cancel it. It would bring the spotlight of suspicion right on us.
“No,” I said. “Let it go. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Perhaps as you say, they won’t make trouble.”
“Are you sure you have told me everything you know about Jack’s death?” she asked. “You’re worrying me. You make me feel somehow guilty.”
“To the people living around here, you and I are guilty,” I said, not looking at her. “We’re guilty of loving each other. Now look, Gilda, I must keep away from you until this claim is settled. There can be no question of us meeting in Los Angeles now. Do you understand? The chances are once the claim is lodged their detectives will watch you. If they see us together, they could easily jump to conclusions.”
“But, darling, I really don’t understand this,” Gilda said, a note of impatience in her voice. “What have we got to be afraid of?”
“I’m trying to save you getting your name in the papers. This insurance company could use our love for each other to contest the claim.”
She spread her hands helplessly.
“Well, all right. I can’t believe it, but if you feel that way, there’s nothing I can do about it. You don’t want to come near me until after the claim is settled, is that it?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Gilda, but it is important.” I got to my feet. “You may not think so now, but if these people find out about us, you’ll realize fast enough I’ve been talking sense.” I moved away from her. “I’d better collect the set and get away from here. Someone might come and find us here together.”
“Mr Macklin said the set was to be left until the insurance people had examined it.”
That gave me another bad jolt.
“Yes — I was forgetting. Well, all right. Now, look, Gilda, as soon as you have found a hotel in Los Angeles, write to me. I don’t trust the girl on the switchboard. She’s always listening in. I’ll keep in touch with you by letter, but we must keep clear of each other.”
“All right, Terry.”
I said good-bye to her. I was so scared I forgot to kiss her.
CHAPTER VI
I
NOTHING happened for four days.
The days weren’t so bad because I was busy, but the nights were really something.
On the fifth morning I got a letter from Gilda.
She was now in Los Angeles, she wrote, staying in a rooming house, and she was looking for a job without success so far. She said the insurance company was in contact with Macklin and they were sending out a representative to look at the set. The representative would arrive on Saturday morning — that was tomorrow — and would I be at Blue Jay cabin at eleven o’clock to show him the set? She said she had left the key of the cabin under the mat.
I was at Blue Jay cabin the following morning at eleven sharp.
A couple of minutes later, I heard a car coming, and I went out onto the verandah. My heart was thumping uneasily, the back of my mouth was dry and I had a cold empty sensation in my stomach.
A sleek Packard convertible drifted up the drive and came to rest by my truck.
At the wheel was a broad-shouldered, dark man around thirty-two or three with a deeply tanned, ugly but humorous face. He got out of the car as if the effect was too much for him. He sauntered up the verandah steps.
“Are you Mr Regan?”
“Yes.”
He held out his hand.
“Glad to know you, Mr Regan. I’m Steve Harmas of the National Fidelity. You know about this business? Mrs Delaney’s attorney said you would show me the set that caused the accident.”
Well, at least he was calling it an accident.
I led him into the lounge.
“That’s it,” I said, nodding to where the set stood.
He glanced at the set indifferently, then sat down, waving me to a chair.
“This claim has caused a lot of writhing in our snake-pit,” he said. “There’s an uproar going on that you could hear from here if you listened that carefully.”
I said, “Why? What’s the uproar about?”
“Our claims department is run by a
“No,” I said. “Let it go. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Perhaps as you say, they won’t make trouble.”
“Are you sure you have told me everything you know about Jack’s death?” she asked. “You’re worrying me. You make me feel somehow guilty.”
“To the people living around here, you and I are guilty,” I said, not looking at her. “We’re guilty of loving each other. Now look, Gilda, I must keep away from you until this claim is settled. There can be no question of us meeting in Los Angeles now. Do you understand? The chances are once the claim is lodged their detectives will watch you. If they see us together, they could easily jump to conclusions.”
“But, darling, I really don’t understand this,” Gilda said, a note of impatience in her voice. “What have we got to be afraid of?”
“I’m trying to save you getting your name in the papers. This insurance company could use our love for each other to contest the claim.”
She spread her hands helplessly.
“Well, all right. I can’t believe it, but if you feel that way, there’s nothing I can do about it. You don’t want to come near me until after the claim is settled, is that it?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Gilda, but it is important.” I got to my feet. “You may not think so now, but if these people find out about us, you’ll realize fast enough I’ve been talking sense.” I moved away from her. “I’d better collect the set and get away from here. Someone might come and find us here together.”
“Mr Macklin said the set was to be left until the insurance people had examined it.”
That gave me another bad jolt.
“Yes — I was forgetting. Well, all right. Now, look, Gilda, as soon as you have found a hotel in Los Angeles, write to me. I don’t trust the girl on the switchboard. She’s always listening in. I’ll keep in touch with you by letter, but we must keep clear of each other.”
“All right, Terry.”
I said good-bye to her. I was so scared I forgot to kiss her.
CHAPTER VI
I
NOTHING happened for four days.
The days weren’t so bad because I was busy, but the nights were really something.
On the fifth morning I got a letter from Gilda.
She was now in Los Angeles, she wrote, staying in a rooming house, and she was looking for a job without success so far. She said the insurance company was in contact with Macklin and they were sending out a representative to look at the set. The representative would arrive on Saturday morning — that was tomorrow — and would I be at Blue Jay cabin at eleven o’clock to show him the set? She said she had left the key of the cabin under the mat.
I was at Blue Jay cabin the following morning at eleven sharp.
A couple of minutes later, I heard a car coming, and I went out onto the verandah. My heart was thumping uneasily, the back of my mouth was dry and I had a cold empty sensation in my stomach.
A sleek Packard convertible drifted up the drive and came to rest by my truck.
At the wheel was a broad-shouldered, dark man around thirty-two or three with a deeply tanned, ugly but humorous face. He got out of the car as if the effect was too much for him. He sauntered up the verandah steps.
“Are you Mr Regan?”
“Yes.”
He held out his hand.
“Glad to know you, Mr Regan. I’m Steve Harmas of the National Fidelity. You know about this business? Mrs Delaney’s attorney said you would show me the set that caused the accident.”
Well, at least he was calling it an accident.
I led him into the lounge.
“That’s it,” I said, nodding to where the set stood.
He glanced at the set indifferently, then sat down, waving me to a chair.
“This claim has caused a lot of writhing in our snake-pit,” he said. “There’s an uproar going on that you could hear from here if you listened that carefully.”
I said, “Why? What’s the uproar about?”
“Our claims department is run by a
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