I
Baird pushed open the door to the back entrance of the Frou-Frou Club, glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching him, and then stepped into the dimly lit passage. He walked silently to Rico’s office. As he reached the door he caught sight of a movement ahead of him and looked up quickly.
Zoe Norton ducked back out of sight behind her dressing-room door, but not quickly enough for Baird to miss seeing her. He stood for a moment staring thoughtfully at the door that stood ajar, then he moved softly along the passage and pushed the door open with his foot.
Zoe was sitting at the dressing-table, making up her face. She looked a little flustered, and gave a start when she saw Baird in the doorway.
‘What do you want?’ she demanded, swinging around on the low stool. ‘Who said you could walk in here without knocking?’
Baird leaned against the doorway, his eyes on her face.
‘Hel o, Toots,’ he said. ‘I saw you peeping. Anything I can do for you?’
She felt a little sick as she looked into his cold, murderous eyes.
‘I — I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said defiantly. ‘As if I should want to peep at you.
Would you mind fading away? There isn’t much air in this hole, and I don’t see why I should have to share it with you.’
He studied her, then his eyes shifted to the telephone on her dressing-table and back to her.
‘Watch your step, Toots,’ he said evenly. ‘I shan’t tel you again.’
He gave her another hard, menacing stare that made her feel weak at the knees and went out, closing the door behind him. He walked thoughtfully along the passage to Rico’s office and went in.
Rico glanced up from his desk.
‘Come in,’ he said, pushing back his chair. ‘Lock the door. I’ve got news for you.’
Baird turned the key in the lock, crossed over to the desk and sat down.
‘Don’t yel at the top of your voice,’ he said softly. ‘Someone may be listening in.’
Rico looked startled.
‘What do you mean? Who’s listening in?’
‘Forget it,’ Baird said impatiently. ‘Just keep your voice down. What’s the news?’
His expression puzzled, Rico shrugged his shoulders.
‘You don’t have to worry about this place,’ he said. ‘No one listens in here.’
‘What’s the news?’ Baird repeated.
‘I’ve seen Kile. I told him you’ve looked the ground over and you think you can pull it off. We can go ahead. He’s leaving al the arrangements to us. I’ve five grand to split between us. Pret y good, huh?’
Baird lit a cigarette and stared across the room.
‘What makes you think you rate anything?’ he asked casually. ‘Who’s doing the job — you or me?’
‘We’re both in it,’ Rico said, smiling ingratiatingly. ‘But if that’s the way you feel about it, I’m willing to take two and you three.’
‘Did you find out who the man is?’ Baird asked.
‘Sure. I’ve got al the necessary dope.’ Rico opened a drawer in his desk and took out a big envelope.
‘Don’t you keep that locked up?’ Baird asked sharply.
Rico stared at him.
‘It’s safe enough. No one ever comes into my office when I’m not here. What’s biting you?’
‘Nothing,’ Baird said, flicking ash on to the floor. ‘Who is he?’
‘Paul Hater. Here’s his picture.’ Rico tossed a police photograph across the desk. ‘He shouldn’t be difficult to spot.’
Baird looked curiously at the photograph. Rico was right. Hater would be easy to identify. He was small and thin. His dome of a forehead was accentuated by heavy eyebrows and a balding head. He had deep-set, dark, staring eyes and a livid white scar that ran from his right eye to his mouth. He reminded Baird of the fanatical prison chaplain he had met when he had visited his brother for the first and only time.
‘He looks as if he’s got a screw loose,’ Baird said, tossing the picture back to Rico. ‘He won’t be difficult to spot. When do we start?’
‘Any time we like,’ Rico said eagerly. ‘The sooner the better.’
Baird nodded.
‘And the money?’
Rico tapped the envelope.
‘Plenty more where that comes from.’
‘How do you know?’
Rico laughed.
‘What’s the matter with you? Kile’s a big shot. He’s rol ing in the stuff. He and I have worked together…’
‘How do you know he’s rol ing in it?’
‘How do I know?’ Rico stared. ‘What are you driving at?’
‘Do you imagine Kile’s the top man in this set-up?’
‘Of course he is.’
‘If you’re so sure,’ Baird said, ‘how do you know?’
Rico began to look uneasy.
‘What’s cooking?’ he asked, leaning forward to stare at Baird. ‘Sounds like you’ve found out something.’
