afford to miss if I had to shoot.
Gloria and Dix were now dragging Joe’s great body
towards the barn. They moved slowly, leaving a broad trail of blood on the grass. When they had disappeared again into the barn, I got up and ran quickly round to the back of the house.
The next stage in this drama would take place inside the
house, and I didn’t intend to miss any of it.
I climbed in through the open window at the back, and
took up my position at the door which I opened a few inches.
Then I waited.
After a few minutes I heard them come into the house.
They went into the front room.
“Give me a drink, Glorie,” Dix said. “A good stiff one.
Have one yourself.”
“I wish we didn’t have to wait so long,” she said uneasily.
I heard the chink of glasses and the sound of liquor being
poured. “We have nearly three hours and a half to wait. I wish Tom Was coming sooner.”
“It’s got to be dark. If he’s spotted coming in, they might
send a plane after us.”
“Yes, but I wish we didn’t have to wait so long. I shan’t be
happy until we’re in Paris, Ed.”
“Don’t be too sure you’ll be happy then,” Dix grunted.
“What the hell am I going to do in Paris with this goddam face
of mine?”
“We’ll stay at Tom’s place. It’ll wear off in time, Ed. Don’t worry about it.”
“That’s one place we’re not going to stay at,” Dix snarled.
“Tom’s too keen on pawing you to please me. If I catch him . .
“Ed! Don’t talk like that. Please.”
“Give me another drink,” Dix said irritably. “I’m warning
you, Glorie. If Tom starts his tricks with you again, he’s going to run into a pile of grief and so are you.”
“Ed, do you think we should wait here?” Gloria asked
after a short pause. “I keep thinking of Berry.”
Dix swore.
“I was forgetting Berry. Okay, we’ll get out to the field.
There’s plenty of cover in the woods. Maybe it will be safer
than staying here.”
“Let’s do that,” Gloria said eagerly. “I’ll do it now.”
“Give me time to finish my drink. No need to start a
panic.”
“If anything went wrong now . . .”
“Aw, shut up! Nothing’s going to go wrong.”
I heard Dix come out into the passage.
“Didn’t they say they left the case in the back room
upstairs?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll go up and get it.”
I heard him mount the stairs. I peered around the door.
Gloria was standing in the passage, her back to me, looking up the stairs. I pulled back out of sight and waited.
I heard Dix suddenly curse obscenely and vilely, then his
heavy tread thudded along the upper landing to the front room.
“What is it, Ed?” Gloria exclaimed.
There was a crash as he slammed back the cupboard door in the front room.
“What’s the matter?” he shouted violently, coming on to
the landing again. “It’s not here!”
“It must be!”
“It damn well isn’t!”
She ran up the stairs.
“Let me look.”
“Go ahead and look,” Dix said, his voice shaking with
rage. “It’s not up here!”
I heard her run into the back room, then along the
passage into the front room
“It must be downstairs then,” she said after a long pause.
“I’m sure Joe said it was in the back room, perhaps he meant
the downstairs back room.”
I moved over to the window and slid through it on to the
path. Silently I crossed the path and took cover behind the
screen of shrubs facing the window.
A minute or so later Dix entered the room and stood
looking round.
“Nothing here.”
“The kitchen then,” Gloria said, her voice unsteady.
Dix shoved past her and went into the kitchen. He came
back immediately, his eyes like chips of ice.
“Nothing there.”
They looked at each other. Gloria was shaking.
“It must be in the barn.”
“Then let’s look in the bam,” Dix said in a low, savage
voice. I had the impression he was only holding himself in with a great effort. “Come on; let’s look in the barn.”
As they went along the passage to the front door, I ran
around the back of the house and took up a position in the
long grass where I could see all the out-buildings.
They came out of the house at a run. Gloria’s face was
white and drawn. She was the first to reach the barn. A few
seconds were long enough to convince them the suit-case
wasn’t in there, and they came out.
“In one of these buildings,” Gloria said frantically. “It must be, Ed.”
“Go and look!”
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