The Soft Centre

‘You may be seated you great big, beautiful doll,’ he said. Jacko moved his enormous body to the settee and, after hitching up his trousers, he lowered his vast buttocks down on to the cushion.

*****

Homer Hare was at his desk early the following morning. He put a call through to the Spanish Bay hotel and spoke to Trasse, the hotel detective.

‘I want to talk to Mrs. Burnett in private,’ Hare said, wheezing into the telephone mouthpiece. ‘I don’t imagine she would see me if I sent my card up. What do I do?’

‘What’s the matter with the beach?’ Trasse asked after a moment’s thought. ‘She’s on the beach every morning between ten and twelve. You get here around ten and I’ll point her out to you. What’s it all about?’

‘I’ll be there ten minutes after ten,’ Hare said and hung up.

He went over to the safe, opened it and took from it Chris Burnett’s jacket and cigarette lighter. He put the lighter in his pocket and laid the jacket on the desk. He rang for Lucille. She came in and looked inquiringly at him.

‘Be a nice girl and make a parcel of this packet for me,’ Hare said.

Lucille eyed the jacket and then looked again at her father.?‘Are you sure you know what you are doing?’ she asked. ‘I don’t like this a lot From what I read in the papers, Travers is a tough cookie and he plays it rough.’

Hare beamed on her.?‘Don’t worry your head about him,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to his daughter first. If anyone can persuade him to part with half a million, she can.’

Lucille shrugged uneasily.

‘Well, all right, but don’t forget I warned you.’ She picked up the jacket with a grimace and took it away.

Hare lit a cigar and lowered his bulk into the desk chair. He stared through the window, frowning. It was a risk, he thought, but to make a killing of half a million dollars was something he couldn’t resist. But he must be careful how he handled Mrs. Burnett. He had to be ready to bow out at the slightest sign of danger.

Ten minutes later, he clapped his yellow panama hat on his head, picked up the brown paper parcel Lucille had put on his desk and walked slowly and heavily to the elevator. Out on the street, he climbed into the office car and drove towards the Spanish Bay hotel.

He found Trasse, a thickset, florid faced ex-cop, waiting for him. The two men walked down the flower lined path that led to the private beach.

‘If anyone finds out I fingered Mrs. Burnett for you,’ Trasse growled, ‘I would lose my job. What’s the idea, anyway?’

‘I want to talk to her,’ Hare wheezed ‘Phew! I’m not as young as I used to be. Don’t walk so fast.’

‘The trouble with you is you eat too much,’ Trasse said, slowing his pace. ‘What do you want to talk to her about?’

‘Private business, Henry. Nothing that would interest you.

Trasse looked suspiciously at him, then paused as they came in sight of the beach and the sea. It was still early, and there were very few people lying about on the sand.

Trasse pointed to a distant figure, sitting under a sun umbrella.?‘There she is. Don’t blame me if you get thrown out. If she yells for help, I’ll be the one to do the throwing.’

‘She won’t yell,’ Hare said. ‘Put twenty bucks on your next expense sheet, Henry,’ and tucking the brown paper parcel more firmly under his arm, he set off slowly across the sand towards where Val was sitting.

Val was feeling depressed. She had talked to Dr. Gustave on the telephone before coming down to the beach and he had said he had found Chris less well.

‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ he had assured her. ‘One must expect off days. He seems to have something on his mind. I think it would be a good idea if you came out here this afternoon. He might talk to you.’

Val said she would come.?‘Be quite natural. Tell him what you have been doing,’ Gustave went on. ‘Don’t ask questions. There’s a chance he might unburden to you.’

After this conversation, she had had to make an effort to go down to the beach, but now she was there, she was pleased. It was quiet, and she could relax a little in the warmth of the sun. She glanced around and saw this enormous old man wearing a wrinkled white tropical suit and an ageing panama hat plodding towards her. She wondered who he was, and suddenly she realised he was heading her way. She looked quickly away. Opening her beach bag, she took out a pack of cigarettes.

The old man was very close to her now, and as she tapped out a cigarette, he said, ‘Allow me, madam.’ He raised his hat with a little flourish and flicked a flame to the gold cigarette lighter he held in his enormous hand.

Val looked around.?‘Thank you, but it is quite all right.’

As she was about to turn her back, her eyes fell on the lighter. She felt her heart skip a beat, making her catch her breath sharply.