It was a pretty hard jolt. I had been counting on Delaney’s money to make a fresh start.
“I want you to understand, Terry,” she went on quietly, “that I don’t expect you to marry me now. I have nothing to offer you. I realize you wouldn’t want to be hampered by a wife unless you had capital to make a fresh start. I think it would be better to forget about me.”
“Oh, no,” I said. “Now look, Gilda, I love you. We can fix something. I want to marry you, and I’m going to marry you. It means we’ll have to wait a little longer, that’s all. We can’t get married here. There would be too much talk and gossip. It’ll mean I’ll have to work for a firm again. I don’t mind that, but we may have a tough time to start with. If you can stand it, I can.”
She hunched her shoulders, frowning.
“You don’t have to do this, Terry. I can look after myself.”
I got up and knelt at her side, taking her hands in mine.
“I want you, darling. Maybe it’s better this way. It bothered me, thinking I would use his money. If you’ll take a chance with me, I’ll make good.”
She began to cry, turning her head away from me.
It was a let-down all right, but at least I had her, and she had been the real reason why I had killed Delaney.
When she had got over her crying jag and had calmed down, she said: “I keep wondering if he killed himself. I keep wondering if it was an accident. Do you think he deliberately did this thing to provide for his debts?”
I was only half listening to what she was saying, but her last words registered and I looked sharply at her.
“Provide for his debts — what do you mean?”
“There’s this insurance policy he took out.”
I stiffened. My heart began to thump.
“Insurance policy? What policy?”
“I haven’t had time to tell you. He was insured. Mr Macklin told me yesterday. I didn’t know myself. One of the letters you gave me was the policy from the Insurance people. He had insured the TV set. Mr Macklin says there’s a clause in the policy that covers the owner of the set against an accident. He says he is sure he can collect on the policy. It’ll be worth five thousand dollars. It’ll clear Jack’s debts and give me a little something in hand until I find a job.”
If she had struck me in the face I couldn’t have been more taken aback. I felt my heart turn over and my stomach muscles cramp up.
“I didn’t know he had insured the set,” I said and my voice sounded far away.
“After you delivered the set,” Gilda said, “a young man called on us. I think he said his name was Lawson. He saw the set and persuaded Jack to insure it.”
I remembered then that Delaney’s name had been on the list I had lent Lawson.
“But that was only for the set. Your husband wasn’t insured against an accident, was he?”
“Yes, apparently. That’s what Mr Macklin tells me. He says the owner of the set is covered against an accident.”
I felt suddenly as cold as ice.
“For five thousand dollars?”
“Yes.”
My whole world began to crumble. Fear took hold of me in a grip that paralysed.
This would mean an investigation. I knew enough about insurance companies to be sure they wouldn’t accept Delaney’s death the way Jefferson and Doc Mallard had accepted it. They wouldn’t part with a dime let alone five thousand dollars without making absolutely sure they had to pay out.
My plan and my life could now be in jeopardy because of this unexpected policy.
“There could be an investigation, Gilda,” I said. “Is it worth bothering about? Perhaps it would be better not to put in the claim.”
She looked sharply at me.
“But it’s five thousand dollars! There are bills due for three thousand. Of course I must claim.”
“These insurance detectives probe pretty deep,” I said, trying not to let her see how scared I was. “They might easily find out about you and me, Gilda.”
“How can they? All they will want is the record of the inquest and the death certificate. That’s what Mr Macklin says. They can’t avoid paying up.”
“Don’t be too sure about that. I’ve heard what some of these insurance companies are like. They’ll use any excuse not to pay out. They might even try to prove he did commit suicide. They wouldn’t have to pay out then. All they would need is one good reason to show he had killed himself, and they couldn’t have a better one if they found out he had no money and you and I were lovers and you were leaving him.”
“You’re exaggerating!”
“I’m not!” I couldn’t keep my voice down. “If they get the slightest suspicion that you and I had been lovers, they’d tear into us like a pack of wolves! Make no mistake about that! I’m not saying they’d get away with it, but they could force you to fight the claim in court. They’d stick some smart attorney onto you who’d worm the whole story out of you, and they’d get me in court too. We’d be smeared across the front page of every newspaper in the district, and we’d be cooked!”
She was looking at me now as if she thought I was crazy.
“You’re frightening me. What is it? Do you know more about this thing than you’ve told me?”
“Of course not. I’m just warning you what could happen. Can’t we stop this claim?”
“I can ask Mr Macklin. I think it’s already gone through. He said he would deal with it as soon as he got back to his office. Do you want me to telephone him?”
I hesitated. If Macklin had lodged the claim it would be fatal to attempt to 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.