‘I’ve found out plenty,’ Baird said. ‘The moment I set eyes on Kile I knew there was something phoney about him. I’ve been digging in his back yard, and does it stink! He owes money everywhere. He hasn’t paid for that big house on Roosevelt Boulevard. He’s hanging on by the skin of his teeth, and isn’t expected to last six months.’
Rico stiffened.
‘You sure?’
Baird made an impatient movement.
‘If you hadn’t been hypnotised by his front you could have found out about him as easily as I did.’
Rico began to sweat.
‘How about this five grand?’ he asked, tapping the envelope. ‘He can’t be al that broke.’
‘Don’t I keep tel ing you? He isn’t the top man.’
Rico thought for a moment, then shrugged.
‘Does it matter? At least we’ve got the dough.’
‘I like to know who I’m dealing with. Ever asked yourself why Kile wants Hater out of jail?’
‘I asked Kile. He wouldn’t say. I don’t see why we should worry.’ Rico spread out his hands. ‘We’re getting paid for the job. The money’s good enough, isn’t it?’
‘You’re a bigger sucker than you look,’ Baird said. ‘Don’t you know who Hater is?’
Rico shifted uneasily in his chair.
‘I don’t know what you’re get ing at,’ he said. ‘Hater used to be one of the big operators about twenty years ago. He specialised in jewellery. I seem to remember he pulled off a big deal and a fence shopped him.’
‘About fifteen years back he pul ed off a four-million-dollar job and cached the stuff. It was never found,’ Baird said softly.
‘Four mil ion?’ Rico gulped. ‘It was never found?’
‘That’s right. Doesn’t the nickel drop now?’
‘You mean Kile’s after the stuff?’
‘Kile and someone else. It looks like it, doesn’t it? Why should they want to kidnap Hater? He’s only got two more years to serve. If he escapes now, he’l be on the run for the rest of his life until he’s caught.’
‘Four mil ion dol ars!’ Rico got up and began to pace up and down. ‘Jeepers! That’s dough.’
‘That’s about the first sensible thing you’ve said tonight,’ Baird said sourly. ‘And they’re paying me ten grand. That’s a laugh, isn’t it?’
Rico wiped the sweat from his forehead. He went over to the cellarette and made two highballs.
‘I’d better talk to Kile,’ he said as he brought the drinks to the desk. ‘He’l have to jack up the ante.’
‘You’l keep your trap shut,’ Baird said. ‘I’m handling this. If we play our cards right, we should collect the whole bundle.’
Rico lost colour and gripped the edge of his desk until his knuckles turned white.
‘Are you crazy?’ he asked. ‘What would we do with stuff like that? We couldn’t handle it. Four million dollars! There’s not a fence in the country who could handle it.’
Baird took off his hat and ran his fingers through his thick blond hair.
‘I don’t know why the hel I bother with you,’ he said, exasperated. ‘Haven’t you any brains? Do you think I’m mug enough to imagine you could handle the stuff? No, the obvious thing to do is to wait until Kile gets rid of it. He must know someone he can unload it on or he wouldn’t be paying us to snatch Hater. The time we move in is when Kile collects the dough. Then we take it away from him. If he knows what he’s doing, the take should be worth half a mil ion at least, probably more, and that’s better than a lousy ten grand. Now do you see what I’m get ing at?’
Rico licked his dry lips.
‘It sounds al right,’ he said cautiously, ‘but how do we know when he gets paid off?’
‘That’s something you can find out. He’s got to be watched night and day after we’ve turned Hater over to him. And another thing, we’ve got to find out who the top man is, too. And then there’s that shamus who followed me: we’ve got to find out who employed him, and why.’
Rico started out of his chair.
‘What shamus? I haven’t heard anything about a shamus.’
Baird eyed him jeeringly.
‘Don’t get so steamed up. The night I went to Red River Basin I spot ed a fat guy tailing me. I caught him napping and softened his skull for him. He was an operator working for the International Detective Agency. Someone who doesn’t mind spending dough is having me watched. Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with the Hater snatch, but somehow I think it does. We’ve got to find out why I was being tailed, and pronto.’
Rico took a long drink. His nerves were fluttering.
‘Maybe it’s Kile,’ he said hopeful y.
‘I don’t know, but I mean to find out. How long’s this red-head been working for you?’
‘You mean Zoe?’ Rico’s face was startled. ‘What’s she got to do with it?’
‘I don’t know, but every time I’ve shown up here she’s been watching me. Maybe she’s a plant.’
