CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I moved silently across the room, and as I reached the bed,
Berry’s eyes opened. We looked at each other. Then he made
a desperate clutch at the gun, but I beat him to it. My hand
closed over the butt as his hand closed over the barrel. I
jerked the gun out of his grasp and stood back.
“Hello,” I said.
He stared up at me. I could see a damp patch on the
pillow surrounding his head, and looking more closely, I saw
he had sweated right through his clothes.
“Collins!” he gasped in a husky whisper. “I thought it was
the cops.”
“Not this time, but they’re outside. They’re looking for
me.”
“Am I glad to see you,” he said. “I’ve been waiting hours.
Gimme a drink, will you? You don’t know what I’ve been
through.”
“What’s the matter with you?” I sat at the foot of the bed,
holding the gun with the barrel pointing down at the floor.
“It’s my back. That bastard threw me. I must have
fractured my spine.”
“What have you got to grumble about? The b@stard as
you call him is dead. Dix shot him.”
Berry’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s nothing to do with me. What are you doing here?”
“The police are hunting for me. They imagine I’m one of
your crowd. Funny, Isn’t it? You fellows collect three hundred thousand pounds’ worth of diamonds and I get the blame.
They might even hang me if they catch me.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” Berry said quickly. “They
wouldn’t hang me either, I didn’t kill him.”
“The diamonds don’t seem to be doing you much good
now, do they?”
“Never mind about the diamonds. Get me a drink, will
you? And get me a doctor. Don’t sit there staring at me. I’ve
been lying here for hours. At first it hurt like h.ell, but it’s stopped hurting now.” His voice shook. “It scares me. I can’t feel my legs any more.”
“Bill Yates can’t feel anything any more.”
“What are you talking about? Look, for the love of Mike,
give me a drink!”
“Cant you move?”
Barry swore at me.
“Don’t I keep telling you! I’ve busted my back. I can’t feel
my legs. I can’t even raise my head. You’ve got to get to get a doctor to me.”
“Why didn’t Dix or Joe or Louis send for a doctor?”
Berry closed his eyes.
“Joe said he was going to. Maybe he couldn’t get hold of
one.”
“Are you trying to kid me?”
“What do you mean?”
“They’ve left you here to die, that’s what I mean.”
“No! They wouldn’t do a thing like that,” he gasped.
“Maybe they’re in a jam themselves. What does it matter now?
You’re here. Get me a doctor. Use the phone over there. Call
a hospital.”
“They might hang you.”
“Don’t talk cr@zy. They don’t know who I am. They don’t
know I pulled the job. I can say I had a fall. Get on the phone,
d@mn you!”
“Where’s Dix?”
He stared at me, his thin, hard mouth working.
“How do I know? Will you get a doctor?”
I took out a packet of cigarettes, lit one and put the
packet back while he lay snarling at me.
“For God’s sake! Can’t you see how bad I am? Gimme a
drink. There’s Scotch in the other room. I haven’t had a filing for hours. Gimme a drink and call the hospital!”
“Where’s Dix?”
A furious, trapped expression came into his eyes.
“I’ll fix you, Collins, if you don’t do what I say! If you don’t get on to a hospital I’ll see your godd@m wife gets those art pictures!”
I leaned forward and smacked his face hard enough to
jerk his head to one side. He gave a sharp, stifled scream, his eyes rolled back and he went limp.
I got to my feet, and bending over him, I felt his pulse. It
was beating feebly. By the look of him I didn’t think he was
going to last long. I didn’t want him to die before he told me where Dix was. He must know. If he didn’t, then I was sunk.
I went into the other room and over to the bar. I mixed a
weak whisky and water. Before returning to the bed-room, I
paused to look out of the window.
The police car had gone, and there was no sign of
anyone in the street below.
I went into the bedroom, and poured a little of the whisky
and water between Berry’s lips. He gasped, opened his eyes
and looked dazedly up at me.
“Come on,” I said. “You wanted this, so drink it.”
He drank what was in the glass and then closed his eyes
again. I didn’t like the look of him. The flesh on his face
sagged, and his breathing came in slow, laboured gasps.
I decided to let him rest for a few minutes before asking
him again, and turned my attention to the big wardrobe by the door.
It contained several suits. I took down a fawn-coloured
sports coat and a pair of dark brown whipcord trousers. I tried on the coat. It was a little loose on me, but the fit was good enough. I found a yellow linen shirt and a hand-painted orange and red tie.
I stripped off my own clothes and changed into the clothes I had chosen. On a shelf in the wardrobe I found a grey, slouch hat. It was a shade too big for me, but by jutting a
strip of newspaper behind the hat band it fitted well enough.
I surveyed myself in the mirror. I had been wearing a
blue double-bre@sted suit without a hat. This gaudy outfit I know had on changed my appearance from a distance in a
startling way! I looked like an American tourist, and so long as I could keep a fair distance between myself and any detective,
I had no misgivings that I would be recognised.
