Fast Buck

‘What is it?’ Kile snapped, coming on the line. ‘Who told you you could call me here?’

‘The guy we’ve been looking for has shown up,’ Rico said quickly. ‘I’ve got him here now.’

‘You have?’ The sharpness went out of Kile’s voice. ‘Can you bring him over right away, Rico?’

‘Sure. I told him you wanted to see him.’

‘Now look, he may not be the man I’m looking for. I can’t tell until I’ve seen him. Warn him there may be nothing in it for him. I’l only see him on that understanding.’

Rico laughed excitedly. He looked across at Baird and winked. Baird’s face remained dour, and his look was still stony.

‘You’l want him all right, Mr Kile, but I’l tel him.’

‘Be over as soon as you can,’ Kile said. ‘Apartment 200, Roxburgh House. You know where it is?’

‘Sure, Mr Kile, I know it’

Kile grunted and hung up.

‘He wants to see you right away. He’s at Miss Gil is’s place on Roxburgh Avenue. Maybe I’d bet er come with you.’

Baird got to his feet. He finished his whisky, mashed out his cigarette as he said, ‘Suit yourself.’

Rico took his black slouch hat from a hanging cupboard, slapped it on his head and jerked it so it rested at a jaunty angle over his right eye.

‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘Be careful how you handle Kile. He likes respect.’

Baird sneered.

‘For ten grand he’l get it,’ he said, opened the door and walked out into the passage leading to the kitchens and rear exit.

Neither of them saw Zoe watching them through a half-open door at the far end of the passage. As soon as they were out of sight she signalled to Dallas, who reached for the telephone on her dressing-table and dialled Harmon Purvis’s number.

II

Kile sat in Eve’s morning-room: a feminine room he liked, and which, up to now, had been restful to his nerves to sit in. The big windows overlooked the river, and from where he sat he could see the lights of the shipping, and on the far bank the headlights of the stream of cars heading up town.

It was a hot, close night, and the windows were wide open. Kile was sweating a little. He cradled a highball in his hand; a smouldering cigar rested in a deep ash-tray on the arm of his chair.

Eve sat on the broad window seat, her back half turned to him while she stared down at the river. She looked pale, and the scarlet evening dress she wore seemed too gay for her mood.

Neither of them had spoken since Kile had told her Baird was on his way over. Both were preoccupied with their thoughts. Kile had an uneasy feeling that Baird was going to be the right man for this fantastic job. If he was then it would mean Kile would have to go ahead with the plan. Since his first enthusiasm had waned, he had begun to wonder if anyone in his right mind would have even contemplated such a plan, let alone waste time investigating the possibilities. He had to admit he hadn’t done much himself so far. Eve had done all the necessary work. It was extraordinary how she managed to obtain her information. Admittedly, she was in a position to know many people, but how she had got together all the minute details and information with which she had presented him, defeated him.

The plan couldn’t succeed, he told himself again and again, but Eve wouldn’t admit defeat.

‘What have we got to lose?’ she had asked patiently. ‘If this man says it won’t work, then we can drop the idea, but if he has the nerve to go through with it, and if he pulls it off, it’s a half a million in your pocket.’

That was the only argument that kept Kile in the running. A half a million! But if Baird turned the plan down, Kile would be relieved. Of course he would hate to let such a sum slip through his fingers, but the danger and the risks he would be involved in if Baird went ahead frightened him.

Up to now he had managed to concentrate on the prize, but now that Baird would be here at any minute, he could think of nothing but the risks.

‘This fel a won’t do it,’ he jerked out suddenly, speaking what was in his mind before he could stop himself. ‘I’ve been considering your plan, Eve. It – it won’t work. It can’t work!’

She turned her head and looked at him. She looked tired and uneasy. She didn’t think the plan would work, either. She thought it was the craziest, the most dangerous idea Adam had yet thought of, but he had said it would work, and she knew from past experience that once Adam had made up his mind about anything, no one or nothing would stop him. If she backed out now, or even encouraged Kile to back out, she knew instinctively that she had seen the last of her brother. In her more rational moments she knew it would be the best thing that could happen to her, but she also knew she was fooling herself: life without Adam would be no life at all.

‘Let him judge,’ she said. ‘To hear you talk, Preston, I’m beginning to think you don’t want the money.’

Kile drank some of his highball.

‘The risk wil be frightful,’ he mut ered. ‘Of course I want the money, but…’

‘I don’t see what risk you run. This man Baird wil shoulder the risk.’

‘He won’t!’ Kile said excitedly. ‘He wouldn’t be such a fool!’