‘Let’s go, buster,’ he said. ‘You’ve had your try, now, it’s strictly business.’
I got slowly to my feet, and still hunched forward, I followed him out of the room and into the hot, steamy night.
Harry switched on a powerful flashlight and walked with me across the lawn to a big barn. We entered.
The barn was lit by two naked bulbs, hanging from the rafters. In the middle of the barn, stood a security truck. It was a facsimile of the truck I had seen so often on Sharnville’s Main Street. Standing by it, were two tall, thick-set men, wearing the brown uniform of the Security Company.
‘Take a look, buster,’ Harry said. ‘What do you think?’
The two men eyed me as I looked them over, then I walked slowly around the truck. I couldn’t fault either the uniforms or the truck.
‘It’s a good job,’ I said.
Harry nodded and grinned.
‘I guess. Make sure, buster. Take another look. We don’t want to slip up, do we?’
‘It’s a good job,’ I repeated.
‘Watch this.’
He opened the driver’s door, leaned in and pulled a lever. The Security Company’s name, painted in red letters on either side of the truck, slid out of sight into the roof of the truck: another panel appeared with the lettering: Calo Furniture Co. The licence plates swivelled over to a Los Angeles number.
‘Cute, huh?’ Harry said. ‘We all take off in the truck, once its loaded.’
All except me, I thought.
‘Pretty neat,’ I said.
‘Okay. Now we’ll go to your pad and collect your gimmicks. Let’s go.’
We left the barn and crossed the lawn to where the Chevy was parked.
‘You drive, buster. I’ll watch you.’
With him sitting by my side, I started the engine and drove on to the dirt road.
Harry said, ‘I’ve been thinking about you, buster, and what you said to me. Where you went wrong was to trust Joe. Now Joe is a simple black boy. The boss has taken care of him, and when a simple black boy believes in someone, he stays with him. Everything you said to Joe went back to the boss. It was the boss’s idea for Joe to give you a gun. The boss is smart. He looks ahead all the time. He figured unless Joe gave you a gun, you would buy one for yourself. That’s looking ahead. It was a fine idea of yours to get Joe to get Glenda out. The idea was fine, but you went wrong in think-ink you could trust Joe. So what happens? You get a beating, and Glenda is still locked up.’
I didn’t say anything. I slowed at the end of the dirt road, and waited for a break in the traffic before moving on to the highway.
‘I’m not kidding myself,’ Harry went on, ‘that there’s three million in that vault. I think Klaus is as nutty as you say he is. Maybe there’s a million. A million split up by three isn’t so hot. Here’s a proposition, buster. You have Glenda and fifty thousand bucks, and I have the rest. Like the idea?’
Was this yet another con? I asked myself.
‘What would happen to Joe and Benny?’
‘Tell me something. If a gun went off in the vault could it be heard on the street?’
‘It wouldn’t even be heard in the bank.’
‘I was wondering about that. The idea I’ve got is when the cartons are packed, I knock off Joe and Benny, then I give you fifty grand and a gun. I take off in the truck with the rest of the loot, and you go out and knock off Klaus, and get Glenda. This car will be parked near the bank. You use it. How about it?’
And what is there to stop you shooting me after you have shot Joe and Benny? I thought.
‘How about the two men handling the truck?’
‘No problem. As soon as they drive into the cellar, they leave. They have their own getaway car. It is after the loot is in the truck that I go into action. I’ll be handling the money. I’ll put fifty grand in one of the cartons. As soon as I’ve knocked off Joe and Benny, I give you the carton and a gun, and you’re on your own, and I’m on my own.’
We were now driving down Sharnville’s main street. I turned off and headed for my apartment block, ‘Klaus will be on his own with Glenda?’
‘Sure. There’s no one else. All you have to do is to walk in and knock him off. Like the idea?’
If I lived to reach Klaus after the break-in, I liked it, but I trusted Harry the way I would trust a rattlesnake. It would be too easy for him. Bang — and Benny was dead. Bang — and Joe was dead, and bang again — I was dead.
‘Yes.’ I said. ‘I like it.’
He leaned forward and patted my knee.
‘Okay, buster. It’s a deal.’
I parked outside my apartment block, then shifted around in the driving seat so I could look at Harry. The light from the street lamp fell directly on his face.
‘Tell me something, Harry,’ I said. ‘Doesn’t it mean a thing to you to kill Joe and Benny? You could just shoot them down, and it would mean nothing to you?’
He grinned.
‘Let me put it this way, buster: to get Glenda, would you give a damn about putting a bullet in Klaus?’
For a long moment, I thought about this. If I didn’t kill Klaus, he would certainly kill Glenda and me. I was sure of that.
‘I guess you have a point,’ I said.
‘To get a million bucks, why should I care if I knock off a couple of stumblebums like Joe and Benny? Who would miss them anyway?’
I opened the car door and got out on to the sidewalk. Harry joined me, and we rode up in the elevator to my apartment.
While Harry lounged around, I quickly put together the gimmicks I needed to get into the bank. I found a plastic sack in the kitchen and put the gimmicks in it.
I looked at my watch. The time now was 01.10. Time was running out.
‘All fixed,’ I said, putting the sack on the table.
‘Got everything?’
‘Yes.’
‘Sure? We don’t want a foul-up because you’ve forgotten something.’
‘All fixed.’
‘Okay.’ He moved to a chair and sat down. ‘How about a drink?’
I went to my liquor cabinet and took out a bottle of Scotch and two glasses. I made two mild drinks, gave him one, and then went over and sat near him.
He lifted his glass.
‘Here’s to success. Now, listen, here’s what we do.’ He drank, put down his glass and leaned forward. ‘Klaus has told me to stay close to you. He doesn’t trust you, but don’t worry about that. You and me will go up to Manson’s office while Joe and Benny remain by the vault door. You do your telephone and cassette act. You open the vault and Joe gets to work. He really knows his stuff with a cutter. You say there are four hundred boxes to open. Benny and me will take the loot from the boxes as Joe opens them, and we’ll pack the the money in the cartons. You just keep out of the way. If Joe works fast, maybe I’ll get you to help fill the cartons. We work all through Saturday. We have around twenty-seven hours to bust into all the boxes. The truck arrives at eight o’clock, Sunday morning, and the driver and his pal take off. We load the cartons into the truck.’ Harry paused, and grinned. ‘While Benny and Joe are clearing up, I knock them off. I give you a gun and a carton with fifty grand in it, and you go after Klaus. Got it?’
I drank some of my whisky.
Would Harry shoot me as soon as I got them into the vault? My mind worked swiftly. I thought that unlikely. None of them would want a dead body with them in the vault for twenty-seven hours. No... when Harry had shot Joe and Benny, I would be next.
‘I’ve got it,’ I said.
‘Joe handles the cutter. Benny handles the cartons. You’ll handle your gimmicks and a sack of food. I’ve got that packed and ready. No point in starving. My chick will be ready to chat up the guard.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Another hour and a half.’
He got to his feet and began to roam around my room.
‘All that money!’ he exclaimed. ‘This is something I’ve dreamed about!’