‘Why, Larry, what brings you here?’ she asked, pushing back her desk chair.
‘You signed for a parcel for F.B.,’ I said. ‘Has he got it?’
Sweat was running down my face, and my voice was a croak.
‘Is anything wrong?’ She looked alarmed as she got to her feet.
‘Has he got it?’
‘It’s on his desk right now. He’s away for the weekend. Is it something important?’
I sucked in a deep breath.
‘He’s away?’
‘Yes... he left last night. He said he was taking a golfing weekend.’
‘I’ve just found out my calculator is on the blink. The figures in that parcel are all haywire. If F.B. sees them, he’ll throw the book at me.’
She laughed.
‘Don’t look so worried. It happens. I’ll get it for you.’
While I was waiting, an idea jumped into my mind. I had already made a copy of my statement and the tapes which Klaus now held. Why not make a third copy? I looked at my watch. It was just after 12.00. If I worked fast, I could still return to Sharnville by 16.00.
Lois came in with the parcel.
‘Lois — a favour. Can you let me have the use of two tape recorders and a photocopy machine?’
‘Of course. Come with me.’
She took me into a small office.
‘There you are: two tape recorders and a photocopy machine. Anything else?’
‘No... fine. I won’t be long.’
Hearing her desk telephone bell begin to ring, she gave me a little wave and left me.
It took a little over an hour to copy the two tapes and take a copy of my statement. I also made a photocopy of the bonds. I repacked the parcel, then put the photocopies of my statement and the bonds and the duplicate tapes into a big envelope I found in a desk drawer, sealed the envelope and wrote on it:
To be delivered to Mr. Brannigan on July 5th, and not before.
Today was June 29th. This would give me time to manoeuvre. If Klaus completely outwitted me and I was killed, Brannigan would still have enough evidence to go after him, but if I had luck, and I survived the break-in, I could get the parcel back from Lois,
I went into her office and put the envelope on her desk.
‘I want you to give this to F.B., Lois, on July 5th, and not before. It contains ideas for a new system of security. I’m still working on it. If you don’t hear from me by July 4th, give it to him the following morning. I could have a change of mind, then I’ll call you, and come over and collect it. It sounds a bit like James Bond, but it is important to me. Okay?’
Looking puzzled, Lois nodded.
‘I’ll lock it in my safe. No problem.’
‘Thanks. I’ve got to get back to Sharnville,’ and blowing her a kiss, I took the elevator down to the ground floor, holding on to the parcel, got into my car and headed back to Sharnville.
I drove up the dirt road leading to Klaus’s house as the hands of my watch moved to 15.15.
Benny opened the front door as I walked up the steps.
‘So you made it, fink,’ he said. ‘My bad luck. I was looking forward to giving your whore a workout.’
I walked into the living-room where Klaus was sitting at his desk and I put the parcel in front of him.
‘Open it, Mr. Lucas.’
I ripped off the string and brown paper, opened the brief-case and let him see the original statement, the two tapes and the forged bonds.
He nodded.
‘You have done what you have been told to do. That is sensible, Mr. Lucas.’ He stared at me, and there was a look in those icy-grey eyes that frightened me. After a long pause, he went on, ‘Now if I had been an amateur as you are an amateur, before parting with the contents of this brief-case, I would have made two further copies of the tapes and have photocopied the statement and the bonds if I had been an amateur like you, Mr. Lucas. I would have left them with the bank with instructions to give them to Mr. Brannigan on his return from his golfing weekend. Did you do that, Mr. Lucas?’
He’s a devil! I heard Glenda’s despairing voice.
Somehow, I kept my face expressionless. Somehow I forced my eye to meet his probing glare.
‘I wish to God I had thought of that,’ I said, huskily.
His smile sent a chill through me.
‘I propose to call Miss Shelton, and you will ask her if the package you left with her is safe.’
Benny came into the room, and stood against the wall, grinning.
‘I have an extension, Mr. Lucas, so I will hear what she says.’
He began to dial.
He is a devil!
My bluff called, and feeling utterly defeated, I said, ‘She has copies.’
He replaced the receiver and stared at me with that maniacal glare, then he looked at Benny.
‘I leave this stupid amateur to you. Try not to make too much of a mess,’ and getting to his feet, he walked by me, and out of the room.
Grinning evilly, Benny moved away from the wall.
‘Fink, this is going to be a pleasure,’ he said. ‘When a fink gets beaten by me, he knows he’s been beaten.’
Moving swiftly, he brushed my jaw with his left, and then, as I threw up my hands, he slammed a right that felt like a chunk of concrete into my stomach.
Slowly, I drifted back to consciousness. Far away, as if in a dream, I heard Glenda’s voice saying, ‘Oh, my darling, what have they done to you?’
I moved, and pain like the snapping of a wolf’s teeth gripped me so violently I cried out.
‘Don’t move.’
My eyelids felt leaden, but I forced them up. Dimly, and out of focus, I saw Glenda’s red hair, then her face.
‘Don’t say anything. Wait, Larry. Don’t move. Just wait.’
My eyelids were too heavy to support, and I drifted away into unconsciousness.
The next time I became aware of her, her face was in focus: a white, drawn face, but Glenda’s face, and it was close to mine. I felt her lips brush against my cheek. I groped for her hand and held it.
‘Don’t try to move, darling,’ she said. ‘It’ll wear off... be patient.’
‘What have they been doing to you?’ I managed to ask.
Her hand tightened on mine.
‘Never mind about me. Please listen, Larry. You must get them into the bank. I told you he’s a devil. You wouldn’t listen. Oh, darling, why did you have to act smart? Look at what they have done to you. If you only knew what they have done to me.’
I lay still, riding the pain of my bruised body. I felt as if something had broken inside me. I thought of Alex Marsh who had sat crying while they had beaten Glenda. He had lost his guts. The scientific beating Benny had given me had reduced me to utter terror that he would do it again, and yet deep in my subconscious, there began to grow a burning desire to kill him, to kill Klaus, to kill Harry and to kill Joe. But I knew this desire to kill them was way out of reach, but it was there, and growing.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll get them in.’
‘Oh, darling! I can’t stand being locked up here with that thug any longer.’
I then became aware I was lying on a bed, and looking around, I saw we were in a small room with the window boarded up. Opposite, was a half-open door, leading to a bathroom.
‘Is this where they keep you?’
‘Yes. Benny brought you in here and told me to take care of you. I think Klaus and he have gone somewhere.’
‘You mean we are alone?’
‘I think so.’
I made a tremendous effort and sat up. My body raged with pain. She tried to stop me, but I pushed her hands away.
‘This is our chance! We’ve got to break out!’ Sweat broke out on my face as I swung my feet to the floor. ‘Help me up, Glenda.’
‘You can’t get out! Don’t you think I’ve tried and tried?’
‘Help me up!’