Miss Callaghan Comes To Grief

He took a quick step towards her, but she got out of his way and half ran round the settee. He stood very still, staring at her. “Well, tell me,” he said between his teeth, “where have you been?”

She said, “Iran into an old pal of yours. He insisted onseeing you.” She waved her hand towards the door.

Mendetta turned his head slowly. A cold chill ran down his back. Raven stood in the doorway, his cold face expressionless. A limp cigarette dangled from the side of his mouth, and in his right hand he held a long−barrelled gun.

Mendetta shivered with the shock. His big white hands fluttered, imploring Raven to go away. “What do you want?” he whispered.

Raven jerked the gun. “Sit down, Tootsie,” he said, “we got things to talk about.”

Mendetta sat by the card−table. He folded his twitching hands on the green cloth. From where he sat he could see Jean, kneeling on the floor. She had covered her head with her arms. Her attitude reminded Mendetta of a woman who is witnessing an unavoidable head−on collision, and turns away in horror before the crash. He suddenly felt very sick.

Raven continued to lean against the doorway. “It's taken time to get around to you, Tootsie,” he said, “but I've done it. I said I'd do it, didn't I?” He jerked his head to Jean. “She ratted on you, Tootsie. Don't trust women, they always let you down. She got the guard to go away. She let me up here, just because she was tired of sleeping with you.”

Mendetta's face twitched, but he didn't say anything. Jean got suddenly to her feet and ran into the bedroom, shutting the door violently behind her.

Raven shrugged. “She thinks I'm goin' to look after her. You don't have to worry about that. I don't trust her, an' I wouldn't want anythin' you've had your hands on. No, I guess she'll be sorry for what she's done.”

Mendetta said in a whisper, “You want this territory, don't you, Raven? Well, you can have it; I'm through.”

Raven nodded. “Yeah, you're through all right.”

“Listen, let me get out of town. I'll sign it all over to you. You wouldn't want to kill me if I gave it all over to you?”

Raven shook his head. “I don't want to kill anyone. Why should I?”

Mendetta searched the cold face to try to find some comfort for himself there. He could read nothing in the cold, blank eyes. “I'll sign anythin',” he said eagerly. “What do you want?”

Raven pointed to a pad of paper on the table. “Just write saying that you're giving me your share of the Club. That's all I'll need. Grantham won't make any trouble.”

Mendetta hesitated. “I can go if I do that?” he said. “You'll let me leave the town?”

Raven looked at him. “Why should I want to stop you?” he asked.

The two men looked at each other. Mendetta, fat, well dressed, but terrified; and Raven, cold, thin and shabby.

Raven said, “I can't stay here all night.”

Already Mendetta's brain was formulating a scheme. His signature on a bit of paper would mean nothing.

He would give the signal as soon as Raven had left to have him killed. My God! He'd been a fool not to have got rid of him before. He reached out and pulled the pad towards him. With a hand that no longer trembled he wrote, handing his share of the 22nd Club over to Raven. He signed it with a flourish.

“Give me until tomorrow,” he said, throwing the pad across the table. “I'll get out by tomorrow.”

Raven stretched out his hand and took the pad; he glanced at the writing and then put the pad in his pocket.

“You don't have to go, Tootsie,” he said quietly. “You'll be better off here.”

Mendetta suddenly went cold. He got slowly to his feet. “Listen, Raven,” he said feverishly, “this is on the level. I've done what you wanted” He broke off as he saw the vicious gleam in Raven's eye. With a whimper of terror, Mendetta turned and ran blindly across the room and began to pound on Jean's door. “Don't let him kill me... Jean! Stop him! Stop him! Jean, you wouldn't let him kill”

Moving softly, Raven stepped behind him and shot him through the head. The gun only made a little hissing sound.

Mendetta was opening the door as he fell. The door swung open violently and he sprawled into the room.

Jean crouched against the wall and screamed.

Raven looked at her and raised his gun. She saw the little black hole of the barrel pointing at her, and she hid her face in her hands. The heavy .45 bullet smashed two of her fingers before it blew the top of her head off. She fell first on her knees with a thud that shook the room, and then straightened out, her head hitting the carpet with another muffled thud.

Across the passage, Sadie sat up in bed. She thought she had heard a scream in her sleep, but she knew that she had heard the sound of someone falling.

She listened intently, suddenly wishing Benny was by her side. She could hear nothing, but the scream was so real that she got out of bed and hurriedly put on a wrap. She went out of the bedroom into the little hallway.