CHAPTER SIX

Just when I was beginning to think he wasn’t coming, Dix
drove his big blue and red Cadillac into the garage.

I had been like a cat on hot bricks all day. I had put on
my best suit after I had finished serving petrol first thing in the morning, and I had sat in my office, waiting while the hours dragged by.

Dix was at the wheel. Beside him lounged Berry. Dix was
wearing a black suit with a white pin-stripe, and a pearl-grey slouch hat. His dazzling hand-painted tie was out of place with a suit like that: come to that, it would have been out of place with any suit.

Berry wore a grey suit with a black slouch hat pulled
down over one eye. They looked as if they had just stepped
out of a Humphrey Bogart gangster picture: the car, the
clothes, the way they spilled out of the car, leaving the doors hanging open, was the nearest thing to Hollywood I’d seen off the movies.

“Hello there,” Dix said, catching sight of me. “So this is the joint.” He stood with his hands in his pockets and stared around. “Got power laid on?”
“Yes: there’s ten power points.”

“The light’s lousy, isn’t it?”
“Well, we use inspection lamps when we work. It saves
juice, but I could have something rigged up if you think we should have more light.”
He grunted.

“There’s plenty of room, anyway: the d@mn place’s like a
barn. Look, pally, mind if we wander around and take a look at the place? When we’re through, I’ll come to your office. That it
there?”
“Yes.”

A little deflated, I returned to the office and sat down. I
watched them wandering around the garage through the office
window.
Ann put her head around the rear door.

“Have they come?”
She was wearing her best dress for the occasion, and
her face was flushed with excitement.

“They are out there now.”
“Goodness! Is that their car?”
“Terrific isn’t it? He must be rolling in money.”

She moved to the window and peered into the garage.
“Don’t let them see you.”
“He’s rather flash-looking, Harry.”

“He’s an American. You know how Americans look.”
“I wish he didn’t look quite so flashy. Who’s the other man?”

“One of his pals, I think. His name’s Berry. I don’t know
anything more about him.”
Ann moved away from the window. She now looked worried.

“Are you quite sure they’re all right?”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s something about them . . .”

“For goodness’ sake! Of course they’re all right. Now
look, be a dear and leave this to me. There’s no point in you
meeting them. As a matter of fact, I’m not anxious to get too friendly with them. It’s much to keep this on a business
footing.”

She gave me a puzzled look.
“All right, Harry, but don’t rush into anything. Let’s
discuss it before you commit yourself.”

I pushed her towards the door, leading to the stairs.
“Run along, Ann. You talk as if they were a couple of
crooks.”

When she had gone, I went to the window and watched
Dix and Berry as they stood in the entrance to the garage,
looking across the street.

I didn’t want to admit it to Ann, but these two made me
also uneasy. I thought of the four girls I had met at Gloria’s party.

I was pretty sure they were no good, perhaps not
exactly pr0stitutes, but not much better. Why on earth was
Gloria associating with such women? Maybe Dix had brought
them along with the other three men, and Gloria hadn’t known
they were coming. How friendly was Gloria with Dix? The way
he had slapped her that night pointed to a familiarity between them that disconcerted me.

Just then Dix came walking quickly down the garage
towards me, leaving Berry at the entrance. I opened the door
of the office.
“Come on in.”
He stood in the doorway, looking around.
“Hell, this is no better than a rabbit hutch.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” I said, suddenly annoyed by his
criticism. “It’s big enough for me to keep a set of books in, so why should I want it any bigger?”
He gave me a sideways glance, then grinned.

“Take it easy, pally; maybe you’re right at that.”
I pushed a chair towards him and he sat astride it,
pushing his hat to the back of his head, his fingers dipping into his waistcoat pocket for a packet of cigarettes. He offered me one, lit it for me and then his.

“What do you think of it?” I asked impatiently.
“It’s okay. Park your fanny. I want to talk to you.”

I sat down, my heart beginning to bump against my ribs.
If the garage was all right, then there was nothing to stop us going ahead, I thought Fifty pounds a week! My mind began to
race over the things I could buy with that money.

“Maybe I gave you a wrong impression on Saturday
night,” Dix said, his small bright eyes on my face. “I think I said something about starting an agency here for spare parts.
Right?”
I stiffened to attention.
“Why, yes: that’s what you said.”

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