‘Zoe, a plant? Don’t make me laugh,’ Rico said. ‘I’ve known her three or four years. She came to work at the club when it first opened. I knew her when she was in show business before that. She’s okay.
Maybe she’s interested in you. She has a yen for a big guy like you; she told me so.’
Baird jerked his thumb at the photograph on the desk.
‘Put that in your safe and lock it up,’ he said. ‘I think she’s mixed up in this. It’ll be easy enough to prove. Now, listen, here’s what you have to do…’
* * *
When Baird closed the door, Zoe drew in a deep breath of relief. She sat for a long minute, staring at herself in the mirror. She saw she had gone pale under her rouge, and she laughed a little unsteadily.
‘That guy sure scared the lace pants right off you,’ she said, addressing her reflection in the mirror.
‘Phew! He’s enough to scare anyone. Zoe, my child, you’ve got to be a lot more careful in the future.
Take my advice and call Ed. He’l know how to handle this.’
She got up and went to the door, opened it a crack and looked down the deserted passage. Satisfied there was no one to hear her, she shut the door again and rang Dallas’s apartment. There was no answer.
She replaced the receiver, feeling a little lost and sat for a moment thinking. It was only a few minutes after ten. Maybe Ed would blow in. He came in most nights now. Maybe he was on his way down at this very minute.
She began to finish her make-up, and while she painted her lips with a fine-haired brush, she wondered what Baird was doing in Rico’s office. She had promised Ed to find out al she could of Rico’s and Baird’s movements, and she didn’t want to let Ed down. By now she was half in love with him, and besides, he was paying her well.
She went to the door again and opened it. She hadn’t the nerve to go down the passage and listen outside Rico’s door. Baird had given her a bad scare.
Watch your step, he had said. I shan’t tell you again.
A little shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the way he had looked at her. But with Ed around, she told herself, trying to bolster up her courage, there wasn’t anything to be scared about. Baird wouldn’t dare touch her. Al the same she wasn’t going to take unnecessary risks until she had consulted Ed. He’d know how far she could go.
Leaving the door ajar, she went back to complete her make-up. Then she took off her wrap and slipped into her green evening dress. In twenty minutes she would have to go into the restaurant. It was her late night, and she wouldn’t be through until three o’clock.
She heard the door open at the far end of the passage and she jumped to her feet, running to her door to listen.
She heard Baird say, ‘What are you worrying about? We’l be back in an hour at the latest. You’re not chained to this dump, are you?’
“I shouldn’t be going out,’ Rico grumbled, ‘but I’l take a chance. Maybe nothing will blow up while I’m away.’
‘Aw, forget it. Did you lock up that envelope — the one Kile gave you?’ Baird asked.
‘It’s in my desk. It’s okay. No one ever goes into my office when I’m out. Come on, for the love of Pete, if we’re going,’ Rico said impatiently, and she heard them walk down the passage to the street door.
Cautiously Zoe peered into the passage. She was in time to see Rico disappearing into the alley at the back of the club.
She stood hesitating. Something from Kile! That’s what Ed wanted.
She ran over to the telephone, and again dialled Dallas’s number, but there was stil no answer.
Where was he? she wondered feverishly. They said they would be back in an hour. If Ed was to get a look at that envelope she would have to take action herself.
She went back to the door and looked at Rico’s door. It seemed now a long way down the passage.
Should she take a chance and get the envelope? If she went at once there couldn’t be any risk.
She started down the passage, her heart beating violently, and her knees shaky. She reached the office door, paused outside while she screwed up her courage to go in. Then she rapped softly on the door, turned the handle and pushed the door open. The office was in darkness.
‘Is anyone there?’ she asked in a quavering voice.
The silence that came out of the darkness reassured her, and she slipped into the room, shut the door and groped for the electric light switch.
The lights over Rico’s desk went on. She moved quickly to the desk and jerked open the top drawer.
The first thing she saw was a big envelope with Rico’s name scrawled on it.
As she reached forward to pick it up, the shadow of a man fell across the desk.
The shock paralysed her for a moment, then she spun around.
Baird was standing just behind her. At the door, Rico stood, white-faced, staring at her in horror.
‘Hel o, Toots,’ Baird said softly. ‘Stil peeping?’
The scream that rose in her throat was cut short as his fist smashed against the side of her jaw. She felt herself falling into dark, suffocating oblivion.