“What do you think? We get out at ten tonight whether
he’s here or not.”
“Maybe Hacket won’t take us without Ed.”
“You leave Hacket to me. He’ll take us,” Joe said grimly.
“Shut that d@mned door and come and finish your grub.”
I heard the door shut and their voices died to a murmur.
At least, I learned something. Dix wasn’t here, but there were
expecting him, and they were due off tonight at ten.
I wondered about Dix. If his face had been stained blue
as Rawson suggested, then I couldn’t see how he could get to the farm. Every policeman in the district would be on the look out for him. The chances were he would hide up somewhere
in London.
I put him out of my mind for the moment, and moving
very cautiously, I explored the upstairs rooms. The front room,
over the room Joe and Louis were in, offered the most likely hiding place. It still contained some furniture: a bed, a cupboard, grimy curtains at the window and a plush covered arm-chair with the springs on the floor.
The cupboard was large enough for me to stand in, and I
left it open so I could step inside if I heard anyone coming.
I went over to the window which overlooked the drive in
and the white farm gate. I could see some way down the lane.
As I stood looking down the drive, Joe and Louis came
out and walked towards the gate.
Moving quickly I went into the passage, and looked at
the other room on the same landing.
In a small back room I found a suit-case, lying on a bed. I
tried the catch and it flew up. I opened the case. Among a
jumble of clothes were twenty or thirty wash-leather bags. I
undid the string around one of them and peered inside. It
contained a handful of small diamonds. A quick examination of three other of the little bags told me this was part of the loot from the mail van.
I closed the case and snapped down the lock, then I
stood hesitating, wondering what I should do.
The sound of footsteps in the hall made me move silently
to the door and into the passage.
“One of us ought to go into the village and get a
newspaper,” Joe was saying. “We ought to know what’s going
on.”
“Then you go,” Louis said sharply. “I’m not moving from
here until the plane arrives.”
“Maybe there’ll be news of Ed,” Joe said.
“Maybe there will. If you’re so anxious for news, get the
paper yourself.”
“I’d go if I was sure the papers had something,” Joe said.
“Come to think of it, they must have been printing when we
pulled the job.”
“That’s what I call a bright brain,” Louis sneered. “Did
you think I was going to fall for that wet gag?”
“What are you getting at?”
“I’m not all that of a mug. I’m not leaving you alone here
with all those diamonds. They might get up and walk.”
“You’re crazy!” Joe’s voice sharpened with anger.
“Where do you imagine I’d go?”
“I don’t know and don’t care. There’s a hundred thousand
pounds’ worth of diamonds up there, and there’s the car in the barn. I’m taking d@mn good care neither the diamonds nor the car moves out of here.”
“Aw, shut up! You make me sick ”
“I hate those diamonds being out of my sight for a
minute. I’m going up to look at them now.”
I moved quietly along the passage to the front room. As I
stepped into the cupboard I heard Louis and Joe mounting the stairs.
“You wouldn’t trust your own mother,” Joe said angrily.
“Oh, yes I would. She’s dead,” Louis returned. “I trust
dead people so long as I’m sure they’re dead.”
As they came along the passage, I pulled the cupboard
door shut, and my hand went into my pocket and closed over
the butt of the gun.
I heard them go into the back room.
“Well, I hope you’re satisfied,” Joe said.
“We’d look a couple of mugs if Ed has already skipped.
He’s got the bulk of the stuff,” Louis said, coming back along the passage. “What’s to stop him meeting Hacket some other place and leaving us flat?”
“How’s he going to get into touch with Hacket, you
dope?” Joe growled. “Pipe down! I’m sick of listening to you
belly aching.”
I heard the door of the room in which I was hiding,
pushed open.
“What do you expect to find in here?” Joe went on.
“Just checking,” Louis said as he crossed the room to the
window. He passed a foot from where I stood, hidden by the
cupboard door.
“Come on, for the love of mike. It’s like an oven in this
house. Let’s park under the trees.”
“Might as well,” Louis said as he recrossed the room. I
leaned against the back of the cupboard, holding my breath,
expecting him to open the cupboard, but he didn’t. “All this hanging about’s driving me nuts.”
I heard them go down the stairs and I stepped out of the
cupboard and crossed over to the window. My heart was
banging against my ribs. That had been a little too close for
my liking.
I saw the two men, each carrying a couple of bottles of
beer, walk through the long grass to the shade of a big elm
tree. They sat down with their backs to it. They had a clear
view of the front of the house, but were out of sight of anyone
who happened to pass the farm gate. They lit cigarettes, and
Joe opened one of the bottles and took a long pull.
I moved away from the window and stood thinking for a
moment or so. Then I walked quickly along the passage to the back room where the suit-case was.
I looked out of the window.
Just below was the flat roof of the kitchen. I pushed up
the window and got out on to the roof. Below the grass was
thick and tall. I decided it would make a thick enough carpet to deaden the sound of the suit-case if I dropped it from the roof.
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