“Well, they sent Hackenschmidt and he gets nowhere. He ’phones for help and a wagon-load of boys go up. I guess they know Kennedy and hoped for free drinks all round, but Kennedy doesn’t show up. We ring him up and he answers the telephone, but as soon as we start askin’ questions he hangs up quick. The old man gets mad because Kennedy’s news, an’ he sends for me. I waste an hour tryin’ to get in, but don’t get to the first base. The old man then says for me to get you… quick.”
I rubbed my nose thoughtfully. “What do the cops say?”
Ackie shrugged. “Kennedy’s slipped ’em plenty. They say the maid was screwy an’ nothin’ has happened.”
I laughed. “You’d look mighty sick if it were true,” I said.
Ackie shook his head. “There’s somethin’ phoney goin’ on, an’ whatever it is is news. So you’re bein’ paid a hundred bucks to get in an’ find out just what.”
A hundred bucks! That was a laugh! If I got in there and there was something hanging to this, it was going to cost the Globe a lot more than a hundred bucks.
I said: “Maybe I shan’t get in.”
Ackie’s eyes opened wide. “You gotta get in,” he said, “the old man’s ravin’ mad now. You just gotta get in.”
I love a situation like that. A big newspaper begging you to do something. That always means dough, and lots of it.
“Okay,” I said, taking the Scotch out of my pocket. Ackie fixed his eyes on it. I didn’t leave him much.
We did that trip under a hundred and fifty minutes. I was glad when they pulled the car to a standstill. Driving like that without any breakfast didn’t do me any good.
Kennedy had got a swell place, make no mistake about that. The lodge was hidden from the main road by a big belt of giant trees. The surrounding country was wild and woody. Not far from the lodge a swift river about a hundred yards wide flowed strongly, twisting through the woods like a snake.
It was the sort of place I would have bought myself if I had the dough. The sort of place Mardi and me would be happy in. Even with a big story breaking I kept linking myself with that girl.
We piled out of the car and began to walk up the narrow, wooded path that led to the lodge. We hadn’t gone far before we heard voices.
Ackie grinned a little. “The boys’ve camped out here,” he said.
He was right. We turned the sharp bend in the path and suddenly came upon the lodge and the boys. There must have been eight or nine of them hanging round the lodge, watching the windows, smoking and talking.
When they saw us they came towards us hurriedly.
Barry Hughson greeted me with an ironic cheer. “Jeeze,” he said, “you here again!”
Ackie scowled at him. “The old man sent out an S O S. You watch your step… this guy’s a big shot.”
Hughson started to say something, but stopped. Maybe he thought it would be wise to quit ribbing me.
“We ain’t seen a sign of anyone,” he said. “We got the place surrounded, and we’ve tried getting in, but short of smashin’ a window we don’t stand a chance.”
“You nuts?” I demanded. “This is going to make the Colonel as sore as hell. What do you think you’re playin’ at?”
Hughson shrugged. “We got to get the dope,” he said. “The cops won’t spill it… there’s somethin’ goin’ on inside there, an’ our public want to know.”
We all had a laugh at that.
“Listen, Nick,” Ackie said quickly. “Suppose you have a shot at it. You get in there an’ find out what it’s all about… then, if you can, persuade the Colonel to let the boys in… tell him he’s news. We gotta see him!”
If I could get in I should certainly line up with Kennedy. I had no sympathy with headline hunters. I was always on the look-out for a good story, but this way of getting it didn’t appeal to me.
“Call your dogs off,” I said to Hughson. “I shan’t get in unless you boys are out of sight.”
They were so eager to get that story they’d’ve jumped into the river if I’d told them to.
When they had all got under cover, away from the lodge, I walked up to the front door. I took a slip of paper out of my notebook and scribbled on it: “Maybe I can help you out of this. Nick Mason.” I rang the bell and shoved the letter through the box.
I stood there waiting. I waited so long that I thought I wasn’t going to pull it off. Then I thought maybe Kennedy was thinking it was phoney, so I stood away from the lodge so he could see me.
That worked it. He came to the door himself. I expected to find him plenty mad. I knew he’d got a hell of a temper once he got going.
“Come in quick,” he said, holding the door ajar.
I stepped into the hall and he shut and bolted the door behind me.
“Am I glad to see you?” he said, wringing my hand. “Where the blazes have you been all this time?”
I grinned at him. “Suppose we skip that for a moment, Colonel,” I said. “Seems like you’ve got yourself in a bit of a jam.”
“Jam?” He certainly looked worried sick. “I’m sitting on dynamite. Listen, Mason, are you going to help me out again?”
“Sure,” I said. “That’s why I’ve come out here.”
“Come in and have a drink,” he said, leading the way into a long, low room, with a big, empty fireplace at one end. I looked round, admiringly.
“You’ve certainly’ve got a swell joint here,” I said.
He was busy fixing the Scotch. “How did you hear about this?” he asked.
“The Globe knew that we had been sort of friendly, and they thought maybe I could get in and find out what the trouble was about,” I said, taking the glass from his hand. “They figured that you would talk to me.”
Just for a second he stared at me, then he grinned. “So you came out to fool them?”
I nodded. “Sure, I came out to fool them.”
The Scotch went down very well indeed.
He sat down in a big armchair and ran his hand through his hair. He was a distinguished-looking guy, with a big, fleshy face and good eyes. I should think he was getting on for fifty, but he was tough and as hard as teak. He pointed to another chair. “Sit down, Mason, and tell me how you’re going to get me out of this.”
I sat on the table so I could look down on him. “I guess you gotta start talkin’ first,” I said. “I gotta find out just how things are. All I know is a shot was reported and the cops came up. After a little while they came out, told the boys there was nothing to it, and beat it. If the cops were satisfied, I guess there ain’t anythin’ to get worried about. You ain’t just bein’ cussed, are you, Colonel?”
Kennedy took a long pull at his glass. “It’s worse than anything like that,” he said. “It’s a woman.”
I hid a little grin. The Colonel was a good guy, but he’d got a way of making dames fall for him. He didn’t do much to encourage them. He just sat around and smiled, and along they’d come.
“Huh, huh,” I said. I wasn’t going to commit myself.
He finished up the Scotch, fidgeted with the glass, and scowled out of the window at the boys sitting on the grass about two hundred yards away. I didn’t hurry him.
“You know how it is,” he began, still looking out of the window.
“Sure,” I said to encourage him.
“I was crazy to have anything to do with this woman,” he said. “She’s got big connections. There’ll be a devil of a scandal if anything leaks out, and she can’t afford that, nor can I.”