I next unearthed a pair of brown and white, reverse calf
shoes which fitted me as if they had been made for me.
Hunting through the drawers in the wardrobe I came upon a
pair of dark green sunglasses, and when I put them on and put
on the hat I was satisfied my disguise was complete.
I took off the hat and glasses and went back to Berry.
He lay watching me, his face lined with pain.
“Where’s Dix?” I asked, bending over him.
He closed his eyes.
“If you want a doctor you’d better tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
“You must know where he was heading. Where did you
plan to meet him before you where hurt?”
His eyes shift.
“We were going to meet here.”
“You’re lying. He wouldn’t come here.” I reached out and
took hold of his shirt front. “You’re going to tell me. If I pull you upright it’ll kill you, and that’s what I’m going to do if you don’t tell me.”
”Leave me alone!”
“Where’s Dix?”
I tightened my grip and moved him slightly.
Sweat jumped out of his face and he screamed out.
“Stop it! Don’t do it!”
“Where’s Dix?”
He put his hand on my wrist and his nails cut into my
skin as he tried feebly to break my hold. Again I lifted him a fraction of an inch. His eyes started out of his head and he screamed out again.
“I’ll tell you.”
Very carefully I relaxed my grip.
“Where, is he?”
“Monk’s Farm, Ilmer,” he groaned.
“That’s near Princes Risborough, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Come on,” I said roughly, “you’re washed up, Berry.
Don’t kid yourself they’ll come back for you. Why should they
when they can get away with all that money and leave you to
carry the can. Where do they go from Ilmer? Are they planning
to leave the country?”
All resistance seemed to have gone out of him.
“Yes. When it’s dark a hover plane’s going to pick them
up. There’s a field at the back of the farm. They’re going to
Paris.”
I stood away from the bed. I couldn’t be absolutely sure
he was telling the truth, but I had an idea he was.
“Where are the negatives of those pictures you took of
me?”
“Get me a doctor,” he groaned.
I caught hold of his shirt front again.
“Where are they?”
His eyes snapped open.
“Don’t touch me. They’re in the desk in the other room.
Get me a doctor, Collins. I’ll do anything you say if you’ll get me a doctor.”
I smiled at him.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? The police are outside
watching for me. I don’t want a doctor to find me here. You’ll
have to wait.”
I went into the other room, searched through the desk
and found a wooden box packed full of negatives and prints.
The pictures of Gloria and me were on top of the rest of them.
I had to go through a lot of muck before I found the negatives.
I carried the box over to the fireplace, emptied the contents
into the grate and set fire to it.
I thought of the misery that was going up in those flames;
of the men like myself who had stepped out of line and had
been blackmailed probably for years.
I wondered if there were any more-prints of the negatives
in existence. There would be time to go into that later on. Even though I had told Ann what I had done, I still couldn’t bear the thought of her seeing those pictures.
I returned to the desk and wait through every drawer. I
found about thirty pounds and some odd silver in a tin cash-
box which I didn’t hesitate to put in my pocket. I also found an ignition key I guessed belonged to Berry’s Humber and
another larger key with a label attached on which was
scrawled: Garage No. 3.
That gave me an idea. I went into the kitchen that
overlooked the back of the building. Below in the mews I could see a row of garage lock-ups.
I returned to the bedroom.
“Is your car in the garage?”
“You’re not going to leave me!” he gasped. “You’re going
to help me, aren’t you?”
“Is your car in the garage?” I repeated.
“Yes, but before you go, you’ll call a doctor, won’t you?”
“If you want a doctor so badly, call him yourself,” I said,
coming to the foot of the bed and looking down at him. “I
wouldn’t raise a finger to help a rat like you. I was going to kill you, but now I don’t have to. You haven’t much longer to live.
A doctor can’t do anything for you.” I waved my hand towards
the telephone. “If you think he can, go ahead, and call him. I’m not stopping you.” I picked up the grey hat and the sunglasses and made for the door.
“Collins!” he gasped. “Don’t leave me! I’m sorry for what I
did to you. Don’t leave me to die here alone.”
“So long,” I said, opening the door. “If you’re lucky your
pals will do something for you, but I doubt it. You’re not fit to live. While you’re waiting to die, think of all the mugs you photographed and blackmailed. It’ll take your mind off yourself.”
I went out of the room and shut the door. In the hall I opened and examined the two suit-cases. I repacked one, taking the most useful articles such as a suit of dark brown material, some shirts, shoes, shaving kit, another
automatic, a half-pint flask of brandy and about ten thousand
francs, from the two cases.
I could hear Berry feebly calling, but I paid no attention.
I had a gun, money, a car and a change of clothes. I was
ready now to settle my score with Dix.
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